Valencia
Valencia
Valencia is the late juice orange. Fruit hangs March through June if winter leaves the tree standing. Hamlin and navel finish first.
The last fruit in the bowl
Hamlin and navel finish first. They sit in the October through January band. A midseason fruit such as Pineapple or Midsweet covers the middle of winter. Valencia is the one that is still hanging when those two are gone. If the yard holds one tree and that tree is a Valencia, the bowl stays empty until spring.
Citrus Culture in the Home Landscape is the UF/IFAS paper behind that calendar. Sweet orange is the dooryard citrus it names first. It also says one variety cannot cover the year. Taste beats peel color. A Valencia that still looks a little green in May can be ready. A pretty supermarket navel in July is a different clock.
Orange County freezes. The same paper limits citrus to lots that do not take a hard night every few years. Late fruit is the risk, because it would freeze before it matured. Satsuma mandarins are the note for colder lots north of here. They mature in late November and hold eating quality on the tree about four to six weeks. Valencia is not that tree.
Plant for sand, not for a postcard
Full sun. At least 15 feet between trees. Keep septic tanks and drain fields out of the plan, because roots clog drains. Weeds and sod come off the trunk. Weeds against the bark invite foot rot. The paper does not recommend mulch around citrus. If the tree sits in a mulched bed, keep the mulch a foot from the trunk.
Buy a container-grown tree. Set it at the same soil line it had in the pot. Pull some mix off the outer roots so they meet Florida sand. Build a basin that holds five to ten gallons. For the first month, water is what keeps the tree alive. UF/IFAS Home Citrus reports that citrus canker and citrus greening have reduced how much people enjoy backyard trees. Buy from a nursery that will say what rootstock is on the tag. Take a leaf sample to the county Extension office rather than guessing from a photo.
Most of the flavor people throw away is in the peel. After spring, the grocery box is often mixed origin. Yard fruit follows the maturity table. The fridge magnet is an orange slice with Orlando on the rind. Print it if you want Valencia on the door. The grow page has the planting steps and the harvest table.
What stays off the die
Valencia stays a late sweet orange with a visor and one leaf. A person face stays off the die. So does a navel belly-button. Hamlin and navel are the early trees in the harvest table, not the species line on this fruit.
