I made a survey where I could collect numerical taste scores for the various pummelos. My goal was to get feedback on the California pummelos from people who had actually eaten pummelos in Asia. The CCPP generously donated the pummelos that I needed for my taste tests. Ahead of the event I asked if I could taste every available variety of pummelo and take a couple of each home for citrus tastings. Back in April 2014, the CCPP had an event where members of the public were invited to look at the CCPP citrus trees and taste citrus varieties of interest. It made me wonder: are the pummelos available in Asia different than the incredibly delicious ones that we already have here in California? Or was the smuggler simply unaware that he could have easily created an account with CCPP and ordered pummelo budwood? Earlier this year I saw an opportunity to get to the bottom of this puzzle. Having tasted the pummelos available in California and having grafted them myself, it seemed so strange to me that someone would smuggle pummelo propagative material into California when the best of the best pummelos are already available in California. After citrus greening was detected in Brazil, it was observed that the natural spread of the disease due to the Asian citrus psyllid was about 12 miles per year. This spread was no surprise to scientists. Update: In 2015 more infected trees were found 15 miles from the first infected tree and the quarantine zone was expanded. A quarantine was put in place in Los Angeles and a tremendous effort was launched to contain the disease. As with the Florida case, it is believed that the origin was pummelo propagative material smuggled into the United States from Asia. It turns out that there was a branch of pummelo grafted to the lemon tree. Further investigation revealed that a nearby lemon tree had been infected with citrus greening. Citrus greening rapidly spread throughout the state and now, nine years later, the citrus trees that are not already dead from the disease are mostly infected and dying.Ĭitrus greening was detected in California in 2012 when an Asian citrus psyllid carrying the bacteria responsible for citrus greening was discovered in a residential neighborhood in Los Angeles. Citrus greening was first discovered in Florida in 2005 “ground zero” was an infected pummelo tree. The disease is also referred to as Huanglongbing (HLB). Citrus greening is a bacterial disease of citrus that is spread by an insect called the Asian citrus psyllid. The nine pummelos here can all be ordered from the CCPP.Īs such a big lover of citrus fruit, I have been following the news of the spread of citrus greening in the United States with interest and concern. For other pummelo varieties, I learned how to graft and ordered clean disease-free budwood from California's Citrus Clonal Protection Program (CCPP). I planted a Chandler Pummelo tree not because it was my favorite, but because the tree was readily found in a nursery. When I bought my first house in California, I was quick to plant a pummelo tree. By sharing this here, I hope that I can help others to grow the pummelos that they would like to grow in California. I now know which ones taste like the ones in Asia, which ones do best in marginal climates, and which ones are most likely to be ripe by the Chinese New Year. In the time since my first visit to the Citrus Variety Collection, I have learned so much more about the pummelo varieties available in California. All of this could have been avoided if the smugglers had been aware of the pummelos already available to them. This disease has caused billions of dollars in economic damage in Florida and threatens all other citrus states. Propagative material of pummelos smuggled from Asia is believed to have brought the tree-killing citrus greening disease to the United States. Pummelos (also spelled pomelos) are originally from Asia where they are very popular unfortunately, in the United States the allure of pummelos has turned deadly. At the Citrus Variety Collection, not only was I able to taste pummelos, but I was also able to taste the very best of them. Most Americans have never even heard of pummelos. I tasted citrus more delicious than any that I had previously tasted. At the Citrus Variety Collection I tasted so many citrus varieties that I had never even heard of. I toured the Citrus Variety Collection in Riverside which is sort of like a Noah's Ark for citrus in the United States they have two of each of hundreds of kinds of citrus trees. I wanted to learn all that I could about citrus and I made the pilgrimage to Riverside, the mecca for California citrus lovers. When I moved to California in 2000, I was quite excited to be living in a citrus state for the first time. I have been a citrus lover from early childhood when I visited my grandparents in Florida and ate oranges right off of their tree.
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