Mandarin, Tango - #05

Pick-up from Nursery Lot in SEPT. Plant in Oct.

TANGO mandarins ripen in the winter and hold well into the spring. The Tango fruit is medium sized for a mandarin with a very smooth, deep orange rind color are deeply oblate in shape with no neck. The rind is relatively thin and at maturity is easy to peel. The interior has a fine texture with 9-10 segments. Tango matures in winter (late January) and holds its fruit quality characteristics through April into May. Production is excellent. Like W. Murcott, trees, Tangos tend to overbear and therefore need to be regularly pruned to maintain good, not excessive production and to maintain fruit size. Tango trees grows vertically when young, producing ~four vertical branches that need to be pruned back at 2-3 years of age to about four feet in height. This helps form a more rounded crown and reduces limb breakage which will occur on these long 'leggy' branches. Ideally, Tango trees should then be top and side-pruned on a regular basis to maintain shorter branches more capable of supporting fruit loads.