Clemenules. Tangerines, sweet and juicy, with an intense aroma, a delicious flavor and a striking orange color, the Clemenules variety is the queen of mandarins, several Spanish researchers confirmed this in a comparative study between different varieties of mandarins.
Summary
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- 1 Origin
- 2 Tree characteristics and production
- 3 Quality of the fruit:
- 4 Ripening season
- 5 Business experience and future potential
- 6 Source
Origin
It comes from a spontaneous mutation of Clementina Fina originated in the town of Nules , Castellón , Spain , in 1953 .
Tree characteristics and production
Medium to large, vigorous tree with an open growth habit, flattened shape and dense foliage. It presents a very long flowering, more or less three marked, especially in warmer areas. It is susceptible to the death of developing flower buds during the spring, which induces a later flowering that gives rise to lower quality fruits.
Although it is a productive tree , it responds well to treatments to increase fruit set such as applications of gibberellic acid or ringed to the trunk and / or branches. It is sensitive to excessive falls of fruit in response to very hot periods during flowering and fruit set, which can be partially solved by applying gibberellic acid.
In Chile , although temperatures favor a good fruit set, the application of gibberellic acid for fruit set is a widespread practice and on occasions it could cause excessive fruit set.
Clemenules is self-incompatible and incompatible with other Clementines, so in the absence of another pollinator it produces seedless fruit. Under conditions of cross pollination with some mandarin hybrids ( Minneola , Fortune , Nova , Ortanique , Afourer ), they can develop more than 20 seeds per fruit.
Fruit quality:
The fruits are medium in size, with a thin, smooth rind and easy to peel when ripe. The fruit is prone to snorting if it is not harvested once it has taken color on the tree. Its pulp is melting and of very good quality, the soluble solids content fluctuates between 10 and 12 ° Brix and the acidity tends to decrease rapidly during maturation, which continues to decrease after harvest.
In most orchards, the internal maturity of the fruit is reached before the external one, which is why the fruit is normally harvested before it is fully colored and therefore requires very careful post-harvest color management.
As the orchard develops, the size of the fruit tends to decrease sharply, which is why most orchards require production pruning.
Ripening time
Among the Clementines, Clemenules could be considered a mid-season variety. Its harvest time can be prolonged for more than a month due to its staggered flowering. In the early areas of northern Chile, it is harvested from the end of April to the end of May , while in the Central area it is harvested from mid-May to the end of June .
Business experience and future potential
It is the most popular variety of clementine in Spain, South Africa and Chile. Globally, Clemenules could be considered as the best variety of Clementine for its harvest period, although in Spain, it is being replaced by large Gold, a practically indistinguishable variety, but which is thought to be somewhat earlier and with more concentrated flowering and harvesting.
