HERE IS my recommendation for planting in a first class farm resort in Luzon. We are not giving the name of the fellow who consulted us because we did not have any permission from him. But we are posting here our advice so that individuals in a similar situation may benefit from our ideas.

HERE WE GO – Thanks for your interest in our fruit trees. Aside from the Perante orange that you initially mentioned in our previous conversation, we highly recommend that you consider pomelo as one of your flagship products for a number of good reasons. There are many pomelo cultivars but many of them have poor eating quality – sour, not juicy, low yielding, susceptible to pests and diseases and the like.

THREE CULTIVARS – Fortunately, we have in our farm three varieties that we are very proud of and which are now available in substantial number and different sizes from three feet up to 9 feet tall, growing in containers. Two varieties are from Vietnam, one with white flesh while the other has red flesh.The third variety is our very own Magallanes or Davao pomelo. All three have proven excellent performance under local conditions.

TRAITS – The white-fleshed variety is called Nam Roi. Fruits usually weigh two kilos each but could be smaller if there are many fruits in one tree. It’s prolific. One eight-year-old tree in our farm one time produced more than 200 fruits. The flesh readily detaches from the rind, very juicy and sweet. It is usually served for breakfast in upscale hotels in Vietnam. The red-fleshed cultivar is Dha Xanh. It produces big fruits. One that we harvested in Sept. 2012 weighed 3.2 kilos. But most of the time the fruit is from 2 to 2.5 kilos each. The flesh also readily detaches from the rind, is sweet and juicy. The Magallanes pomelo produces smaller fruits, 800 grams to one kilo each. It is very prolific and the flesh also detaches readily from the rind. It is also sweet and juicy.

WHY POMELO? –  Growing  pomelo offers a number of advantages. Good quality pomelo fruits command a high price. Check that in your favorite supermarket. Pomelo has a long shelf life. It can be stored for months in cold storage. Under ambient temperature, pomelo will keep for several weeks. By planting large planting materials, commercial production can commence in three to four years from planting.

CONTACT – For more info on the availability of planting materials of these three varieties at the Sarian Farm in Teresa, Rizal, contact Rose at 0906-551-1791 or 0947-590-0398.