Clementine Production

Do you see those people that walk through the produce section of your local supermarket that pick up and smell each piece of fruit before they buy it? There is truth to this process to get the ripest piece of fruit possible. Although with a seasonal fruit like clementines, you should not even have to pick the fruit up and bring it all the way to your face in order to know that the clementine is ripe. You should be able to smell their glorious citrus aroma from right in front of the stacks of crates or mountain of mesh bags in front of you.

Part of this is that clementines have a very distinguished seasonal cycle of harvesting between the months of November and March. Because the fruit is fairly delicate, it is hard to keep clementines for more than a few weeks before decay starts to happen. This is the true indication that the fruit is fresh and not pumped full of chemicals to create shelf longevity and an annual product.

It is rare that clementines have a ‘bad’ season because the fruit is rather resilient regardless of the tropical and subtropical areas they grow in. Because of the nature of the thin skin, the fruit is tolerant to drought and cold spouts throughout the year, including during the harvest season. Clementine orchards are fairly low-maintenance unlike many other produce growing cycles. This is partly due to the fact that clementines grow mostly in the subtropical and tropical climates that provide the amount of water necessary for them to bear fruit. Therefore, the trees only need to be watered once a week to once very few months if at all! The clementine tree grows in a vast array of soils as well, including the sandier varieties in Florida. Most orchards only give each tree roughly one cup of ammonium sulfate per year to provide necessary nutrients to the plants in order to bear the maximum quantity of fruit without creating significant limb breakage due to the weight of the fruit. But this is amount is also heavily dependent on the nitrogen levels of the soil.

Unlike many of the mandarin orange cousins of the clementine, this tangerine stores better on the tree, but are usually slightly smaller with a reddish orange colored peel, or rind. But this is not to say that the clementine will not have a great flavor before the rind looses its green flavor! Judging by smell is much more effective with the tangerine family then by color.

Taste the Sunshine with Hale Groves

At Hale Groves, we believe the best gifts come from the land, not a factory. For generations, our fruit has been grown slowly under the Florida sun, picked at its peak, and delivered fresh to your door. From sweet Navel Oranges to rare Honeybells, every gift shares the simple joy of real flavor—perfect for holidays, milestones, or everyday moments worth celebrating.

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