Xian Feng Cheng

Description

Xian Feng Cheng is a hybrid sweet orange valued as a spring-ripening variety for New Zealand gardens, producing medium-sized, round to oval oranges that ripen from September to November. The flesh is sweet and juicy and virtually seedless, and the variety is rated very good both for fresh eating and for juicing, making it a genuinely dual-purpose orange. The tree is a standard rounded grower for the home orchard. On the relative New Zealand orange scale its spring season places it at Mid, alongside other spring navels such as Best's Seedless, rather than with the summer Valencia types. Keeping quality is moderate; enjoy fruit fresh through its spring window. Plant in full sun in fertile, free-draining soil with steady water through establishment and fruiting, mulch well, and feed with citrus fertiliser in spring and summer. Self-fertile. Note that some New Zealand suppliers sell this variety under a non-propagation agreement.