Chandler
Citrus maxima
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Description
Chandler is the benchmark pink-fleshed pomelo, bred at the University of California Riverside and released in 1961 from a Siamese Sweet x Siamese Pink cross. It produces truly oversized fruit - commonly over two pounds each - with yellow skin carrying a slight pink blush and light-to-deep-pink flesh divided into 12-20 thin-walled segments. The flavour is sweet and pleasant with the mild, refreshing character of a good pomelo and none of grapefruit's bitterness. The tree is large, vigorous, and highly ornamental with big fragrant flowers, and it crops heavily, so fruit thinning is recommended for best size and quality. In New Zealand it is strictly a tree for the warmest frost-free gardens, needing a long hot season to sweeten; fruit matures in the main winter-spring pomelo window. Eaten fresh as a dessert fruit, with segments that separate cleanly, and the thick rind gives it good keeping quality. Self-fertile.
Characteristics
Fruit Size
Very Large
Peel Colour
Yellow with slight pink blush
Flesh Colour
Pink
Harvest Timing (NZ)
Mid
Seediness
Many Seeds
Growth Habit
Vigorous
Thorny
Notes
Needs the warmest frost-free NZ site (Far North/Northland best) with a long hot season to ripen; elsewhere a large container under cover. Large fragrant flowers; heavy cropper so thin fruit for best size. Standard citrus feeding, watering through fruit development, and patience - fruit is slow to mature.
Fruit Use
Dessert
Flavour Profile
Sweet, Juicy, Mild
Storage Life
Good
Country Availability
Known to be available in 1 country