The tangelo is a member of the citrus family (oranges, lemons, grapefruit etc...) It was originally developed from a cross between a tangerine and either a pomelo or a grapefruit.

Like all citrus trees it is an evergreen with thick bright green waxy leaves. While the trunk of the tree has a greyish hue to it the outer branches are the same colour green as the leaves.

The fruit of a tangelo looks similar to a mandarin. It combines the tartness of a grapefruit with the flavour, smell and ease of peeling of a mandarin. The fruit start to ripen from late Autumn through to late Winter and will hold on the tree for between two and three months.   I eat them fresh and make marmalade and cordial with them.

All citrus trees require hot Summers and mild Winters to thrive. They can stand temperatures down to -5 Deg C with only minor damage to outer shoots.

While lemons do well in the Ballarat Climate tangelos appear to need slightly more sun and heat then a lemon to do well and are therefore somewhat marginal for the Ballarat district.  However the tangelo in my garden  has consistently produced good crops.

Tangelos do best in a sheltered position that gets plenty of sunlight.  And like all citrus trees they prefer well drained soil. See Planting Citrus Trees for planting information.

While tangelos do not need fertiliser to produce a healthy crop they are fairly nitrogen hungry. So if you want to maximize your yield a liberal spreading of a nitrogen rich fertiliser such as chicken manure in the Spring would be useful.

Irrigation will increase the yield and produce larger and juicier fruit.