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    Home Β» At the Store Β» Fruit & Vegetables Β» Why Did I Find Seeds in Seedless Cuties or Halos?

    Why Did I Find Seeds in Seedless Cuties or Halos?

    Published: Jan 7, 2016 Β· Modified: Feb 9, 2023 by Eric Samuelson

    The packages say that the fruit is seedless, but then why do you find some seeds still when you are buying Clementines, Cuties brand, Halos brand, or other "seedless" mandarins?

    A cut open mandarin showing seeds on the inside sitting on a whitewashed board.

    Whether you call them Cuties, Halos, Clementines or whatever marketing name with a smiling fruit on the box, they are all mandarins. And they are all suppose to be seedless, right?

    The marketing appeal of these fruits is that they are easy to peel and you don't have to worry about seeds.

    So how many of you have bite into one of these things and on occasion found yourself spiting out a seed or two?

    What gives? Are they lying to me? How did this happen?

    Jump to:
    • ⁉️ Why You Find Seeds
    • πŸ™‹ How are They Grown Without Seeds?
    A single Clementine hanging in a tree with green leaves.

    ⁉️ Why You Find Seeds

    We are going to look at our talk of why you find seeds by looking at the two most common varieties of mandarins you find in bags of Cuties or Halos - Clementines and Murcotts.

    Clementines

    During the early part of the season the Clementine variety is the type of mandarin you find in Halos or Cuties packaging. This variety isn't actually seedless. If left to grow on it's own you would find seeds in the fruit. This happens when bees visit the fruit and cross-pollination tastes place.

    So why isn't every fruit full of seeds? In order to produce a seedless product the growers prevent the bees from cross-pollinating with more than 1 variety of citrus. There are 2 ways to counteract this. You could grow each variety in isolation from other varieties. As you can imagine this isn't always easy or possible. A second option is put netting over top of the tree as you will see in my photo below taken in California.

    Citrus trees that are covered in netting with mountains in the background.

    Of course there is the possibility that a bee or two will get through and still pollinate a flower in either option. This is why from time to time you are going to find seeds in your fruit. Can't expect a 100% success rate, but not the less it is pretty high, enough for them to still label them as seedless.

    A light blue colored bag of Murcott variety mandarins marketed by Bella mandarins for HEB stores.

    Murcotts

    Later on in the season, Halos and Cuties switch over to the Murcott mandarin, although most people seem to miss that. This variety also would be full of seeds if measures are not taken to prevent that.

    A bunch of Ojai Pixie tangerines in a tree with green leaves.

    Truly 100% Seedless

    Not all varieties of mandarins have seeds. The Pixie mandarin is genuinely seedless. Even if cross pollination takes place it will not make seeds. The best Pixies are grown in the Ojai Valley of California and are available near the end of the season, starting usually in March.

    So why don't the Cuties or Halo growers use varieties like this one? The Pixie variety has not undesirable traits too like producing heavy one year and light the next, that makes it less than ideal. Plus Pixies seem to only be of great flavor when grown in the Ojai micro-climate.

    πŸ™‹ How are They Grown Without Seeds?

    Have you ever wondered how these seedless fruit are grown if they don't produce seeds? Typically seeds are not actually used to produce more fruit trees. Instead a branch of one tree is grafted onto the roots of another tree. Those roots come from a root stock. A variety of citrus can be bread to not produce but it the tree itself would be unable to reproduce on it's own.

    Did you find seeds in your Clementines, Cuties, or Halos mandarins? How many did you find? Leave a comment below.

    « Where to Buy Sumo Mandarins in 2016
    One Reason We Don't Eat More Vegetables »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Linda

      February 18, 2016 at 7:39 am

      Now I know. I have a habit of planting seeds in pots just to see if they will grow. I planted 4 seeds from one of the varieties and now have plants ranging from 3-4 feet tall. I have them in pots right now and bring them in for the winter months.I know they are root bound. We have a place in Jacksonville and plan on planting them there this spring to see what happens. Summer before last I had 2 blooms that produced 2 tiny fruits but fell off before they grew any size. They have not bloomed since then. I can see why they cost so much. The thorns on them are long and hurt when you get pricked with one.

    2. Eric Samuelson

      February 21, 2016 at 10:41 am

      That is fun to do for sure. Never know what you are going to come up with. By doing that you might end up with something great or you end up with 2 tiny fruit that fell off before they grew. You just never know. Seems like you are having fun doing it.

    3. Abigail Lockhart

      December 18, 2018 at 9:37 am

      In a Halo clementine I found 30 seeds in one clementine. I felt that was an unusually high number of seeds.

    4. Capobianco

      December 19, 2018 at 10:22 pm

      I just found a Halo with 4 of the slicss containing 3 or more seeds in the tiny slice.. per slice..

    5. Eric Samuelson

      December 23, 2018 at 11:07 am

      Not surprising. Clementines are not seedless and that is the variety in Halos right now. A bee must have paid a visit.

    6. Eric Samuelson

      December 23, 2018 at 11:08 am

      That is a crazy amount. Not surprising. Sometimes the bee makes it through and pollinate those clemetines.

    7. Tonya Jenkins

      December 23, 2018 at 9:08 pm

      Just finished a Halo with 34 seeds in it. Each tiny slice had 3-4 seeds!! It was super sweet and juicy so I made it work... but worrisome if a little kid had gotten it.

    8. Rinaldo Jonass

      January 21, 2022 at 11:19 am

      Not that it is a contest, but my one clementine had 35 seeds in it. It must have been a very 'busy bee' that got though to pollinate this one flower!

    9. Eric Samuelson

      January 22, 2022 at 12:30 pm

      Wow that was a lot!

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