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World of CitrusWorld of CitrusSugar Belle
Frederick G. Gmitter, Jr.; William S. Castle; Jude W. Grosser · United States plant patent · Google Patents · 2010-10-05
https://patents.google.com/patent/USPP21356P3/en (opens in a new tab)
Original cultivar description and breeding history. Patent metadata checked September 19, 2026; Google’s status and expiration are reported values, not a legal determination.
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Sugar Belle
https://sugarbelle.info/ (opens in a new tab)
Brand description of fruit, season and culinary uses.
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EMCO CAL
https://www.emcocal.com/sugar-belle-citrus/ (opens in a new tab)
Cultivar datasheet covering fruit, management, growth and disease tolerance.
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The Millennial Gardener · YouTube · 2024-01-05
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEXf5J4BQOQ (opens in a new tab)
Summary from transcript: A first Sugar Belle harvest is compared with mature Owari satsumas. The grower finds juicy, richly orange-flavored fruit with stronger acidity, about five visible seeds and difficult peeling. The young tree grows in ground in coastal North Carolina with winter protection. Suggested colder-climate potential is speculative.
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UF/IFAS Research · YouTube · 2016-05-31
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acl7aWAuX4E (opens in a new tab)
Summary from transcript: Fred Gmitter explains conventional breeding for fruit quality and disease tolerance. Sugar Belle combines tangelo-like shape with deeper color. Its subsequently observed HLB tolerance informs further breeding; tolerance does not establish immunity.
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Ben's Exotic Florida · YouTube · 2025-03-08
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZkoN-HSK-4 (opens in a new tab)
Summary from transcript: Ben reports purchasing the tree in January 2024, planting and later moving it within the yard. About a year later it has strong new growth and two developing fruits; he has not tasted a mature fruit. He explains that HLB-tolerant trees can still become infected.
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The Millennial Gardener · YouTube · 2026-02-20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBUBSiQIbEw (opens in a new tab)
Summary from transcript: A coastal North Carolina winter brought an ambient low of 9.7°F. Sugar Belle, protected with incandescent lights and two covers, reached 17.8°F beneath its covers. It had leaf scorch on one side but no reported branch damage. Recovery was expected, not yet documented. The unprotected single-digit survivor later in the video is Ichang Lemon.
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blacklabel1783 · Growing Fruit · 2026-08-20
https://growingfruit.org/t/sugar-belle-lb8-9-mandarin-hybrid-tree/81736/5 (opens in a new tab)
Purchased-fruit taste account; the date is the post date, not the tasting date.
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a_Vivaldi · Growing Fruit · 2026-08-20
https://growingfruit.org/t/sugar-belle-lb8-9-mandarin-hybrid-tree/81736/2 (opens in a new tab)
Posts 2, 3 and 8 discuss acidity and longer hang time; cited study numbers are not new measurements.
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themulberries · Growing Fruit · 2026-08-20
https://growingfruit.org/t/sugar-belle-lb8-9-mandarin-hybrid-tree/81736/6 (opens in a new tab)
Firsthand account of flowering and vigorous recovery after transplant root loss.
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sharq · Growing Fruit · 2026-08-20
https://growingfruit.org/t/sugar-belle-lb8-9-mandarin-hybrid-tree/81736/7 (opens in a new tab)
Two in-ground trees with winter leaf burn; minimum temperature and rootstock are unknown.
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FFSP
https://ffsp.net/varieties/citrus/sugar-belle-lb8-9/ (opens in a new tab)
FFSP profile with 14.2 Brix, mid-November to late-December harvest window, vigorous growth, and Alternaria notes; preserve as source-specific profile information, not a universal performance claim.
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FFSP · 2014-05
https://www.ffsp.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Citrus-Rootstock-Overview.pdf (opens in a new tab)
FFSP 2014 PDF photo captions document Sugar Belle® LB8-9 pictured on UFR-2 (p.4) and UFR-4 (p.7). Captions alone do not establish comparative performance, compatibility, or rootstock effects.
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Jude W. Grosser · United States plant patent · Google Patents · 2015-11-17
https://patents.google.com/patent/USPP26086P3/en (opens in a new tab)
The patent names ‘LB8-9’ (‘Sugar Belle’) as the diploid female parent of ‘C4-15-19’ and compares the female and combined pollen parents in its Summary (Background; Summary; Detailed Botanical Description—Parentage). Its fruit comparisons describe the parent cultivars relative to C4-15-19, not independent measurements of either parent.
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Ernie Neff · Citrus Industry Magazine · 2021-11-12
Interview summary attributes to breeder Fred Gmitter the statements that Sugar Belle is among the most HLB-tolerant varieties known and produces very good-quality fruit despite infection. It separately reports focus-group preference for juice containing some Sugar Belle over supermarket orange juice; no trial or panel details are supplied.
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Tom McClendon · YouTube · 2024-10-24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQbP1V3fy20 (opens in a new tab)
Summary from transcript: English auto-generated captions, 0:27–0:46 reviewed. Tom McClendon says his Sugar Belle was planted a couple years earlier from a three-gallon container; he reports a winter low of about 16–17°F, some leaf damage described as very minimal, quick spring rebound, and subsequent growth. The page description identifies Georgia but no precise site or observation date is given. This is one grower/tree account, not a guaranteed cold threshold; exposure duration and measurement method are unstated.
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