It is also called calamondin. It is very sour used mainly as ornamental citrus but orientals used it in place of lemon. It bears small miniature orange and easy to grow inside or outside. Prolific beare thoughout the year.
It is my favorite citrus by the way.

Thank you bencelest, do you know of a source?

I always see them for sale at Home Depot, Orchard and Lowes. You also can order them via email at 4 Winds. Also try ebay.

I grow them by cutting, easily. If you sow seeds, the trees will bear fruits in 3-4 years. K.

I am also interested in getting a calamondin. I haven't hit all the box stores yet (it being just the beginning of the season), but I didn't see any there last year. I have, however, seen plants marked as "miniature orange" or something similar, at the grocery store or hardware store. Would these be anything but calamondins? The fruits looked about the right size, but were still green, so I'm not positive. Any good identifying characteristics to watch for?
I'm not averse to ordering/buying on eBay, but I'd prefer to get one that's already fruiting age, so if I can see it in a store with fruit on it, that would be ideal.

- Lali

HereÂs how my kalamansi looks like:
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While flowering

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When turn to fruit

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Lali:
I don't blame you for thinking that way. I'd do the same thing as you. But for people who has no outlet to the nursery stores but their only outlet is through email they have no choice but order.
I was hesitant first ordering at ebay but that erased my doubts after ordering quiet a few banana plants there.
I got what I wanted all of them from different sellers.
At ebay they have a rating that the customers filled out after they received the product. Most sellers are 99.5 % customer satisfied.

bencelest, your tree is gorgeous! I have a tree that I call the orange tree that looks like that. it has very sour small oranges. I almost killed it last winter and now it is 1-2 ft tall but roaring back to life. It has NEVER looked that good. My friend is looking for a very sour small lime, I think it is a tree that is from the Philipines. The names are confusing me, when I google it it seems to refer to a orange and a lime. calamansi seems to refer to more than one type. Thanks for trying to help. littlesparrow.

Indeed, those are beautiful. I want one even more after seeing those lovely pin-up idols. ;)
I'm probably going to end up ordering one, but I want to check everywhere locally first. I'm afraid I'll pester all the sellers to death ("How old is it? Has it bloomed yet?").
If I ever have a citrus half as pretty as yours, I'll be thrilled.

Littlesparrow and Lali:
Thanks for your kind words. Those picts were taken last year. Those fruits are gone now but replaced with new ones. They seemed to be everbearing. But with the arctic blast that just passed us by they were damaged at least very little and some of the fruits lost their juices. Some leaves dried out but overall all are healthy.
You see I used their fruit frequently in dishes and juices.

bencelest, i just bought a calamansi tree from OSH and planted it in a container.

What's your secret to keep your calamansi plant looking pretty like that? How do you take care of it? How often do you water it? Do you use any kind of special fertilzer?

In the Philippines, Calamondin (X Citrofortunella mitis) is called "Calamansi", "Kalamansi", or "Kalamonding". I live in Houston and have 2 of them in big pots. They have been producing fruit almost all year round. I just wish they had as much fruit as bencelest's!

This website has a lot of information on Calamondin:
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/calamondin.html

And if anybody is interested in juices, dishes, desserts made from Calamondin, check this website (search word "Kalamansi"):
http://www.marketmanila.com/

I've made his Kalamansi Marmalade and it came out really good!

i see these pics are not the true calamansi which are in the Philippines. The real calamansi is green and possibly yellowish and is not this shape. Calamansi is round much more like a lime but just smaller. I beleive these may be 'calamondin' which many people seem to believe they are the same thing. possible similar taste but not the same fruit.
I see that many net sites have confusing opinions abut this.
So anyway, i would love some calamansi to grow, i have some seeds here which i have dried from the 'real' fruit but i dont want to wait for so many years for them to have fruit. anyone have a plant they want to sell or and directions to point me in. thanks all

Calamondins apparently never turn orange in the tropics (nor do a lot of other citrus), so it is not surprising that in the Philippines they are green.

It is really irresponsible to "smuggle" citrus into the country, or into any country. Australia had a problem a few years ago with smuggled ortanique that carried a lethal disease that could have greatly damaged their citrus industry. Almost all of the ortaniques were destroyed.

I have about 8 seedlings that are 1 year old. They are tiny but I fully expect them to start shooting up this year (despite the fact that i sunburned them this weekend). I had grown some in years past and this follows the growing pattern that I had on those seedlings (taken from a calamansi that a friend brought for a party we attended). I also have calamansi cuttings (about 10 or so from a 3-4 year old calamansi tree) that I am currently rooting. I'll check the roots in maybe 2-3 more months just to be on the safe side. My brother has several more 3-4 year old plants that were grown from seed and are about 7 feet tall right now.

I had 5 calamondin seedlings from January that I was growing. Gave 3 away, kept 2. One doesn't seem to be a calamondin. Odd shaped leaves and much smaller plant/roots. The other was doing well. Just grew it's first true leaves in the last 2 weeks, but about an hour ago I set them on the floor to clean off the table and my dog ran up and pulled it right out of the soil. She ruined the new leavesa and then she managed to eat a small pepper too. Gonna have to watch her around my stuff from now on. So now I've got 1 1/2 seedlings left lol.

Had a couple of cuttings. One started to root but all of them ended up succumbing to some sort of rot.

WOW!!! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL PLANT!

Thank you for sharing!

MIke..:-)

There are 2 versions of Calamansi. Here in the states they tend to sell the Orange version since it is more marketable, "Looks like citrus", but the Philippines version is green. Actually here in Arizona a few Filipino do have the green fruit version growing and producing fruit. And the taste is similar but not the same. The orange version is marketed as the same thing, but it is not. Yet in the nurseries you find the orange version. I will be budding the green version from a friend who has the green version since I have the orange version now. And want the Philippines version for all my Filipino friends and family

HOW do i take care of calamonding indoors. i have one from i flew all the way from California to Michigan 4 yrs ago and it still have not bear any fruit it will flower a bit but never became a fruit

Congratulations to bencelest on a beautiful plant! How did you post those pics??? I cannot find an "upload" command.

I got my Calamondin about 8 yrs ago (wife brought one back from Fla trip)...I kept it in a gallon container and it never did much, never blossomed, and I didn't pay much attention to it...until about a year ago when I repotted into 3 gal. container. This season it has many blossoms and some fruit set. I have seen what I think is the same type growing wild in Costa Rica on a friend's property. It is green with a golden inside and kind of sour.
t98

In Malaysia it is called kasturi lime. The reason the fruits are green is because they are harvested and used that way. They do not stay long enough on the tree to ripen. I had a 6-foot tree in my backyard in Malaysia. They will ripen if left on the tree. The leaves and rind of the kasturi has a definite aroma that can be used to identify it.
Sengyan

"the first tree by the way was 'smuggled' into the US by my Lola(grandmother) several years ago when she first came to the US.It was about an 8-12 inch seedling that she had wrapped,and tucked under her clothes!! RIP Lola"

Wow, wasn't your grandmother clever! Illegal smuggling of citrus trees from the "old country" is how the two citrus diseases devastating the Florida citrus industry and threatening Texas and California citrus as well, citrus greening and citrus canker were introduced illegally to Florida.

Here is a link that might be useful: mrtexas

Hello,
I live in the Pacific Northwest. A cousin gave us two Calamansi plants in great condition, but I've struggled to keep them alive. We re-potted them, but still very weak, and most of the leaves have fallen off. What's the best way to care for these plants?

HELP!!

Kamaaina, aloha! ;)
Tell us more about the conditions your plants are in.
What type of potting soil, what size containers, sun/light exposure, indoors or out,
frequency of watering, and fertilization regimen?

Josh

Hello guys, i been looking for real calamansi to plant here in ny.i saw the picture that someone posted here. Thats not the real calamansi. The taste is so different, the shape and most of all the color. Its been 3 years i moved here in u.s and in my whole life looking for that plant, i cant find them... I used calamansi in so many things from cooking to washing dishes, they are good in getting rid of stain in clothes too, best in skin to avoid blemishes, but most of all for food... Every time that i grill fish i was wishing i had it... I wish i can bring plants from philippines.....
Hara

Hara,
Four Winds has calamansi, as well as several other varieties of Calamondon, too. See the link below. I have 5 very pretty little semi-dwarf variegated Calamondin in my front yard used as ornamentals. Even the fruit starts out variegated, but will eventually ripen to a pretty orange:
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Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: Four Winds Growers: Citrus-Other Interesting Varieties

I have two Calamansi plants in my back yard in containers. One was purchased last July from Seafood City which is a Fillipino supermarket. I put it in a large container and it has grown about four times in size since then. My wife is from the Phillipines so she wanted to add this once I started my garden.

She uses them a lot in cooking but what I really love is Calamansi Juice. It's not as acidic as lime or lemon aide and has a better flavor. It doesn't take much but you do need to give it a litle more sugar.

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It does fruit year round. Here is the fruit on ours. It will eventually turn orange but according to my wife it is past it's prime when you let it get to that stage.

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