I just bought a Meiwa Kumquat that came in the mail yesterday! I'm traveling but my neighbor is taking care of it and says its got kumquats on it already and they taste delicious! I'll post pics when I get back. Hopefully I don't get delayed with the weather!

I am looking forward to what others have to say, Mike! I think a kumquat may be my next tree! I really like the taste of the nagami kumquat, but I've never had any other varieties.

Kristopher

Yes, very pretty trees, Mike. They tend to stay compact and will produce huge amounts of fruit. I'll try to snap a pic of two for you. Meiwa's are sweeter (due to their thicker skins), but more round. Nagami are small and oval, and very pretty. Nordmann Seedless are larger, oval, and importantly seedless, which is good for eating or using in cooking, jams/marmalade, etc.

Patty S.

Posting my first photo...it only took years to get here! Here's my Meiwa!

From what I've read Changshou are the best fresh eating but can't comment on that, I haven't tasted it. Ive got a tiny mewie kumquat I just planted last month but trust me, you don't want to see it. It looks pretty pathetic right now.

Mike. Here us my fukushu/changshou. Like I have said before this sucker is in non stop bloom and or leaf flush. In fact its doing both right now. The flowers are very fragrant. I have never had any other kumquat fruit so I can't compare but I can say they are pretty good to eat

{{gwi:563313}}

This photo is from December. I'll get a new one later.

Mike

I own both Meiwa and Fukushu (Changshou). Fukushu fruits are twice as big as Meiwa's, but not quite as sweet. However, both are orders of magnitude tastier than Nagami.

There's apparently a variegated kumquat out there (Centennial) that has fruits that taste like key limes.

Here's a pic of one of mine. I have 2 and they are about 4' tall, in the ground, and are producing more than I can eat! Mine are the Nagami, which starts out sour when you first bite into it, then gets sweet.

They produce twice a year. The top leaves look bad because of Asian Leaf Miners last year, but they don't seem to hurt the plants, just look bad.

Baconquest..Please do, and where ever you went, I hope it was a lot warmer than here! Where did you get your tree?
I have not seen any sold around here.

Patty, which one is your favorite? You describe them so well and I can only imagine what yours look like. By the way, you have been in our thoughts here at home.

Mandarin1....Wow! Finally a picture and GREAT job. I am so happy you finally posted and your tree looks very nice. Thank you! What a cute fruit. It almost looks like a Calamondin fruit.

Mike.....Oh love the sounds of your tree and all those blooms, you know how I feel about fragrance and flowers! Look at all those flowers. You would really try and root a cutting for me? :-)))))
You know me well.
Mike, that's a BEAUTY of a plant! The coloring and flowers are amazing. Great job and I am leaning towards getting some of the same bagged mis you have for a few of mine.
Do you mix anything in it and what # Fafard mix is it?
How much perlite do you use if so? Thanks pal.

AJBB..Thank you for your input. Much appreciated.

Eahamel..Look at the size of that tree! Oh I wish I could get mine to grow that big. Do you eat all those ripe ones or do you just let them drop because you have so much?
Wow!

Thanks everyone so again...Please keep posting your pics
and I hope Dave/Njoasis does too!

********* Is there a Kumquat tree that produces tons of flowers like Mikes and yet very sweet fruit edible like grapes?***********

Mike...:-)

Hey!

Here is a pic of the newly planted tree. Got it from Four Winds. It came with about a dozen fruit on it already! I planted it in some gritty mix, first time making it up, but so far so good. What do you think about the pot size? I think its on the small size but should last me through the year. Its 12" but not too deep. I'll send another shot of a closeup.

Thanks mike. I have been using the 52 mix and add coarse perlite INA ratio of 5 parts fafard and 1 part perlite. So far it seems to be doing great.
I'll try and start a few cuttings for sure but if you can find a big tree I would get one.

Mike

I love kumquat, though organic ones seem hard to come by. I like to slice them up to float in my alcoholic beverages, eating them up at the end, lol. Such pretty plants.!

Fafard #52 is an excellent choice!

This post was edited by rhizo_1 on Sun, Feb 24, 13 at 14:51

MIke, my tree isn't very large, actually. They will get 10-12' tall over time. I really have a large harvest this year, and have 2 trees, and will probably give one of them away because I can see that one will give me enough! I usually eat 2 or 3 early in the morning when I go into my back yard (to pick up dog poop), but someone on the Harvest forum suggested making marmalade with them, so I've stopped eating them so enough will get ripe for that. It's a very rewarding citrus, and there are a LOT of good nutrients in the white pulp, so eating the whole thing is a healthy thing to do.

I used to know someone who refused to eat the whole thing, he would cut it in half and eat only the fruit inside. He was missing the point....

Baconquest, the pot size looks fine, such a pretty new tree! I had a lot more kumquats but ate mine :-). Just be careful, on my pic you can see there are leaves with brown tips, I forgot all about flushing out the accumulating fertilizer (now done every 30 days).

Thanks Mandarin,

I'll watch for fert build-up. I imagine with the gritty mix I should be able to easily flush once every month or so. This stuff drains really well! I also noticed that its already dry on the surface, and just damp with a dowel test. I may have to water it a bit more often than my 5-1-1 (which is currently about once every 10 days), but I'm also reading that the turface and bark hold a surprising amount of water. In any case, I'm really liking the fruit so far, the Meiwa fruit is very sweet and big, much more than the varieties I've had from the store. I think it looks great with its smaller leaves and bright orange fruit too!

-Mike B

Hello, guys and gals! Some beautiful trees, indeed.

Mike B, you'll definitely want to water more often than once every 10 days in the Gritty Mix. Poke a wooden kabob skewer deep into the pot, and leave it there for your moisture measurement device. When the skewer comes out just barely damp, water.

Josh

Thanks Josh,

I just used the dowel, and it was already dry (watered yesterday). I have a feeling I need to water slower than I'm used to. Just soaking it quickly probably caused most of the water to drain out the bottom. I'm watering again, going to trickle every few minutes instead. Anyways, thanks for the advice, and sorry to thread hijack. Back to the Kumquat pics!

PS Mike I was in Chicago. I got to experience this lovely winter storm twice in a week!

-Mike B

hey Mike

this is for documentation purpose mainly. I started these three today. I since have read that Kumquats arent that easy to root and may not do so well on their own roots. Either way its worth trying to me. they are in a "greenhouse" within the greenhouse so we will see.

{{gwi:563317}}

Mike

This post was edited by mksmth on Sun, Feb 24, 13 at 21:47

{{gwi:563319}}

My answer is simple. I like mine because it is the only one that survived in ground through the winter. I had a Meyers, a lime (wasn't expecting it to, but had to try), and a manderin all in ground and didn't make it. Got tired of unsuccessfully growing in pots for about 6 years now and thought I'd try in ground. The kumquat flowered all summer and and looked great. Not so much now for lack of nutrients but its about time to fertilize. Bought it last year at this time. It has had a few fruit on it and they taste great.

Man, is this thread moving fast! lol
I had NO idea so many here even had Kumquats! It never occured to me to even buy one after all these years.

Mike......Where did you get your tree? I love it! Of course I am in love with all those flowers. I really really hope the cuttings root well. They should in your conditions. I have even seen the nursery near my house root citrus with a 80% success rate in just plain ole 'vermiculite'.
They say that they have a much better success rate cutting all the leaves in half.
You are so kind to even try. Thank you!

Raisefire...Who can blame you there! It would be my favorite too if it is the only one that survived!
It does need food and I am sure it will look awesome!

Mike, yes the wooden dowel always tells you a different story for the finger test.
Mike, that tree is a beauty pal! It seems that the Mikes have it in the Kumquat department. Ha
Lucky you enjoying TWO snow storms...I guess we'll never get to loving it though..lol Oh I am longing for the days when we can just stick ours all outside .
Thank goodness we only a few inches, right?
Yes, the gritty does dry out much more rapidly.
Make sure you know exactly where the root ball is.
The mix might still be moist where teh roots have not inhabited the are in the pot yet, meaning you must still water even if the bottom still feels moist while the occupied area of the roots can still get dry.
When planting in the gritty mix. size of the container has no limits even for a tiny root ball. Just make sure you keep that root ball moist.:-)

Hello Josh! Great to see you. We shall talk soon. Maybe I will call you tonight.

Eahamel..Your tree is amazing! What I would do to be able to pick one sitting outside my home. Lucky you:-)

Rhizo.....Always HAPPY to see you around these parts. I was beginning to worry. I love the Fafard 52 mix thanks to you telling us about it way back when!
So you drink and add a kumqaut slice or two? Not a bad idea while you sit and watch them little humming birds on your warm patio:-)

Hey mike. Well lets hope i get that success rate. i got this one on clearance for $12 at Lowes about 2 years ago. For 2 straight years they sold some type of citrus and 2 years ago was the last time they had any. Its a duarte farms tree. I'll keep you posted.

Mike

This post was edited by mksmth on Mon, Feb 25, 13 at 22:26

Mike, just getting back to this thread, forgot to snap a pic, and now it's 9:00 pm. So, my favorite would have to be the Meiwa, as it is the sweetest of all the kumquats. I don't have them all, but I've tasted them all, and it is definitely sweeter than any other kumquat variety I've tasted, mainly due to its thicker skin. And, it is a nice looking tree as well. Now, if you're just wanting the tree for beauty, I would go with either a Nagami for its lovely, tiny oval fruit and VERY prolific bearing, or the Centennial (for the variegation). I personally do not like kumquats much - just too sour for me - but other folks love that combination of a 2 in one sweet/sour punch.

Patty S.

Raisefire, if you protect your young citrus for 2 or 3 years when you have a freeze, they will be okay and will be able to take the cold. I'm in zone 9a, Houston, and we had two Januaries with a week below 32, incredible for us! The temp was in the mid-20's most of the week. I covered mine with extra blankets and sheets, and put plastic wrap over that, and put a light under the blankets for a little warmth, and they did just fine. My lemon tree is old enough and large enough that I didn't protect it, and it survived just fine. The people behind me have a lemon and orange that are pretty good sized trees, and they never get any winter protection, and I see other citrus around the neighborhood that don't get any either and they are pretty good sized trees - up to 20' in some cases.

Since you're in zone 8, I assume you don't have really hard winters that set in and stay for weeks at a time, and if that's the case, most citrus should be okay once they are thoroughly established, which can take a couple of years. Exception, of course, is limes. A friend of mine has a lime that survived those hard freezes both years, and she's going to give me a cutting this spring when it starts growing. She has no idea what it is, but if it survived those bad freezes, I want it!

Just took this photo taday, pretty much all the fruit has been harvested at this point, there where probably around 50 fruit or so.This is a Meiwa about 6-7 years old. They produce very well. highly recommended for fresh eating. I cut them in half horizontally, pop out the seeds - anywhere between 1 & 5 and throw them back. very nice sweet/tart flavor. don't worry that's not a sucker on the bottom right it had fruit on that branch, I am encouraging a "bushy" form on this guy. one drowback is they droop a lot from the weight of the fruit, so be prepared to steak it by fall.

Great tree!

Ryan..That's a beautiful tree! Wow! Thanks

Patty, I really appreciate that! You know what I am looking for...So now, I have to get two! One for eating or at least try to see if I can handle the fruit, or to just share, and another for prolific flowering as Mike has. I LOVE the looks of the flowers on Mikes and I am getting the feeling the trees with the sweetest fruit don't flower as much. Hummmm

Mike, I can't believe you got that one at Lowes!!!!!! I shall have to keep an idea this spring since they did sell lot's of citrus for the first time last one, but I don't remember if they had Kumquats. They might of since I wasn't observant of the at the time. I really want one like your in full flower.

Mike for you.................
Smells so good right now!

{{gwi:78645}}

{{gwi:78647}}

MIke

This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Sun, Mar 3, 13 at 6:54

I have a 1 year old Meiwa tree that seems to be doing fine.
I chose this because kumquats are $6 /LB. They are cold hard to a degree that I can handle the plant. It is a small tree that produces small fruit. I want fresh fruit all winter when my other fruit trees are bare and dormant. The fruits store all winter on the tree thus I don't need another refrigerator. The fact that the peel is eaten too, it makes no mess, contains essential oils, eaten in one bite, no one knows what it is so I don't have to gaurd it. No pesticides. very attractive. The tree will fit very well in my lean-to green house on the south side of my house just north of my workshop. picture shows footer, east wall and work shop for future green house. Click on the Meiwa tree pic to open my Photobucket collection of dated picture of the SEED GROWN MEIWA KUMQUAT

{{gwi:563323}}

Ponc, you've got the right idea, I eat 2 or 3 of my kumquats every morning. It 's wonderful to be able to do that. I have the nagami, and just got a meiwa the other day.

Mike

that gardenia is AWESOME!!! I bet is smells heavenly in there.

better pic of kumquat. Its in need of a serious re pot but doesnt seem to care.
{{gwi:563325}}

Navel orange in bloom
{{gwi:563327}}

lemons and limes are done flowering and set a good crop, Plumeria are waking up but no inflo's yet. Cant wait for spring. All though Ill be moving again. this time a bigger place with more room and a pool. Cant wait to landscape.

Mike

This post was edited by mksmth on Mon, Mar 4, 13 at 14:32

Just a quick update with my new Kumquat:

The tree is adapting nicely to the gritty mix. I mentioned before that I had issues with the mix drying out, and I think I've solved it. I read up on what other people have done, and I decided to fill a tub with water and dunk my container in the water, saturating the mix for 20-30 mintues. This allowed the turface and bark to soak up all the water possible. Its also the method tapla uses when re-potting in the gritty mix. Since then I've been able to cut the watering back significantly, every 3-4 days instead of every day. Note to self for next time, soak the mix overnight before planting! I'd post a pic of the kumquat, but it looks the same as the last pic I took (a good thing, as it hasn't dropped a single leaf and they are still very green and vibrant!)

-Mike B

You know, that is the one thing I should of been telling people all along Mike B!

I appreciate you telling us this. I too soak my mix for a day and sometime more ahead of time to alliviate any issues with watering.
They also tell us to do the same with Orchid Bark for our orchids or they would ry out way to fast. I have to do this.

Another thing too is to soak the container ahead of time if it is clay so the clay doesn't absorb all the moisture too.

Thank you:-)

Hope you enjoy yet another stupid snow storm this time the heavy wet stuff.

Mike

Hey Kumquat'ers.

Thanks for all the great pictures of kumquat tree. It gives me something to look forward to. Mine are grown from seed. Last year I started with a success rate of 1/2% with one surviving tree as of 9-15-2012, This year I had 20 seed sprout and 19 are still alive starte with 6 kumquats 8 sweet lee tangerine 6 Moro blood oranges I gave my friend 4 Nagami and 6 Moro blood. I kept the rest along with my 1 year Meiwa. The kumquats are much more sensitive and take more care.

Mike I am interested is Hearing how your kumquat cuttings root as I have never succeeded in rooting any thing other than figs and tomatoes. So seeds it is.

The Nippon Orangequat does grow well on its own root and does very well in colder zones. cut and past this link

http://www.walterreeves.com/uploads/pdf/coldcitrus.pdf

Root-stock choice tests. Copy and paste link below, then scroll down 1/2 page to kumquat article

http://www.fshs.org/Proceedings/Password%20Protected/1998%20Vol.%20111/180-182%20(FERGUSON).pdf

Mike B

I to have had to do the tub soak when even some of my bagged mixes get too dry. When i do that I also like to add some fert to the water and let it get all throughout the mix with the water.

Mike

I try to note what the plant weighs when it is dry. H2O weighs 1 LB per pint. so a 5 gallon tree totally soaked will weigh about 40 lb more than when it is dry. If the increase in weight is only 10 LB then there is a lot of dry soil that is not visible beneath the wet surface. This is a problem once peat based soil mixes become dry.

I have a nagami i just bought about a month or so ago. Came with about 7 fruit growing on it. Does anyone know when is the correct time to harvest the fruit from the tree?

Hey all....I AM STILL KEEPING MY EYES OPEN for a Kumquat tree at Home Depot..I stop by every week and still nothing!

Mike, I will be so happy if you get one to root:-)

Mike

Mike, I picked up a Nippon Orangequat at costco. so far the form is pretty, kind of weeping like the Australian Finger lime

Mike, keep your eyes open, and look other places if you have any. Mine has been producing for months now, I'm still getting kumquats, and have been since about December. I picked a bunch and made marmalade, and it's really good. I have the Nagami. I recently got a Meiwa at Lowe's, and it was on sale.

Usherray, I pick them when they are a dark orange and come off the stem easily. I hold the kumquat and turn it up or down, and if it breaks off the stem easily I think it's ready. Same with other citrus. And the nagami will get sweeter as they get older, and after some cold weather. Some of the kumquats on my tree have been on it for several months now. The ripening slows down when it gets cold. And, they will rebloom and give you another harvest, though it will be a lighter one.

This is my 7 year old (once espaliered) Kumquat. I have a terrible time with it dropping leaves during winter. The variety is unknown. The fruit are seedless and the best flavor I have ever had, so I continue to baby it and try to give it a better life. When the leaves need it I foliar spray with Chelated Liquid Iron. I use a very good orchid fertilizer, water soluble.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:563303}}

Pullweeds!! You just had to..lol

With that description, I wish I knew you had a name for it...It's beautiful from this vantage point..Good work.

Eahamel..If you are still around, thank you. Can't blieve I am just seeing this thread..I wish there was a way to get an alert when someone posts to my threads..

Mike, did you ever root one for me? Oh, I would be so happy if you did:-0)

Mike

Here are two reasons I like kumquats :>)

Hey Mike. i tried and failed miserably. I have since done some research and it seems that Fukushu is pretty hard to root. However I have not given up. I have about 40 trifoliate seedlings that I plan to graft onto. Im trying to get you one. Dont wait for me if you can get one sooner. But i will get you a clone of mine as soon as I can.

Mike

Tree is doing good

I find the varieties of citrus you all get in places like home depot amazing. For the first time we had citrus at my local super walmart last year. I think they got them for mother's day. Even my local garden centers don't usually have any. I'll keep my fingers crossed for this spring that someone will have a nice variety. Keep those wonderful pics coming, guys.

Hey Mike I just ordered a three year old Fukushu/Changshou Kumquat from Four Winds! I'll let you know how it is when it gets here.

MIke..No problem buddy..I will patiently wait..I love what yours looks like I'll tell ya..

Okay here it is guys, a three year tree from Four Winds!
It's a fukushu kumquat. And i love it! It already had perfect shape so i didn't prune any. I picked all the orange fruit except for one. The foliage is really dense and beautiful. The leaves don't really smell, but that fruit tastes so sweet (for a kumquat!) Definitely the best one I've had!

Thank you gardenweb for showing me how to successfully grow container citrus, you all are a great community. IM only 19, by I've done some stuff mentioned here, like attaining ingredients for the gritty mix.
Fir bark- pets Mart
Crushed granite- tractor supply co
100% diatomaceous earth- o reillys auto parts, oil absorber.

My key lime from seed sure appreciates the gritty mix as it was the first one to go in it and has elongated and put out new leaves the day since! Everyone should have WELL draining soil, it does magic!

Best of luck, from MONTANA!

Ta da!

Fukushu Kumuquat, known as changshou also.
Very tasty, sweet juice, very tender skin.

Oh you know it..That plant is next on my hit list! Great work and advice..

MIke