How long does it take for your mix to dry out?

How often do you water? How do you know when to water?

Have you ever let the leaves wilt before watering, just once?

What kind of soil is it in?

Do you ever flush the soils of salt deposits if you are not using a very porous mix?

If it is a very peaty bagged mix, what do you use to water? A cup, faucet. hose, sprinkler?
Do you water in sips?
Do you let the water flow freely from the bottom?

How often do you fertilize it? How much?

This will help us to best determine how to answer..:-)

MIke

It is in in an organic potting mix that takes about 3-4 days to dry out.
I water once or twice a week. I usually water when the top 2 inches of the mix dries out.
I have probably let the leaves wilt before watering once or twice. I don't flush the soil. I use a hose to water it.
I water it until the water runs out the bottom and then another minute or so. (The water usually runs out the bottom almost straight after I put the hose on it.)
I fertilize every two months. I have some annuals and herbs growing around the tree.

Yikes. Hard to see clearly, as we don't have a very good overall photo of your tree, but this is my suspicion, based on what I can see. Get all the annuals out. Citrus do not like to share their nutrients. Sounds like your potting mix is way, way too dense, and I bet you'll find a big soupy mess at the bottom of the pot. I would re-pot with a much better potting mix. You can search for "Gritty Mix" or "511" mix on this forum. It is rare to find anything out of a bag that would not compress and retain too much water with the exception of some of the Farfard professional bagged mixes (again, on our forum). Checking the moisture 2 inches down is not sufficient - it is the water that is probably pooling at the bottom and drowning the roots that is the issue. I would re-pot this poor kumquat right away, and see if you can rescue the root system. It will take some time, and you may see significant leave drop and eve more branching die back. Any branches that are definitely dead (brown or black) prune off to live wood. Let the tree revive itself. Fertilize with an appropriate citrus fertilizer (most on this forum prefer to use DynaGro's Foliage Pro, as well as a time release fertilizer product such as Osmocote Plus). I take it this tree is outside year 'round?

Patty S.

Tee...

My thoughts are that of Patty's....Id find a way to make the roots happier A.S.A P.

Mike

Thank you Patti and Mike.
I will try re-potting this weekend.
I have posted another photo. The tree is outside year round.

Tanya

Okay, my advice stands. Get rid of all the "stuff" growing in the pot with the kumquat and provide a better draining mix.

Patty S.