my calamondin and kumquat so far have survived in a south facing window for 2 winters in z4 n. maine. they lose some of their leaves but other wise do pretty good. come late march as the days get longer they start to regrow their leaves.
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Your fukushu or changshou kumquats shouldnât have large thorns. You say it is grafted, maybe a seedling.
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Your major challenge in winter in the north will be sunlight. Lots of leaf drop without enough sun.
Me, they all grow in the ground for the last 32 years since the Christmas 1989 10F freeze here near Houston. This February all unprotected in ground citrus were frozen at 10-14F . I banked my large trees mostly on flying dragon but some on swingle, sour orange or citrange with mulch and lost only 1 out of 20. One tree on citrange lost the graft. Had to lug 5 yards of pine bark to the back yard.
Here meyer lemon starts giving more lemons than you can eat at 3 years in the ground. After 5+ years hundreds of lemons!
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I have had a Calamondin for several years and it does well with a helping of Oscamote Plus twice a year and a weak dose of Foliage Pro added to the water you give it. Let the Foliage Pro be weaker when the plant is indoors. Iâve got dozens of little Calamondin fruits on that tree right now, hopefully they do my fall off when i move the plant into the kitchen for the winter. Last year I got maybe 15 or 20 to use. These are used in Filipino cooking and itâs hard to find fresh fruit for sale here. My wife was born in the Philippines.
I have a Meyer Lemon that is younger, and only have flowers on that one.
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Put 7 gallon marumi and a changshou(fukushu) kumquats both on flying dragon in the ground this spring. No thorns on either.
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My inground Fukushu kumquat is a 7 foot tall seedling with a bud node count near 90. I kept tabs and marked node counts. My 2 Fukushuâs on Flying Dragon are buds from a node count above 80. My potted seedling Fukushu has a node count reaching around 75 and higher. It has flowered profusely 3 times. I got buds from it in the 70âs node range and grafted 4 more flying dragon 3 weeks ago. All grafts are nice and green. They are being forced now. I have a Fukushu grafted 4 years ago on C35 with the bud coming from node 53 +/- 2 nodes. It is now 6 feet tall and has not fruited but puts out flowers 2 years.
Hi Jesse,
A few years ago I bought a cheap Meyer lemon cuttting, rooted but small. I put it in an acid compost mix and when the weather warmed (I live in Vermont) it exploded with new growth. Then it started flowering and has never stopped. Being unfamiliar with citrus I expected it to have a seasonal pattern, and it does shut down for about a month in winter, but I have to constantly remove fruit just so it will stand up. I try to keep it to 10 or so full size fruit at a time. All new vegetative growth comes when it is outside in the summer. In winter it has only a north facing window and I have to watch that the pot isnât too water logged, so it does not get premium care. By spring itâs ready for some new leaves, and drops a bunch, but not all.
I think there are great differences in the âMeyersâ that are sold. I have grown some from the seed of my plant but they donât ever seem to be as vigorous or hell bent on setting fruit. Iâve also rooted and air layered plants from this tree, which is now about 4 feet tall, The cuttings will go right into blooming so they are slow to get large enough to support full size fruit. The only way to get a taller plant seems to be grafting, but I havenât done it yet, though I have a few Poncirus ready.
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Meyer lemon not true to seed.
I tasted one seedling that tasted like a white grapefruit.
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I wonder if some growers try to sell seedlings as being true Meyer. I have one âMeyerâ that was passed to me from a friend who bought it, but it isnât by any stretch. But I also have read that citrus may produce polyembryonic seeds, and that some of the plants that result are actually clones of the mother plant, produced from embryos that were not fertilized. I have noticed a wide variation in the vigor of seedlings from the lemon, but Iâd rather graft for a sure thing than wait to see who is who. Here is a link to one article about it. Polyembryonic Vs Monoembryonic Seeds - Practical Primate
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IMHO seedling meyer lemon is not propagated. Meyer lemon is very easy to root.
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Thatâs very true. Iâve seen videos of an entire greenhouse worth of cuttings being propagated that way. It would just be pointless time-wise to go from seed.
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