@strudeldog ,keeps his in a dark garage over winter…
North Ga. Mountain Citrus
And doing OK !
Mine is probably at that 4 ft mark. As a seedling the first year it did pop one bloom (never set any fruit)…since then its been nothing. I always thought you had to get thru the juvenile statge (mine is full of thorns that draw blood).
If you want to start citrus seeds…they are simple to get going. Put them in a wet paper towel/in a baggie and place them on a very warm surface (like 80F or better). They sprout quickly. I did some seeds out of a blood orange and within a week they were sprouting.
Paper from the 1940s… they saw that most citrus took 5 to 8 years to fruit from seed. Grapefruit seem to take longer. They did have one case of a tangelo that took 22 years to fruit…these were California/Florida trees… yikes.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2437189?seq=1
I had an in ground seedling sunquat flower in 2 years, in ground sour orange 3 years, mandarins 5 or 6 years. A friend waited 17 years for cocktail grapefruit to flower. This is in SE Texas. Another friend had a potted seedling marumi kumquat flower in 2 years. Another guy on a citrus forum I know of has a quick flowering trifoliate orange that flowers the first year.
The subject of citrus true to seed comes up often on citrus/other forums. I have a website: CitrusSeedlings - mrtexascitrus
Anyone try key lime from seed? I have a seedling I planted a couple years ago, but it’s only about a foot tall yet. I’m hoping to push it a little harder this summer with fertilizer to get some size to it.
i broke down and got a calamondin as well. this ones about 2ft with 4-5 branches on it. couldn’t resist at $20. also have key lime, meyer lemon and chicago hardy fig.
Calamondin is another excellent choice for indoor potted citrus.
Very productive, small tree, bite size , small fruit , edible peel.
Mine still has ~ two dozen fruit hanging ripe, and blooming , with small fruit too.
Much tarter than the Meiwa kumquat’s, but still a good citrus snack for us notherners, ( better than snowballs for sure )
i guess i chose well .
I agree! Calamondins are one of my favorite varieties of fruit to grow - the blooms smell incredible, and it’s probably the least finicky citrus I have growing out of ~30. The fruit reminds me of a lemon with some complex orange flavors (not sweet - so sour!), it would probably make a superb marmalade but I’m yet to try as the fruits don’t usually make it to my kitchen
I’m growing out giant key lime seedlings. The bud wood is too expensive for me.
thats good to know. citrus is so expensive here so any i can grow myself is welcome esp. in the long cold winters.
I’ve had some fruit from a Bearss lime that overwinters indoors. I had best success with the trees in a south window and cooler winter temps- like 30s and 40s, but maybe that’s just due to the heater not drying things out as much.