I have never seen a fruiting tree/shrub bear so early and so prolifically. I bought this plant advertised as fruiting size and couldn’t help but laugh at how small it was. After planting it, almost immediately it put out new growth and flowered. To my surprise it actually held a lot of what it set! I counted a good 20 on this plant that is currently just pushing over a foot tall. These aren’t small fruit either, they are quite large for kumquats. You can’t see all the set fruit in this picture, but they are just now starting to ripen!
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I agree! Nothing compares to picking fresh citrus in the winter when nothing else is producing. Both my Meiwa and Fukushu produced 20 or more fruit their first year. In the second year the Fukushu doubled production to 50 fruit. Will it produce 100 next year? I sure hope so! Fukushu kumquats are excellent tasting fruit and, in my opinion, much better than Meiwa.
Do you know which variety you have?
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Wow that’s a much larger return than most first year fruit trees will give you! This one was sold as a centennial kumquat, but I am very doubtful of that. Looks a lot more like a Nagami. I have a larger Meiwa kumquat and I have really enjoyed the fruit on that one. I just purchased a Fukushu/Changshou and Nagami from Logee’s, super excited. Can’t wait to compare the flavors, maybe Fukushu will become my new favorite!
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i got a kumquat and calamondin from TSC 3 years ago. the calamondin tripled in size. the kumquat has only grown maybe 3-4in. both in the same soil. the calamondin is covered in fruit. the kumquat has flowered for the 1st time. hope they take. also have a dwarf Mineola i got last spring. it has 1 fruit set on it that’s still green. looking forward to my 1st tree ripened orange.
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It’s hard to tell for sure from your picture if there is any variegation of the leaves and fruit. If so, it probably is Centennial. The leaf shape does look correct.
For comparison, here is a picture of my Centennial which I have had for about a year. The majority of the leaves have some variegation. It hasn’t fruited yet.
From my small sample of Fukushu and Meiwa, the sweet rind on the Fukushu is thicker and softer. The juice is similarly sour. The contrast between the sweet rind and sour juice is what makes the Fukushu so enjoyable to eat. The Meiwa has a lower rind to juice ratio, which for me is less enjoyable, though still good.
I’ve read that Centennial isn’t the best tasting. Time will tell… It is a nice looking plant, though.
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Very neat! I’ve got one on my little potted Changshou (which I understand is a synonym for Fukushu) which ought to be ripening before long. Looking forward to it—if I can keep 'er alive! 
It’s bloomed its heart out this winter, and I hope it has set a few more. I had a Meiwa, too, but it didn’t survive its first overwintering last year. Got a little better situation in terms of lighting, etc. this season.
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Yeah I heard that too yet some claim it sweet. It definitely doesn’t have that distinct variegation, so my guess would be a Nagami because of its very oval like fruit. Interesting, that Fukushu definitely sounds promising!
That’s very odd, is it set on a window regularly or a grow set up? Do you fertilize it regularly? Have you tried doing a harder prune?
This tree spends 7 months outside and 5 months in a window with lights in winter. Pruning involves cross over branches, water sprouts, and dead wood.
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Is it from seed or a grafted cutting?
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Centennial is my least liked of all the kumquats I have. Meiwa, Fukushu, Nagami, Marumi, Nordman, 10 degree, Centennial, plus several kumquat hybrids. They are all interesting in their own way, except Centennial. For me the fruit is useless, ornamental plant only for my family.
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My Centennials that have fruited are very young rooted cuttings , that severely overloaded with fruit, hopefully they will get better with age.
Wow, you have quite a collection of kumquats! If you don’t mind, please elaborate on how you grow them (ground or containers), how old/large they are, and how much fruit they produce. Where are you located?
If you could have only one, which would it be?
I’m surprised that you don’t get any fruit from the grafted plant. Does it flower?
I know you have many years of experience growing kumquats and have had some fruit. I believe you posted somewhere about a kumquat seeding fruiting in under two years. Was that Fukushu, or maybe Meiwa?
The grafted Fukushu put on 2 flowers this year 2022. We will see if either took as they lost their petals and male parts. It was a seed grown Meiwa kumquat that flowered at 15 months and produced 2 ripe fruits at 22 months. The Meiwa kumquats flower profusely but drop most and often all of their flowers. So far I have gotten 3 fruits 2022 from the meiwa messuring 1/3 inch diameter.
Tree is currently 5 year 4 weeks old from seed sprout.
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All of mine except the ten degree are young trees in pots, most of them where purchased early last spring , a few I bought in fall of 2020. I will put most of them inground eventually. Had the land prepared with a forestry mulcher last summer, but have tons of wild grape wines that I need to get under control before the trees are planted. Also wanted to let the young trees grow in protection from the cold an extra year. The ten degree tree is several years old but suffered from neglect for a while , about 7 feet tall, just started fruiting last year, very few , decent little crop this year.
No doubt if I had to choose one it would be the Meiwa, the whole family likes those. Next would be the Fukushu.
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I got one a little bit smaller than yours also with a few fruits now. Im not a fan of kumquats but they are hardier so i figured wth. FWIW - persian limes are quicker to fruit. I also got a car cara orange from four winds growers last year - the starter tree - and it was absolutely LOADED with flowers a few weeks ago. I knocked most off but some are growing… I plan to keep just a couple of those this year.
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Kumquats are way underrated. They can grow as street trees in Phoenix. They are particularly attractive even by citrus standards. Reliable producers of hugely nutritious fruit. Fairly cold hardy for citrus.
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