The set up is frost cloth on a pvc frame. At the base of the tree are c9 Xmas lights and they are connected to a thermocube which turns lights on at 35 and off at 45. If forecast is below twenty I put moving blanket on top for extra protection. You can definitely do in 7a here is a guy doing same thing from a fb group I’m in.
I got this calmondin off lowes clearance rack for 5 bucks three years ago. It’s a rooted cutting. It’s grown a lot in a few years and I’ve gotten a lot of fruit from it. I think it’s easier to protect in ground than keep in a pot because in a pot you have to be on top of nutrients and water since the roots can’t find them anywhere else
So you grow these in the ground in a 6a? What kind of accommodations do you provide? I’m in Oregon in 8b and the only in ground citrus I’ve had luck with in the yuzu and dunstan grapefruit. I’ve never had to cover them since the coldest it’s gotten since planting was 18 F. Where can I source these kumquats you are growing?
my $7 calamondin from TSC is a fruit machine. 1st year it set 7 fruit this year about 30. do you prune some out so the others get bigger? they are all about quarter size on a 24in. bush. my same age kumquat is only a ft. tall and is flowering right now. hope it sets some fruit. been transferring pollen with a q tip. had about 30 flowers so far.
Could you give me a little more explanation about tipping the citrus tree to push it to bloom?
I give my kalamansi some 10-10-10 slow release fertilizer every 3 months or so (per the box instructions), and in the summer I throw about an inch or two of compost on top when it goes outside (the compost is pretty much gone by the time I bring it back in for fall). So I don’t think it’s failure to bloom is too much nitrogen? But I didn’t know that tipping it could force bloom! About how much should I cut it back to induce blooming? Do you have any other tips to help with blooming?
The 10-10-10 is ok, it would better with numbers like 6-12-15. Micro’s would help. Citrus are heavy feeders for growth, your tree is big enough to carry fruits.
I would buy a bag of Fox Farm citrus/avocado fertilizer, cost around $14.00. You only need a 1/2 cup to work it in the soil and water it with a acidic value of ph 6.(rainwater). There are a bunch varieties of bloom fertilizer, Osmocote plus is a good one to. If you only have one tree this fertilizer last a long time, even if you grow 3 trees.
I grow about 30 tree’s so whatever I spend on fertilizer it’s get used with the bigger quantities I buy, mostly on sale stuff.
It really depends where your zone 7 is. If you’re down south you’ll have a much easier time with it than in the PNW. I’m in Oregon in 8b and I think people in zone 7’s down south have an easier time with outdoor citrus than I do in 8b in PNW. Even though zone 7 down south can have much colder temps than in areas west of the Cascades, when the cold snap passes there is much more consistent sun and warmth than up here.
I don’t believe Osmocote plus has been promoted as a “bloom fertilizer”. Regarding bloom fertilizers, this might be of interest: Bloom Booster - Fertilizer Nonsense #5 - Garden Myths
Millet, on the Tropical Fruit Forum has a lot of experience growing citrus in pots. He and others on that forum use Jack’s Professional 25:5:15, which is the optimal ratio (56:1:3) for citrus. That is what I use.
Vlad you always like a discussion taken it into the wrong direction. Citrus are strong feeders. I use Peters for many years. I bring my citrus trees in my grow room, there they don’t need high nitro. I use high nitro in early spring till November. I use a milder fertilizer while I the growroom but they still need to be fed. I don’t care what your teachers are telling you, this is what I am doing.
At least I am showing my trees to the Forum, show us yours.
@aap I merely pointed out what others are using for fertilizer. If you are happy with your fertilization method, then that is perfectly fine.
As for posting photos of my trees, I stopped doing that while I was on the Houzz citrus forum. I have nothing to prove or hide by posting or not posting photos. Many people take all kinds photos and post them online. I do not.
Where do you get a low of 5? The typical winter west of the cascades doesn’t get below 20 very often. The lowest in the last 3 winters is 18. I follow this guy’s instructions to the letter and have no problem getting fruit. The key for me is exceptional drainage and a 20 foot south facing wall. His climate is slightly colder than mine. His orchard is about 300 miles north of my property.
This dude is in zone 8a, so slightly colder than my 8b zone in western Oregon. Despite being in a colder zone he has much better citrus yields because of the lower latitude. I’m at 45 degrees north, so the warmth is not nearly as good. Though I agree no zone 7 is easy for citrus. Then again no zone 8 is easy either. But the zone 8 down south is easier than the zone 8 up north. And the same is true for zone 7, though much more difficult overall than a zone 8. The only citrus you can grow in zone 8 without having to constantly worry about it dying in the winter is the yuzu. Even that won’t give you fruit without excellent drainage and a heat island effect from a wall or fence. When all else fails there is the flying dragon. Beautiful decorative citrus, though in my opinion the fruit is not good. I don’t like the taste at all. Something off about it. Still haven’t had the candies rind of a flying dragon, so perhaps that is good. Some people like it.
I am min Zone n6b/a borderline in the Teays river valley near the Kentucky/Ohio border in Cincinnasti Ohio. We see 0-F 1 out of 3 years with a USDA temp of -5F and a record of -25F
So you can probably only grow the poncirus outside right? For any edible citrus you definitely need the greenhouse set up. In a funny twist my poncirus is in the greenhouse still. I put it in there back in October and forgot about it until this week. I was in there planting fig cutting when I noticed it in the corner. That’s a nice piece of real estate in the greenhouse. Probably going to pull it outside tomorrow since I need to get a kumquat in there. What’s your advice for the best tasting most cold tolerant kumquat?
I have eaten the Meiwa and Nagami. Meiwa is by far the best. I have not eaten any Fukushu kumquats that grew properly and to size yet. The3 I got were mediocre. The Marumi is less sweet than the Meiwa and a lot less sour than the Nagami from what I read. It is said to take down to 10F without damage and survive 0f with total leaf loss if it is grafted to Flying dragon/PT only. kumquats produce fruits in winter so they can’t go below 28F anyway.
If kumquat only fruit in winter that eliminates the outside option for me. The only blooms that have a chance to develop into fruit have to set in spring around May. That’s probably the only reason I have any success with the yuzu, because it sets in spring and is ripe enough to start harvesting by October. The window is very narrow and I fully expect some abnormal spring cold to screw me one of these years.
So you are in an excellent paw paw region. Do you have any experience with those? I’ve been thinking about getting paw paw to plant in the location where my peach was removed. Do you have a favorite variety? What about the dwarfs? Are those something you’d recommend?
