New Zealand lemonade
and 2 nd tree
Ponderosa lemon next
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The dark orange-red are Sunburst mandarin. Tasty, but seedy.
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Harvested my last fruits off my Owari. Considering this was the first fruit it tasted pretty good. I think if i kept the tree out in more sunlight fruit would be sweeter.
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Among the hundreds of citrus trees we are growing in The Woodlands (about 30 miles north of Houston, supposedly USDA Zone 9B), is a volunteer Changshou (aka Fukushu) seedling. In 2017 I planted bed of ‘quats (kumquats and hybrids) in the middle of our circular driveway, including a grafted Changshou. At least one fruit must have fallen off the Changshou and rotted (or perhaps I spit out some seeds while eating one), because the next year a citrus seedling volunteered in the bed. I wasn’t sure what variety it was was, so I let it grow, and after 4 years it flowered (no fruit set). The next year it produced about 6 fruits (clearly Changshou). In 2025 (year 8) it produced about 50 fruits and is now about 10’ high (top of meter stick):
Changshou is probably a mandarinquat, not a pure kumquat, and has strongly polyembryonic (true-to-type) seeds. The seedling is wickedly thorny near the base, but has settled down to producing few thorns and lots of fruit. The seedling fruit are at least twice the size of those on our grafted tree! If you have ever wanted to grow Changshou (aka Fukushu), consider growing it from seed.
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Taste? And what does the interior look like?
I’ve never heard that name.
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Hi. Its a very rare japanese citrus. Its not matured yet… and its the first time i have fruits.
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By the way, other very rare Hassaku hybrid is the rare Japanese citrus “Sweet Spring”. “Sweet Spring” is a hybrid of “Ueda Onshu” and “Hassaku” of Onshu tangerines, and is a citrus fruit born in Shizuoka Prefecture. It was bred by the Fruit Tree Research Institute of the National Institute of Advanced Agriculture and Food Science and Technology and was registered as a variety in 1982 (Showa 57). The fruit is about 250g. The fruit, which has a texture like Hassaku with the sweetness of tangerines and just the right amount of texture, has a good taste because it has little acidity and a high sugar content.
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I had 2 seed grown Fukushu kumquats at 9 feet tall and 5 foot diameter and heavily branched. They grew very well but only produced a few fruits per year. They are both gone and replaced with a fig tree. I did produced a grafted tree from a scion at 9 feet up, to a sour orange tree using a poncirus inter stock. Still few fruits. Thorn free though
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I have my first large shiranui fruit on a potted tree in my basement under grow lights. When should I pick it? How do I know if ripe? It is the size, but not yet the color, of some I buy at the store.
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‘Hyuganatsu’ from your links sounds very interesting! I wonder if it is distributed outside of Japan?
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They are in Europe but still don’t know if its true…
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It’s available in the US
Also, this is not really a sweet citrus, more like sweet-tart once ripe, probably after some time in cold storage. UCR describes it as sour
And most mentions online describe it as lemonade like.
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i havent tried any version of kumquat yet but since their claim to fame is to eat whole or the entirety of, are there any that are seedless? seems like a major downside to fresh eating given their relative size.
Some ladybugs keep finding their way into the house. I finally gave in and let the kids out one on the citrus. It’s hanging around…hopefully, eating scale!
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The seeds are pleasant and softer than normal citrus seeds. To eat it whole is a joyful experience
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you cant tell that youre eating them?
the mulberries just did a video on a few popular *quats and they look awfully seedy to me:
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I only have nagami kumquat tree but everyone who ate them never had any comments about seeds myself included - other varieties I can’t verify
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there are seedless kumquat, but i agree i dont notice the seeds when i eat the ones from the store.
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