Topic: kumquat

[ACE]

This could be an edible plant but more likely just decorative. But after 20 years mine is in flower for the first time. A shame it was not in the spring. I found a little seeding when on holiday in the south of france and planted it in a pot for a year then in the garden. It has grown to well over 10m high. What a surprise this morning to find it in flower, tiny little things but a very heady scent. I thought at first it was some of that horrible  smelly stuff she bungs in the washing machine that makes the sheets stink so much you can't sleep. Was put right very quickly on that score, 'Do it yourself, next time then'

[ACE]

quick piccy

[Obelixx]

Do you feed it?   Citrus like a high nitrogen feed from about April to September and then a high phosphorus and potassium for fruit and flowers.

I have a limquat - lemony kumquat - in a pot and have just picked a dozen fruit to pierce and soak in vodka to make limoncello.  I find it's less likely to bear fruit and flowers at the same time than the Meyer lemon but the feeding regime helps.   Lots more fuit ripening too.

I hope you get some fruit at last.

[ACE]

It is a big bush in the garden, the only feed it gets is the dog cocking it's leg and the dead leaves as they fall.

[Obelixx]

Give it a treat!   You can buy specialist packs of citrus feed.  You may be surprised.

[Vinlander]

The picture looks much more like a Loquat. You are doing well to get flowers in 20 years from a random seedling. If you are close enough to the coast the flowers might survive - that's the difficult part as they flower at the worst possible time in UK. A pity because I regard the greengrocers' "nespilos" as much better than their appalling apricots.

I do see fruit on trees in very favoured locations in London - probably not this year. Especially as the 2 best fruiting trees in the area were cut down for "improvements" to off-street parking (to avoid paying a pittance to the borough).

If you still have flowers after that long wait I'd give them some localised cover and localised heat - in most parts there's worse to come.
 
As Obelixx pointed out, a Kumquat is a miniature cousin of Citrus (Fortunella) - weirdly their skin is sweet and the inside is sour - so dual purpose or eat them whole.

If my lemon tree dies I may plant one out because they are even more hardy than satsumas. I already have a ku-mandarin cross and a clem-quat cross waiting in the wings (but hardiness unknown - my least risky bet is to graft them onto my Poncirus rootstock and keep the parent trees under cover).

Cheers.

[Obelixx]

My limquat (lemon kumquat) is currently laden with fruits and I'm thinking of making marmalade.   

Wemove it and the Meyer lemon and the yuzu into the polytunnel for the cooler months and feed with citrus feed.   As soon as temps are suitable they go back to the south facing front of house and from May to September they get watered and a nitrogen feed.   It's working so far.   Lots of lemons in various stages of growth and now some flower buds showing on all 3.

[ACE]

Could be a loquat I suppose, never came with a label, just a small 6 inch plant from Montpellier. The trees were huge, trunks you would not get your arms around. Very noisy at night as they were covered in tree frogs. The safest place to be for a frog in france. Recommend a holiday there, just to watch the flamingos on the lake when they fly in at dusk and if you do get a shower of rain the locals all rush out to the marshes collecting snails for dinner. Blossom all gone now after the frosts.