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Florida Gardening

Kumquat from seed?

15 years ago

I have a question to our Citrus experts (Lisa?)...

I tasted a really yummy Kumquat and kept a couple of them. Since the owner of the tree can't tell me the variety, I was hoping I could grow my own from the seeds.

Searching online, it says on several sites Kumquat don't do well on their own roots (Somehow doesn't make sense to me, it is a plant, why would it not grow), is that so, and should I not even bother to try?

But IF I should try, what is the best method to get them to sprout?

Evelyn

Comments (7)

florah
15 years ago
Evelyn,

I suspect that the seed won't come up true because my kumquat tree is grafted onto a different rootstock.

The citrus seeds I have tried so far (not the kumquat) have all come up wild and thorny. I stuck them in potting soil and covered the pots with plastic wrap from the kitchen until they sprouted.
happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
15 years ago
Kumquats need to be grafted.

Christine
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Damp-off of very young seedlings has never been that much of a problem for me, but I think the reason for that may be how I germinate them to begin with. It's a cue I took from my mother, which is basically to put the seeds in the same pot (around the edges of the pot) with an adult plant then water the adult plant the way I normally would. It means I don't use bottom heat and whatnot, so things sprout when it naturally becomes warm enough for them, but pretty much I don't worry as much about damp-off because there are older roots using the same water in the same pot. It's when I take the babies out that I experience problems. As I mentioned, I actually put some young Calamondins back with their Rangpur Lime host plant to recover after this winter. The other thing I practice quite a lot is the theory that it's not dead until it's dead and even if I'm sure its dead, it's worth a shot. You wouldn't believe the number of citrus seedlings and cutting grown figs I had come back to life after the moving issue the spring before last. I actually use the much maligned self watering pots, but not as self watering pots. The designers would say I'm using them totally backwards. I'll go down my line of trees and tip them to dump the water if I notice water actually standing in any of the reservoirs. (I can't imagine using them to "self water" because what that really does is create a high water table for root rot.) If you've ever taken a moment to look at one of those things empty, the bottom of the pot that sits inside the reservoir is like a pasta strainer. So long as the reservoir is always empty, drainage isn't a problem.
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Okay... I will be patient and see what happens as spring arrives and I get to put it back outside. Just can't figure out what went wrong. I have numerous other indoor citrus (key lime, eureka lemon, and several other nagami kumquats from seed) which have all done well. Same light conditions, humidity, watering regimen, potting soil, etc. This grafted nagami kumquat is the only one that seems to be really struggling.
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I placed my kumquat seeds between to pieces of damp paper towels in a zipper food bag and placed over my heater duct outlet. Others I planted in potting soil wit a lid over the container and placed inside one of my heating ducts. Both ways took about a week. My last set of 80 meiwa seeds all rotted. Meiwa kumquats are very hard to start. Today I ate my last 2 Meiwa kumquats and saved 10 seed to through outside in the 20F snow. I am not wasting any more time sprouting Meiwa seeds. Its a lot of work. Steve
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This is not my company. They don't list meiwa but you can call the above number to order them. http://www.kumquatgrowers.com/retail.html
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goldenpond
15 years ago
I love Kumquats too.But only the small sour skinny ones YUM!
gatormomx2
15 years ago
News to me that St. Joseph , Florida is the Kumquat capital of the world !

Visit us at the
Kumquat Festival
Dade City, Florida
Saturday
January 31st, 2009
2009 Open House - Jan 29th and 30th

Here is an interesting link :

Here is a link that might be useful: Kumquat Growers, Inc
jkrup44
15 years ago
I have a very old Kumquat tree in my back yard that was growing there on the lot before my house was built. It has huge thorns (some almost 2 inches long!). I am wondering if this was perhaps grown from seed years ago. The fruit is extremely sour, much more so that eating a lemon. Is it normal for kumquats to be so sour? Could it be that this is because it was grown from seed?
happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
15 years ago
jkrup44 ~ I have never seen a kumquat that had thorns, not even little ones. Kumquat skins are sweet enough to eat even though the juice inside is sour. But, it sounds like yours are extra sour. With the tree having long thorns and extra sour fruit, I would say that your tree is likely a seedling.

Take a look at the trunk near the ground to see if you can find a graft line.

Are you sure that the tree is a kumquat? It sounds like it could be a rangpor lime, especially if you find a graft line. I have one that hasn't fruited and it's fruit is supposed to be very sour. It's a cross between a lemon and tangerine.

Christine
crispy_z7
12 years ago
I too find the "won't grow well on its own roots" thing weird.
I see this comment often on sites with Kumquat information.

If kumquats would not grow on their own roots, well then there would be NO kumquats.
I think this needs to be qualified to "Won't perform as commercial kumquat growers would prefer without grafting"

Depending on the soil and climate conditions, yes, grafting can IMPROVE kumquat tree's production in that environment, but I really don't think this has much relevancy to home growers of a tree or two.

I personally started about eight trees from seed a year or so ago and they are doing fine.

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