I find that home grown fruit taste different than store bought. Some things taste better when allowed to fully ripen on the tree and others just have more character or a different range of flavor than store bought - so don't completely base your tree purchase on how store bought fruit tastes. Many people consider Calamondin's inedible but if you have one potted on your porch you will find yourself enjoying them even though they are harshly sour. I also shove my potted citrus collection into a small greenhouse for the winter (zone 7b) and they handle it ok if I give everyone a haircut before moving them in. The biggest problem is aphids and other bugs which show up about now, when the temps start to warm and the trees sprout new growth. You can get a nice amount of fruit from a small well grown tree. One that you can easily move in and out of the greenhouse. But if you want to take it up a notch you'll want bigger pots and a bigger greenhouse. Kumquats can stay pretty small, mine is tiny after many years and is usually weighted down with fruit. The good thing about Kumquats and Calamondins is that they have ripe fruit throughout most of the year. If you can find one of the super dark figs like Petit Negri they will love the same treatment as your citrus. They have the best tasting fruit but not a ton of it and the bushes stay very small. Most other figs outperform them but the flavor isn't the same. I have no problems growing Meyer Lemon trees but most of them don't have a lemony flavor to me - I can taste the Tangerine in their heritage, and I prefer the full flavor of regular lemons. The reason a lot of people don't jump all over grapefruit is that they take daily medications that interact with chemicals in grapefruit juice. It is one of my favorite flavors but I can't eat them anymore - waaaaaa

Was at L's yesterday trying to buy wood-crafting tools they don't even sell (go figure!) and the few TC's left were on clearance. The $10 were $5 and the $3 plants were .50. Although there were several bigger ones with white, very white flowers, even I couldn't rationalize such a purchase with the present-budget. So I got 7 little .50 ones with the lightest colored buds. For $3.50, worth waiting for a year to see what they open to, assuming all of these buds will fall off as I'm expecting. I also picked up all of the broken pieces from the floor & stuck them in the tray. A few look promising, and total mysteries regarding flower color. Now, where in the world am I going to put these things? I'm pretty sure I'll be cutting more/bigger holes in the sides of hanging baskets & sticking them in those. Seriously no room for any more pots!

Linda, I doubt the cold hurt your plant if it was adequately protected. I agree that you WAY overpotted it. I would pull it from the pot it's in and put it in a new pot, with only a couple inches of room around the roots - if the roots haven't really grown, that would be MAX a 4" pot. Use a mix that is pretty porous - I add perlite for extra drainage. And your yellow leaves could be due to the change to growing under lights. Especially if they seem otherwise healthy. Going from office conditions, which are usually fairly dim, to grow lights will sometimes wash-out the green in the leaves. I can't speak directly to lauterbachii as I don't grow it yet. I've heard it's tough to grow in less-than-tropical conditions, though I'm sure there are those that grow it just fine up here. I plan to give it a shot this year myself. Hope you can get yours growing and get some of those awesome flowers! Denise in Omaha

Yup, Denise has it exactly how I meant it! Denise -- Remember Jeff H (of course)? I learned & said Kalan choe like you did, he said Kalanko ee, we never corrected each other & always knew what the other meant. Eventually I switched over as the Calif folks said it more his way & my older NY C&S colleagues say it w/ the CH. Huernias are fun (fellow Asclepiads & thereby cousins to Hoyas), can come out as Hernia (you know, like a man's ailment)? Hey Kelly, No, sorry, the Hoya fest was a great one-time deal hosted by Norma (aka Dufflebag). I had turned her on to Hoyas & she started collecting them like mad -- & subsequently invited a bunch of us out, mostly folks who don't post here anymore & we all provided abt 10 cuttings to swap w/ each other. Participants who are rarely here anymore, Sylvia Marie (who I believe I recently saw at our Gallery nearby, a really nice Patricia, a Robyn (later banned I think) & OkieDeb, who may still post at some of the other Hoya places & became close w/ Norma, & of course I met Cena (she of the current & spectacular outdoor hanging Orchids & Hoyas), who also lives in San Diego as did Jeff; we had a blast!!! Norma also invited both Michael Kartuz & Dale Kloppenburg to the event. I bought a small Incurvula from Kartuz which never did anything & finally died last winter. I still have Kloppenberg's Pubicalyx Fresno, a big pot of which he'd given Norma who shared some w/ me, hasn't bloomed yet. BTW, I shared around a Hoya Crassipes (orig. from Norma) which I adored & recently lost, if anyone here, Denise Oojenn, I think, maybe even Cena still have Crassipes, I'm eager & crazed even to get some back, I just LOVED it, even without blooming yet. Pls. let me know if anyone has it or knows of it, I've never seen it elsewhere or known anyone else to have it. I believe Norma recently said she no longer collects Hoyas (her real & extraordinary expertize is in Crassulas, hence her prior handle 'Crassulady' & Sansvierias, w/ which she helped me greatly in researching for a Sans. talk & I gave at my C&S Society abt 2 yrs. ago. Norma still posts at C&S & at Sans. under the handle Dufflebag. Denise -- I'd sure love to see your talk -- November did you say? You're in Omaha, I have kin in Lincoln & have never been there ... hum ... we'll have to talk in future.