very beautiful plant. Is the fruit ready? The leaves look like they have a tiny bit of fert burn. But very little.

I'm not a kumquat owner but the fruit looks ready to pick and eat. Looks like fertilizer tip burn on the leaves. Give your soil a good flush with a few gallons of water.

Evan

Thank you both so much for answering. I am relieved to read that you are not alarmed by the appearance of my plant.

I am mostly worried about the browning of the stem where the fruit hangs from. I still don't have an explanation about that.

Pip, I had read some of your older posts that I found very helpful, that you thought that terracotta pots are not ideal for this plant and that they release salts into the potting ground. Am I correct in understanding that if I regularly flush it till quite a lot of water runs from the drainage hole underneath then it will be okay? May I leave the drainage dish under the pot if I make sure there is no excess water that can pool?

Re: the possibility of fertilizer burn, I have never fertilized it :-/ Maybe the aforementioned salts created the burn? I did read though that it is a heavy feeder and I probably need to start fertilizing it soon now that I am also flushing it. All of a sudden a lot of new knowledge is becoming apparent to me, while the person that I bought it from told me it needs nothing special, just to not water it too much when I inquired as to how to properly care for it... I am just thankful there are a lot of knowledgeable people here :)

And soil seems too black... It is maybe too wet?

Put the pot in a warm place with allot of air circulation, in order to reduce the soil humidity.

""flushing" the plant every 10 days " is way too much water!

OH my goodness thank you so much for explaining this to me!!! I am SO grateful to you!

Yes, the soil is wet because I had just given it water then took the pictures immediately after.

If you have any recommendations on frequency of flushing necessary when the plant is potted in terracotta and on how often it requires fertilizer (and what kind) I would be even more grateful!

Once again, thank you everyone for helping a newbie like me! <3

How long does it take before you water again and how do you know when to water?

When you water, do you use TAP water ?

Do you water just enough so that not much runs out from the bottom?

What kind of mix is that?

Nice fruit by the way and welcome here). It does look like burn caused from salt toxicitity..

Mike

Divina How is your tree today

Steve, the tree must be ok since she never came back to answer the questions, or this she is not and I she is ok. You are very thoughtful though

It is not the amount of water that kills or damages a tree, it is the lack of oxygen to the roots that kills or damages a tree. If a tree in planted in a fast draining medium that allows for adequate oxygen, you can water the tree every day, twice or three times every day with out a problem.

Thank you all for keeping up with the advice and concern over my tree. I have struggled with my beloved kumquat for two years now and I have of course been following this thread whenever I see an answer. I am afraid I am not a very good carer for my tree, though goodness knows I love it so much and try. Since my first posting in 2015 my tree has been doing worse instead of better. It never fruited again, despite my hand-polinating it the next time it bloomed. The next season it hardly bloomed at all. My conclusion is that it has "caught" something, though I don't know what. I have been seeing some white extremely thin threads every now and then, as thin as fibers (1/5th of a hair or less). The internet seems to think it is mites, though I have been watching and have never seen a single one. Before leaving on vacation this year I gave it a few "baths" (obviously not letting the soil get any of that) with a water and dish-soap solution. Miraculously, that worked and my plant produced new leaves for the first time in a LONG long while. I left it in the care of my friend while I was for a month-long vacation though and while all my other plants survived, this one came back to me looking worse than ever. At this point it has 2 leaves left and I don't know whether I can revive it. But I will keep trying....
Thank you so much for your concern and questions.

Don't give up. There is still the possibility of it coming back to good health.

Where are you located? White waxy thin threads does not sound good at all. HLB?

Maybe read up on citrus greening and look at pictures of the pest that causes this.

Can't be sure but it sounds like a bad case of mites, you wouldn't be able to see them without magnification and the webs can be visible when there is a lot of them, since it got better after your soap and water bath I would think that's the case. Either continue with the soap/water baths or get some Horticultural oil and/or insecticidal soap and keep up the treatments. Mites are very common on indoor citrus, I know we are heading into fall/winter but if you can next spring/summer move the tree out side and spray it down every time you water and the mites shouldn't be a problem then. You also should consider re-potting into a soil-less mixture as the potting soil might be smothering the roots and coupled with the mites isn't letting your poor tree grow, I have a 0% success rate with citrus in potting soil and a 100% success rate with citrus in 5-1-1. Even with tree's that lost every leaf from the potting soil. I Amazon'ed everything I needed for the 5-1-1 and whipped it up in no time and my trees are the better for it. If you are interested I posted Al's recipe and links to the products I used. You can certainly get them elsewhere or different brands/amounts.

5-1-1 recipe:

5 parts pine bark 1/4''

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Reptile-Bedding-Quarts/dp/B001F9AMW6/ref=sr_1_1?s=prime-day-secondary&ie=UTF8&qid=1505929463&sr=8-1&keywords=repti+bark

1 Part Spagnam Peat Moss

https://www.amazon.com/Mosser-Lee-Fibered-Sphagnum-Cubic/dp/B000P73WLW/ref=sr_1_5?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1505929597&sr=1-5&keywords=sphagnum+peat+moss

1 Part perlite (course preferred but regular ok)

https://www.amazon.com/Liters-Gallon-Perlite-Starting-Hydroponics/dp/B01N2SD0NM/ref=sr_1_4?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1505929666&sr=1-4&keywords=course+perlite

1 Tbsp Lime/Gal of mix

https://www.amazon.com/Espoma-GL6-Garden-Amendment-6-75-Pound/dp/B0063ZDTI6/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1505929722&sr=1-1&keywords=garden+lime

Sammers, that is the wrong kind of peat moss. This is what you meant: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Miracle-Gro-8-Quart-Sphagnum-Peat-Moss/1000067929

Thanks for catching that Vladimir. I used the wrong kind my first time around then switched. I went back to my order history and copied it over forgetting that I changed. I also order a MUCH larger bag of perlite but if she only has one plant the small amount should do.

Wow, I know I sound like a broken record but thank you so much!!! I am in the Netherlands and yes, it is an indoor one, there is no other choice here. I will definitely try this recipe, fingers crossed.

I hope it helps! you've put so much time and energy into the tree i'd hate to see you give up on it.