I was looking at that one too but from Four Winds, I'll be happy to hear the answer as well! It sounds like it would be great for marmalade and baking.

I'm interested in this as well. Hopefully someone will chime in.

I'm surprised nobody knows about this fruit???

Dave, I did a search about it. Apparently, very beautiful, but quite sour. I suspect you'll be able to use it as a lime substitute or in marmalade. Beautiful tree though!

Thanks, Laura. Yes, I searched for it too - appears the fruit is as very sour and worth as little as a calamondin.

Sounds like I'm gonna love it!

The Indio mandarinquat's fruit are very juicy with a sweet rind. If you let the fruits hang on the tree till they are very ripe they are mildly sour. The tree will not take temperatures as low as suggested above and should not be pushed below 25F in dormancy. The best part is that they don't need the heat to flower and fruit of the Nipon Orangequat or Nagami. I did an extensive amount of research on the Indio and bought fruit. Squeeze the juice out for drinks and fish then eat the rind and pulp like candy.

6b Steve

Thanks Steve.

I love mine. It is still young, but a happy tree. The fruit I have eaten were not yet ripe (I accidently broke of 2 fruits when moving it inside. Although not quite ripe the fruit had a nice taste. I could taste some of the sweetness then already.

Nice looking tree. Your potting mix looks good too. Was the fruit green when you tasted it? I heard the rind is sweet like a kumquat.

I'm glad to get this tree, it will replace my kumquats that I gave away to family.

thanks for the reply, Chris.

Please...don't give me any more ideas for next year!!! Chris, it is a lovely tree!!

Laura The indigo is another you can grow from seed and get fruit in reasonable size.

The fruits where on the way to changing color when I broke them off. Not all green like the picture. I will check the tree and see how that remaining fruit look now.

Here it is today. Remaining fruit getting sized but still green.

Thanks Steve! I need someone to send me seeds!! ;-). Chris, nice tree...let us know how you like the fruit when you try it!

Make sure to plant the seeds. These kumquats are easy to grow.

I was checking out my new tree good this morning, and noticed little white bloom dots starting to poke out. Also, looks like I need to feed it some. Here's a pic of the younger leaves.

Ive got one inground that is about 6 years old! but for some reason it has only fruited once when it was about 2 years old:( I've tried everything such as Potash, Fruit& Flower formula & its well fertilised every year but again this spring no signs of flowers! Very frustrating. It is a beautiful tree though & i'll keep it in hope it will one day fruit otherwise it is a good tree to screen out the neighbours.

Leaves look good, Troy. Hmm, odd your tree stopped fruiting years ago. No clue why. I don't know about Mandarinquat, but with a calamondin it's been said you can force the tree to bloom by witholding watering it until the leaves start to roll and look distressed, then water it really good and thoroughly and it's suppose to bloom after while. I'm not speaking from experience though because I always water my calamondins when they need it. (That may only be for calamondins anyway)

What did your mandarinquat taste like to you? I've been reading conflicting things at other sites about the taste of a mandarinquat.

It's been about 3 weeks now, and I've been watering this new tree with foliage pro (when it doesn't rain). The leaves are starting to green up finally. Here's what 3 weeks did for it (compare with the previous leaf pic up there). Not a big change, but it's going in the right direction. The fruit is starting to turn orange. I promised my dad the first fruit.

Looking good! One of my mandarinquats is almost ripe, and I accidently plucked it, so I will try it at lunch :)

Let us know what you think Chris!

I set my IndioM on Carrizo into the ground in 2012. Initially I was ho-hum about it, but must say that I have warmed up to it. It does not produce an insane amount of fruit, but I do have to trim some off to prevent branch bend/break. The fruit seems a bit tougher against frost/freezing than the other kumquats. I primarily use the fruit to flavor a cup of hot water.... almost like a tea. - good stuff! - George

Beautiful tree George!! Wow! That's a great idea for it in warm water - especially now during winter. Is it sweet or sour?

Okay zest has sweet in it. Pulp/juice (very juicy) is tart zingy but has hint of mandarin in it too. I like it. Wonder if it got to finish ripening if it would get sweeter

George I wish I could in ground mine! Yours is gorgeous!

Chris I agree that it would sweeten up if left on longer.

George How tall is your Indeo M. It is beautiful. I have 2 in ground seed grown Fukushu plus 1 grafted Meiwa trees. Just curious of what I might expect from a Kumquat tree.

6b Steve

Wow. Interesting. I can hardly wait to try one now. i do the same with my calamondins, put it in hot water & tea. Also good in iced soda water.

Your tree looks great, George, That's the biggest Mandarinquat tree I've ever seen.

I'm bringing my mandarinquat outside in the sun everyday (always over 50F around here) Whatever mix it's in, it's real fast draining, and dries out quick. I'm going to try and find out what mix greenleaf nursery uses for citrus. Never hurts to ask, I've come to learn.

I just took a tape measure to the IndioM - its tallest tip (which is fresh) is ~ 100" from the base. I just grabbed a few fruits off of it and will test the brix and dissolved solids using ice and Vodka : - ) - after 5pm of course!

As a follow up - - - the IndioM - vodka combo did not taste all that great to me. Perhaps not ripe enough yet. I still do like one halved in a cup of hot water. : - )

What a beautiful tree Marjorie! I don't need more trees, but with such a glowing review, I may need to make space ;-)

Wow, so much fruit. Mandarinquat fruit looks beautiful hanging on the tree. Like orange drops. Thanks for you pictures!

My single fruit has almost turned orange. Can't wait to pick it. I may have to get more of these trees!

Marjorie, you mention getting a second crop - what a nice surprise, that mandarinquats can bear twice a year! I wasn't aware of that fact of this tree. I have one fruit almost ripe, and many blooms and small fruit just starting. I'm pretty happy with knowing mandarinquats are so active!

The 2nd crop was just on two lower branches and was a complete surprise. I don't think it will be regular occurrence. We have had it in the ground for about 8 years. Patience when waiting for ripeness, fruit can be orange and still not ready. I have a coworker who likes the little sting in the corners of his mouth when he eats them. My husband and I really do enjoy this fruit. (especially with ice cream).

Dave

Its been 3 years now how is the fruit. There a many of us itching to know.

Steve

Here is the tree today. I just went out and took the photo. Tree is doing good. An abundance of tasty fruit. The fruit is tart. The peel compliments it nicely. I had a thin year 2 years ago, We trimmed it last summer because it was getting too tall to reach all the fruit. I think I might trim some more this summer because there is just so much fruit. I am home, (like everyone else for the 4 weeks) and will make some marmalade and candy some. The fruit is really good. Nice bite size pieces.

It average 11 fruit to a pound. The 2nd photo is average fruit size to a quarter or two.

Taste is like a larger, slightly sweeter kumquat. Really good, especially if you like kumquats. Mine were quite seedy though -- maybe 8 seeds per fruit or so.

Nice tree, Marjorie! Thanks for the pics.

Steve, that fist Mandarinquat I picked was very bland and not juicy. I left it on the tree way too long. But the next harvest was all together different. I really, really liked the taste. I use them squeezed in soda water.

Dave in NoVA nailed it on flavor - it's like a big, juicy kumquat. A bit sweeter.. I much prefer these over kumquats. It is a seedy fruit.

My tree has grown so much in 3 years. I had a hard time carrying it in/out of the door over winter (put it outside on warm days). Need to prune it this year. I'll try to upload a current pic soon.

My 2 year old tree in Lafayette, CA produced about 50 fruits and is so overloaded that every branch is severely bent toward the ground. Because of this, the fruits seem to be taking awhile to ripen. That being said, even the half green half orange fruits are very good to eat. I bite off a small chunk, drink the sour juice and then eat the rest of the semisweet peel and interior structure. This is my kids favorite fruit and one of my favorites as well. I water it very frequently and is is more prolific than any other simar sized fruit tree I own.

It's kind of similar to kumquat. The inside of the fruit is more edible than kumquat but the peel is less edible than kumquat.

Overall I feel that it is not really a good compromise. Kumquats are for eating the whole fruit, skin and inside, and regular mandarin oranges are for eating just the insides, but when you get a hybrid between the two, it is kind of mediocre to be eating either the peel or the insides.

I mean you can of course eat the peel of mandarinquat, but it is less tender and a little bit thicker and more bitter than a pure kumquat.