How Many Years Until a Kumquat Tree Flowers and Fruits? Potted Cultivation and Management Methods and Prices

Kumquat, also known as golden orange, is an evergreen shrub of the genus Fortunella in the Rutaceae family. It is cultivated throughout southern China, with more plantings in Taiwan, China, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi. So how many years until a kumquat tree flowers and fruits? How do you cultivate and manage it in pots? The details are as follows:

Planted for two years it can flower, and generally fruits in three to five years. The kumquat mainly uses the spring shoot of the current year as its fruiting mother branch, and it can bloom four times a year, but the fruit set from the first flowering is larger. The flowering period is March to May, and the fruiting period is October to December.

Potted Kumquat Tree Prices

A larger one costs about one hundred yuan per pot, and a smaller one about twenty to thirty yuan per pot. The kumquat tree loves light, so placing it in a bright, well-ventilated spot on the balcony is fine. It fears cold and freezing, so pay attention to keeping it warm in winter.

Potted Kumquat Tree Management

If potted kumquats are managed improperly, they often only flower without fruiting, or fruit little, or even fail to flower at all. To make potted kumquats flower and fruit year after year, scientific management of water, fertilizer, pruning and other aspects is necessary to achieve an abundance of fruit. The main aspects of management are as follows:

Reasonable pruning There are two reasons for pruning potted kumquats. First, the pot is small and the soil is little, so the nutrients provided are limited and cannot meet the needs of kumquat growth, making pruning necessary. Second, through shaping and pruning, the rational distribution of nutrients within the tree is regulated, so that the limited nutrients are concentrated in supplying buds and leaves, forming more fruiting branches, and thus achieving branches full of flowers and fruit. Before the spring shoots sprout, potted kumquats must undergo heavy pruning. First remove dead branches, diseased branches, water sprouts, inward-growing branches, crossing branches, and adventitious shoots. For strong branches, prune lightly, leaving 4 or 5 plump buds; for weak branches, prune heavily, leaving 2 or 3 buds, to encourage each branch to produce more robust spring shoots. After the spring shoots have grown in fully, to control their excessive growth, light pruning can be done, cutting off 3 or 4 nodes of the branch tips. When the new shoots that grow later have 6 to 8 nodes, pinch off the tips, with the aim of inducing more summer shoots.

“Water withholding” before flowering To prevent the summer shoots from growing too vigorously and, at the same time, to let the tree accumulate nutrients and promote the formation of flower buds, carry out “water withholding” on potted kumquats before the End of Heat (Chushu) solar term. The specific method is: starting more than ten days before the End of Heat, gradually reduce the water supply to the potted kumquat; stop the water supply 5 days before, and after the pot soil is exposed to the sun, a large amount of water evaporates and the pot soil dries out; due to the lack of water, the root system causes the branches and leaves to lose water, and the leaves become shriveled and curled. To prevent the leaves from dehydrating, spray water on the leaf surfaces in the morning and evening, and at the same time spray a small amount of water on the pot soil, so that the kumquat is in a condition that is both dry and not so dry as to die, and its axillary buds instead swell day by day, with the bud color changing from green to white. When most of the axillary buds change from green to white, the “water withholding” to promote flowering has succeeded. At this point, promptly resume supplying water to the potted kumquat.

Protecting flowers and fruit After the kumquat flowers, besides applying a light fertilizer once a week, flower thinning and fruit thinning must also be carried out. Before the flowers open, first thin out a portion of the flower buds; after the flowers fade and the fruit has set, thin out some young fruit in improper positions, with the aim of reducing nutrient consumption and letting the limited nutrients be concentrated in supplying the retained flowers and fruit, so that the fruit grows larger and better. During the fruit growth period, if fertilizer and water are sufficient and the plant's nutritional condition is good, some branches will sprout new shoots, and the growth of the new shoots will inevitably divert part of the nutrients, affecting the growth of the fruit. To keep the fruit, promptly remove the new shoots that grow. When the fruit turns yellow and ripe, stop fertilizing and reduce watering, keeping the soil moist and slightly on the dry side. If excessive fertilizer and water continue to be given, the fruit will ripen prematurely and drop early, shortening the viewing time.

Reasonable fertilization The kumquat loves fertilizer, so usually more light fertilizer should be applied. Apply a decomposed liquid fertilizer once before the plant sprouts, and afterward apply a liquid fertilizer mainly of nitrogen fertilizer once every 7 to 10 days, to encourage more branches and leaves and more spring shoots. After each pinching, fertilize promptly to encourage the branches to mature early. During the kumquat's growth period, some cake fertilizer can be scattered on the pot surface, so that each watering carries some fertilizer into the soil, enhancing fertility. After autumn begins, reduce fertilization to avoid excessive plant nutrition, which would promote autumn shoots and cause fruit drop by competing with the fruit for nutrients.

Repotting Because potted kumquats have little pot soil, the nutrient supply is very limited, and after many years the soil's fertility becomes deficient, so the kumquat will weaken year by year, flowering little and fruiting poorly. To keep the kumquat flowering and fruiting year after year, it must be repotted. The most suitable time for repotting is half a month before the kumquat sprouts. Before repotting, first prepare a pot one size larger than the original, take the kumquat out of the pot without breaking the soil ball, shave off 1 or 2 cm of the top layer of old soil along the soil ball, cut off dead roots and rotten roots, and shave off 1 cm of soil from the bottom of the soil ball, and take out the tile pieces that were placed at the bottom of the original pot and have sunk into the soil. Place tile pieces over the drainage hole of the new pot, first spread a 2 or 3 cm thick drainage layer, then spread a 4 or 5 cm thick layer of nutrient-rich potting soil, mixed with a small amount of superphosphate. Then place the kumquat soil ball into the pot, fill potting soil around it up to the pot rim, press the pot soil down slightly, water thoroughly to settle the roots, place it in a ventilated, semi-shaded spot, and after a week put it back in its original place for routine management.