The Tropical Fruit Forum

Citrus => Citrus General Discussion => Topic started by: brian on May 20, 2014, 01:57:10 PM

Title: Kumquat bloom schedule
Post by: brian on May 20, 2014, 01:57:10 PM
Over the winter, all of the trees in my greenhouse flushed massively.  Most also bloomed heavily, except the kumquats.  These put out little to no blooms and didn't set any fruit.  They easily doubled their canopy size, though.  This spring I also purchased some new 3yr kumquat trees that arrived with little to no fruit set.  Can I expect another round of blooming this spring/summer or do I likely need to wait until next year? 

The three kumquats I had since last year all had fruit (10-30 each) that I ate over the winter so they are definitely large enough.  All old & new trees are 3-4yr grafted trees from FourWinds.  Varieties are Meiwa, Marumi, Changshou/Fukushu, and Nordman Seedless.  All of my other citrus trees set plenty of fruit at the same time in the same environment
Title: Re: Kumquat bloom schedule
Post by: adriano2 on May 21, 2014, 02:23:52 AM
i have 3 kumquats. They bloom in june or even in july. 
Title: Re: Kumquat bloom schedule
Post by: Millet on May 21, 2014, 09:54:28 AM
Generally, the more a cultivar is cold hardy, the later the cultivar blooms.  - Millet
Title: Re: Kumquat bloom schedule
Post by: brian on May 21, 2014, 11:59:26 AM
Thanks, hopefully I will get a large amount of fruit on them this year then!
Title: Re: Kumquat bloom schedule
Post by: Millet on May 21, 2014, 04:10:09 PM
brain, Is your kumquat grafted on a Trifoliate rootstock?  Besides imparting to the cion some of its ability to withstand cold, a trifoliate rootstock also has a tendency to retard growth in the spring. - Millet
Title: Re: Kumquat bloom schedule
Post by: Tom on May 21, 2014, 10:49:10 PM
My kumquats in pots are blooming right now. They are behind my other less cold hardy potted citrus in
Zone 8. Tom
Title: Re: Kumquat bloom schedule
Post by: brian on May 22, 2014, 05:11:58 PM
These are from fourwinds so I assume they are all on Cuban Shaddock. 

I am worried that they might be confused from moving to a 90F/55F greenhouse to 70F/50F spring outdoors in PA.   After going through a huge growth flush I'm not sure if I should expect a flush of only flowers sometime soon, or if they already missed the boat and won't flower until the next growth flush.
Title: Re: Kumquat bloom schedule
Post by: Yorgos on May 23, 2014, 02:11:09 PM
I'm in zone 9a, Houston, TX near NRG Stadium.  My 15+ year old meiwa kumquat is just now starting to bud.  I just planted a changshou this sprning (its already summer in Houston) and it, too, is just starting to have incipient flower buds.  Looking back, my meiwa has always flowered in late May so patience is the key as compared to other citrus.