Author Topic: Kumquat varieties update (Read 14120 times)

brian · « **Reply #25 on:** October 30, 2019, 12:48:11 PM »

In-ground kumquats are supposed to be hardy to the teens. Container tres and young plants are supposed to be far less hardy, maybe damaged in 20s?

I have never tested mine, they are greenhoused when it goes below 40F.

countryboy1981 · « **Reply #26 on:** October 30, 2019, 01:28:48 PM »

If I did not bank my citrus I would have lost nearly all if my kumquats other than the meiwa when we had several nights near 16 degrees. My centennial, eustis, and lemonquat were decapitated above the soil bank.

brian · « **Reply #27 on:** October 30, 2019, 02:16:22 PM »

I got over a gallon of fruit this year from a single kumquat tree that is under 3ft tall (4-5ft including roots & pot). Keeping them in containers and moving inside for winter should be a good solution for them.

This is after I had already picked some of the fruit:

Millet · « **Reply #28 on:** October 30, 2019, 04:03:27 PM »

brian, your the kumquat king on this board. You have just about all varieties of kumquat. The tree in the above photo is a nice cared for tree.

Heinrich · « **Reply #29 on:** November 02, 2019, 05:39:14 PM »

Countryboy, thank you for your very exciting taste report. Did you eat the fruit fresh out of hand or did you juice it?
My limequat Lakeland bears the first time. I am not sure, when to harvest and how to use it.

countryboy1981 · « **Reply #30 on:** November 02, 2019, 10:35:27 PM »

I have been cutting them into wedges and using them in water, tea, and beer. The ones I have picked thus far have been getting spots of yellow on them, not near fully ripe. My favorite lime other than red lime which doesnt have real lime flavor.

brian · « **Reply #31 on:** November 11, 2019, 04:04:13 PM »

I have another crop of centennial variegated kumquats becoming ripe. Again, they are pretty terrible - thin dry skin, very sour, rangpur-like bitterness. These taste identical to the indio mandarinquats (that I dislike the same)... same taste and texture simply striped with a rounder shape than indio.

brian · « **Reply #32 on:** November 11, 2019, 05:04:49 PM »

Also Fukushus are ripening. The largest ones are golf ball sized. I prefer them smaller, easier to eat whole. This one only had three seeds, not bad, I've seen from zero to 6+.

Taste is very good, not quite as flavorful as last two years' crops. This one is somewhat yellow still, I'll let them ripen longer.

EDIT - this is actually Marumi kumquat, not Fukushu, they are so similar I didn't notice it was the wrong tree

"excalibur" "red limes" have been orange for some time, but they get darker orange and sweeter the longer they hang on the tree. Once dark orange like this they are edible out of hand. Not as good as fukushu/meiwa/marumi, but much better than indio/centennial. They are about halfway in between.

Jabba The Hutt · « **Reply #33 on:** November 14, 2019, 03:42:57 AM »

I enjoyed the Centennial my wife and I planted, so can't wait to try these other varieties! That red lime is beautiful!! Edible peel?

Do you eat your lakeland limequat peel and all? Same question regarding Calomondin?

brian · « **Reply #34 on:** November 14, 2019, 11:01:08 AM »

Yes red lime peel is edible, with good texture. Slightly sweet but not as much as "true" kumquats.

Lakeland peel is noticeably sweet and edible, you can eat them whole if you take the seeds out, but the inside is still very sour it overwhelms the sweet peel.

Calomondins I always eat the peel. The peel has no flavor but is very soft unlike the dry skin ones of centennial, indio, and some others. Calomondin is easily peelable and segments separatable exactly like a miniature mandarin. If it wasn't extremely sour and seedy I could see it being very popular with children. When they become very ripe they are decent to eat out of hand but still very sour. I keep them around because my 2yo daughter loves picking them.

Jabba The Hutt · « **Reply #35 on:** November 14, 2019, 06:15:09 PM »

Quote from: brian on November 14, 2019, 11:01:08 AM

Yes red lime peel is edible, with good texture. Slightly sweet but not as much as "true" kumquats.

Lakeland peel is noticeably sweet and edible, you can eat them whole if you take the seeds out, but the inside is still very sour it overwhelms the sweet peel.

Calomondins I always eat the peel. The peel has no flavor but is very soft unlike the dry skin ones of centennial, indio, and some others. Calomondin is easily peelable and segments separatable exactly like a miniature mandarin. If it wasn't extremely sour and seedy I could see it being very popular with children. When they become very ripe they are decent to eat out of hand but still very sour. I keep them around because my 2yo daughter loves picking them.

Great to know, I can't wait to get my hands on one of those red limes, have a rangpur but definitely need that. I'll have to check excalibur next time I make it there.

Love how the calomondin segements like a mandarin! Wish there was more sweetness there but I'm going to try making a juice, don't mind super sour when I'm not having to chew it up for a minute. I eat lemons and limes out of hand all the time haha.

I'll have to see if I notice some sweetness on my limequat peels I just picked.

countryboy1981 · « **Reply #36 on:** November 21, 2019, 05:27:49 PM »

Just hand squeezed a lemonquat and it tastes similar to lemonade.

brian · « **Reply #37 on:** November 25, 2019, 10:45:09 PM »

Here's some of the centennials. After leaving them on the tree a while longer the red stripes become more prominent and the flesh/juice taste is a little better, but the skin still tastes poor

countryboy1981 · « **Reply #38 on:** November 27, 2019, 09:31:02 PM »

My centenniala are about 1.5 times that size. They dont seem to really sweeten up until late December.

Yorgos · « **Reply #39 on:** December 16, 2019, 02:08:32 PM »

Its the combination of flavors of the flesh and peel that makes kumquats so good to eat. Seems like juicing them would be a waste of the fruit.

brian · « **Reply #40 on:** December 16, 2019, 07:29:40 PM »

I think some kumquat hybrids are intended for marginal areas where their extra cold hardiness makes them viable where true lemons or limes cannot survive outdoors. For limequats, there is the added benefit of year round fruiting.

brian · « **Reply #41 on:** January 05, 2020, 10:00:08 PM »

I ate a fee more centennials from my tree today. After ripening far longer than I thought they would hold on the tree they are actually decent to eat. The bitterness is gone, though the skin is still papery

franklazar26 · « **Reply #42 on:** January 07, 2020, 09:14:11 AM »

Brian,

Thank you for updating. I think I am personally most interested in kumquats myself of all citrus. My sunquat, you helped me with on my other post, is finally arriving from harris citrus this thursday. I now have 4 different varieties; Hong Kong, a very young grafted Nagami (I was impatient to let my rootstock grow), soon to be sunquat, and this spring on backorder is a meiwa (I may cancel and wait on harris updating their shop for one). Meiwa is the only one I have tried so far, and WOW, I LOVE the sweet flavor and crunch it has. Like crisp salad only, you know, has flavor.

I'm interested in mandarins, but I am container only and I want things that flower profusely. Do mandarinquats carry this from kumquats? I also am having a hard time finding any online to purchase. Would you ever in the spring (or whenever you prune) consider selling any budwood of your varieties to Wisconsin? (unless in quarantine of course) I have very recently finally taught myself how to graft.

Also, the red lime seems very interesting! That is a kumquat variety? You eat the entire fruit whole, minus seeds?

brian · « **Reply #43 on:** January 07, 2020, 10:10:59 PM »

Frank I highly reccomend you try fukushu/changshou or marumi (they are very similar), and nordmann seedless nagami as it is otherwise identical to nagami but seedless. These are my favorite types. Meiwa can be quite good also but I have only had a few of the fruit.

The mandarinquat and orangequat are pretty bad in comparison. The thing is, the “regular” kumquats nagami, meiwa, marumi, fukushu are already flavored like orange/mandarin, these hybrids don’t add anything in my opinion, and I think they are worse in every way. Orangequat is like a full size bland seedy orange, and mandarinquat tastes like rangpur lime - sour/orange with a bitter taste. Ill send you some fruit next crop i get if you want to try them, and/or budwood.

If you want something that is truly half mandarin half kumquat try a calomondin! They look exactly like mini mandarins, are easily peeled and segmented like mandarins, and have edible thin skin. They are simply too sour for most people. I eat them sometimes.

Red lime is neat because it is extremely vivid dark-orange to almost magenta colored, and is decent to eat.

Every kumquat and hybrid are prolific at flowering and fruiting. If you have grafted trees you will almost certainly get fruit in the first year or two

Millet · « **Reply #44 on:** January 07, 2020, 10:33:54 PM »

Brian, good post, very descriptive.

franklazar26 · « **Reply #45 on:** January 08, 2020, 07:49:12 AM »

I would love to try some whenever possible! The reason I had never tried to obtain fukushu or marumi is that I was told they were very sour. Again the only kumquats that I have tried are meiwa, which are AMAZING, I honestly prefer them over any orange. I had forgotten that calomondin was a kumquat cross! I have several of those, currently rooting cuttings. I personally am not a fan of calomondin straight up, it is way too sour for me haha. I love the juice with sugar though. I am a fan of sweet fruit.

Also, I will probably stay away from the Mandarinquat then.. I am all for ornamental value of the crop but since I've tasted meiwa, my interests have slightly changed haha.

Red lime sounds really cool, I've never heard of that type of red lime! Those are kumquat hybrids?

Prolific blooming is a very exciting feature for me, so my hope is I will eventually collect them all!

My grafted nagami is only 3" tall, so It will be a while before I try fruit from that guy. I am very excited for my trees to arrive, although it may be awhile still before fruit, I am excited for the opportunity.

Let me know if you will be trimming soon or whatever crop is available! I will be more than happy to compensate for your time and being so generous! Thank you for your knowledge, it truly does aid me in what varieties I want to look at next as there isn't much online elsewhere about many of these plants.

brian · « **Reply #46 on:** January 08, 2020, 03:17:08 PM »

PM me your address Ill mail you some fruits. I have fukushu, marumi, centennial, red lime, sunquat, and limequats ripe now. More than I can eat

franklazar26 · « **Reply #47 on:** January 08, 2020, 05:29:49 PM »

Oh wow, awesome! Thank you! I pm’d. I was about to purchase a limequat but figured it would be too sour for my liking. I really appreciate that, it will depict which varieties I shall get next.

brian · « **Reply #48 on:** March 24, 2020, 07:05:59 PM »

I *still* have a ton of centennial kumquats hanging on the tree from the crop months ago, and they haven't deteriorated at all. I eat them every once in a while. The bitter flavor is gone now, their are decent enough for being the only tree with edible fruit right now.

Millet · « **Reply #49 on:** March 24, 2020, 10:50:08 PM »

My Meiwa kumquat has so many fruits there is no way I can ever eat all of them. I do notice that the Meiwa's peel is loosing some of its sweetness the longer the fruit hangs.

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Author Topic: Kumquat varieties update (Read 14120 times)