I'm going to copy the answer I gave in another topic: "...I've already achieved several crosses, but only two, in my 6 years of projects, have borne fruit and are now maturing. You can do short-term and long-term projects. In my experience, rampurg, chinotto, etrog, and Meiwa kumquats mature and flower (if they are healthy and grown in the ground) in 4 years. The rest take 7 to 10. So I would start with those. That way, you'll be happy over the years and excited to see the others.
Second tip: the first year, plant Poncirus or a rootstock resistant to your climate in the ground; if it's vigorous, all the better! This is so that when you take out a small shoot, you have somewhere to graft to slow down the development. I used an old tree, removed the top, and added a branch from a Maxima x Mandarin seedling. It grew enormously and made progress in about 4 years. Also, many of the roots are bad (like those of the kumquat).
Third: Eliminate floral competition. This means the plant produces more flowers than fruit, so if you remove all the self-pollinated flowers and any new shoots that come out, you'll only be leaving the ones you pollinated yourself. This ensures that only the cross-pollinated flower grows. If they all fall off in the first cycle, don't worry; the plant still has enough hormones to produce a second and third bloom. And if one of your cross-pollinated flowers develops, remove any shoots that come out afterward; this will force it to develop only your fruit. This method has helped me achieve all the crosses I want..."
and I add something else: I have already tried these crosses and the flower selection is basic, I obtained a Pummelo pollinated with Microcitrus but there was contamination and it came out self-pollinated. I do not cover the flowers, but in this case you must do it... and two things, citrus maxima is to release pollen before the flower opens, if it is hot but there is no irrigation it usually releases its pollen. squeeze the buds and make sure that the petals are somewhat detached but not so much as to be like a balloon about to explode, since it would be releasing pollen. if in doubt, open it and squeeze the stamens with your fingers, if it leaves pollen, remove the flower. it must be at its perfect point of development and not releasing pollen in order to castrate it. about citrus caviar, you must see that the pollen is very orange since in the sun it usually dies quickly, it turns white and is useless. if you can't do it in the morning, cover the plant to have shade and make it last longer on the flower. Use black tweezers; that helps you see if there are traces of pollen that could contaminate. And well, the rest is just trial and error 😋👌🏻. There's an Instagram site called Hervalistic, and they've already made crosses with C. maxima. There, I've posted photos of some fruit that haven't fully developed, but it's something.
Topic: How to Cross Citrus Varieties - Need Help (Read 1144 times)