Author Topic: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat  (Read 4381 times)

countryboy1981

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Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« on: April 16, 2016, 08:54:28 AM »
I was able to pick up a fukushu kumquat and a lemonquat this past week each about 6 ft tall when planted in the ground.  Does anyone know what the original varieties were that were crossed to make both of these?

brian

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2016, 12:27:42 PM »
http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/fukushu.html

UCR doesn't list the parentage so likely nobody knows.  Fukushu is a great kumquat, my favorite. 

What kind of lemonquat?  Sunquat?  I'm still not sure exactly what varieties are out there.  I have one labeled sunquat but it hasn't fruited yet.

countryboy1981

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2016, 02:18:22 PM »
It just states lemonquat, it was grafted by Saxon Bescel and Sons.  I was unable to find anywhere what the original varieties are.

mrtexas

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2016, 02:37:24 PM »
Lemonquat is likely a sunquat. Parentage is unknown. It was found under a clementine tree In Houston,TX area 30 years ago. I don't consider
it one of the best varieties as it makes a mandarin size fruit that tastes like an under flavored kumquat. Fruit tastes pretty good if left on the tree until March, I actually met two of the original finders. Fukushu or changshou kumquat is likely a kumquat/mandarin hybrid. I have seen a kumquat/mandarin cross that is just like a changshou fruit.
« Last Edit: April 16, 2016, 02:39:57 PM by mrtexas »

Pancrazio

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2016, 03:17:26 PM »
Fukushu Kumquat is really good. Tasted my first fruit few days ago ad it was nice, refreshing, and it can be eaten whole. I guess that if they hang on the tree till summer they are a very nice refreshing fruit to be picked any time you go out in the garden.
My only concern is the fact that i have read (but i'm unsure if that's true) that this plant is less cold hardy than regular kumquat.
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brian

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2016, 06:54:35 PM »
I'm not sure about the cold hardiness because all my trees are greenhoused in colder months.  Mine also have usually 0-3 seeds, much less than the 8-10 listed,  likely because they are greenhoused when blooming and not being insect cross-polllinated

countryboy1981

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2016, 08:26:40 PM »
These are grafted on trifoliate rootstock to induce dormancy during the winter.  A Meyer lemon covered survived 17 degrees with only leaf loss and new growth dieback on the same rootstock the winter before.  The satsuma was unfazed.

countryboy1981

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2016, 08:34:31 PM »
Fukushu Kumquat is really good. Tasted my first fruit few days ago ad it was nice, refreshing, and it can be eaten whole. I guess that if they hang on the tree till summer they are a very nice refreshing fruit to be picked any time you go out in the garden.
My only concern is the fact that i have read (but i'm unsure if that's true) that this plant is less cold hardy than regular kumquat.

I have been looking for a fukushu for a while and they just got them in.  I am really hoping to get to try one soon given your info.  I also have a meiwa, centennial and limequat (probably eustis).  The meiwa is always good, the limequat is similar to a key lime, and the centennial is good if left on the tree until February.

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2016, 08:47:39 PM »
Countryboy1981, where are you buying your citrus ? Thanks.

countryboy1981

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2016, 08:55:06 PM »
Countryboy1981, where are you buying your citrus ? Thanks.

I purchased the meiwa a few years ago at Lowes, last year I found one centennial kumquat tree at Home Depot in Daphne, AL and the other 3, limequat, lemonquat, and fukushu was at Davis Nursery in Summerdale.  Davis Nursery currently has all of the latter 3 in stock.

Tom

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2016, 09:33:26 PM »
What is the most popular satsuma grown in south Alabama ? Cold protection should not be a problem for anything you have mentioned most years.

countryboy1981

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #11 on: April 16, 2016, 09:54:26 PM »
The owari is the most common and available.  From time to time the newer varieties such as miho and seto will become available at Lowes, etc.

Tom

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2016, 10:10:04 PM »
Owari can be very good and Browns Select can be even better ! Some times Lowes and Costco have them very cheap ! I think somebody in Fairhope grows Xie Shan in a nursery. A lady at church told me she had the best satsuma ever 30 years ago from a fruit stand in Loxlie beside the road. She is dying to know what the variety was. I told her I thought it had to have been Owari that long ago.....she is going to get her daughter to see what kind they sell now beside the road down there in fall.

mrtexas

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2016, 09:16:04 AM »
Owari can be very good and Browns Select can be even better ! Some times Lowes and Costco have them very cheap ! I think somebody in Fairhope grows Xie Shan in a nursery. A lady at church told me she had the best satsuma ever 30 years ago from a fruit stand in Loxlie beside the road. She is dying to know what the variety was. I told her I thought it had to have been Owari that long ago.....she is going to get her daughter to see what kind they sell now beside the road down there in fall.

Age of tree and growing conditions can be more important than variety, especially satsuma. I tasted the best satsumas or any citrus ever a while back and haven't had one as good since. It was from a 25 year old owari tree grown in sandy soil. I got buds and tried growing it 25 miles away and the fruit was not special.

Tom

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Re: Fukushu Kumquat and Lemonquat
« Reply #14 on: April 17, 2016, 01:18:20 PM »
mrtexas, I completely agree with you. I've tasted a difference in taste between limbs on the same tree on the same side on my own tree ! On another person's old tree I noticed a huge difference for the worst for one year to another. Same tree had produced a best in show years before. When I 'found it' the fruit was excellent. Best I've ever had. The next year or so the tree and fruit looked fine but the taste was average at best from the same side. It was a Browns Select.  Water, fertility, weather including temps and both sunshine and cloudy days can all play games with our minds ! Like you said 'age of tree and growing conditions'. Tom