Air Layering Cumquat trees

[Meegs]

Thanks jase =)

Let me know if you want to go in for a group order

[Meegs]

Thanks for sharing your success with air layering these, Ray. Im planning on attempting a nagami and calamondin next year, so october seems the time to do it. Interesting how it took so long to put out roots. Please let us know how the layers go
Seems as thought noone is interested in sharing the hindsii to us here, thoglette, but if i have any joy I will let you know.
Meegs.

[GavinG]

Meegs, any tips for getting the calamondin to flower and fruit? I've had one for years without any joy so far.

Gavin

[Ray M]

Thanks for sharing your success with air layering these, Ray. Im planning on attempting a nagami and calamondin next year, so october seems the time to do it. That should be a very good time to do the layers. Interesting how it took so long to put out roots. With the layers not going on untill November, I consider the time it took for roots to show was very good. Ray had a hard time with his ground planted trees due to the lack of rain. This would certainly effect the growth of the layers. Please let us know how the layers go
Seems as thought noone is interested in sharing the hindsii to us here, thoglette, but if i have any joy I will let you know. Meegs, were you able to get an email through to Ray?
Meegs.

Regards Ray

[Meegs]

Thanks Ray , I have sent him an email but I am impatient, so I might give him a call next week if I get no reply. There is also a possibility I have sent it to the wrong place In the meantime, you have inspired me to try with a native sunrise lime, fruit are around the same size as a hindsii but red!

Gavin, I dont really know why my different kumquats fruit so much. I got eight kilo last year from combined two cubic meters of potted plants, nagami and calamondin, usually two crops a year. I give them a handful of dynamic lifter every month or so, then citrus fertilizer when I remember. Watered daily in summer, every second day below thirty degrees.
Most likely its our warm climate here, I get lots and lots of bees when they flower which helps make the fruit. Smell of the flowers is lovely. I have noticed they drop unripe fruit if they dont get enough water on hot days, and by hot I mean a few days of high thirties. Makes for many jars of tasty jam Mine get at least eight hours direct sunlight per day, perhaps this helps? I have noticed they fruit more if free of citrus leaf curl, calamondins are terrible for that

[thoglette]

Watered daily in summer, every second day below thirty degrees.

I've got one sick cumquat standard - curl bug attack. Emergency repot carried out but I'm not sure I got them all.

Do cumquats (in your experience) need to be kept damp? I'm watering the leaves daily and have a tomato seedling in as a moisture canary-in-the-coal-mine

[Ray M]

Watered daily in summer, every second day below thirty degrees.

I've got one sick cumquat standard - curl bug attack. Emergency repot carried out but I'm not sure I got them all.

Do cumquats (in your experience) need to be kept damp? I'm watering the leaves daily and have a tomato seedling in as a moisture canary-in-the-coal-mine

Hi Thoglette,
I don't believe they need to be kept damp. The trees I took the layers off, (in the earlier posts), were ground planted trees at Ray Nesci's nursery. They are in a position where they would mainly only get rain water, they don't get any special treatment. The layers I took off are watered the same as everything else, no special treatment. If you didn't get all those pesky curl grubs they will continue to destroy the roots.

Regards Ray

[xIIRevoEvoS]

Cumquat preserved in salt makes a good sore throat relieve but also tasty in its natural form.

[thoglette]

I don't believe they need to be kept damp.
.... If you didn't get all those pesky curl grubs they will continue to destroy the roots.

Thanks Ray
tree is holding on (no new dead leaves) but I'd dearly love to see some new growth. I'm watering the foliage with weak seasol every few days.

It's getting just enough sun (noon to 5pm) and is out of the wind. We don't get frosts on my bit of hillside but temps are high-single-digit to twenty.

[thoglette]

It's getting just enough sun (noon to 5pm) and is out of the wind. We don't get frosts on my bit of hillside but temps are high-single-digit to twenty.

Happy to report back that the tree is still doing well. About to go and do some air layers.