Hi, I bought a kumquat tree in june and have kept it outdoors (full sun, temp 12 - 32 C = 53 - 90 F). It has been fertilized with citrus feed and grew a lot of new wood for a while. Then it started to grow buds on som of the new shoots, but a few days ago it got really cold and the buds were damaged. Now I have brought the tree indoors to protect it from the cold nights. My questions are: 1. Will the wood that did not grow any (visible) buds start doing so? 2. The edges of the leaves are a little bit wave-formed. What is up, do I need to do anything about that or is it "normal"?
Kumquat blooms develop only on the new growth. If the tree lost the blooms due to the cold, I doubt that the tree will produce another set of blooms until late next spring. I would not worry much about a little wave at the leaf margins. - Millet
Citrus do need cold or drought stress to initiate bloom. Kumquat is one of the more hardy citrus plants and should be able to handle temps slightly below freezing if it is given time to harden to cold. It generally takes about 800 hrs of exposure to temp below 20 C to support bloom formation.
Interesting... We had about 5 weeks with very hot (33+ C/90+ F) days and nights (20+ C), and then 2 weeks with relatively cold weather (14 - 20 C). After that it started to grow a lot of buds on the kumquat. Then it got even colder for a few days, and all the buds fell off =/ Could the relatively cold weather be sufficient to initiate bloom formation? Thanks, Arvid.
Arvid Kumquats are the last citrus to bloom, usually in late spring. Kumquats normally only bloom once a year although my limequat is loaded with blooms right now and blooms throughout the year. If all of your flowers are gone now I would try getting the plant to flush as much new growth as possible right now so you will get a nice crop next summer. Heres a pic of the new blooms & a few fruit. My tree has about 50 or so fruit in different stages of development. Also a pic of my variegated Kumquat.
