Hi, Can anybody tell me whether Kumquats grow true from seed, and whether these are difficult to grow from seed or any other useful hints.
They do grow true, but there is a rumor out there that says they do not do well on their own roots. There are some forum members beginning to test that, but no results yet. Skeet
amogles, Citrus trees, kumquats included, are grafted onto various root stocks depending on what area the tree will be growing, how the tree is going to be grown, in what type of soil the tree will be planted, plus what diseases prevail. because you live in Switzerland , I assume you are going to be growing a kumquat in a container. A containerized kumquat will have no problems as a containerized tree when growing on it own roots, and should give you many years of pleasure. Kumquats are one of the slower growing citrus varieties, so start the tree in a smaller container and then step it up from container to container 2-3 inches at a time as the tree grows. NOTE: kumquats must not become root bound, so keep and eye on the root growth, and transplant before the roots begin to curl around and around against the inside wall of the container. Come back to this forum from time to time and let us know how the tree is doing. Take care. - Millet
I have 5 kumquat seedlings that year. two of them are very bad and die, the rest of the leaves dry up now.
Are you new to Kumquats, or have you successfully grown them? We need the context to appreciate the difficulty factor.
In that case, you and your methods are probably wanting. What direction does your window face? Try again in a sterile medium with as much light as possible and not too wet.
South window, of course. Sterility for citruses is not needed! Perhaps the roots of Kumquat do not like closeness, in spite of their weakness.
How close? Whatever else it true, you want to do things differently so you might get different results.
Kumquats grow to be mostly like their parents, if they weren't pollinated by another variety. But the seeds in kumquat are 100% zygotic, which means none of them will be exactly genetically identical to the parent.
typically very very similar to the fruit parent, but not exactly identical If you want to try to create a new hybrid, try pollenating your kumquat with a different variety.
I'm not aware of any kumquat that produce monoembryonic seed. On the other hand a quick search revealed three, perhaps more, that produce polyembryonic seed: Fortunella margarita, F. hindsii, F. obovata. Polyembryonic seed contain nucellar embryos that are genetically identical to the parent.
I believe most kumquat varieties produce monoembryonic seeds. polyembryonic/monoembryonic is a strong indicator of whether the seed is zygotic or nucellar, but is not necessarily a guarantee. obviously if the seed is polyembryonic, no more than one of the seedlings is going to turn out zygotic (and more likely none).
