Citrus × microcarpa
Calamondin
Common names: Calamondin orange, Panama orange, Chinese orange
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 0 °C
- Pruning
- Mar–Apr
- Harvest
- Jan, Feb, Mar, Nov, Dec
- Flowering
- Apr–Aug
- Spacing
- 100 cm, rows 100 cm
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The calamondin, botanically Citrus × microcarpa, is a hybrid of mandarin and kumquat and is presumably native to southern China. It grows as a compact, evergreen shrub with small, glossy leaves and usually stays at 1 to 1.5 m in a pot, while older tub specimens can reach about 2 m in height. The white flowers have a sweet fragrance and appear mainly in spring and summer, often with flowers and fruits hanging on the branch at the same time. The table-tennis-ball-sized fruits change color from green through yellow to bright orange. They are usually ripe from November and then remain on the shrub for many weeks. Their thin peel tastes mild and aromatic, while the flesh is very sour. In the kitchen, the juice is used like that of lemon or lime for drinks, dressings, and marmalade. The calamondin is more robust and somewhat less frost-sensitive than the lime, and it also copes with a bright spot indoors.
Care instructions
From mid-May (calendar week 20), place the calamondin in a sunny, wind-sheltered spot outdoors and acclimatize it gradually to the sun, otherwise the leaves may scorch. Indoors, it belongs at the brightest window. Water once the upper half of the soil has dried out, using low-lime water, and make sure water never stands in the saucer. Mist the leaves occasionally, which it enjoys and which helps keep spider mites away. Fertilize regularly from April to September. Pick ripe fruits as needed, as they often hang on the shrub for weeks. Common mistakes are waterlogging and a dark, warm winter location, where the calamondin drops its leaves and flowers. Repot every two to three years in spring into a slightly larger pot when you notice the roots filling the pot.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
HarvestJan–Mar, Nov–Dec
FloweringApr–Aug
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, loamy
The calamondin grows in loose, humus-rich, well-drained soil that is slightly acidic to neutral. In a pot, use citrus compost or container plant compost, mixed with a little sand or expanded clay. Drainage holes and a layer of gravel for drainage are important, because compacted, wet soil quickly leads to root rot. Hard water makes the leaves turn yellow over time; rainwater is the better choice.
Feeding
Heavy feeder
Months
Apr–Sep
The calamondin is a heavy feeder and wants regular feeding from April to September. Add a liquid fertiliser for citrus or flowering plants to the water every one to two weeks. In spring you can work a little mature compost into the top layer of soil. Do not feed in winter. Pale green or yellowish leaves often indicate a nutrient deficiency.
Pruning
Prune the calamondin in March or April, before it starts into strong growth again. Take out dead, crossing and inward-growing shoots and shorten long shoots so that the shrub stays dense and compact. If fruit is still hanging on it, harvest it first. Hard pruning costs you flowers, so it is better to prune a little more often than a lot at once.
Overwintering
The calamondin is not hardy and tolerates light frost only briefly at most. Bring it in by October at the latest, before nights turn properly cold. It does best in a bright spot at 8 to 12 degrees, watered sparingly and not fed at all. A bright spot in the living room works too, but then it needs more water and regular spraying down, because dry heating air favours scale insects and spider mites. Put it back outside after the Ice Saints in May.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
- From seed
- Grafting
Cuttings are the easiest way: in summer, cut semi-ripe shoot pieces about 10 cm long, remove the lower leaves and insert them in loose, moist seed compost. With bottom heat and high humidity under a propagator lid, they root after a few weeks. Pips from ripe fruit also germinate, and the seedlings usually closely resemble the mother plant, because the seeds produce several seedlings. They do need a few years before the first flowers, though. Nurseries also graft the calamondin onto vigorous rootstocks, but at home that is hardly worth it.
For your garden
Grow Calamondin yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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