Calamondin thoughts.

 

In previous years it was never in great shape after the winter. Full of bugs and yellowing foliage.

This year I sprayed it with Roseclear 3 times during the winter - this kept the outbreaks of pests down.

I also took it outside and gave it a deep watering a few times. Drenching it with fresh rainwater. When indoors I water it less because it will overflow its driptray otherwise.

It kept good dark green in the leaves because i fertilised it quite a lot - every 10 days or so - with half strength micracle grow general purpose - and I also gave it a few doses or CalMag which it really enjoyed last summer.

This fertilising regimen seems to work well - so I intend to have the Calamondon and the Satsuki's on the same rotation of fertiliser and CalMag.

Calamondin.

Not a very native or English plant - but it does have a long history of cultivation in England as orangeries were built and citrus ( and other exotic species ) were grown as a symbol of prestige. And lets not forget who likes marmalade the most. They are sold at most of the local nurseries with fruit on them and are very pretty little things. I bought this one cause it looked cute 3 years ago. They aren't locally grown stock either - but are grafts from dutch suppliers.

Quite hard to grow as well. The cold winter here can really set them back a long way - definitely a conservatory plant. They feed heavily during the summer so it gets full strength citrus fertiliser once a week.

The poor thing really didn't like the cold much - as u can tell from the color.

I took a bit of a risk and repotted it while it was dormant and in poor shape. Its in an Akadama and bark mix. It seems very comfortable in this soil and once the roots had made themselves at home it has gone a lovely deep green again and put out a lot of new growth.

As with most plants - it has taken many months to get comfortable in the new pot. Id estimate 6 months before it became really vigorous.

They are fantastic in a Gin & Tonic - well worth cultivating.