A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum calamondin orange

I've had a calamondin orange for two years. I didn't remove the fruit the first year as I have read to do. It put on quite a few fruit, golfball size or smaller. They were kind of pleasant to eat, but sour and not awfully sweet. It has set fruit again, not many, which is fine, but they're the same size as last year. I haven't yet tasted them. Is the fruit ordinarily of higher quality than I described, or are they always very tart? Will they always be this size?

I didn't know so I googled. Here is what I found;
The fruit of the calamondin resembles a small, round lime, usually 25-35mm in diameter, but sometimes up to 45mm. It has the odor of a tangerine with a very thin green or orange colored peel. Despite its appearance and aroma, the taste of the fruit itself is quite sour, though the peel is sweet. Putting the whole fruit into the mouth often leads to surprise from first-time tasters at the combination of sweet and sour.
And I found it here

Thanks, Tina. The description is exactly what I experienced...it's interesting how it's used in beverages and cooking, and the vitamin C content is good to know, and what I expected.
It's interesting that the peel is sweeter than the interior.
With a little imagination, it could be a great ingredient in stirfry or refreshments.
I have a dwarf lemon and a lime I ordered as small bareroot plants that are doing well, possibly ready to fruit in the next year...the idea of fresh lemonaid or limeaid from attractive houseplants is awesome, I can't wait until these begin to produce...maybe a combination of all 3 will be outstanding!!!!
The whole idea of houseplants producing edible fruit is so appealing, and what a great way to stave off scurvy, Arr.

I kill plants in the house. But outside I have a meyer's lemon, a navel orange and a kuquat. The lemon is in production most of the year. The kumquat is in full fruit around Christmas and makes a lovely decorative potted plant. and the navel orange has been moved to new spots many time to try to find it the right amount of sunlight and water to thrive. I had one fruit on it last year. It was wonderful.

I take it the navel orange will eventually have to be planted in the ground? Or is there such a thing as a dwarf navel orange?
I remember a trip to Florida when I was eighteen, so many oranges fell off of the trucks that the roadsides were literally littered with oranges. We were hitch-hiking, and always had our packs loaded with oranges!

The navel orange is in the ground. We have moved it from hole to hole until we finally found a happy place. That is what comes of planting too many trees. My kumquat is the only thing in a pot and that is a 20 gallon pot.
It used to be that you could go all over southern Cal and eat off of the vine. But those vines and trees are getting further apart these days. But you can still probably get all of the citrus you can handle just walking down the roads. Most people are happy to share (and not have to pick up the fallen fruit later).

I have dwarf meyer improved lemon and a key lime tree and both fruited this year and the blossoms are the most fragrant in the garden...i hand pollinated w q tips this year and doubled my yield ......and i use a high nitogen fertilizer meant for azaleas and mine have THRIVED....

That is wonderful, dwolf.