I'm near Waco, TX & just purchased a lemon/kumquat cross labeled "Lemon Drop". It came from Hines Nurseries & their website has no info about it. The hangtag info is very skimpy at best.
I know cold will be an issue for this plant & I'm considering growing it indoors. I have East facing windows & lots of sun.

Since I don't know the normal size of this plant, do you think it will do OK indoors in a large pot? It currently is covered with some nearly ripe fruit & some just growing fruit.
Thanks,

From http://kissofsun.blogspot.com/2008/09/lemon-drop-anyone.html I found:
I got this response from Hines Nursery on the Lemon Drop tree:

CITRUS-FORTUNELLA LEMON-DROP
Plant Description: Evergreen tree to 15' (15 ft = 4.57 m) with equal spread.
Yellow fruit similar to the lemon. Can
be picked and used when rind is green.
Zone: 9

One of the non-thorny variety of lemon trees is 'Eureka', otherwise citrus trees have thorns.

These plants have shiny, dark green leaves; scented blossoms; and colorful fruit. They bloom all year and will produce fruits that can take up to a year to ripen. Last year's fruits often are still on the trees when the new flowers are blooming.

WHEN TO PICK: The fruits do not continue ripening after picking, so leave them on the trees until you're ready to use them.

Cheryl K
Austin, TX

I have seen the Lemon drop at Lowes but cannot find anything about it except the information on their tag.

I thought Hines went bankrupt ?

There is actually not an official horticultural category called Lemon drop. Lemon drop is a made up name by Hines Nursery. A mature Lemonquat tree planted in the soil will grow to 8 feet tall with a 7-foot tree spread at 10 years of age. Of course, in a container the tree's size will be greatly limited. The interior of the fruit is lemon like, has a pleasant acidity, and becomes sweeter in March and April. It is highly cold resistant. Lastly, in answer to Lazz's question about Hines. After bankruptcy, Black Diamond Capital Management LLC purchased Hines Horticulture, bringing one of the nation's largest growing operations out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The asset purchase agreement was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in December. - Millet (1,413-)

Thanks for all the info. I know the size will be contained if grown in a container but plan to use at least a 1/2 whiskey barrel size if you think that would be sufficient.
Should I use a citrus potting mix or would making my own be a better move?
I've grown kumquats in containers out of doors in southern CA but these conditions don't compare.
Thanks again,

I agree with Millet. I have seen the Lemon Drop at Lowes on Hilton Head. My guess it is the same as Mandarinquat (AKA Lemonquat, Sunquat), which I have. Growers often patent new names and apply them to existing plants. In such cases, the plant is not patented, just the name.

The best guess I have read, about what the trees parentage is, is that it is a Clementine x Mewia kumquat cross. As Millet said, it is right tasty for a sweet-sour citrus. The tree was the subject of an article in the December 1993 issue of the Fruit Gardener, published by the CFRG.

Ned

The sunquat was found in the Galveston
Texas area by Louis Walden and Bill chapman if my memory is correct.

it's not quite as sour as a lemon & the rind tastes like a kumquat. One side of the fruit was sweeter than the other - not top to bottom like kumquats.
I really hope it will do well.
(((HUGS))), Verna

Although a bit late to this post, the sticker on a "Lemon Drop" by Hines I purchased last year at Lowes states that it is Fortunella hindsii x citrus limon which would, if correct, make it a Hong Kong Kumquat x lemon. Just FYI.

I just impulse bought one of these. Anyone know how cold hardy they are?

Buddingman,
Good memory. I just re-read an article from CRFG Dec. 1993. The “Peel-icious” Sunquat: Eat it Whole.
In 1959 under a Clementine tangerine, Dr. John R Brown,MD., William Chapman and Louis Walden discovered 8 chance seedlings in Friendwood, TX owned be Wilbert Boyle.
Of the 4 original clone mates that took, the West and South were saved by Dr. Nagle. He planted seedlings of these in Jamison’s Home Cannery orchard in Pearland. TX. This was the source for Walden Trees and Hines Nursery.
The name has been Lemonquat, Meyerquat, and Boylequat. But it has been decided that there is not a lemon linage.
Along with the Sunquat the article mentions several “Lemonquats”
1. Rio Grande Valley ‘Lemonquats’.
2. Winter Haven, FL has a’Lemonquat”,
3. Lemonquat 4877.4 and Lemonquat 48770-B are from River Grove, FL.
The finding and saving of the Sunquat reads like a Who's Who of Citrus pioneering.
Terry