Hey everybody!
I have a calamondin now for about 3years and since i had it, it haven't got any flowers. When i bought it in the supermarket, it was bearing some calamondins but the plant wasn't in good condition at all.. A few months after i bought and i thought it was recovered, suddenly a few branches died. In the middle of a healthy branch, the green bast turned light brown (like older branches but that doesn't happen in the middle of a green one). There were also calamondins on those branches and they died after a while. Then i pruned the plant thorough and it grew new branches. Now, 2years later i still haven't seen some flowers. I must admit that i have pruned the plant a few times because the shape wasn't good, but i always pruned the new growth.

In summer, the plant is standing outside in the sun ('bout 6hours/day) and in winter it's standing on our attic (at the window) where its cool (40-55). Because of the very mild winter, the plant started to grow already at the end of januari. In februari i have put it in my room plane to the window (in front of the window) because the plant didn't stop growing. Here it's 'bout 60-70° F and the plant has grown some nex branches 'bout 5inch. I water the plant when the soil is dry and add a portion off citrus fertiliser ('bout once a week).

Ow yeah, last year i've put the plant in a much bigger pot: size 'bout 10inches high and 12inches broad in a peat(70%)- flowerground(30%) mixture.

Anyone an idea why it doesn't flower?
Thanx!! Greetz:)

Welcome to the Forum Laurens.
First off, where do you live or at least what zone are you in?
My best guess is that when you keep pruning it, you are setting the plant back. Try just letting it grow as it wants and see if you get some flowers that way.
Darren

" but i always pruned the new growth. "

Try not to prune it. You may be pruning the future flowered nodes the tree wants to produce. It is not advisable to prune citrus anyway. That's why it is behaving that way. Just leave it alone.
that's the best thing you could do to your plant. Semi neglect it.

Well i'm living in Belgium (Europe) So i can't let the plant grow too big because i always have to move the plant when it gets colder. You should think that it's freezing here, but this is the mildest winter ever, we have only had 5 freezes about 24-26°F .. Actually my other citrus plants who are grown from seeds are allready standing in the greenhouse. The outside temperature at day is about 54°F and at night 45°F.. That's the double of what it should be.

Greets laurens

I have seen a calamondin get huge in the ground, but mine in a pot is 2 yrs old, I did thin it out a bit when I transplanted it, but its doing well now.

Its maybe 2-3 inches taller overall.

Citrus make their buds on their new growth, so if you cut all the new, you cut all the buds.

When it fills out top and bottom, it should quit growing so much but also flower and fruit.

Laurens, either keep pruning back the tree and have a nice house plant, or stop pruning back the tree and it will fruit. Its up to you.

Millet
Carl Linnaeus 1707 -1778
300th Anniversary Of His Birth

Thanx everybody, i thought that it flowered on 1year-old branches.. But still it's a little bit weird because of course i haven't pruned All the new growth. When i bought it, it was about 8inch tall and now the plant is 16inch tall.
So...can i expect flowers this summer on the new growth (4inches) of this month?

Greets laurens

[quote="Millet"]Laurens, either keep pruning back the tree and have a nice house plant, or stop pruning back the tree and it will fruit. Its up to you."

I believe we have adviced you to the best of our knowledge.
Yes, you can expect that your cal will flower but it is only 50-50 chance. Just like anything else. We can not say oh, yes you will have flowers. because of what you are doing to your plant we can not predict the outcome.
My last entry.

Hey Laurens,

Take it easy. Benny meant you absolutely no ill-well and is a great citrus guy once you get to know him more. He is sometimes like a father to his citruses, especially the Calamondins, treat this that there are times when strong the wordings from a father could come in order to stick it in our minds of how we should do things properly. Just give your Calamondin more time. It has no choice but to bloom for you if it is growing. When absolutely needing to prune, simply thin out branches minimally and do not cut the terminal ends of each limb. If you cut the terminal ends of each limb to keep your citrus in shape, you would have taken out the future blooming buds. What you would do if you really wanted to prune out terminal buds, you would alternate pruning them every three years. You basically cut out a third of the limbs for shape every three years, leaving the others unchanged. This way, it would be a compromise fruiting and pruning to shape.

Make sure to apply fertilizers that have minors and high in K.

Regards,

Joe

Thanx a lot for your explanation Joe
Yeah Benny probably thinks that i'm another person who buys impulsive an orange tree just because it looks nice...and who doesn't know anything about it. Well that isn't true, i have some citrus for years (well that's not very long but i'm only 16) which i've grown from seed and i really love those plants, just like i love allmost all plants (especially tropical plants)
Actually, this calamondin was dying in a supermarket and i bought it because i really wanted to give the plant a chance.

And like i said before, i didn't knew that the plants don't bloom when they're pruned. It's a little bit a habit to prune plants when they grow out of shape because i also keep bonsai

I was planning to let my calamondin grow out because i love big, impressive plants but it's really not easy to bring a big tree in the house in winter and to find a good place for it in our house. But i'll give it a try. Ofcouse it's impossible for me to let the plant grow for meters.

I don't get the last scentence you write, but if i'm right you need fertiliser (NPK) with a high N, like 5-1-3?
By the way, i fertilise with a solution for citrus plants.

Thanx for your advice, laurens

Laurens, Citrus trees do not fruit because the tree has reached some predetermined height, nor some predetermined age. Every citrus variety has a predetermined node count that must be reached before the tree will become mature and fruit. In this discussion we can think of a node as equaling each leaf. After a citrus seed germinates, and produces it first true leaf, the tree has grown by one leaf (node). As time passes the tree keeps growing and producing additional leaves (nodes). After a several months it might have 10 leaves, therefore 10 nodes. After a year, perhaps 300 leaves have developed (300 nodes). As time passes additional growth produces more and more leaves (nodes), until finally one day the required node count is reached. The required node count is different for each citrus variety, therefore every variety takes a different amount of time to bloom and then fruit. Anyway, when your tree has grown the required number of nodes (leaves) your tree will begin to bloom and fruit. Know that your tree will either never bloom and therefore NEVER fruit, or it will take a VERY long time to bloom *IF* you keep pruning the tree. By pruning, you are constantly cutting away growth (nodes), thereby constantly reducing the required count. If you keep pruning your trees, you will have a nice house plant, or if you stop pruning the tree, and continue to repot the trees as it grows, someday the tree will fruit. My guess an indoor seedling containerized Calamondin tree would be 5-8 years to bloom from seed, less if grown properly. We are very happy to have you as a member of this forum. Take care.

Millet
Robert Southwell

Okay, thanx That's very interesting! So when your plant starts blooming when counting for example 300nodes, and you prune till it has 250, it will first grow back to 300 before it's able to produce fruit? That's really interesting
Since my plant has already beared fruit a few years ago, i hope the plant will bloom soon when i stop pruning.
Hopefully the weather gets soon better because it's terrible now, it didn't stop raining for days now. Happily my plants are standing in a greenhouse (non-heated) Tonight they forecast temperatures about 4°C or 40°F. Should i let the plants or bring them in home (attic), because they already started to grow.

Thanx, i'm also glad to be a member here:)

Greets, laurens

Hi Laurens, You sound like a very quick learner. I think the point you missed in the above post by Joe Real was the point about "minors".

Minors in this case refers to the trace elements that citrus plants need in addition to the "major" elements (N-P-K). They are elements such as Boron, Copper, Zinc, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Sulfur. Some fertilizers include these elements in the mixture-- many do not. If the fertilizer you use does not include the minor trace elements you need to add them separately. There is a product called S.T.E.M. (Soluble Trace Element Mix) that can be added to the water, or potting mix to supply the trace elements.

An interesting point about the node count requirement that Millet told you about is that when you graft a young seedling that has not reached the required node count with mature scionwood (wood from a tree that has already reached the required node count and is fruiting), the shoots arising from the bud of that mature wood will not have a new node count requirement--it "remembers" that it has already reached that node count on the original tree.

As for bringing in your trees, I have the same problem--I store my seedlings in my shop on cold nights and move them back outside when it is warmer. If it is cold enough to cool the roots below 60 F in the shop, I add a string of small Christmas lights to keep the roots warm. Otherwise I can't put them back in the sun until the roots warm up the next day. I forgot last night and left them out-- it got down to 46. When I went out this morning the leaves were drooping from the sun exposure, I misted them until it warmed up -- I think they will be OK. You actually have two choices-- bring them in to keep the roots warm-- or keep them out of the sun until the roots are above 60 (56 is actually the magic number Millet tells us is absolute zero for roots, but even at 60 they are barely functional).

Good Luck

I suspect some warm weather would help. Calamondins (from mature wood) bloom in 1 gallon pots, and they are pinched 2 or three times during the growing process to make them bushy. Fact is, that is the way they are most often sold. This is in a hot summer area (which is the only area I have experience in). If you can, post a picture of your tree, it may give us an idea of what the problem might be.

Ned