Cultivating Citrus Fruits

My foray into growing the citrus fruit started when my 6th sister gave me this plant, supposedly a Taiwanese hybrid.  She gave this plant as a house-warming gift.  Apparently she was persuaded by the sweet talking people at the nursery to buy this plant.  Initially the plant came in the form of just two stalks, and some leaves, typical of grafted citrus plant, about a foot plus tall.  I really do not know what to do this plant except to dig a big hole in my then rather bare garden (then),  planted it  using the mixed soil bought from nursery, and watered it well, having no previous experience with such plants.  I  feed it with the fertilizer that the nursery people recommended, the small round black pellets that smelled like coffee.  For a long time the plant just stood there sulking, taking  stock of its new environment (and me, the frustrated gardener, lol, who keeps checking on it daily). It did not produce  new leaves nor new stems. Then about a month or two later, it bloomed and as a result of the blooms, 6 small round green fruits appeared. Coincident or  not ?  I asked my 6th Sister. But the plant continued to express its disapproval of me and my efforts....it just stood there with its 6 tiny green fruits, no new leaves, no new stalks....., it was as if time stood still for it!  

I sought to to read about citrus growing in the internet,  as well as looked for such books in the local library and bookstore, but unfortunately did not come across any useful article.  Then feeling a bit lost, I decided to dig around the plant, cleared the grass that was crowding around it, then miracles of miracles,  for my effort the plant suddenly produced  some new leaves !!  That was about 4 months back, and now the plant seemed to return to its state of  dormancy again, but at least it has many leaves and new stems, but it is growing slowly.  No new flowers. As long as it stays healthy, I guess I am thankful.

A good friend of mine, Tracy,  told me that  when  a plant first bear fruits, we should not pluck them but let them dropped naturally when they ripen.  So with nothing to lose and everything to gain, I  decided to follow this advice. The first fruit dropped before it can even mature, still green in color . Then one  fruit burst open , and  another one dropped. I decided out of curiosity to find out  what the fruit should taste  like, and plucked one.  Still not too mature, it tasted  a bit sweet, no sourness but not much juice. The skin was thin  and easy to peel. I decided to let the last two fruits be.  Well it was in February  when I first took their pictures  (small  green fruit) and now it is October, yet the last two fruits  have turned yellow but have not fallen (see the picture where I am holding the fruit),  hopefully patience will win the day!  

                                                                                                         

A man selling fertilizer and plants said it was not advisable to add fertilizer when the plant is flowering. The fertilizer will cause the  flowers / new fruits to drop.  After the fruits are harvested, feed fertilizer to strengthen the plant. After  about a month or two when the plant is rested,  add the flowering fertilizer for it to bloom.  Well, I have yet to try it out, as I am waiting for these two yellow beauties to drop.

The lime kasturi (calamansi) is a common feature  in most malaysian  gardens. It is so convenient to pluck a fruit or two for juice to be added to the sambal belachan (prawn paste chilli sauce) or chopped chilli / garlic  with white soya sauce served on the dinner table. On a hot day, a glass of ice cold  lime kasturi  juice drink is just heavenly.  I bought two plants as I just love the smell of the lime.  The flowers smell rather nice too actually.

 

It takes approximately 3 to 4 months from flowering  to harvesting the fruits. I have harvested all these fruits now to make sambal belachan.  A friend told me to add the skin of the lime to the chilli  when making the sambal belachan.  Since I do not use chemicals on my plants, I have no worries on using the skin as it gives a  nice flavour to the sauce.