germed fortunella hindsii kumquat seeds, how to get a thick trunk fast?

pmedicate wrote:Hi Jim, I have a room with hid lighting in it for my plants. These seedlings are going through a summer phase indoors right now and wont see winter till next year. Are you telling me to put them in shallow pots because the roots tend to grow outwards instead of down? So a 5 gallon bucket wouldnt be an ideal pot? My ultimate goal is a small bonsai with as big as a trunk I can get.

pmedicate wrote:I just have some kumquat seedlings, they are like orange citrus plants. I want to get a thick trunk as quickly as possible, how can I achieve that? Should I put it in a large pot or start small and keep repotting it when it needs to be? I'm not sure if putting citrus seedlings in a large pot will cause any type of issues like over watering or something. Can someone please help me. Thanks.

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:You can also bud graft low down on to a very large of trunk nursery citrus tree. Or have someone do it for you.
Later.
Khaimraj

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:Hello Pmedicate,

if you have never done this before, get someone who has to do it for you.
Come back and show us a bud sprouting.
The person doing the graft will tell you when to cut what and when.
Best of luck.
Khaimraj

* P.S I will be having a friend do a bud graft for me as well with a Fortunella h.

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:Hello Pmedicate,

this is Fortunella hindsii
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rz6FVtVBKFs/UJF0urD72AI/AAAAAAAAAdY/iR6Iu5vzaj0/s1600/fortu10.jpg

Info and image on the rights side of the screen.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/113660/

I am in the tropics and from seed this shrub usually fruits within a year or two. The trunk does however take a while to thicken.
So can't offer any information on grafting in cold weather.
They also grow from cuttings.
Drop by in late spring and let us know how the grafting went.
Later.
Khaimraj

Leo Schordje wrote:Many citrus come true from seed. Many (but not all) produce can produce seed even when not pollenated. These seeds are essentially identical to the mother plant. Apomictic is the term for producing seed with a full normal set of chromosomes, without pollen from another plant. So it would be a reasonable guess that your Kumquats will produce fruit, and will be nearly identical to the 'mother' plant that was the source of seed. If the flowers were pollenated, depending on what other citrus was open at that time, you could have a hybrid, but I would say the odds are very high that you will have true to type Kumquats, that will be virtually identical to the original source plant. It will be a number of years before they fruit, but if the plants bulk up quickly in your HID lights, they could bloom in as little as 5 years or so. Fun project, if you are not in a hurry.

Andy Smith wrote an article about beating trunks with a hammer to try to get them thicker. He does advise caution to not get too vigorous with "laying on the beating". This trick won't be appropriate until you are in your third year or so. Too small a trunk and a hammer will just crush it.

http://www.goldenarrowbonsai.com/goldenarrowbonsai.com/Stories_Pg6_files/Beatit.htm

I have taken to flexing the base of trunks of seedlings as I walk by, or when I am checking on them. (only seedlings I am trying to get to trunk up) This would mimic to some degree the tree being bent down by the wind.

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:No bother Pmedicate,

I just wanted to make sure we were talking about the same shrub. There are edible Kumquats and then there is the Fortunella h.

If you are worried about never getting fruit, simply get a bud from one of the temple trees and graft onto a larger citrus type.
I asked a friend who does grafting, he said that normally you would need to graft into an actively growing rootstock.

Looks like early summer.

Please come back and keep the group informed and do a few other trees/shrubs as bonsai, get some needed practice.
Stay Well.
Later.
Khaimraj