Orangequat

Description

Orangequat, properly a mandarinquat, is a cross between a Satsuma mandarin and the Meiwa kumquat, combining mandarin juiciness with the kumquat habit of eating the whole fruit rind and all. The fruit is vivid orange and teardrop-shaped, ripening from late summer. Both skin and flesh are edible: the rind is sweet and the flesh tart, so the whole fruit is eaten fresh by those who enjoy tangy flavours, while it also serves for culinary use and preserves. The plant is compact and shrubby, frost tolerant for a citrus, and ideal for containers and small gardens, where it is both productive and ornamental. Because the record's Late Summer timing is not an allowed scale value and the cross fruits outside the single-species scales, no harvest timing is assigned; the late-summer season is noted here instead. Also available dwarfed on Flying Dragon rootstock for pots. Grow in full sun in free-draining mix or soil, water container plants regularly, and feed in spring and summer. Self-fertile.