Drooping Kumquat fortunella margarita
 

Hi there, firstly I apologise I am posting this in the wrong place, but I'm new to the site.
I wonder if any of you can help at all please?
I received a potted Kumquat fortunella margarita about a month ago as a gift. I have it positioned right next to a window as I read that they require lots of light. It has about 50 fruit on it (which have been on since purchase), but over the last couple of weeks, it's leaves have started to droop and fall. I don't know if this is because I have not been watering enough, watering too much, or because it requires food. Reading around, there seem to be mixed opinions as to how much water these plants require and "water but don't over water" comments aren't really very helpful! :-)
If anyone could help point me in the right direction, I would be extremely gratful.
Thank you.

Drooping Kumquat fortunella margarita
 

hendax wrote:
Hi there, firstly I apologise I am posting this in the wrong place,
but I'm new to the site.
I wonder if any of you can help at all please?
I received a potted Kumquat fortunella margarita about a month ago as
a gift. I have it positioned right next to a window as I read that
they require lots of light. It has about 50 fruit on it (which have
been on since purchase), but over the last couple of weeks, it's
leaves have started to droop and fall. I don't know if this is
because I have not been watering enough, watering too much, or
because it requires food. Reading around, there seem to be mixed
opinions as to how much water these plants require and "water but
don't over water" comments aren't really very helpful! :-)
If anyone could help point me in the right direction, I would be
extremely gratful.
Thank you.

You don't say where you are so we don't know the temperature or season which
would help. I am guessing UK so you are going into spring.

I doubt you will get much joy trying to raise a kumquat as an indoor plant,
it just isn't adapted to such low light.. Does the window face the sun
(south in the UK)? They need at least part sun to survive and full sun to
thrive. It may well be not getting enough light.

You need to water it enough that it just dries out before the next watering
in the non growing season and stays damp but not wet in the growing season.
If in doubt poke your finger down into the potting medium, if it feels cool
and damp don't water. Make sure that the pot drains out through drain holes
if over watered, drowning a kumquat will kill it. Watering thoroughly when
required is better than many small additions. Check the medium actually
holds water, some can get air spaces in them (or ant nests) or the medium
can become water repellant resulting in water running straight through
instead of being absorbed.

How big is the pot? A big tub (say 60cm or more) will make watering easier
as it will tend to dry out less. Also there will be room for the roots to
expand, this is a tree we are talking about here, although a small one.

Leaf drooping and falling is not a sign of underfeeding. Only feed it in
the growing season, that is spring and summer. It will do nearly all its
annual growing at that time.

David