Have just been given some tiny grape sized oranges called Kinkan they are
from Japan.

They have normal pips in them. Is there anything i can do to encourage
these pips to germinate and then i would try to grow the orange trees
indoors on a south facing window.

Any tips appreciated.

On 07/05/2012 11:45, John Black wrote:
Have just been given some tiny grape sized oranges called Kinkan they are
from Japan.

They have normal pips in them. Is there anything i can do to encourage
these pips to germinate and then i would try to grow the orange trees
indoors on a south facing window.

Any tips appreciated.

These are more generally known here as kumquats. If you google for
growing kumquats you will find a lot of information.

--

Jeff

On Mon, 7 May 2012 11:45:46 +0100, "John Black"
wrote:

Have just been given some tiny grape sized oranges called Kinkan they are
from Japan.

They have normal pips in them. Is there anything i can do to encourage
these pips to germinate and then i would try to grow the orange trees
indoors on a south facing window.

Any tips appreciated.


Probably Kumquats. Don't expect them to taste like oranges. They are
very soar unless eaten whole. Their skins and rind are the sweet bits
just to confuse orange eaters! I've never been able to grow kumquats
so I depend on my greengrocer.

Steve

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In article ,
Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
On Mon, 7 May 2012 11:45:46 +0100, "John Black"
wrote:

Have just been given some tiny grape sized oranges called Kinkan they are
from Japan.

They have normal pips in them. Is there anything i can do to encourage
these pips to germinate and then i would try to grow the orange trees
indoors on a south facing window.

Any tips appreciated.

Probably Kumquats. Don't expect them to taste like oranges. They are
very soar unless eaten whole. Their skins and rind are the sweet bits
just to confuse orange eaters! I've never been able to grow kumquats
so I depend on my greengrocer.

Kumquats are rarely eaten raw, but candied or otherwise used in
cooking. As with most citrus, the skin and pith are bitter,
though no more so than many oranges.

Note that bitterness and sourness are not the same taste, though
many people taste them as the same.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Mon, 7 May 2012 14:26:35 +0100 (BST), wrote:

In article ,
Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
On Mon, 7 May 2012 11:45:46 +0100, "John Black"
wrote:

Have just been given some tiny grape sized oranges called Kinkan they are
from Japan.

They have normal pips in them. Is there anything i can do to encourage
these pips to germinate and then i would try to grow the orange trees
indoors on a south facing window.

Any tips appreciated.

Probably Kumquats. Don't expect them to taste like oranges. They are
very soar unless eaten whole. Their skins and rind are the sweet bits
just to confuse orange eaters! I've never been able to grow kumquats
so I depend on my greengrocer.

Kumquats are rarely eaten raw, but candied or otherwise used in
cooking. As with most citrus, the skin and pith are bitter,
though no more so than many oranges.


The ones I had from the greengrocer had sweet skins and pith. The
flesh was very sour.

Note that bitterness and sourness are not the same taste, though
many people taste them as the same.


I know the difference very well. Lemons are sour, Angostura and some
beers are bitter. Even when mixed together I can taste the two
flavours.

Steve

--
Neural Network Software. http://www.npsl1.com
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. http://www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. http://www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. http://www.justnn.com

In article ,
Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:

Probably Kumquats. Don't expect them to taste like oranges. They are
very soar unless eaten whole. Their skins and rind are the sweet bits
just to confuse orange eaters! I've never been able to grow kumquats
so I depend on my greengrocer.

Kumquats are rarely eaten raw, but candied or otherwise used in
cooking. As with most citrus, the skin and pith are bitter,
though no more so than many oranges.

The ones I had from the greengrocer had sweet skins and pith. The
flesh was very sour.

That is a most unusual kumquat - indeed, it's a most unusual
citrus! There may well be a variety like that but, generally,
they are as I said. If you come across them again, I should be
interested to know the variety.

Note that bitterness and sourness are not the same taste, though
many people taste them as the same.

I know the difference very well. Lemons are sour, Angostura and some
beers are bitter. Even when mixed together I can taste the two
flavours.

Lemon juice is sour; the rind and pith are bitter. I have never
cross a citrus where the rind and pith were not bitter, though
it is probably obtrusive only to sensitive people in some of the
'tangerine-like' varieties.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

wrote in message ...
In article ,
Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:



Thanks. these are from south japan and are eaten whole a mixture of sweet
and sour a bit like marmalade, and very yummy.

what i would like to know is how to propogate these, or even if it can be
done in foreign climes.

wrote:
Kumquats are rarely eaten raw, but candied or otherwise used in
cooking. As with most citrus, the skin and pith are bitter,
though no more so than many oranges.
The ones I had from the greengrocer had sweet skins and pith. The
flesh was very sour.
That is a most unusual kumquat - indeed, it's a most unusual
citrus! There may well be a variety like that but, generally,
they are as I said. If you come across them again, I should be
interested to know the variety.

I'm with Stephen on this - the kumquats we've grown, and the kumquats
we've had from the supermarket, both have had sweet skin and sour
inside.

On 2012-05-07 16:06:40 +0100, Chris Hogg said:

On Mon, 7 May 2012 14:26:35 +0100 (BST), wrote:

In article ,
Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
On Mon, 7 May 2012 11:45:46 +0100, "John Black"
wrote:

Have just been given some tiny grape sized oranges called Kinkan they are
from Japan.

They have normal pips in them. Is there anything i can do to encourage
these pips to germinate and then i would try to grow the orange trees
indoors on a south facing window.

Any tips appreciated.

Probably Kumquats. Don't expect them to taste like oranges. They are
very soar unless eaten whole. Their skins and rind are the sweet bits
just to confuse orange eaters! I've never been able to grow kumquats
so I depend on my greengrocer.

Kumquats are rarely eaten raw, but candied or otherwise used in
cooking. As with most citrus, the skin and pith are bitter,
though no more so than many oranges.

Note that bitterness and sourness are not the same taste, though
many people taste them as the same.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Hmm......but see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumquat where it says in
several places that the rind is sweet and the juicy centre is sour, in
contrast to most citrus fruits, and that it's usual just to eat the
rind and throw away the centre.

Hello, my wife has a very prolific kumquat growing in our conservatory.
My experience of the fruit is that they do have a sweet rind, and they
make good ingredients for puddings, as well as other dishes. My wife
had no problems in raising plants from the pips, they germinated quite
easily. I suspect, though, it will be some length of time before the
seedlings are mature enough to bear fruit.
Derek

John Black wrote:
what i would like to know is how to propogate these, or even if it can be
done in foreign climes.

I am not an expert, but I was under the impression citrus couldn't be grown
true to type from a seed and had to be grafted onto rootstock. We have had
kumquat trees in the past (bought from nurseries), but they have rarely
lasted more than a year, when most of our other citrus survive longer. I
would suggest that they are a bit more delicate than lemons (which are
relatively easy to grow here, if you can bring them in out of the cold)

In article ,
Chris Hogg wrote:

Kumquats are rarely eaten raw, but candied or otherwise used in
cooking. As with most citrus, the skin and pith are bitter,
though no more so than many oranges.

Note that bitterness and sourness are not the same taste, though
many people taste them as the same.

Hmm......but see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumquat where it says in
several places that the rind is sweet and the juicy centre is sour, in
contrast to most citrus fruits, and that it's usual just to eat the
rind and throw away the centre.

Hmm. I smell a persimmon factor here :-) Many years ago, those
had to be bletted before they became edible, or they were uneatably
acrid. The Israelis then developed a form without the gene for
that acridity, called them Sharon fruit, and you won't be able to
get any of the original type this side of the pond! Someone
could well have done that to kumquats - I will buy some and see.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , wrote:
John Black wrote:
what i would like to know is how to propogate these, or even if it can be
done in foreign climes.

I am not an expert, but I was under the impression citrus couldn't be grown
true to type from a seed and had to be grafted onto rootstock. We have had
kumquat trees in the past (bought from nurseries), but they have rarely
lasted more than a year, when most of our other citrus survive longer. I
would suggest that they are a bit more delicate than lemons (which are
relatively easy to grow here, if you can bring them in out of the cold)

Like all such statements, it's not that simple. That is true for
the fancy varieties, but the main groupings are preserved in the
seedlings. I have a kaffir lime that I grew from seed, which has
never flowered, but is unquestionably a kaffir lime.

You are unquestionably right that citrus vary considerably in how
well they grow in the UK, but I wouldn't bet on ANY fruiting
unless they are varieties specially bred to do so under our
conditions.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Mon, 7 May 2012 15:32:43 +0100 (BST), wrote:

In article ,
Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:

Probably Kumquats. Don't expect them to taste like oranges. They are
very soar unless eaten whole. Their skins and rind are the sweet bits
just to confuse orange eaters! I've never been able to grow kumquats
so I depend on my greengrocer.

Kumquats are rarely eaten raw, but candied or otherwise used in
cooking. As with most citrus, the skin and pith are bitter,
though no more so than many oranges.

The ones I had from the greengrocer had sweet skins and pith. The
flesh was very sour.

That is a most unusual kumquat - indeed, it's a most unusual
citrus! There may well be a variety like that but, generally,
they are as I said. If you come across them again, I should be
interested to know the variety.


I've no idea of the variety and they are not currently available. I do
not think they are anything unusual. The description I find agrees
with my taste:-

"Kumquats are often eaten raw. As the rind is sweet and the juicy
centre is sour, the raw fruit is usually consumed either whole—to
savour the contrast—or only the rind is eaten."

Note that bitterness and sourness are not the same taste, though
many people taste them as the same.

I know the difference very well. Lemons are sour, Angostura and some
beers are bitter. Even when mixed together I can taste the two
flavours.

Lemon juice is sour; the rind and pith are bitter. I have never
cross a citrus where the rind and pith were not bitter, though
it is probably obtrusive only to sensitive people in some of the
'tangerine-like' varieties.

Kumquat rind definitely isn't bitter, it's a bit sweet. So is the
skin.

Lemon rind isn't bitter either. It has an interesting taste that I
can't name but it isn't bitter.

Orange and Tangerine rind is bitter. Lime and Grapefruit rind is less
biter - almost tasteless. I didn't like Citron fruit and never even
tried the pith.

Perhaps we have significantly different varieties of taste buds.

Steve

--
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SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. http://www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. http://www.justnn.com

They can been grown, though need protection in winter. Have you googled kumquat cultivation?

wrote:
Like all such statements, it's not that simple. That is true for
the fancy varieties, but the main groupings are preserved in the
seedlings. I have a kaffir lime that I grew from seed, which has
never flowered, but is unquestionably a kaffir lime.

Actually, yes, the lady in the nursery who was lecturing me about my
seed-grown trees did emphasis that I was never likely to get it to
flower. She didn't expand on why.

You are unquestionably right that citrus vary considerably in how
well they grow in the UK, but I wouldn't bet on ANY fruiting
unless they are varieties specially bred to do so under our
conditions.

We have a large 'tangerine' (that's all it's marked as, no idea what
variety) which was in flower when bought, and has produced flowers
since. We had a kaffir lime also bought in flower, which fruited
twice (then i think Nick killed it). The kumquats also fruited
until Nick added them to his list of deceased plants.