Calamansi Tree Planting Guide: Cultivating Your Own Citrus

Calamansi are known by many different names. In the United States, they are called calamansi, kalamansi, calamondin, kalamondin, acid oranges or panama oranges. Finding a calamansi tree can be as hard as deciding what to call it. You will have the best luck ordering one through a specialty florist, as most calamansi trees are produced in Asia. Calamansi trees are a type of dwarf citrus tree cultivated in the Philippines and parts of South China. Calamansi trees may be a cross between mandarin orange or tangerines and kumquats, although scientists are not sure when this cross was first developed. Calamansi trees tolerate a wide range of soil and can be grown outside in zones 10 and up. In containers, calamansi trees are typically grown as a bonsai. Calamansi trees are evergreen with small, fragrant white flowers, and edible fruit.

Things You'll Need

• Calamansi tree
• Pot
• Peat
• Perlite
• General-purpose potting soil
• Gravel, small stones or broken pieces of clay pots

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Instructions

• 1

  Choose a pot that is at least 3 to 4 inches larger than the root ball of your calamansi tree and as deep as half the height of your tree.

• 2

  Mix equal amounts of peat, perlite and a general-purpose potting soil together. Fill the bottom quarter to third of the pot with broken pieces of clay pots, gravel or small stones.

• 3

  Fill the remainder of the pot with equal parts peat, perlite and potting soil. Leave a hole in the center of the pot just big enough for the root ball.

• 4

  Back fill the soil, gently tamping the soil around the root ball.

• 5

  Water your calamansi well. The soil should be moist but not water logged.

• 6

  Place your potted calamansi in full sun in a room where the temperature does not fall below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

• 7

  To plant outside, choose a spot in full sun and dig a hole just large enough for the root ball. Back fill the soil, tamping around the root ball to avoid air pockets. Water thoroughly.