My Little Calamansi Shrub

It is not an exaggeration for me to say we’re more successful in bringing up kids than propagating calamansi. Our four kids seem to be thriving but our solo calamansi is barely surviving.

Our calamansi shrub was given to us by a botanist friend almost 10 years ago. Unfortunately though, we’ve harvested less fruits than the number of years we’ve had it. For some peculiar reason it would bud, then bloom, the flowers then naturally develop into fruits but just before they ripen they start falling off our sad little tree. At one point it was on the verge of dying. In the height of summer it really struggled to survive.


I don’t know exactly what the cause is and it has been a source of frustration for years. What we’re doing differently this time is keeping a closer eye on it. I think I should rephrase that, my wife is keeping a close eye on it. Early signs of disease or pest infestation will be immediately dealt with.

It is such a wonderful fruit that although available down under is still quite rare. Its citrus flavour is like no other. Cumquats are not juicy enough to be worthy as a substitute. Lemons and limes, on the other hand, just taste different.

Arriving home from work one night I was really pleased to see our foot-tall tree showing a lot of promise. It has lots of buds and flowers in bloom. I’m keeping my fingers crossed they’ll mature into prized fruits.