Honey Skin Kumquat

Selected by: Liuzhou Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rong’an County Agriculture Bureau

　　Variety origin: Spontaneous mutation of common Rong’an kumquat (Rong’an kumquat / Fortunella crassifolia Swingle).

　　Characteristics: Umbrella-shaped canopy, smooth main trunk, grayish-brown in color. Branches are slender, slightly drooping, with few short and thin thorns. Leaves are elliptic and slightly incurved, boat-shaped, dark green, acuminate at the apex, with narrow wedge-shaped petioles, entire margins, raised midrib, inconspicuous lateral veins and veinlets, inconspicuous leaf oil glands. Petiole length is 1.1 cm. Wing leaves vary in three forms—present, adnate, or semi-adnate—depending on the shoot. Flowers are terminal or in spike inflorescences, white in color, spatulate petals, calyx with 5 lobes, 15 stamens. Fruits are oval or nearly spherical, slightly indented at the pedicel end, typically weighing 10.27–17.3 grams per fruit, fruit shape index 1.1. The peel has smooth oil glands, thin outer skin covered with a thin layer of wax, thick mesocarp, 5 carpels, flesh is milky white. Average seed count is 1.07–2.2 seeds per fruit, ovate, obtuse apex, broadly rounded base, mostly polyembryonic, dark green in color. Fruit matures to an orange-yellow color. It exhibits strong cold resistance.

　　 Yield performance: Average yield is 15.9 kg per plant, 1,764.6 kg per mu.

　　 Cultivation key points: 1. Suitable rootstocks include trifoliate orange and lemon. 2. Plant 170–250 plants per mu, with row and plant spacing of 2.5 × 1.5 meters or 2.5 × 1.2 meters. 3. The current year’s spring shoots serve as the main fruit-bearing mother branches. Focus on digging holes and applying sufficient base fertilizer in winter and spring; timely application of spring shoot fertilizer is crucial. Apply a quick-acting fertilizer once before spring shoot sprouting, followed by another after flowering and during the young fruit stage. Additionally, during the spring shoot emergence, leaf expansion, and color change stages, combine pesticide spraying with foliar fertilizers such as 500–1000x dilution of Green Fenwei No. 1 or No. 2, or 200–300x dilution of imported compound fertilizer.

　　Approval opinion: Upon review, this variety has significant application value in production and is approved for cultivation in central and northern Guangxi.

　　Yield performance: Average yield per plant is 15.9 kg, and per mu (0.067 hectares) is 1764.6 kg.

　　Cultivation key points: 1. Suitable rootstocks include trifoliate orange and lemon. 2. Plant 170–250 trees per mu, with row-to-tree spacing of 2.5 × 1.5 meters or 2.5 × 1.2 meters. 3. The spring shoots of the current year serve as the main fruiting mother branches. It is crucial to apply sufficient base fertilizer in pits during winter and spring, and to focus on top-dressing for the spring shoots. Apply a quick-acting fertilizer once before the spring shoots sprout, then follow up with another application after flowering and during the young fruit stage. Additionally, during the sprouting, leaf unfolding, and greening stages of the spring shoots, combine pesticide spraying for disease and pest control with foliar liquid fertilizer application—such as Green Fenwei No.1 or No.2 at 500–1000 times dilution, or imported compound fertilizer at 200–300 times dilution.

　　Approval opinion: Upon review, this variety holds significant application value in production and is approved for cultivation in central and northern Guangxi.