The Calamansi I Planted from Seed is Finally Flowering

Calamansi flowers.

I planted this calamansi from seed way back in 2022, and after nearly four years of patient waiting, it has finally begun to flower and bear fruit. The sight of tiny buds emerging with the arrival of the rains after this year’s harsh summer filled me with hope. At long last, I’ll have a fruiting calamansi tree right in my garden, ready to provide fresh fruits whenever I need them (assuming they fruit year-round).

Calamansi has such a short shelf-life that buying them from the supermarket often ends in disappointment, as they shrivel and dry up before I can use them all. Having my own tree in the garden means I can simply pick a few straight from the branch, talk about self-sufficiency and convenience! I've always had this dream of growing and using produce from my own garden. Not on a scale to be totally off the grid, but enough that I can proudly say I can partially source what I eat from what I grow. 

I recall planting several seeds at the same time as this one, even experimenting with a hydroponic setup. That setup didn't last very long (I also wasn't able to maintain it over the years), so I needed to transfer the hydroponically grown plants into soil. Sadly, the rest of the batch didn’t survive the transition back to soil.

The sight brings back memories of my grandmother’s orchard, where rows upon rows of calamansi trees thrived. She would sell the fruit in the local market, and with the surplus she made sweetened calamansi concentrate and jams. I don’t have the space to grow an orchard of that scale, but I look forward to my first harvest, however modest.

Immature calamansi fruit.