Have You Tried Growing Calamansi from Seed?

I was so frustrated over the seeds I planted a few weeks ago. Only one carrot seed sprouted. It lived through the typhoons and the others just didn't wake up anymore. Among the seeds I've sprouted this year I only have a couple of healthy mustasa plants, one eggplant, one carrot sprout and a lot of bell peppers (I threw a bunch of seeds in two pots and they surprisingly grew). The ginger and tumeric I planted last year died because of the repairs we did at home, but they surprisingly grew again! 

Anyway, the typhoons were really frustrating. I couldn't grow anything. Without the sun you really can't grow anything properly. During that time I thought it was a good idea to buy a bunch of calamansi from a neighbor. Two kilograms for 100 pesos seemed really affordable. We drank calamansi juice everyday and I was able to try making calamansi muffins. A friend suggested to squeeze the juice out before the calamansi rotted. He said we could store it in an air tight jar in the fridge for a month. 

So that's what we did. I then had the brilliant idea to try sprouting the calamansi seeds. I watched a couple of vids and they all suggested to wash and put in a container wrapped in tissue paper. My first attempt failed. The seeds just rotted. The same happened on my second attempt. On the third attempt, I washed the seeds several times and let them dry overnight. The next day I placed them in 3 containers and accidentally sprayed them with Thieves cleanser with water. I only realized it after I covered the container. 

I didn't wet it too much like the first two attempts. Then I promptly forgot about the experiment. I only remembered it 7 days after! I was so surprised a number of the seeds sprouted! Ten to fifteen seeds sprouted per container. I hurriedly tried to plant them and ended up spreading them across 4 pots and my old sponge grower which I disinfected before the typhoon hit. I just practically threw in the small sprouts in the pots and left them in the garage to grow further. 

I was so surprised to see that they grew. I moved the pots to a sunny area when the rains let up. I was so surprised to see they started to grow properly. There's just something fulfilling about growing something from seed. I can't say I'm already successful since it will take more time to grow. 

I know grafting calamansi is faster than growing from seed. It will also take 5 years before they bear fruit! Well, I can wait. In the meantime, I'll look for the tree I left with Mom when I moved to Singapore. It was given to me by my neighbor and Mom said it's still somewhere in the garden. If I don't find it, I could probably ask my neighbor if he could spare me one again or I can just buy a grafted one and grow it. 

Well, if this batch doesn't work out, I have a new set of calamansi again from my neighbor! 

#BeKind #StaySafe