I have a Eustis limequat, and it’s producing flowers. Should I be taking a brush and dusting pollen from one bloom to the other? Also, I’m growing it inside. Do I need any additional lighting? I have fluorescent lights as well as full-spectrum UVA/UVB lights that I can use. Someone told me I’d need to get really pricy calcium lights, or something similar.
All the resources I’ve found suggest that citrus flowers are self-pollinating with a very few exceptions. However, your limequat (x Citrofortunella floridana) is growing indoors, so pollination assistance from you will help. Alabama Cooperative Extension, in a publication no longer available online, describes citrus as generally self-fruitful.
Excerpt:
“With the exception of Clementine tangerine and certain tangerine hybrids such as Orlando tangelo, citrus trees are self-fruitful and do not require cross-pollination. Thus, self-fruitful types of citrus can be grown as single trees. Cross-pollination requires that two or more varieties bloom at the same time. Some varieties will not cross-pollinate each other. Satsuma and navel do not produce viable pollen and thus cannot be used for that purpose.”
I looked at several of our books on growing citrus to see if they mentioned any special lighting needs, and Success with Citrus Fruits by Sigrid Hansen-Catania (Merehurst, 1998) simply says that your artificial light source needs to provide 12 hours of light a day, if you do not have a position for the plant near a sunny window. She mentions “specially adapted fluorescent tubes which you can fix to the ceiling about 8-16 inches above the plants,” though she mentions it in the context of providing adequate light during winter months.
University of Missouri Extension has a general article on indoor lighting for plants.
Here is an excerpt from an article (no longer available) from Purdue University Horticulture specific to citrus: “Citrus foliage can adapt to the relatively low light levels typical of our homes. However, if flowers and fruit are what you’re after, you’ll need to give the plants as much light as possible. If natural light is inadequate, you can supplement with artificial lights. A combination of cool white and warm white florescent lights placed close to the plants will help, as will the special ‘grow lights’ that emit the wavelengths of light most important for plant growth. (…)
If citrus is kept indoors year-round, the plants will likely need a bit of pollination assistance when they do flower. Use an artist’s paintbrush or cotton swab to transfer pollen from one flower to another.”
The good news is that I don’t think you need to invest in any additional expensive lighting systems!