I would say that's a graft line. So yes, do take off whatever grows below it. It is a little hard to tell which side was the scion =(desired variety) side and which the root stock side but I'm leaning towards that the scion side is what's growing.

Do you know what it may have been grafted too, what kind of root stock. If it was trifoliate then you should be fine. It it was a c.shaddock, or a v.lemon or rough lemon it's a little trickier. The leaves look pretty much like a kumquat though, at least what I can see of them.

Australian Sheppard or Aussie Cattle Dog? What I can see looks cute!

Thanks Barb! I have no idea what it's grafted to, but I will remove the growth below the line. The top is kumquat. I've only had it about a month. It's now acclimated and sprouting. Yes, that's Lila one of our Australian shepherds...she's a bit wild, but quite responsible with my youngest. He likes to go play in the yard and she will NEVER allow him out there by himself...always at his side or nearby :-). Kinda cute!

Aww! Look at that face! :)

Loosen your ties. Let the tree sway a bit.

Tim, I actually did that today! I can loosen it further. It only has one loose twisty tie now.

Let any sucker below the graft grow long enough to see if it has a trifoliate leaf or a simple leaf then break it off. If it as a 3 leaflet leaf then it will be easy to see any suckers in the future. I let both my grafted trees sucker to see if it had poison ivy leaves. I let 4 of them grow long enough to make rooted cuttings for grafting purpose.

You don't say where you live or where you purchased the plant. Sometimes kumquats are grown from cuttings, therefore there would be no grafting. Judging by the high stem on this one, it could be grafted, but I'd go by Steve's advice and hold off until you can confirm that the leaves are different.

Dave, I live near you...Annapolis, MD! I will see what happens and how they grow. I ordered it from a nursery in S Carolina. The other trees from there have not been grafted, but they have been Meyers. This one's stem does look different, but I'm not sure. I'll let it grow and see how they look. It may take a while....thanks!

You could always email or call the nursery you ordered from and ask what it's grafted to. Then you will know if it's grafted to a standard, semi dwarf or dwarfing rootstock.

Evan