Typical of citrus.

My goal is to have good growth from spring into fall. Since the sun is low it is very easy to acclimate the tree to window/CFL light. Keep the leaves and tree in good shape all winter. In spring the sun is very high and bright before I can take my trees outside. I do the best I can to acclimate them but I end up losing most of my leaves. My goal, get one years life out of my leaves and start fresh each spring. It is much easier to keep leaves summer into winter than keep leaves winter into summer.

Thanks Steve, Will the tree be able to bear fruit when its older if every summer it loses most of its leaves?

Yes. The reason we graft trees is to get mature wood at an early age. The reason trees from seed take so long to fruit is that the tree must build up to a strong tree to support fruiting. When we graft we take out the genetic code that lets the tree know when it s safe to fruit and does so way too early. That is why you are suppose to pick all the fruity for thew first 3 years to get good limb structure and the tree size to produce well. If your tree is a seedling you won't get fruit for a few-many rears. My Meiwa Kumquat lost half its leaves going out side and still produce 10 fruits that the squirrels loved.

When your tree fills out it will have many leaves that will shade one another and lessen the degree of damage.

My 2 fukushu Kumquat trees when outside in ground before the sun had a high angle or hours of direct sunlight. They lost about 1-5% of their leaves.

#1 Fukushu kumquat from seed · More Info

#2 Fukushu kumquat from seed · More Info

The Fukushu Kumquats are from seed and are to young to flower. They are quite robust and will do well when they do flower.

Thanks Steve. Your trees look like they are doing quite well! Mine are from seed. Will putting them in partial shade when I move them out minimize leaf drop?