Orange tree from stone at home
Among the variety of indoor plants sold in specialized stores, the eye quickly catches neat trees with glossy leathery foliage and a mass of brightly fragrant fruits. If you have patience and make a little effort, you can grow an orange tree from a seed at home, especially since a seed from a ripe fruit bought in a store is suitable as a planting material.
How to grow an orange at home from a seed?
Orange pits:
- washed in warm water;
- soaked for 8-12 hours;
- planted in loose soil or peat to a depth of 1 cm under the film.
Until the moment of germination, which occurs in a month or a month and a half, the container with seeds remains in a shaded warm place. The mini-greenhouse must be periodically humidified and ventilated. And only after the emergence of sprouts, future orange trees are brought into the world.
Since in countries where oranges grow in nature, trees generously receive both heat and light, you can provide the seedlings with the longest daylight hours by planting seeds at the end of winter or in March. But even in this case, young orange trees respond well to prolonging daylight hours with the help special lamps.
Transplanting an orange at home
The sprout picking is carried out at the stage when two true leaves open on the orange, while it is important to take into account that the plant reacts extremely painfully to all manipulations associated with transplantation and possible damage to the root system. It is unacceptable for the orange root collar to be underground during transplantation.
The best way to transplant a tree is to transfer the plant in spring along with an earthen clod, until the shoots begin to grow actively and buds appear. An orange grown at home will have to be regularly subjected to this procedure, each time choosing a container with a diameter of 1-3 cm larger than the old pot:
- The expanding root system of a young plant once a year requires an expansion of the "living space".
- Mature fruit trees are replanted every 2–3 years.
For seedlings with 4–6 leaves, a pot with a diameter of about 10 cm and a soil mixture of two parts of sod land, one part of deciduous humus, the same volume of peat and sand are suitable. Already at the next transshipment, the proportion of sod land in the soil is increased and a small amount of clay is added. An orange tree, which is grown from a stone at home, must be provided with good drainage and an irrigation regime that does not allow root rot.
Optimal growing conditions for an orange at home
Like all inhabitants of the subtropical zone, orange trees do not tolerate drafts, but they are very fond of light and are demanding on the humidity of the air and soil. With a lack of lighting, citrus fruits can hurt or refuse to bear fruit, therefore it is better to grow them on the sunny side, but shielding them from burning direct rays, especially in summer. In autumn and winter, when daylight hours decrease, the orange grown from the seed is illuminated.
The air humidity in the room where the tree is located should not be lower than 40%, otherwise the plant begins to quickly shed its leaves and may die. This happens especially often in winter, during the heating season, or when the pot is located close to the heater. In this case, it is necessary to artificially humidify the air, spray the plant and make sure that the soil under it does not dry out.
The danger of drying out the soil exists in the summer, therefore, daily watering, which moisturizes the entire earthy lump, but does not cause stagnation of moisture, is extremely necessary for an orange.
Home orange trees can die if the irrigation water contains chlorine. Therefore, they use rainwater, thawed or settled water for at least a day, which is heated to 25-30 ° C.
Caring for an orange tree at home
In order for the seedling to develop quickly, and after a few years the plant began to bear fruit, it needs to create conditions, as in the Mediterranean and northern Africa, where oranges grow in nature:
- In summer, the tree can be taken out into the air, protecting it from the scorching sun.
- In spring, when bud formation begins and ovaries are expected to form, orange trees should be kept at 15-18 ° C.
- In winter watering reduce and arrange a warm winter at temperatures above +12 ° C, not forgetting about the plant backlighting.
On transfer from room to room, changes in temperature, humidity and other growing conditions, up to turning the pot, an orange tree, as in the photo, at home can shed its leaves, turn yellow and wither. Therefore, it is advised to rotate the plant so that its shoots grow more evenly, approximately 10 ° every 10 days.
An actively growing orange once every 7-14 days needs a complex fertilizing with fertilizers for citrus crops or a composition based on 10 liters of water and:
- 20 grams of ammonium nitrate;
- 25 grams superphosphate;
- 15 grams of potassium salts.
Caring for an orange tree at home means that iron sulfate is added to the top dressing four times a year, and to maintain the rich color of the foliage, the orange is watered monthly with a solution of potassium permanganate.
Orange seed grafting
If you take good care of the tree, it quickly grows and develops. However, not everyone manages to wait for flowering and ovary, and if the fruits do appear, they turn out to be small and bitter. The fact is that oranges grown from seed may not carry parental characteristics and may simply be wild plants. Such a wild can be recognized already at the age of one year old by the hard green thorns on the trunk.
How to grow oranges at home, as sweet and large as store fruits? In this case, you can choose one of the following methods:
- Carry out the classic grafting of the tree, using the seedling as a rootstock for a varietal cuttings obtained from a fruiting plant.
- Inoculate an orange by budding by implanting the bud of a cultivated plant with a small layer of bark and wood. For reliability, you can use up to three eyes at the same time, grafting them from different sides of the trunk.
The second method is less laborious and painful for the tree. If the seedling after grafting remains only as a rootstock, it is better to carry out the operation on a tree at the age of 1 - 3 years, when the diameter of the stem does not exceed 6 mm.
On an adult orange tree, in the photo, you can graft various citrus crops, since the plant practically does not reject related species.
Forming an orange crown at home
Fruiting of an orange tree at home can begin 6-10 years after germination of the seeds and only if the plant has a properly formed crown. The buds, and then the ovary, in the same plants appears on the developed branches of the fourth order. Therefore, to obtain an early harvest, the formation of the crown begins during the period when the tree reaches a height of 25-30 cm:
- In spring, the main shoot is pinched at a level of 18-25 cm.
- Of the lateral shoots, three or four of the strongest are left, which are cut off, forcing to branch.
- In the next season, two branches of the second order are left from the increment. They will subsequently give 3 to 5 shoots of the third order.
- And only then will horizontal fruiting branches begin to develop.
- Next, they monitor the density of the crown and the timely replacement of branches.
On young trees, the first flowers and ovaries are best removed. The first harvest can be as little as 2-3 oranges, so that the plant does not lose too much strength when they ripen.
You can speed up the tree's entry into fruiting by wintering the orange at a temperature of 2 to 5 ° C, limiting watering and not feeding it for three months. When the temperature rises to 15-18 ° C in the room where the oranges grow, buds begin to set and an ovary begins to form. A properly cared-for orange at home can live up to 50-70 years, regularly delighting with the appearance of white flowers and brightly fragrant fruits.
Gave my mom an orange tree. The first few months he somehow faded with us, but then after reading the article, we decided to carry out the classic habituation of the tree, and it seems now it is growing normally, there are already several small oranges.
It's okay, it will take root. It is better to vaccinate by budding.
Hello! I found two seeds in seedless oranges (cut a whole box of oranges and found two seeds). She removed the top hard layer of the shell, soaked it, and the next day both bones split into two parts each. After some time, all 4 halves sprouted. I planted it in the ground and after a week the sprouts began to appear from under the ground. Please tell me if such seeds are suitable, from seedless oranges, to cultivation and will they bear fruit in the future? Are there any features of care? Thank.
Since your seeds have sprouted, then an orange tree will definitely grow from them. Grooming is no different from growing citrus fruits as described in the article above. With regard to fruiting, it is usually homemade oranges from seeds that are grafted. He himself will also be able to bear fruit, but not earlier than in 8-10 years, and even then they will be small and bitter.
Olga, thanks for the answer. When the trees grow up, I will move them to the balcony in a large flowerpot where the "sifted" sun will be enough for them. And also we have summer for most of the year. Do you think this will help improve the quality of the fruit? Thank.
A lot of light is, of course, good, the trees will be developed, with a lush crown. But this is unlikely to increase the size of the fruit. It's like with fruit trees - wild animals: without grafting, they give smaller fruits. In addition, do not forget that a non-grafted citrus will begin bearing for the first time no earlier than 10 or even 15 years later.
Thank you very much for the answer. I will preview the trees, as described in the video, when they are about a year old.
Hello! Tell me please, I want to plant an orange. Shop seeds will fit ??? Thank you in advance
Of course, they will do, feel free to plant. From personal experience I can say that they sprout very well and quickly. About four years ago, a child stuck a couple of seeds in a flower pot, just like that, and now our tree is growing. We got up ourselves, and without a greenhouse and without any care at all. Also from the usual store-bought orange. Just keep in mind, if you need not just a decorative, but a fruiting bush, then it is better to look for a sprig from an orange, which is already bearing fruit, for grafting from your friends.Without this procedure, you will wait at least ten years for flowering. I haven't found it yet, so just admire the leaves.
Unfortunately, my orange got sick: the leaves begin to discolor with specks, and then the edges seem to dry out and turn brown. I look after, as if, correctly, no drafts, no overflows, light, spray. For 3 years he has been living with me and bearing fruit. And a friend got sick like that. Please advise how to help my orange. Thank you.
The leaves of indoor citrus fruits often begin to dry out at the beginning of the heating season. Oranges are also very fond of high humidity, and just dry tips indicate that they have dry air. Maybe your microclimate in the house has changed, for example, the heating was turned on, and the bush did not have time to adapt? On one of the floriculture forums, it is advised to cover the plant completely for a week with a package, and after this time, open it, but gradually. Try it, maybe this option will help.
By the way, about the temperature I recently read an interesting fact that citrus fruits in winter need no more than 17-18 ° C of heat. If it gets hotter, they dry out. Unfortunately, I also can't keep them cool, otherwise we start to freeze, and there's nowhere else to take out, all rooms are equally heated. It also dries up a little in winter. I wait for spring, then I take it outside, and there it quickly grows new branches, it even becomes more luxuriant. And they need at least 12 hours of daylight (in winter too), and at this time of the year it is problematic to have natural light. So it makes sense to provide additional lighting.