Growing citrus fruits at home from the stone: planting and care, top dressing

Maintaining exotic plants is troublesome, but fragrant flowering and fruiting justify all efforts. The process of growing citrus fruits at home is carried out from the stone or cuttings. The fragrance is emitted not only by flowers, but also by foliage. She is a source of phytoncides. Lemon and other citrus fruits have been proven to purify the air and prevent the development of pathogenic bacteria, which is why they are often seen in hospitals, kindergartens and other public places.

Features of growing citrus fruits

Growing lemons, oranges, limes and other citrus trees at home requires certain conditions.First you need to choose a method of growing a tree (from a seed or cuttings). In addition, much attention is paid to the care of the plant: the creation of the necessary temperature, humidity, light. The principles of plant care differ according to seasonality.

How to grow at home?

At home, a citrus plant can be grown in two ways: from a seed or a cutting. Each of the methods has its positive and negative sides.

From the bone

Citrus plants grown from seed, more resistant to environmental influences, strong. There is only one explanation - from a very early age they get used to the surrounding conditions. But they have a problem with flowering. Trees from seed bloom at the 8-12th year of life, and the fruits do not always please with taste. For earlier flowering, the plant must be grafted. For a rootstock, you need a cutting of an adult tree.

To get a tree in this way you need:

1. Select planting material: the fruit must be ripe, without damage, of high quality.
2. Wash the bone from the pulp, soak for a day in water.
3. Place in the prepared soil to a depth of 2 cm.
4. Use citrus mix for planting.
5. Young plants do not tolerate transplanting well, they use the transshipment method. It is recommended to use a container of about 2L with good drainage.
6. Cover the soil with a film, place the container in heat and darkness.

Sprouting time ranges from 2 weeks to 2 months. From one seed there can be several sprouts. You need to leave the strongest, cut the rest to the level of the soil.

By cuttings

The cuttings taken from a fruit-bearing tree take root well.

For this you need:

1. Prepare a container with sand (coarse). Rinse thoroughly to remove impurities. Can be used with a portion of light leaf humus. Put a layer of expanded clay on the bottom of the tank for drainage.
2. To create greenhouse conditions, cut a transparent plastic bottle.
3. Cut cuttings from 1-2-year-old branches, up to 12 cm long, should have up to 5 leaves.
4. The lower cut is made under the kidney, the upper - at a distance of 0.5 cm from the last kidney.
5. Stay the prepared cuttings in the growth stimulator of the root system.
6. Sprinkle the cut of the cutting with charcoal to prevent the process of decay.
7. Place in prepared sand. Spray sand and cuttings with a spray bottle. Irrigation should be carried out twice a day.
8. Optimal temperature 20-25 ^{oC. Cover the stalk with a cut plastic bottle.}

After 2-3 weeks, white roots will appear on the lower cut. They are quite fragile, so it is necessary to transplant only after 1.5 months. Before transplanting, the plant is gradually accustomed to the environment by opening a plastic bottle. Gradually increase the time spent without a bottle.

How to care for citrus fruits

In order for the plant to fully develop, bloom and bear fruit, much attention is paid not only to proper planting, but also to the conditions of the tree. Citrus fruits are rather whimsical plants.

How to water plants properly?

During the period of activity (from spring to autumn), citrus trees need abundant watering. The amount of liquid is calculated as follows: 1/10 of the volume of earth mass.

Soft water is used for irrigation. Lime fluid causes leaf chlorosis. It is recommended to use melt or rain water. You can soften the irrigation liquid with vinegar, lemon juice, peat. It also becomes soft when frozen.

Watering is done slowly, over the entire surface of the soil, so the root system develops evenly, which is important for large plants. The next watering is carried out when the soil is dry to a thickness of up to 5 cm. The tree is watered every 7 days.

Citrus top dressing: fertilization scheme

Citrus trees need a lot of valuable elements. Citrus fruits quickly absorb the necessary substances, the earth is quickly depleted, respectively, nutrition should be carried out regularly. Full fertilization occurs during the growing season (early spring). Meals to be carried out until autumn.

Fertilization pattern

The older the plant and the longer it stays in the same pot, the more it needs to be fed.

At the beginning of summer, feeding a tree is necessary to ensure the sugar content of fruits, reduce their bitterness, which is characteristic of indoor citrus fruits.

Feeding order:

1. Applied with water.
2. Only a he althy plant is fertilized. If the tree is sick, feeding will only weaken low immunity.
3. During the wintering period, food is provided no more than once.
4. In the spring, when transplanting into a new pot, top dressing is done only after 1.5 months. Mineral fertilizers are used for a flowering plant.
5. If the tree does not bloom, it is necessary to add organic matter three times with a frequency of 2 weeks. It is recommended to use horse manure, humus, biohumus.
6. Regularly from spring to autumn is used: nitrogen and potassium - once every 10 days; superphosphate and slurry - once every 4 days.

What fertilizers do citrus trees need

Citrus indoor plants need a special set of fertilizers in the summer.Nutrition is carried out by alternating organic and mineral products. Some fertilizers can be prepared with your own hands from coffee grounds, tea leaves or sugar. If the house has an aquarium, the water from it is the best way to water it, because it contains vermicompost.

Important! Do not use organic and mineral fertilizers together. This can burn the roots.

Organics

The best organic remedy is horse manure infusion. Proportion: 100 g per liter of liquid. Infused for about 2 weeks. Instead of horse manure, you can use cow dung or chicken droppings (40 g per 1 l).

Mineral

Urea contains a large amount of nitrogen. It dissolves at the rate of 1.5 g per liter of liquid. Nitrogen top dressings are excluded for the period of flowering, the formation of ovaries, otherwise they will fall off. Phosphorus and potash fertilizers are needed at this time.Fertilizing with nitrogen compounds resumes when the size of the fruit reaches a diameter of 15 mm.

Magnesium is necessary for the plant, because its deficiency causes chlorosis: loss of color of the leaf plate, and sometimes necrosis: the death of its individual sections.

Cutting and shaping

When a seed has sprouted or a cutting has taken root, a sprout is formed. It is recognized as a zero order branch. Until the sprout has hardened, you need to pinch the crown of it. The height should be about 30 cm. Growth stops, the sprout ripens.

After ripening, it must be cut to 20 cm. There must be at least 4 leaves on the sprout. Other shoots will grow from them. It is ideal for the crown if 3 shoots went into growth, in extreme cases, 2. They will become first-order sprouts.

If the shoots do not grow, but only one grows, it must be broken off. It is to remove to the ground. Then new kidneys will wake up. You will have to break it out again if they have not begun to grow. Thus, achieve the development of 3 sprouts.

From the top three branches let grow up, send the others to the sides. Pinch the sprouts of the first order when reaching 25 cm. When the sprouts mature, cut off 5 cm on them so that 4 leaves are left on them again.

The formation of the second and subsequent levels is carried out according to the same scheme: wait until the sprout grows, pinch it off, cut it off after ripening.

The formation of the tree skeleton ends on the fifth order. If the tree has blossomed before the formation of the crown, the flowers must be cut off, as the formation will be long. After the formation of the fifth order, the tree is allowed to bloom.

Important! You need to break out the tops. These are shoots that grow upward much faster than fruit-bearing branches. They suck out a lot of useful substances and thicken the crown.

Adult citrus pruning is carried out in the spring. But tops are removed regardless of the season. It is necessary to remove broken, incorrectly growing branches (inward).

Reproduction and transplantation

About propagation by cuttings and from the seed was described above. An important point is the transplantation of trees. They are quite whimsical and painfully endure this process.

The soil consists of the following composition: soddy land (3 parts), humus (1 part), sand (1 part). In the store there is an opportunity to purchase ready-made soil for all types of citrus fruits. Transplantation is carried out in spring or autumn. Young trees - every year, adults - if necessary.

The capacity should correspond to the volume of the root system of the tree. The root collar remains above the level of the substrate. Lay drainage at the bottom of the container. Use the transshipment method so as not to injure the delicate roots. Water the tree after planting.

How to survive the winter?

During the wintering period, the optimum temperature for citrus plants is about 10 ^{оС.Watering the tree is negligible, you need to slightly moisten the soil. Low temperature is important for full fruiting. If the temperature is high in winter, citrus trees may not bloom. Recommended plant location: cold loggias, insulated unheated balconies.}

Diseases and pests

If the requirements for care are not followed, the immunity of the tree falls, the plant becomes vulnerable to diseases. These include:

1. Root rot. Fungal infection provoked by constantly damp and heavy soil. The roots are affected, the bark of the root necks, the tree dies.
2. Chlorosis. Photosynthesis is disturbed, the leaves become yellowish, young leaves fall off.
3. Melanosis. Fungal infection of all parts of the plant. Deep cracks are formed on the trunk, tree branches. An amber-colored gum oozes out of them. The leaves are deformed, dark green formations filled with gum are visible on them.
4. Black (sooty mushroom). All kinds of fungi settle on the remains of aphids, scale insects. A black coating appears on the twigs and foliage, which interferes with metabolism and respiration.

Parasites that harm the plant:

1. Shield. An immovable insect that sticks to any part of a tree, covered with a brown shield. It sucks the sap of the tree, throwing out a sticky liquid that is food for the larvae traveling from the mother to their new habitat.
2. Spider mites. Orange-reddish spiders settle in the lower part of the leaf plate, suck out the juice of the tree. Damaged foliage is covered with yellow spots, a white coating forms on the inside. Leaves dry and fall off.

Reproduction and care of citrus trees is not difficult if all recommendations are followed exactly. And with proper care, the plant will delight with beautiful fragrant flowers and bright fruits.

Recommended