How to grow an orange at home from a seed: variety selection, planting and care

Many lovers of exotic trees grow citrus fruits at home. To know how to grow an orange tree, you need to familiarize yourself with the methods and features of planting, recommendations for caring for the plant. Subject to all requirements, the tree fully blooms and bears fruit. Orange is more demanding than lemon in terms of lighting, temperature, and humidity levels. The fruit is inferior in quality to the purchased one, but this does not prevent exotic lovers from delighting themselves with the presence of such a plant in the house.

Features of growing orange

Indoor tree with flowers and fruits requires a special temperature regime, humidity, lighting.It is necessary to avoid a sharp temperature drop, drafts. How long does a tree grow before fruit appears? - a question that interests you when deciding to grow an orange at home. With proper planting and care, fruiting occurs: in the 4th year of a tree grown from a cutting, and in the 8th year - from a seed.

The house orange looks like a miniature evergreen tree. An adult plant can reach a height of 2 meters. It blooms in single or bunches of white flowers with a pleasant aroma.

Important! The plant does not tolerate tobacco smoke.

Plant varieties

The house tree has several varieties:

1. Gamlin. A plant with early ripening fruits. Height is not more than 1.5 m. The fruit has juicy pulp with a small number of seeds, sweet-sour taste. It ripens in the last months of autumn.
2. Pavlovsky. The tree is undersized, up to 1 m. Fruit ripening occurs after 7 months, reproduction is by cuttings.
3. Washington Navel. Early and mid-season variety. It reaches a height of 2 m. It has quite juicy, sweet and sour fruits with bright orange flesh. Propagated by cuttings.
4. Markheulsky - a variety of dwarf type. Low tree (up to 1.7 m). The leaf blades are green, with a slightly dark tint, up to 10 cm long. The buds bloom in spring, white. Produces large, bright orange-skinned, sweet-tasting fruit.

Orange propagation

An orange is propagated in the following ways:

• cutting;
• from seed.

Each of the methods has positive and negative sides. Cuttings are a little problematic, you need to find the source material, it is easier with seeds. The stalk is cut already from an adult tree or can be brought from the places of growth, cut from a growing one in its natural environment.

The plant planted by the seed will be stronger. Accordingly, it grows better, adapts, and is more resistant to diseases. The crown of a tree grown from a seed is more beautiful than a tree planted from a cutting. Derived from the seed has qualitative parameters: 100% genetic information of the parent tree.

Fruiting time is a hallmark of planting methods. A tree from a seed begins to bear fruit in the 8-10th year of life, a cutting tree - in the 4-5th year. For cuttings, a stem is selected with a diameter of 4-5 mm, a length of 10 cm. It is cut off: below - under the place of the kidney, above - above the location of the kidney. The branch should have 3-4 he althy buds and 2-3 leaves. Lubricate the bottom of the branch with a growth stimulator of the root system.

For planting, soil from humus mixed with sand (coarse-grained), flower soil is used.

Everything is mixed in equal parts.The cut branch is planted at a depth of 4 cm. It is recommended to irrigate the leaves of the cutting with water daily. The soil should be moist, but not sour. The container with the handle must be kept at 20-25 ^{оС. Full rooting will occur after 30 days. After it is recommended to transplant into a stationary pot.}

How to grow fruit from the stone at home

To get an orange tree that is well adapted to the environment, resistant to diseases, you need to plant a good orange seed.

Preparation of bones

It is difficult to germinate a seed, so you need to use freshly harvested, without signs of corruption, rot. The pits have a fairly hard skin. It must be separated from the pulp, washed, soaked in water for half a day.

Preparing soil and pot

A seed is planted in a pot of no more than 100 ml.You can take an empty container from under yogurt or sour cream. The container must have drainage holes for excess liquid to escape. Waterlogged soil adversely affects the quality of germination. It is better to germinate in a mixture for citrus or place in a loose earthen mixture of peat and soil.

Sowing seeds

Planting is done at a depth of up to 1 cm, a distance of up to 5 cm. Cover with foil, keep warm and dark until emergence. Regularly, when drying, irrigate the soil with a spray bottle. The sprout will appear in a month and a half. Now the crop is exposed to the light. You need to dive when 2 leaves are formed. Further, the seedlings are grown until the trunk diameter is 6 mm, then the grafting is carried out.

Orange tree care

Caring for an orange tree is not very difficult, the main thing is to comply with the requirements, taking into account the characteristics of the plant.

Light and temperature for indoor orange

The tree has special requirements for the light regime: if there is not enough light, the fruits do not ripen or will be sour-bitter, and with direct sunlight, the foliage will get burned. The best option is light diffusion.

It is recommended to place the tree on an east or west window. On the south window, it is necessary to install a scattering protection from direct sunlight. In the summer, it is recommended to put it outside, but shade it. Buds form at 15-19 ^oC.

In winter, the tree should be kept at a low temperature (from 0 to 10 ^{oC). It is the cold temperature regime that contributes to normal fruiting. Orange does not require a lot of light. Feeding is excluded, and watering is carried out once a week.}

Humidity

The tree does not like excessive soil moisture, besides, it provokes diseases. But even a small amount of moisture is harmful. In the summer, watering is done once a day. The crown of the tree must be regularly irrigated with a spray bottle.

Fertilizer

When the growth phase is active, the plant needs to be fed. The older it is, the higher the dose of top dressing. You can fertilize with special top dressing for citrus fruits, organic solutions or mineral compounds (ammonium nitrate, superphosphate, potassium). To preserve the color of leaf blades, it is recommended to feed once a month with potassium permanganate and once a quarter with iron sulphate. Before fertilizing, watering is necessary so as not to damage the roots.

Crown formation

Pruning is a necessary stage of care, because without pruning the crown, it is impossible to grow an orange tree at home.The tree will not give flowers and fruits. In spring, the central stem should be cut to 20 cm. 3-4 lateral branches form a crown of the first level, leave 2 branches on them, this is the second level, then 3-4 branches of the third level, and they will have shoots of the fourth level, bearing fruit.

Further, pruning consists of thinning, removing old branches and those growing inside the tree, plucking young shoots.

It is necessary to remove broken, dry or growing at the wrong angle branches. When flowering, you need to regulate the number of ovaries so that the plant fully grows and bears fruit. To begin with, no more than 3 ovaries are left, in the 4th-5th year - no more than 7, after - about 10.

Transfer

Due to the peculiarities of the root system, the tree painfully endures transplantation, especially if the root ball of the earth is damaged. Transplantation is carried out by the method of transshipment.A plant bearing fruit is transplanted every 3 years. Young for intensive growth require annual transshipment. The diameter of the subsequent pot should be 20 mm larger.

Transplantation is done in the spring, before intensive growth. During the procedure, you need to take into account: the neck does not deepen.

Soil mixture for young plants: combine sod, leaf soil and humus with sand (equal parts). For adult orange trees, the proportion of sod land increases by 2 r. It is recommended to add some clay. It is important to make good drainage so that excess moisture leaves.

Spraying

Besides watering, the tree needs regular watering, especially in summer. In addition, it is necessary to wash the dust from the leaves. Once a month, you need to make a warm shower: cover the ground with a film, treat the tree with soapy water. This will be pest prevention.

Features of grafting

An orange grown from seed must be grafted to bear fruit. Grafting is done when the sprout has reached 5 mm thickness.

For vaccination you need:

1. Cut a stalk from a fruit-bearing tree. Branch age 2 years.
2. Remove leaves.
3. The skin in the form of an eye is cut on the trunk of the wild game.
4. Prepare a ribbon from a latex glove (cut off).
5. Attach a branch to the wild, make a winding. Direction from top to bottom. Wrap tightly to keep air out. Control the correct fit of the kidney and rootstock. Continue winding near the petiole, carefully bypassing it. At the edge of the cut, wrap several times and move in the opposite direction.

Place the plant in heat, water abundantly to activate sap flow.After 5 days, it will be clear whether the kidney has taken root. After 10 days, it will fall off, and after 20 days, remove the strapping. If shoots appear at the top of the game, they must be removed. When a new branch grows from a kidney, the first leaf will appear, cut off the top.

Why do orange leaves curl

There are several reasons for leaf curl:

• presence of diseases;
• air shortage;
• overwatering or lack thereof;
• draft;
• sparse irrigation.

Pests and diseases

Like any citrus tree, it is affected by the scale insect. The insect sucks the juice from the leaves and shoots. The plant turns yellow, withers, dies. For destruction, "Intavir" or "Aktara" is used. For preventive purposes, it is important to maintain the required level of humidity.Aphids, spider mites or mealybugs also harm the plant. They destroy the ground parts of the orange. To begin with, it is recommended to use a tobacco-soap solution. If treatment fails, spray with chemicals.

The orange tree is prone to fungal and viral diseases: homosis, gum disease. They affect the trunk, shoots, foliage. A sticky liquid flows out of the cracks that have appeared. For treatment, the wound must be cleaned, treated with garden pitch, and the tree should be sprayed with a fungicide. The hopeless plant must be burned.

Possible problems

The orange tree is more demanding than other citrus fruits. If these care instructions are not followed, the following problems may occur:

• yellowing foliage;
• falling leaves, flower buds, unripe fruits;
• plant death.

Foliage is reset due to:

• a sharp change in climatic conditions;
• defective watering;
• over-watering during dormancy;
• excess fertilizer;
• poor lighting;
• draft;
• wintering at the wrong temperature (more than 10 ^oC).

Growing citrus fruits is simple, and subject to the required conditions of maintenance, in 4-5 years the tree will please with the first fruits.

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