How to plant a tangerine seed. How to grow a tangerine tree from a seed at home

To plant a tangerine, you will need seeds, or rather seeds, which you can “obtain” by purchasing several ripe tangerines in the store. For the success of the event, it is better to have more seeds (at least 5-10), since not all will be able to germinate.

Next, it is necessary for the seeds to hatch or swell. To do this, the bones need to be wrapped in gauze and lightly moistened with water for several days. The optimal soil for planting would be special soil for citrus fruits purchased at a flower shop, but in principle any light mixture is suitable for tangerines. For example, if you mix turf and leaf soil, completely rotted manure humus and compost in equal parts, your tangerine will probably like it. A peat-based mixture is not worth making or buying. Don't forget about the need for drainage. It takes quite a long time for tangerines to sprout; the first noticeable shoots appear only after two to three weeks, and sometimes even a whole month.

Mandarins generally grow very slowly, and sometimes even stop growing. But if you don't lose hope and enthusiasm and continue to provide him necessary care, it will grow into a beautiful tree that pleases your eyes.

Of course, the tangerine is an unpretentious tree to maintain (not only among citrus fruits, but also among all other plants), but it still requires compliance with certain rules of care. The most important condition for him - an abundance of sunlight. The light-loving mandarin requires intense lighting 12 hours a day. all year round. Mandarin is also very sensitive to humidity. In summer, it needs to be watered abundantly, but just not overwatered, and in winter, watering should be reduced, but make sure that the soil does not dry out. In addition, tangerine leaves should be sprayed daily with filtered or boiled water. clean water to compensate for dry air, you can even place a small tangerine near indoor fountain so that it humidifies the air additionally.

As the tangerine tree grows, it needs to be transplanted into a larger pot. It is best to do this in late winter - early spring. You need to take a pot with a diameter 3-5 cm larger than the previous one. The tangerine tree is replanted using the transshipment method, preserving the old earthen ball as much as possible, so as not to damage the root system of the plant.

A few weeks after transplanting, the tree should begin a period of active growth. Such periods will be repeated several times during the spring-summer season. During this period, you need to feed the tangerine with mineral and organic fertilizers once a week or two. You can use dried tea leaves as fertilizer, which you need to dig into the soil.

Tangerines grown at home grow only up to 1.5 m and are miniature trees that fit perfectly into any interior, even without fruit. And when a tree is strewn with fragrant flowers and then colorful fruits, it becomes a universal center of attraction, giving beauty and causing sighs of admiration.

The tangerine requires grafting in order to receive fruit from it. It is possible that the tangerine will bear fruit without grafting, but this will not happen very soon. In addition, the fruits will be small and sour. With the help of grafting, you can accelerate the onset of fruiting and achieve higher quality tangerine fruits. best time for tangerine grafting - April or the very beginning of May. At this time, the plant experiences the most active sap flow. But nothing bad will happen if you decide to plant a tangerine in August. This is no less favorable time for grafting this plant. How to properly graft a tangerine? It is best to graft a tangerine tree onto seedlings of other citrus plants. Moreover, the grafting process itself must occur quickly, carefully and in clean conditions. To begin, prepare everything you need: a scion with wood that has matured enough, a scion from a cultivated fruit-bearing citrus plant, a garden varnish, an elastic tape and a special budding knife. At a height of approximately 7 cm from the ground, thoroughly wipe the plant, remove all dust and dirt from it. Then, using a clean budding knife (which should be very sharp), make a cut in the bark in the shape of the letter T. Try not to touch the wood, otherwise all the work will be in vain. The top of the cut should be about 1 cm and the bottom 2.5 cm.

Next, we press down the bark with the tip of a knife and insert an “eye” into the hole, while holding it by the petiole leaf. Then we cover this leaf with bark, pressing lightly with a budding knife. Lubricate the cut made with garden varnish and carefully wrap the area with adhesive tape. Only the petiole with a leaf on it should remain on the surface. When your plant is already grafted, place it in a small greenhouse, which you can easily make yourself from a large plastic bag or special film for greenhouses. But you shouldn’t leave the plant in the greenhouse all the time. Periodically open the film to ventilate the tree. When two to three weeks have passed after you have grafted the tangerine tree, you can appearance judge how successful your vaccination was. If the petiole has dried to the shield and turned black, you have done something wrong and the grafting should be repeated. And if the petiole turns yellow and can be easily separated from the tree trunk, your grafting was successful. Once the scion has budded and is well established, you can remove the adhesive tape. She is no longer needed. After about three weeks, a young shoot will begin to sprout from the swollen bud. At this time you will need to trim the rootstock trunk at a height of about 5 mm above the base. The cut should be oblique. The cut itself should be treated with garden varnish.

IN Lately growing exotic plants on the windowsill fruit plants has become a kind of fashion trend"both among professional flower growers and among lovers of this fascinating activity. Citrus fruits occupy far from the last place in flower collections, and most often the most favorite tropical pet is the tangerine. This popularity can be explained simply: the fruits tangerine tree Many people associate them with the winter holidays, the aroma of the Christmas tree and New Year's miracles, so for many, a cute pet on the window is the mood of the most beloved and long-awaited holiday.

Mandarin is very easy to care for, and growing it at home from an ordinary seed is not at all difficult. To that exciting process You can also involve younger family members. When you first try planting, it is recommended to pay attention to some features of tangerine agricultural technology.

Selection and preparation of planting material

For growing a home tangerine tree Seeds from regular store-bought fruit will do, the main thing is that it is well ripened. Since loss of seedlings is possible at any stage of the process, several seeds should be taken at once for planting. Seeds extracted from the pulp immediately before sowing can be placed directly into the soil. If the seeds have had time to sit and dry out, they will need pre-soaking. To do this, tangerine seeds are wrapped in several layers of damp gauze and placed on a saucer for 10–12 hours, after which they are planted in the ground. Hydrogel can be used as a modern alternative to gauze. When using it, the seeds are placed in the middle layers of granules, where they are stored optimal level humidity.

The soaking procedure can be extended until the seeds germinate, and with the appearance of the first roots, transferred to the prepared substrate. In this case, the saucer with the soaked seeds should be covered with glass or film, which will speed up the appearance of sprouts. It is necessary to periodically add water to the greenhouse, preventing the seed from drying out.

Rules for planting in the ground

The best soil for a tangerine tree, which is very demanding on soil composition, would be special mixture for citrus fruits from a flower shop. A self-prepared substrate should consist of sand, turf and leaf soil, mixed in a ratio of 1: 3: 1, with the addition of a small amount wood ash and rotted organic matter. It is allowed to sow seeds in a common container, but planting in a separate pot will avoid the first transplant procedure, which tangerine, like all citrus fruits, endures quite painfully. Sowing work is carried out in the following sequence:

A small drainage layer is placed at the bottom of the planting container, after which the peat mixture is filled in and moistened abundantly.
Prepared seeds are planted to a depth of 1–2 cm.
The container with the crops is covered with polyethylene and left in dark place at a temperature of +23…+25 ° C until germination, maintaining constant soil moisture.
With the emergence of seedlings (after 4–5 weeks), the crops are brought into the light and their cover is removed.

At the stage of formation of the 3rd–4th leaf, young plants grown in a common container are planted in separate containers. The further development of seedlings depends on the correct conditions of their maintenance.

Features of care

Caring for a tangerine tree is not difficult. For the comfortable well-being of the plant in its maintenance, it is recommended to adhere to the following rules:

It is advisable to have a tropical pet on the window sills of the south and southeast side. To ensure uniform illumination of the crown, the pot must be regularly turned towards the light. But! A tangerine may react to a sudden change of location or too frequent turns of the pot by suddenly dropping its leaves.
Mandarin oranges should be watered sparingly., preventing both drying out and waterlogging of the earthen coma. It is recommended to use melt or rain water for irrigation. In case of use tap water it must be left for at least 24 hours. In hot weather, the tree needs frequent watering.
Every day the pet should spray with settled water room temperature, and every 7–10 days give him a warm shower with soapy treatment of the crown. This procedure helps prevent possible infections and pest attacks. To avoid soap getting into the soil, it is recommended to cover the soil surface with polyethylene.
From the beginning of June to the end of August the plant useful to keep on outdoors . The “summer” place for the tangerine should be sunny, protected from rain and drafts, which have an extremely negative impact on the well-being of the tree.
IN winter period tangerine requires special conditions - a cool, bright room with an air temperature of +2 to +10 °C.
To feed the plant it is recommended to use complex fertilizers for citrus crops with a high nitrogen content. Feed every 2 weeks throughout the spring-summer period. With the onset of autumn, feeding is stopped.
As the tangerine tree grows needs to be transplanted into a larger container. Since tangerine does not like replanting, it should not be abused. The indication for the procedure is roots “sticking out” from the drainage holes of the pot. It is recommended to replant the tree using the transshipment method without disturbing the earthen coma.v
The small, bitter-tasting fruits of tangerines grown from seeds are unsuitable for food, so if you want to improve the taste characteristics of the future harvest, you can grafting method. As a scion, a branch is taken from a varietal fruit-bearing plant, the qualities of which will subsequently be inherited by the home tree.

Crown formation

By the time of the first flowering (after 3–5 years), the tangerine tree should have a well-formed spherical crown. They begin to shape the crown in the second year of life. To do this, the main trunk is shortened at a height of 17–22 cm, after which all single branches are removed, leaving 4–5 healthy branched shoots. A year later, repeated pruning is carried out, shortening and pinching the side branches, which contributes to better tillering and consolidation of the crown shape. Subsequently, the procedure is cosmetic and rejuvenating in nature - old, weak and incorrectly growing branches are removed. To avoid harming the plant during pruning, the following recommendations should be followed when pruning:

The pruning procedure should be carried out before flowering begins or after it ends. The first method allows you to stimulate the growth of the tree, the second promotes the formation of new buds.
Sick, old shoots, as well as shoots with slight branching, must be pruned.
Branches with fruit ovaries cannot be pruned.
When carrying out the procedure, you should use sharp garden shears or a well-sharpened knife.
The cut areas must be treated with garden varnish, tree resin or other antiseptics.

Pruning carried out according to all the rules allows you to give the crown homemade tangerine neat shape and promotes the formation of young shoots.

Possible problems

In the process of growing a homemade tangerine, it is necessary to monitor the health of the green pet. A few yellowed and dropped leaves are not a reason to panic, however, sudden “leaf fall” is most likely a consequence of a violation of agricultural practices, which should be eliminated in as soon as possible. The most common causes of leaf shedding are:

incorrectly selected watering mode;
unnecessarily high level soil acidity;
a large number of old unpruned shoots;
sudden temperature change;
lack of light;
high concentration of fertilizers.

With the rapid elimination of the unfavorable factors listed above, the tangerine will return to normal functioning.

With proper care, attention and care, you can grow from a small seed an elegant tropical tree that can decorate your home and fill it with a fresh citrus aroma.

The tangerine tree, like all its close relatives - citrus fruits, is an evergreen plant. This means that all year round it will delight you with amazingly green foliage, and also, if you’re lucky, with the sunny color of ripe fruits. It grows remarkably well even at home, you just need to create at least minimal comfort for it, which, in turn, is ensured by proper care.

In the botanical classification, tangerines belong to the so-called rue family. This also includes, by the way, lemons, oranges, grapefruits, and kumquats. It’s easy to guess what all these fruits have in common: bright yellow-red colors, juicy pulp, pleasant and strong aroma. The tangerine tree is perhaps the easiest to adapt to the home microclimate, and is often grown for winter gardens.

How to “tame” a tangerine tree?

In natural natural conditions tangerines are evergreen shrubs reaching a height of no more than 2-3 meters. It would be a stretch to call them trees. A tangerine tree grown at home is unlikely to exceed 1.5 m. On average, it grows only to 1-1.2 m. It is easy to notice its striking resemblance to lemon bushes. The only difference is in the shape of the crown: in tangerine trees it is more “disheveled”.

The tangerine blooms very beautifully: small snow-white flowers appear on the branches of the tree, collected in small inflorescences-tassels. Each inflorescence contains 5-6 flowers. They emit a refined and subtle aroma, reminiscent of an expensive perfume. The flowers of the tangerine tree are capable of self-pollination, and this is a big plus in favor of its “domestication”.

When the flowering period ends, it is time for fruit formation. They have a traditional flattened shape, much less often - pear-shaped. There are few seeds in them, and sometimes none at all. The peel of the fruit is soft, fleshy, and easily peeled off.

Tangerines ripen faster than all other citrus fruits, which means that they are best suited for cultivation at home. Moreover, the choice must be made in favor early ripening varieties, and from them select dwarf crops as the most productive.

These are dwarfs in the full sense of the word: in natural conditions they grow only 0.8-1 m, and in a greenhouse or in a room - only up to 0.4-0.5 m. Miniature and thin leaves of tangerine trees from the Vasya family have light green in color, and the flowers stay on the branches for a very long time - sometimes up to 11-12 months. And this, however, does not prevent the trees from bearing fruit in the first or second year of life. What can they be like? dwarf tangerines? Of course, small and light - the weight of one fruit does not exceed 60-70 g. Even after final ripening, they remain hanging on the branches for a long time, giving the tree a beautiful appearance.

Some interesting facts about tangerine trees

Wild species of tangerines are now found almost nowhere, except perhaps in India, which is rightfully assigned the status of their “historical homeland.” Indian gardeners began cultivating tangerine trees in ancient times - several thousand years before new era. And the wonderful sunny fruits came to Europe relatively late - only in the middle of the 19th century, when local traders brought them to Spain and Portugal.

Where did the name “tangerines” come from? There are three versions on this matter:

the Spaniards could have formed the word mandarino from the verb “se mondar”, which means “easily peeled” and directly indicates that the skin of these fruits is easily separated from the pulp;

in China, these citruses used to be considered something of a delicacy and were very expensive, which is why they were available only to rich people called tangerines;

The island of Mauritius, located in Indian Ocean. This is probably where such trees were first discovered.

Modern India is not among the world's major suppliers of tangerines. Japan and China are leading here. The main “tangerine republics” of Europe are Spain, Italy and Portugal.

Tangerines are also grown in the Caucasus, and Abkhazia is famous for its special successes here. By the way, Abkhazian tangerines are distant “relatives” of Japanese ones.

You can only pick tangerines by hand - this is what all well-known producers do. The fruits are separated from the branches using scissors, and all manipulations are performed with the utmost care. If you accidentally damage the skin of the fruit with the tip, it will quickly deteriorate, and even damage all the other tangerines that will be stored next to it.

It is also impossible to pick tangerines from branches with bare hands - they will be unsuitable for long-term storage.

Beneficial properties of “home-grown” tangerines

Actually, in all their characteristics, tangerines grown at home are not much different from ordinary ones. Taste properties and chemical composition they have the same one.

The fruits of tangerine trees can be considered as an element dietary nutrition. Rich in potassium compounds, they are extremely beneficial for the functioning of the heart and have a beneficial effect on the condition of the cardiovascular system as a whole. Almost 90% of tangerines consist of water, but they also contain proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vegetable fiber, organic acids, a complex of mono- and disaccharides (glucose, fructose, sucrose) and many vitamins. Tangerines even have some rejuvenating properties, since they contain beta-carotene, a substance that neutralizes the effects of free radicals and protects the body from premature aging.

Tangerine peel is rich essential oils, which have a wide range healing properties: promote the breakdown of fats, stimulate metabolic processes, help relieve stress and achieve mental comfort. IN folk medicine There are recipes for tinctures of tangerine peel that have an expectorant effect for respiratory diseases.

The pulp of fresh tangerines is as healthy as natural tangerine juice. Both stimulate work digestive tract, helps get rid of intestinal disorders and attacks of nausea.

Growing your own tangerine tree on a windowsill or balcony is worth it for those who suffer from fungal skin diseases: the juice of fresh fruits, just picked from a branch, will have a truly magical effect on the affected areas of the body - you just need to lubricate these places with it.

"Life plan" for a tangerine tree

The development of any tangerine tree is subject to special laws. During the year, it enters phases of active growth twice. The first such period usually occurs in March-April, the second - at the end of summer - beginning of autumn. The first growth is given more importance, although at this time the formation good harvest Usually there is no need to talk.

The young tree must be allowed to grow stronger and gain strength. To do this, during the first 3-4 years of its life, it is necessary to stop flowering and prevent the formation of fruits. When the tangerine tree is exactly four years old, you can plan a small harvest. But don’t try to get a lot of fruits at once - three, four, maximum five pieces will be enough for the first time. The fact is that even at this age the branches of the tree are still too thin and vulnerable - they may not withstand heavy loads. And you shouldn’t leave too many ovaries on them. The plant may die from exhaustion.

How to determine the number of fruits that your mature tree can bear? Count the number of leaves on the branches. For every 15 leaves, you can leave one ovary - it will become the basis of the future tangerine.

There are no varieties of tangerines intended exclusively for greenhouse or home cultivation: even dwarf varieties grow well in open ground.

These are suitable for planting at home:

Unshiu, aka seedless tangerine. Evergreen With spherical crown. In nature it grows to a height of 2-2.5 m, in a room it can reach from 1 to 1.5 m. The branches are drooping, the bark is smooth, the leaves are dark green in color and oval in shape. The flowers are white, grouped in inflorescences of 5 pieces. The fruits are small, round, slightly flattened on top and bottom.

Clementine, hybrid regular tangerine with a king orange. It is famous for its incredibly juicy and rich taste. Outwardly, it is not much different from Unshiu. Its peculiarity is that when home growing it begins to bear fruit only in the third year of life. The fruits are small, even miniature, but the yield is always extremely high. The tree is unpretentious to environmental conditions and easily tolerates a lack of light and low temperatures.

How to grow a tangerine tree from a seed?

When you eat tangerines and find seeds in the pulp, the idea of planting a seed in the ground and growing a real tree comes as if by itself. Only some take on its implementation, while others begin to doubt its success.

Seeds from any fruit are suitable for planting - the same ones that are bought in stores. Unfortunately, not every bone is capable of giving life. healthy plant, and you can’t immediately determine this. Therefore, for planting, it is logical to select 7-10 tangerine seeds at once. Their germination at home may not be so simple.

Where to begin? It is necessary to create a humid microclimate for the seeds by moistening a piece of gauze or cotton cloth with water and placing grains between its layers. The fabric will dry out as the water evaporates and must be moistened regularly. The tangerine seeds will swell and sprout after a few days. The germination process can take from 3-4 days to 2 weeks.

As soon as the tangerine seeds show signs of life, they can be placed in a box with soil or flower pot. Ideally, you need to stock up on special soil for citrus fruits in advance - it is sold in flower shops. But it is not forbidden to prepare a soil mixture for the future tangerine tree with your own hands. For its base, leaf and turf soil are usually taken in equal parts, and compost and manure humus can be used as additives. But there absolutely should not be peat here - it is destructive for citrus plants.

Do not expect that the planted tangerine seeds will sprout immediately. Neither on the second, nor on the third, nor even on the fifth or sixth day after landing, you will not see them. The optimal time for the appearance of the first green sprouts is 2.5-3 weeks. Sometimes they hatch at all only after a month. Still, the birth of a new life is not an easy process, and you need to be patient. And at the initial stage of its development, the tangerine tree cannot grow quickly. Provide it with the necessary care (see information below in the text of the article), proper watering, maintain a comfortable environment for the plant temperature regime indoors, and everything will work out as it should. First, young green sprouts will hatch, then they will gradually gain strength and one day turn into mature fruit-bearing trees.

Tangerine tree from the store: you bought it, and then what?

If you want to have a luxurious tangerine tree at home, but have absolutely no desire to bother with germinating seeds, you can go to the flower shops in your city. Buy or order citrus in a pot there it is quite possible. But it is curious that tangerine trees are most often found on sale in the cold season - in autumn or winter. In the warm season, it is simply unrealistic to find them in the assortment - such is the specificity.

When you bring a tangerine tree home, do not try to immediately create a “tropical” climate for it - it does not need heat. Homemade varieties of dwarf tangerines can withstand even sub-zero temperatures, up to 10 degrees below zero.

And here sunlight- Very important factor for the full development of indoor mandarin. This plant is very light-loving - ideally it needs intense lighting for half a day (12 hours).

The watering regime and the level of humidity in the room are two more parameters that are relevant for the development of a tangerine tree at home. Citrus fruits are generally moisture-loving, but an excess of moisture is destructive for them, as for many other plants. In summer, they try to provide the tangerine tree with abundant watering (but not overwater it); in winter, the soil in the pot is moistened occasionally, but care is taken that it does not dry out. If the air in the room is dry, then the foliage is sprayed with boiled water from a spray bottle every day.

It may happen that the pot in which the tangerine tree was purchased will turn out to be too small for it after some time. Sooner or later there will be a need to “move” the plant into a container bigger size. The optimal time to transplant a tangerine is the last weeks of winter or the beginning of spring.

To replant a tangerine tree, you don’t need to immediately buy the largest pot you come across in the store. The diameter of the new container should be only 3-5 cm larger than the previous one. The plant is removed from the old pot along with a lump of earth, which is held by its roots. Such a transplant is called “transshipment”: the bush, as it were, “rolls over” from its old pot along with the soil, and its root system is not subject to mechanical damage. The tangerine tree is placed in a new container along with the old soil lump and fresh soil mixture is added.

After transplantation, the tangerine tree will need several weeks to adapt to the new pot and only then will it be able to enter the active growth phase. As a rule, such phases occur in spring and summer and are repeated annually. During these periods, the tree’s need for nutrients increases, so it needs to be fertilized periodically with organic and mineral fertilizers. Drinking (that is, already used for its intended purpose) tea leaves can be a good homemade fertilizer for it. It is measured out in small portions (1-1.5 tablespoons), placed in a pot with a plant and mixed with the top soil layer.

We also recommend reading the articles:
Pomegranate garden on the windowsill
Ginger on the windowsill - nothing complicated
Momordica on the balcony: beauty and benefits

Surely you have seen some of your friends have citrus trees with fragrant flowers and fruits. And we want to grow the same thing on our windowsill, but we doubt: will it work? If with lemons everything is more or less simple - many successfully grow them at home, then with tangerines not everyone is so sure of a positive result. But I really want it to bright fruits This tree, the symbol of the New Year, was right at our fingertips, on the windowsill!

Tangerine from a seed: how realistic is it to grow it?

Mandarin is quite easy to care for, but in the first stages it will require your care, attention and patience. If you do not have the desire or opportunity to deal with it closely, it is better to buy a seedling at a flower shop - an already grafted tree, ready through a short time to fruiting.

Under natural conditions, fruit-bearing tangerines are obtained by grafting. You can do this too. But first you need to grow a tree. Many people have an indoor tangerine tree, but it rather serves a decorative function and does not bear fruit. At best, small, inedible fruits sometimes appear on it.

We will tell you how to properly grow and plant tangerines in order to enjoy its fruits right at home.

With proper care, tangerine trees grown from seed will bring a rich harvest

First, make more space for the future tree. It is desirable that it be on the south side, rich in light and warmth. Any poisonous plants- bad neighbors for citrus fruits, so it is better to place them on different windowsills, and ideally, in different rooms.

Where can I get material for planting, that is, seeds? Yes, it’s very simple: in the tangerines themselves! When buying these juicy sunny fruits for your loved ones, do not throw away the seeds, but collect them.

Please note: the more seeds you have for sowing, the better. As practice shows, not all of them will germinate: some sprouts will die from disease or after grafting.

From seeds to a tree: planting correctly

First, we need to prepare the seeds. If you have already grown seedlings yourself, then you know that they need to be soaked for a while so that they swell.

Selecting soil and preparing a place for planting

Our tangerine needs good, high-quality soil in which the tree will grow in the same way as it would grow in natural conditions. Therefore, peat is absolutely not suitable: it has no nutritional properties, it dries quickly and often sours. Unfortunately, peat is contained in almost all ready-made soil mixtures sold in stores. Therefore, it is better to prepare the soil yourself. You will need:

1 part sand;
1 part rotted cow manure;
1 part leaf soil;
3 parts of turf land;
some clay.

If you live in the city, you can buy neutral nutritious soil in the store, for example, “Biohumus” or “Rose”. Due to their properties, these mixtures are well suited for growing citrus fruits. You can also do it yourself simplified version soil mixture: ordinary soil, a little ash, organic fertilizer and superphosphate.

Choose the right soil for your tangerine

Prepare a pot for the future plant. A grown seedling will need a container with a volume of 4 liters or more.

Be sure to put drainage on the bottom: crushed nut shells, pebbles, pebbles, shards. Fill the pot with soil. Plant sprouted or dry seeds to a depth of about 4 cm. It is better to plant several seeds at once (about a dozen).

While the seedlings are strengthening, keep the pot in a warm place where the temperature is not lower than +20 degrees, and monitor the humidity.

Plant care after planting

After the first shoots appear, start feeding them every 2 weeks with organic and mineral fertilizers. First, you need to water the sprout, and then add a fertilizer to the moist soil. In specialized stores you can find fertilizers designed to care specifically for citrus trees, in particular, tangerines.

Tangerine sprouts grown from seed

Every spring indoor tangerine needs a transplant. Do this carefully, maintaining the integrity of the layer of soil around the roots.

When the tree reaches the age of 8 years, replanting can be done every 2 years.

Keep the pot of tangerine on the south side of the room, at good lighting. The air temperature in winter should not fall below +15 degrees. Spray the plant every week, as the tangerine needs high humidity. It would be a good idea to keep a bowl of water near the tree at all times.

In summer, especially if it is very hot, tangerines need frequent, abundant watering up to several times a day. In winter, you need to water it as the soil dries out 2-3 times a week with water at room temperature.

Active feeding of fruiting citrus fruits should be carried out from April to September. This will make the fruit sweeter.

Growing a fruiting tree: grafting rules

In nature, a tangerine grown from a seed bears fruit in about 5 years, but it will be wild with tasteless fruits. Grafting a tangerine will speed up fruiting and give you the opportunity to get full-fledged tasty fruits. The plant needs to be grafted in April, early May or August, when sap flow is especially active. In other months it is unlikely to achieve success.

A positive result directly depends on how quickly and accurately you perform all the manipulations.

Before you start grafting your tangerine tree, prepare the following:

rootstock, that is, a plant that you grew from a seed, with a trunk thickness of about 6 mm;
scion - a fresh eye or cutting taken from a fruiting tangerine from a branch up to 2 years old;
budding garden knife;
elastic tape;
garden var.

On the trunk of the rootstock at a height of 10 cm, make a cut in the shape of the letter “T”: horizontally 1 cm, vertically 2–4 cm.

Prepare the scion: remove thorns and leaf blades. Carefully cut the bud with a small layer of wood and insert it into the cut.

Tangerine budding scheme

Carefully wrap the tape around the area where the “operation” was performed.

After grafting, place the plant under a jar or plastic bag. This way you will create the necessary microclimate and humidity.

Not earlier than in a month you will be able to see whether the vaccination was successful or not. This is why you will need several copies of tangerine seedlings so that at least a couple of them are grafted successfully.

As soon as you see that the grafted bud has sprouted, begin to accustom the sprout to the air outside the jar. Gradually increase the ventilation time and eventually remove the winding. Another month later, when new escape will strengthen and grow well, carefully cut the trunk of the rootstock diagonally 3 mm above the base of the shoot. Cover the cut area with garden varnish.

Place a stick in the pot on which to fix the tree so that it grows vertically. After this, do not forget to water, feed and spray your tangerine.

How to grow tangerines at home (video)

How to protect a plant from diseases and pests

Among the pests dangerous to homemade tangerines, we most often encounter:

aphids;
flies;
red mites.

To combat them, there are special biological products, for example, the so-called green soap. You can also prepare your own garlic infusion or onion peel. They cope equally well with insects and do not allow them to reproduce, creating an environment on the plant that is uncomfortable for their life.

Today many lovers indoor exotica, prefer to buy plants in stores. But the problem is that citrus fruits grown in greenhouses do not take root well in room conditions. But a miniature tree grown with your own hands will delight you long years. Of course, you will have to wait a long time for the harvest from it, but the aroma of tangerine and the beauty of the plant will justify themselves.

Mandarin from seeds at home

Under natural conditions, tangerine trees reproduce vegetatively or by seeds. You can get the seeds of this representative of the rutaceae family from store-bought fruits. If you bought tangerines at the nearest supermarket, but did not have time to eat them, do not rush to throw them away. You need to choose the most unsightly and spoiled fruit and remove the seeds from it. After this, they are thoroughly washed in a weak solution of manganese. Now take a piece of gauze and place the processed bones on it. After this, they need to be placed on a small saucer and placed in a warm place. As soon as the seeds swell, they can be sown in the ground.

Any soil for citrus fruits is suitable for this. You need a small pot. We pour soil into it, water it and shallowly sow the seeds of our tangerine tree there. They need to be watered as the soil in the pot dries out. In approximately 10-20 days, the first shoots will appear. Tangerines come up together, like a brush. Choose a few of the cutest ones for yourself, and you can give the rest to your friends.

Picking

Now comes the most difficult stage - picking. This is transplanting tangerine seedlings into pots. This should be done when the third leaf appears on the tangerines. From your home nursery, we take out young trees using a regular fork. You can take a disposable plastic one. There is one point here. If you do not want your pet to reach its natural height in a few years, its root needs to be carefully trimmed. The spine is long and needs to be shortened a bit.

Choosing a pot for tangerine seedlings

You should also not take a large pot size, you need to take a smaller one. Young tangerines are growing very actively. You need to pour citrus soil into the pot, water it, make a small depression in the middle and plant your tangerine there. Do not bury the root collar; the plant may die. After transplanting, do not get too carried away with watering. This should be done as the soil dries. There is one little secret If you want to wake up in a room saturated with the enchanting aroma of tangerine, simply spray your small tree every evening. And you are guaranteed a divine aroma!