Botanical name: orange tree (Citrus sinensis) - species fruit trees belonging to the genus citrus of the subfamily of the orange family of the rue family. Long grown in cultivation, the fruits of the tree, oranges, are widely known and considered one of the healthiest and most delicious fruits.
Origin of the orange: China.
Lighting: photophilous.
The soil: light, loose, with a neutral reaction
Watering: abundant during growth, limited during dormancy.
Maximum tree height: up to 12 m
Average lifespan of a tree: 75 years old.
Landing: propagated by cuttings, seeds, grafting.
Description of the orange
Orange is a cultivated plant and in wild nature does not occur. This is a hybrid form, obtained in antiquity by crossing citrus species such as mandarin (Citrus reticulata) and pomelo (Citrus maxima)
The orange tree (see photo below) is evergreen, with a compact dense crown, there are rather large thorns or spines on the branches and young shoots. Sizes strongly depend on the variety, tall forms can reach 12 m, grafted on dwarf rootstocks - 4-6 m, and grown as houseplants do not exceed 2-2.5 m. There are even more compact varieties created specifically for indoors and having a height only 60-80 cm.
The root system of an orange is superficial, it has a number of features that must be taken into account when cultivating it. So, unlike other fruit trees, there are no root hairs on the roots of an orange, through which moisture and nutrients are usually absorbed, instead of them, at the tips of the roots, there are sheaths with colonies of soil fungi that exist in symbiosis with the plant.
Mushrooms receive from it carbohydrates and amino acids, other substances necessary for their vital activity, and in return they transfer water and mineral compounds, primarily phosphorus, into a form accessible to the tree for assimilation.
Such a community, called mycorrhiza, contributes to an increase in crop yield, the growing mycelium increases the absorbing surface of the roots, but, on the other hand, makes the host plant more vulnerable, since mycorrhiza does not tolerate lack of water, low soil temperature, and especially suffers when the roots are exposed.
In this regard, trees grown in open ground often require artificial irrigation and do not tolerate transplanting with an open root system very well.
Orange leaves in the photo with a description
Orange leaves are dark green, leathery, pointed oval in shape, their size is approximately 10x15 cm. They have a solid wavy or serrated edge and petioles with small winged appendages, connected to the petioles through a fairly wide intermediate articulation. Inside the leaf plates there are glands filled with aromatic oil, the smell of which is similar to the smell of orange flowers. The life span of one leaf is about 2 years. Most of them (about 25%) fall during the dormant period, from February to March, another quarter - throughout the year. A healthy tree only loses old leaves.
The biological features of an orange include the property of leaves different ages perform different functions. Young ones are involved in photosynthesis, that is, the plant breathes with them, while the old ones serve to accumulate the nutrients necessary for the growth of branches, flowering and ripening of fruits. Excessive loss of old leaves under unfavorable external conditions leads to a delay in the development of the tree, the absence or weakening of flowering and fruit set.
Orange flowers with a description and photo
The orange flower is bisexual, large, up to 5 cm in diameter, with five white, rarely reddish, elongated-ovate petals. In the center of a little opening perianth, a long single pistil rises, surrounded by many yellow stamens. Formed in the axils of the leaves on the shoots current year, usually growing downward or horizontally.
Orange flowers (see photo below) are usually collected in brushes of 6 pieces, less often solitary, have an intense aroma. Flower buds are laid in March-early April, and long time, sometimes up to a month, are in the bud stage.
The opening of the petals and the setting of fruits occurs at a strictly defined temperature, about 16-18 ° C, at a higher or lower temperature background, the buds fall off. A blossoming flower lives no more than 2-3 days. There are varieties without pistils, they do not need pollination and produce fruits without seeds.
The fruits of the orange tree
The fruit of the plant is round or broadly oval in shape, has a structure characteristic only of representatives of the orange subfamily, and is called hesperidium or orange. It is multi-celled, multi-seeded or seedless, similar in structure to a berry. The outer part, or pericarp, is a soft and thick skin up to 5 mm thick, smooth or slightly rough, covered with peel, from below it there is a thin white layer called albedo. The peel of an orange, depending on the variety and degree of maturity, makes up from 17 to 42% of the weight of the fruit, its color varies from green and light yellow to orange and reddish-orange. The taste is usually bitter, the texture is loose or dense elastic, and large translucent glands are filled essential oil, the percentage of which ranges from 1.2% to 2.2%.
The inner part of the fruit, or intercarp, consists of nests or lobules (9-13 pieces) that separate from each other, covered with films of various thicknesses and densities and filled with large juicy pulp cells in the form of nipple sacs, sweet, sweet-sour or bitter-sour taste. In most varieties, numerous seeds are immersed in the pulp, white in section, usually multi-embryonic. There are also seedless forms of the plant, in which the fruits are formed parthenocarpically, without pollination, and there are no seeds.
How do orange seeds ripen?
The tree is characterized by remontance, or the ability to repeatedly bloom and bear fruit during one season, therefore, as can be seen in the photo, a blooming orange can be simultaneously decorated not only with buds, but also with fruits. varying degrees maturity. The latter ripen, depending on the variety, within 8-9 months, and with a lack of lighting and longer, in their mature form they can remain on the branches. long time, and when grown in open ground, by spring they again become green, and then turn yellow again by autumn. The seeds of oranges ripening for two years are of better quality, but the taste and nutritional properties of such fruits deteriorate due to the low content of biologically active substances.
Orange belongs to long-lived trees, and although it grows quickly, from 40 to 50 cm per year, it matures and ages slowly. Grown from a seed, it begins to bear fruit at the age of 8-12, or even 15-20 years, and lives up to 75 years or more. Plants grafted and obtained from cuttings bear fruit earlier, after 4-5 years.
Origin of the name, history and use of the orange
The name of the fetus sounds different in different languages, and basically reflects its origin. So, in Holland it is "Appelsien", in Germany - "Apfelsine", "Appelsine" or "Sineser apfel", in France - "Pom de Sine". All these names are translated as "apple from China". The name "orange" adopted in Russian also comes from the German "Apfelsine".
Later in France, the fruit was called "orange", just like in England. This word is in English language from Spanish, in which the orange is called "naranja" from the Arabic "nareng". There is another name for the fruit, "portogalo", which is common in a number of southeastern European languages \u200b\u200band literally means "Portugal". It reflects the fact that for a long time it was Portugal that was the main exporter of sweet fruits to other countries in the region. So or consonantly, oranges are called in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Macedonia, Iran, Iraq and Turkey. The name "portogallo" is considered obsolete, but is still used in Italy.
The plant is considered one of the oldest cultivated fruit trees in the world. The first description of the orange is found in the writings ancient Greek philosopher and the naturalist Theophrastus as early as 350 BC. The ancient Greeks met him during the campaign of Alexander the Great to India, where, as it is believed, the fruits were brought from China. According to most researchers, it is China that is the birthplace of the orange, but there is another opinion about its origin. For example, the famous Russian scientist Nikolai Vavilov considered India to be the birthplace of culture, from where it was later introduced to China. IN Western Europe orange appeared only in the XV century, or rather, in 1548, when the Dutch brought an unfamiliar fruit from South China. In the Mediterranean, and especially in the southern part of the continent, this fruit tree appeared much earlier. So, after the liberation of the Pyrenees and Southern Italy from the Saracens in the 11th century, it turned out that orange trees were quite common in the gardens of local emirs and sultans; mention of them can be found in the poems of the famous Nizami, a classic of Persian poetry, dated as early as 1197.
Soon after the plant became known in the western part of Europe, it quickly spread throughout the Mediterranean coast, then came to Africa and South America, where it also took root perfectly and has been widely cultivated since then. Within the territory of Russian Empire oranges grew in Georgia, in the Batumi region, already at the beginning of the 18th century, and in the 19th century they began to be cultivated in the Sochi region.
Currently, the cultivation of oranges is put on an industrial basis, its volumes are increasing every year. Fruit production is an important part of the economy of countries with a subtropical and tropical climate, such as the United States, Brazil, Mexico, India and Pakistan, China, Iran and Egypt, as well as all Mediterranean countries. A little less is grown in Spain and Greece.
In Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union due to climatic conditions, orange is less common, cultivated in the south of Ukraine, in the Crimea, in the subtropics Krasnodar Territory. To the north, it can only be found in greenhouses, or as a houseplant.
Producing countries export these valuable and popular fruits all over the world. They are easily spoiled, therefore they are removed from the tree unripe and, to prevent damage during transportation, they are packed in boxes of 200-500 pieces, with each fruit wrapped in unglued paper. In order to choose when buying quality product, it should be borne in mind that smaller and medium-sized oranges are sweeter and juicier, and those picked at the beginning of winter (end of November - December) last longer and have better taste qualities. In addition, ripe fruits have a strong aroma and are much heavier than unripe ones.
For each of us, the smell of orange and tangerine evokes a sense of celebration. Believe it or not, you can create this holiday for yourself all year round if you grow an orange tree on your windowsill.
In apartments, the Merkheulsky variety is most often grown: its height rarely exceeds one meter. If you try hard and be patient, you can collect from 2 to 40 fruits from one plant.
- photo of an orange tree
Orange tree: home care
Orange is a tropical guest with great whims. He loves heat, so it is best to grow it in southern warm rooms.
In winter, it is desirable to place in special greenhouses for citrus fruits, but it is unlikely that a simple amateur grower has such an opportunity.
Orange is picky about the neighborhood. It is better if the following representatives of the flora are not next to it:
- monstera;
- hibiscus;
- large-leaved ficuses;
- cucumber seedling
Lighting
The orange tree just loves the light. The owner must not only put it in a well-lit place, but also provide additional lighting. At the same time, it is better not to keep the plant in the open sun for a long time. There is a risk of leaf scorch.
Temperature regime
The ideal temperature is:
- +25 degrees in summer;
- in winter - no higher than +13 degrees, tolerates short-term drops to zero degrees.
In order for an orange to bear fruit, it must be in a room with a temperature of 15-18 degrees.
In the heat and unbearable heat above +30 buds fall, and the plant itself slows down growth.
The peculiarity of the orange tree is that in the apartment it practically does not have a period of rest. You continue to take care of him the same way you took care of him. If you send it to a balcony or a special greenhouse in winter, the plant will go into a state of deep sleep, and care for it will be reduced to a minimum.
Video: We grow citrus fruits at home
watering
All citrus fruits love moisture. Because of this, in no case should the soil be allowed to dry out. As soon as the earth that was scooped up at a depth of 5-10 cm does not roll into a ball, start watering. In summer, an orange is watered daily, in winter the volume and frequency are slightly reduced: once every five or ten days. It all depends on the temperature of the content.
Watering is carried out exclusively with well-settled water. Be sure to warm -25-30 degrees.
Oranges may not show signs of water shortage for a long time. Only in case of critical dehydration, its leaves lose their former elasticity and fall. A plant in this state can no longer be saved.
spraying
Orange, as a representative of citrus fruits, prefers the climate of the "bath". In a word, the air humidity should be as close to 90% as possible. You need to spray the plant every day and more than once. In addition, next to flower pot additional water containers should be placed.
If at the same time the air in the room remains dry, the option of using a special air humidifier is not ruled out.
top dressing
When feeding an orange tree, it is important not to overdo it with nutrients. There must be balance in everything. Experienced flower growers it is recommended to use ready-made fertilizers such as Humisola. Top dressing is carried out 2 - 3 times a year by the foliar method.
crown formation
To wait for the fruits, the crown of the tree needs to be put in order and shaped. If you keep it for decoration, then you can not cut it, just remove the shoots. Pruning is done in the spring.
Video: How to form citrus fruits
Transfer
Young individuals - annually, older than 5 years - once every 3 years, old plants - every 6-7 years.
Oranges are long-lived. Providing him the right care, you will enjoy the aroma and taste of attractive fruits for a long time.
- Kind: citrus
- Flowering period: December, January, February, March
- Height: 50-1200cm
- Color: orange, yellow, white
- perennial
- hibernates
- sun-loving
- moisture-loving
Bright lemon, orange and tangerine trees with their huge flowers and mouth-watering fruits are always the main accents of any garden. But, unfortunately, they do not grow in the Russian climate in the open air - only in greenhouses and at home. But then where do such trees appear in Russian gardens in summer? Simply at home in a country house or in an apartment, it is quite possible to grow a beautiful citrus tree up to at least one and a half meters high! And in the summer, put it in the garden and enjoy the incredibly fragrant big flowers, for which modern landscape designers are willing to give a lot. Agree, any garden for 90% consists of plants, each of which has its own time. Yes, in the Russian climate, a citrus tree is a seasonal decoration of the garden, but what a thing!
In its development, the tangerine tree will not be particularly whimsical. The main thing is to provide him with abundance sunlight all 12 hours a day all year round. Therefore, if you want to grow a naturally beautiful tree, you will need additional intense lighting. winter evenings. There will also be some professional secrets to help.
Choosing a tangerine variety
Now let's look at the varieties a little:
- Unshiu is frost-resistant and very productive variety. You will get a low tree, with a spreading crown of flexible thin branches, and with corrugated leaves. This mandarin grows fast and produces good fruit. And if you add artificial lighting, things will go even better.
- Shiva Mikan is a compact tangerine tree with large dark green foliage. Blooms and grows fast.
- The honey variety is the rarest variety, with very sweet tangerines.
- And the tangerine Covane-vasse is the tallest, as for home conditions. For the garden - that's it!
Look how wonderful citrus trees grow with the right choice of variety:
Proper seed preparation
So, the first step is to get the bones for the future tangerine tree. For this purpose, ripe fruits from the store are ideal: take at least 10 of these seeds. The more the better: you probably know that any planting material does not germinate 100%.
Second step: let the bones hatch. To do this, they need moisture. Wrap the bones in damp gauze and leave it like that for a few days. Gauze, in turn, will not allow moisture to evaporate quickly, and at the same time, the bones will “breathe”.
Now let's prepare the soil. The easiest way is to buy it in a flower shop, it is called "special for citrus", or roll up your sleeves and make a nutrient base yourself. Just combine leafy soddy soil with compost or rotted humus in equal parts. The main thing is that there is no peat in your land.
In details:
Now you can plant hatched bones in this land. But be patient: the first sprouts will appear from 3 weeks to a whole month, because the mandarin grows slowly and from time to time also stops its growth according to some biological laws unknown to us.
Abundance of moisture
The tangerine tree loves moisture, and in the summer it must be watered (but not flooded). And in winter, you should reduce the amount of moisture, while making sure that the soil does not dry out. After all, future fruits need to “pour”, as they say among the people.
To compensate for the dryness of home air, it is advisable to spray tangerine leaves every day with clean boiled water (or filtered).
Neat transplant
When the tangerine tree has grown, move it to a larger pot. perfect time- February March. Such a plant should be transplanted using the transshipment method in order to preserve the earthen ball as much as possible and not damage the delicate root system.
A few weeks after the transplant, when the tree can get used to the new place and the so-called "housewarming syndrome" has passed, root system starts to grow rapidly. Moreover, for the entire spring-summer period, the mandarin will have several points of active growth, in which it will need to be fed with organic and mineral fertilizers once every 1-2 weeks. The tree will especially like the used tea leaves - just dig it into the soil.
As a result, thanks to your efforts, you will grow a good tree up to one and a half meters tall. Miniature, cute and especially bright during the fruiting period. And during the flowering period, the tangerine tree is strewn with flowers so that it is not impossible not to pay attention to it!
How to grow an early ripe lemon tree?
Lemon is a perennial evergreen tree, with spines on the branches and beautiful dark green leaves. Of particular value to landscape design represent just lemon leaves, with their juicy colors and excellent decorative qualities. A real decoration for any garden!
When transplanted to open ground lemon quickly reaches a height of up to 5 meters. But, if you grow it only at home, and only leave it in the garden in the sun for the summer, then it will reach “only” 2 meters.
Another value of the lemon tree for landscaping is that it can bloom several times throughout the year - in spring, summer and winter. Its flowers are especially beautiful: snow-white, with a waxy color and with a delicate aroma. And it is also surprising that fragrant flowers, green ovaries, and even ripe fruits can be on the same tree at the same time. Moreover, lemons can safely hang on parental branches for up to 2 years, periodically becoming either green or yellow again.
And growing this miracle of nature is easy:
Choosing the right variety
The first step in growing a lemon tree for your garden is to choose a variety—and there are about 900 of them! Among the species of this evergreen citrus plant there are those that grow exclusively in the tropics and subtropics, and there are those that feel great indoors. winter garden. And it's important to guess!
- Pavlovsky lemon grows up to 2 meters in height. And all you need to do is root the cuttings under glass jars, and then transplant them into pots. Moreover, this lemon is most adapted to life at home or in a winter greenhouse, and it blooms in the second or third year and then begins to bear fruit.
- Meyer lemon will bloom all year round, although it will remain dwarfed. But its beautiful round crown lends itself remarkably to formation. True, there are many thorns on the branches of this lemon.
- Novogruzinsky lemon is obtained with a stronger tall crown and an impressive number of thorns. It will bloom a little later than the Pavlovsk lemon, but it will be distinguished by a stable harvest.
- But the Lisbon lemon is different in that it tolerates high air temperatures without problems.
Here's how wonderfully a varietal lemon tree grows:
Preparing for landing
As soon as you pull the seeds out of the lemon, immediately start planting, otherwise the similarity will be lost every hour. Then do everything according to the following instructions:
- Step 1. First rinse the seeds well under running water and dry on a windowsill on a sheet of paper.
- Step 2. Next, spread them on a layer of damp cotton wool so that the seeds swell. Moreover, cotton wool will need to be periodically moistened.
- Step 3. Take plastic bottle and cut off the neck. Make a couple of holes in the bottom.
- Step 4. Fill out plastic bottle soil, pour a little and plant the seeds to a depth of 2 to 4 centimeters.
- Step 5. Now water every two days with fresh water.
- Step 6. When lemon Tree reaches a height of 10-15 centimeters, transplant it into a pot with the same soil. It is important that the root system is not cramped in it.
You will see the process in more detail at the master class:
But, unfortunately, the lemon that you have grown from the seed will bear fruit only for 12-15 years of life. That is why it makes sense to purchase a cutting or buds already from a fruit-bearing tree, and graft them onto your plant. And your lemon will be ready for grafting when the thickness of its trunk reaches 80 millimeters.
All this is perfectly shown in the video:
The Importance of Proper Soil
Unfortunately, the situation is not uncommon when seedlings are bought even in a well-known company store, and after a week the lemon dies. That's why it's so important to get the right soil first.
The soil for the lemon tree you will need is balanced in structure and rich in nutrients. The recipe is the same as for the tangerine tree. But take care of the temperature: at -5-6° the lemon leaves die off, at minus -7-8° the crown is damaged, and at minus -8-9° the tree is already dying. Therefore, to overwinter your lemon tree, you need a temperature in the range of + 15-18 ° C.
When taking your citrus fruit into the garden in the summer, put it under the crown of a larger fellow: apple or sea buckthorn, and relative to the same cardinal points. After all, you can’t put a lemon tree in an open sunny place - the leaves will burn.
Here is a good illustration proper care behind a growing lemon tree:
Correct watering temperature
You can also easily grow a lemon tree from a cutting that begins to bloom in the third year after planting:
- Step 1. In early spring take cuttings with four to five leaves.
- Step 2. Hold such a cutting in a weak solution of potassium permanganate and cover the cut with crushed coal.
- Step 3. Remove the bottom leaves, leaving only the top three.
- Step 4. Next, plant the cutting in wet river sand.
- Step 5. Cover with a jar or bag and place in a dark place.
Like here:
The key is to keep the soil moist. If droplets of water appear on the walls of the jar, it means that the roots are releasing the stalk. And as soon as the plant is rooted (check this by lightly tugging on the stalk), bring it to the light and remove the jar.
In winter, you need to water the lemon tree only once or twice a week, and in summer - every day, but just a little. Moreover, with warm water, 2-3 degrees higher than the air temperature. If you water it colder or warmer, the plant will not like it. Indeed, this is the capriciousness of the lemon tree, which does not like both the lack of moisture and its excess. Experienced gardeners know one tricky secret: tap the pot with a wooden object. If the beats are sonorous, the ground is already dry, and if they are deaf, there is still moisture.
You still need to turn the lemon tree on the windowsill, no matter what the sellers tell you there. All this in order to get a beautiful crown, otherwise there will be light and shadow leaves that will no longer fit into the landscape design of your summer garden.
The color of the leaves of the lemon tree is also affected by top dressing. So, from March to September, once every 1-2 weeks, feed your plant with manure or droppings. During the fruiting period, do this every 10 days, and this time give preference to a complex of mineral fertilizers.
Formation of a beautiful crown
The next interesting secret: it is easy to form the future crown of a lemon along its roots. After all, the root system is a mirror image of the crown. Therefore, plant a lemon in a pot of the shape you want to see its crown.
in the spring young plant 20 centimeters high, you need to cut off the top, and leave 5-6 packs so that they give side shoots. And in March-April, prune this tree, removing old dry and diseased shoots, as well as those that are trying to grow into the crown, and not from it.
And one more important point. From time to time, the lemon tree becomes crowded: usually once every 2-3 years. At this time, it gives its little signal, rising above the soil level and bringing the roots into the drainage hole. So, it's time to transplant the tree into a larger pot. It is advisable to do this before mid-February, while new shoots have not yet begun to grow. And keep in mind that an adult lemon tree already feels better not in light soil, but in heavy loose soil. You can get it yourself by mixing one part leafy earth, one part sand and one part humus, adding a little clay to such soil.
Help with pollination
Another secret to getting a really beautiful lemon tree is that you have to pollinate it! Yes, this is a self-pollinating plant, but it still has male flowers with only pollen. Collect such pollen cotton swab and bring it to the pestle, which is large and conspicuous.
In the summer, be sure to take the lemon out into the garden, and it will become a wonderful attribute of landscape design. And in winter, organize additional lighting: a fluorescent lamp or Reflux lamps, at a distance of 10 centimeters from the upper leaves of the tree.
How to grow an orange tree with a beautiful crown?
An orange tree is a real find for the landscape design of any garden. It is neat, with glossy leaf skin and beautiful fruits.
Proper planting of seeds
You can grow this tree from an ordinary bone:
- rinse the removed seeds in warm water;
- soak for 12 hours;
- deepen the hatched seeds into the ground, to a depth of 1 centimeter under the film.
You can do this in late winter or early spring:
When caring for a growing plant, do not forget that orange trees are residents of the subtropical zone. They do not like drafts, but they love an abundance of indirect sunlight and are capricious of air and soil moisture.
And about the selection of soil for an orange, we suggest you watch the video:
Abundance of light and heat
Orange should receive a lot of light and heat - this is the main requirement. If you properly care for an orange tree, it grows quickly and pleases with a beautiful crown. But, if you want your beautiful tree to also bear fruit over time, pay attention to the green thorns on the trunk: if they are already solid at the age of one, you have come across a wild plant whose fruits are no good. Then it is worth carrying out the usual vaccination.
At home, a cultivated orange tree will begin to bear fruit 6 years after seed germination. What can be accelerated if you winter the orange at a temperature of +2 to +5 degrees, limiting watering and feeding.
Proper feeding and watering
For seedlings, a pot with a diameter of about 10 centimeters is well suited. The main thing is not to allow the humidity in the room to be below 40% - otherwise the plant will shed its leaves. And you can not water the orange tree with running water with chlorine - only distilled water, heated to 25-30 degrees Celsius.
Feed an orange tree diluted in 10 liters of water with 20 grams of ammonium nitrate, 25 grams of superphosphate and 15 grams of potassium salts. Four times a year, it will also need to be introduced into its top dressing. inkstone, and once a month water the orange tree with a solution of potassium permanganate - so that the leaves have a rich color.
It is necessary to replant a grown plant by the method of transshipment, with a solid earthen clod. With the beginning of a warm summer, take your tree to the garden, while protecting it well from the scorching sun.
More oxygen!
All citrus trees are a bit tricky to care for, and everyone loves to have their root system oxygenated. Therefore, to grow an orange tree, we recommend that you use large wooden blocks or pottery pots. And so that mold does not appear in any case, be sure to treat them inner surface blowtorch.
Also, all citrus trees need good drainage, so always put small pebbles on the bottom of your tree, but without sharp edges. After all, citrus fruits have very tender roots.
As you can see, all citrus trees are propagated by seed and then grafted or cut. Can't you handle it? Yes, easily! And on quiet summer evenings, real exotic citrus trees will delight your garden!
IN room conditions Orange
- a small evergreen tree, grows up to 1-1.5 m and has a dense beautiful crown. The flowers are solitary or collected in small inflorescences, medium in size, white, very fragrant. Leaves medium size, pointed at the end, rounded at the base. Fruits are round or oval, with sweet flesh and thin skin, orange or golden color. For growing indoors, the varieties Gamlin, Korolek, Washington-pointed are best suited. 
A pelsin loves a sunny and warm place. The plant does not tolerate temperatures below 5 ° C. The optimum temperature is 18-20 ° C. In winter, it is desirable to illuminate at 10-12 o'clock. For this, fluorescent lamps are used. In summer, you should shade from the sun's rays, as burns on the leaves may appear, and the root system will overheat greatly. Unless necessary, the tree should not be rearranged from place to place, and in order for the shoots to grow evenly, the pot is periodically rotated 5-10 ° around its axis.
In summer Orange generously watered, watering is reduced in winter, but care must be taken that the soil does not dry out. Sprinkle with water several times a day. Once a week, the earth is carefully loosened.
An orange is fed every 10 years with mullein successively diluted in water (1:10), infused for a week chicken manure(1:20) and wood ash(1 teaspoon per 1 liter of water). Of great importance for the normal growth of an orange is the pH of the soil in which it grows. Over time, the acidity of the soil can increase, which inhibits the growth of the plant, so from time to time the orange is alkalized with chalk at the rate of 0.5 tablespoon per 1 kg of land. 
As an indoor crop, an orange can be grown from seeds, as well as by rooting cuttings or twigs of trees in pots with a diameter of 15-20 cm. The earth mixture for growing these plants should consist of sod and leaf soil, humus and fine-grained sand in a ratio of 2: 1: 1 : 1. It is easier to grow an orange from seeds, but such plants, although they will look good, will begin to bloom and bear fruit only after 15-20 years. To speed up fruiting, it is necessary in the second or third year to graft a bud of a cultivated variety to the seedlings, which is already bearing fruit.
P vaccinations are carried out in the spring. An orange that will bear fruit can also be grown without grafting - by cuttings. To do this, take a young one-year-old twig 10 cm long from a fruiting orange and root it in well-moistened medium-grained sand and sprinkle it on top. charcoal. Sprigs are sprayed with water from a spray bottle and covered glass jar or plastic wrap. After 3-4 weeks, the rooted stalk is transplanted for cultivation in a pot with an earthen mixture. In the first growing oranges, it is advisable to replant every spring, trying not to damage the root system. Older plants are transplanted every 3-4 years.
Orange is attacked by red citrus mites, different kinds scale insects. Under unfavorable conditions, spotting appears.
X good place for orange cultivation there is a kitchen, but electric stove, since even a small amount of gas in the air is detrimental to the plant.
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Among a variety of indoor plants sold in specialized stores, the eye quickly grabs neat trees with glossy leathery foliage and a mass of bright fragrant fruits. If you have patience and make a little effort, you can grow an orange tree from a seed at home, especially as planting material a seed from a ripe fruit bought in a store is suitable.
How to grow an orange at home from a seed?
The stone of an orange is covered with a rather dense, hard peel, on the one hand, preserving the sprout from all kinds of damage, and on the other, preventing its germination. If the seed dries up, it is very difficult to make it hatch, so only fresh seeds are used for planting.
- washed in warm water;
- soak for 8-12 hours;
- planted in loose soil or to a depth of 1 cm under the film.
Until the moment of germination, which occurs in a month or a half, the seed container remains in a shaded, warm place. A mini-greenhouse needs to be periodically moistened and ventilated. And only after the appearance of sprouts, future orange trees are brought to light.
Since in countries where oranges grow in nature, trees generously receive both heat and light, it is possible to provide 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 extending daylight hours with the help of
Orange transplant at home
The picking of sprouts is carried out at the stage when two true leaves open on an 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 that, when transplanted, the root neck of an orange turns out to be underground.
The best way transplanting a tree is a spring transshipment of a plant along with an earthy clod, until the active growth of shoots begins, and buds appear. An orange grown at home will have to be regularly subjected to such a procedure, each time choosing a container with a diameter of 1–3 cm larger than the old pot:
- The growing root system of a young plant once a year requires the expansion of "living space".
- Mature fruiting trees are transplanted every 2-3 years.
For seedlings with 4-6 leaves, a pot with a diameter of about 10 cm is suitable and soil mix from two parts of soddy land, one part of leafy humus, the same volume of peat and sand. Already at the next transshipment, the proportion of soddy land in the soil is increased and a small amount of clay is added. An orange tree, which is grown from a seed at home, must be provided good drainage and an irrigation regime that prevents root rot.
Optimal growth 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 air and soil humidity. With a lack of lighting, citrus fruits can get sick or refuse to bear fruit, so it is better to grow them on sunny side, but protecting from scorching direct rays, especially in the summer. In autumn and winter, when the length of daylight hours falls, the orange grown from the seed is illuminated.
The humidity in the room where the tree is located should not be below 40%, otherwise the plant begins to quickly shed its leaves and may die. This happens especially often in winter, during heating season, or when the pot is close to 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 of the soil also exists in the summer, so daily watering, moisturizing the entire earthen ball, but not causing moisture stagnation, is essential for an orange.
Orange trees at home can die if the water for irrigation contains chlorine. Therefore, rain, melted water or settled water for at least a day is used, which is heated to 25-30 ° C.
Orange tree care at home
In order for the seedling to develop rapidly, and after a few years the plant began to bear fruit, it needs to create conditions, as in the Mediterranean and in northern Africa, where oranges grow in nature:
- In summer, the tree can be taken out into the air, protecting from the scorching sun.
- In the spring, when bud formation begins and ovary formation is expected, orange trees need to be at 15-18 ° C.
- In winter, they reduce and arrange a warm wintering at temperatures above +12 ° C, not forgetting about the illumination of the plant.
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 drop leaves, turn yellow and wither. Therefore, to rotate the plant so that its shoots grow more evenly, it is advised to approximately 10 ° every 10 days.
An actively growing orange once every 7–14 days needs complex top dressing with fertilizers for citrus crops or a composition based on 10 liters of water and:
- 20 grams of ammonium nitrate;
- 25 grams;
- 15 grams of potassium salts.
Caring for an orange tree at home means that four times a year iron sulfate is introduced into the top dressing, and to maintain rich color leaves are watered monthly with a solution of potassium permanganate.
Grafting an orange from the stone
If the tree is carefully looked after, 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 the stone may not carry parental characteristics and simply be wild plants. You can recognize such a wild animal already at the age of one by hard green spikes on the trunk.
How to grow oranges at home, as sweet and large as store-bought fruits? In this case, you can choose one of the following methods:
- Carry out a classic grafting of a tree, using a seedling as a rootstock for a varietal cutting obtained from a fruiting plant.
- Graft an orange with budding by implanting a bud cultivated plant with a small layer of bark and wood. For reliability, up to three eyes can be used at the same time, grafting them with different parties trunk.
The second method is less laborious and painful for the tree. If the seedling after grafting remains only as a stock, the operation is best performed on a tree at the age of 1 - 3 years, when the trunk diameter does not exceed 6 mm.
On an adult orange tree, in the photo, various citrus crops can be grafted, 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 seed germination and only if the crown is properly formed in the plant. The buds, and then the ovary, in the same plants appear on developed branches of the fourth order. Therefore, to get early harvest crown formation begins 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 side shoots, three or four of the strongest are left, which are cut off, forcing them to branch.
- In the next season, two branches of the second order are left from the growth. They will subsequently give from 3 to 5 shoots of the third order.
- And only then will horizontal fruit-bearing branches begin to develop.
- Next, 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 only 2-3 oranges, so that the plant does not lose too much strength when they ripen.
You can speed up the entry of the tree into the fruiting season by wintering the orange at a temperature of 2 to 5 ° C, limiting watering and not feeding for three months. When the temperature rises to 15-18 ° C in the room where the oranges grow, the set of buds and the formation of the ovary begin. A properly cared for orange at home can live up to 50-70 years, regularly pleasing with the appearance of white flowers and bright fragrant fruits.
Grafting citrus fruits at home - video