We associate tangerines with childhood, New Year, some other holidays - but not with flower pots in the apartment. Meanwhile, a fruit-bearing tree can be grown at home. This requires patience, following simple rules and a tangerine seed. You will be surprised how easy it is to get fragrant fruits from indoor tree, grown from a seed planted in a pot. This distinguishes tangerine from other citrus fruits grown indoors.
All tangerine varieties grown in pots are divided into dwarf and low-growing (compared to a tree growing in nature, because low-growing varieties can reach two or more meters in height). Main groups of varieties for home grown– this is Vasyo and Clementine. From the Vasho group, the most common variety is Kovano-Vaso, from the Clementine group - Marisol.
Among other varieties, Unshiu is very common, variety Unshiu broadleaf. This is a fast-growing, well-branched, cold-resistant tree with good fruit production. The only thing that can rival him in popularity is Kovano-Vaso, since it has larger fruits, which also ripen faster.
You can also note such varieties as:
- Willow;
- Sochinsky 23;
- Pioneer 80;
- Agudzera;
- Abkhazian early;
- Nova;
- Nobils;
- Shiva-Mikan;
- Murcott (Honey).
When choosing a variety of homemade tangerine to grow from seed, you need to keep in mind that not all of the above fruits contain them.
What conditions are needed to grow tangerine at home?
The usual environment for the tangerine tree is the tropics and subtropics. Based on this, you need to provide them with suitable conditions at home, the main ones of which are:
- humidity;
- lighting;
- temperature.
You should know that these conditions vary depending on the time of year, age and condition of the tree (flowering, fruiting, dormancy). Moreover, certain conditions are necessary for successful germination. tangerine seeds. When the seed is already placed in the soil, it should be warm, the temperature should not go beyond +20-25°C.
IN warm time year, the optimal temperature for tangerine is +25°C. About temperature regime winter period Even in authoritative sources there are discrepancies: some argue that a lower threshold of +10°C is acceptable, while others warn that it is unacceptable for the temperature in the room where the plant is located to drop below +14°C in winter.
Temperature separation into summer and winter should be done after the tree begins to flower. After the first color appears, it is necessary to establish winter dormancy, gradually raising the temperature when entering spring (+16-18°C), this will provide optimal conditions for the formation of buds. Summer temperatures above +25°C can cause mass defoliation.
High humidity is an indispensable condition for the normal development of tangerines. This applies to moisture content both in the soil substrate and in the air.
With the advent of warming, you need to place a wide bowl of water at room temperature next to the tree (the larger the surface area of the water, the more it evaporates).
Since the tangerine needs moisture, the owner of the plant must properly equip the place where he will place the pot with the tree. With constant air humidification regular wallpaper or plaster are damaged by fungal mold due to the fact that they cannot be washed.
And the presence of pathogenic microbes near tangerines is not welcome. By the way, poisonous indoor plants will also have a bad effect on him, so they need to be separated into different rooms.
In order for the tree to drink, relatively infrequent watering is sufficient in winter - every other day. You need to test with your finger and water only when the soil has dried out a little. In warm weather, tangerines must be sprayed (during the flowering period, avoid contact with the flowers). The hotter it is, the more often the tree is watered. In summer, you can water several times a day without sparing water.
Although he loves tangerine very much sunlight, during the brightest time of day (from noon to two), the tree needs to be shaded from direct rays. It is best to place the plant near a window facing south or southeast. In this case, you should avoid placing it directly next to heating radiators, because the tangerine will suffer from dryness in winter.
One of the properties of citrus fruits is to turn their leaves towards the light. To ensure that the crown is uniform, the pot with the plant is slowly rotated, turning 10 degrees twice a month. Stronger or more frequent turning will negatively affect the tangerine. Unfortunately, he is sensitive to stress - transplants, moving to another place and even turning. By the way, tangerine does not tolerate drafts, this also needs to be kept in mind.
As the daylight hours shorten, it is necessary to gradually introduce lighting into the “daily routine” of the indoor mandarin: there are phytolamps for this. This is especially important in winter, because tangerine fruits take six months to ripen. You cannot sharply increase the illumination: the tree will misunderstand such a maneuver and drop all its leaves.
Growing a tangerine tree in a pot - step-by-step instructions
To tangerine tree has grown and is pleasing to the eye, you need to start with the correct germination of the seed, and then, as the plant develops, perform the necessary actions. This, of course, is more difficult than simply buying a ready-made grafted tangerine in a pot at a flower shop, but the growing process itself will be much more interesting if you see everything with your own eyes - from pipping a sprout from a seed to the first flowering and first fruits.
The first thing to remember for those who are going to grow tangerines from seeds at home is that peat is absolutely not suitable. Also not suitable is the so-called universal soil, which consists largely of peat. The reason is that it sours, dries quickly and does not have any special nutritional properties.
You can make a nutrient substrate with your own hands by taking 3 parts of turf soil and one part each of leaf soil, rotted manure (cow) and sand, adding a small amount of clay.
Not always and not everyone has the opportunity to make such a complex mix, especially for urban gardeners, so as an option you can take soil for pink “Rose” or neutral nutritious “Vermicompost”. In any case, you need to look at the packaging so that the pH value is 6.5-7.
If you're lucky, you can find specialized soil for citrus fruits - it is suitable for all representatives of this family. But if everything is really bad, then ordinary soil is taken as soil, into which wood ash, superphosphates and some kind of organic matter are added. Only land is best taken in parks or other green spaces, away from highways and places where the soil becomes saturated due to heavy traffic harmful substances from the air.
We extract the seeds from any purchased tangerines. Having selected all the seeds from the fruit, we will examine them to see if they are suitable for growing a tree from them:
- The seeds should not be dry, flat, or “skinny.” Such material will not have enough strength for good germination and the formation of a viable plant.
- An irregular shape is a prerequisite for rejection; a darkened tip is an obvious defect.
The main rule of planting in the ground is that the faster the seed from the fruit gets into the soil, the faster it will germinate, following the laws of nature. But if for some reason it was not possible to plant the seed right away, you need to soak it first.
How many seeds you need depends on what you plan to do with the tree itself. If grafting is not planned, a dozen seeds are enough, from which the best ones are selected after germination. Future grafting involves a larger number of sprouts, because it is unknown how the rootstock will react to another plant.
Soak the bones on a small piece of gauze or other light fabric, which is periodically moistened with a small amount of water at room temperature. It is very convenient to use hydrogel for germinating tangerine seeds, which is used by professional gardeners. This is a special material that, after watering with water, evenly distributes moisture within itself and maintains the desired humidity level. The seed just needs to be immersed inside.
The seed germination time is at least two weeks, but no more than a month. The container with seeds can be placed under a film so that the water evaporates less, but it cannot be completely closed to avoid rotting.
If the seed, as they say, has just come out of the mouth, then there is no need to soak it; we plant it immediately, burying it 4 cm into the prepared substrate. If there is no soil at hand, you need to place the seed in a dry place, placing it on a hygroscopic material, preferably paper .
Planting seeds
Disposable ones are also suitable for replanting sprouted grains. plastic cups, and yogurt packaging, and other packaging materials. The main requirement is that they should not be too voluminous. You can plant all the seeds at once in one planting container, or you can use individual containers. Drainage holes must be made in the bottom.
During germination, you should not create greenhouse conditions for the plant: after a mini-greenhouse, it will be more difficult for the mandarin to adapt to room conditions.
You need to take care right away good drainage: The finished product is available in any flower shop. Expanded clay is also suitable. Drainage stones should cover the bottom of the pot into which the tangerine is transplanted by two fingers.
After four leaves appear on a sprout, seedlings planted in one container need to be “dispersed” into separate containers. At this stage, you can already select stronger ones for further cultivation, but weaker or deformed plants are not suitable for this.
As soon as root system tangerine sprout will fill the entire container, you need to transfer it to a larger container. The difference between the pots cannot be significant: if you transplant the seedlings into large pots, there is a high risk of the soil becoming waterlogged. The tangerine will react to this by drying out the tips of the leaves: this means that its roots are beginning to rot.
The young plant is replanted once a year, in the spring. Upon reaching the age of eight, the tangerine changes the container with soil once every two years, and after ten years it is recommended not to disturb it by replanting, only remove the top layer of the substrate and pour in a fresh one (of the same composition).
How to grow a tangerine from a seed - 2 ways: video
Caring for a tangerine in a pot
You need to constantly care for a small tree transplanted into a pot. Care includes watering, shaping procedures (pinching), and fertilizing. The good news is that the larger the tangerine, the less fuss there is with it.
You need to water a tangerine tree in a pot 3 times a week in winter, and several times a day in summer. The water should be at room temperature, settled. In summer, it is good to “bathe” the tree by washing it with water (spraying does not have this effect) and watering it once a month from a shower or garden watering can.
The first three to four years of the life of an indoor tangerine tree needs to be formed. Formative pinching begins when the seedling grows to 30 cm. This stimulates the plant to launch first-order side shoots.
For a tree to bloom, branches of 4-5 orders are needed. For this reason, pinch off the tips of all shoots above 4-5 leaves. Shoots and weak branches growing inside the crown are removed. It takes up to 4 years to form a full-fledged crown of an indoor tangerine.
There is another method of stimulating branching - deflection with fixation. To do this, the shoots are pulled down, securing them with wire or twine. The branch is fixed in a position parallel to the horizontal surface.
Pruning homemade citrus fruits: video
Tangerines grown at home from seeds are fed only from mid-spring to early autumn. He leaves for the winter without increased nutrition. Fertilizing is needed for the formation of flower buds and ripening of fruits.
The first feeding is done twice a month, when sprouts appear. Both organic and mineral fertilizers. It is best to use fertilizers for citrus plants. You need to fertilize after watering, not before it. To improve the taste of tangerines, the tree is most actively fed from April to September.
How to get fruits at home?
A tangerine grown from a seed can bear fruit, or it can remain sterile. In order to get fruits at home, the plant needs to be grafted.
Fruiting in a tangerine that has grown from a seed (no matter at home or in wildlife) starts at age five. This is a wild fruit, no different taste qualities. Accelerating fruiting and improving the taste of tangerines is achieved through grafting: the original sprout-rootstock is grafted with a scion from a young fruit-bearing branch.
Indoor tangerine vaccinations are done in April-early May and August. These are periods of sap flow. At other times, grafting tangerines is useless and dangerous for the plant.
The plant is grafted as thick as a pencil, no less. The graft is a peephole with a bud, cut from a two-year-old branch of a fruiting tangerine (scion). The cutting is also suitable for this purpose. You also need to stock up on:
- electrical tape;
- garden pitch;
- with a sharp instrument (ideally a budding knife).
On the rootstock sprout, at a height of 10 cm, carefully cut the skin, without damaging the wood, in the shape of the letter T. The vertical cut should be no more than 4 cm. The skin at the edges of the cut is slightly turned away with a knife. The eye is inserted, after which the plant at the cut site is wrapped with electrical tape. It is better to graft several shoots, since it is unknown how the graft will take root.
After grafting, a mini-greenhouse is created: a jar or bag, under which it is warm and humid. The plant is removed from under the shelter when it becomes clear that the scion has taken root. A sign of a sprouted bud is that the bud turns yellow and falls off. If it remains on the rootstock and turns black, it means the bud has died.
As the seedling grows, ventilation increases, then the electrical tape is removed. After 30 days, the “native” trunk is cut obliquely just above the base of the scion, and the cut site is covered with garden varnish. To make the plant grow straight, you can install a stick or a high peg.
Grafting indoor tangerine: video
The tangerine changes its evergreen leaves every four years. If leaves fall off (defoliation), replacement becomes more frequent, color changes - this may indicate not only a violation of the rules of care, but also about damage by diseases or pests.
Although tangerine grown indoors has greater immunity, it can also get sick or be affected by pests. The closer to optimal conditions tangerine content (sunlight, high humidity), the less likely the plant is to be damaged, but you need to be fully prepared and treat the tree at the first sign of ill health. You should not rely on pest detection: their size makes them invisible.
The main enemies of the mandarin are:
- spider mite;
- mealybug;
- scale insect.
Each pest has its own signs, but even without knowing the subtleties, it is necessary to pay attention to changes familiar look: the appearance of cobwebs, sticky coating, dots on the leaves, curling of the leaves.
Effective means are Fitoverm, Intavir, Actelik, and other insecticides, but they are quite toxic, and after treatment with them the top layer of soil must be removed, and the fruits should not be eaten.
Therefore, it is much better to use such old proven remedies as tincture of tobacco (shag), garlic and laundry soap. The plant is washed with room water and soap, sprayed with a concentrated infusion of garlic (2 cloves per 500 ml) and tobacco (40 g per liter of water).
When removing ripe tangerines, do not leave the petioles on the branches.
In summer it is useful to take the plant out into the open air, but if it is a balcony, make sure that there are no drafts there.
If you don’t know where to get a scion for fruiting your tangerine, wander around flower shops: perhaps they won’t refuse you and will cut off a small eye from the plant they have. You can look for amateur plant growers.
If a tangerine stubbornly does not want to bloom, experienced plant growers advise wrapping the base of the trunk copper wire so that it presses into the bark. Such a constriction will disrupt sap flow and can stimulate flowering. In any case, after 6 months the wire is removed, and the constriction site is treated with varnish. But the first flowering can be stimulated only in those tangerines that have branches of 4-5 orders and have gone through a cold winter. A tree that has not gone through a dormant period and has not formed a crown will not bloom.
You can grow a tangerine from a seed at home and get a wonderful fruit-bearing tree. Before you decide to make your dream come true, you need to look for a suitable place in the room for the plant and think about where you can later take the scion so that the tangerine bears fruit.
Indoor tangerine is a bright plant. The fruits can hang on it for months, and the flowers amaze with their exotic aroma. There are varieties that bloom most of the year.
Mandarins have long been cultivated indoors, but growing them from seeds at home is more difficult than other citrus fruits. In inexperienced hands, even two-year-old tangerine seedlings will have a modest size and only a few leaves.
What is needed to plant a tangerine?
Tangerine seeds are a great way to introduce children to botany. Even a child can sow them. Then you will watch together how the tropical exotic emerges, grows and develops.
Seeds from store-bought fruit are suitable for sowing. They should not be thinned, flattened or brown.
IN garden center you need to purchase soil whose packaging is marked with ph 6.5-7 or has the inscription “neutral”. You can sow seeds in opaque cups or pots at least 8 cm deep with a drain at the bottom.
Preparing tangerines for planting
Seeds do not require processing. On the contrary, the sooner a seed taken from a fruit segment is sown, the better. The land should be poor and light.
Composition of the mixture for sowing:
- garden soil 1;
- sand 0.5.
Peat is not added to the substrate, since it is impossible to grow tangerines from seeds in an acidic environment.
Planting a tangerine seed
Even if you plan to grow one tree, it is better to use 10-15 seeds at once. Not all of them will germinate, and some seedlings will die from disease. Some plants will be rejected later - during grafting.
How to plant a tangerine from a seed:
- If the seeds cannot be placed in the soil immediately, keep them in wet gauze for several days.
- The fabric can be replaced with hydrogel. Its granules retain moisture well. The balls are filled with water and the seeds are placed in it, where they cannot dry out.
- When the seeds hatch, they are planted in cups one at a time or in a common box. You don't have to wait for swelling. Sowing is possible after 3 days of soaking.
The sprout will appear in 2-3 weeks. In some cases, seeds can take about a month to germinate. All this time you need to monitor soil moisture and air temperature. Optimal parameters for germination are + 20… + 25°C.
Tangerine care
As soon as cotyledons appear on the soil surface, the plant should be placed in bright light and fed with any citrus fertilizer every two weeks. Tangerines love sun and light and tolerate southern windows well.
Mandarin is an evergreen representative of the subtropical flora. During the winter it does not go dormant, but remains standing with its leaves. In winter, the plant is kept at +10… +12°C. For the most delicate varieties, the temperature should never fall below +14°C.
In summer, the plant can be kept on the balcony or on the windowsill. No need to expose it to the heat. At temperatures above +25°C, flowers fall off and leaves droop.
Watering
In summer the tree is watered daily, in winter three times a week. The liquid should be at room temperature. From cold water tangerine leaves fall.
The plant is sprayed at least once a week, and a wide bowl of water is kept next to the pot to increase atmospheric humidity. When spraying, you need to make sure that the liquid does not get on the flowers.
The indoor tangerine, like its wild relatives, is able to withstand dry periods. But during drought, the plant sheds its leaves and loses its decorative appearance.
At home the main problem not drought, but overflow. Excess water leads to root rot and the development of fungal diseases.
How more leaves the tree, the more it needs watering. The volume of irrigation liquid is affected by temperature and day length. The hotter and lighter it is, the more actively the plant will evaporate moisture.
In order not to deal with complex calculations, you can make it a rule to water the tangerine when the top layer of soil dries out, but at a depth the soil will remain moist.
Watering is carried out in the first half of the day. At this time, plants are most active. In winter, watering is not stopped, but only limited to 2 times a week.
Top dressing
Growing indoor citrus You can’t do without mineral and organic supplements. The potting soil rapidly becomes poorer, soluble minerals are washed out of it into the tray, and fertility is not restored on its own.
The plant mainly needs NPK. Potassium salts and trace elements make fruits sweeter.
Plants begin to need nutrition in the spring, as daylight hours increase. It is at this time that vegetative and generative buds develop.
If the tree has set fruit, it is fed from April to September 2 times a month. Powdered, granular and liquid complexes are suitable for feeding.
Mandarins grown from seeds at home are fertilized in the morning. Liquid fertilizer is poured under the root or diluted with more water and sprayed on the leaves.
Transfer
If the seeds are sown not individually, but in a common box, they will have to be picked. The operation is performed when 4 leaves appear. Citrus fruits do not have cotyledon leaves, so counting is done from the lowest ones.
At the picking stage, weak, deformed seedlings are rejected and only strong ones are grown. Sometimes two sprouts grow from one seed, then the weaker plant needs to be pinched during picking. You can plant both sprouts in different pots - usually each of them has its own roots.
Transplantation is carried out when the plant becomes cramped in the pot. At first this is done annually. Trees older than 7 years are replanted every other year. When replanting, the root collar should not be buried.
Tangerines love light soils with low acidity. You can buy the mixture in a store or make it yourself by mixing it in equal parts. sod land, humus and sand. Be sure to fill the bottom of the pot with drainage to prevent root rot.
Plants should not be replanted while in bloom. Best time– spring, when the tree is just emerging from dormancy.
The tangerine tree will decorate any interior. Its fruits are not as sweet as those grown outdoors, but they look very beautiful. In addition, citrus oils are able to disinfect the air in the room, while simultaneously saturating it with oxygen. Therefore, it would be useful to learn how to grow a tangerine from a seed at home, especially since this is a very exciting activity.
Seed preparation
First, you should buy and eat tangerines. Seeds for planting are selected from ripe and sweet fruits. When making a selection, focus your attention on large round seeds - they are the most viable. After this, the bones must undergo preparation. They are wrapped in damp gauze and left for 5 days. This time is required to planting material saturated with water and swelling occurred . Some tips:
When the shoots appear, you can select 2-3 of the strongest seedlings for further cultivation, and distribute or throw away the rest of the material. Plastic cups are suitable for initial planting; as the plants grow, they are transplanted into pots. A grown seedling will need a 4-liter pot.
Step-by-step planting instructions
When grown in a common container, a layer of expanded clay or clay shards is placed on the bottom. Drainage is necessary to ensure that moisture does not stagnate at the roots. The soil must be breathable and fertile. You can buy special soil for citrus plants in the store.. After this, they begin planting:
Immediately after transplanting, care should be taken not to flood the plant. Tangerine roots are prone to rotting. Until the seedling takes root in its new location, it is watered extremely carefully.
Caring for a tangerine tree
Tangerine tree from seed at home requires some care so that it can grow, develop and bear fruit.
One of the important conditions for successful growth is frequent replanting. Young plants need to be replanted annually, and adults - once every 2-3 years. In this case, the diameter of the new pot each time should be 4-6 cm larger than the previous container. When the tree grows too big, it is no longer disturbed. In this case, instead of replanting, replace the top layer of soil with fresh soil - this will be enough to maintain the plant in a healthy condition.
If you do not want to burden yourself with special troubles and achieve fruiting, then basic care will be somewhat simpler. Tangerine must be regularly watered and sprayed foliage, sometimes you can pamper the plant warm shower. This culture is also demanding of light. To maintain decorativeness in winter time It is advisable to organize lighting for the tree. In summer, a pot of tangerines can be taken out to Fresh air, the plant will like it.
Some people dream of getting ripe tangerine fruits from an indoor tree. Is it possible? In order for the tree to bloom, it needs special care. Below it will be explained how to grow a tangerine at home that can bear fruit:
After six months, the tangerine is freed from the wire. This method will work if other conditions for planting buds are met: the tree is healthy and has a properly formed crown, and a dormant period is observed during the winter months.
The age of the plant must also be taken into account; at least 5 years must pass from the moment the seed is planted. The taste of tangerine fruit depends on care and maintenance conditions.
Crown formation
To form a crown, a technique such as pinching shoots is used. This is recommended if you want to get fruits grown by yourself. After the main shoot reaches a height of 30-40 cm, its crown must be pinched to stimulate branching, if it does not occur on its own. This allows one to obtain first-order lateral branches. The procedure is continued in the future, removing the tops of all growing shoots and leaving 4-5 leaves on each.
Using this technique, you can ensure that tangerines bloom on branches of the 5th order and bear fruit. Branches growing inside the crown, weak and twisted shoots are also removed. The entire process of crown formation takes 3-4 years. In order for the tree to grow evenly, it must be turned around its axis from time to time, with different sides facing the light.
The rotation angle should be small; the pot with the plant is slightly turned once every two weeks. It is not recommended to do this more often, since the mandarin does not like changes in its location.
Everyone who has seen home-made tangerines at a friend's place dreams of having one at home too. citrus tree with fragrant flowers. Many are stopped by the fear that they do not have enough strength and knowledge to properly care for such an exotic pet.
Indeed, some citrus indoor plants require specific growing conditions, but not the tangerine; caring for it is quite simple: it is unpretentious and hardy enough to live on ordinary window sills Russian apartments. Anyone can grow a tangerine from a seedling purchased at a flower shop, since it is already a grafted fruit-bearing tree.
If you cannot afford to allocate money from your home budget to purchase a plant, then you can grow a tangerine at home yourself. To do this, you only need to have a few seeds taken from ordinary fruits.
Homemade citrus fruits: decorative tangerine
Several years will pass, and you will be full of pride from a slender tree with very beautiful shiny leaves. The citrus aroma will spread throughout the entire apartment, which will give your home additional coziness and comfort.
The tangerine tree is from the rutaceae family, spherical in shape, the leaves are evergreen, replaced every four years, the flowers are white, fragrant.
This citrus tree reproduces by seeds or vegetatively. Most often, many people at home have indoor tangerine, grown from seeds. But this is just decorative indoor plant, which improves the interior of the apartment, but does not bear fruit at all or has very small inedible fruits.
In farming, citrus fruits are always produced by grafting to produce tasty fruits. You will have to undergo a similar operation if you decide to feast on juicy vitamins. If you just want to try your hand at growing citrus plants yourself, then you will absolutely succeed.
Make room for them on the south side if you have one. poisonous plants, then they are not the best neighbors for indoor citrus fruits, move them to another windowsill.
How to grow a tangerine at home from an ordinary seed
Soaking the seeds
Anyone who has experienced growing seedlings from seeds knows that they must swell. We take several tangerine seeds and soak them in gauze for several days. There shouldn't be too much water, just keep the fabric slightly damp and just add water as needed.
If you plan to have only one homemade tangerine, anyway, let there be 10-15 seeds: not all will germinate, some will die from diseases, and some will die the “death of the brave” when you try to graft the plant yourself for the first time.
There is no desire to deal with gauze - hydrogel, sold in specialized stores, will help you. Professionals involved landscape design, ordinary amateur gardeners use it whenever possible, as it is an excellent protection for plants from heat.
Hydrogel is akin to drip irrigation, but in our case it will not be added to the soil, but will serve instead of gauze, as it retains moisture excellently. The seeds should be kept in the middle of the gel so that they do not dry out.
Landing in the ground
The hatched seeds are transplanted into a pot or ordinary seedling box. Some people do not wait for the seeds to swell, but immediately plant them in the ground. The sprout appears a little later, but it looks nothing like worse than that that grew from a soaked seed.
What kind of soil is required to get a tangerine at home? Peat cannot be used: it often sours, dries quickly, and has no special nutritional properties. It is found in almost all mixtures sold in stores, so you will have to prepare the soil for growing citrus fruits yourself:
- turf soil - 3 parts;
- leaf soil - 1 part;
- rotted cow manure - 1 part;
- sand – 1 part;
- a small amount of clay.
For city dwellers, such manipulations are unrealistic, so try to buy neutral, nutritious soil “Rose” or “Veriohumus”. According to reviews on the Internet, it is well suited for growing citrus fruits successfully. As a last resort, you can take ordinary soil and mix it with a small amount of ash, superphosphate and organic fertilizer.
Don't forget to put expanded clay or pebbles at the bottom of the pot for drainage. When will the first leaves appear? Citrus fruits at home begin to grow actively three weeks from the time of planting.
Indoor citrus fruits: care, nutrition, protection
As soon as the first shoots appear, they should be fed every two weeks with mineral and organic fertilizers.
It’s great that there are special fertilizers on sale for caring for citrus plants. First, the tree is watered, and then fertilized.
Such a houseplant should be replanted in the spring every year, trying to keep the soil around the roots intact. When the tangerine tree at home reaches eight years old, the transplant is done after a year.
Mandarin loves the sun, a window on the south side is an ideal place for it, but so that in winter the temperature does not drop below 14 degrees. Every week, indoor tangerine should be sprayed, high humidity it is vital for him, so let there always be a bowl of water next to the pot.
In summer, the tangerine tree should be watered very generously several times a day, in winter - up to three times a week as the soil dries with water at room temperature. Active feeding of citrus fruits occurs from April to September, this will make the fruits grow sweeter.
Many young indoor citrus trees die from pests that are practically invisible to people: red spider mite, citrus whitefly, scale insects.
If you look closely, you can see that the plant is entwined with tiny cobwebs that are destructive to it. Inspect the seedlings regularly to detect problems at an early stage.
There are preparations “Aktellik”, “Fitoverm”, designed to thoroughly wash all the leaves, top and bottom, with their solution. Proceed according to the attached instructions, spraying is not effective, so only rinsing, which is repeated several times a week.
How to grow fruiting tangerine
Mandarins from seeds in nature begin to bear fruit after 4-5 years. This will be the so-called wild fruit, which has tasteless fruits. Grafting a tangerine accelerates fruiting and produces delicious fruit. It is done during the period of sap flow: April, early May, August. In other months, success is not possible; a good result also depends on quick, careful actions during grafting in a clean environment.
What should be prepared for grafting a tangerine tree:
- rootstock is your plant grown from a seed, with a trunk no thinner than 6 mm (about the size of a pencil);
- scion - a fresh cutting or eye taken from a fruiting citrus tree, from a branch no older than two years;
- garden var;
- elastic band;
- budding grafting knife.
On the trunk of the rootstock at a height of 10 cm, an incision is made in the shape of the letter T: horizontal - 1 cm, vertical - 2-4 cm. The scion is prepared: thorns and leaf blades are removed. The bud with a small layer of wood is carefully cut off and inserted into the cut. The “operation” site is carefully wrapped with tape. After grafting, the plant is placed under a jar or plastic bag to create the necessary humidity and microclimate.
Only in a month will it become clear whether the budding was successful or not. Let there be several experimental samples, since it will no longer be possible to redo it - the period of sap flow has passed. It is best to start experiments in the spring; if there is no success, repeat at the end of summer.
As you saw that the bud has sprouted, the sprout is accustomed to the air outside the jar. Ventilation gradually increases, the winding is removed. Another month later, when new escape is already growing well: the trunk of the rootstock is carefully cut with a knife diagonally 3 mm above the base of the shoot and covered with garden varnish. A stick is placed in the pot to teach the tangerine tree to grow vertically at home. That's all! Good luck to you, do not forget to water, fertilize and spray your citrus tree.
You can grow a tangerine from a seed yourself at home, but this process is not quick. If you have patience and follow simple conditions If you keep the plant in the room, the tree will delight you with fruits and flowers all year round.
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Conditions for growing tangerine from seed
To grow a tangerine from a seed, you need to comply with several conditions necessary for the comfortable growth of seedlings.
The conditions for its detention are as follows:
- Temperature. Mandarin – heat-loving plant, that’s why the pot with it is placed on the windowsill on the south side of the house. The optimal air temperature is from +14 degrees.
- Environment. There should be no poisonous plants nearby that can harm the health of the citrus.
- Humidity. Containers with water are placed nearby, the evaporation of which will provide air humidity.
Choosing a seed for planting
Selection rules:
- varieties of hybrid tangerines are best suited, since they contain greatest number seeds;
- a plus is fast germination, early flowering, in most cases, plants produce edible fruits and are easier to graft;
- you should choose from 5-10 pieces of seeds to get a couple of seedlings, and if you plan to graft the plant in the future, then from 10 or more pieces;
- In order not to make a mistake with the seeds, they inspect each seed.
Tangerine seeds should be:
- with convex sides;
- without a gray or black coating;
- non-hollow, dense.
Water will help you select seeds suitable for sowing. Seeds are placed in a filled container. Those suitable for sowing will drown, and empty ones will remain on the surface.
Preparing the soil and pot
The soil for tangerines should not contain peat, because it does not retain moisture and oxidizes, which are detrimental factors for the seedling.
A neutral substrate for growing tangerines can be purchased at the store or prepared yourself.
For this you will need:
- leaf soil - two parts;
- humus - two parts;
- sand - one part.
Small expanded clay or pebbles are placed at the bottom of the pot, which will provide a drainage effect. A mixture of soil is poured over the drainage. This foundation allows the roots to receive enough air and moisture.
Sowing seeds
You can grow tangerines from seeds by first soaking the seeds in gauze to swell.
The algorithm of actions is as follows:
- A piece of gauze folded in several layers is placed in a small container.
- Then fill it with a small amount of water to create a humid environment, and place it in a bright, warm place.
- As it dries, add water. The process usually takes two to three days.
Hydrogel can be an excellent alternative to gauze. It not only retains moisture well, but also has nutrients necessary for plants. The main thing is to make sure that the seeds do not lie on the surface, but are among the mass of balls.
Landing is carried out as follows:
- The swollen seeds are placed in the soil to a depth of about 2-3 cm and sprinkled on top.
- The soil surface is sprayed with a spray bottle.
- The pot is covered with cling film to create a microclimate and placed on the windowsill. The first shoots appear after 3 weeks.
Soaking seeds, planting and first shoots of tangerine
You can plant the seeds without pre-soaking them, but seedlings will appear much later.
Caring for tangerines at home
Growing a tangerine at home is not difficult, the main thing is to care for it properly, so cultivating citrus requires:
- timely transplantation;
- compliance with temperature conditions and sufficient lighting;
- maintaining soil and air moisture;
- timely fertilization during rapid growth and refusal to feed during the plant's dormant period - in winter.
Transplanting seedlings
When the seeds germinate in the pot, they should be moved to a bright place, protected from direct sunlight.
Features of transplantation:
- Grown and strengthened plants are transplanted into pots with a volume of four liters or more.
- When transplanting, grab some of the soil so as not to damage the roots. This facilitates quick adaptation to a new place and better growth trees.
- The planting depth must be observed, otherwise, even with appropriate care, the fruits will not appear.
- The young plant is replanted annually, preferably in the spring.
- When the seedlings reach the age of eight years and begin to bear fruit, they are replanted once every two years. In this case, the pot is selected 4-6 centimeters wider than the previous one.
An example of what depth the barrel neck should be at
Old plants cannot be replanted; the top layer of soil is removed and replaced with a new, fertile one.
Watering
Since tangerine is a moisture-loving plant, the features of its watering are as follows:
- It is recommended to water tangerines daily in small quantities;
- Do not allow the soil to dry out or become waterlogged;
- water should be at room temperature;
- once a week the bush must be additionally sprayed;
- You need to water the tree at the root.
It is necessary to ensure that water does not get on the flowering buds.
Top dressing
In order for the plant to shine with health, it must be fed as follows:
- This should be done two weeks after the first shoots once every 2 weeks.
- The feeding period is from the beginning of spring until late autumn.
- For fertilizer, special additives for citrus fruits are used, which are sold in flower shops. Can be used chicken droppings, diluted with water in a ratio of 1:20.
- Feed with additives after watering, otherwise the roots can be burned and harm the plant.
- In winter, feeding is stopped to provide the tangerine with a period of rest.
Grafting tangerine at home
A grown tree begins to bear fruit at 5-6 years of age. Sometimes this does not happen or the taste of the ripe fruit leaves much to be desired, and then grafting comes to the rescue. It must be carried out from mid-spring to the end of summer, when the plant is capable of quickly recovering from damage.
You can graft citrus if its trunk has reached 6 millimeters in diameter. It is worth taking varietal tangerine as a grafting plant, since it is this that will set the taste for your pet.
For the procedure you will need:
- rootstock - a tangerine grown by you;
- scion – cuttings of varietal tangerine;
- knife for making cuts;
- garden var;
- ribbon;
- jar, bottle or bag.
After making sure that all the components are present, you can start vaccinating.
It includes the following steps:
- Rootstock formation. To do this, cut it at a height of about 10 centimeters, then make a shallow cut in the middle of the trunk.
- Connecting parts. A prepared scion petiole, cut wedge-shaped, is inserted into the rootstock.
- Treatment. We treat the joint with garden varnish so that the plant recovers faster.
- Fasteners Wrap the area with electrical tape or elastic band.
- Creation of a microclimate. Cover the grafted tree with pruned plastic bottle, jar or transparent plastic bag.
- Providing light. Place the plant on sunny side, avoiding direct rays.
Mandarin grafting sequence
After a month, you need to start opening the greenhouse to ventilate and train the tangerine to room temperature. This should be done gradually over the course of a month, gradually increasing the time spent in new conditions for the bush. By observing these simple rules, you will achieve the desired result.
In the video you can see in detail the method of grafting citrus fruits at home. Filmed by the Botanichka channel. ru.
Diseases and pests
In addition to drying out or waterlogging the soil, pests can destroy the plant. If they are detected, immediate action must be taken.
During the growth and care of the plant, some unforeseen troubles may appear, such as yellowing of the leaves. Perhaps the tangerine is shedding aged foliage or signaling for help. It is worth taking a closer look at your “pet” and determining the reason for its elimination.
Possible reasons:
- If your tree is many years old, but it looks healthy, then the reason for the yellowing is getting rid of old, unnecessary leaves.
- When the crown completely acquires a lighter shade, the reason lies in the lack of light. Then it is necessary to rearrange the plant in a more sunny place or if it is impossible to supply artificial light.
- Too dry air, draft or very deep planting of rhizomes can cause the leaves to drop. In this case, eliminating the cause will correct the situation.
- If the leaf begins to dry out at the tip and falls off, this indicates that the soil is over-moistened or the container is too large. To eliminate the problem, you need to transplant the plant into a container of suitable size, cut off the rotten roots, and prepare the soil (loosen the new soil).
- When the greens begin to turn yellow from the bottom of the tree and continue to move to the top, the tangerine needs to be fertilized with a nitrogen-containing product. This behavior indicates a lack of this substance.
- The yellow color of the shoots, extending onto the old leaves, indicates a lack of iron.
- If none of the signs are detected, but the tree loses its leaves, then the plant lacks potassium. In this case, potassium nitrate will help.