Growing citrus indoor plants at home is an interesting activity, but far from simple. Therefore, those who believe that it will be enough to plant a bone in the ground, and that’s all, lemons for tea can no longer be bought, are very mistaken. Without special knowledge, if they give the first crop of citrus indoor plants , then not earlier than twenty years later.
But if you know some of the nuances and grow correctly, observing all the rules, then you can enjoy the fruits much faster. But here it is important not to make a mistake in choosing a variety. For cultivation on the windowsill, only those citrus indoor plants that were grafted on seedlings of orange, lemon, grapefruit or kumquat are suitable. Those cultures that were grown from cuttings cut from fruit-bearing trees proved to be quite good.
Difficulties in growing home-grown citrus plants
It would seem that it’s simpler: you need to go to a flower shop and buy a pot in which some citrus is blooming or already bearing fruit - “golden orange”, Meyer lemon, care for which is not very difficult at home, or mandarin. The tree just needs to be brought home, put on the windowsill in the right place and start watering. But this is not at all true, since it is really difficult to grow lemon or tangerine at home, moreover, this process is somewhat different from caring for ordinary specimens.
Those plants that are currently sold in flower shops most often hit the shelves from abroad, mainly from the Netherlands. There they are kept in ideal conditions from the first day: the optimum temperature for growth is maintained, high humidity, backlighting is applied, and fertilizers for citrus indoor plants are constantly being applied to the soil. When buying on dwarf trees at the time of their sale, there may be a dozen or more fruits.
But after getting on the window sills, beautiful citrus indoor plants immediately begin to encounter stressful conditions. In our homes, the illumination is much lower - several times, and the air (especially in winter) is incredibly dry compared to the greenhouse, and growth stimulants cease to help after a while.
Therefore, in conditions of a shortage of their internal resources, citrus indoor plants begin to throw all their efforts into preserving the fruits with which they were so abundantly strewn in the store. And as a result, the vast majority of purchased "pets" die.
Species suitable for growing a house
Man has long known citrus crops. Their people have been actively cultivating so much time that in nature it has become difficult to detect their wild ancestors. Most often, in open ground, citrus fruits are cultivated in countries where a tropical or subtropical climate prevails. And it is from there that their fruits are delivered to store shelves in all corners of the planet.
For a beginner breeder who cannot devote too much attention and time to a pet growing on his windowsill, you need to choose such varieties of indoor citrus plants that are easier to care for. If we talk about subspecies for a small apartment, it is preferable for beginners to grow lemon, tangerine and trifoliate, since their growth is easier to restrain. In turn, oranges, grapefruits or pomelo, characterized by large sizes, after a couple of decades turn into a rather bulky tree.
As for exotic varieties, today a close relative of mandarin is quite common - citrus kumquat nagami, as well as calamondine. Speaking of amazing varieties, it is necessary to mention the Hand of Buddha.
Cuttings
The most convenient option for those who decide to grow citrus fruit on their own will, of course, be a young plant, which was purchased in a specialized store. But it’s not always a purchased tree that takes root in a house for many reasons. However, if, nevertheless, the culture migrated from the store to the apartment, you need to contact the seller and get a recommendation from him to adapt citrus in the new conditions.
First, the plant needs to be examined. If it has fruits, then they will have to be cut off. For seven to ten days, citrus should be left in a store pot, and only then transplanted into a new one.
Advice
It is best at home that citrus trees grown from material obtained by cuttings take root. Of course, it will be difficult for beginners who have a poor idea of how to grow mandarin, lemon, etc. to propagate the plant correctly, but for those who have been home to citrus for more than a year, this is easy enough.
The shoot shoot should be cut from a well-developed and healthy citrus tree. The length of the planting material should be from ten to twelve centimeters. It should have at least three kidneys. It is not recommended to use either too young or fairly old shoots that have dense wood.
The best time to harvest cuttings is April. Rooting of planting material can be carried out in a glass of water or in soil consisting of earth and sand. In the latter case, the handle should be covered, for example, with a plastic bottle. Roots will appear in about twenty days. After this, the rooted stem can already be planted in a permanent pot.
Planting material - seeds
You can often hear that a seed planted in the ground eventually turns into a luxurious citrus tree. But, even though the cultivation of mandarin or lemon from seeds is the most affordable way for lovers to propagate this type of plant, the result is often unpredictable.
As a result, you can get a culture whose fruits will be much smaller than the parental form, and you can also grow a new excellent pet. Judging by the reviews, the use of seeds pulled from fruits as a planting material often leads to a lack of flowering in such seedlings.
The seedling begins to emerge after about a month and a half, and it should be replanted at the stage of the appearance of five leaves.
How to grow tangerine
After the juicy fruits of this citrus purchased at the store are eaten, the remaining seeds can be used as planting material. For the greatest likelihood of success of the event, it is better that there are more seeds, since not all will definitely germinate. Therefore, to obtain seedlings, you need to take a dozen seeds.
Planting material is placed in gauze for several days and slightly moistened. This is necessary so that the bones, swelling, “hatch”.
At home, tangerine can be grown in special land for citrus fruits purchased in a flower shop. Although, in principle, almost any light soil is suitable for this crop. For example, in equal in equal proportions of turf and leaf soil, to which compost and rotted manure humus will be added, tangerine will be very comfortable. Do not make soil based on peat. We must not forget about the need for drainage. Before the first shoots, quite a lot of time should pass. Noticeable sprouts become only after two to three weeks, and sometimes after a month.
Mandarin is a tree that grows quite slowly at home, and sometimes it stops its growth. Therefore, do not lose hope and enthusiasm, because when this citrus is provided with all the necessary conditions, it grows into a very beautiful tree.
Mandarin Care
According to agronomists, mandarin is a very unpretentious tree in maintenance, and not only among citrus fruits, but also many other plants, however, it still requires certain rules to be followed when leaving. The most important condition for him is the abundance of sunlight. Mandarin needs intense lighting up to twelve hours a day year-round.
Watering and replanting
No less reverently tangerine applies to humidity. In the summer months it should be abundantly watered without flooding, while in winter the water supply must be reduced, periodically making sure that the soil does not dry out. In addition, you need to spray the leaves daily, using filtered or boiled clean water for this purpose. You can compensate for the dryness of the air if you place a small decorative room fountain near the tangerine. As the tree grows, it is periodically necessary to transplant the tree into larger pots. It is best to carry out the movement in early spring. In this case, the new pot should have a diameter of three to five centimeters larger than the previous one.
A transplant of a tangerine tree is done by the method of transshipment, while it is necessary to preserve the old earthen lump as much as possible so as not to accidentally harm the plant's root system. For the first time, flowering plants need to adjust the number of ovaries. Two or three fruits are left in the first year, seven or eight in the second, and then about ten.
How to grow an orange tree
Home care for this type of citrus crop is not very different from the conditions for growing mandarin. As a newly acquired tree, one that has been growing in the house for many years must be replanted every year. The best time for this is spring, when the plant is just getting ready to spend energy on growth. For young cultures, a prerequisite for a normal existence is regular watering and spraying.
Bloom
An orange tree, the care of which is not difficult at home, will give an ovary if the crown is correctly formed. This plant blooms and bears fruit on branches not lower than five orders of magnitude, so you should not expect the appearance of fruits earlier than five years later. The crown is formed quite simply. When the branches reach a length of ten to fifteen centimeters, they pinch. Soon new shoots begin to awaken from the lateral buds, which should also be shortened. As a result, only after five years you can get an orange tree with many short shoots.
In this case, the room should be cool: 17-20 degrees. At higher temperatures, the fruits are not tied, and the plant itself is sick or affected by pests.
Indoor lemons
Of all the varieties, Pavlovsky is considered the most unpretentious. This type of lemon feels good even on northeastern or northwestern window sills, it is comfortable in relatively dry air and with rare top dressings.
Panderosa is almost as unpretentious, but it needs more light. True, this type of lemon has a special “syndrome”, which is found only in it: it gives out too many flowers to the detriment of the growth of green mass. Therefore, extra buds must be constantly cut off.
Meyer lemon is a little less common, home care for which involves following certain rules: if they are not respected, it grows very slowly. However, gardeners even with a short experience can simply place the pot on a light windowsill, feed the plant from time to time, and spray it if necessary.
Exotic lovers
Citrus fruits in our understanding are lemon, orange, mandarin. But there are representatives of this type of plant, which many of us have not even heard of. Of the tangerines, the Unshiu variety is interesting, which, compared to other representatives of the species, is relatively tolerant of poor lighting and unpretentious, like Pavlovsky lemon.
Other close relatives of citrus fruits are Kumquat and Kalamondin. Fans of original indoor plants should definitely get these types.
Speaking of exotics, it is necessary to mention the Buddha Hand variety. This citrus is distinguished by the unusual appearance of its fruit: it resembles a lemon in color, and externally - a fleshy brush on his hand. However, inside the edible pulp is not contained. Nevertheless, the fruit is so exotic that it is definitely worth growing at home.