If you think that it is impossible to grow an orange from a seed at home, then you are deeply mistaken. Undoubtedly, it is not enough to lower the seeds into the ground and wait for seedlings. It will take a lot of patience and time until the moment when the orange tree will delight you with its fruits.
Orange is the most unpretentious of citrus fruits. For planting, seeds extracted from fresh fruit are quite suitable. Most gardeners prefer to grow such trees from seedlings. But to decorate a house or a greenhouse, which is translated from French as “winter orange garden”, you can grow a plant from seed.
Varieties of orange
Oranges are divided into two large groups: sour (bitter) and sweet varieties. There are three types that are most often found on sale in our country .
Sweet
Chinese or Portuguese fruit. The most common and popular variety.
Sour
Usually these are tangerine and pomelo hybrids. They have a sour-bitter taste. These fruits are often called oranges.
Bergamot
Hybrid of citron and orange. It has a pronounced sour-bitter taste.
All oranges are equally healthy and tasty. They contain a huge amount of vitamins, amino acids and trace elements. We will present you the best varieties.
Washington Neville
Sweet and sour fruits with a thick porous peel. Many are mistaken in believing that the homeland of this variety is the United States. In fact, this variety comes from Brazil. Its fruits have practically no seeds.
Valencia
A variety of Spanish oranges. They are distinguished by a thin skin of bright orange color with red spots. The flesh is the same color. These oranges have a pleasant sweet taste.
Blondo Commune
Variety from Sicily. For a long time it was the most popular in the homeland, but in recent years has given the palm to the previous two varieties. It has many seeds and is grown beautifully from them.
Oval
The name accurately describes the shape of the fruit. To taste this variety is almost no different from Valencia.
Tarocco
Another early ripe Sicilian variety. The fruit-picking season lasts from November to January. These oranges have not only a pleasant taste and an exquisite aroma. However, the fruits are popular not only because of their excellent taste, but also because of the unusual blood-red color of the pulp. How to grow a red orange from a seed, we will tell a little later.
At the end of a short review, I would like to say that Moroccan and Abkhaz oranges today are worthy of competition to the varieties described above.
Soil preparation
Before planting seeds, it is necessary to prepare the soil for the future tree. It is prepared from:
- sheet land;
- sand;
- humus;
- turf.
All components in equal parts are thoroughly mixed, and the soil is ready. The soil for the orange must be saturated with trace elements, so you can buy ready-made soil with the inscription "Rose" or "Lemon", which is perfect for an orange (tree). The plant needs drainage. To do this, you can use small pebbles or expanded clay. The best time to plant a tree is spring.
Seed selection
For planting, you can use any bone from the fruit you just eaten, and if you want, you can buy seeds of a specific variety. It is necessary to select the whole, intact and most attractive seeds. If you decide to use them from the fruit you just eaten, then they should be washed carefully, being careful not to damage the shell.
After that, they are soaked overnight in warm water. Then the bones are laid out on a damp napkin and covered with it from above. This way you retain the moisture needed for germination. Drying will adversely affect the germination of the plant. After that, place a napkin with seeds in a bag, creating a greenhouse effect for the seeds. Orange is a heat-loving plant, so keep a bag of seeds in a warm room.
Seed germination process
For seed germination, a temperature of around +25 ° C is recommended. If necessary, the seeds in the bag must be moistened. They should always be wet, do not allow drying. Germination takes on average about two weeks, sometimes a little longer. It is important to periodically ventilate the greenhouse.
Landing
Now you need to plant the seeds in a pot with sterile soil. To do this, calcinate the purchased or prepared soil composition in a pan for several minutes, spreading it in a thin layer. You will see the first shoots in three weeks. When they grow to two centimeters, seedlings must be transplanted into pots with a diameter of about nine centimeters.
At the bottom of the container, lay a bit of expanded clay, creating the necessary drainage. In a larger flowerpot, the sprouts are transplanted when the fourth or fifth leaves appear on them. The next pot should be at least 9 cm in diameter. An old lump of earth that tightly envelops the roots should be preserved. Do not try to remove it - this may damage the roots.
During this period, it is necessary to create the most favorable conditions for strengthening the sprouts and their hardening. Each transplant is carried out in a container with a diameter five centimeters larger than the previous one. Transplants are stopped when they begin to form a crown of a tree. After planting, the stone should immediately be poured with settled, filtered or boiled water.
Cover the pot with plastic wrap, creating a mini-greenhouse effect. Put it on the windowsill and make sure that direct sunlight does not fall on it. You can cover it with paper. At night, the film is removed so that the seedling is ventilated.
Being interested in how to grow a fruit-bearing tree from an orange seed, you need to know that this plant needs moistened soils, so it should be sprayed daily. Water the soil as needed, but do not fill it with water.
How to grow an orange from a stone: caring for a plant
The main requirements that this plant makes are watering and pruning. Even a beginner can grow an orange. Caring for a plant requires only accuracy, patience and compliance with simple rules.
Watering, as we have said, should be periodic. In this case, there should be no overmoistening or drying out of the soil. Pruning is done annually. At the second year, the crown of the crown is cut off from the bone at home, leaving no more than twenty centimeters. After this, the tree will throw out healthy side shoots, however, and they will have to be removed.
Thus, skeletal branches are formed. When your tree begins to bear fruit, fruit branches are pruned as necessary. It must be borne in mind that too many fruits on branches often lead to depletion of the plant.
Indoor Orange: Top-dressing
Seedling begins to be fed six months after planting. Organic and mineral fertilizers are used, which today in a huge assortment are offered by specialized stores.
How to form a crown?
This thermophilic plant needs the formation of a crown. This work should begin to be undertaken from the moment the tree grows to thirty centimeters. You need to trim from two to four leaves from the top of the plant. This will give a powerful impetus, and it will take out side branches, which are second-order branches.
Subsequent pruning of these branches stimulates the growth of shoots of the third and next generations. Twigs are pruned when they reach thirty centimeters in length. This is how all shoots are shortened. As a result, the trunk of the formed plant is equal to fifteen centimeters, and the crown is made up of three or four branches, which are covered with small shoots.
The aim of the florist is fifth-order branches, since it is they who give the fruit. But usually this happens for 5-7 years. This largely depends on the characteristics of the variety and the conditions of detention.
First flowers and fruits
How to grow an orange from a seed so as not only to admire a beautiful plant, but also to receive fruits from it? Surely the answer to this question interests all gardeners. The tree begins to bloom in the fifth year after planting. But the first buds should be removed, because the plant at this age is not yet strong enough for fruiting.
The plant will present real fruits for 8 years. There are several secrets to get the crop ahead of schedule. We present you some of them:
- Vaccination (plant a twig from the fruiting tree in the tree).
- Transplant the plant often (2-3 transplants in the summer will enhance the development of the root system).
- Banding - transfer the branches with wire or remove the bark in the form of a ring. As soon as the plant begins to bloom, the wire is removed.
- Cold wintering. Take the tree into a room with a temperature of +5 ° C for three months. Cold winters are very effective. They are recommended to spend the first two to three years. At this time, the plant is not fertilized, you can only water it, but not plentifully.
After these procedures, the orange will begin to bear fruit in its fourth year.
Breeding
How to grow an orange from a stone and later propagate it? At home, this can be done in two ways: seeds and cuttings. It is not so easy to get a stalk in the middle latitudes. You can ask his friends who are engaged in the cultivation of these citrus fruits, or buy in specialized greenhouses.
For propagation, cuttings 15 cm long and 0.5 cm in diameter are suitable. A cut is made under the kidney and above it, above and below. On the stem should be at least four buds and three leaves. The handle is treated with a root growth stimulator. After that, it is placed in water for several days, and then planted in the ground.
Rooting can take from one to one and a half months. After rooting the cuttings, they are transplanted into pots by transshipment. You already know how to grow an orange from a seed. The process is more complicated, but at the same time very exciting. A tree grown in this way has strong genetics and has other characteristics that differ from the parent.
Cuttings, however, completely inherit the donor’s genetic code. At the same time, grafting significantly reduces the time to start bearing fruit.
Diseases and Pests
Many pests can attack an orange. A tree may be affected by some diseases. His main enemies in indoor floriculture is a spider mite and scale insects. In addition, an orange seedling can be affected by viruses and fungi.
Fight against diseases and pests with the help of fungicides and insecticides. The affected areas are cut out and lubricated with garden var. In advanced cases, the diseased seedling is recommended to be burned.
Oranges are very healthy fruits. They reduce the level of "bad" cholesterol in the blood, strengthen immunity, normalize blood pressure. It is not surprising that many gardeners and gardeners dream of growing this plant. It is unlikely that someone will call this culture unpretentious, however, it will not cause great difficulties in care. Constant care, painstaking work and a great desire to grow an exotic plant will certainly give a positive result.