How to grow citrus fruits in the house comfort. Citrus cultivation. Top dressing for growing citrus fruits

Growing and caring for tangerines is easier. Friendship with this plant can be long and strong.

Growing mandarin from the stone

For sowing, take fresh seeds from ripe tangerines. Use them immediately after extraction from the fetus. The seeds are poorly stored and after drying they quickly lose their germination capacity. Take more seeds, in case not all of them will sprout.

Before sowing, they are soaked for 10-12 hours in growth stimulants "Epin-extra", "Zircon". This strengthens the strength of the future plant, stimulates the development of the root system.

A suitable time for sowing is the end of January - the beginning of February, when daylight hours become longer.

The soil for seedlings needs loose, nutritious with a high content of phosphorus. It is this element that plays an important role in the beginning of growth. A large amount of phosphorus is found in humus and compost, so there should be organic matter in the seedling soil.

The bones are placed one at a time in separate pots or in common containers, followed by a pick. The depth of embedding in the soil is 1 cm. The crops are watered and covered with a plastic bag to ensure a greenhouse microclimate.

At this stage, light is not important for the seedling, the main thing is heat. Germination requires an air temperature of 20-25°C. Crops are regularly watered and ventilated. After 3-4 weeks, shoots appear and the shelter is removed from the containers.

Seedlings are transferred to a bright place. If it was grown in a container, then after the appearance of two true leaves, dive one plant into each cup. As soon as the roots fill the entire volume of the glass, tangerines are seated in larger pots.

Have you bought a tangerine seedling?

Finished seedlings are grown in special greenhouse conditions. It is difficult to create such an ideal environment at home. Therefore, you need to help the plant adapt: ​​choose a suitable place in the house in advance, create optimal humidity and air temperature.

When choosing a seedling preference should be given to young specimens in containers. The tangerine should have a small shoot with green leaves and healthy roots without damage. Also be sure to check the seedling for the presence of pests.

At home, the purchased plant must be sprayed with any anti-stress drug.

It is better to buy tangerine at the beginning of spring or summer, during this period it is easier for the plant to adapt to the new environment. All summer he can spend outdoors: on the balcony or in the country. Young mandarin should be protected from direct sun.

Conditions for growing mandarin

illumination

Like all citrus fruits, the mandarin loves the light. The best place for it is window sills or places near the window on the east side. From early morning it will be illuminated by warm, but not burning sun rays. You can put pots with a plant on the southeast, south or southwest side.

Humidity

In nature, mandarin grows in subtropics with a humid climate. It is difficult to provide humidity in the apartment at 90-95%. But at home, a tangerine will feel great even with a humidity of 60-65%.

A simple and budgetary way to increase humidity is to place open containers with wet expanded clay or pebbles near potted plants. When moisture evaporates, water is periodically added to the pallets.

But the best and most reliable method of humidity control is the use of modern humidifiers.

We should not forget about the important rule - keep tangerines away from heaters that dry out the air.

Temperature

During the period of active spring growth, the optimum air temperature is 18-25°C. In autumn and winter, the plant can be in cooler conditions - at temperatures of 13-15 ° C.

If the tangerine grows on the windowsill, then in winter they make sure that the branches do not touch the cold window and protect it from frosty air.

The soil

The soil should be light, fertile, neutral in acidity, so acidic peat mixtures are not used for planting. On sale there are ready-made soils for citrus fruits. If the substrate is prepared independently, then equal parts of soddy, leafy soil, humus and compost are taken for it.

Care

Watering

Water the plants with rain or settled tap water. Cold water is heated to room temperature 20-25°C. If watered with cold water, then the nutrients will be worse supplied and absorbed by the roots. In summer and until autumn, water often and plentifully, but without a bay. They are guided by the appearance of water in the pan - this is a signal that there is enough water. Excess moisture is drained from the pan.

In winter, water less often, monitoring the moisture content of the topsoil. If during this period the mandarin has fruits, then it is impossible to sharply reduce watering.

pruning

Mandarin can grow without pruning. But a beautiful plant without shaping will not work. Ideally, a tangerine should have a branched fan-shaped shape. Due to this, he will be able to maximize the use of sunlight for growth and development. Cardinal pruning is an extreme measure, the plant will endure it painfully.

It is better to regulate growth from the very beginning by pinching and pruning excess shoots. In the spring, the ripened main shoot is cut to 15 cm, leaving a few buds on top. From them, side shoots will begin to grow. To form the main skeletal branches of the future bush, 3-4 shoots are left, they are not allowed to grow more than 25 cm. The second-order shoots growing higher are shortened by 10 cm. . In order for it to grow evenly, every 10-14 days it must be gradually and carefully turned to the light in different directions.

top dressing

Plants are fed once every 10-12 days with a complex mineral fertilizer for citrus fruits. Tangerines love organic top dressing with trace elements, they are alternated with mineral nutrition. You can use low concentrations of mullein infusions with the addition of urea or infusions of green herbs: nettle, dandelion and other weeds.

In winter, tangerines do not feed. At this time, the activity of the plant is reduced, and the roots will not absorb nutrients. Fertilizers will accumulate in the soil in excess of the norm.

After transplantation, you also need to wait a little with top dressing. In the new soil, there is enough nutrition for the plant for 1-2 months.

Transfer

Transplant tangerines as they grow. Young and three-seven-year-old plants are transplanted annually, older ones - once every 5 years.

An indication for a planned transplant is the growth of the root system in a pot. Transplantation is carried out at the end of winter - early spring. The diameter of the new pot should not exceed the size of the old one by more than 3-5 cm.

The mandarin will transfer the transplant painlessly if it is carefully transferred to a new container along with part of the earthy coma. Water the plant before and after transplanting. Drainage must be done in a new pot. For him, it is better to use expanded clay, as it does not make the pot much heavier.

Over time, from watering with hard water, a white salt coating forms on the surface of the soil. It is advisable to replace 2-2.5 cm of the top layer in a pot 2 times a year.

Care Questions

How to achieve fruiting tangerine?

To speed up fruiting will help the use of a number of techniques:

  1. Pre-sowing treatment of seeds with growth and fruit formation stimulants. The most popular: "Epin-extra", "Zircon", sodium humate, "Heteroauxin". These drugs help plants from an early age to adapt to dry air, lack of lighting.
  2. Selection of the strongest seedlings: without crooked shoots, with large leaves and a stocky crown.
  3. Balanced diet. Regular fertilizing with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers in combination with microelements stimulates fruit formation.
  4. Pinching tops of extra shoots saves the plant strength and helps to form a crown with short fruiting branches.
  5. Furrowing and banding- old tricks to redistribute the flow of nutrients to the crown and thereby accelerate the formation of fruit buds.
  6. Graft. Scion - a young mandarin stalk, cut in early spring, is combined with a rootstock-seedling grown from a seed of any citrus. After 2-3 years, a single plant is formed, which begins to bloom and bear fruit.

How to plant a mandarin on your own?

For grafting a mandarin, in addition to plant material, you will need a sharp knife and a strong elastic polyethylene tape 0.5 cm wide. Several vaccinations can be done on one tree at once.

Common vaccination methods:

  • split. The stock is cut at a height of 5-10 cm from the root neck and split in the middle by 3-5 cm. Oblique wedge-shaped cuts are made on the lower part of the scion cuttings of the same length as the depth of the split. Then carefully this wedge is inserted into the rootstock. The junction is fixed with a strap.
  • simple and improved copulation. Suitable for rootstock and scion of the same thickness. At their ends, oblique cuts are made and connected. Both parts must fit tightly when connected. The joints are tied with tape.
  • budding. A cut kidney from a varietal cutting is inserted under the incised rootstock bark and secured with tape.

Why do flowers fall?

  • If the plant does not have enough strength and energy to germinate all the fruits, then it will regulate flowering itself and get rid of unnecessary ovaries.
  • High room temperature adversely affects the formation of flowers. Due to the heat, flowers and ovaries fall off or the flowering process is postponed to a later date.
  • Mandarin can react to uneven watering by dropping flowers, for example, if the soil in the pot is dried out and then watered with plenty of water.
  • Excess nitrogen in top dressing leads to an increased growth of green mass, few flowers are formed and soon they begin to fall off.

Why do leaves turn yellow and fall off?

One of the reasons is the lack of nitrogen and iron.

In the first case, yellowing begins with the lower leaves and spreads to the entire plant. With a nitrogen deficiency, mandarin is sprayed with a solution of urea or boric acid - 1 g per 1 liter of water.

With chlorosis, a disease caused by iron deficiency, first the young leaves become light yellow, then the old leaves also change color. From chlorosis, mandarin is sprayed once a month with iron chelate.

In addition to the lack of nutrients, the leaves may turn yellow and fall off due to:

  • dry air in the room;
  • drafts;
  • exceeding the dose of fertilizers;
  • change of place;

Leaf fall can be caused by natural causes - the beginning of the dormant time in the autumn-winter period.

Pests and diseases

All citrus fruits are very fond of pests. They get on them from the street through open windows and doors, move from neighboring plants.

spider mite

late blight

This is a fungal disease. Annular brown oily spots appear on the trunk.

Affected areas must be cleaned and treated with fungicides. Read more about late blight.

Gommoz

It affects the trunk and shoots of mandarin, brown spots appear on them. In diseased places, the bark dies, and cracks appear, from which a golden liquid (gum) is released. The main causes of occurrence are a lack of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, as well as mechanical damage. Another reason may be a strong deepening of the plant during planting or lack of drainage.

Sore spots are cleaned, treated with copper sulfate and.

At home, a tangerine is a miniature bush or tree 0.5–2 m high. For your care, he will thank you with fragrant and juicy fruits. But even without fruits, it looks beautiful and original.

How to grow tangerines yourself? Learn about it from the video.

​Related Articles​

Very​ ​

The ideal temperature for keeping citrus fruits in summer is + 22–24 ° С. In the autumn-winter season, before the dormant period - + 16–20 ° С. The best temperature for laying citrus buds is about + 16 ° C, and for vegetation and fruit ripening - + 22–24 ° C.​ Amateur citrus growers recommend such "secret" exotic additives as an infusion of chopped quinoa, which needs to be poured over a lemon, scale (iron oxide, not rust!), Fish broth (200 g of fish per liter of water).

This problem is solvable, the main thing is to add a special agent, a fungicide, to the water for irrigation in time. Grapefruit is a fairly powerful plant, so it is often grown in fairly bright and spacious rooms.

in the ground;

​7.​ In order for the southern guest to feel at home on your windowsill, the following care rules should be observed:

Growing citrus plants at home is a rather troublesome task. But fragrant flowering and the opportunity to get exotic fruits are pushing houseplant lovers to take this decisive step. The common favorite is the lemon. It is he who can be seen both in residential premises and in office buildings, trading floors, clinics, schools and kindergartens. Its fragrant leaves serve as a source of phytoncides. This valuable quality is inherent not only in lemon, but also in other representatives of citrus fruits. Orange, tangerine, clementine, calamondin, grapefruit, citron, pomelo, lime are also suitable for growing at home. Demanding citrus fruits, especially lemons, to nutrition.

Tarocco orange grafted by copulation Unlike most other fruit trees, citrus plants do not require frequent pruning. But the periodic shortening of the branches will help form the crown and give growth to new shoots. However, it all depends on the type. Orange trees, for example, stretch upwards and require regular pruning. Since the crown of the Mandarin is very dense, thinning is necessary from time to time. Even more frequent pruning is required for Lemon with its weak branching. And Kumquat and Calamodin do not need pruning at all due to their slow growth.

But the main "fertilizer" is care and attentiveness. Let your plants always feel comfortable with your care, please with their flowering and fruits!

Citrus trees in the house are not only beautiful and cozy, they are a chic aroma when flowering, energy of vitamins all year round and a piece of summer on long winter evenings. A necessary condition for the growth of lemon is the required level of illumination in the greenhouse.

In pot culture. Diseases

​Selecting a place​ It is no coincidence that in the plant kingdom they are called gluttons.

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citrus houseplants

Buy citrus fruits with an already formed crown. Growing from seed will take too long and the tree may not bear fruit.​

Caring for indoor citrus plants

With them, success will certainly await you.

​If you are looking for tangerines, pay attention to the varieties. Citrus plants are fraught with essential oils that are so important for health and have phytoncidal properties. Tip: A room or just a small lemon greenhouse equipped with lamps will help provide the necessary level of illumination the so-called "daylight", or an energy-saving lamp of 18-20 W with a homemade reflector (reflector). You can make it with your own hands, taking as a model the lighting of showcases-refrigerators in any grocery store.​

Planting plants in the ground is used in industrial cultivation, and gardeners practice the combined use of a greenhouse in their plots: in summer, tomatoes and cucumbers grow in it, and with the onset of autumn, representatives of various citrus fruits in pots “move” into it. citrus fruits at home: Light

. Citrus fruits are shade-tolerant plants, but you can keep them near the southern windows. There is also a place in the house that is absolutely not suitable for exotics - this is the north window. It is not recommended to place the plant pot next to the microwave oven. Dangerous for them and drafts, and warm air coming from heated batteries. They must be isolated from mixing cold and warm air currents. Citrus fruits react to any inconvenience by falling leaves. For maintenance during the winter dormancy period (approximately from November to February), plants need to be provided with a room with a low air temperature, watering, spraying and top dressing should be stopped. Plants are fed all year round, except for the period from October to February, when they are given only a weak solution potassium permanganate for soil disinfection. For the rest of the time, carefully consider the choice of location. The best option for citrus fruits is a warm, well-lit place with high levels of humidity.​

The difference between citrus and other plants. Features of the content. Providing a period of rest. Vaccinations for better fruiting. Kovano-Vase (yields up to 70 fruits per year),

  • Thanks to this feature, the air is cleaned of harmful microorganisms that may be the result of flu, colds and other diseases.
  • Water the planted stalk should be once every two days.
  • Before you start breeding plants of this family, you need to find out the features and nuances of growing a particular species, for example, an orange or a lemon, namely:
  • Anthracnose - occurs due to damage by a pathogenic fungus that causes

- Citrus fruits feel best with a long (12-hour) light day. Therefore, in summer they should be artificially shaded, and in winter - additionally illuminated. Pot selection Top dressing is carried out by alternating organic fertilizers with mineral

  • The rest period is very important for the normal growth and fruiting of citrus fruits.
  • Lemon Panderose
  • May 20, 2014 / Rating:

Abkhaz Early. Grapefruit. It is important to monitor the air temperature in the lemon greenhouse. It shouldn't be lower

minimum and maximum temperatures; death of leaves, shoots and fruits;​2.​

This fruit, beloved by many, contains many useful and various vitamins.

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+200С and above +260С

the amount of heat required for growth and development;

Conditions necessary for growing lemon

Warty - the formation of growths on shoots and fruits;

Temperature

  • soil
  • Recommended fertilizer mixtures: foskamide, darina, ideal, agrovit-cor.
  • Grafting citrus fruits can increase fruiting.
  • In autumn and winter, with a lack of sunlight, increased dryness of the air, the growth of citrus fruits stops, a dormant period begins. At this time, you need to pay special attention to plants.

In crop culture, citrus fruits remain the most popular among fruit-bearing plants. Everything is attractive in these plants: both hard, waxy leaves, and fragrant spring flowering, and no less fragrant fruiting in autumn and winter. In home plant growing among citrus fruits, the most common are Lemon, Mandarin, Orange, Citrofortunella, Fortunella, Lime, Orange, Clementine, Citron. The latter, by the way, is known for its original fruits, which are used in the confectionery industry, but are not eaten raw.​

  • You can also grow such exotic and tasty citrus fruits as kinkan (Nagami, Fukushu varieties), citron (Pavlovsky), calamondin (hybrid of kinkan and tangerine).
  • It contains a considerable amount of organic acid, essential oil and mineral salts, and is also rich in vitamin A, glucose, fructose and ascorbic acid. Relieves depression and perfectly calms.

optimal quality and quantity of light;

Cultivation of citruses in special conditions

Greenhouse conditions for exotic citrus fruits

Gommosis - the formation of brown-red spots on the branches and trunk;


- the most suitable temperature for indoor citrus fruits is 17-22 °. At higher temperatures, the plant begins to experience discomfort, turns yellow and sheds leaves. In winter, it is better to keep citrus fruits at a temperature of 10-14 °, which will help them go into a dormant state, while additional lighting is not required.

. Plants are suitable for a specially formulated soil mixture for citrus fruits. By purchasing such soil in specialized outlets, the consumer can be sure of its quality, because the manufacturer takes into account all the needs of this group of plants.

  • Citruses are highly adaptable to soil conditions. They just cannot stand very acidic soils and the presence of peat. Usually they make up a mixture of turf and leafy soil, humus, sand (2: 1: 1: 1). Citrus fruits should not be placed in the same room with strong-smelling plants, as they do not like other people's smells.
  • Many grow citrus plants in the room, but rarely do they manage to taste their fruits. So today we

Oranges or lemons growing in pots are quite real if you know about all the intricacies of caring for these subtropical plants. Moreover, with the right content, you can even get fruits regularly.

  • Do not buy plants with flowers and fruits. Do not take seedlings with bare dried roots - they will not take root.
  • Orange.
  • After a new leaf appears on the plant, the plant can be removed from the greenhouse.
  • features of a particular culture;
  • Tristeza - death of the bark;
  • Humidity
  • They don't like smokers either.

Let's talk about what mistakes gardeners usually make and how to avoid them. with a significant drop in temperature to 5–10 ° C and darkening (a period of complete rest) In addition to natural species, various cultivars and hybrids can be purchased today. Among them, for example, is the compact Meyer Lemon (Citrus Limon Mejer), famous for its sweetish taste of fruits that appear throughout the year. Marumi kumquat (Fortunella japonica) is also interesting, having the appearance of a small tree, whose fruits can be eaten right with the peel.

When growing, keep in mind that citrus fruits are able to live even on northern windowsills (although the fruits may not ripen), but they will quickly burn out in the direct, aggressive sun.

A sunny plant that uplifts the mood, relieves insomnia and relaxes. Contains many vitamins and microelements that have a tonic property and purify the blood.

The content of citrus fruits in greenhouses and winter gardens

Three weeks after the appearance of a new leaf, the root system will already be strengthened, and the lemon can be transplanted into prepared soil.

Glazed and insulated loggia or balcony

volumes and timing of irrigation;

Root rot - root rot that occurs as a result of overflow.

Watering

. Citrus fruits do not tolerate the dry air of a city apartment. It is necessary to periodically spray them from a spray bottle with warm water.

How to grow and store lemon

​: In protest, they can even drop leaves. Transplantation is also a crucial moment. The most common

  • First of all, it is necessary to take into account the biological characteristics of citrus plants.

With a slight decrease in temperature and additional lighting (a period of relative rest).

  • If desired, citrus fruits can be grown from seeds. But this method is suitable for the most patient growers, besides, there is a risk of not waiting for flowering and, accordingly, fruiting.

In addition, these plants do not like permutations and "get used" to a certain place.

  • Lemon.
  • The temperature and quality of water needed by plants;
  • Indoor citrus plants are susceptible to many diseases caused by viruses, bacteria and fungi. In order to protect your green pet from danger, it is very important to properly care for it, remove the diseased parts of the plant in time, sprinkling the places of cuts with activated charcoal. - Water citrus fruits as the top layer of the earth in the pot dries. It is very important that the plant does not dry out (drooping leaves and sprouts may indicate this) and does not flood. Water for irrigation should be at room temperature, always settled with the addition of a few drops of vinegar.
  • Mistakes: transplanting plants with flowers and fruits, which causes them to shed, as well as the destruction of an earthy coma, strong pruning of roots
  • In winter, they need relative peace.

A period of complete rest

  • ON THE PHOTO:
  • When preparing the soil, take not plastic dishes, but ceramics - citrus roots require air. For the same reason, good breathability of the substrate should be ensured - put broken shards, a layer of pebbles or expanded clay on the bottom of the pot. Strengthens immunity, relieves inflammation, fatigue and pain. Cultivated lemon can be propagated by cuttings. To do this, several small branches are cut from it, which are planted in prepared greenhouses for lemon.
  • What and how often to feed;​​4.​

. For watering citrus fruits, you need to use only settled water at room temperature with the addition of a few drops of vinegar. Homemade chlorinated water just drawn from the tap is not at all suitable for this purpose.

parnik-teplitsa.ru

. Both deep and shallow planting can be the reason for the lack of fruit. The root neck should be slightly above the soil level.

lasts about 3 months. At the same time, there is no need for watering, since the humidity of cold air is quite enough. You can place the plant in the basement, in the stairwell, in the garage with periodic monitoring of it.

Growing citrus fruits at home, basic rules

The soil mixture is prepared from soddy, humus soil and sand in a ratio of 3: 1: 1.

Grown lemons in a greenhouse are transplanted into boxes or pots in the fall. To fill them, use special earthen mixtures for citrus fruits, or mix them yourself

The required proportions of macro- and microelements.

Lemon is a tropical evergreen and belongs to the citrus family. Its tropical origin determines the peculiarities of cultivation in our climatic conditions.​

soil

Top dressing

Citrus fruits cause the most problems to their owners in winter, when they shed their leaves. The reasons for this phenomenon may

Consider the benefits of the most common citrus fruits

From October to February, the temperature in the room should not exceed 12°C. However, this time coincides with the heating season, and high temperatures lead to untimely growth and depletion of plants, which will further affect fruiting. The period of relative rest

citron (​

For 10 liters, you can add 150-200 g of granular superphosphate - citrus fruits are demanding on phosphorus. The fruit is low-calorie, high in vitamin C. An excellent helper in the treatment of flu and colds.

1/3 river sand with 2/3 loamy soil There are a number of requirements for the greenhouse itself, where citrus is planned. Such a greenhouse should, even in the most severe cold, maintain a temperature not lower than

In order to grow a lemon, you need to know its features and needs in order to create the most favorable conditions for its growth and development. - For the comfort and full development of indoor citrus plants, the soil must be neutral acidity and light composition. The ideal soil composition is:

. Exotic guests respond well to fertilizing with nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and organic fertilizers. Top dressing can be carried out from February until the period of winter dormancy. There can be a lot: light starvation, a combination of low light with high temperature and low air humidity; the difference in the temperature of the aerial part and the root system of the plant, when the pot is blown with cold air from the window, and the crown is in favorable room conditions; lack or excess of nutrition. And other problemsSome beginner citrus growers have no idea about the right

The critical period is early spring Takes place with intense lighting with the help of additional lamps and reduced watering. The air temperature should be somewhat reduced, about + 12-15 ° C, so the plant is placed in a cool, moderately heated place. In the conditions of "home wintering" with insufficient air humidity, it is necessary to spray. In the spring, watering is increased and little by little they begin to add top dressing.

Citrus care at home

Citrus medica

It is better to take the soil not from the garden (there are a lot of pests in it), but from the forest (and in no case from coniferous!) Or from a neglected garden.

Kumquat

+60С, and better +100С

Lemon loves:

Diseases of citrus fruits at home

river sand - 1 part;

Reproduction

crown formation

when warm days are suddenly replaced by a sharp cold snap. At the same time, the growth that has begun slows down sharply, the leaves are deformed, and the buds and ovaries crumble. To avoid this, it is recommended to maintain the temperature in the room at 14-16 ° C. Sometimes in the summer, gardeners take plants to the balcony or even transport them to the country, but it’s better not to do this, since citruses

Citrus fruits on the windowsill care and cultivation

Varieties of tangerines and other citrus fruits

  • Since indoor plants are very sensitive to pests, the ground should be steamed or boiled in advance (up to 1 hour over low heat).
  • A fruit of small size, but with a lot of useful features.

Plants need to be fed.

citrus seedlings

bright but diffused light;

humus - 1 part;

. Citrus fruits are propagated by seeds, cuttings and grafting. The dream of getting an orange or a tangerine from an ordinary stone visits every lover of home plants. And of course, I want the planted seed not only to germinate, but also to turn into a fruit-bearing tree. Usually citrus fruits grown from seeds are the most persistent and strongest. This is due to the fact that from a very tender age they adapt to life at home. But with flowering, and even more so with fruiting, it is difficult for them. For example, mandarin seedlings can bloom only at 7 - 15 years of age, and their fruits, most likely, will not please with taste. To achieve flowering earlier, you need to graft the plant. As a scion, a stalk of a fruiting lemon, orange, grapefruit is suitable. Citrus seedlings can grow very large. After all, they are taken from plants grown in the natural environment, and not in cramped conditions. For home maintenance, special dwarf varieties are more suitable. If your desire to grow exotic from seeds is very great, you can try to do it.

. And this is the main reason for the lack of fruiting and the loss of decorativeness. Without human intervention, the plant will not be able to form a crown in a short time. Thanks to pruning, shoots of the 4th and 5th branching orders develop faster, on which fruits are formed.

Painfully react to any changes and adapt very slowly

Citrus fruits came to us from Southeast Asia with a subtropical and tropical climate. High air humidity, abundance of heat without seasonal fluctuations in temperature, daylight equal to night are typical for the range of citrus plants. This determines the main features of care.

Beware of fungal diseases.

​Mandarin​

In winter, once a month

Watering

In addition, all citrus fruits need a lot of light, but preferably diffused. In conditions of long autumn and winter, it is necessary to install an additional lighting system in a heated greenhouse. In the spring and summer months, from about May to mid-September, if the greenhouse is located in a sunny place, it is better to lightly shade the plants.

high humidity;

Sod land - 2 parts;

Growing from seed

At the tangerine

Diseases

to new conditions.

Lemon at rest

Determining the right place

When planting or transplanting, never sprinkle the root neck with soil - this way you can kill a healthy plant in a few days.

. For many, this fruit is associated with the New Year holidays. The fruit of joy, celebration and mood.

Specialized fertilizers for citrus fruits, and in the summer, every one and a half weeks, fertilizers, which include a large amount of nitrogen.

It should also be remembered that citrus fruits, especially lemons, do not tolerate a “standing” humid atmosphere, so it is important to provide for the possibility of ventilating the greenhouse.

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Growing citrus fruits at home - "Care" :: read on the site LePlants.ru

Good aeration of the root system;

Deciduous land - 1 part.

  • . To do this, you need to take the seeds of the fruit you like and plant them immediately. The seed needs to be immersed in the ground by 2 - 3 cm. It is better to use a special soil mixture for citrus fruits as soil. A seed pot should be taken with a volume of 2 liters, since young plants are very difficult to transplant. The pot must have good drainage and one or two drainage holes. The seed pot must be placed in a greenhouse bag to create optimal conditions for seedlings. Shoots appear in about a week or two months, depending on the type and variety of the plant. They can develop unevenly, some weak specimens die. Sometimes several plants develop from one seed at once. In this case, you need to leave one of the strongest, and cut the rest above the soil level.

The crown is prone to thickening, so frequent thinning is necessary.

Overdrying and excessive moistening of an earthy coma

Grafting allows you to transfer some varietal characteristics of one plant to another, speed up fruiting and improve fruit quality. Cuttings of fruit-bearing plants are used as grafts.

First of all, you need to take care of the location of the plant. Putting the pot on the windowsill in winter is not the best solution. Cold air from the window, as well as increased temperature from the radiators, negatively affect the exotic. The most suitable for citrus fruits is a fairly warm place with intense lighting and high humidity. In spring, summer and early autumn, it is best to place the plant in a southwest or southeast window with softer, diffused light. Pay attention to water too - citrus fruits do not like hard water. It is better to use boiled and settled. Caring for our exotic plants in the winter-autumn period is the most important part in indoor citrus growing. You will also find a video that reveals other subtleties of growing lemons useful.A greenhouse, as well as a winter garden, are special rooms in which special conditions are created for growing plants that are not adapted and cannot withstand the typical climate of a particular area. Considering that the price of such structures is high, and it is rather difficult to create and maintain them, we will not dwell on this method in detail.​ positive ambient temperature throughout the year.​

Features of citrus care

Propagation by cuttings

orange tree

is also a very common mistake. In the first case, the active roots die off, the leaves curl and fall off along with the flowers and fruits. With excessive watering, the roots rot, the leaves turn yellow.

All kinds of citrus fruits can be grafted. We should not forget to remove the rootstock shoots in time, which can stop the growth of the grafted cuttings.

Soil selection

Please note that with the onset of autumn, watering should be reduced - the plants begin to rest. If in doubt whether to water or not, just spray the crown.

Our citrus experiences a special period of growth in the spring, so it is advisable to transfer it to a dormant period in winter.

Citrus fruit plants that are grown at home create an exotic atmosphere, subtropical comfort in an apartment or house, and, moreover, will bring comfort and great health benefits.

To date, this is the simplest and most affordable option for growing citrus fruits, which allows you not to build a greenhouse or greenhouse for a lemon or orange tree.

Based on all of the above, we conclude: a lemon tree can only be grown under conditions specially created for it, which will allow the plant to survive the cold winter months, and more specifically:

Top dressing

. Apical cuttings taken from a varietal fruit-bearing plant are easily rooted in river sand without clay. The bottom leaf on the handle must be cut off. To create comfortable conditions for the cuttings, you need to make a small greenhouse from an ordinary transparent plastic bottle. In its bottom you need to make 2 - 3 small drainage holes. The bottle must be cut in the middle and fill the lower part with sand by 2/3. Rinse the sand under running hot water directly into the container. When it cools down, make a 2cm indent using a nail. Carefully plant the cutting in this recess (slightly at an angle) and lightly compact the sand around it with a finger or a nail head. The upper part of the bottle must be fixed by making an incision perpendicular to the cut. After planting, the stalk should be poured with warm boiled water through the neck of the bottle. After that, the lid must be closed, but not completely, so that air can pass through. Contain cuttings at an air temperature of 20 - 25 ° C, in a well-lit place, but not in direct sunlight. Spraying with lukewarm water is done through the neck of the bottle, no more watering is needed. After about a month, the cuttings will have white roots. This serves as a signal to transplant them into a citrus soil mixture. When transplanting, it is necessary to carefully remove the roots from the sand (under running water) so as not to damage them. It rapidly stretches upward, therefore, its growth must be limited. The lemon has very weak branching, so the plant undergoes heavy pruning to make it bloom and bear fruit. One adult plant in our apartment can produce up to 30 fruits annually. substances. The most moisture-loving among citrus fruits is lemon, the most drought-resistant is orange. Often plants are watered with very warm water (40°C), which causes the roots to die. You can't go to extremes either. When watering with cold water, the roots rot, and the plants also die. The water temperature should be 2-3 ° C, and during fruiting 5-10 ° C above room temperature. Remember that citrus roots are located in the upper soil layer, therefore ​.​

The main requirements for soil for growing citrus fruits are good air and moisture permeability. The soil should be slightly acidic. Soil special mixtures are commercially available, but they are only well suited for the first time. Literally a year later, their nutritional composition is already depleted, and the soil should be changed.

From November to February, you should try to provide the plants with coolness - high temperatures can harm them. To do this, it is enough to protect the window sill from the hot air of the battery with a small screen made of plastic film.

The temperature should be 5-10 degrees and be constant, while growth processes slow down and, accordingly, there is no urgent need to consume light, which plants do not have enough in winter.

  • Lemon and lime are the most common citrus fruits that are already adapted to home conditions. And since the care of citrus plants is quite similar and affordable, the exotic atmosphere in the house can be diluted with tangerine, orange, grapefruit, pamelo and other fruits.
  • ​For arrangement, it is enough to choose the most suitable design, place an order and wait for the installers. In the photo below, you see a standard glazed balcony in an ordinary apartment building.​

in a greenhouse; (See Polycarbonate greenhouse)​ - Citrus fruits must be fed. They are vital:

Vaccination Artificial pollination of flowers. When pollinating flowers, pollen is applied with a soft brush) increasing the set of fruits. In rooms, you observe a large shedding of ovaries. To avoid this during fruit formation more often You have to pry it carefully For indoor citrus used Compliance with watering rules

Vaccinations

Beware of winter drafts!

Care in winter is minimal and the plant needs to be watered much less. With the advent of spring, the plant comes to life, requires more frequent watering, a lighted room, begins to noticeably accelerate in growth and blooms. If there is enough light, heat and moisture in your house, then the citrus plant will take root perfectly in you, will grow, bear fruit, bloom and delight you.

In a greenhouse or winter garden; nitrogen for rapid growth; . As a rootstock for citrus fruits, you can use grapefruit, lemon, orange. It is not necessary for the scion and rootstock to be of the same species. Vaccination is carried out in two ways: budding or copulation. water the plants and spray them

, and water often, but in small doses. For successful cultivation budding Water quality matters a lot. Watering with hard tap water will quickly lead to salt deposition and an increase in the pH of the substrate, which will necessarily affect the health of the plant, causing at least yellowing of the leaves. The ideal option would be to use soft water, the temperature of which is 1-2 ° C higher than room temperature. You can soften the water with the help of a special preparation "Kislinka" or high-moor peat. More about this in the article "How to understand watering."

  1. If you want to grow a healthy pet, take care of winter lighting - turn on a fluorescent lamp above the tree for 2-3 hours in the morning and evening.
  2. The most productive flowering. In summer, the period of shedding of the ovary begins. This is a natural process, but still, keep an eye on the temperature of the water when watering.​
  3. Before you buy citrus plants, you should get acquainted with the rules of cultivation and their features.
  4. On a balcony or loggia insulated in this way, you can grow any exotic plants (see Cultivation of pineapples and bananas - part two - features of banana farming), including citrus fruits. The instructions below will help you with this.​
  5. On a glazed and insulated balcony or loggia.

LePlants.ru

Mistakes in growing and breeding citrus plants (lemon, tangerine), proper care

Phosphorus to accelerate the ripening of fruits;

It is best to propagate citrus fruits from cuttings. This method allows you to save all the varietal qualities of the mother plant. And young plants grown from cuttings bloom and bear fruit much earlier.

What are citrus plants afraid of, care errors, biological features of citrus plants

warm water. Do not forget about the rationing of fruits. The first flowers on young plants must be removed. A three-year-old plant leaves only 2-3 fruits. In subsequent years, they proceed from this ratio: one fruit should be fed from 10-15 leaves, and, of course, the well-being of the plant itself is taken into account so that the first harvest does not turn out to be the last for it. If the fruiting of a young and healthy tree is weak, then it can be enhance. For example, pull the main branches with a tourniquet (this technique will cause the accumulation of plastic substances and the laying of flower buds); regularly feed the plant with superphosphate. You can grow a seedling and graft it into the crown of a fruit-bearing tree or graft an eye from the top of the plant into its lower part. If a citrus plant lives with you for a very long time and produces few fruits, it The light regime is also very important(grafting with a kidney taken from a cutting of a cultivated plant) and

It is necessary to provide plants with regular moderate watering. In summer, citrus fruits should be watered at a frequency of about once every 2 days, and in winter, the frequency of watering is reduced to 5-7 days. The top layer of soil should have time to dry out. A special disease of citrus fruits is homosis, or gum disease. And, of course, a huge disappointment when, after so much work and careful care, the plant gets sick. It should be noted that when ripe, sour fruits require a lower temperature, so it is better to grow them in a winter garden or on a loggia. Such a tropical a fruit like a lemon is not adapted to our climatic conditions. That is why it is necessary to create special conditions for the plant with your own hands that will help it grow and survive the winter: Let us dwell in more detail on how to grow a lemon in a greenhouse or in a greenhouse. Potassium for greater disease resistance.

Pests and diseases can rejuvenate. Strong shading leads to the formation of large dark green leaves and the exhaustion of plants. Direct sunlight causes a pale color of the leaves, burns of fruits and ovaries and their abscission. The most shade-tolerant lemon, the orange is photophilous and heat-resistant. copulation​Humidity maintenance​ With it, brown-red streaks of gum form on the lower part of the trunk. If young, unformed fruits begin to fall, it means that the plant needs nutrition, properly selected fertilizer.

Home citrus plants, soil composition, nutrition, top dressing, fertilizers

Limes, lemons bloom often, so flowers and fruits on the plant can be observed almost simultaneously. The most favorable time for planting a lemon at home or in a greenhouse is spring. It is possible to grow a lemon in two ways - from a seed or from a cutting. Representatives of the citrus family, exotic for us, require special care and attention. Unlike a greenhouse, a citrus greenhouse is not the best place.​

6.​​. Among the diseases of domestic citrus fruits there are: gommosis, anthracnose, warty. Diseases are difficult to cure and easier to prevent their occurrence. Buds and fruits on the affected tree are best removed in order to save its strength to defeat the disease. A weakened plant can be attacked by the following pests: scale insects, false scale insects, aphids, mites, mealybugs and earthworms. A plant that is properly cared for does not get sick, so you need to pay more attention to care so that you don’t have to deal with diseases and pests later. To do this, all large branches are cut into 3-4 eyes, and their branching is cut into a ring. The rejuvenated plant is transplanted into nutrient soil, shortening the roots by one third. That, perhaps, is all the wisdom of caring for citrus fruits. Citrus love(grafting with a cutting with the same thickness of the scion and stock). At the same time, some varieties of citrus need a strictly defined stock. So, Lemon Panderose is well suited for grafting Kumquat, and Pompelmus is good for grapefruit. Sweet orange is used for grafting oranges and lemons. As tropical plants, citrus fruits require high humidity - at least 45–50%. Therefore, in winter, you should use a humidifier or maintain an optimal level of humidity using a tray with wet expanded clay. This is dangerous and threatens the plant with death, so if red spots appear on the bark, they must be cleaned with a knife, disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate, and cover the wound with garden pitch or fill with paint. Brown marks may also appear on the leaves and fruits of the plant. At the same time, the plant does not have the opportunity to develop properly, which leads to early leaf fall. Indoor kumquat

Home citrus plants, winter diseases, how to form a crown

Plants grown from seeds will delight you only with their beautiful leaves and flowers. Unlike them, those plants that have developed from cuttings will give you juicy fruits in a few years. You can buy lemon cuttings in the botanical garden, or from amateurs who breed them.

​Transplant What do most residents of the post-Soviet space associate New Year's holidays with? Of course, with a Christmas tree and the aroma of citrus fruits: oranges, tangerines and lemons. Not many people know that all these citrus plants are quite amenable to growing at home. We will talk about the types of indoor citrus plants and their care in our article. T. Zavyalova, Ph.D. sciences Diffused sunlight, it is best to place them on a window facing the southeast or southwest side. And remember: the higher the temperature in the room, the more intense the lighting should be. Dry room air causes great suffering to citruses - the tips of the leaves dry up, the buds, ovaries and fruits fall off. To avoid this, regularly wash and spray the plants. If the pot is near the battery, then a container of water is placed on it, which, as it evaporates, will saturate the air with moisture. ON THE PHOTO:​Temperature effect​

Domestic citrus plants, artificial pollination of flowers, fruiting, rejuvenation

Do not get carried away with chemical fertilizers, because in small volumes of land they often burn roots, alkalinize or acidify the soil. This disease is called Ramulariasis - this is a microscopic fungus that multiplies in a humid environment mainly with abundant spraying in the spring. fruits need more careful care. Oranges, tangerines, chic and delicious kumquats need a greenhouse all year round. They need greenhouse conditions and high temperatures for fruiting. Lemon cuttings are planted in wet river sand, preferably the middle fraction. After planting, create greenhouse conditions for the cutting - close it with a cut plastic bottle or a glass jar.In the greenhouse, citruses can be grown in two ways:

Citrus fruits at home - you can determine whether your plant needs a transplant or if you still need to wait by how much the roots have grown. Citrus fruits should be transplanted only when the roots have completely entangled the entire earthen ball in the pot. A new pot during transplantation should be 2-3 cm larger than the previous one in diameter. Indoor citrus fruits are usually transplanted in February-March, by transshipment.

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Growing a citrus tree at home is an interesting activity, although not an easy one. Those who think that it is enough to plant a bone from the fruit they like in a pot are mistaken, and that's it, you can no longer buy lemons for tea. Without knowledge of special techniques, the first harvest will have to wait 20 years, no less. Much earlier, varietal trees selected taking into account room conditions will please with fruits. But here it is important not to make a mistake. Only those types of indoor citrus plants that are grafted on seedlings of lemon, kumquat, grapefruit or orange, or grown from cuttings cut from fruit-bearing indoor citrus plants, are suitable for growing on windowsills.

Vegetable seeds for growing on a balcony Growing eggplant in a greenhouse video Features of growing eggplant in a greenhouse

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Svetlana Mitrofanova March 12, 2014 | 18115

Citrus fruits are the most popular and available crop for seed growing experiments. In addition, these plants purify the air well, so their maintenance at home is fully justified.

citrus pits for sowing, you need to take from ripe fruits harvested on time, i.e. when in the middle lane the middle of winter. It is undesirable to use old, stale and rotten citruses - seedlings will be weak and sick.

The bones are washed before planting, clearing the pulp to prevent the shell from molding in the ground. Before planting, it is recommended to soak the bones in warm water with the addition of a drop of Epin or Zircon. In general, they germinate no longer than 2 weeks.

The fastest are tangerines: they can germinate already on the 3-5th day. The longest time is to wait for the germination of grapefruits, suites, limequats, kumquats and other exotics.

For sprouting It is best to use vermiculite for seeds, as it retains moisture well and does not contain restrictive particles that can rot and infect seedlings with mold. At the stage of the appearance of the first leaf, citrus fruits can be transplanted into the soil, into a separate pot. seedlings need lighting and a temperature of at least 25ºС, they do not tolerate drafts. Requirements to soil citrus fruits are as follows: the earth in a pot should be loose and breathable (for this you can add the same vermiculite in proportions of 1: 4). To avoid stagnant water, be sure to do in a pot drainage.

Lemon and tangerine less capricious and better adapted to the conditions of the apartment than other citruses. it is also easiest to form by pinching the tops of branches for further branching. And here lemon And grapefruit often get sick after this procedure, and new branches at the pinching site do not appear immediately. Seedlings also respond well to pruning, picking and transplanting. miniols, which is a hybrid of grapefruit and tangerine. Orange does not like drafts and abundant watering, preferring spraying.

crown formation usually begins at the age of about six months, when the citrus has a stem (trunk) of sufficient height. It consists in pinching branches that grow in the right direction in time for their further branching, and do not forget to cut those branches that grow in the wrong direction or inside the crown. Pinch branches, as a rule, over every 5th leaf.

A plant grown from a seed blooms in 3-5 years (not earlier). The longest time is to wait for the flowering of hybrids and grapefruit. It often happens that they do not bloom even once in their entire lives on the windowsill. And the easiest and fastest to bloom and bear fruit are lemon and kumquat. The general unpretentiousness of mandarin does not apply to flowering.

flower buds in citrus fruits, they are already laid on branches of the 5th order, the stem itself is considered as a zero reference point. Branches of the 1st order grow on it, they grow branches of the 2nd order on themselves, and with sufficient lighting and general health of the plant, buds and subsequently fruits appear already on the 5th generation of branches. Often, citrus fruits bloom too profusely, then dying with fruits that have set from a lack of strength. To prevent this from happening, extra flowers need to be plucked at the bud stage. The calculation is simple - for each flower there should be 10 healthy adult leaves.

Most of our children, and often we ourselves, adults, began our acquaintance with botany with a tangerine. Orange, fragrant, with bright slices and inconspicuous seeds, it led us to the question: is it possible to grow such a miracle on our own? And if this question overtook us not far from the pot of earth, even if it was already occupied by some kind of plant, the seeds immediately went into the soil. And after a while, the already forgotten experiment turned into a difficult task: how to care for and get fruits from your own tangerine in home-grown conditions? In the article we will talk about this.

Mandarin tree (Citrus reticulata). © Team D Content:

Mandarin from the bone - we analyze the difficulties

Before deciding to grow a tangerine from a stone, you need to think: how much are you willing to work hard to achieve a result, and what exactly do you want from the tree you grow - just decorative or also fruits? Are you ready to wait? Mandarin from the stone grows quite slowly. Are you willing to experiment? In order for the plant to bloom, it will take more than one year, and it is not uncommon for a tangerine to not bloom at all, then you will need to help it.

In addition, if a mandarin grown from a seed gives fruits, they are not similar to those from which the seed was taken (in order for the variety to repeat, it is necessary to propagate it vegetatively - by cuttings, grafting). However, what happens, in any case, pleasantly surprises!

Planting a tangerine

What seeds to plant?

For planting a tangerine, it is best to take seeds from the numerous hybrids offered for sale today. They sprout faster, bloom earlier, in most cases produce edible fruits and are easier to graft. It is very simple to distinguish them from real tangerines: real ones do not have seeds in their fruits, or there are very few of them, and hybrids are always with seeds.

Selected seeds should not be thin, as if withered, deformed or with a blackened tip. It is good that there are at least five tangerine seeds, since not all will germinate, and if the plants are planned for grafting, then at least ten, because grafting is not always successful.


Sprouted from seeds mandarin. © Jerry Coleby-William

We prepare the earth and select a pot

The next task is to prepare the substrate. It should not contain peat, as the mandarin does not like acidic soil. Therefore, the substrate is either bought in a store, marked pH = 6.5-7 (neutral soil), or made independently by mixing two parts of well-rotted humus, two parts of forest land (from under deciduous trees) and one part of sifted river sand. If there is no humus, you can simply take non-acidic soil and sand.

Now you need to choose a container for landing. The first pots for young tangerines are quite capable of becoming plastic cups with a volume of 200 ml, bowls, at least 7-9 cm deep (always with a drainage hole) or small pots.

Planting mandarin seeds

For all citrus fruits, there is a single rule: the faster the seed from the fruit gets into the soil, the higher its germination. Therefore, after eating a tangerine, you do not need to dry its bones, you must immediately place them in the ground, digging them to a depth of 4 cm.

If, for some reason, the tangerine seeds could not be planted immediately, then, in order to slightly speed up the germination process, they are recommended to be soaked for several days. At the same time, the dishes in which they will lie should be flat, the cloth should be damp, but not flooded with water, the place should be warm, but not in the sun. So that the rag in which the tangerine bones are wrapped does not dry out, the saucer can be placed in a plastic bag, slightly cover it, but do not tie it.


A hatched tangerine from a seed. © Guilherme Silva

From seeding to seedlings

It is impossible to say in advance how long it will take for a seed to germinate and sprout. In some cases, it is 15 days, but more often - about a month. In any case, before germination, it is important to monitor soil moisture and air temperature, which should not fall below +20 ° C and exceed +25 ° C. At the same time, it is not recommended to place pots in a mini greenhouse, tangerines sprout so well, and plants grown in greenhouse conditions will then need to be accustomed to room conditions.

Transplanting mandarin seedlings

If the mandarin seeds are not planted in separate pots, but all together in a bowl, when four leaves appear (it is believed that citrus fruits do not have cotyledon leaves), it is time to transplant them into separate cups. From the resulting seedlings, the most powerful are selected, and the weak and deformed ones are discarded, obtaining plants that are stronger and more capable of growth and development.

Sometimes it happens that two sprouts grow from one mandarin seed (in citrus fruits, seeds are multi-germinated). In this case, you can do two things: either pinch a weaker plant, or plant the sprouts in different pots - usually each of them has its own root system.

The next mandarin transplant should be focused on root development: as soon as the roots occupy the entire volume of the cup, the plant is transferred to a more spacious pot. But immediately planting a seedling in a large amount of land is highly discouraged, because in this case waterlogging of the soil often occurs, which significantly depresses the plant.

Young mandarin trees are transplanted annually. Fruiting - once every 2-3 years, increasing the diameter of the pot not by 1, but by 4-6 cm. When planting, it is important to make sure not to deepen the root collar.

Old plants and large specimens of mandarin are not transplanted, but every few years they carefully remove the top layer of soil in a pot, replacing it with a new, fertile one.


Seedling tangerine. © George Shuklin

Formation of the tangerine

Mandarin - one of those plants that often have to be formed. The first pinching (if he has not started branching himself) is done when the seedling reaches a height of 30-40 cm. This technique causes the tree to start up side shoots of the first order. But this is not enough for flowering, because mandarin bears fruit only on branches of the 4th-5th order. Therefore, pinching is continued, removing the tips of all shoots after 4-5 leaves, as well as weak shoots and those that grow inside the crown. In general, the formation takes 3-4 years.

But to force branches of the first order, you can go the other way - to reject the shoots with the help of fixation. This method is more time consuming, but quite interesting. For its implementation, one end of the wire is fixed on a twig, and the other is fixed with a hairpin at the edge of the pot so that the formed mandarin shoot leans closer to a parallel position with respect to the ground.


Mandarin tree (Citrus reticulata). © petrmok29

Mandarin care at home

Care for tangerine trees varies somewhat depending on their age and purpose. If the specimen is young (up to 5 years old) or grown solely for the sake of green foliage, it needs regular watering (the soil must be kept moist, but not flooded), spraying (quite frequent) and a lot of light (with shading in the summer from the bright midday sun and illuminated in winter days).

In warm months, the tree can be taken out into the air (gradually accustoming) to a place protected from the wind. Once a month, it is useful for a mandarin to arrange a warm shower.

Like other citrus fruits, mandarin tends to turn the leaves towards the main light source. Therefore, for a more uniform formation of the crown, it can be rotated around its axis. But this should be done no more than 10 ° C at a time and no more than once every two weeks, because citrus fruits do not like rearrangements and may react negatively to them.

If the tangerine began to bloom, then, in addition to the usual care, it needs a period of winter dormancy, at a temperature of +10..12 ° C with more rare watering (it is necessary to allow the earth to dry out a little), a gradual increase in temperatures in the spring and the optimal temperature regime for the formation buds (within +16..18 °C). As well as moderate heat in summer - no higher than +25 ° C (at higher temperatures, flowers can crumble) and careful spraying (water should not fall on the flowers).

Since tangerines sing for about 6 months, many people have a question: should I give the tree a rest in winter or illuminate it with a lamp so that the fruits ripen? Answer: arrange. Even at +10..12 °C, tangerines slowly ripen.

Top dressing mandarin

Small tangerines are not fed, they are simply transferred to a larger pot. But older plants need to start fertilizing from the beginning of spring growth until autumn. This must be done with a special fertilizer for citrus fruits or mullein infusion (1:10 with water) every two weeks. Suitable for top dressing and chicken manure (tincture 1:20 diluted at the rate of 1:20 with water).

If the tree is planned for transplantation, mandarin feeding is stopped at least three days before this event. After transshipment, they return to fertilizers no earlier than 2 weeks later. In winter, tangerines do not feed.

First fruiting of tangerines

Mandarin, grown from the stone, enters fruiting in the 5th-6th year. Its fruits do not exactly repeat the taste of the mother variety and may differ from it in size, sweetness, aroma, but not only in the direction of deterioration of these qualities (as is commonly believed), but also in the direction of improvement (here - as lucky).

At the same time, the first fruiting does not yet fully reveal all the characteristics of the plant obtained from the seed. Therefore, if the tangerine has blossomed and set fruits, it needs to provide the most attractive conditions so that the tree can prove itself during repeated fruiting.

How to make a tangerine bloom?

Well, if the tangerine blooms by itself. And if not? In this case, he can be encouraged to do so. It is necessary to take a copper wire and wrap it tightly around the base of the tangerine trunk so that it is pressed into the bark. This will disrupt the sap flow process and force the plant to “think” about offspring - to bloom. After six months, the wire must be removed, and the wounded place should be treated with garden pitch - it will recover quickly enough.

However, the method will not work if the mandarin has not formed a crown and has not had a dormant period. Therefore, before starting the experiment, it is necessary to help the tree grow branches of the 4th and 5th order and go through a cold winter.

Mandarin graft

Another way to get fruit from a tangerine seedling is to graft it. To do this, it is necessary to grow a stock (tangerine from a stone) to the thickness of a trunk with a diameter of a simple pencil (about 6 mm) and find a scion - a small segment of a shoot taken from a varietal mandarin, or rather, a kidney (eye) with a leaf petiole.

At a height of 7 cm from the soil on the rootstock bark, make a cut in the shape of the letter “T” with a very sharp, preferably with a special budding knife, so as not to cut through the wood. The length of the cut should be about 2.5 cm, the upper jumper (the cap of the letter "T") about 1 cm. Insert the cut mandarin bud (with leaf petiole) into the bent ends of the bark (carefully push them away with a knife) and press the bark back. Treat everything with garden pitch and wrap it tightly with blue electrical tape, leaving the petiole out. Place the grafted plant in the greenhouse from the bag.

If the mandarin vaccination is successful, the bud will take root within three weeks, the petiole of the leaf will turn yellow and easily fall off. If the vaccination is not successful, the petiole will turn black.

In case of luck, the greenhouse begins to be ventilated little by little, gradually increasing the time of the sessions. A month after the appearance of a shoot from a new bud, the stem of the mandarin rootstock is cut with a pruner at a height of at least 5 mm from the grafting site, obliquely. The bandage is removed. The cut is treated with garden pitch.

Mandarin care during flowering / fruiting

In the phase of flowering and fruiting, mandarin needs more phosphorus and potash fertilizers than nitrogen. Watering should be regular, but not excessive. When the plant blooms, it must continue to be sprayed, but in such a way that water does not fall on the flowers.

In most cases, mandarin sheds extra flowers and ovaries, independently adjusting the load. If this does not happen, he needs to be helped by removing extra flowers and tangerines, leaving one fruit on the plant for every 15-20 leaves.

If ripening tangerines burst, then the plant is watered irregularly, or experiences an excess of nitrogen. In order for the mandarin to lay flower buds, he definitely needs winter rest.

Mandarin pests

It has been noticed that, grown from the stone, mandarin is much more resistant to environmental influences and pests than those that can be bought in the store. But, unfortunately, he also has malicious enemies. Most of them are afraid of ultraviolet light and high humidity, so maintaining good plant conditions is also a prevention against them. Who is this? Spider mites, scale insects, mealybugs, and also aphids.


Mandarin tree (Citrus reticulata). © Achievable Gardens

spider mite

With a size of only 0.3-0.6 mm, it is practically invisible to the human eye. But you can calculate it by the presence of small light dots on the underside of the leaves of the plant and the presence of the thinnest cobweb. If a tick is found, the fight against it should be immediate.

The first thing to start with is to thoroughly wash the plant with warm running water using laundry soap. Then it is necessary to spray the tangerine with Fitoverm, Intavir, Aktelik or other insecticide several times at intervals (7-10 days).

Shchitovka

It is a convex oval plate with a size of only 4 mm. The main sign of its presence is a sticky syrup-like coating that appears on the leaves of the plant. If the pest is not destroyed, the tree is quickly depleted and dries up.

You can try to cope with the scab by treating the tangerine with a soapy solution with the addition of kerosene: for 1 liter of water, 5 g of soap and 10 g of kerosene. Spray up to twice a week.

But treatments are more effective (from 3 to 5 times with an interval of 15 days) with insecticides Aktara, Fitoverm or others, which can always be found on sale. However, after such treatment, the fruits from the tree cannot be eaten and it is necessary to change the top layer of earth in a pot.

Mealybug

It is quite simple to detect it: the pest resembles a white fluffy coating scattered over the plant in the form of small dots, 3 to 6 mm in diameter. You can fight the worm manually, painstakingly collecting individuals, with the help of insecticides - Karbofos, Decis, Intavir or infusion of soap and garlic (2 cloves of garlic per 0.5 l of boiling water insist 4 hours).

Aphid

Almost everyone is familiar with this pest: from 1 to 3 mm long, light green in color, multiplies rapidly, lives in colonies. The harmfulness of aphids lies in the fact that it sucks juices from young shoots and leaves of mandarin, deforming them and depleting the plant.

In the fight against it, repeated (with an interval of 5-7 days) washing the plant with a solution of laundry soap, spraying with infusion of garlic (1 head of finely chopped garlic per glass of water, leave for 2 days), infusion of tobacco (40 g per 1 liter of water).

Problems when growing mandarin

Yellowing and falling leaves

This problem can have various causes. It is important not to rush, carefully analyze the condition of the plant and make the correct diagnosis. In adult tangerines, the leaves may turn yellow and fall off due to their old age. But at the same time, the tree itself looks healthy and develops normally.

The general lightening of the foliage may indicate insufficient lighting of the plants. In this case, care must be taken to rearrange the tangerine closer to the light, or arrange artificial lighting for it.

Dropping tangerine leaves can begin due to too dry air (in the absence of regular spraying, especially during the heating season), improper transplantation (when the root collar is deepened, choosing too large a pot), drafts. If one of these reasons is found, they simply need to be eliminated.

The drying and falling of the lower leaves of the mandarin, despite the fact that the leaf begins to dry from the tip, is associated with regular waterlogging of the soil. This phenomenon occurs either as a result of excessive care, or because the pot is too large in relation to the seedling. In any case, the plant must be transplanted into an appropriate pot with fresh, loose (breathable) soil, after removing rotten roots.

If yellowing began from the bottom of the crown and spreads to the top, this indicates a lack of nitrogen. In this case, the mandarin must be fed with nitrogen fertilizers.

The light yellow color of young mandarin leaves, gradually passing to old leaves, indicates chlorosis (lack of iron). This is where iron chelation can help.

Mandarin leaves fall for no apparent reason - perhaps the plant lacks potassium. In this case, it must be fed with potassium nitrate.


Blooming tangerine tree. © Chris.urs-o

It is important to know that young tangerines often produce rather long spines - nothing needs to be done with them!

In winter, citrus fruits, growing foliage, often form larger leaf plates than in spring and summer.

In order to distinguish a mandarin seedling from a lemon seedling, you need to smell their leaves - they smell like citrus in a lemon, and a light aroma of fresh herbs in a mandarin. Older plants are easy to distinguish by the petioles of the leaves - the lemon has a simple petiole, the mandarin has a narrow long lionfish.

Keeping exotic plants is troublesome, but fragrant flowering and fruiting justify all efforts. The process of growing citrus fruits at home is carried out from the stone or cuttings. The fragrance is emitted not only by flowers, but also by foliage. She is a source of phytoncides. Lemon and other citrus fruits have been proven to purify the air and prevent the development of pathogenic bacteria, which is why they are often seen in hospitals, kindergartens and other public places.

Growing lemons, oranges, limes and other citrus trees at home requires certain conditions. First you need to choose a method of growing a tree (from a seed or cuttings). In addition, much attention is paid to the care of the plant: the creation of the necessary temperature, humidity, light. The principles of plant care differ according to seasonality.

How to grow at home?

At home, a citrus plant can be grown in two ways: from a seed or a cutting. Each of the methods has its positive and negative sides.

From the bone

Citrus plants grown from seed are more resistant to environmental influences, strong. There is only one explanation - from a very early age they get used to the surrounding conditions. But they have a problem with flowering. Trees from seed bloom at the 8-12th year of life, and the fruits do not always please with taste. For earlier flowering, the plant must be grafted. For a rootstock, you need a cutting of an adult tree.

To get a tree in this way, you need:

  1. Choose planting material: the fruit must be ripe, without damage, of high quality.
  2. Wash the bone from the pulp, soak for a day in water.
  3. Place in prepared soil to a depth of 2 cm.
  4. For planting, use a mixture for citrus fruits.
  5. Young plants do not tolerate transplanting well; they use the transshipment method. It is recommended to use a container of about 2 liters with good drainage.
  6. Cover the soil with a film, place the container in heat and darkness.

Germination time ranges from 2 weeks to 2 months. From one seed there can be several sprouts. You need to leave the strongest, cut the rest to the level of the soil.

cuttings

Cuttings taken from a fruit-bearing tree take root well.

For this you need:

  1. Prepare a container with sand (coarse-grained). Rinse thoroughly to remove impurities. Can be used with a portion of light leaf humus. Put a layer of expanded clay on the bottom of the container for drainage.
  2. To create greenhouse conditions, cut a transparent plastic bottle.
  3. Cuttings cut from 1-2-year-old branches, up to 12 cm long, should have up to 5 leaves.
  4. The lower cut is made under the kidney, the upper one - at a distance of 0.5 cm from the last kidney.
  5. Keep the prepared cuttings in the growth stimulator of the root system.
  6. Powder the cut of the cutting with charcoal to prevent the process of decay.
  7. Place in prepared sand. Spray sand and cuttings with a spray bottle. Irrigation is carried out twice a day.
  8. The optimum temperature is 20-25 ° C. Cover the stalk with a cut plastic bottle.

After 2-3 weeks, white roots will appear on the lower cut. They are quite fragile, so it is necessary to transplant only after 1.5 months. Before transplanting, the plant is gradually accustomed to the environment by opening a plastic bottle. Gradually increase the time spent without a bottle.

How to care for citrus

In order for the plant to fully develop, bloom and bear fruit, much attention is paid not only to proper planting, but also to the conditions for keeping the tree. Citrus fruits are quite whimsical plants.

How to water plants properly?

During the period of activity (from spring to autumn), citrus trees need abundant watering. The amount of liquid is calculated by the following proportion: 1/10 of the volume of the earth mass.

Soft water is used for irrigation. Lime fluid causes leaf chlorosis. It is recommended to use melt or rain water. You can soften the irrigation liquid with vinegar, lemon juice, peat. When frozen, it also becomes soft.

Watering is done slowly, on the entire surface of the soil, so the root system develops evenly, which is important for large plants. The next watering is carried out when the soil is dry to a thickness of up to 5 cm. The tree is watered every 7 days.

Top dressing of citrus fruits: fertilizer application scheme

Citrus trees need a lot of valuable elements. Citrus fruits quickly absorb the necessary substances, the earth is quickly depleted, respectively, nutrition should be carried out regularly. Full fertilization occurs during the growing season (early spring). Feed until autumn.

Fertilization scheme

The older the plant and the longer it stays in the same pot, the more it needs to be fed.

At the beginning of summer, feeding the tree is necessary to ensure the sugar content of the fruits, reduce their bitterness, which is characteristic of indoor citrus fruits.

Feeding procedure:

  1. It is brought in with water.
  2. Only healthy plants are fertilized. If the tree is sick, nutrition will only weaken low immunity.
  3. During the wintering period, food is produced no more than once.
  4. In the spring, when transplanting into a new pot, top dressing is done only after 1.5 months. Mineral fertilizers are used for a flowering plant.
  5. If the tree does not bloom, it is necessary to add organic matter three times at intervals of 2 weeks. It is recommended to use horse manure, humus, biohumus.
  6. Regularly from spring to autumn is used: nitrogen and potassium - once every 10 days; superphosphate and slurry - once every 4 days.

What fertilizers do citrus trees need

For citrus indoor plants in the summer, a special set of fertilizers is needed. Nutrition is carried out by alternating organic and mineral products. Some fertilizers can be prepared with your own hands from coffee grounds, tea leaves or sugar. If the house has an aquarium, the water from it is the best way to water it, since it contains vermicompost.

Important! Do not use organic and mineral fertilizers together. This can burn the roots.

organic

The best organic remedy is horse manure infusion. Proportion: 100 g per liter of liquid. Infused for about 2 weeks. Instead of horse, you can use cow manure or chicken droppings (40 g per 1 liter).

mineral

Urea contains a large amount of nitrogen. It dissolves at the rate of 1.5 g per liter of liquid. Nitrogen top dressings are excluded for the period of flowering, the formation of ovaries, otherwise they will fall off. Phosphorus and potash fertilizers are needed at this time. Fertilizing with nitrogenous compounds is resumed when the size of the fruit reaches a diameter of 15 mm.

Magnesium is necessary for the plant, since its deficiency causes chlorosis: the loss of color of the leaf plate, and sometimes necrosis: the death of its individual sections.

Trimming and shaping

When a seed has sprouted or a cutting has taken root, a sprout is formed. It is recognized as a zero order branch. Until the sprout has hardened, you need to pinch the crown of it. The height should be about 30 cm. Growth stops, the sprout ripens.

After ripening, it must be cut to 20 cm. There must be at least 4 leaves on the sprout. Other shoots will grow from them. It is ideal for the crown if 3 shoots have gone into growth, in extreme cases, 2. They will become first-order sprouts.

If the shoots do not grow, but only one grows, it must be broken off. It is to remove to the ground. Then new kidneys will wake up. You will have to break it out again if they have not begun to grow. Thus, achieve the development of 3 sprouts.

Of the three branches of the top, let it grow up, send the others to the sides. Pinch the sprouts of the first order when reaching 25 cm. When the sprouts ripen, cut off 5 cm on them so that 4 leaves remain on them again.

The formation of the second and subsequent levels is carried out according to the same scheme: wait until the sprout grows, pinch it off, cut it off after ripening.

On the fifth order, the formation of the tree skeleton ends. If the tree has blossomed before the formation of the crown, the flowers must be cut off, as the formation will be long. After the formation of the fifth order, the tree is allowed to bloom.

Important! You need to break out the tops. These are shoots that grow upward much faster than fruit-bearing branches. They suck out a lot of useful substances and thicken the crown.

In an adult citrus, pruning is carried out in the spring. But tops are removed regardless of the season. It is necessary to remove broken, incorrectly growing branches (inward).

Reproduction and transplant

Propagation by cuttings and from seed was described above. An important point is the transplantation of trees. They are quite whimsical and painfully endure this process.

The soil consists of the following composition: soddy land (3 parts), humus (1 part), sand (1 part). The store has the opportunity to purchase ready-made soil for all types of citrus fruits. Transplantation is carried out in spring or autumn. Young trees - every year, adults - if necessary.

The capacity should correspond to the volume of the root system of the tree. The root collar remains above the level of the substrate. Lay drainage at the bottom of the container. Use the transshipment method so as not to injure the delicate roots. Water the tree after planting.

How to survive the winter?

During the wintering period, the optimum temperature for citrus plants is about 10 ° C. Watering the tree is negligible, you need to slightly moisten the soil. Low temperature is important for full fruiting. If the temperature is high in winter, citrus trees may not bloom. Recommended plant location: cold loggias, insulated unheated balconies.

Diseases and pests

If the care requirements are not followed, the immunity of the tree falls, the plant becomes vulnerable to diseases. These include:

  1. Root rot. Fungal infection provoked by constantly damp and heavy soil. The roots, the bark of the root necks are affected, the tree dies.
  2. Chlorosis. Photosynthesis is disturbed, the leaves become yellowish, young leaves crumble.
  3. melanosis. Fungal infection of all parts of the plant. Deep cracks are formed on the trunk, tree branches. An amber-colored gum oozes out of them. The leaves are deformed, dark green formations filled with gum are visible on them.
  4. Black (sooty fungus). All kinds of fungi settle on the remains of aphids, scale insects. A black coating appears on the twigs and foliage, which interferes with metabolism and respiration.

Reproduction and care of citrus trees is not difficult if all recommendations are followed exactly. And with proper care, the plant will delight with beautiful fragrant flowers and bright fruits.