growing citrus trees

[Sakeena]

hi, kept 2 seeds from a tangerine i ate yesterday. i've peeled off the slippy protective skin to reveal the light brown seed. gave them a rinse and wrapped them with a piece of tissue.

if i were to plant them in pots how long would i have to wait for it to fruit? is it worth me planting the seedlings or should i buy the plant from a shop?

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the picture below it from http://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/fruit/bush/mediterranean/orange/citrus-tuscan-tangerine/classid.2000007124/ - it's such a gorgeous plant

When it comes to flavor, nutrition, and convenience, it doesn’t get better than tangerines. A hybrid of the mandarin family, the tangerine is compact and easy to peel, making it a handy, healthy snack and a great addition to your sack lunches.

[globalart4u]

it will take several years. if you want it in the post then why not do it bonsai but again it will take a few years to get fruit.

i tend to plant seeds in the plant pots in the house and the family gets mad cos they keep finding strange trees growing. my sister brought dates back from medina the one's from the prophets date trees and i threw one into a pot and several months later it sprouted. it hasn't really done a lot since then but it is still alive:D my aunty gave away a few plum and citron trees recently as they had outgrown the flower pots i had put them amongst:D

[Sakeena]

lol, i do that :D - my family think i'm mad and apparently the house is dotted with greenery of some sort or another

i do intend to grow it in a pot because got no room in garden so bonsai it is. i've gather it'll take years but apparently from seed if may not fruit at all? i guess plus side it's an ever green plant.

[Riz]

just germinate the seeds anyway sakeena... see how they do

You also need to be aware that citrus plants grown from seed may not yield the same varieties as the original plant although I find that waiting to see what you'll get makes it all the more interesting. Most commercial varieties are grown from cuttings and are often grafted as well to ensure the right variety.
As it may take six or seven years, even longer, for citrus grown from seed to bloom indoors, one way to shorten the waiting period is to buy a plant from a reputable garden centre Or take cuttings from a plant that you know has flowered and fruited in the past.
But let's say you want to grow your own plants from seed.

Where do you start?

First, you need a good soil mix of half peat moss and half perlite or sand, and a small pot or , if you want to start several seeds to increase your chance of success. Container size isn't that important as you will need to replant in small pots once your seeds sprout and start to grow.
Use only fresh seeds, and plant at a depth two times the largest dimension of the seed. If you are planting more than one variety, label containers so you don't get them mixed up. Water thoroughly, then cover loosely with clear plastic wrap.


Place in a room with 70 degree F temperatures until the seeds germinate (in about three to six weeks). Then remove the plastic, and move the container into bright light. Avoid direct sun as this could burn the tender young plants.
Once the seedlings have several sets of leaves, transplant into individual four- to six-inch pots filled with a sterile potting soil. Fertilize with a dilute potassium fertilizer, according to manufacturer's instructions, repeating the application every two to four weeks. Don't overwater, but do keep the soil slightly moist. Your plants will need about four hours of direct sunlight daily and temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees F. A window with a south or west exposure is best.
As your plants grow bigger, they will require pruning in early spring to prevent leggy branches and encourage new growth. Repotting in the next larger size pot every spring will help promote fruiting. During the winter months water sparingly, stop fertilizing, and keep the plant in a warm, draft-free place. You also need to check for insects. Plants grown indoors are particularly susceptible to mealybugs and spider mites.
Ripe fruit may be too tart to eat raw, but it can be made into delicious jams, jellies, or fruit drinks. But even if your plants never produce fruit, don't despair. Your efforts were not in vain. Citrus plants with their glossy leaves and fragrant flowers are sure to brighten up any room in the house.


source
http://www.backyardgardener.com/masterg/g-73.htm#

[Sakeena]

ok this maybe a silly question but what exactly do you do with a cutting? i've only ever bought a plant or grown it from seed (and i'm kinda new to all this :o)

do i just plant it straight up, i tried that once and it died. someone once told to to put it in water until it grows roots and then plant it...?

[Riz]

ok this maybe a silly question but what exactly do you do with a cutting? i've only ever bought a plant or grown it from seed (and i'm kinda new to all this :o)

do i just plant it straight up, i tried that once and it died. someone once told to to put it in water until it grows roots and then plant it...?

not at all..

the cutting is the exact DNA duplicate of the "mother plant". also known as " a clone"

and cuttings don't have root systems to begin with so watering the cutting doesn't do much, you have to foliar feed the cutting for the first 7 to 10 days or longer depending on what type of cutting( the leaves will absorb the water and feed itself because the root system isnt developd yet. I use a water spray bottle, mist the cutting twice a day ( misting the leaves )and insert the cutting along with the pot in a clear plastic bag (mini greenhouse) and put on the windowsill . not all of them will be successful, so you might have to start a few this way to have a better chance of some of them rooting.
After 7 to 10 days you will inshallah see growth on the cutting and then you can water the plant normally
you can also dip the cutting into some " plant hormone powder" You can buy this from B&Q it comes in liquid or powder form and a heated propagator helps but i have never used it.

you can take cuttings of many things including the chili plant you have growing sakeena. I will be shortly writing up a tutorial on how to take cuttings successfully. so please look out for it

Riz-

[Sakeena]

to be honest i've only understood part of what your reply.

by foliar feeding you mean spraying the leaves with fertilizer?

what do you mean by "insert the cutting along with the pot in a clear plastic bag" do you plant the cutting in soil? or you just place it in a pot without soil?

[Sakeena]

I've finally got around to planting the seed, however in multi-purpose compost. I've wrapped the top loosely and placed it under the radiator. i have no idea if it'll germinate but here's hoping.

[Riz]

^ hey good luck with the germination, keep us informed :)



to be honest i've only understood part of what your reply.

by foliar feeding you mean spraying the leaves with fertilizer?

no just with plain water. you can use a weak soloution of nutrients mixed with the water, but if you dont have it, its cool

what do you mean by "insert the cutting along with the pot in a clear plastic bag" do you plant the cutting in soil? or you just place it in a pot without soil?sorry my fault..
yes. i meant planting the cutting in soil. i will be doing a tutorial on cuttings and clones later on

here is a pic of my little chili cutting, in a sandwich baggie..

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/minigreenhouse.jpg

[Sakeena]

alas it has not germinated (i even dug it up to see if it's made any progress and it has not) :(

not given up will try again inshallah around spring, hopefully will have a better success rate

[Sakeena]

i've attempted to germinate 5 seeds in total and had no success. i may just buy the plant :o inshallah

[Riz]

i think one of the tangarine seeds i threw in a pot outside has germinated, It was a nice suprise i wondered what it was then i saw the husk of the seed still attatched to it... ill post a pic later

:)

[~Obsidian~]

Any pictures? ^

[Riz]

here is the little seedling, it has not grown much since mid may :D

[Sakeena]

congrats riz!! look almost like a green flower :)

[Riz]

The little seedling has been outdoors since june and now its way too cold for it too stay outdoors,

i repotted it in a smaller pot and now its under a indoor light...:042:

[Riz]

another pic of the seedling under a small light indoors.

[~Obsidian~]

What are the stats on your seedling Riz? How old is it and how big is it? I'm wanting to grow one of these now (somebody stop me!! (the mask lol))

[Riz]

its under a light and growing really well indoors.. ill show you a pic later on tonight inshallah

[edibles]

how bout a update riz i wanted to grow 1 of these but i dont hav any patience

[Riz]

ok later on tonight edibles :)

[Kirsten]

how bout a update riz i wanted to grow 1 of these but i dont hav any patience

In my experience, lemons have been the fastest sprouting things I've planted, so you may not have too long to wait!

[~Obsidian~]

In my experience, lemons have been the fastest sprouting things I've planted, so you may not have too long to wait!

Does that have anything to do with your climate by any chance?

[Kirsten]

Actually... that's probably a good point, since it gets pretty hot here in the summers. I never thought of that, oops :( What's the temp in London these days?

[~Obsidian~]

Cold :( lol I haven't really checked, somewhere around 10 degrees or less?

Still no picture :(

[Riz]

quick update..

not much happening with it.. i have put this under a light for 7 hours per day on a timer..

[edibles]

nice
although for some reason it looks quite pale

[Riz]

an update:

it has its 3rd set of leaves.. the roots are poking though from the bottom of the pot as well...

[~Obsidian~]

Tangerine plant? Looks nice, but a little brown for some reason :confused:

[Kirsten]

Mine did that as well. I don't know why... it kind of stagnated for almost half a year before it started sending up new growth.

[Riz]

Tangerine plant? Looks nice, but a little brown for some reason :confused:

dunno really, Tangerine, satsuma,clementine,mandarin !!!? :tree-huggin:

yeah it was worse before it seems to be enjoying the tube light and is getting healthier, i think the burn marks on the tips of the leaves is due to over watering or lack of potassium, i was waiting for it to grow a little more before i added some nutrients with the water, i read that you can start giving them nutes after the first set of leaves...

[tahir_phoenix]

Can anyone explain why my citrus plant has started to flower so much in the last 2 weeks???

I pruned it about a month ago and since then it has gone mad with millions of flowers :eek:

Will it be ok?

[~Obsidian~]

Tahir that looks awesome, how can the excessive flowering be a bad thing?! :D Has it ever flowered like that before? Maybe it's just got ideal growing conditions this year :D

[tahir_phoenix]

it flowered last year and then the flowers turned to fruit (which u can see on it) but it wasn't as much as this year!

Plus the flowers this year are just falling off with no new fruit :(

[Nife180]

Hi, Maybe it needs manual pollination..Just Maybe :p How old is the tree? Is it from cutting or seed?

[Riz]

it flowered last year and then the flowers turned to fruit (which u can see on it) but it wasn't as much as this year!

Plus the flowers this year are just falling off with no new fruit :(


it will flower again though in the summer... not sure if its a photo-period plant, but sometimes if it doesn't get enough light or darkness they prematurely start to flower ?

[tahir_phoenix]

Being one of my favourite plants it gets a prime spot on the sunniest and warmest windowsill so I don't think heat or light are a problem.

The plant is about 3-4 years old I would say, I bought it 2 years ago as a small plant and this time of year it starts to throw out new leaves, but so far all I've had is flowers - just a mystery whats happening with it :confused:

[pwr_wrx]

I planted some orange seeds several years ago and 2 sprouted and it grew to a few inches but never grew after that...it stayed that big for over another year and then i jus got bored with it and dont remember what i did with it....but now im trying to get some seeds to do it over and i jus cant seem to find any oranges or lemon/lime with seeds at any markets...everytime i buy them they have NO seeds :down:

[Riz]

they dont grow "true" from seeds you're better of buying a cutting of the fruit, you wont get many seed sellers stocking fruit seeds.
Even though there are some types of fruit trees that will consistently produce similar offspring though, such as oranges, most fruit trees grown from seed would take over a decade to mature to the point where they can produce fruit. Oranges can take up to 15 years to become fruit-bearing trees. Who wants to wait that long? Even nurseries don’t wait that long. When you take a cutting from a mature tree and graft it onto rootstock, it is ready to bear fruit in a few years, not 15! Trees at the nursery are usually a year or two old. You’ll probably begin seeing fruit on it within a season or two after planting.

[pwr_wrx]

15 years???? woah..thats a pretty long time...but buying it takes the fun out of growing it from seed..i jus like growing them...if they fruit then all the better :)
maybe when spring comes around ill see some for sale at the stores but until then ill try to grow some :)

I finally got my hands on some seeds...put them in a wet paper towel/bag..half in the fridge and half at room temperature..i want to see which ones germinate faster...takes around 3-4 weeks i guess

[pwr_wrx]

I got a couple of seeds to germinate...the ones that were at room temperature germinated faster and the ones in the fridge barely started to look like they are germinating..:tree-huggin:

[pwr_wrx]

I got sooo many to germinate :) heres some pics

theres lots more than in the pics..

[zishaan]

A few of my oranges have sprouted, but there's more than one stem coming from each of the plants. I've heard this is quite common with oranges, but was wondering whether it's a problem.

[~Obsidian~]

Why would it be a problem? I don't think so, and if you're worried how's about you chop a couple and see which ones thrive and which ones dive. (I'd leave them all IMO).

Nice one pwr_wrx masha'Allah!

[pwr_wrx]

All the seeds I germinated never made it past the hot summer..but i did get one from the nursery..heres some pics