Many lovers of exotic plants, seeing a tangerine tree at a party, dream of growing the same in their home. However, many are afraid to get involved, believing that there is not enough knowledge and skills. In our article, we want to talk about how to grow a tangerine tree.
A bit of culture…
Some citrus plants are a bit capricious and require special conditions. But this does not apply to the tangerine tree. Plant care is not difficult. The culture is unpretentious and quite hardy. If you have a desire, then you can grow citrus on the window of your apartment. Everyone can grow a plant from a seedling purchased in a store, since this is a ready-made grafted tree. But it is quite expensive. If you do not have the funds to buy, then you can grow the culture yourself. If you do not know how to do this, then our article will help you in this matter. Because we want to talk about how to grow a tangerine tree. To do this, you only need the bones extractedfrom fruits.
In just a few years, you will be proud of your pet, showing it to all guests. A slender tree with shiny leaves can conquer any person, even if he is not an amateur grower. The citrus aroma from the plant spreads throughout the apartment, making your home even more comfortable and cozy.
How does a culture reproduce?
The tangerine tree belongs to the globular rue family. Evergreen leaves change only once every four years. The plant blooms with white fragrant flowers.
Speaking of how to grow a tangerine tree, it is worth saying that the culture propagates vegetatively or by seeds. Garden centers and speci alty stores usually sell vegetatively grown trees. At home, amateur flower growers usually contain plants grown on their own from seeds. Such trees are a decorative decoration for your home. Usually plants do not bear fruit or produce very small inedible fruits.
In farms, trees are obtained by grafting. This is done in order to get delicious fruits. You will also have to be vaccinated if you want to eat tangerines. If you want to get an ornamental culture, you can grow their own bones.
How to grow a tangerine tree? First of all, you need to decide whether you have a placefor the maintenance of culture. The plant should be placed on the south window. If you have any poisonous pets, then they should be moved to another room. They should not coexist with citrus crops.
Growing tangerines from seeds
For those who do not know how to grow a tangerine tree from a stone at home, we will describe the whole process step by step:
- Soaking seeds.
- Landing in the ground.
- Proper care (watering, lighting and pest control).
- Vaccination.
Now let's take a closer look at all the steps so that there are no unnecessary questions about how to grow a tangerine tree from a stone.
Soaking seeds
If you have already encountered the procedure for sowing seeds, then you know that they must first be soaked. Finding seed material is easy at any time of the year. To do this, you can buy your favorite tangerine in the store. We extract the bones from it and get ready-made seeds. We put them in a gauze bag and soak for several days. You don't need a lot of water. Bones should not float in it. Just gauze should always be wet. To do this, it must be moistened periodically.
How to grow a tangerine tree from a stone? If you want to get just one plant, it is still better to take 10-15 seeds. It should be understood that not all of them will germinate, some sprouts will die in the future from ailments or during the vaccination process. Therefore, the moreyou will have sprouts, the more likely you are to get a tree.
If you don't want to mess around with gauze to soak the seeds, you can use a hydrogel. It can be purchased from the respective stores. Such a simple remedy is used by landscape designers or amateur flower growers to protect plants from heat.
Hydrogel is kind of like drip irrigation. But in this case, it does not need to be added to the ground. You can use it instead of gauze, as it retains moisture well.
The bones must be placed inside the gel so that they do not dry out.
Ground landing
How to grow a tangerine tree from a stone? Sprouted seeds should be transplanted into a seedling box or pot. Sometimes flower growers do not wait for the seeds to swell and immediately plant them in the ground. In this case, the sprouts will appear a little later. But this one won't get any less good.
Tangerine tree will need a special primer. Peat is not recommended. It quickly dries out and turns sour, and their nutrient content is very low. Usually peat is present in almost all substrates that are presented in stores. Therefore, the soil for the tree will have to be prepared by yourself.
For this you need to take:
- Three pieces of soddy soil.
- One piece of leaf land.
- Piece of sand.
- Part of manure (rotten).
- Some clay.
Of course, for residents of city apartments, this optioninappropriate. Therefore, we can recommend purchasing a neutral, nutritious soil "Biohumus" or "Rose". According to experienced people, such soil is suitable for growing citrus fruits. In extreme cases, you can use ordinary soil, adding ash, organic fertilizers and superphosphates to it.
Pebbles or expanded clay should be placed at the bottom of pots for planting for drainage.
Proper care
How to grow a tangerine tree from a stone at home? The plant needs to be properly cared for. After the appearance of the first sprouts, you will have to feed the plants with organic and mineral fertilizers every two weeks.
Citrus fertilizers are widely available now, they are very convenient to apply. First, the plants are watered, and then fertilized.
It is necessary to transplant a tree annually in the spring, trying not to disturb the earthen ball around the roots. And only when the plant reaches eight years old can it be transplanted once every two years.
Mandarins are very fond of the sun, because the culture is southern. Therefore, it is better to place the tree on the south window. In winter, the room temperature should not be lower than +15 degrees. The tangerine tree needs to be sprayed weekly because it needs high humidity. You can place a container of water near the plant pot.
Irrigation
How to grow a tangerine tree at home? Proper watering is the basis of care. It is necessary to moisten the plant in the summer several times a day.day. In winter, three waterings per week are enough. Moisturizing the soil is carried out as it dries. For this, water at room temperature is used.
Pests and diseases
Can a tangerine tree be grown from a seed? Of course, this is possible. But for a successful process, you will have to carry out regular feeding.
In addition, do not forget about pests and diseases that often affect young plants. Most often, tangerine trees are affected by scale insects, whiteflies and red spider mites that are invisible to people.
Therefore, it is necessary to regularly examine the plants. If you notice a thin cobweb on the sprouts, then this means that the tree must be treated with Fitoverm or Actellik. Solutions abundantly moisten the foliage. The procedure must be repeated several times a week.
How to grow a fruit tree?
How to grow a tangerine tree at home if you want to get a fruit-bearing plant. A culture grown from a stone begins to bear fruit only after 4-5 years. But at the same time, the fruits are absolutely not tasty, since the tree is "wild".
Mandarin grafting is an opportunity to speed up the fruiting process and get tasty fruits. The procedure is carried out during the period of sap flow: from April to early August. At other times, you can not count on a successful result.
In general, the success of the procedure depends on the correctness and speed of action.
Preparation for vaccination:
- We need a rootstock. It will be a plant grown by us from a seed. AtIn this case, the thickness of its stem must be at least 6 mm in diameter (for example, a pencil has such dimensions).
- You will also need a scion - a fresh eye or cutting, which is taken from a fruiting citrus plant. The branch should not be older than two years.
- Garden Var.
- Grafting knife.
- Elastic band.
On the stock stem at a height of 10 cm, an incision is made in the form of the letter T (vertical - 2-4 cm, and horizontal - 1 cm). The scion is pre-prepared. Leaves and thorns are removed from it. The kidney is carefully cut off and inserted into the incision. The vaccination site must be wrapped with tape. After the procedure, the plant must be placed under a jar or in a bag to create a microclimate.
Only in a month it will become clear whether the vaccination was successful or not. It can be carried out several times, so it is better to start in the spring. If the ringing does not work the first time, then the procedure can be repeated in August.
After a successful inoculation, a sprout should appear from the kidney. As soon as he grows up, you can remove the shelter. But first, the plant should be accustomed to fresh air, arranging ventilation. Subsequently, the winding is removed. About a month later, when the new sprout grows well, the stem of the stock is cut obliquely 3 mm above the base of the young shoot and covered with pitch. A stick is placed in the pot to teach the tree to grow vertically.
This completes the vaccination procedure. Now you know how to grow a tangerine tree at home frombones.
Flower advice
Continuing the conversation about how to grow a tangerine tree at home, it is worth giving some recommendations for choosing seeds. For planting, it is necessary to choose the seeds of hybrid crops, which are widely available on the market. Such seeds germinate faster, bloom earlier and often produce edible fruits, and are also easier to graft.
Distinguishing hybrid forms is very easy. In real tangerines there are no seeds, and if there are, then in a small amount. Proper seeds should not be thin or withered. Blackened bones are no good either.
Experienced flower growers note that in each case it takes a different time for the seed to germinate. In some cases, 15 days is enough, and in others, even a month is not enough. Sometimes seeds don't germinate at all. A prerequisite is the use of a greenhouse. With its help, it is possible to create the desired microclimate.
Crown formation
Mandarin - this is the plant that will need the formation of the crown. The first pinching should be carried out at a seedling height of 30-40 cm. This technique will force the seedling to start up lateral branches of the first order. But this is not enough for flowering. Citrus fruits bear fruit only on branches of the fourth and fifth order. Therefore, pinching is continued in the future, removing the tips of the shoots after the fifth leaf. It is also necessary to remove weak branches and those that grow inward. It takes up to five years to form a crown.
If you want to branchshoots of the first order, you can use another method. Branches can be rejected using a commit. The method is more laborious, but very interesting. One end of the wire is fixed on the branch, and the other is fixed with a hairpin at the very edge of the pot. This is done in such a way that the shoot deviates to a parallel position relative to the ground.
Instead of afterword
As you can see, growing a tree from seeds is not so difficult. But the result is a cute houseplant that does not require special care, but at the same time pleases with aroma and beauty.
