Indoor tangerine at home: care, propagation, varieties. Caring for tangerines at home Soil requirements and necessary fertilizers

Citrus fruits are usually propagated by grafting, cuttings, layering and seeds. At home, the most common method of propagating citrus fruits is cuttings - this is the most quick way get fruit-bearing trees within 3-4 years. Cuttings can bloom earlier, but in order for the fruit to ripen and the plant not to die, it must grow quite a lot of leaf mass. In order to obtain varieties of lemons that are fully adapted to indoor cultivation, you need to breed them from seeds sown indoors and grow them at home.

Seeds sown in room conditions, sprout in 30-40 days. Lemon seedlings do not tolerate picking well when they are very young: they develop a relatively long tap root, which is not recommended to be pinched when picking. The taproot should be pruned when the seedlings have 4-5 leaves. If it is not pruned, it will not branch, will grow in length and curl into rings at the bottom of the pot.

If the seeds are sown in boxes, then the taproot is cut without removing the plant, and 10-15 days after this the plant is carefully transplanted into a permanent container. If the seeds are sown one at a time in a pot, then the seedlings are not replanted, but the tap root must be trimmed. The taproots are cut with a sharp and long knife at a depth of 8-10 cm. To do this, insert the knife into the ground at a distance of 8-10 cm from the seedling at an angle to the ground of 40-45°C. The knife should be inserted slightly away from the direction of the seedling, then the axial root should be trimmed in a circular motion. If there is no certainty that the root has been cut, then the operation is repeated, inserting the knife at the same angle, but 2-3 cm closer to the plant.

Plants bred from seeds bear fruit no earlier than 8-12 years or even later and initially produce a small amount of fruit. But for breeding purposes, growing them from seeds indoors is necessary.

To speed up fruiting, you can graft a number of seedlings. As a scion, you need to take shoots from fruiting lemons; grafted lemons bear fruit in the 2-3rd year. In terms of adaptability to home conditions, these lemon trees are superior to lemon trees brought from the south and grown in greenhouse conditions.

Lemon seedlings grown from seeds are completely new plant forms. The quality of their fruits depends on heredity (the origin of the seeds) and the conditions under which they are kept. If the seedlings grow wildly, the fruiting period is postponed. In this case, pruning is used, but does not worsen the living conditions.
Seedlings that produce strong flowering and good fruit may be a promising new variety, well adapted to indoor use. Non-bearing seedlings should be used as rootstock for grafting.

Propagation by cuttings

At home, lemons are propagated mainly by cuttings.

From a normally developed lemon you can cut the following number of cuttings: at the age of 4-5 years - 5 pieces, at the age of 6-7 years - up to 20 pieces, at the age of 8 years and above - up to 30 pieces.

When preparing cuttings, the top 1-2 leaves are left; if the leaves are too large, they are cut to 1/3 the size. The remaining leaves are completely removed; The lower end of the cutting is cut 1/4 cm below the bud, and the upper end 1 cm above the bud.

Rules for growing a tangerine tree

The lower cut is made almost perpendicular to the axis of the cutting, the upper cut is made at an angle. To protect the lower cut of the cutting from rotting, sprinkle the cut area with charcoal.

Cuttings are taken from a healthy and fruit-bearing plant. The stalk should have 2-3 developed buds and about 10 cm long. It is cut from those branches whose wood has not yet become coarse and can be easily bent. Cuttings of very young shoots are somewhat flattened on both sides and take less root.

The time for cutting lemon and orange is determined by the availability of suitable cuttings and certain temperature conditions. Cuttings can be carried out throughout the year, but best results obtained from April cuttings. For spring cuttings, the cuttings are taken from a branch of autumn growth, and for summer cuttings, from a branch of spring growth.

Cuttings are rooted in pots, indoor greenhouses, greenhouses.

However, rooting can be carried out in plain water. The glass with cuttings is kept in a well-lit place.

If the cut cuttings cannot be planted immediately, then until planting they are kept in water or in a slightly dampened cloth.

Rooting takes place under normal conditions within 2-3 weeks. Take a pot with a diameter of 7-9 cm so that 4-5 cuttings can be planted in it. On top of the drainage layer, a small layer (about 1 cm) of moss is placed in the pot, onto which it is poured in equal proportions garden soil and river sand.

You can pour a layer of river sand on top of the soil into the pot. The soil in the pot is lightly moistened with water. Before planting, the lower end of the cuttings is immersed in a solution of heteroauxin or another growth stimulant (for 8-12 hours). After this, the cutting is planted in a hole 1.5-2 cm deep, specially made with a peg, usually obliquely. The soil in the pot is compacted and watered. To provide cuttings higher humidity they are covered with a bag or glass.

The temperature of the water used for irrigation should be 2-3° above room temperature. Place the pot with the cuttings in a warm place, at a temperature of 20-25°, on a diffused sunlight.
For better rooting of cuttings, the pots are heated. A sign of rooting is the appearance of new leaves and roots. After rooting, young plants are accustomed to room air, for which the shelter is raised first for 2-3 hours, then for 3-4 hours, etc. After 2-3 weeks, the shelter can be completely removed.
If the cutting was planted in sand, then after rooting it is transplanted carefully so as not to damage the young roots.

A rooted cutting of a lemon or orange grows quickly. After rooting, the cuttings are planted in pots with a diameter of 10-12 cm at the same depth as when rooting. The soil mixture is made up of 2 parts of turf soil, 1 part of leaf soil, 1 part of completely decomposed greenhouse manure and 0.5 parts of clean river sand.

When transplanting lemon or orange cuttings, it is very important not to pinch the root tips, as they contain mycorrhiza. This special kind coexistence of soil microorganisms and plants; it is also called fungal root. Thin threads of fungi grow inside and outside the root; through the hyphae of the fungus, the plant receives water and soil nutrients. Therefore, if the roots have grown greatly, they are simply rolled up in a ring at the bottom of the pot.

During the first year, transshipment is carried out three times - in the spring, in early July and in the second half of August, if possible without destroying the earthen coma.

Reproduction by grafting

The rootstock is plants obtained from seeds, the scion is cultivated varieties of lemon, which are grafted for fruiting. lemon trees a certain variety. You should avoid using wild three-leaf lemon (trifoliate) as a rootstock, since a lemon grafted onto trifoliate in indoor conditions sheds its leaves in the winter; trifoliate is only suitable for the rootstock of plants that will overwinter in the cold.

For indoor culture, an evergreen rootstock adapted to indoor conditions is taken. It could be a lemon, orange or grapefruit, grown from a seed, from an eaten fruit. Any citrus fruit is suitable, except, perhaps, tangerine. Mandarin is considered the worst rootstock; the scion almost never takes root on it. Let's just say that one vaccination out of 20-30 is successful on a tangerine (that is, very rarely). In addition, the tangerine rootstock is too weak, suitable only for citrofortunella. The rootstock is grown to a size where the stem reaches a minimum of 7 mm in diameter. Sometimes plants reach this size at the age of 1.5 years, sometimes about 2-2.5.

Scions can be bought in specialized nurseries, which are probably only available in large cities, or you can take cuttings from one of your friends or acquaintances from a fruit-bearing tree.

It may be easier to buy a tree that is already bearing fruit, but it is always interesting to tinker with grafting and watch how the branches grow together different trees or bushes. There are important points in propagation by grafting:

Vaccinate only in the spring, preferably before May, when there is intensive growth and sap flow
graft only with clean tools, using only healthy scion cuttings
do not saw the cut area, but cut it in one smooth motion
the scion and rootstock need to connect the cambial layers as accurately as possible, so the cut diameters are approximately the same (+/- 1 mm)
Press as tightly as possible, wrap the joint with soft electrical tape, or for example, plumbing tape
the scion must be in conditions high humidity(wrap a bag or film under the grafting site, wrap damp cotton wool or sphagnum moss around the trunk, secure the bag so that the scion is inside.

Reproduction by layering

Reproduction by layering consists of choosing the most developed one-year-old branch on a plant with good fruiting, 20-25 cm long and 0.4-0.6 cm thick. Stepping 10-12 cm from the lower edge of this branch, make two ring-shaped ones with a sharp knife cuts at a distance of 0.8-1.2 cm from each other. The cut bark is removed in a ring. All leaves 5 cm above and below this place are cut off.

The pot is light and plastic diameter Cut 8-10 cm in half so that the cut passes through the hole in its bottom. The sawn pot is tied to a branch and to a special stand so that the place where the bark is cut is in the center of the pot. After this, the halves of the pot are tied and filled with well-washed coarse sand, or calcined river sand, or well-steamed moss. Sand or moss should be kept damp at all times. Watering is carried out with warm water. By the way, instead of a pot, you can use a transparent plastic cup or just cling film.

After 3-4 weeks, the branch will grow its own roots, but, lacking a nutrient medium, they may die. Therefore, they are given fertilizer.

1.5 - 2.5 months after the start of layering, you can cut off the branch and plant it together with the lump in a pot with a diameter of 12-15 cm. The cut is sprinkled with coal dust. When planting, the root collar should not be immersed in the ground more than 1-1.5 cm. After planting, the pot with layering is placed in a shaded place for 10-15 days and sprayed daily.

Citrus fruit care

Have you ever seen a tangerine grown at home? In fact, it is possible to get small, juicy, sweet fruits from this tree, the main thing is a little patience, attention and effort. How to grow a tangerine from a seed at home with fruits? The answer to this question will be discussed in detail in this article.

Growing tangerines from seeds at home with fruits

How to grow tangerine - features of an exotic plant

As many people know, tangerine is exotic plant, has a wonderful smell, different easy care rapid growth. In the spring, with the beginning of life, the tangerine tree begins to actively bloom, filling the house with beautiful, graceful white flowers. Of course, get small tree not that easy as it requires constant effort. But after a few years you will be full of pride and joy for the resulting plant.

Important! Reproduction of the tangerine tree is possible in two ways: vegetatively and with the help of seeds. The first option allows you to get a fruitful tree, and the second - ornamental plant, which will only decorate your interior with green, bright leaves.

Therefore, if you decide to grow a plant for fruit production, then you need to learn in more detail about the grafting method. For those who just wanted to get a good one, beautiful flower It is enough to use seeds. The tangerine tree has some growing requirements - it will not grow on north side, it does not tolerate proximity to poisonous plants and does not need constant watering.

Tangerine from seeds with fruits - growing rules

So, first you need to prepare the seeds of the tangerine tree. They are sold in all specialty stores, but you can prepare them yourself. When buying a tangerine at the market or store, try to choose the ripest, juiciest and healthiest fruit. After removing all the pulp from the seeds, rinse thoroughly planting material, spread it on a dry towel and leave to dry for about two days.

After this, the seeds need to be soaked to speed up the hatching process. To do this, the seeds are placed in a small bowl and lightly filled with warm water.

Homemade tangerine from a seed in a pot - growing features

The seeds are covered with cotton cloth on top. Do you want to have not one, but two tangerine trees? Then still try to use as many seeds as possible, since not all of them will germinate in the end.

As soon as you see that the seeds have sprouted, it’s time to transplant them into open ground. Before planting, it is important to soak the chaffs in a weak solution of magrantsovka for disinfection. Now you should cook nutrient soil, which plays a major role in obtaining a good, beautiful plant. Mandarin does not react well to peat, since this product contributes to soil acidification. There is peat in almost everything ready-made mixtures, which are sold in specialized stores, so get suitable soil you can only do it yourself: turf soil, leaf soil, humus and a little sand. At the bottom of the container you need to place a small drainage system in the form of expanded clay or coarse crushed stone.

Caring for tangerines at home

Once you plant the seeds outdoors, they will need good care. The plant should not be placed in a very dark place, filled with water or created drafts. In addition, it is important to comply with the following requirements regarding:

Fertilizer. Feeding is a prerequisite for the full, normal growth of a tangerine tree. Both mineral and organic fertilizers are suitable for this. You should be extremely careful with the latter, since they are often the cause of pests and dangerous insects.
Transplants. When should you replant a tangerine tree? It is recommended to do this every year, choosing a pot that matches the root system. Once the tangerine reaches 10 years of age, the plant can be replanted every two or three years.
Location. Since the plant's homeland is considered southern countries, then it is important to create the most suitable conditions at home.
The tangerine tree does not like shade, so it is worth placing it on south side. Direct sunlight can damage the leaves, causing the plant to die or become sick. Better solution– create a soft, diffused light that will have a beneficial effect on the condition of the tangerine.
Temperature. In summer, tangerine can withstand large temperature fluctuations, but in winter, the air temperature should not be allowed to drop below +14 degrees.
Humidity. Mandarin loves regular, abundant watering and does not tolerate drought. The leaves of the plant immediately suffer from a lack of moisture, becoming frail and sick. You can also periodically spray the tree and wipe it with a damp cloth.

So, now you know how to grow a tangerine from a seed at home with fruits. We hope that our tips will help you achieve your goal and enjoy a beautiful, exclusive plant.

Force citrus bearing fruit on your home windowsill is a difficult, but very exciting task. This will require patience, curiosity and, most importantly, love!

At home, you can grow not only lemon, but also orange, tangerine, lime, and grapefruit. Lemon is the most capricious in this family of citrus fruits, but you can’t help your heart, it’s its fragrant fruits that most housewives dream of seeing on their windowsill.

Landing method

The first thing you need to do is get a plant. There are two ways to do this. The first is the easiest one to buy at a garden store: a teenage lemon with shiny waxy leaves. Most likely, it will be grown somewhere in Holland on a nutritious substrate, will cost you a lot and will lose its luster as soon as the effect of the stimulants wears off. Adaptation of such a plant, grown on fast food, to ordinary garden soil could end tragically. The second way is more reliable and cheaper to grow a lemon from a seed. To do this you will need:

several large seeds from freshly eaten lemon;
a pot with a diameter of up to 5 cm and a height of 5-7 cm, always with a drainage hole and a tray;
expanded clay for drainage and special soil for citrus fruits (the easiest way is to buy it in a store).

Fill the pot 1/5 with expanded clay, the rest with soil, leaving 1.5 cm short of the top. Water the soil thoroughly so that the water becomes dry. pour onto the tray. Place a seed in the center of the pot on the surface and cover it with soil to the top of the pot. Place it on the brightest windowsill. Now the main thing is to regularly water the future plant and maintain the air temperature above 15°. If the conditions are met, a sprout will appear in 3-4 weeks.

How to care for a plant

When the sprout has already appeared on the surface, you should begin to properly care for the plant. Care includes several points.

Watering. All citrus plants love moisture. How do you know when it’s time to water?
Touch the soil in the pot; it should be slightly moist. Use water for irrigation slightly warmer than room temperature. Citrus fruits are big clean people, they love showers, but only with very soft water, otherwise it will appear on the leaves. white coating from calcium. In winter, when the air is dry, you need to spray the lemon daily. The plant will be grateful if you regularly wipe it with a cotton swab. top part its leaves.

Loosening. In winter, the air in the room is very dry, and the batteries fry the pot from below. Because of this, the top layer of soil in the pot dries out and a crust forms. In such conditions, it is difficult for citrus fruits to “breathe”, because they are plants of a subtropical climate with high air humidity. Therefore, the soil must be loosened regularly, but not deeper than 1 cm, so as not to damage the roots. Use an unnecessary fork for this.
Feeding. Fertilize plants every other week from spring to fall. Don’t stop feeding even in winter, but do it less than once a month. Use liquid mineral fertilizers designed specifically for citrus fruits. These plants also love organic matter (settled manure). However, no housewife will want to tolerate bad smell, so a solution of vermicompost is suitable as a replacement.
Then fertilizing can be alternated: mineral fertilizers water vermicompost water.
Trimming. For the first year or two, citrus seedlings are not pruned. Regular trimming will then be required in the spring. On each new branch, three buds with leaves are left, weak branches are removed. In this way, a beautiful crown is gradually formed.
Light. Ideal option keep lemon on south, southeast and southwest windows. It’s good if you have an insulated balcony or loggia, they will be useful for summer walking of plants. Choose a place for the pot right away so that you don’t have to move it from one window to another or twist it in all directions; the lemon doesn’t like that. As a sign of protest, it may even drop leaves or slow down growth.

A lemon grown from a seed will grow to 40-50 cm in two years. From such a respectable tree it is fair to demand at least a little gratitude for patient care in the form of two or three lemons for tea. But what if there are still no long-awaited fruits?

Don’t blame yourself and don’t scold the plant, this is the nature of this crop: a lemon grown from a seed will begin to bear fruit only after 15-25 years. The fastest citrus fruit is grapefruit (fruiting in 3-5 years), orange and tangerine in 10-15 years. However, there is a proven way to speed up the fruiting process.

A lemon from a seed will bear fruit for 2-4 years if it is grafted. To do this, you need to find a branch from a fruiting lemon with several buds. It should be fresh, healthy, without visible damage. There are two ways to graft wild plants: by bud or by cuttings. The grafting technique is no different from that used in gardening.

Keep in mind that a citrus fruit grown from a seed is a real Spartan compared to a grafted one. The latter is more capricious regarding watering, lighting, pruning

Useful tips, educational articles for summer residents and gardeners. Planting, care, harvesting. Of course, there is a lot of information about flowers, berries, and mushrooms. On the pages of the website "Useful Trava.ru"

Mandarin is an evergreen compact tree with a spreading crown of the Rutaceae family, belonging to the genus of citrus trees and shrubs. It grows wild in tropical and subtropical areas.

IN open ground tangerine tree grows up to 3-8 m in height, in indoor conditions - up to 1-1.5 m. The yield of each plant on average reaches 100-150 kg per year.

The branches of the tree are slightly drooping, smooth, dark green, becoming lighter with age. The leaves are elliptical or ovoid in shape, slightly narrowed or blunt at the end. Their surface is leathery, glossy, dark green, with a protruding network of veins. The leaves are attached to the branches using long, slightly winged cuttings.

In spring (most often in May), the tree is covered with fragrant white flowers, which are located in the axils of the leaves singly or in groups (up to 5 pieces). Mandarin flowers are bisexual, small in size, consisting of delicate matte petals.

Fruits are formed without pollination. They have a round or pear-shaped, slightly flattened, reach 8 cm in diameter. Covered with an orange peel, which is easily separated from the pulp. The pulp is juicy (contains about 89.7% liquid), fleshy, sweet or sweet and sour in taste, orange, divided into segments and covered with white veins. As a rule, there are no seeds.

Mandarin peel is a rich source of essential oils and has a strong, pleasant aroma, which is why it is widely used in the perfume industry, aromatherapy and cooking. The pulp of the fruit contains vitamins C, P, B1, D and K, as well as provitamin A. In addition, it contains about 10% sugars, mineral salts, organic acids and glycosides. A unique feature of the fruits of the tangerine tree is that they never contain nitrates. This amazing fact is explained by the “quarrelsomeness” of these harmful substances With citric acid, which the pulp of these fruits is saturated with.

Tangerine trees suitable for growing in a winter garden can be divided into two groups: tangerines themselves and hybrids. They differ in appearance and taste characteristics of the fruit. For example, the fruits of tangerines themselves have a yellow or light orange color and a sour taste. Of the hybrids, the most noteworthy are unshiu tangerines and tangerines with sweet fruits covered with a thin, smooth skin of a dark orange or reddish color.

This plant thrives indoors. Mandarin is the fastest ripening representative of citrus trees, it is quite unpretentious and gives good harvest. The tree must be placed in a cool and well-lit room. The tangerine should not be exposed to direct sunlight, as this disrupts normal metabolism. IN warm time year, it must be periodically taken out into fresh air.

For normal growth, tangerines need high humidity. Do not allow the earthen clod to dry out, in summer period It is necessary to spray the leaves 2 - 3 times a day; you can also place the container with the plant in a tray with water. During the period of active growth (from April to September), tangerine needs weekly feeding.

Mandarin at home: growing from seeds

A complex mineral fertilizer is most suitable for this.

A young tangerine tree (up to 7 - 8 years old) must be replanted every year in early spring. For replanting, you can use a mixture of equal parts of river sand, turf and leaf soil with the addition of organic fertilizer.

The main difficulty that arises when growing tangerines at home is moisture regulation. Its excess or deficiency leads to the development of spotting different types, leaf fall and damage to the root system. In addition, the red citrus mite poses a danger to the health of the tree, various types scale insects, mealybugs and sooty fungus.

Reproduction of tangerines is a rather labor-intensive process, but quite achievable. Its cuttings take root poorly, so grafting is often used, using other citrus crops as the mother tree. The reproduction process works better in specially heated greenhouses. Those who do not have the opportunity to create necessary conditions, can purchase a young tree in a specialized store.

Fruiting occurs in the 2nd year and occurs without pollination.

Citrus. Hand of Buddha.

Where to start

For a beginner, I recommend not to chase beauty and not buy from flower shops citrus fruits covered with a centimeter layer of wax and grown somewhere in Dutch greenhouses. The most correct way for a beginner is to grow citrus from a seed.

To sow you need to have:

several large freshly picked lemon or other citrus fruit seeds;
a pot of unglazed baked clay with a diameter of up to 5 cm and a height of 5–7 cm with a sufficiently large drainage hole (up to 0.5–1 cm)
a handful of expanded clay or finely beaten red brick for drainage
special earthen mixture for citrus fruits (can be bought in the store)
half a liter of water at room temperature (tap water must be left for 2–3 days to remove chlorine)

Take a pot, fill it 1/5 with drainage, then pour the soil mixture into the pot, leaving about 1.5 cm short of the top. Lightly compact the soil. Place the pot on a stand (tray) and pour water over the pot until a small amount appears in the tray. Now place the seeds on the surface of the moistened soil, in the center of the pot. Add soil mixture to the pot (almost to the top) and place it on a bright windowsill.

If watering is timely and the temperature environment(on the windowsill) will be more than 15 °C, shoots will appear in 3-4 weeks.

Lemon or any other plant grown from seed is called seedling.

Seedling care

Further care for your “pet” will consist of periodic watering, loosening the top layer of soil, fertilizing and spraying (washing the leaves with water to remove dust). Plants also need to be replanted and pruned in a timely manner.

Watering

Lemon is a moisture-loving breed; it is necessary to ensure that the soil in the pot is always moist. You should water as needed: touch the soil with your finger and determine its moisture content. Water for irrigation should be slightly warmer than the temperature of the soil (substrate) in the pot.

Loosening

As a result of watering and drying of the top layer of soil in the pot, the soil becomes crusted. To avoid this, it is necessary to treat the soil with a loosening agent (you can use it as old fork). Loosening should be done carefully - to a depth of no more than 1 cm, so as not to damage the surface roots.

Top dressing

Plants should be fertilized from spring to autumn, every 7–10 days. IN winter time if the temperature on the windowsill is more than 12 degrees - once a month. To fertilize, use liquid citrus fertilizer, which can be purchased at a flower shop. To determine the dosage, use the instructions for the fertilizer.

Transfer

Young plants (up to 2 years old) are replanted 1–2 times a year, by transferring (without destroying the earthen ball) into a container with a diameter (and height) 2–3 centimeters larger than the previous one. With each transplant, the density of the added soil mixture increases slightly.

Trimming

For the first year or two, citrus seedlings are not pruned.

Spraying

Plants should be sprayed with clean, settled water at room temperature 1–2 times a week, heating season- at least 1 time per day. It is necessary to keep the leaves as clean as possible; for this it is recommended to wash the crown with warm water (up to 30 degrees) at least once a month. Use a cotton swab to cleanse. The upper side of the leaf blade should be washed. Under no circumstances should you rub the back of the sheet.- so as not to damage the stomata located on it. Clean leaves are the key to the health of your plant.

Illumination

To balance seasonality in light conditions homemade lemon, How shade-tolerant plant, it is best to keep it in the summer on the north-eastern, north-western, and in the winter - on the southern, south-eastern and south-western windows. If this is not possible, I recommend keeping the plants at some distance from the window (within the window sill) from March to September, and in winter, keeping them as close as possible to the window glass. For other citrus fruits (except lemon), you should select the most illuminated windows (for all seasons).

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?

So, 2 years have passed. You have a seedling 40–50 cm high with a stem up to 1 cm thick, growing in a pot with a volume of up to 1 liter. What's next? What happens next is up to you. Lemon grown from a seed, with proper care, begins to bear fruit in 15–25 years, orange and tangerine - in 10–15 years, grapefruit - in 3–5 years. In order for your seedling to begin bearing fruit in the 2nd–4th year, you need to be grafted with a bud or cutting from a cultivated fruit-bearing plant. But if you compare the whimsicality of your “Spartan” grown from a seed and a grafted plant, there is a huge difference. Oculant (grafted seedling) is more demanding on living conditions than your “wild” one. I sometimes give the following example to my customers: let’s take a stray dog - he sleeps wherever he can, eats from time to time, snow, rain, wind - it’s all for nothing, he’s alive and happy. Now let’s take a pure-blooded Doberman for comparison and briefly place it in the conditions of an unfortunate stray dog - the animal will die. So in our case, any varietal plant is more whimsical than a wild one (grown from a seed).

If the previous paragraph did not influence the person who wants to have a variety of lemon, I continue to “intimidate”. I usually ask the question: “Do you want to buy a baby for yourself?” Indoor varietal lemon is very whimsical. The only difference between him and a baby is that he doesn't cry at night. If this does not frighten my listener, then I move on to explanations. The most common varieties of lemon for home grown- Pavlovsky, Novogruzinsky, Udarnik, Maykopsky, Lisbon, Cabo, Panderosa, Meyer (“Chinese dwarf”). Orange: Pavlovsky, Washington Navell. Mandarin: Pavlovsky, Unshiu, Kalamandin. From citrus lemon- the most demanding in terms of growing conditions: does not tolerate drafts, temperature changes, watering with cold and unsettled water, is demanding on watering and air humidity (minimum 50%), and painfully tolerates moving from place to place and turning 180 degrees. Lemon is demanding in terms of cleanliness, fertilizing, replanting, the composition of the soil mixture, etc. In other words, in my opinion, in order to grow indoor varietal citrus, you need to love it. Only with great desire, patience and acquiring skills (I will help you with them) can you grow a fruit-bearing indoor citrus tree.

A few words about other citrus fruits. Their demands on conditions of maintenance and care are somewhat lower than those of lemons, but they require more light. For example, I have been quite successfully growing Pavlovsk orange and Unshiu mandarin for more than ten years, but I have been able to cope with lemon only in recent years.

So, you just have to decide: are you leaving the unpretentious and dear wild game, or are you going the faster, but more dangerous route (vaccination). In the first case it is necessary further care behind the seedling using correct pruning and crown formation, as well as transshipment every spring into a larger container. In the second case, you need to “cultivate” your seedling. To do this, you must purchase a twig from a fruit-bearing plant with several buds. It must be healthy, undamaged and, if possible, fresh. Then you need to graft your wild bird with a bud or cutting (the grafting technique is the same as in conventional gardening).

About caring for grafted and rooted animals citrus plants I will write in my subsequent articles.

Wishes for beginners

Decide whether your desires to grow or purchase citrus coincide with the ability to provide it with attention and proper care.
Do not purchase plants grown in greenhouses, greenhouses, winter gardens or in open ground - they will not be able to live in the conditions in which you place them. Indoor, house plant is a plant grown indoors.
How to grow tangerines at home

For example, let's say you successfully raised indoor lemon and, going on vacation, decided to lend it to a neighbor for a while in a greenhouse, conservatory or winter garden. Plants, like people, get used to good things very quickly. In greenhouses, greenhouses and winter gardens, conditions are sometimes better than in the plant’s homeland. A few days will be enough for the plant to become “spoiled”, and then, upon returning to its previous conditions, it will suffer greatly. In the case of lemon, this can lead to the death of the plant.

On personal experience I was convinced that I should start my hobby indoor garden with lemon is quite a difficult matter. I would strongly recommend starting with figs, pomegranates and laurel - these plants are much easier to grow and get fruit from them, and having mastered the skills in caring for less demanding species, you can begin “His Majesty Citrus”.

To do this you will need a ripe pot of soil. First, remove the seed from the fruit and treat it with a growth stimulator, which you can always buy at a gardening store. Follow the instructions that are usually on the label.

Next, place several broken shards or pieces of brick at the bottom of the pot with the hole. This will result in drainage, without which the roots will be damp and stuffy. Fill the pot with soil. For it, take purchased citrus soil or prepare a mixture of humus, turf soil, peat and sand, taken in equal quantities.

The soil for the tangerine needs to be steamed over a pan of boiling water.

Plant the seed in a pot, water it and place it in a warm place. You will have to wait a long time, only in a month will the sprout appear. During this time, the soil needs to be watered periodically so that the soil does not dry out. Move the pot with the sprout to a lighted place, take care of the young tree, and after a couple of years you will get a beautiful plant that will bloom and even delight you with fruits. True, they will not be tasty, and to get sweet tangerines, you need to graft this bush at a young age or grow another plant.

To graft a tangerine, you need to take a cutting or bud from a varietal plant.

Growing tangerine from cuttings

To get a plant with sweet fruits, you will need a tangerine with a twig and a leaf. You can buy one like this in a store. The main thing is that the branch is not withered. Cut a stalk with a leaf and plant it in loose, fertile soil. Pour over and cover with halved plastic bottle from sparkling water with the lid unscrewed.

After a couple of months, the branch will take root and new leaves will appear. During this time, it is important to monitor soil moisture. When the plant is completely strengthened, the cover can be removed. Further care comes down to regular watering, annual replanting into a larger pot with soil replacement and fertilizing. For fertilizing, take manure diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10. Water the soil under your home tree with this solution 2 times a year, in spring and autumn.

First, the tangerine will grow, then it will bloom with beautiful white flowers, and soon you will be able to enjoy its fruits, grown with your own hands on the windowsill.

Plant tangerine (lat. Citrus reticulata)– small evergreen tree, a species of the genus Citrus of the Rutaceae family. The fruits of this plant are also called tangerines. The tangerine, the most common species of the genus, comes from Southern Vietnam and China. IN wildlife Nowadays you cannot find the tangerine tree, but it is grown in cultivation in areas with a subtropical climate. And this type of citrus fruit is becoming more and more in demand as a decorative indoor plant. In popularity, the homemade tangerine tree is second only to the indoor lemon tree.

Planting and caring for tangerines

Bloom: usually in the spring, but can last all year round.
Lighting: bright sunlight: a south-facing window sill with shading in the afternoon is most suitable.
Temperature: in the warm season - from 16 to 30 ˚C, in winter - not lower than 14 ˚C.
Watering: regular, as the top layer of the substrate dries.
Humidity: In hot weather, regular spraying of the plant with warm water and monthly showers are recommended.
Feeding: during the growing season twice a month with a solution of complex mineral fertilizer. In winter, fertilizing is not needed.
Rest period: not clearly expressed, but from about the end of October to mid-February.
Pinching: the crown is formed within 3-4 years in the spring, at the beginning of active growth: if, with a height of 40 cm, the seedling does not branch, it is pinched to force it to form side shoots. Subsequently, the ends of all shoots after the fifth leaf are removed by pinching.
Reproduction: seeds, grafting and air layering.
Pests: spider mites, mealybugs, scale insects and aphids.
Diseases: root rot.

Read more about growing tangerines below.

Homemade tangerine - description

Mandarin at home does not reach such a height as in nature, growing only up to 1.5-2 m. The branches of the tree are mostly drooping, the leaves of mandarin are dense, small, elliptical or ovoid, dark green, located on petioles with barely noticeable wings. Singles or doubles fragrant flowers tangerines with matte white petals are located in the axils of the leaves.

The multi-seeded and multi-lobed mandarin fruit - hesperidium - is covered in a peel that is easily separated from the pulp. It is flattened from top to base and reaches a diameter of 4 to 15 cm. The yellow-orange pulp consists of a large number of spindle-shaped hairs - sacs filled with juice. The peel of the fruit, which is called “flavedo”, which means “yellow”, contains many glands with essential oil, and its inner white layer, called “albedo” (“white”), is loose, which makes it easy to peel the tangerine. The pulp of a tangerine is usually sweeter and the flavor is stronger than that of an orange. And although the fruits homemade tangerine In terms of taste, they are much inferior to the fruits of the garden tangerine; a fruiting tangerine, hung like a Christmas tree with yellow-orange balls, looks very attractive.

Indoor tangerine - spectacular potted plant not only because of its bright, mouth-watering fruits: the flowering of tangerines is also a fascinating sight, especially since it is accompanied by an amazing fragrance. Currently, many amateur gardeners are enthusiastically growing tangerines from seeds just on the windowsill, and we will be happy to tell you how to grow tangerines indoors, how to care for tangerines, how to plant a homemade tangerine, how to protect it from diseases and pests, how to replant tangerine if the pot has become too small for him, and we will also describe the beneficial properties of tangerine.

Indoor tangerine from seed

How to grow tangerines at home

Before planting tangerine seeds, they are wrapped for several days in slightly damp gauze or a napkin. Keep the fabric moist the entire time the seeds are swelling. Instead of gauze or fabric, you can use hydrogel - a product that perfectly retains moisture. Seeds from a freshly eaten tangerine should be sown in the ground immediately, without soaking.

Even if you grow just one tree, soak at least a dozen seeds: firstly, not all of them may germinate, and secondly, some seeds may die from diseases during the growth process, and some seedlings will not survive transplantation.

As soon as the seeds hatch, they are planted in 200 ml cups or in bowls no more than 9 cm deep with drainage holes, filled with a substrate of turf soil (3 parts), humus, sand and leaf soil (1 part each) with the addition of a couple of handfuls of clay. . You will have to prepare the substrate yourself, since any of the purchased soils contain peat, which is contraindicated for tangerines. In extreme cases, you can use Biohumus or Rose soil as a substrate, the pH of which is in the range of 6.5-7.0 units. At the bottom of the cups under the substrate you need to place a layer of expanded clay or small pebbles. The seeds are buried 4 cm in moist soil. The crops are kept at a temperature of 20-25 ºC. Shoots appear within three to four weeks, although this can happen earlier.

If you sowed seeds in a common container, then at the stage of formation of four leaves in the seedlings (citrus fruits do not have cotyledon leaves), you need to pick them out into separate cups. Sometimes two plants can grow from one seed, since multi-germination of seeds is quite common for citrus crops. In this case, the tangerine seedlings need to be carefully separated (each of them has its own root system) and planted. If one seedling is significantly weaker than another, it is better to sacrifice it: pinch it off so that it does not interfere with the development of a stronger plant.

The next transplantation of seedlings is carried out when their roots fill the entire volume of the cup. You can use a small pot as a container. Planting a tangerine in a pot is done by transferring the seedling along with a lump of earth.

Caring for a tangerine in a pot

Growing tangerine in an apartment

The conditions for growing tangerines at home should be as close to natural as possible. Mandarin loves the sun, so the best place for it is a south-facing window, provided that in winter the room temperature does not drop below 14 ºC. In summer, the plant can be kept on a balcony or loggia. However, in the afternoon, the tangerine needs to be protected from the sun's rays with a curtain of light fabric or gauze.

The favorable temperature for the development, budding and flowering of tangerine is considered to be from 16 to 18 ºC with an air humidity of 60%. However, do not worry if the room becomes hot with the arrival of summer: tangerines can grow and bear fruit even at 40 ºC.

Watering a tangerine

Caring for a tangerine involves regularly watering the plant as the top layer of soil in the pot dries. There is a trick to help determine whether a plant needs watering: take a pinch of soil from the pot with your fingers and squeeze it. If the soil sticks together, then it’s too early to water the tangerine, and if it crumbles, then it’s time to moisten the soil in the pot. Under no circumstances allow the earthen ball to dry out completely. Water the tangerine with water at room temperature that has been left standing for 24 hours in an open vessel. In winter, it is advisable to heat water for irrigation to 30-35 ºC, and in summer it can be left in the sun.

As for air humidity, the tangerine, especially in the summer heat, needs to be sprayed daily, and once a month it must be washed in the shower with soap, covering the stem of the plant and the soil in the pot with plastic. This hygienic procedure is also a prevention against pests.

Mandarin fertilizer

During the dormant period, in winter, tangerine does not need fertilizing, and during the growing season, a solution of complex mineral fertilizer is added to the soil twice a month. To stimulate abundant fruiting, adult plants 1 m or more in height are fed with fish broth once a month: 200 g of unsalted fish or fish waste is boiled in 2 liters of water for half an hour, allowed to cool and filtered through cheesecloth. Water the soil with “ear” in the morning at an air temperature of 18-19 ºC.

Tangerine transplant

Young plants are replanted annually, fruit-bearing ones - once every 2-3 years, each time increasing the size of the pot in diameter by 4-6 cm. The soil for young plants should be of the following composition: turf soil - 2 parts, and leaf soil, sand and humus - one part at a time. For plants older than three years of turf soil, you need to take three parts, and the remaining ingredients - one at a time. When planting, it is important that the root collar of the tangerine remains at surface level. It is better not to bother replanting very large or old trees, but once every 2-3 years you need to remove the top layer of soil in the pot and replace it with fresh fertile substrate.

Tangerine pruning

Mandarin is one of those plants whose crown needs to be shaped. If, with a growth of 30-40 cm, the seedling does not begin to branch on its own, it needs to be pinched to stimulate the formation of side shoots of the first order. However, this is not enough, since fruiting occurs only on branches of the fourth or fifth order. This means that pinching should be continued, removing the ends of all shoots after the fourth or fifth leaf. For sanitary purposes, weak shoots and those growing inside the crown are also pruned. It usually takes 3-4 years for a tree to form.

Sometimes, in order to enhance the branching of shoots, they resort to deflecting and fixing them: one end of a soft wire is fixed on a branch, and the other on the edge of the pot so that the wire pulls the top of the shoot down.

Pests and diseases of tangerine

Mandarin turns yellow

Many amateur flower growers are faced with the fact that tangerine leaves suddenly begin to turn yellow. What is the reason for this phenomenon? There are several reasons. For example, due to a lack of nitrogen in the soil, the soil first turns yellow. lower leaves tangerine, and then gradually all the foliage turns yellow. This process can be stopped by adding ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate or organic matter to the soil.

Against the background of iron deficiency in the soil, tangerine develops chlorosis: first, young leaves acquire a light yellow color, then older foliage becomes discolored. To prevent chlorosis, tangerines are treated with iron chelate once a month.

Another likely cause of yellowing tangerine leaves may be spider mites - tiny arachnids that make punctures in the leaves of the plant and feed on its cell sap. You can only see a mite under a magnifying glass, but sometimes its presence is revealed by the thinnest web appearing on the plant. To destroy pests, wash the tree in the shower, then treat its leaves with a soapy solution: warm water put the grated laundry soap, whip up a thick foam and use a cotton swab to wipe the tangerine leaves with the foam. To completely defeat the tick, you may need three such procedures with an interval of 2-3 days. The place where the mite-infested tangerine stood should be thoroughly washed.

Mandarin leaves turn yellow due to insufficient lighting, as well as because the pot has become too small for the plant.

The tangerine is falling

Leaves falling from a tangerine are not always a sign of any disease. If this happens from late October to mid-February, move the plant to a room with a temperature of 14-17 ºC and reduce watering: the tangerine needs rest. Leaves may also fall due to low air humidity. In this case, the plant should be sprayed in the evenings with settled water at room temperature and containers of water should be placed around it. Tangerine leaves also fall due to improper planting: the plant is too big pot or the root collar is buried in the soil. The cause of leaf falling may be a lack of potassium in the soil, drafts, too wet soil in the pot and poor lighting.

Mandarin is drying

If, before the tangerine leaves begin to fall off, a dry crust forms on their edges brown, we can conclude that the watering regime has been disrupted: you have chronically over-moistened the soil in the pot. To restore normal development of the plant, transplant it into another pot with a good drainage layer and fresh substrate with a predominance of leafy soil. When transplanting, carefully inspect root system tangerine and remove rotten roots. Leaves also dry out insufficient watering. A drying plant will have to be revived by placing it in a bowl of water at room temperature. The water in the basin should reach the edge of the pot. Now you need to water the tangerine until the soil is completely wet and air stops coming out of it. After the procedure, drain the excess water and spray the tangerine with a solution of 1 ml of Epin in 2 liters of water. These sprayings should be continued for some time, 2 times a week. In this way, even a very dried out plant can be revived.

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Olga Antonenko 02/26/2014 | 1918

Propagating this exotic plant is not so easy. But everything is possible if you know a few basic points.

Cuttings

This is an easy way to propagate tangerines. I succeed with 70% success, although the citrus tangerine is not the easiest to root. I put the cut aloe leaves in the refrigerator for a week. Then I take it out, let it warm up for two hours, cut it crosswise into 2-3 cm pieces and place it on a tray with one cut facing up. Next, I cut cuttings (into 3 buds) from annual non-lignified tangerine twigs. Large leaves can be shortened by half. At the same time, I carefully observe sterility! The cut should be smooth, at a slight angle, and it is not at all necessary that it pass under the bud. In this case, the branch must be kept suspended to prevent compression of living cells and damage to the bark. A carelessly made cut leads to rotting of the tip and death of the cutting. Putrefactive microflora is formed precisely on torn cuts and in dirty substrates. You can also take younger green cuttings, but they need to be cut off at the heel. I immediately stick the cut tangerine cuttings into the aloe pulp up to half a piece and leave it overnight, placing it in a container under a tight lid so that the moisture does not evaporate so much.

Substrate I steam it, cover the plantings with a transparent cover, try to keep the soil slightly moist, and be sure to periodically open the cuttings for ventilation and spraying. I keep the mini-greenhouse in a bright place, but not in direct sun.

Air layering

You can propagate tangerines and by air layering method. This way you can immediately get a young tree ready to bear fruit.

The operation is best performed in spring or early summer. Select a branch with a fairly long straight section, on which a ring of bark 1-2 cm wide is cut off with a sharp knife. Then they wrap this area with a piece of polyethylene, securing it below the cut. Fill the resulting funnel tightly with moist sphagnum, possibly mixed with sterile sand. The polyethylene is then secured to the branch above the operation site. The process of root formation usually lasts from several weeks to several months. It is necessary to ensure that the moss does not dry out. If necessary, it is moistened.

The resulting roots will be visible through the package. When they grow enough (this will take 2-5 months), the branch is cut first under polyethylene, and then, after carefully shaking off the moss, the excess part is removed to the roots. After this, the new plant is planted in loose nutrient soil in a small pot, carefully watered and covered with a bag or placed in a greenhouse. Periodically sprayed.

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A spectacular potted plant - the indoor tangerine - is loved by many gardeners not only for its bright, aromatic fruits that ripen on New Year's Eve, but also for its white flowers, which exude a surprisingly delicate, incredibly pleasant aroma during flowering. Some cultivated varieties of mandarin are capable of blooming all year round. Look at the photo how beautiful the tree looks in the interior of the room. Mandarin is easy to grow and care for; it can be planted and propagated without difficulty even at home. See for yourself.

Mandarin (Citrus reticulate) belongs to the large group of Citrus fruits. The crop is a tree or shrub, reaching 5 m in nature. Of all citrus tangerine- This is the most winter-hardy and productive plant. It can withstand short-term temperature drops to -12-15 degrees. Tangerine trees begin to bear fruit in the second year of planting. Its flowers are slightly smaller than lemon flowers, but have a more piercing, strong aroma. Plants of dwarf varieties, not exceeding 40-50 cm, are usually grown indoors.

A tangerine tree can bloom and bear fruit at the same time

Common varieties include the following:

Mandarin Georgian seedless(Unshiu) is the most common in indoor cultivation due to its large fruits with thin skin and juicy sweet pulp. It practically does not form seeds.
Mandarin Georgian angustifolia– the plant produces smaller fruits. The peel is slightly thicker than that of the Unshiu variety. The pulp is sweet, fine-grained and very juicy.
Mandarin Kovano-Vase– high-yielding, early ripening variety. It produces a lot of fruit even when grown at home. Able to bear fruit in the first year of planting.

Planting indoor tangerine

The cultivation of tangerine trees began in Ancient China, where the orange-yellow fruits were available only to the rich - tangerines. This is probably where the name of the culture came from. Nowadays, dwarf tangerine plants, already with bright fruits on the branches, can be easily purchased in many flower shops.

Young tangerine trees for indoor growing

After purchase, it is recommended to replant the plant in a fresh suitable substrate for citrus fruits with an acidity pH of 5.5-7.0. You can also make up the soil yourself by mixing leaf soil in a ratio of 1:1:1:0.5, sod land, manure humus and river sand. Take a pot for replanting that is only 2-3 cm larger than the previous one - this will stimulate the tangerine to grow.

Features of growing and caring for tangerines

Indoor tangerine trees are very light-loving. It is recommended to place them no further than 1 m from the window on the east or south side.

Attention! Citrus fruits (and tangerine are no exception) easily get used to the light on one side, so sharp turns and rearrangements from one window sill to another are contraindicated for the tangerine tree. This causes metabolic disturbances nutrients in the leaves, which leads to heavy leaf fall, and in some cases even to the death of the entire plant.

For development and optimal growth tangerine will require a temperature of +16-20 degrees in spring and summer and +12-15 in winter. In summer and during flowering, carefully monitor the temperature readings near the plant, as overheating threatens the flowers and fruits withering.

Mandarin responds very well to spraying

Special attention pay attention to the leaf mass: regularly spray and clean the leaf plates. The flowering and productivity of tangerines directly depends on the condition and number of leaves. Monitor the soil moisture in the pot: it should not dry out completely. Water only with warm, purified or settled water.

Important! All citrus fruits are excellent air purifiers, as they saturate it with a large amount of phytoncides.

Feeding

Fertilizing an adult fruit-bearing tangerine tree begins in the summer and continues until the end of September. Give preference organic fertilizers– infused and diluted cow manure in a ratio of 1:10. In the spring, before flowering begins, tangerines can be fed 2-3 times with complex fertilizer for citrus fruits.

Reproduction

Indoor tangerine can be propagated in two ways:

rooting of the apical cutting;

Cuttings are carried out at the beginning of summer. For rooting, root stimulating agents are used, since cuttings do not produce roots well.

Reproduction of a tangerine tree by grafting onto a rootstock

Vaccination is more effective and successful. Own-rooted lemon cuttings or seedlings of any citrus fruits are used as rootstocks.

Common diseases and pests

Most often, the plant is susceptible to late blight, gray rot and scab. For prevention, it is recommended to carry out regular spraying with systemic fungicides.

From pests tangerine trees Scale insects, aphids, spider mites and thrips cause great harm. To combat them, special natural or chemical insecticides are used.