A citrus garden at home is the dream of many! However, is it possible to grow it at home in order to be able to delight your loved ones with fresh “vitamins”? Yes, you can. In addition, growing citrus fruits at home can become your favorite hobby, and your citrus garden will become a source of pride for you. However, to grow such a garden you will need to make some efforts and be patient.
Citrus fruit care
Appropriate place
In winter, it is not recommended to place the container on the windowsill at home, because cold will come from the glass and heat from the battery, this will negatively affect the health of the green pet.
A warm, humid place with plenty of light is best. In spring and summer periods place the pot on a window that is oriented to the southwest or southeast.
Temperature
These plants do not tolerate subzero temperatures. Remember this, otherwise your garden may die!
In the warm season, the optimal temperature is 19-27 degrees, and in winter it can be lowered to 12-17 degrees.
Since citrus fruits react negatively to temperature fluctuations, autumn period It is better to bring the plant into a warm room in advance before the first frosts appear. Citrus fruits come from the tropics, so you shouldn’t forget about air humidity. If the air is not humidified enough, purchase a special humidifier. Your citrus orchard will thank you for this.
Illumination
Your citrus garden will need good lighting, only protect it from direct sun rays sultry summer. In autumn and winter, plants will not have enough natural light, so it is necessary to add additional lighting with lamps, without this procedure you will not be able to grow decent harvest. Provide additional lighting to the citrus garden so that its daylight hours are 12 hours.
Watering
Water the plants regularly, as it is better to prevent the soil from drying out too much. But watering should be moderate!
You should also not over-moisten the soil; before the next watering, the top layer of soil must dry out.
On hot summer days, it is allowed to water daily, but in winter, water citrus fruits less often and not so abundantly - once a week is enough.
Take some water room temperature, soft and non-chlorinated.
Suitable soil for citrus fruits
The soil must be fertile and breathable. It is necessary to ensure good drainage made of crushed brick or expanded clay. For these plants soil mixture prepared from peat, leaf and turf soil, sand in equal proportions. The result should be a slightly acidic environment. There is a much easier option - buy ready mixture in the store, for citrus fruits it is usually called “Lemon”.
Fertilizing the plant
Feed the plant only during the spring and summer months when it is actively growing, but during the winter dormancy period, forget about fertilizers.
Water the soil well first and then fertilize. Remember that better disadvantage fertilizers than their excess!
If you overfeed the plant, then root system may get burned.
As a top dressing, it is better to take special fertilizers for citrus fruits, which can be easily found in specialized supermarkets.
How to grow an orange tree at home?
Many people dream of growing it at home. After all, the orange tree produces incredibly tasty and healthy fruits. Where to begin?
1. The month of March is most suitable for planting. Take fresh orange seeds and rinse them in warm water.
2. Soak the seeds for 10-12 hours.
3. Plant them in a suitable fertile soil mixture and cover with 1 centimeter of soil. Cover the pot with plastic and place it in a warm, dark place.
4. When the first shoots appear, the orange tree is moved to a more illuminated area.
Vaccinations
When the orange tree grows, it should bloom and then bear fruit. However, not all owners manage to achieve this, or the fruits develop, but remain small and have a bitter taste. All this is because a tree from a seed may not take on its mother’s properties, which is why it is so important to graft an orange tree. How to do it? There are 2 methods: classic grafting and budding.
In the first method, a cutting is taken from a fruiting orange; it is this that will give a certain variety to our “savage”. Then the seedling is used as a rootstock for a “thoroughbred” cutting. The second method is easier than the first and is less painful for a young plant. At the same time, a bud of a varietal orange tree implanted together with part of the wood into the trunk of a wild citrus tree. It is better to introduce several buds at once from different sides of the plant.
Shaping the trunk
An orange tree can begin to bear fruit normally only after 5-6 years, but for this the crown must be formed correctly. What is needed for this? When the tree stretches 24-28 cm, the shoot should be pinched, leaving 18-20 cm in length.
Leave only the strongest side shoots, remove the rest so that the tree branches well. Young trees may also begin to bloom, but in this case it is better to get rid of flowers and ovaries, since the plant will waste its potential on only 2-3 fruits.
How to grow limes at home?
Lime is a wonderful plant of the citrus family; when grown at home, the tree spreads a delightful aroma throughout the room. In addition, lime is beneficial when eaten. This tree is also very beautiful, it will decorate any apartment! To grow it, you need to know some nuances.
Lime can act as a good rootstock for other citrus plants. Lemon, kumquat, tangerine, etc. can be grafted onto its massive trunk.
In order to grow lime at home from seeds, you need to follow certain steps.
1. Select a suitable container for planting limes. It should be spacious, 10-15 centimeters in length, and allow liquid and air to pass through.
2. Take fertile soil and ensure good drainage; you can sprinkle the bottom of the pot with sand.
3. Next, bury fresh lime seeds 2-3 centimeters into the soil. Cover the pot plastic film We put it in an area with good lighting. Don't forget to water and ventilate our future lime!
4. When the sprouts hatch and the first leaves appear on them, you need to remove the polyethylene. Then the lime needs standard care, but do not forget to form the crown in a timely manner.
Your home garden will bear worthy fruits if you care for it properly.
Growing citrus indoor plants at home is an interesting activity, but it is far from easy. Therefore, those who believe that it will be enough to plant a seed in the ground and that’s it – you don’t have to buy lemons for tea anymore – are greatly mistaken. Without special knowledge If citrus fruits produce their first harvest, it will not be earlier than in twenty years.
But if you know some of the nuances and grow it correctly, following all the rules, then you will be able to enjoy the fruits much faster. But even here it is important not to make a mistake in choosing a variety. Only those citrus indoor plants that have been grafted onto seedlings of orange, lemon, grapefruit or kumquat are suitable for growing on a windowsill. Those crops that were grown from cuttings cut from fruit-bearing trees also performed well.
Difficulties in growing domestic citrus plants
It would seem simpler: you need to go to flower shop and buy a pot in which a citrus tree is blooming or already bearing fruit - a “golden orange”, a Meyer lemon, which is not very difficult to care for at home, or a tangerine. The tree just needs to be brought home, placed on the windowsill in right place and start watering. But this is not at all true, since growing a lemon or tangerine at home is really difficult, moreover, this process is somewhat different from caring for ordinary specimens.
Those plants that are sold in flower shops today most often end up on the shelves from abroad, mainly from Holland. There they are kept in prison from the first day. ideal conditions: optimal temperature for growth is maintained, high humidity, additional lighting is supplied, and fertilizers for citrus indoor plants are constantly added to the soil. When purchasing dwarf trees, there may be a dozen or more fruits by the time they are sold.
But once beautiful citrus indoor plants hit the windowsill, they immediately begin to face stressful conditions. In our houses, the illumination is much lower - several times, and the air (especially in winter) is incredibly dry compared to greenhouse air, and growth stimulants stop helping after a while.
Therefore, in conditions of a shortage of their internal resources, citrus indoor plants begin to devote all their efforts to preserving the fruits with which they were so abundantly strewn in the store. And as a result, the vast majority of purchased “pets” die.
Species suitable for growing at home
Man has long known citrus fruits. People have been actively cultivating them for so long that it has become difficult to detect their wild ancestors in nature. Most often in open ground Citrus fruits are cultivated in countries with a tropical or subtropical climate. And it is from there that their fruits are supplied to store shelves in all corners of the planet.
A novice plant grower who cannot devote too much attention and time to a pet growing on his windowsill needs to choose varieties of indoor citrus plants that are easier to care for. If we talk about subspecies for small apartment, then it is preferable for beginners to grow lemon, tangerine and trifoliate, since their growth is easier to control. In turn, oranges, grapefruits or pomelo, which are characterized by large sizes, after a couple of decades turn into a rather bulky tree.
As for exotic varieties, today it is quite common close relative tangerine - citrus kumquat nagami, as well as calamondin. Speaking about amazing varieties, we must definitely mention Buddha’s Hand.
Cuttings
The most convenient option for those who decide to grow citrus crops on their own will, of course, young plant, which was purchased at a specialty store. But a purchased tree does not always take root in the house for many reasons. However, if, after all, the crop has migrated from the store to the apartment, you need to contact the seller and get a recommendation from him for adapting the citrus to the new conditions.
First, the plant needs to be inspected. If there are fruits on it, you will have to pick them off. Citrus should be left for seven to ten days. shop pot, and only after that transplant into a new one.
Citrus trees grown from material obtained by cuttings take root best at home. Of course, for beginners who have little idea how to grow a tangerine, lemon, etc., it will be difficult to propagate the plant correctly, but for those who have had citrus growing at home for many years, it is quite easy to do this.
The shoot for the cutting should be cut from a well-developed and healthy citrus tree. Length planting material should be between ten and twelve centimeters. It must have at least three buds. It is not recommended to use both too young and quite old shoots with dense wood.
The best time to take cuttings is April. Rooting of planting material can be done in a glass of water or in soil consisting of earth and sand. In the latter case, the cutting should be covered, for example, plastic bottle. The roots will appear in about twenty days. After this, the rooted cuttings can be planted in a permanent pot.
- seeds
You can often hear that a seed planted in the ground eventually turns into a luxurious citrus tree. But, even though growing a tangerine or lemon from seeds is the most accessible way for hobbyists to propagate this type of plant, the result is often unpredictable.
As a result, you can get a crop whose fruits will be much smaller than the parent form, or you can grow a new excellent pet. Judging by reviews, the use of seeds taken from fruits as planting material often leads to a lack of flowering in such seedlings.
The seedling begins to sprout in about a month and a half, and it should be replanted at the stage of appearance of five leaves.
After the juicy fruits of this citrus purchased in the store are eaten, you can use the remaining seeds as planting material. For the greatest likelihood of success of the event, it is better to have more seeds, since definitely not all will germinate. Therefore, to obtain seedlings you need to take a dozen seeds.
Planting material is placed in gauze for several days and slightly moistened. This is necessary so that the seeds, when swollen, “hatch”.
Mandarins can be grown at home in special citrus soil purchased at a flower shop. Although, in principle, almost any light soil is suitable for this crop. For example, in turf and leaf soil mixed in equal proportions, to which compost and rotted manure humus will be added, the tangerine will be very comfortable. Do not make soil based on peat. We must not forget about the need for drainage. Quite a long time must pass before the first shoots appear. The sprouts become noticeable only after two to three weeks, and sometimes even after a month.
Mandarin is a tree that grows quite slowly at home, and it sometimes stops its growth. Therefore, you should not lose hope and enthusiasm, because if this citrus is provided with all the necessary conditions, it will grow into a very beautiful tree.
Tangerine care
According to agronomists, tangerine is a very unpretentious tree to maintain, not only among citrus fruits, but also many other plants, however, compliance certain rules when leaving, he still demands. The most an important condition for him there is an abundance of sunlight. Mandarin requires intense lighting up to twelve hours a day all year round.
Watering and replanting
Mandarin is no less sensitive to humidity. In the summer months, it should be watered abundantly without flooding, while in winter the water supply should be reduced, periodically making sure that the soil does not dry out. In addition, you need to spray the leaves daily, using filtered or boiled water for this purpose. clean water. You can compensate for dry air by placing a small decorative plant next to the tangerine. indoor fountain. As the tree grows, it periodically needs to be replanted into larger pots. It is best to move in early spring. Wherein new pot should have a diameter three to five centimeters larger than the previous one.
Other close relatives of citrus fruits are Kumquat and Calamondin. Fans of original indoor plants should definitely acquire these species.
Speaking about exotics, it is necessary to mention the Buddha’s Hand variety. This citrus is different unusual appearance of its fruit: it resembles a lemon in color, and in appearance it resembles a fleshy hand on the hand. However, there is no edible pulp inside. Nevertheless, the fruit is so exotic that it is definitely worth growing at home.
Nice to have on windowsills evergreens, capable of pleasing the eye even in winter. It’s even more pleasant to watch them bloom and even get edible fruits. Why not get some citrus fruits in this case?
Citrus fruits are one of the few subtropical trees that get along well at home. In the article we will look at different kinds these exotic plants, we will give instructions to beginners and advice to those who are already confident in their abilities and want to try something new:
- How to get citrus fruits: where is the best place to buy a tree and how to propagate it yourself?
- What varieties and types can be recommended to a beginner, and which ones need a little more attention?
- Why do purchased citrus trees die so often?
- What to do once you gain confidence in your abilities?
- How to keep a tree growing so that it doesn’t break through the ceiling in 10 years?
- What are the subtleties in their cultivation and reproduction?
In-store purchase
It would seem that what could be easier than going to a flower shop and buying a lemon or tangerine? But in fact, this path is fraught with many difficulties.
Those plants that are sold in stores come there from abroad, most often from Holland. There they grew up in ideal conditions from birth. Supported optimal temperatures, high humidity, additional lighting was provided from all sides, and growth stimulants were constantly added to the soil. As a result, up to several dozen fruits can hang on a dwarf tree by the time of sale.
After reaching the windowsill, such citrus fruits immediately encounter stressful conditions. Here, the illumination is tens of times lower, the air is very dry compared to greenhouse air, and growth stimulants stop working after a while.
In conditions of severe resource shortages, all the tree’s strength goes into maintaining the fruits with which it is so abundantly strewn. As a result, in the vast majority of cases, the new occupant of the apartment dies.
In Europe they treat this more simply. There, such trees are purchased as temporary decorations, like cut flowers in Russia.
What can be done to save purchased imported citrus?
- cut off all the fruits so that the plant has the strength to recover;
- when leaves fall, cover the entire crown with a bag;
- use resuscitation drugs and growth stimulants (epin, amulet, etc.) immediately after purchase and again if the condition worsens;
- if the tree is not in a state of active growth, carefully remove it from the pot, shake off at least part of the soil and plant it back, adding high-quality garden or purchased soil;
- if the windows face north, northeast or northwest, arrange additional lighting.
Of the listed measures, the first three points give the best effect. As for the soil, either loose, fertile, light soil with summer cottages, or purchased with pH 5-7.
But that is not all! Imported citrus fruits are grafted onto trifoliate or her close relatives. Trifoliata is a deciduous citrus that requires cold wintering. This means that in winter, the roots of your plant need temperatures of about 7-12 degrees Celsius to store energy for further growth.
When storing a plant year-round at room temperature, there is a high risk that it will fizzle out every year, shed its leaves in winter, stop growing, or even degrade. In the end, it may simply die in a few years. Therefore, before going to a flower shop, ask yourself whether you can provide your future pet with winter coolness.
But even that's not all! Having come out of such a sufferer, you will be surprised to find that fresh growth is characterized by much more large leaves and long internodes (distances between buds).
What's the matter? This is explained by the fact that in conditions of strong illumination, citrus fruits grow small leaves, and since there is no need to reach for the light, short stems with small internodes. Since there is much less light at home, soon dwarf and very decorative citrus loses its presentation and becomes like trees, originally growing on the windowsill.
Purchasing from citrus growers
This option is preferable because such trees are initially adapted to home conditions, so, most likely, when they get to the new windowsill, they will not experience stress. In addition, amateurs propagate citrus fruits by cuttings or grafting onto lemons, oranges, grapefruits, pomelo, and rarely, trifoliate.
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Those of them that do not grow on trifoliata roots are less demanding of cold wintering, but it is still recommended to arrange it for them as well.
A compromise option for those who do not have a glazed balcony is cool window sills without drafts. In winter, temperatures there can drop to +14… +17. Of course, this is higher than recommended (+7... +13), but better than nothing. This would not be enough for trifoliate, but self-rooted citrus fruits and those grafted onto lemons, oranges, etc. can tolerate such a wintering.
Disadvantages of buying from an amateur citrus grower: the possibility of deception with a variety or species, the risk of pests being introduced along with the purchased plant (especially).
Self-cultivation
It should be remembered that a tree grown from a seed, even if conditions as close as possible to the natural growing environment are provided, can bloom only after several decades if it is not grafted. Therefore, it is recommended to grow wild birds only in decorative purposes. They have only one advantage over other options: they are ideally adapted to home conditions.
Citrus cuttings
The most simple option For beginning citrus growers who want to get a varietal seedling, rooting a cutting is necessary. But! It is important to know which species take root well and which do not form roots.
- Suitable Lemons, limes, grapefruits, and pomelo are suitable for this method of propagation.
- Very rarely take root tangerines, clementines, kumquats, Australian microcitruses, trifoliata.
- Intermediate position occupied by oranges, which can produce roots, but this requires diligence and a certain amount of luck.
The cutting process is as follows. Fresh growth 7-18 cm long is cut from an adult plant. No more than 3-4 leaves are left on it, and if the leaf blades are large, they are shortened by half. If the upper part of the stem is too thin and flaccid, then it is also removed.
The cutting is placed in damp sand, preferably coarse sand, covered plastic bag or a trimmed plastic bottle to create moisture inside, and stored at room temperature. You can even build such a mini-greenhouse from a bottle cut into two parts. About once a week it is advisable to ventilate it by removing the top for a few seconds.
Roots will appear in 3-5 weeks. The rooted branch is transplanted into a pot with loose fertile soil, covered with a bag with a small hole for ventilation. Over the course of 1-2 weeks, the hole gradually increases in size, and when it becomes quite large, the shelter is completely removed. This is necessary to gradually accustom the young tree to dry room air, since sudden removal of the bag may cause the leaves to wilt.
Reproduction by grafting
Vaccination – more the hard way, which, however, is often successful for beginners. Those who have ever grafted other trees and shrubs will not experience any difficulties.
In addition, poorly rooted cuttings of tangerines and other citrus fruits listed above are successfully grafted onto young plants grown from seeds. In fact, this is the only way for hobbyists to reproduce such species.
You just have to remember that good rootstocks are lemon, orange, grapefruit, pomelo, trifoliate, and tangerines and its relatives usually reject grafting, even tangerine cuttings and buds.
For beginning citrus growers, if you have a wild one with a fairly thick stem It is recommended to start with vaccinations with budding or bud in the butt, since, firstly, with inexperienced citrus growers the percentage of successful fusions is higher than by other methods, and secondly, in case of failure, the wound overgrows over time, and the rootstock can be used again. With many other types of grafting, it is often necessary to remove the entire crown of the “savage”, leaving only a stump, and if the outcome is unfavorable, there is a risk of losing the tree.
This is interesting! More experienced flower growers can take an adult wild plant and plant several varieties or even species into its crown at once. Such an instance is called tree-garden. Citrus looks especially amazing, on which lemons, tangerines, and possibly other species grow.
Types and varieties of indoor citrus fruits
A novice citrus grower or a housewife who is not ready to devote a lot of time to a tree growing on a windowsill should choose those varieties and species that are easier to care for. If we talk about species, then for beginners a little lemons, tangerines, trifoliate are preferable for one reason: their growth is easier to contain. Oranges, grapefruits and pomelo have great strength growth, so after a couple of decades you can end up with a tree that is too bulky. And the previously mentioned citrus fruits are relatively low-growing.
However, the size of any crop, including grapefruit and pomelo, can be very well contained due to a cramped pot. Really, your pets' roots should always be a little cramped.
Important! Never replant indoor citrus trees into pots that are significantly larger than the previous ones.
Following this principle, even vigorously growing species can be kept within 1.5-2 meters in height even after 20-30 years!
Varieties of indoor lemons
Of all the lemon varieties, the most unpretentious is Pavlovsky.. It grows well even on north-eastern and north-western windows, is able to tolerate relatively dry apartment air, and tolerates infrequent feeding. In fact, in terms of tolerance to home conditions, it is similar to wild lemon.
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Almost as patient is variety Panderosa, but he needs more light. But Panderosa suffers from a special syndrome that is found only in her: she produces too many flowers and stubbornly refuses to grow green mass. Accordingly, excess buds have to be constantly plucked off, and if the tree is still very small, then all of them need to be removed! If you have time for this, then feel free to take it, because in other respects it is undemanding.
Slightly less common Lisbon varieties And Meyer, which grow slowly with insufficient care. However, for flower growers, even with little experience, growing them will not pose any problems. All you need to do is place the pots on bright windowsills, feed them from time to time and, if necessary, spray them.
There are other varieties, but most of them are derivatives of the above.
Varieties of tangerines and other citrus fruits
The most popular of tangerines is Unshiu variety, and this is not without reason, since compared to others it is relatively tolerant of low light, like Pavlovsk lemon.
Also close relatives of tangerines are kumquats And calamondins. Fans of not just citrus fruits, but exotic fruits in particular, can be advised to acquire these.
Speaking about exotics, we can mention. It is distinguished by an extremely unusual appearance of the fruit, reminiscent of a fleshy hand. But there is no edible pulp inside. However, the fruit is so exotic that an inexperienced Internet user, seeing a photograph of it, will decide that it is a photo montage.
Citron "Hand of Buddha"
Citrus fruits belong to the rue family. Lemon, orange, tangerine, grapefruit, kincan and other citrus fruits are grown at home. Although it must be said right away that attempts to grow a fruit-bearing citrus tree at home are often cut short when the grown-up more than a meter tall evergreen trees never bear fruit. Although, with an annual cold winter (+5-8°C), citrus fruits can bloom and bear fruit within 2-3 years (rooted cuttings).
If you decide to grow citrus fruits from seeds for their fruits, then even if you achieve fruiting, the taste of the fruits will most likely disappoint you, as it will be too sour and bitter. It is easier to buy a citrus tree that is already bearing fruit, in this case you will not have to worry about grafting and wait for years for it to bear fruit.
In general, at home, trees obtained from grafted or rooted cuttings are more likely to bear fruit, and wild ones grown from seed do not bloom for a very long time - dozens of years, but in their natural habitat, somewhere in the vast expanses of Spain, trees begin to bear fruit at the age of 6 -7 years. For some, it will be a pleasure to grow a tree from a seed and it doesn’t matter whether it bears fruit or not. Be that as it may, to citrus has developed well, it is important to know the conditions it needs and something about crown formation.
Citrus Fertilizer
In the first half of summer, fertilizers are used. This increases the sugar content of the fruit and reduces the bitter taste that is characteristic of citrus fruits when grown indoors. The plant needs more fertilizer the older it is and the longer it stays in one container. Fertilizers are applied with water for irrigation, but only healthy, not weakened plants can be fed. With additional artificial lighting Citrus fruits also need to be fertilized in winter, but not more often than once a month.
If citrus fruits were transplanted into fresh soil in the spring, then fertilizing after 1-1.5 months can begin with fertilizers for flowering plants. If the plants have not been replanted, then you need to start fertilizing with the addition of organic matter: 2-3 times with an interval of two weeks, this can be an extract from dry horse manure, well-laid humus, ready-made vermicompost from the store. It is very important not to overfeed citrus fruits with organic matter and check the acidity of the soil. After two feedings with nitrogen fertilizers, you can feed with complex fertilizers for indoor flowering plants (for example, Fertika Lux).
By the way
Sometimes on sale you can see citrus fruits with a stalk - a small twig with a couple of leaves; mainly Chinese tangerines are found, passed off as Abkhazian. They taste good, but the main thing is that if the branches are not frostbitten and have not had time to dry out, you can try to carefully separate them and graft them.
By the way
Light shading of citrus fruits from the scorching rays of the sun promotes the formation of healthy, dark green foliage. When placed in direct sunlight, the plants' leaves will turn pale green, and after a gloomy winter, they may become scorched in the spring. On the contrary, in dark room Citrus trees gradually shed their leaves, and new leaves, if they appear, are small and deformed.
Therefore, it is recommended to keep plants in a window facing north-west or south-east in the summer (these windows are less sunny, but also less hot), and in the winter - to the south and south-west, so that the plant will receive uniform lighting throughout the year. But, of course, such rearrangements are possible in apartments and houses where the windows are on opposite sides.
You can also move the plants deeper into the room in the summer, and in winter, on the contrary, move the plants as close to the window as possible.
The fruits of orange and lemon are different when there is a lack of light increased acidity. However, in summer, plants must be shaded from the sun in the afternoon.
Citrus pests
Scale insects: this pest is not difficult to detect; scale insects are clearly visible on citrus fruits, but they cause significant harm - spreading throughout the entire tree, their brown shields stick to the stems, petioles, and leaves. If you run your fingernail across the shield, a damp spot remains. In a microscope, these pests are similar in shape, excuse the comparison, to fascist helmets, furry on the inside, and just as nasty: they suck out cell sap, leaves lose color, dry out and fall off.
Control measures: if your citrus tree is small, it is better to take it to the bathroom and wash the stems and leaves with a soapy sponge. If the large tree is in a bucket or tub, wipe all accessible areas with a cotton pad soaked in alcohol.
Now we need the insecticide Aktara (or confidor), it is effective against any scale insects, including scale insects. You need to dilute the drug according to the instructions and pour lemon or orange under the root, and then spray thoroughly over the leaves. Repeat treatment after a week.
Other insecticides are also produced against scale insects and other insect pests: actellik, fitoverm, karbofos, decis and others. But they are smellier, toxic and are highly undesirable to use at home.
Spider mites are one of the most disgusting and... frequent pests on citrus fruits. Ticks are dangerous because:
- multiply and develop rapidly
- it is extremely difficult to wash them off - they hide in the axils of the leaves, in the buds, in upper layers soil
- Conventional insecticides are not effective against them, but only special preparations - acaricides
- after two treatments, ticks develop resistance - the new generation is more resistant to active substance drug.
Signs of mites on citrus fruits
- leaves have yellowish or whitish spots without clear boundaries
- streaks and dots are gray or silvery, especially noticeable on young leaves
- deformed flower petals, young leaves, shriveled buds
- on back side leaves small grains, crumbs, husks - the pests themselves and skins from molting
- with high magnification (loupe, microscope), a very fine web is visible.
Therefore, if you have ever had mites, you will have to observe and observe and periodically, at least once a month, carefully inspect the entire plant
Control measures. To begin, wash off or wipe off the pests by hand. To do this, you will either have to take the pot to the bathroom or shower, put the pot on its side so that the leaves are hanging, and water it with a powerful pressure of a hot shower; or wash each leaf by hand - take it and wipe it on both sides.
The problem is that there are no systemic drugs against ticks - just pour water on them and the ticks will die. Only enteric contact: sprayed, took out the tick. Wherever the solution gets in, the mites will survive and continue to reproduce.
Against ticks, it is worth trying such products as Apallo, Vermitec, Oberon, etc.
Read more about pests of indoor plants in the section "pests"
Growing citrus fruits at home is often of interest to indoor gardening enthusiasts. Citrus indoor plants, when grown in an apartment or office, do not always produce tasty fruit, but they decorate the interior, refresh the air, and with their appearance and aroma help create a unique atmosphere in the room.
Many people think about how to grow indoor citrus crops in the house, but, not knowing the basic rules of care, they consider this idea to be futile. But citrus fruits in pots on the windowsill can please not only with their decorative value; if you choose the right varieties and learn in advance how to grow them indoors, you can also get fruits. Although most often orange or tangerine tree bears very sour fruit.
It is not difficult to grow a tree from a seed at home - if you take it from ripe fruit, bought at the market, planted immediately in a nutrient substrate, then after a month it will most likely germinate. Having created the necessary conditions, providing the plant proper care, you can get fruits in 8–10, and sometimes even 20 years. Moreover, only grapefruits and lemons will be acceptable to taste, while oranges and tangerines are usually too sour. It is better to use such a tree as a rootstock and graft onto it one of the varieties specially created for growing indoors.
Among lemon lovers, the following varieties are popular: Pavlovsky, Novogruzinsky, Maikopsky, Genoa. All of them form compact trees from 1 to 2 meters in height; at the age of 3–5 years they begin to bear fruit, producing numerous, like Maikop or large, like Novogruzinsky, fruits.
You can buy the following varieties of oranges for growing in a pot: Pavlovsky (the most popular), Gamplin (the most productive), Adjarian seedless (its slightly flattened fruits, however, do not contain seeds), Pear-shaped Kinglet (with sweet pear-shaped fruits).
Tangerines take root most easily at home, the Kovano-Vase variety begins to bloom in the second year, Sochinsky 23 produces large fruits (80 g), and Clementine (obtained by crossing with the Korolek orange) is known for the sweetness of its fruits.
Kumquat (or Fortunella) is also often classified as a citrus fruit. At home, they grow it or hybrids obtained by crossing this plant with orange (oranzhevat), tangerine (calomondin), and lime (limequat).
Where to put the tree
Since citrus crops in natural conditions prefer the tropics and subtropics, they need to create similar conditions at home - warm, humid air, daylight hours of at least 12 hours. If we want to get fruits, then it is important to give the plants winter period rest for several months. So the growing season will last from February to October, this is the time when you need to provide the trees with an air temperature of +19 to +27 degrees, humidity at 60-70 percent, bright sunlight for 10-12 hours. And the rest period will begin in November and will take over all the most dark time in our latitudes, will last until February. During this time, the air temperature should be reduced to +12 – + 14 degrees, and the humidity should be kept at least 55–60 percent.
The best place for citrus fruits is on a windowsill facing south, southwest, southeast or east side. There should be a lot of sunlight, but direct and very active rays in summer can cause harm; light shading should be provided.
The pot with the tree can be moved to the garden or balcony for the summer - Fresh air It will do him good, you just need to shade it from too active sun and monitor the air humidity. The pots are brought home when the air temperature drops to +14 degrees.
Only a change in place and the entire atmosphere can cause stress, so it is not recommended to turn the pots sharply relative to the sun; it is allowed to turn no more than 10 degrees after 10–15 days. But in winter, when the battery is located close to the windowsill, it is problematic to reduce the air temperature to the required levels, so many gardeners have to move the tree again to another room.
Features of care
The rules of care are based on the fact that tropical crops love warmth, moisture and light. Since the plant can receive nutrition only from a small earthen clod, it needs regular feeding from February to October. Like any indoor plant, a citrus tree will have to be replanted from time to time. If you follow the rules of watering, fertilizing, replacing dishes and soil, then even in our apartments and offices these aliens from tropical and subtropical latitudes will feel quite comfortable. A correct pruning will help not only to form a beautiful tree, but will promote long-term and abundant fruiting.
Watering
These plants really need moisture, but stagnation of water in the pot threatens to rot the roots, so when planting it is necessary to organize a drainage layer and check the water permeability of the soil. Watering is carried out only with settled water at room temperature (that is, the water should be approximately the same temperature as the air).
The frequency of watering depends on the season, condition and air temperature. In summer, watering is possible every other day, sometimes even daily, but in winter, watering is limited to every 3-4 weeks; it is important not to let the soil dry out. But in the summer it is worth watering when the soil in the pot dries out by one third of the total volume. It is good to grow citrus fruits in clay pots– they not only allow air to pass through, but also regulate humidity: they absorb excess water and, if necessary, release it again.
Citrus fruits respond well to spraying, thanks to which the leaves receive the necessary moisture from the air, rather than evaporate it. in summer hot weather Spraying with clean, settled water at room temperature is carried out daily. And on hot battery central heating You can put a wet towel to increase air humidity.
Trimming
It is necessary to form the crown of a tree when it grows 25 - 30 cm, usually this happens in the first year of life. The top bud is pinched to stimulate the growth of the lateral ones, thereby limiting the length of the main shoot, which will become the trunk. Then several main skeletal branches are selected, and the remaining side branches are removed. Skeletal branches are shortened by a third so that they are overgrown with new branches. In the future, branches with fruits are shortened annually after harvesting.
The main pruning of citrus fruits occurs in February, when the tree has not yet emerged from the dormant period and has not begun active growth, but in the summer you can pinch the shoots, stimulating the development of small branches. They cut off the branches as usual for everyone fruit trees and bushes, above a bud growing away from the middle of the crown. You need to use clean, sharp pruning shears, trying to cause the least harm to the plant.
Experts recommend not allowing fruiting until the crown is fully formed. After that mature plant requires regular removal of broken or diseased branches, those shoots that grow inside the crown or simply thicken it too much, and shortening of shoots that, as they grow, disturb the shape of the crown.
Top dressing
A tree grown in a pot on a window is larger garden plants needs regular feeding. They are carried out only during the active growing season, the first fertilizing can be done at the end of February or early March, the subsequent ones are carried out every 2-3 weeks, the frequency will be determined by the condition of the plant and its growth rate. The first few times nitrogen fertilizers are applied, which are necessary for active growth greenery, then the tree needs more phosphorus, potassium and other elements.
The basic rule of fertilizers is that it is better to underfeed than to overfeed. Flaw useful substances it is much easier to fix than their excess, which can lead to burns of the roots. It will tell you about the lack of one or another element. appearance plants. A lack of nitrogen is indicated by the absence of a rich green color of the leaves, a lack of potassium will affect the curved shape of the fruits and their premature falling, a lack of phosphorus does not allow the fruits and young wood of the shoots to ripen. Iron, magnesium, manganese, calcium - all these elements are needed by plants; their deficiency can cause discoloration or curling of leaves. By the way, when watering with hard water, you do not need separate supplements with calcium and iron.
Fertilizing is done by spraying (foliar) and watering (root) with special solutions. You can water the fertilizer solution only on damp soil, after the main watering.
From organic fertilizers The best solution is an infusion of slurry, infused for several days, drained without sediment and diluted tenfold. A more saturated solution may burn the roots. Mineral fertilizers include superphosphate, potassium and ammonium nitrate. Usually people who do not have a dacha or household plot use only mineral fertilizers, bought in a store. They need to be prepared as described in the instructions, and then diluted several times with water before use.
Transfer
In the spring, when the dormant period has already ended, the plants are transplanted into a new pot, which is several centimeters wider and deeper than the previous one. Transplantation is carried out by transshipment after 2–3 years for an adult plant and after a year for a young one, but only if the entire earthen lump entangled in roots. There is no need to free them from the soil; after abundant watering, the plant is removed from the pot, carefully cleaned of the drainage layer (if it is attached to the roots), only the soil that falls off painlessly is removed, and then placed in a new pot, where new fertile soil is added. priming.
How to propagate citrus fruits
Citrus fruits are propagated by cuttings, layering, and seeds. Strong plants can grow from seeds, but they will not retain the characteristics of the variety, they will not begin to bear fruit soon, and they may not bear fruit at all. They are usually grafted with the desired variety. Cuttings are cut 10–15 cm long with 3–4 buds in autumn or spring, and they are rooted in water or soil. If the branch is long enough, it is buried in the ground, after making a ring-shaped cut in the bark. If this is not possible, then do it air layering– the soil is simply attached to the branch using adhesive tape and a sawn flower pot.
Video “Growing citrus fruits at home”
From this video you will learn how to grow citrus fruits at home.