Mandarin orange seeds

Mandarin orange also known as mandarin or mandarine / Cītrus reticulata

Bright orange fruits, neat glossy leaves, an elegant trunk - the tangerine tree looks simply amazing. However, to enjoy its beauty, it is not at all necessary to go to tropical countries.

You can grow such a tree with your own hands, right on the windowsill in an apartment or a country house. The point is small: choose the right materials for planting, and then provide proper care.

Land preparation and pot selection features

Mandarin is a tree that does not accept acidic soil, so there should be no peat in the substrate. It is most convenient to purchase a ready-made mixture in the store, which is marked pH \u003d 6.5-7 (this is how neutral soils are designated). If you want to make the substrate yourself, then you need to mix:

• Two parts of rotted humus;
• Two parts of forest land;
• One part of the sifted river sand.

It is advisable to plant seeds in small containers, for example, plastic cups are suitable, the volume of which is about 200 ml. At the same time, their depth should be at least 7-9 centimeters. There must be drainage holes at the bottom.

Planting seeds

When trying to grow any of the citrus fruits yourself, remember a simple rule: the faster the seed from the fruit enters the soil, the greater the chance that it will sprout. Ideally, if you take out a stone from a mandarin fruit and immediately dig it into a previously prepared container with a substrate to a depth of 4 centimeters.

It also happens that it is not possible to plant seeds “immediately”. If they are a little dry, then before planting, you need to soak the seeds for a few days. This will speed up the process of their germination. The seeds should be “soaked” in a flat dish, wrapping the seeds in a damp cloth. It is acceptable to place this container in an ajar plastic bag.

How fast do tangerine seeds germinate?

It is impossible to give an unambiguous answer to the question of how long it will take for a mandarin seed to germinate. Under the most favorable conditions, the sprout hatches after 15 days, but most often it takes about a month. While waiting for the sprout, follow these simple rules:

1. Keep a close eye on soil moisture as well as ambient temperature. Ideally, if the room temperature is from +20 to +25 degrees Celsius.
2. It is not recommended to place pots with planted seeds in mini-greenhouses. Tangerines are distinguished by good seed germination, so germination in greenhouse conditions can play a cruel joke. Subsequently, the plant will have to be adapted from scratch to room conditions, which is quite difficult.

How to transplant tangerine tree seedlings?

There are several options:

• If several tangerine seeds are planted in one container, then when the first four leaves appear, you need to “distribute” them into separate pots. In this case, the most powerful and “strong” specimens should be chosen, and deformed and weak ones can be rejected.
• For citrus plants, seed multigermination is quite common. Therefore, from one tangerine seed, two sprouts can appear at once. In such a situation, there are two options: you can pinch a weaker plant or plant the sprouts in different containers (in the vast majority of cases, each of them has its own root system).

After the roots of young plants occupy the entire volume of a cup or pot, you need to transplant into a more spacious one. However, you should not immediately choose pots of a very large volume, since in this case there is a high probability of waterlogging the earthen coma, which will lead to stress for the plant.

Already strong, albeit small, tangerine trees are transplanted once a year. When the plant begins to bear fruit, the regularity of transplantation is reduced to once every 2-3 years, while each time the diameter of the pot is increased by 4-6 centimeters (and with an annual transplant - by 1 cm). Adult and large specimens do not need to be transplanted; such tangerine trees only renew the top layer of soil in a pot.

Caring for a tangerine tree at home

The tangerine tree requires careful care, the main points of which are:

• The indoor temperature in summer is 20°С-25°С. On warm days, the plant can be taken out into the open air, but at night it is better to bring it into the house so that the tree does not freeze. In winter, the optimum temperature is 5°-10°C.
• Sufficient lighting. The tree is not afraid of direct sunlight. The lack of light affects the growth of the tree, and its leaves become small and fall off.
• Mandarin requires frequent watering - in the summer several times a day. At the same time, this is done less often in winter - 3-4 times a week.