Oranges are beautiful and ideal for growing at home or in the garden. Not only do they produce beautiful flowers, but mature specimens will bear fruit as well. It is quite easy to sprout orange seeds, but it can take 7-15 years for a tree grown this way to bear fruit. If you'd rather get the fruit first, it's best to purchase a planted tree from a nursery. If, on the other hand, you are interested in trying a fun project and want to grow a tree in your home or garden, sprouting an orange seed is an easy way to do it.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Getting and Cleaning the Seeds
Step 1. Remove the seeds from the orange
Slice it in half to get to the seeds, which you can remove with a spoon or knife. The tree that grows will produce similar fruit to the original, so be sure to choose a seed of an orange variety you like.
Some varieties of oranges, such as new and clementines, do not have seeds and therefore you will not be able to use them to give birth to a tree
Step 2. Select and clean the seeds
Look for larger, undamaged, healthy ones that don't show stains, marks, indentations, cracks, discolorations, and other imperfections. Put the seeds in a bowl and fill it with clean water. Use a cloth to scrub them and remove all traces of juice and pulp.
- Cleaning the seeds is important to remove fungi, mold spores and to prevent a fruit fly infestation.
- You can clean and germinate all the seeds of an orange, then plant only the largest and healthiest ones.
Step 3. Soak the seeds
Fill a bowl with clean water at room temperature. Put the seeds in the water and let them soak for 24 hours. This method increases the chances of them sprouting, because soaking softens the coating and starts germination.
- After 24 hours of soaking, drain the water and place the seeds on a clean cloth.
- Do not leave the seeds in the water for longer, as they may fill with water and not sprout.
Part 2 of 3: Sprouting the Seeds
Step 1. Place the seeds in a pot you have prepared or in the ground
Get a 10cm diameter pot with drainage holes in the bottom or find a suitable spot in the garden to plant the seed. If you have decided to grow the plant directly in the ground, dig a small hole and put the seed in the bottom. If you want to use a pot instead, fill the bottom with a thin layer of pebbles to improve drainage, then fill the rest with potting soil. Dig a 1.5 cm hole in the center of the pot with your finger. Place the seed in the hole and cover it with potting soil.
Once you put the seed in the pot, make sure it gets plenty of direct sunlight every day
Step 2. Fertilize and water the sprouts as they grow
Newborn seedlings grow best with a mild fertilizer, such as tea compost. Add enough compost to moisten the soil. Repeat every 2 weeks. Water the soil well once a week or when the soil becomes dry.
- If the soil dries out too often, the tree will not survive.
- As the seedling grows into a tree, it will grow in size and produce leaves.
Part 3 of 3: Transfer the Seedling
Step 1. Prepare a larger pot when the first leaves appear
After a few weeks, the seedling will produce a few leaves and increase in size. At that point it is necessary to pour it into a larger container. Use a 10 or 15 cm pot. Make sure it has drainage holes and put a layer of stones or gravel on the bottom.
- Fill the pot most of its volume with soil. Add a handful of peat and sand to make sure the tree's available soil drains well and is slightly acidic. Orange trees like a pH between 6 and 7.0.
- You can also look for citrus-specific soil at a garden store.
Step 2. Move the seedlings to a larger pot
Dig a hole in the center of the soil in the new pot about 2 inches deep and wide. Then, press or tap the pot containing the seedling to loosen the soil. As you do this, let the earth slide along with the roots into the new pot. After racking, fill the area next to the roots with more soil.
Water the soil right away so it is moist
Step 3. Place the pot in a sunlit spot
Move the tree to an area that receives lots of direct sunlight. A great location is near a south- or southeast-facing window, but the plant will grow even better in a greenhouse or solarium.
In warm climate areas, you can transplant the tree outdoors in spring and summer, but make sure it is protected from strong winds
Step 4. Water the plant well
Oranges need a lot of water. During the warm spring and summer months, water the plant well once a week. In areas where it rains often, water when needed to make sure the soil is moist.
In winter, allow the top layer of soil to partially dry out before watering
Step 5. Fertilize the growing sapling
Oranges need a lot of nutrients. Feed them a balanced fertilizer, for example 6-6-6, twice a year. Do this in the first days of spring and early fall. This is especially important in the first few years of the plant's life, before it starts producing fruit.
There are citrus-specific fertilizers that you can find at garden stores
Step 6. When the tree has grown, place it in a larger pot or take it outside
After about a year of life, transfer the plant to a 25-30cm pot. Then, increase the size of the pot every year in March. Alternatively, if you live in an area where the weather is relatively warm all year round, you can move the tree to a sunny spot in the garden.
- Orange trees do not usually survive in temperatures that drop below -4 ° C, so they cannot be permanently transplanted outdoors in colder areas.
- Adult oranges are large; so if you live in an area with a harsh climate, keep the plant in a solarium or greenhouse if you have the possibility.
