An orange at home is a very whimsical plant that requires careful care. But even with such a tree, it will not bear fruit earlier than in seven to ten years. And maybe more than that, you will not even enjoy the harvest at all. But in any case, to observe how the tree grows by its own hand is an incomparable pleasure. Moreover, the orange tree is very beautiful, and certainly will take a worthy place in the interior of your house.
You can begin the process of growing an orange at home right after you eat the sweetest and tastiest orange and take out all the bones from it. You need to make a small pot with holes in the bottom, fill it with a special ground for citrus - this is sold in any flower shop - and at a depth of two centimeters to drop all available bones. The land must be moistened, the orange loves water very much. In order to break through the growth, the plant needs to create a familiar atmosphere - that is, high humidity and temperature. To do this, pull the cellophane bag on the pot. It turns out a miniature version of the greenhouse, which is done in the vegetable gardens for quick ripening of vegetables.
A pot of seedlings needs to be placed in a bright place, but direct sunlight should be avoided. In the evening, when the sun goes away, you need to remove the packet from the pot, giving plants a "breathe". Do not forget to water the pot with water at room temperature, while standing water is best. After 15-20 days, the first shoots will appear. It is advisable, after the emergence of sprouts, another week to observe their growth in order to select the strongest. Transplant plants need about a year, but it is possible and early, preferably in spring, picking up the pot to size, so as not to impede the development of the root system. Remember, at the initial stage you should not only think about how to grow an orange, but also how correctly it is later to transplant.
As mentioned above, an orange at home is a plant that requires careful care. Find for your pet a place where there is a lot of light, but there is no direct sunlight. You can also use additional lighting. As the tree stretches towards the light, it is quite possible that the branches turned to the window will be developed more strongly than the others. To avoid uneven development, occasionally turn the plant slightly. It is not recommended to move the capricious citrus - the plant does not tolerate changes in location.
The room should be sufficiently wet, as the tree reacts poorly to dry air. It is necessary to spray the plant regularly or to place a humidifier next to it. From time to time - every three weeks - you need to shower. In doing so, it should be remembered that watering the plant should only be warm, standing water, so during the shower you need to cover the ground, watering only the crown. In summer and in spring, watering should be abundant, because only so you can grow an orange at home, for this do not forget twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, water the plant.
In order for the plant to begin to bear fruit more quickly, a special feeding is needed, which can be purchased in specialized stores. Fertilizers also improve the taste of oranges, which often gives bitter fruit in the room. However, it is extremely difficult to get fruits from a tree in the garden, despite the fact that the fruit is fruitful during self-pollination. The fact is that flowering in the plant occurs at a temperature of +15 +18 degrees, which is very difficult to achieve at home. The only option - glazed and insulated loggia, where you can keep the tree from autumn to spring. But in any case, in order to have a crop, the plant needs to be planted. Do it yourself, without having the experience, it is quite difficult, so it's better to turn to specialists. For these purposes, you can use twigs of lemon, orange or grapefruit from a fruit-bearing tree. This crossing will only improve the quality of the fruit.
Important for the appearance of fruits is the formation of the crown of the plant. If you do not help the tree and cut off the branches, it will not give branches of more than second order, and the fruits ripen only on branches of the fourth or fifth order. Without cropping, the orange grows up, and not in breadth, which makes it impossible to fructify. Cut the tips of the branches, leaving several kidneys on the cropped branch. Of these, branches of the second order will appear, which need to be trimmed with the same scheme. Then there is the following branching, which is also pruned, and so until the appearance of branches of the fifth order. The crown thus formed not only looks prettier, but it is also quite likely that it will help you to eat your own oranges after a while, and it would seem that not so long ago you were only planning to grow an orange at home, but now you are holding its fruits.
Now you know that you can grow an orange at home and thus refresh your surroundings in the house. Cultivation of citrus fruits in the home is a troublesome business, but extremely grateful: there is nothing more pleasant than collecting the own grown harvest.