Any backyard or garden is more beautiful when it has an orange tree. These trees produce not only very fragrant leaves, but also delicious fruit. It is very easy to germinate orange seeds, but the plant can take from seven to 15 years to bear fruit under these conditions. If you want something faster, you'd better buy something grafted from a nursery. On the other hand, if you want to do it all yourself, read the tips in this tutorial.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Gathering and Cleaning Seeds
Step 1. Remove seeds from an orange
Cut the fruit in half to find them and use a spoon or knife to extract. The tree you plant from these seeds will likely bear similar fruit; so choose a variety that you like.
Some varieties of oranges have no seeds - and therefore nothing can be grown from them
Step 2. Pick and clean the seeds
Set aside those that are large and healthy and whole, free of blemishes, marks, cracks, discoloration, or other imperfections. Use a dish towel to clean them and remove all pulp and juice residues, and finally transfer them to a bowl of clean water.
- This seed cleaning also removes mold and mildew spores and prevents fruit fly infestations.
- You can clean and germinate all the orange seeds and then choose the biggest and healthiest ones for planting.
Step 3. Soak the seeds in water
Fill a small bowl with clean, room temperature water and leave the seeds in the liquid for 24 hours. This process increases the likelihood that they will germinate, as their shell becomes softer and accelerates development.
- After soaking the seeds in water for 24 hours, take them out of the bowl and place them on a clean cloth.
- Do not soak the seeds for more than 24 hours, or they may become soggy and infertile.
Part 2 of 3: Germinating the Seeds
Step 1. Transfer the seeds to a pot or prepared soil
Buy a 10 cm pot with holes in the bottom or set aside a suitable planting spot in your yard or garden. If you choose direct planting, dig a little of the soil and put the seeds there; if you choose the pot, put a thin layer of gravel at the bottom to improve water drainage; then fill the rest with the substrate. Finally, make a 1.5 cm hole in the middle of the soil with your finger, place the seed and cover everything.
After transplanting the seed to the pot, place it in a place that receives direct sunlight every day
Step 2. Fertilize and water the sprouts as they grow
Newborn sprouts need some simpler fertilizer, like compost tea. Put enough of the product in place to moisten the soil and repeat the process every two weeks. Water it well once a week or whenever it gets too dry.
- If the soil gets too dry too often, the orange tree will not survive.
- As the shoots grow into trees, they will grow larger and produce leaves.
Part 3 of 3: Transferring the seedlings
Step 1. Prepare a larger pot when the plants start to produce leaves
After a few weeks, when the seedling has a few leaves and is bigger, you will have to transplant it to a suitable structure, such as a 20-25 cm pot with holes in the bottom (for the layer of gravel).
- Fill much of the base with a suitable substrate. Mix some peat and sand to give the plant a well-draining, slightly acidic soil. Orange trees need a pH between 6, 0 and 7.0.
- You can also buy specific substrates for citrus plants from florists and nurseries.
Step 2. Plant the seedling in a larger pot
Make a hole in the middle of the new pot's substrate about 5 cm deep and wide. First, put a layer of substrate at the bottom of the pot; then shake the structure so that the products mix and become looser. In this process, remove the substrate and seeds from the pot at once and transfer everything to another. Finally, fill the area near the root with more substrate.
Water the soil immediately afterwards to make it very moist
Step 3. Put the vase in a very sunny place
Places close to the directions where the sun shines will do, but a solarium or greenhouse is ideal.
If you live in a warm place, you can take the pot with the plant to your yard or garden in spring and summer, as long as it protects it from gusts of wind
Step 4. Water the plant frequently
Orange trees need plenty of water. During the hot spring and summer months, water the plant well once a week. In areas where it rains a lot, water it when necessary to prevent the soil from drying out.
In the winter months, only water the soil when its top layer is a little dry
Step 5. Fertilize the plant as it grows
Orange trees need a lot of nutrients. Apply a balanced fertilizer, such as a 6-6-6, twice a year: once in early spring and once in early fall. This is even more important in the early years, before the tree bears fruit.
There are also specific fertilizers for citrus trees
Step 6. Transplant the plant into larger pots or sunny places as it grows
When she is about a year old, take her to a pot of 10-30 centimeters. After that, repeat the process every March. If you live in an area that is relatively warm year-round, simply take the plant to a sunny location outside the house.
- Orange trees do not usually survive when exposed to temperatures below -4 °C; thus, do not permanently transplant them to colder places (although this is very rare in Brazil, occurring very rarely and only in the southern states).
- Adult orange trees are big; if you live in a cooler climate, plant them in a solarium or greenhouse if possible.