Citrus indoor plants - home care

People have learned to grow fruit trees in their homes for a long time. They develop well indoors, grow quickly, lend themselves to molding, bloom and delight their owners with delicious fruits. Some of the most popular are citrus houseplants.

Citrus trees grow in India, Australia, China, Japan, tropical or subtropical climates. In these regions, there is always warm and humid air, there is enough sunlight throughout the year. Delicious and aromatic fruits grow on trees and bushes. Trees in natural conditions grow up to 12 m in height.

The peculiarities of growing citrus plants include their uneven growth: the violent development of young shoots alternates with a dormant period.

Homemade citrus

Citrus fruits are mainly remontant plants and can produce crops several times a year.

For fruit, it is best to purchase grafted seedlings or rooted Citrus cuttings.

Their flowers are bisexual.

Although most Citrus fruits are self-pollinating, flower growers recommend artificial pollination. This will increase the yield of fruits.

Fruit ripening period lasts from 5 to 9 months.

Reproduction of plants is carried out using seeds, as well as by cuttings and grafting.

Types of Citrus for home

Many varieties of Citrus are grown indoors. The most common are:

citrus;
citron;
tangerine or citrus net;
kumquat or fortunella;
calamondine or citrofortunella;
lemon;
grapefruit.

Citrus Diseases

Indoor trees: caring for the Arabica coffee plant at home

Diseases can be associated with physiological disorders caused by a deficiency or, conversely, an excess of trace elements.

Some signs of excess or deficiency of micronutrients:

Mature leaves are dull and yellow. This is due to a lack of nitrogen. If there is a rapid growth of young shoots, the plant fattens and does not bloom, then an excess of nitrogen in the soil is possible.
Leaves turn yellow and shrink, flowering is weak. Possible lack of phosphorus in the soil. With an excess of a trace element, the plant develops and grows poorly;
The leaf plate warps, pits form on it, folds appear on the leaf along the veins, some of the branches die off, foliage falls off during the flowering period. This is possible due to a lack of potassium. With an excess of potassium, brown necrotic burns appear at the edges of the leaf;

Lemon leaf with a lack of potassium

The growth of defective young leaves, the death of growth points are provoked by a lack of calcium and boron;
With a lack of iron, manganese, zinc or sulfur, leaf chlorosis is observed (green veins are clearly visible on yellow leaves), young shoots die off.

Citrus plant disease can be caused by pests. These include:

scale and pseudo-scale (the appearance of wax plaques on leaves and branches);
mealybug (the appearance of white lumps in the axils of the leaves);
aphids (clusters of small black insects on young shoots);
spider mite (yellow dots form on the leaves, white bloom appears below).

Fungal diseases include:

malseko (branches turn black, then begin to dry);
gum removal (the appearance of fluid from the wound on the branches and trunk);

Gum therapy

anthractosis (the appearance of wet spots on the leaf, which eventually merge into one);
powdery mildew (white bloom on the leaves).

If a disease is detected, it is necessary to adjust the watering and feeding of the plant. In case of fungal diseases, damaged branches are removed and sprayed with fungicides.

Indoor citrus care

In order for indoor citrus to develop and bear fruit normally, it is necessary to organize proper watering, lighting, and also set the optimal temperature and humidity.

Watering mode

Ehmeya - home care, indoor types

Water the plants moderately and regularly. They do not like droughts, but waterlogging is also unacceptable for them. The signal for irrigation is the upper dried soil layer. In summer, watering is done daily, in winter - as needed, the main thing is that the soil does not dry out.

Attention! After watering has been done correctly, some of the water should drain into the sump.

Temperature and humidity

For the normal development and fruiting of plants, the ambient temperature should be in the range from +18 to + 22 ° С. Higher and lower lead to inhibition of the development of the indoor plant.

In the spring-summer period, the flower pot can be taken out to the loggia or balcony.

It is also necessary to keep the humidity around 70%. To do this, in the summer, the leaves are wiped with a damp cloth, a humidifier is installed near the flower pot or the plant is sprayed with soft water.

Top dressing

Fertilizers are applied only during the growing season. Top dressing is performed in a pre-moistened soil.

To maintain beneficial microflora, use the drug Baikal or Vostok EM-1.

You can feed it with organic fertilizers. To do this, take an infusion of horse manure at the rate of 100 g per 1 liter of water. Infuse fertilizer for 2 weeks.

You can use an infusion of chicken manure or cow dung in a proportion of 40 g per 1 liter of water.

Note! For the introduction of mineral fertilizing, special complex fertilizers for citrus fruits are used.

Mineral and organic fertilizers are applied alternately every 10 days.

Nitrogenous compounds are not used during flowering. During this period, the plant needs phosphorus and calcium.

Wintering plants

In winter, the air temperature should be lowered. If the room is warm, then the life processes of the tree will proceed quite actively. Since photosynthesis of citrus is slowed down during this period, the plant does not receive additional energy. As a result, the tree will be depleted, this can lead to its death.

This time is called the dormant period. It runs from November to February. Then the wood ripens in the citrus, young shoots do not grow.

The air temperature during this period is maintained depending on the type of Citrus. To maintain 12 hour daylight hours for citrus, artificial lighting is arranged.

Pitted orange at home

Rhipsalidopsis: home care and plant varieties

An orange tree can be grown at home from store-bought orange seeds. However, in this case, it will bloom no earlier than in 7-10 years. In a pot, it can reach 3 meters in height.

Orange tree

If you want to get a harvest faster, then it is better to plant the orange or propagate it using cuttings. After grafting or after planting the cuttings, the plant can bloom in 3-4 years.

Conditions for sprouting orange seeds

In order to grow a seedling, you must adhere to the following step-by-step procedure:

Seed preparation;
Preparation of soil and containers for growing a seedling;
Planting seeds;
Sowing care;
Picking and transplanting a finished seedling.

It is better to plant an orange in early spring, so that natural light for the seedlings is sufficient.

How to choose the fruit of the right ripeness and separate the seed

To obtain seeds, you need to take fully ripe fruits, without damage and rot. Ripe oranges have a rich specific smell, they are heavy by weight. The fruit should be evenly colored and free from spots.

The most rounded, large and full-bodied seeds are chosen. They are immediately freed from the pulp, washed in water and soaked for 12-24 hours in water or Epin's solution or other growth stimulant. Soaking will soften the outer shell of the seed, allowing the seed to germinate faster.

Attention! Dried seeds are not used for germination as the dense skin will inhibit germination.

Preparing the soil mixture and choosing a pot

Planting soil can be purchased at the store, you can do it yourself. For the preparation of the soil mixture, leafy soil, sand and peat, taken in equal amounts, or leafy soil and peat are used.

For sowing, you can use small containers with drainage holes.

Seed preparation stages

A drainage layer of expanded clay, vermiculite, etc. is laid at the bottom of the pot. Pour soil on top and tamp it a little.

Planting and growing seedlings

The seed must be planted shallowly, to a depth of 1-1.5 cm.

Prepared pots are placed in a warm place. Lighting does not matter at this stage. To create a greenhouse effect, they are covered with a piece of polyethylene or a cut plastic bottle on top.

You can pre-germinate the seeds. To do this, place a cloth in the container, which is pre-moistened. Seeds are placed on it, which are also covered with a damp cloth on top. Arrange a greenhouse. The seeds will sprout in a few weeks. After the emergence of seedlings, the seedlings are transferred to a well-lit place.

When 2 leaves appear, the seedlings must be picked, when 4 leaves appear, they are transplanted by transferring to a permanent place.

Orange tree saplings

Sapling pots are placed on the southeast or southwest window sills.

Watering the seed and sprout

When germinating the seed, the soil should not be overdried and waterlogged. Therefore, the ground is periodically sprayed with water from a spray bottle. After emergence, the soil should also be moderately moist.

Citrofortunella home care (calamondin)

Calamandin what is it

Another evergreen citrus plant with a beautiful name is calamondin citrus. It appeared as a result of crossing kinkan and mandarin plants. It is also called Chinese mandarin and golden orange. Grown indoors, as well as in winter gardens. It can be presented in standard form or as a bonsai.

Bonsai calamondin

Under natural conditions, it grows from 3 to 7 m in height, at home - from 0.6 to 1.5 m.

The flowers are white, self-pollinating.

The fruit of calamondin is orange, round, slightly flattened at the top and bottom, up to 4.5 cm in size. The pulp is sour, consists of 6-8 lobules, covered with a thin fragrant skin.

Care

Citrofortunella grows well in indoor conditions. Calamondin care consists in creating optimal conditions for the development and fruiting of the plant.

Illumination

One of the requirements for caring for calamondin at home is the organization of lighting.Daylight hours should not be less than 12 hours, so in winter there is a need for artificial lighting. In summer, it is advisable to place a citrus hybrid in the garden. The place should be slightly shaded so that direct sunlight does not fall on the plant.

Temperature regime

During the growing season, the ambient temperature should be within the range from +18 to 27 ° C. If the temperature is high, the plant will shed its fruits.

Calamondin fruit

During the rest period, the temperature is reduced to + 10-15 ° C.

How to water

The soil in the pot should be moderately moist. Water the plant daily in summer, in winter - no more than 1 time in 1-2 weeks.

For watering, the water should be soft and at room temperature. After watering, the water that has poured into the pan is removed. If the air is dry, then the crown is additionally sprayed.