Who hasn't put an orange or lemon seed in the ground and seen a small plant grow after a short time? Such self-grown plants are the gardener's pride - especially when the tree flowers for the first time.
Grow an orange tree from sticks
Choose young orange tree shoots with several buds and one or two leaves as sticks. These cuttings should be 4 to 6 inches long. Trim the leaves (i.e. the tip of the leaf and the top third are cut straight off). Now stick the wood about four centimeters deep into the ground, there should be at least two buds under the ground. Root formation is stimulated by treatment with rooting hormones.
Cuttings need a constant 25 °C
Orange tree cuttings take root very quickly in a mini greenhouse (€7.95) at temperatures around 25 °C. After watering, the greenhouse should be placed in a partially shaded, warm place. A thermometer helps to monitor and maintain the temperature of 25°C. Check the humidity regularly - orange trees need high humidity.
Cuttings are delicate
Plants grown from cuttings are always more root sensitive than grafted plants, especially root rot and sensitivity to cold. The growth vigour, as a rule, increases enormously with cuttings, so that some varieties as container plants often have to be pruned back vigorously.
Sow orange seeds
An alternative is, of course, to grow a tree from seeds. Seeds from orange trees can only germinate for about a week after they have been removed from the fruit (it must be fresh and fully ripe!). They should therefore be placed one to two centimeters deep in sandy seed soil immediately after removal from the fruit. At temperatures between 20 and 30 °C, the seedlings should be kept evenly moist. The seeds germinate after about two to four weeks. If sowing in winter, you should also install a plant lamp (€21.99).
Why isn't the seedling blooming?
Orange trees grown from seed rarely flower. The reason for this is that orange seedlings go through a pronounced youth phase with strong growth and large thorn formation in the first eight to twelve years. If the trees are also regularly pruned during this time, they will never reach their intended “adult” size and never begin to flower. This is how you can still encourage your seedling to bloom:
- Do not prune seedling until flowering (caution! Orange trees grow strongly!)
- grafting a one-year-old seedling
tips and tricks
If possible, choose a slow-growing rootstock for grafting. In the case of orange trees, bitter oranges (bitter oranges) or the hardy bitter lemons (Citrus trifoliata) have proven particularly effective. The refinement also makes the tree more resistant.