Citrus house plants: species, features of growing and care

Grow citrus plants in the home - an interesting activity, but far from simple. Therefore, those who think that it will be enough to put a stone in the ground, are very mistaken, and you can not buy lemons for tea. Without special knowledge, the first crop of citrus potted plants, if they will, then not earlier than in twenty years.

But if you know some of the nuances and grow properly, observing all the rules, then you will be able to rejoice at the fruits much faster. But here it is also important not to make a mistake in choosing a variety. For cultivation on the windowsill, only those citrus house plants that were grafted on orange, lemon, grapefruit or kumquat seedlings will do. Not bad themselves, and those cultures that were grown from cuttings cut from fruit-bearing trees were also recommended.

Difficulties in growing domestic citrus plants

It would seem that it's easier: you need to go to a flower shop and buy a pot in which blooming or already yielding some kind of citrus - "golden orange", Meyer's lemon, home care is not very difficult, or mandarin. The tree just needs to be brought home, put on the windowsill in the right place and start watering. But this is not so, since it is really difficult to grow a lemon or mandarin at home, moreover, this process is somewhat different from taking care of ordinary specimens.

Those plants that are now sold in flower shops, most often fall on counters from abroad, mainly from Holland. There they are kept from the first day in ideal conditions: the optimum temperature for growth, high humidity, supplied with light, and the soil is constantly introduced fertilizers for citrus plants. When buying on dwarf trees at the time of their sale can be a dozen or more fruits.

But after falling on the window sills, beautiful citrus plants begin to immediately encounter stressful conditions. In our homes, the illumination is much lower - several times, and the air (especially in winter) is incredibly dry compared to the hothouse, and the growth stimulators stop helping later.

Therefore, in the conditions of deficiency of its internal resources, citrus house plants begin to give all their strength to preserve the fruits that they were so abundantly covered in the store. And as a result, the vast majority of purchased "pets" are dying.

Species suitable for growing a house

Man has long known citrus cultures. Their people are actively cultivating for so long that in nature it has become difficult to detect their wild-growing ancestors. Most often in the open ground, citrus fruits are cultivated in countries with a tropical or subtropical climate. And it is from there that their fruits are delivered to store shelves in all corners of the planet.

The beginning plant breeder, who can not pay too much attention and time to growing on his windowsill pet, you need to choose such varieties of citrus plant plants, which are easier to care for. If we talk about subspecies for a small apartment, then beginners prefer to grow lemon, mandarin and trifoliate, because their growth is easier to restrain. In turn, oranges, grapefruits or pomelos, characterized by large sizes, after a couple of decades have turned into a rather bulky tree.

As for exotic varieties, today a close relative of mandarin is quite common - citrus kumquat nagami, and also calamondin. Talking about amazing varieties, you must always mention the Hand of the Buddha.

Cutting

The most convenient option for those who decide to grow citrus culture on their own will, of course, be a young plant, which was purchased in a specialized store. But not always the purchased tree takes root in the house for many reasons. However, if the culture migrated from the store to the apartment, you need to contact the seller and get a recommendation from him for adapting citrus in the new conditions.

In the beginning, the plant needs to be examined. If it has fruits, then they will have to be cut off. Seven to ten days of citrus should be left in a shop pot, and only after this transplanted into a new one.

Advice

Best at home, citrus trees are grown, grown from the material obtained by cuttings. Of course, for beginners who do not know how to grow mandarin, lemon, etc., it will be difficult to reproduce the plant properly, but it's easy enough for those who have citrus growing in their house for several years.

Escape for the cut should be cut from a well-developed and healthy citrus tree. The length of planting material should be from ten to twelve centimeters. It must have at least three kidneys. It is not recommended to use both too young, and fairly old shoots that have dense wood.

April is the best time for harvesting cuttings. Rooting of planting material can be carried out in a glass with water or in soil consisting of ground and sand. In the latter case, the stalk should be covered, for example, with a plastic bottle. Roots will appear in about twenty days. After this, the rooted stalk can already be planted in a permanent pot.

Planting material - seeds

Often, you can hear that the seed placed in the ground eventually turns into a luxurious citrus tree. But, even though the cultivation of mandarin or lemon from seeds is the most accessible way for the fans to reproduce this plant species, the result is often unpredictable.

As a result, you can get a culture, the fruits of which will be much less than the parent form, and you can grow a new excellent pet. Judging by the reviews, the use of seeds as seedlings, pulled from fruit, often leads to a lack of flowering in such seedlings.

The seedling begins to return about a month and a half later, and it should be transplanted at the stage of appearance of five leaves.

How to grow a mandarin

After the juicy fruits of this citrus bought in the store are eaten, the remaining bones can be used as a planting material. For the greatest probability of success of the event, it is better to have more seeds, since not all will definitely grow. Therefore, to get seedlings you need to take a dozen pits.

Planting material for several days is placed in gauze and slightly wetted. This is necessary in order for the bones, swelling, to "proklyunulis".

Mandarin at home can be grown in a special flower shop bought in a flower shop for citrus fruits. Although, in principle, for this culture is suitable for almost any light soil. For example, in a mixed in equal proportions of turf and leaf earth, to which compost will be added and the manure will be reparted, the mandarin will be quite comfortable. Do not make soil based on peat. Do not forget about the need for drainage. Before the emergence of the first shoots should be quite a long time. Noticeable sprouts become only after two to three weeks, and sometimes in a month.

Mandarin - a tree that grows at home slowly enough, and it sometimes stops its growth. Therefore, one should not lose hope and enthusiasm, because in providing this citrus with all the necessary conditions, it grows into a very beautiful tree.

Caring for Mandarin

According to agronomists, mandarin is very unpretentious in keeping the tree, not only among citrus plants, but also many other plants, however, it still requires observing certain rules when leaving. The most important condition for him is the abundance of sunlight. For Mandarin, you need intensive lighting up to twelve hours a day all year round.

Watering and transplanting

The mandarin also applies to humidity. In the summer months, it should be watered abundantly, without pouring, whereas in winter the water supply should be reduced, periodically checking that the soil does not dry out. In addition, you need to spray the leaves daily, using filtered or boiled clean water for this purpose. You can compensate for the dryness of air if you place a small decorative indoor fountain near the mandarin. As the tree grows, it must be periodically transplanted into larger pots. It is best to carry out the movement in early spring. In this case, the new pot should have a diameter of three to five centimeters greater than the previous one.

The transplantation of the mandarin tree is done by the method of transshipment, at the same time it is necessary to preserve the old earth clod so as not to damage the root system of the plant. For the first time, blossoming plants need to regulate the number of ovaries. In the first year, two or three fruits are left, on the second - seven-eight, and then - about ten.

How to grow an orange tree

Care at home for this type of citrus culture is not very different from the conditions for growing mandarin. As soon as that acquired tree, and the one that has been growing in the house for many years, it is necessary to transplant every year. The best time for this is spring, when the plant is only preparing to spend energy on growth. For young cultures, a mandatory condition for normal existence is regular watering and spraying.

Bloom

Orange tree, home care for which does not pose much difficulty, will give the ovary if the crown is properly formed. This plant blooms and fruits on branches of not less than fifth orders, so do not expect the appearance of fruit before five years from now. The crown is formed quite simply. When twigs reach a length of ten to fifteen centimeters, they pinch. Soon new shoots begin to awaken from the lateral buds, which should also be shortened. As a result, only after five years you can get an orange tree with a lot of short shoots.

In this case, the room should be cool: 17-20 degrees. At higher temperatures, the fruit does not become tied, and the plant itself is sick or damaged by pests.

Room lemons

Of all the varieties Pavlovskii is considered the most unpretentious. This kind of lemon feels well even on the northeast or northwest window sills, it is comfortable in relatively dry air and with rare top dressings.

Almost as unpretentious is the Panderoz variety, but it needs more light. True, this type of lemon has a special "syndrome", found only in it: it gives out too many flowers to the detriment of building up the green mass. Therefore, the excess buds must be constantly broken off.

Slightly less common is Meyer's lemon, home care implies the following of certain rules: if they are not observed, it grows very slowly. However, the flower growers, even with a small amount of experience, can simply place the pot on a light window sill, occasionally plant the plant and, if necessary, sprinkle it.

Lovers of exotics

Citrus in our understanding - it's lemon, orange, mandarin. But there are representatives of this type of plant, of which many of us have not even heard. From the tangerines, Unshiu variety is interesting, which, compared to other species of the species, is comparatively tolerant to poor lighting and unpretentious, just like Pavlovsky lemon.

Other closely related citrus relatives are Kumquat and Kalamondin. Fans of the original houseplants necessarily have to acquire these species.

Speaking of exotics, one must also mention the Hand of the Buddha. Citrus this differs an unusual kind of its fruit: it resembles a lemon in color, and externally - a fleshy brush on the hand. However, inside the edible pulp is not contained. Nevertheless, the fruit is so exotic that it should be grown at home.