Who hasn't put an orange or lemon core in the ground and after a short time seen a small plant grow? Such home-grown plants are a gardener's pride - especially when the tree blooms for the first time.
What is the best way to grow an orange tree?
To grow an orange tree, you can either root cuttings in mini greenhouses at a constant 25°C or plant seeds in sowing soil. While cuttings are more root sensitive, seed-grown saplings require more time to flower and can be grafted to promote weaker growth and greater resilience.
Growing an orange tree from cuttings
Select young orange tree shoots with several buds and one or two leaves as cuttings. These cuttings should be 10 to 15 centimeters long. Cut the leaves (i.e. the tip of the leaf and the upper third are just cut off). Now stick the wood about four centimeters deep into the ground; there should be at least two buds underground. Treatment with rooting hormones stimulates root formation.
Cuttings need a constant 25 °C
Orange tree cuttings root very quickly in a mini greenhouse (€12.00 on Amazon) at temperatures of around 25 °C. After watering, the greenhouse should be placed in a partially shaded, warm place. A thermometer helps monitor and maintain the temperature of 25°C. Check the humidity regularly – orange trees need high humidity.
Cuttings are sensitive
Plants grown from cuttings are always more sensitive to roots than grafted plants, especially when it comes to root rot and sensitivity to cold. The growth rate of cuttings also usually increases enormously, so that some varieties often have to be cut back heavily as potted plants.
Sowing 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 being removed from the fruit (which must be fresh and fully ripe!). They should therefore be planted one to two centimeters deep in sandy sowing 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 you are sowing in winter, you should also install a plant lamp.
Why doesn't the seedling bloom?
Orange trees grown from seeds rarely bloom. 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 cut regularly during this time, they will never reach their desired “adult” size and will never begin to bloom. Here's how you can still encourage your seedling to bloom:
- Do not prune the seedling until it blooms (be careful! Orange trees grow strongly!)
- grafting an annual seedling
Tips & Tricks
If possible, choose a weakly growing rootstock for refinement. For orange trees, bitter oranges (sweet oranges) or the winter-hardy bitter lemons (Citrus trifoliata) have proven particularly useful. The refinement also makes the tree more resilient.