How to care for a homemade tangerine tree. Indoor tangerine, tangerine tree (care instructions). How to plant a tangerine in a pot correctly

Proper cultivation of tangerine trees and shrubs at home. Methods for growing and propagating citrus trees at home.

Mandarin is a shrub that is ever green all year round. Comes from the fruit family and genus - citrus fruits. The form of life is a bush, in the form of a tree.

Homemade tangerine can be grown in greenhouses and at home: window sill, balcony, greenhouse. Breeders have bred a huge variety of this plant. This tangerine is an effective show-stopper in a pot.

Photo: tangerine tree at home

Homemade tangerine has very tasty and aromatic fruits; they grow on the tree for more than two months. Such a plant attracts and gives pleasure both with its flowering and the unsurpassed smell of its own flower.

The mandarin bonsai is a rare and masterful piece. Mandarin fruits grow without being pollinated and reach maturity at the end of the year.
The most famous and beloved varieties for growing tangerines at home include:

• Shiva is a mikan. Early and fast growing species
• Mirkot is a compact variety with sweet, summer-ripening fruits
• Winshiu is an unpretentious plant from a Japanese variety, branches well and bears fruit in the third year
• Clementine - the variety bears fruit in the second year, at home. Refers to a hybrid of mandarin and orange. The fruits have a shiny skin, are slightly flattened, and their number per harvest reaches five dozen.

How to plant tangerines at home?

Ancient China was the first to cultivate mandarin ducks. Today such a plant can be purchased in flower shops.

• If you purchased a plant from such a store, it is better to replant it immediately. To do this, buy a substrate specifically for citrus fruits, where the acidity is 5.5 -7. It is also possible to make your own soil. To do this, it is necessary to mix turf and leaf soil with manure humus and river sand, where the proportion looks like this - 1: 1: 1: 0.5
• Look carefully at the pot in which the plant was brought from the store; its next place of residence should be no more than three centimeters more than the previous one. All these actions will actively stimulate the tangerine to grow

One of the first steps is to choose a place for the mandarin to live in your apartment.

• Proper lighting is one of the most important keys to the growth of your pet. This rule also applies if the tangerine is planted in open ground in a country house or greenhouse. Direct sunlight should hit the plant, but without much persistence. Sunlight will give the leaves juiciness and greenness, a lack of light will only lead to fading and thin new shoots
• The window on which the tangerine will be grown should be located on the east or southeast side. If the growing season is summer, it is necessary to gradually accustom the plant to direct rays, and sometimes take it out onto the balcony or street
• If the time of initial cultivation is winter, place the tangerine in the most illuminated place; if there is not enough light, purchase artificial lighting. It is possible to use a photo light bulb for this purpose
• The optimal temperature for indoor tangerine remains + 25 degrees; if the period of budding and flowering passes, keep the temperature around twenty degrees
• The rest regime in winter is maintained at a level of five to ten degrees. A plant that has had a good rest in winter will bear much better fruits and flowers.

Tangerine from a seed - reality

Growing tangerines from seeds will require your attention and patience only at the first stage, then this crop is easy to care for. Prepare a place for the plant to live. Which excludes the presence of various poisonous neighbors.

A southern room without any neighbors would be ideal. We take material for planting from store-bought tangerines. The number of seeds should be as large as possible, since most of the next shoots will die from the disease and will not survive the grafting stage. Growing tangerines from seeds occurs in several ways:

• We take a small piece of gauze, irrigate it with water, and wrap the bones. Water should be in a minimum amount to avoid rotting of the seeds. Experienced specialists suggest using a solution of potassium permanganate for this process to disinfect seeds
• To avoid problems with gauze, you can purchase hydrogel in a specialized store. Its peculiarity is its excellent ability to retain moisture. It looks like a certain mass into which tangerine seeds are aged for pecking and the appearance of sprouts

It is possible to plant the seeds immediately, in open ground. Most gardeners do it this way. If you have extensive experience in growing plants and flowers, you can easily ensure that the bud does not dry out. The leaves will hatch here later than all types of cultivation, but the sprout will be very strong

Caring for indoor tangerine at home

When you see the first sprouts of your pet, you need to start feeding for the next two weeks. It must be carried out using specialized organic and mineral fertilizers. Care consists of watering and irrigating the sprout and constantly adding fertilizers.

Spraying the tangerine should occur every week to maintain high humidity of the tangerine. It is also possible to keep a bowl filled with water near the tree. Especially when the summer is hot, the plant needs moisture. In winter, watering should be done two to three times a week, depending on dryness.

Fertilizing the tangerine plant should be carried out in the period April-September, especially if it is a fruit-bearing citrus. This will ensure the sweet taste of the fruit.

How to plant tangerine at home?

Full-fledged, delicious tangerine fruits can only be obtained as a result of proper care and grafting. Grafting begins in May-August. Since sap flow is especially active at this time.

The effectiveness of the result after vaccination depends on your ability to carefully and quickly carry out the appropriate procedures. Prepare in advance for the tangerine grafting stage:

• A plant grown from seed, the trunk of which is at least six millimeters thick
• Cutting from a fruiting plant, the branch of which is at least two years old
• Garden knife
• Elastic tape
• Var garden

For grafting, make an incision at a height of ten centimeters, where the trunk of the rootstock is. It should look like the letter T, horizontally - 4 cm, vertically -4 cm. The scion is prepared by removing thorns and leaf blades. Very carefully cut the bud and insert it into the cut, with a small layer of wood.

Where the vaccination was carried out, wrap it with tape. Place the tangerine in a plastic bag or jar. Only after a month will you be able to determine the degree of success of the vaccination. It is better to take several seedlings for grafting, because only half of them will be successful.

Accustom the plant to grafting by gradually removing the jar, then the new shoot will strengthen and begin to grow. Cover the location of the shoot with garden varnish.

If you follow the rules for growing and fertilizing tangerines, the leaves of the plant will be forever green. The leaves will turn yellow as a result of improper behavior with the pet. Don't go overboard with chemical fertilizers. If the tangerine is not grown correctly, it will become stained and the leaves will fall off.

How to transplant a tangerine at home?

• Proper plant care includes replanting the plant. This event is carried out if the tangerine becomes cramped in the pot. Early plants and young ones are replanted every year
• Tangerine trees over seven years old are replanted every two years. To replant a plant, you need to take a pot with a diameter greater than five centimeters from the present one so that the roots do not rot. The substrate should be selected with low acidity, the bottom of the pot should be lined with expanded clay and pieces of polystyrene foam
• The actual transplantation process is carried out not during the flowering of the plant, but in the spring, during the awakening period of the tangerine. The soil is laid by watering after transplanting. Do not use fertilizer two weeks after transplanting, and four days before transplanting

Reproduction of home tangerine

Reproduction of a tangerine plant occurs in two ways: grafting onto a rootstock and rooting an apical cutting. This process is carried out at the very beginning of the summer period. Be sure to use root-forming agents that will stimulate growth. Grafting is the most effective and successful method of propagation.

Pruning homemade tangerine

Pruning is carried out to improve the formation of the crown of the desired shape, to stimulate fruiting. As the tree grows, it loses its compactness and attractiveness.

The process is carried out on young plants using a sharp knife and pruning shears. Branches from the first to the third order are subject to pruning. The fourth ones should not be touched, as they produce fruits and flowers.

Video: How to grow tangerines at home?

Video: How to properly graft a citrus tree?

You can grow an indoor tangerine not only on a windowsill, but also in a greenhouse, on a balcony, or in a winter garden. With proper care, it can even bear fruit. For home cultivation, breeders have developed dwarf and low-growing varieties up to 1-1.5 m in height. The tangerine tree, unlike the orange and lemon trees, is best adapted to the home microclimate.

"Domesticated" species

Not all varieties are suitable for indoor gardening. They mainly use low-growing ones, since tall plants require constant pruning. Let's look at the most popular types and their distinctive features.

Table - Indoor types of tangerine trees and their features

Plants belonging to the Vasya group are suitable for home gardening. These are varieties such as Mikha-Vase, Miyagawa-Vase.

Caring for a tangerine tree: what to consider

All plants love care and attention, and the tangerine tree is no exception. To ensure that it is not only beautiful and healthy, but also bears fruit, you should follow a few simple maintenance rules.

Location and lighting

The culture needs good lighting. A south, south-west, south-east window is best suited. In hot weather at lunchtime it is better to shade the plant. Otherwise, it will get sunburned.

In spring, the pot can be taken out onto the balcony, veranda and even outside. We gradually accustom the plant to ultraviolet radiation, increasing the time it spends in the air. You should start with partial shade and then move to sunny places.

In winter, to extend daylight hours, we use phytolamps.

Temperature

In order for the plant to bloom profusely and set fruit, in spring and summer, indoors we set the temperature to 15-20 °C. In winter, the ideal temperature is no more than 12-14 °C. In such conditions, indoor culture will be able to rest and prepare for a period of active growth.

High temperatures can lead to leaf loss, and low temperatures can lead to slow growth.

Humidity

In spring and summer, we regularly wipe the leaves with a damp cloth or sponge. We spray with a spray bottle throughout the year. We use water at room temperature. In winter, when the heating is on, we carry out the procedures more often - several times a day. We irrigate in the early morning or late evening hours. The main thing is that the moistened leaves should not be exposed to direct sunlight.

You can increase the humidity level in the room by placing a container of water next to the pot.

Watering

We heat the water for irrigation to room temperature and let it stand. It is not recommended to use tap liquid, as it contains chlorine, salts and other substances that negatively affect the crop. To calculate the volume of water required by a tree, we take into account the following factors:

• bush size;
• pot volume;
• room temperature;
• daylight hours and lighting quality.

It is especially important to properly care for the tangerine tree during flowering. From spring to autumn, “water” the plant abundantly and often. The tangerine tree should be watered when the soil is completely dry. This is very easy to check. We take a handful of earth and squeeze it. If it crumbles, it’s time to go get the watering can. In winter, one approach every five to seven days is enough. Watering, like spraying, is carried out in the morning or evening.

Top dressing

It is better to add the first food after winter rest in April. In the future, before the onset of cold weather, fertilizer is applied once every two weeks. This regime will allow the tree to bud, bloom and bear fruit. Regular summer feeding will help avoid bitterness in the fruits. With the onset of cold weather, fertilizing is reduced or stopped altogether.

An indoor decorative tangerine tree in a pot is strengthened with special mixtures from the store intended for citrus fruits - organics or minerals. The older the bush, the more fertilizer it needs. Before feeding, we moisten the soil well. Among the folk remedies, cow dung slurry is used. But it is often available to gardeners living in rural areas.

Before using fertilizers, carefully study the manufacturer's instructions. An incorrectly calculated dose can lead to damage to the root system.

Based on reviews from gardeners, you can increase fruiting with the folk remedy “fish soup.” For 2 liters of water you need to take 200 g of small fish and cook for half an hour. Strain the broth and cool. Add to the store-bought complex mixture.

Priming

The soil for young and adult plants should be different. In both cases, be sure to make a drainage layer.

• For young plants. Mix one part of leaf soil and sand and two parts of turf soil. Add humus from cow manure to the composition, if available.
• For adult bushes. For the soil we take one part of leaf soil, three parts of turf, one part each of sand and humus. We also add a small amount of clay with a high percentage of fat content.

To save time, you can purchase ready-made formulations for citrus fruits, but only from trusted manufacturers.

Pinching and trimming

It is necessary to trim and pinch the tangerine tree. Thanks to the procedure, a neat and beautiful crown will be formed, and the fruits will appear faster. Branches that are weakened and unnecessary in terms of aesthetics are removed. You can get a dense crown if you carefully pinch the shoots from the top of the bush.

Young plants during the first flowering period require a special approach. It is better to remove some of the buds to preserve the vitality of the bush. If this is not done, then in the future the plant will produce little fruit. In addition, the fewer flowers, the larger the fruits will be.

Transfer

For young bushes it is better to change the pot every year. The root system is constantly developing, so it needs more free space. If the roots do not entwine the soil ball, then leave the plant alone. But in this case, we replace the top soil layer and drainage.

Features of caring for a tangerine tree with fruits include replanting it to a new place every two to three years. Bushes over five to six years old do not need to change the container.

To safely transplant a tangerine tree means to try not to destroy the soil ball entwined with roots.

Reproduction: 2 ways

The plant can be propagated using seeds, cuttings and supplemented with grafting. The method in most cases is selected taking into account the age of the bush.

Seeds

Peculiarities . Growing a tangerine tree from a seed is not difficult, but you will have to wait 10-15 years for flowering and fruits, or you may not even wait at all. Fruiting can be accelerated by grafting a twig from an adult fruit-bearing bush onto a young tangerine. The seedling to which a twig is grafted is called a rootstock. And the cutting itself from the fruiting plant is a scion.

Algorithm of actions

1. The simplest option is to plant the seeds directly into moist soil without prior preparation. Or we place the seeds in gauze, moisten it with water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Instead of gauze, you can use hydrogel, which retains moisture well. Place it on a plate and mix with the seeds.
2. Place gauze or hydrogel with seeds into the soil.
3. After the first leaf appears, we replant it by transshipment (without destroying the earthen ball with roots) into a flowerpot.
4. We grow from one to three years. The bush will be ready for grafting when the trunk diameter reaches at least 6 mm. Then we move on to the vaccination procedure. The optimal period is from April to May.
5. As a scion, we cut a twig one or two years old from a healthy, fruit-bearing bush. We remove leaf plates and thorns from the cuttings.
6. We make a cut in the shape of the letter “T” on the rootstock. This is where we insert the cutting.
7. We wrap the grafting site with electrical tape. We create a greenhouse effect using a plastic bag or plastic container.
8. After about 21 days, shoots should appear from the buds. We gradually accustom them to the microclimate of the room - remove the polyethylene or plastic container. Remove the fixing bandage.
9. We cut off at an angle that part of the rootstock stem that remains above the grafted cutting. We treat the area with coal.
10. We tie the young plant to a stick so that it grows vertically. If the grafting is successful, the new plant will bloom throughout the year.

If the scion turns yellow on the rootstock and falls off, then the grafting failed. You will need to repeat the procedure.

Cuttings

Peculiarities . The method is more popular, since a plant grown from a cutting of an adult bush will bloom and bear fruit within a year, maximum two.

Algorithm of actions

1. Cut the stalk and place it in a container with water.
2. We create a greenhouse effect - cover the cutting with a plastic bag or plastic bottle. Rooting may take two to three months.
3. Replant into a pot when roots appear.

For better rooting and growth stimulation, you can treat the cuttings with Gibberellin.

Pests

The citrus tree, like other indoor crops, is susceptible to insect attack. To combat them, we use both folk remedies and store-bought products.

Red spider mite

Red dots appear on the stems. With severe damage, pests are visible, forming an almost invisible web. They appear in dry, hot microclimates. We fight with the help of two folk remedies.

1. Tobacco dust. Dissolve one tablespoon of dust in boiled water and leave for six hours. Add 10 g of soap to the mixture. Treatment: spray the bush three times every six to seven days.
2. Garlic . Infuse a clove of garlic in a glass of boiled water for two days. We carry out the procedure as with tobacco dust.

If we use store-bought insecticides, then before spraying we carefully study the instructions or first consult with the seller.

Mealybug

Sticky white spots appear on the leaves. It is much more difficult to notice on the roots. The main symptom is that the foliage dries out and falls off. The most effective remedy is a soap solution. We spray once every six to seven days. The procedure should consist of three approaches.

Shchitovka

A sign of scale insects is a dried out bush with yellowed leaves. Brown growths form. The main reason is dry, unventilated air. We use two treatment methods.

1. Mechanical cleaning. We remove insects ourselves using a toothbrush or gauze. We wash the place where the pot is located with a solution of soap.
2. Spraying with solution. Mix one teaspoon of machine oil, two tablespoons of washing powder, a little crushed laundry soap with a glass of water. Spray the leaves and branches with the solution. After four hours, rinse with water. We repeat the procedure at least three times a month.

Before spraying, protect the soil from the solution by covering it with polyethylene.

Problems

In addition to pests, the plant is susceptible to diseases associated with improper care. Here are the four most common symptoms:

1. Rust spots. The reason is improper watering. We regulate the moisture supply.
2. Shriveled leaves. A large amount of ultraviolet radiation is to blame. We shade the bush.
3. Small and drying bushes. The reason is a lack of fertilizers. We add minerals and vitamins.
4. Leaves fall on the tangerine tree. If this is an adult plant, then there is no need to worry, as this is a sign of “old age”. In young bushes, the leaves turn yellow and fall off due to an excess of light and a lack of nitrogen.

If symptoms appear, we are reviewing the conditions for raising a pet, otherwise it may die.

Knowing how to care for a tangerine tree, you can grow a sunny plant on the windowsill, the fruits of which have a lot of useful properties. It is known that the fruit has phytoncidal properties that suppress the activity of microbes and can alleviate the condition of dysentery or diarrhea. Fresh juice is even able to destroy some types of fungi in skin diseases.

For feeding, you can use both dry and soluble additives. There is root and foliar fertilizer for citrus fruits. Both of these methods are quite important and useful for mandarin. At the same time, phosphorus and nitrogen are often used during root nutrition. And for foliar application (which, by the way, is best combined with spraying) use copper, manganese, boron, iron, magnesium and zinc. All these ingredients should be used with the following dosage: copper sulfate - dose no more than 250 mg/l, potassium permanganate - approximately 200-300 mg/l, boric acid - 200-250 mg/l, iron sulfate - no more than 3 g/l, magnesium (or magnesium sulfate) – 10 g/l and zinc oxide – 5-7 g/l.

How often should you fertilize this citrus? On average, fresh soil nourishes a plant for about 3 months. But there are various subtleties. If you fertilize with not completely rotted manure, then it is worth adding nitrogen-containing elements. But it is worth remembering that the plant must receive all the necessary components, since the lack of one element cannot be replaced by an excess of any other component. With this condition, it is worth using mixtures rather than individual components. The list of required components includes: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, calcium, magnesium and others.

You need to feed tangerines based not only on the tips indicated on the packages, but also on the condition of the plant itself.

Phosphorus fertilizer. There are several ways to feed plants with phosphorus. The first is the most convenient - sprinkle the surface of the earth with superphosphate and then fluff up the soil and sprinkle the phosphate with soil. The next method of such replenishment is to mix superphosphate with the manure mixture and apply it to the ground. And the most difficult thing is mixing phosphate with water. It is difficult because superphosphate is practically insoluble in water. Therefore, per liter of water you need to take 50 g of superphosphate, boil this solution for about 30 minutes, and then drain and dilute it 10 times with water.

Nitrogen fertilizer. Nutrition with nitrogen minerals can be done, for example, with saltpeter (0.5%): 2-3 tablespoons per 15 liters of water. You can also feed with a mixture of ammonium nitrate and potassium soda. Dissolve 1-2 tablespoons of ammonium nitrate and 1 tablespoon of salt in 10 liters of water. It is best to initially mix saltpeter and salt in a liter of water and then pour it into the rest of the water.

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Calcium supplementation. This is a fairly simple way to fertilize a tangerine. To add calcium, it is best to use already used lime or plaster. It is best to apply these substances under the roots of the plant, in the soil.

Fertilization with organic substances. This is fertilization with a natural substance, namely manure. Initially, the manure needs to be filled with water and left for 5-10 days for it to ferment. After this, it needs to be diluted with water. If it is cow manure, then it needs to be diluted 10-15 times, if it is bird droppings, then 15-20 times. Then you need to add 2-3 g of superphosphate and 1-3 g of viburnum salt to the finished slurry. You can also feed it with non-stray manure. Manure is used to accelerate the growth of citrus. Organic fertilizer is used in summer. Also in summer, slurry is best combined with nitrogen-potassium fertilizer. In this case, nitrogen and potassium are added every 10 days, and slurry 5 days after nitrogen. If you use only manure, then you need to do this 1-2 times a month.

It is important to remember that you need to feed the plant depending on the season and weather conditions. Active fertilization begins in March and ends around September. In winter, plants can be fertilized once a month, and if the soil is well saturated, then until January you can not feed the plant at all. Various substances should only be added to moist soil.

To saturate the soil with various useful substances, they also use tincture of tea or shag, castor oil, and a solution of ferrous sulfate. They also sprinkle with rust and horn shavings.

It was mentioned above in the article that it is necessary to nourish the soil and plant not only according to a schedule or depending on the season, but it is also extremely important to focus on the condition of the citrus fruit itself. In this case, you need to pay attention to the age of the plant. So on young leaves the manifestations of poisoning or deficiency will be one way, but on adult and old leaves it will be completely different.

How to understand what a young plant lacks

If you don't have enough iron, then on the tangerine leaves (regardless of the color of the leaf itself) the network of veins will stand out clearly. It will be a bright green color, especially the central core. If there is a lack of iron, plant growth will be stunted.

Manganese deficiency manifests itself in a similar way. The veins will also be bright green, but the tissue between them will turn yellow, and then completely turn into dead.

Sulfur. Starting from the veins, the entire leaf becomes either pale green or pale yellow. It will not turn completely yellow, but some yellowness will appear. The absence of sulfur does not lead to tissue death.

Lack of calcium. A deficiency of this substance is more dangerous for the plant. In the absence of calcium, the tangerine leaf first becomes discolored, and then the upper edge begins to curl down. Then the top and edges of the leaf begin to die, which can lead to the foliage falling off.

Boron deficiency leads to various modifications of foliage. Particularly noticeable factors are the deformation of the leaf blade and various types of color changes, usually at the top of the leaf.

If the citrus tree does not have enough copper, the plant begins to wither. The leaf becomes an unnatural dark green color. And the leaf shape becomes not symmetrical. The central core may also change; it becomes arched. And resinous smudges may appear on the fruits.

An adult plant may lack completely different elements.

How to grow a gorgeous citrus tree?

Lack of substances in old tangerines

Nitrogen. With chlorosis, a yellowish-green speck appears on the plant, which over time spreads to the entire leaf. And the shoots are shortened.

Lack of phosphorus. In this case, the leaf remains green, but ceases to be glossy. What is also noteworthy is that young foxes become very narrow. Also, flowering is weak and as a result - low yield and thick peel of tangerines. The fruits also become sour.
If there is a lack of zinc, the leaves become paler and the veins brighter. At the same time, they become smaller.

Poisoning or excess of elements

Poisoning is possible with any of the elements: nitrogen, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, manganese, boron, etc.

For the normal existence of the plant and for it to produce a good harvest, while the taste of tangerines is balanced, it is necessary to take proper care of the plants.

Fertilizer for citrus trees

And a little about the author’s secrets

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The evergreen tangerine tree can be an excellent guest in a home greenhouse or a decoration for winter gardens. Often, even in a simple apartment you can see a miniature citrus plant. After all, it can not only delight the gardener’s eye with its greenery, but also give several dozen fragrant tangerines every year.

However, it is worth noting that it is quite difficult to achieve a thick, lush crown and abundant fruiting in any variety of homemade tangerine or orange tree. To do this, you must follow some rules regarding watering, pruning and fertilizing. These rules are very important when caring for a tangerine tree at home. It’s worth noting right away that gardeners may encounter certain difficulties regarding growing indoor citrus fruits.

You should familiarize yourself in more detail with the rules for caring for a tangerine tree, and also learn how a tangerine blooms.

Of course, the easiest option would be to purchase a ready-made grafted seedling of any tangerine variety in a fruit nursery or in an online gardening store.

Most often you come across trees with a closed root system. The root system is hidden in an earthen coma in a pot or packaged in a bag.

If you purchased a tangerine tree of any variety, the root system of which is packaged, then the tree will need to be transplanted into a separate container after purchase.

More economical gardeners prefer to grow citrus trees from the seeds of ripe and juicy fruit. In addition, many indoor plant lovers receive great moral satisfaction when their citrus tree grows from scratch, although it takes much longer and takes a lot more effort.

So, the basic rules for growing tangerines from seeds:

• In order to grow a citrus tree at home, you need to select seeds from ripe, juicy fruits. It is worth noting that tangerine seeds have excellent germination.
• As soon as the seeds are selected, it is advisable not to immediately place them in the soil, but to pre-soak them. To do this, they must be placed between 2-3 layers of clean, damp gauze and placed on a saucer.
• As the gauze dries, it should be periodically moistened for several days until the bones begin to swell.
• As soon as you notice that they begin to hatch and the first shoots appear, the plant can be planted in the ground.

If you do not have the opportunity to wait several days for the sprouts to appear, then the seeds can be soaked for 2-3 hours in water with the addition of a few drops of Epin, a growth stimulator.

In specialized stores you can buy a ready-made package of soil for citrus fruits. If you do not have such an opportunity, then you can prepare soil for any type of tangerine tree yourself. To do this, mix the following types of soil:

• Leaf soil.
• Rotted manure.
• Soddy soil.

It is worth noting that you should not add clay or peat to the substrate. When planting a tangerine in a separate pot, drainage in the form of expanded clay or coarse gravel is placed at the bottom of the container. Then the soil mixture is poured on top. The seeds should be planted to a depth of 5-6 cm. The pot with the seed should be in a well-lit place, without direct sunlight. Otherwise, the sprout may get burned. If you follow all the rules of care, then after 3 weeks the sprout will appear from the ground. From this moment you can begin feeding the future tangerine tree with organic and mineral fertilizers. This is due to the fact that all useful substances from the soil are very quickly washed out during watering.

How to care for a citrus tree

In order for the plant to bloom and bear fruit, it is necessary to follow some rules for caring for indoor tangerines, regardless of its variety.

Lighting requirements

As mentioned earlier, the pot with the tangerine tree should be placed in a sufficiently lit place, while direct sunlight should be avoided. If the plant does not have enough light, it will not grow large and will be sickly. At first glance, it may seem that a pot of decorative tangerines is best placed on the south side of the house.

However, this may cause burns on the leaves. The most ideal option would be to place the plant on the southeast or east side. If the south side is the only possible option for installing a pot with an indoor tangerine tree, then in spring and summer the plant will need additional shading.

But in winter, it is best to choose the south side of the house to place the tree. During shortened daylight hours in winter, indoor tangerine also needs additional lighting using special lamps.

Air temperature and humidity

As for the temperature regime, the plant will feel best in a room with a temperature of 15 to 18°C. However, this applies to the warm season. In winter, the tangerine tree must be kept at a temperature of 12°C. If the temperature is higher, the tree will begin to bear fruit worse, bloom poorly and weakly form buds and ovaries.

Particular attention must also be paid to air humidity. During hot, dry days in summer, as well as on winter days, when central heating dries out the air in the room, the plant needs additional spraying. Sometimes this spraying will have to be carried out up to 3 times a day. For additional humidity, you can use a bowl of water placed on the windowsill or use other humidifiers. It is worth noting that dry air often provokes the formation of pests. These could be ticks, scale insects and many others. During the flowering period, the tangerine tree must be sprayed very carefully to avoid moisture getting on the buds and flowers. In this case, spraying is best replaced by wiping the leaves.

Watering rules

The tangerine tree needs frequent and abundant watering. In hot summer, the plant needs to be watered 2-3 times a day. As for winter time, if you maintain a sufficiently high temperature regime and constantly humidify the air in the room, watering twice a week will be enough. Watering a tangerine tree of any type must be done only with settled water. The water temperature for irrigation should be room temperature.

If for some reason the plant suffers from a short-term lack of moisture, it will not die, since to reduce water loss the tangerine will shed all or part of its leaves. However, it is worth noting that fresh leaves do not grow on bare branches. They appear only on new branches. It is for this reason that many gardeners try to avoid unexpected leaf fall and provide the plant with regular watering. At the same time, you need to know that frequent overwatering of wood can cause the development of fungal diseases.

Feeding and replanting

Caring for a tangerine tree at home also involves replanting it annually in larger pots. The root system of tangerines grows quite quickly and entwines the earthen ball over its entire surface.

Replanting plants involves changing the drainage layer and adding soil mass. If you take out the plant with the earthen lump and see that there was enough space for roots to grow in the pot, then you can only get by by replacing the drainage layer, and insert the tree back into the pot with the same earthen lump and add only the top layer of soil.

Every year, it is recommended to transplant a tangerine tree at home before March - before the start of the growing season. The root collar should not be deepened during transplantation. She will have to provide the same level relative to the ground surface.

During the growing season, which lasts from April to September, the plant needs feeding. Every week, tangerine must be fed with organic and mineral fertilizers. It is recommended to alternate types of fertilizer. Adult trees that grow in cramped pots especially need feeding, without updating the soil or replanting.

So, for one week it is recommended to water the tangerine with a solution of liquid mullein, and for another week - with a ready-made complex fertilizer for citrus trees. Such fertilizers can be purchased in specialized stores. Fertilizers should include the following components:

• Nitrogen.
• Potassium.
• Phosphorus.

It is recommended to fertilize in the first half of the day. However, before this, the soil must be watered. The temperature of the nutrient solution should be at least 20°C. The recipe for preparing the fertilizer must be strictly followed.

It is worth noting that caring for an orange tree at home will be almost the same as caring for a tangerine.

The most economical way to obtain a tangerine tree seedling is to grow it from a fruit seed. But if the grower already has a ready-made tree and wants to get offspring from it, then you can choose one of the following methods for propagation:

Control of possible pests

Even if the tangerine tree is provided with all the necessary conditions and full care, flower growers sometimes encounter problems such as pests. Among these pests, the most common are the following:

• Whiteflies.
• Scale insects.
• Red spider mite.

Each of the above pests can cause irreparable harm to the tangerine. That is why, at the first detection of these insects on a plant and the slightest suspicion of their presence, it is necessary to wipe the leaves or spray the entire tree with special preparations: Actellik or Fitoverm. Acaricidal and insecticidal agents must be used only in strict accordance with the attached instructions for use.

Mandarin- an evergreen plant that belongs to the Rutov family. The specific Latin name of the mandarin is Citrus reticulate. Like orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit, it belongs to the Citrus genus. The life form of this plant is interesting - it can be a shrub or a tree, reaching a height of 5 meters.

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Indoor tangerine
Like other representatives of the Citrus genus, tangerines have long been grown in greenhouses, conservatories, and winter gardens. Despite its size, tangerines can be grown at home on a balcony or windowsill. Currently, breeders have developed many varieties of dwarf and low-growing tangerines for home cultivation, the maximum height of which is 0.6-1.1 m. An indoor tangerine may not be a dwarf variety, then the plant needs to be heavily pruned and shaped.

Indoor tangerine is a very impressive potted plant.. And not only because of the bright, fragrant and appetizing orange fruits that can last for several months. Sometimes a plant gives pleasure only by its flowering, because the delicate white flowers of tangerine exude an amazing aroma. In some varieties, flowering begins in the spring and can continue all year round. Indoor tangerine, grown as a bonsai, is a real work of art.

Fruits of indoor tangerine set without artificial pollination, usually ripen at the end of the year. Often an indoor tangerine in a pot is bought in a store with fruits already hanging on it. Despite the fact that they are very appetizing, you should not eat them. Indeed, to achieve such a high decorative effect, plants receive high doses of fertilizers. The tangerine has beautiful leathery and corrugated leaves.

Popular tangerine varieties for growing at home
Unshiu is a Japanese variety, the most unpretentious, it begins to bear fruit in 3-4 years, in indoor conditions it grows to 0.8-1.5 m. It branches well. It blooms profusely in spring, producing fruits in late October-November. Pear-shaped fruits lack seeds.
Kowano-Wase, Micha-Wase, Miyagawa-Wase - dwarf tangerines Vasya group - suitable for growing on a windowsill, height 40-80 cm. Orange-yellow fruits ripen for the first time in the second year of cultivation, flowering is abundant. Like all dwarf varieties, they do not require crown formation.
Shiva-Mikan is an early compact fast-growing variety. The fruits are small, no more than 30 g
Murcott- the fruits of this compact tangerine variety are very sweet, ripen in summer, and taste very sweet, which is why the name of the variety is translated as “honey.”
Clementine- a hybrid of tangerine and orange, bears fruit at home in the second year. One adult domestic tree produces up to 50 medium-sized, flattened orange-red fruits per year, very fragrant, with shiny skin. Plants of this variety with numerous seeds are called Montreals.

Mandarin care at home
Lighting mandarin at home
The first step in successfully growing indoor tangerine is choosing a place for the plant and its proper lighting.
Indoor tangerines, as well as those grown in open ground, need good lighting with some direct sunlight. When there is insufficient light, the plant slows down its growth, throws out a small number of flowers or does not bloom at all. With a strong lack of light, the leaves of indoor tangerines become faded, new shoots become elongated, thin and painful in appearance. Therefore, it is better to grow the plant on eastern, south-eastern and southern windows, shading them from direct midday rays. In summer, the plant can be taken out to the balcony, gradually accustoming it to the street.
In winter, when daylight hours are short, indoor tangerines should be placed in the brightest place with direct sunlight. But sometimes this is not enough: artificial lighting is needed. For this purpose, an ordinary phytolamp is suitable, which can be screwed into a chandelier or table lamp. It is necessary to transfer the plant to additional lighting gradually. With a sharp change in daylight hours, it can shed its leaves.

Content temperature
The optimal temperature for indoor tangerine in the summer is + 20-25 oC. During the period of budding and flowering, so that the flowers do not fall off, it is better to keep the plant at a temperature slightly below + 20 ° C. In winter, to ensure a relative period of rest, tangerine is kept at + 5 -10 °C. A plant that has rested over the winter will bloom and bear fruit better.

How to water and spray tangerines at home
The indoor mandarin, like its wild ancestors, is adapted to withstand dry periods. In extreme cases, the plant will shed its leaves to reduce the amount of liquid that evaporates. A common problem when growing tangerines at home is excessive watering, which leads to the development of fungal diseases.
The amount of water for watering indoor tangerines depends on several factors:
- size of the plant;
- the size of the container in which the tangerine grows;
- ambient temperature;
- length of daylight hours and lighting intensity.
The larger the leaf surface of indoor tangerine, the stronger the evaporation, and the more it needs watering. Temperature also affects the rate of evaporation: the higher it is, the more moisture the plant loses. The length of daylight directly affects the amount of moisture that evaporates. Stomata - formations on the underside of land plants that serve for gas exchange, open during daylight hours.
Watering indoor tangerines should be done in the first half of the day, when the plant has activated its life processes. When the temperature drops, watering is reduced, even stopping for several days during the period when the room temperature is only +12-15 oC. In this case, the tangerine is watered with a small amount of water only to maintain vital functions.
Mandarin at home needs regular spraying of leaves. Very dry air has a bad effect on the plant and is often a prerequisite for its infection with spider mites. If an indoor tangerine is blooming, then you need to make sure that water does not get on its flowers.

How to feed tangerines at home
Full care of tangerines at home is not possible without additional mineral and organic nutrition. The soil in the pot is quickly depleted and washed away when watering, and recreational processes practically do not occur in it, unlike soil in nature.
For fertilizing, you can use soluble or dry fertilizers. In the spring, as daylight hours increase, fertilizing for indoor tangerines is increased. It is in the early spring that vegetative and generative buds begin to develop intensively; at this time, the plant requires additional nutrients.
At home, tangerines are fertilized like all other indoor plants, that is, in the first half of the day. The ambient temperature should be at least + 18-19 degrees.
Soluble fertilizers are often used for fertilizing. You can water the plant with them, and spray its leaves in a weaker concentration. To feed indoor tangerines, any complex mineral fertilizer containing phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium - the main elements necessary for plants - is suitable.
Fertilizers should be dissolved in soft or settled water at room temperature. The main thing is not to increase the dose. If the instructions say: 1 capful of product per 1 liter of water, do not think that 2 capfuls will make the solution more useful. This will lead to the opposite effect - a chemical burn or toxic poisoning of the plant.
You need to feed tangerines at home during the period of intensive growth (from March to September) 2 times a week. Possibly less often, but not more often.
Dry fertilizers, which are applied to the soil and gradually dissolve, releasing microelements to the soil, must be applied even more carefully. Their advantage is that by adding them in the spring you can forget about fertilizing for a long time. However, they can be quickly used by the plant, and it will be difficult to guess about it. Adding an additional dose of fertilizer will lead to the above-mentioned overdose.
To grow tangerines, organic fertilizers are also needed. To do this, you can dilute infused cow manure in a ratio of 1/10. The best option would be to use organic fertilizer in combination with mineral fertilizers for soil feeding.

Additional care for tangerines at home
To form a lush tangerine tree, pinch the tops of its branches.
Caring for tangerines at home also involves removing dried leaves or elongated branches.
On young flowering plants, the flowers are partially removed so as not to deplete them and to allow several fruits to ripen. For 15-20 leaves of an adult plant, you can leave one ovary. The fewer fruits remain on the tangerine, the larger they will be.
The fruiting branches of indoor mandarin are tied and tied to a support, otherwise they may break due to the weight of the fruit and the plant will not have an attractive appearance.

Diseases and pests
Mandarins at home can be affected by scale insects, red spider mites and mealybugs. Spraying the plant with a soap solution will help against scale insects (2 tbsp. L of liquid soap, you can use “Fary”, per 3 L of water). It is better to remove pests by hand first. After leaving the solution on the leaves for half an hour, it is washed off with warm water. In case of spider mite infestation, the pest is collected manually, then the leaves and twigs are wiped with a cotton swab moistened with cold water or alcohol, then sprayed with a two-day infusion of garlic or onion (crush 200 g and add warm boiled water). Removing the pest with a cotton swab and spraying it with garlic infusion 3 times (once every 7 days), or rubbing it with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol (can be replaced with calendula tincture) will also help against mealybugs. In case of persistent damage by any pest, they resort to potent chemicals, which are used according to the instructions.
If watered incorrectly, tangerine leaves become stained and fall off. To prevent or eliminate the problem, follow the rules for watering citrus plants.

Replanting a tangerine at home
Proper care of tangerines at home involves replanting the plant. Usually a transplant is carried out if the plant, in our case the indoor tangerine, is cramped in the pot. As a rule, young indoor tangerine plants are replanted annually, plants older than 7 years - once every 2 years. For replanting, use a special soil mixture for citrus fruits or make it yourself from turf soil (50%) and leaf soil, humus and sand, taken in equal parts.
To transplant an indoor tangerine, choose a pot with a diameter of 5 - 8 cm larger than the previous one. You cannot plant a small plant immediately in a large pot: this often leads to rotting of the roots. In addition, it is neither aesthetically pleasing nor practical.
Mandarin at home, as in nature, prefers a light substrate with weak acidity. It is necessary to put drainage at the bottom of the container for replanting - this is the prevention of stagnation of water and root rot. For drainage you can use: expanded clay, small stones, fragments of ceramic dishes, pieces of foam plastic.
Indoor tangerines cannot be replanted while the plant is flowering. It is better to do this in the spring at the beginning of the plant’s awakening from a relative period of dormancy.
You cannot feed the plant 2-3 days before replanting, and also use fertilizers for 12-14 days after replanting.
After transplanting, the indoor tangerine is lightly watered so that the soil settles. After 30-40 minutes, if necessary, add the substrate to the pot and water it again.

Reproduction of indoor tangerine
Mandarins can be propagated at home in two ways:
- vegetative (rooting of branches);
- generative (growing from seed).
To root cuttings, it is better to use a rooting agent - the survival rate will be 3-4 times higher. To do this, cuttings with 2-3 leaves are dipped in a rooting agent and planted in moist soil, covered with film or a cut plastic bottle on top, making sure to leave holes in them for ventilation. Cuttings take root within several months.
Growing tangerines at home from seeds is the longest method of propagation, especially since some varieties produce almost no seeds. In addition, indoor mandarin grown using this method will need grafting, otherwise it will not bloom. For a rootstock, indoor lemon or grapefruit grown at home from a grain are better suited.
Since both methods of propagating indoor tangerines take too much time, more often amateur gardeners buy already grafted indoor tangerine in shops.