Growing citrus in the home - frequently asked questions
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Citrus at home - advises a professional gardener
At one time, the candidate of biological sciences Dmitry had the largest collection of citrus plants in Belarus and one of the best private collections in Europe ...
And it all started with a few cuttings, which the teacher presented to Dmitry, then a student.
Gradually, the hobby grew into a serious hobby: acquaintance with domestic and foreign citrus growers, trips abroad ... As a result, Dmitry's collection of plants grew to several hundred (!) Varieties, species, and even genera! Noticing my amazement, the specialist with a smile asked what citrus fruits and their relatives I know. Not got ten names. But among them Lime, kumquat, orange, citron, numerous hybrids - calamondin, citrus, citrange, limandarin, tanzhelo and more
See also: Pomelo (photo) at home - growing fruit
I was lucky to grow unique plants from all over the world of various shapes and colors, - Dmitry continues enthusiastically. - Take, for example, variegated horny chicoward of the Golden Chori variety. Horns grow on its fruits! Or Australian finger lime - its fruits resemble the shape and size of the little finger of the hand. Or a one-of-a-kind umbilical Kara-Kara orange with pink pulp ...
And you can eat all this ?!
Why not? I like Vietnamese varieties of pomelo and red-fleshy oranges, from lemons - fruits grade Lisbon.
Today I have 30-40 varieties and types left at home. These are mostly dwarf or undersized forms. He presented several dozens of varieties to the Central Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus; he donated many varieties to the Academy of Sciences in Sukhumi. After all, to
there were many fruits, the plant must be allowed to grow - to provide at least a square meter. Relatively speaking, on 1 the fruit is required 15-20 leaves, if less, then the tree will be depressed. And when on one sill 20 varieties and more, as in my case, usually you should not expect high yields.
Florists often complain that after buying a citrus plant strewn with fruits, for some reason, dies ...
Basically, all these plants are brought to us from other countries. For example, in Holland for them they prepare a special composition of the soil, stuffing it with all sorts of "chemistry".
After falling into another environment and exhausting the soil, this citrus gradually withers. To prevent this from happening, it is advisable, shortly after the purchase, to transplant the plant with a clod of original soil into a pot of a slightly larger size (it is better to take a deeper than a wide pot), supplementing it with fertile soil.
It is also necessary to tear off most of the flowers and ovaries so that the plant does not waste energy. In summer, the pot can be put in the garden or on the balcony, if the plant is accustomed to the sun's rays. Citrus, "living" on the northwestern windowsill, in order to avoid burns, it is better to choose a place under the crown of the tree. When in the fall you return the plant to the room, due to the large difference in humidity, leaf fall can begin. Therefore, in an apartment with dry air, it is advisable to spray leaflets more often or place a container with water for evaporation next to it, and ideally have an air humidifier.
How often to feed citrus?
In spring and summer - 1 -2 times a week. In winter - less. Do not fertilize the plant immediately after transplanting, wait a couple of weeks. There is a general rule: more nitrogen is needed for growth, potassium and phosphorus are needed for flowering and fruiting. In the first case, the best feeding is organic matter: mullein or horse manure, and even better elk. It can be buried in a pot (the norm is up to parts of the soil before 1 / 3), and then watered.
See also: Kumquat (photo) - landing and care at home
For potassium phosphate fertilizer 200-300 g fresh or frozen (not salty!) Fish (waste) to boil in 1 l water on low heat for just over an hour. Strain, store in the refrigerator. For top dressing from 2 st.l. until the glass is diluted in 1 l of water. When watering, remove the top layer of soil (after watering will smell), and then sprinkle with earth.
When my mother “treated” a lemon with such an ear, a meter high in the plant soon matured the 22 fetus. And after that, without any special dressings of 3 for a year, the lemon plentifully blossomed and fruited. In general, citruses do not require any specific care, if not infected with pests.
Remove the mite will help contrast shower. The fixed panel can be removed with a cloth. True, her eggs can stay in the soil, so it's better to replace the top layer. For reliable prevention, you can treat plants with insecticides, which are on sale.
© Author: Victoria GULKO. Photos from the family archive of Dmitry Mardas
WE SAVE HOME CITRUS FROM PESTS
Many gardeners love to grow lemons, orange and tangerine trees in winter gardens, greenhouses and just in apartments. Care for them is not very difficult, but sometimes you have to protect from numerous pests. Phytophagous gladly settle on the shoots and leaves of lemons for nutrition and reproduction. In the open ground, citrus crops damage approximately 50 species of harmful organisms, and in the protected ground, they damage only about 10.
Who lurks under the shield?
The greatest anxiety of citrus fruit is caused by the scythes and their “relatives” - false guards. These pests are very common and dangerous. They do not hibernate and feed on plant sap all year round. They received the name for the unusual structure of the body, covered with a dense shield, similar to the brown scales of the bark. Forms of waxy substances excreted by insects are formed. They protect the insect from the effects of chemicals, and also help to hide from human eyes. Shields very difficult to fight pest.
Scabies are incredibly prolific, multiply by eggs, live-bearing species are less common. Insects quickly populate the plant. Females live for several months, during which time they lay up to 100 eggs (2-3 generations a year). After emergence, the “tramp” larvae quickly spread through the plant and stick to young shoots and leaves. "Strollers" can go along the windowsill or pots to neighboring healthy plants that do not even come into contact with the populated. In addition, sucking pests are polyphages, they quickly move to other representatives of the indoor flora (for example, False shields can damage more than 100 plant species). The larvae are so tiny that they are almost invisible to the naked eye. Having stopped at the chosen place, they freeze and after 2-3 days are covered with the first shield. After several molts on the back of the insects, a carapace of skins and a wax segment appears.
Shchitovki first populate weakened plants that are in adverse conditions, without proper care, but as the population grows, they also move to healthy plants.
Located along the veins on both sides of the leaf and covered with a solid "carpet" shoots and shtamb. In areas inhabited by the pest.
The larvae of the false shield are inactive. but in the period of molting or in the case of the death of the host plant begin to move. In search of "feed" they are able to starve up to 20 hours! The “strollers” of the false shells move along the shoots and leaves of the tree, find a convenient feeding area.
and there are sticky spots of honeydew - a sweetish liquid secretion that is released from insects during their vital activity. Sometimes it gets so much dew that it drains down from the leaves. The secret serves as an indicator to detect damage by the shield, but, in addition, it causes considerable damage to the plants: it stops the stomata on the leaf plates and thus disrupts tissue respiration: it becomes a nutrient medium for the black fungus (a symptom of a fungus lesion is characteristic black spots on leaves and young shoots).
Pests suck the juice from the tissues of the plant, it inhibits the development of leaves, they turn yellow and fall off. Lack of nutrients causes premature shedding of flowers and ovaries, formed fruits lose their nutritional value, they decrease the content of vitamins. Shoots are stunted and deformed. The number of insects in the population is constantly growing, they need a large area of food, the trees are literally “eaten alive”, they weaken, rot, lose their ability to resist concomitant infections. As a result, complete exhaustion occurs, entire branches dry out, and the whole plant may die.
Unfortunately, pests are usually found when they have already managed to settle down and multiply on the plant, so it is very difficult to destroy them.
If the house "strangers"
Flags and false guards enter the premises from the street on clothes and shoes, they are “delivered to the house” with new indoor plants, with contaminated soil for transplanting. They may even lurk in a fresh bouquet of flowers or simply fly into the open window or door with air currents. If the trees are exposed in the summer months to fresh air, the pests can easily move to them from other garden and garden plants.
Get rid of them hard. First of all. The bodies of these insects are "shackled" into a natural wax shell that protects them from the penetration of chemicals, and secondly, they multiply very rapidly and quickly occupy the plants. The affected trees lose their leaves, are oppressed in development and eventually die. If time does not respond to the appearance of the invaders, the "war" with them may be delayed for a long time. With shield and pseudo-shield should be fought in a complex, using mechanical. biological and chemical protection measures.
First of all, prevention is necessary. Neglected weakened and thickened plants with mechanical damage to the bark are at an increased risk zone, compared with strong and strong trees. In order to create the most favorable conditions for development for citrus fruits, they are carefully looked after — fed, maintained an optimal balance of temperature and humidity in the room, monitored the condition of the soil in pots. Every week, the leaves are wiped from both sides with a damp cloth, it saves the plants not only from dust, but also from pests that have just begun to inhabit them. In the summer, the leaves are occasionally washed under running water (for example, under the shower stream). Once a week 2-3 carefully examine the plants in time to detect pests. All the dead, dried shoots are cut, the cut sites are treated with garden pitch.
After the purchase, new trees are kept in quarantine for a month in a separate room. Quarantine is necessary for those plants that were in the street in the summer, and then they were brought to the house for wintering.
It is possible to get rid of the time-detected scarab and pseudo shield with the help of folk remedies. If there are few adult insects, their colonies are removed by rubbing the damaged areas with vodka or diluted with alcohol. If the pests have already managed to multiply, the plants are thoroughly treated with a gruel of garlic (chop 5 cloves, pour a glass of water and leave for 24 hours in a sealed container, then apply it on the stems and leaves with a soft toothbrush or brush) , insist day, drain) or soap-kerosene emulsion (20 g of kerosene and 1 g of soap added to 10 l of water, mix thoroughly).
Chemical remedies are used in a certain phase of pest development. Because of the structural features of the shield insects and the frayers, they are vulnerable only at the larval stage. Plants in room conditions are forbidden to spray chemicals. Treating trees in the open - in the country, landed in the summer in the soil, or putting pots on the balcony or terrace.
Two insecticide treatments are carried out at intervals of 10 days. For example, they first spill the soil in a pot or in the near-stem circle with Aktara. VDG (1 g to 10 l water). and after 10 days, the same plant is sprayed on the leaf (8 g per 10 l of water). After processing, the citrus tree is placed on the 5-6 h in a large hermetic plastic bag, then its above-ground part is washed well. Treated and washed plants are not exposed to the sun to avoid burns. Their fruits are not eaten.
Biological agents are effective - insecticaroacaricides based on avermectins (natural neurotoxins or synthetic, do not harm plants, warm-blooded animals and people). Once in the intestinal tract of the insect, they block the nerve impulses in his body, causing paralysis and death. Preparations based on avermectins quickly decompose, therefore, after 3-5 days after processing, an environmentally safe crop can be harvested.
© Author: Anna TKALENKO. Doctor of Agricultural Sciences.
HOME CITRUS - LANDING AND CARE TIPS
CITRUS HOME: WHICH CARE IS SUCH RESULT
I grow citrus fruits for many years. There are in the collection orange 'Hamlin', lemons 'Commune' and 'Florentine', tangerines 'Okitsu' and 'Pavlovsky'. I keep them the same and constantly convinced: only under certain conditions are plants thankful for their abundant flowering and rich harvest.
TEMPERATURE AND LIGHTING
In the summer, it is desirable that the pets soak up the fresh air in a bright place (balcony, outdoor terrace, garden), but not in direct sunlight. On the windowsill, it is important to prevent overheating: shade at noon, ventilate the room.
In winter, citruses need to spend at least a couple of weeks in a cool, light (up to + 12-13 degrees) room - this is a prerequisite for laying flower buds. From September to the end of October, my plants are in the greenhouse at a temperature of + 15-18 degrees, with a gradual decrease to + 5-7 degrees. In November I turn on the heating and maintain the temperature at about + 13-14 degrees, (on sunny days - + 18-19 degrees.). In December, most specimens bloom.
WATERING AND FEEDING HOME CITRUS
For citrus irrigation I use condensation water (you need to defend tap water for at least XNUMX hours). In winter, it should be a couple of degrees higher than the temperature in the room, for this I put the bottle on the battery. In the summer I water plants abundantly, about once every two days, in the heat - daily: in winter - once a week.
I feed according to the following scheme: on the 1st of the month - with mineral fertilizer (watering or according to the leaf), on the 15th - with slurry (watering). In winter, top dressing is reduced to 1 time per month. But if the plants hibernate when they are exposed to light and at a higher temperature, then they need food in the previous mode. Fertilizers should be applied only after moistening the soil.
CUTTING
The formation of the crown of a citrus tree is perhaps the most important condition to achieve fruiting. You can trim branches at any time of the year, but it is better to do this before the start of growth (February-March). The first time I shorten the top of the plant at a height of 15 to 30 cm, depending on what I want to get in the end - low or high. After this, shoots begin to develop from the lateral buds.
Of these, I leave 3-4, going in different directions - first-order shoots. When they fully mature and lignify, I also cut off the tops, leaving 3-5 buds on each branch of the leaf axils (the latter must not look inside the crown, but out), from which shoots of the second order grow. So I cut until the fourth-order shoots are formed, on which most citruses begin to bloom (there are exceptions when they bear fruit on the second and third order shoots). You can stop here with cropping. In the future, I only maintain the shape of the crown.
TRANSFER
When the roots surround the earthen lump and the capacity becomes small, I transship the plants without destroying the earthen lump. I take a new pot 2 cm in diameter larger than the previous one, conical, elongated downward. I prefer to plant in plastic flowerpots: they are strong and durable, the roots do not stick to their walls, do not overheat and do not cool. The substrate for young specimens: turfy soil, humus from cow or horse manure, sand (2: 1: 1). For adults - the same mixture, only the turf land I take 3 parts, you can add a small amount of oily clay.
© Author: Pavel ZIMIN
CITRUS EXPERIMENTS
A few years ago, in the corner of a supermarket, I noticed a huge citrus tree. For a long time I could not find the courage to ask me to sell it. It turned out that no one needed the plant in the store. So I became the owner of the "rarity".
GODNESS
Was it interesting what kind of citrus is it? Huge spikes and lionfish attracted attention. The barrel was also impressive - 14 cm in diameter. I turned to groups in social networks with a request to identify the giant, and opinions were divided: grapefruit or pomelo. They advised me to grind the sheet and see what it smells, but this method was not for my nose. One thing was clear - this is a seedling from which it is difficult to wait for the fruit.
When transplanting plants, I found many earthworms in the ground. The root system, despite the fact that it grew in a “swamp”, was chic. The tree almost rested on the ceiling; I had to shorten the trunk by half. To achieve fruiting, flower growers advised to constrict (band) ripened branches with a thickness of 5-6 mm using a soft wire. But I decided to act with my favorite method - vaccination.
And HERE OSTAP brought ...
She began to instill in the beginner everything that fantasy allowed. Unfortunately, citrus turned out to be with character. Not only didn’t want to take vaccinations, but he also dried his own branches. But there were victories too. Thanks to a friend, a graft of variegated calamondin from the Minsk Botanical Garden appeared and took root on a tree. Then there was a quick and successful vaccination of red pomelo. The experiments did not end there: I decided to make layering on citrus, and, as it turned out, in vain. The roots, at least weakly at first, but went to growth. However, soon the plant began to "kill" all the scions on itself. So my experiment failed, but I just had to stop in time.
MAKE VACCINES
To plant citrus fruits is interesting. I advise everyone to grow "savages" and try this method. I, for example, this year the red-skinned orange 'Sanguinello' bloomed. I waited for this miracle for two years, and now - snow-white flowers and aroma on the whole balcony!
© Author: Tatyana GLEBOVA, Polotsk. Author photo
AVOCADO FROM SEED. Admire the foliage!
Having bought avocado fruit last spring, I decided to experiment with its seed seed. Dried and, without cleaning, planted in the ground with a blunt end, deepened by three quarters. Two weeks later, the hard shell burst, a sprout appeared and began to develop rapidly.
AFTER the eighth sheet, I pinched the top. I noticed that the plant is reluctant to branch, - he needs pruning.
Now the seedling is already a year old, and so far I have not experienced much trouble with it. One thing only worries - the dry air in the apartment from autumn to spring, from which the tips of the leaves dry out, and the avocado, as a native of the tropics, in need of high humidity, feels bad. There is a plant on the windowsill in the kitchen, and I hope he likes it there. In winter, watered once a week, and sprayed twice. In the summer I moisturize after drying of the topsoil.
Avocado, or American Perseus, originally from Mexico. It is also called the "alligator pear" (for the pear-shaped and peel that resembles the skin of a crocodile). In nature, the tree reaches 20 m in height, and in indoor conditions - a maximum of 2,5-3 m. It is unlikely that the plant will bear fruit in the house, but its beautiful greenery is enough for me.
© Author: Valentina ANDRUSHCHENKO, Kharkov. Photo by Tatyana SANCHUK
CITRUS GARDEN ON THE WINDOW AT HOME
I have been growing plants from the Citrus family for the past two decades. In November and December, when everything is covered with snow outside the window, lemons, oranges, and tangerines ripen in indoor tropics.
In the home tropics, too, there is a dormant period. It is after the fruit ripens (at the end of December - January) that homemade citrus fruits need to rest and gain strength. After picking the fruits, I put them in a place where it is light enough during the day, and the temperature is within 1215 ° C. I make sure that the earthen ball does not dry out, but I also try not to flood it.
Since February, plants come to life, feeling the arrival of spring in their latitudes, where they come from, they begin to grow actively, driving out new shoots and throwing out flower buds. At the end of February, citrus trees are covered with clusters of flowers. As they bloom, they emit a delightful fragrance that spreads throughout the house. Outside our window at this time it is still frosty and blizzards are sweeping, and citrus fruits are transferred to a warm, fragrant spring.
For many years of growing citrus fruits, I have studied their features and will briefly give the basic agrotechnical rules for growing these plants in room conditions.
For normal development, they require appropriate light, air and soil humidity, temperature and nutrients. The lack of one factor cannot be compensated by the excess of another.
Location. If the plant is purchased from a greenhouse, you need to let it get used to the new room conditions. To do this, you can treat with drugs that increase its stress resistance.
As a rule, citrus fruits are indoors all year round. Therefore, you need to choose a permanent place for them, place them on a windowsill or on a table, a stand near the window.
Plants cannot be rearranged from place to place, you need to turn the pot gradually, every 10 days by 10 degrees, so that the light regime of the leaves does not change dramatically and the crown of the tree is balanced. The optimum air temperature is 1718°C.
In the warm season, they can be taken out into the garden, onto a balcony or veranda, but they need to be accustomed to the open air gradually, as when returning to the house in the fall.
For the winter (November - February), it is desirable to transfer the tree to a state of rest. The best conditions are a temperature of 1214 ° C, diffused light and moderate watering. If the plant hibernates on a window at a temperature of 20 ° C, it should be watered with slightly warmed water, since the same air and soil temperatures are desirable for it. It is also desirable to protect the plant from the direct flow of warm air from the battery, for example, with a film or plexiglass.
Lighting. Citrus fruits are short daylight plants. With a long daylight hours, their growth intensifies, and fruiting is delayed. It is preferable to choose windows facing southeast. In southern summers, the plant should be shaded from direct sunlight. If in winter it is grown in a room with an air temperature of 1822 ° C, it is advisable to additionally illuminate it so that the total daylight hours are 10-12 hours a day. You need to make sure that the leaves do not heat up. It is better to use phytolamps.
Watering and spraying. Watering should be timely and correct. Water can be tap and melt. In the first case, she needs to settle in a vessel with a wide neck for at least a day. Melt water is cleaner, softer and healthier. The water temperature should correspond to the air temperature, in winter in an apartment - 3-4 degrees above room temperature. Watering is done as the soil dries out (2-3 cm deep). You need to water in small portions around the entire contour of the pot. Soil moisture does not replace air humidity, so daily spraying with a spray bottle, a tray of water, and ideally a humidifier are necessary. It is advisable to wash the tree once a month.
Landing and transplant. The best time to transplant is February - March (before active growth begins). The size of the dishes and the frequency of transplants depend primarily on the degree of growth, and not on the age of the citrus. Intensively growing plants are recommended to be replanted annually. Mature trees are transplanted every 4 years, but every spring the topsoil must be replaced. The capacity is increased gradually, the new pot should be 2-3 cm larger. Neutral, loose, well-permeable soils are best suited for growing plants.
The composition of the soil mixture for citrus fruits: soddy soil, leaf humus, manure humus, peat (2: 1: 1: 1), 5% coarse river sand (for adult trees, sand is replaced with silty soil + 100 g of superphosphate per bucket), 2% wood ash.
At the bottom of the pot there should be holes for water drainage and drainage 3-5 cm thick (expanded clay or charcoal). The root neck is deepened by no more than 1 cm. After transplantation, the plant should be plentifully watered with warm water and covered for the first time from direct sunlight.
Crown formation. The crown is best formed in the form of a bush or tree with a low trunk. Branches that have grown from the axils of the leaves of the cutting itself will be branches of the zeroth order. We need to let them grow and mature. You need to cut them off, leaving about 5 leaves. They grow branches of the first, second order, and so on. Branches of subsequent orders are also cut after the 5th sheet. When branches of the fourth order grow, crown formation can be stopped. As a rule, from the shoots of the fourth order, the tree begins to bear fruit. Before that, the buds need to be removed.
When forming the crown, you need to make sure that the main branches do not overtake each other in their development. It is recommended to cut or pinch a strongly growing branch to stun growth. Side branches should not crowd each other, intertwine or cross each other. Vertically growing shoots that do not bear fruit (fat) are either removed or cut back to 20-25 cm to start producing fruit. Rejuvenate old trees regularly. To do this, shortly cut weakened branches to encourage the growth of new shoots. Pruning should be done in the spring, in March, before the tree starts to sprout. You can also thin out the crown a little in winter, after removing the fruits.
Fertilizer. Regular top dressing from the end of February to October. Apply fertilizer to a pre-moistened earthen ball. It is better to use those intended for citrus fruits.
Organic and mineral fertilizers must be alternated every 10 days. Once a week - watering with Ferrovit or iron chelate to avoid blanching of the leaves. Once a month (all year round) - spraying the leaves with a pink solution of potassium permanganate.
Pests. At home, citrus fruits are mainly damaged by aphids, scale insects and spider mites, so they should be regularly inspected and measures taken to eliminate pests immediately. It is dangerous to use pesticides at home. It is better to try to remove pests with your hands and a damp cloth. Effective insecticides - Aktara, Aktellik, Fitoverm, Neoron, Preparation 30 plus, Bushido. Folk remedies - repeated spraying with infusions of garlic / onions (1 head per 1 liter of water).
It will help to get rid of pests by wiping the surface of the leaves with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol. Alcohol should not be diluted, as it will take longer to evaporate, which will cause leaf burns. A week later, the treatment is repeated.
In order to prevent the occurrence of aphids, 3-4 times a month, you need to wash the leaves and branches under running warm water, covering the soil with polyethylene, while paying more attention to the underside of the leaves. With a small amount of aphids, a solution of green or laundry soap is used, with which the places of its accumulation are washed. After 5-7 days, the procedure is repeated. You can put the plant in a bag for 6 hours, put cotton wool soaked with Dichlorvos or a similar agent there, and then take it out and wash it. You can use the natural spray from flying and crawling insects "Bona Forte".
© Author: Alexander Lukshin, Mordovia Photo by the author
HOME CITRUS - VIDEO
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