Mandarin comes from southern China and Cochin China (as South Vietnam was called during the period of French domination there). Currently, mandarin is not found in the wild. In India, Indochina countries, China, South Korea and Japan - now these are the most common citrus crops. Mandarin was brought to Europe only in early XIX century, but is currently cultivated throughout the Mediterranean - in Spain, southern France, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Turkey. It is also grown in Abkhazia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as in the USA (in Florida), Brazil and Argentina.
Mandarin is the generalized name of several species of evergreens of the genus Citrus ( Citrus) of the Rutaceae family ( Rutaceae). The same word is used to call the fruits of these plants. You can read more about the types of mandarin in the "Types and varieties of mandarin" section of this article.
In many countries, mandarin is traditionally associated with the New Year holidays, since the harvest time falls on the month of December. In northern Vietnam and China, tangerines are put on holiday tables at the New Year's Eve lunar calendar, however - in the form of a tree with fruits, which can be considered some kind of analogue of our New Year tree.
The word "tangerine" is borrowed into Russian from Spanish, where the word mandarino is derived from se mondar ("easy to peel") and contains an indication of the property of the peel of the fruit of the plant to be easily separated from the pulp.
Description of the mandarin
Mandarin ( Citrus reticulata) - a tree not exceeding 4 meters in height, or a shrub. Young shoots are dark green. Cases are described when, by the age of 30, a mandarin reached a height of five meters, and the harvest from such a tree was 5-7 thousand fruits.
Mandarin leaves are relatively small, ovate or elliptical, petioles almost without wings or slightly winged.
Mandarin flowers are solitary or two in the axils of the leaves, the petals are dull white, the stamens are mostly with underdeveloped anthers and pollen.
Mandarin fruits are 4-6 cm in diameter and are slightly flattened from the base to the top, so that their width is greater than their height. The peel is thin, adheres to the pulp loosely (in some varieties, the peel is separated from the pulp by an air layer), 10-12 slices, well separated, the flesh is yellow-orange; the strong aroma of these fruits differs from other citrus fruits, the pulp is usually sweeter than orange.
Mandarin tree. © Michael Coghlan Features of caring for mandarin at home
Temperature: Tangerines are demanding to light and heat. Budding, flowering and fruit set best occur at an average air and soil temperature of + 15..18 °C.
Lighting: Bright ambient light. It will be good near the east and west windows, as well as on the north window. Shading from direct sun is needed in spring and summer during the hottest hours.
Watering: In summer and spring, abundantly 1-2 times a day with warm water, in winter watering is rare and moderate - 1-2 times a week and also with warm water. However, even in winter, drying of the earthy coma should not be allowed, as this leads to twisting of the leaves and falling of not only the leaves, but also the fruits. On the other hand, we must not forget that plants die from excess moisture. Starting in October, watering is reduced.
Air humidity: Tangerines are regularly sprayed in summer, but if they are kept in winter in a room with central heating, then they are sprayed in winter. When kept indoors with dry air, oranges are attacked by pests (mites and scale insects).
Transfer: Young trees should be replanted annually. Transplantation should not be carried out if the roots of the plant have not yet been braided with an earthen ball. In this case, it is enough to change the drainage and top layers of the soil in the pot. Fruiting trees are transplanted no more than once every 2-3 years.
Transplanted before the start of growth. It is not recommended to transplant the plants after the end of growth. When transplanting, one should not strongly destroy the earthen clod. Good drainage must be provided. The root neck in the new container should be at the same level as it was in the old container.
Soil for young tangerines: 2 parts sod, 1 part leafy soil, 1 part cow dung humus and 1 part sand.
Soil for adult tangerines: 3 parts sod, 1 part leaf, 1 part cow dung, 1 part sand and a small amount of oily clay.
Mandarin fertilizer: Fertilizer watering is used in the first half of summer. It increases the sugar content of fruits and reduces the bitter taste that is characteristic of citrus fruits at room culture. The plant needs more fertilizer, the older it is and the longer it stays in one dish. Fertilizers are applied after watering.
With additional artificial lighting of tangerines in winter, they also need to be fertilized. For tangerines, organic fertilizers (cow dung slurry) and combined mineral fertilizers are recommended; you can also buy special fertilizers for citrus fruits in flower shops.
reproduction: Reproduction of tangerines, as well as lemons, is usually carried out by grafting, cuttings, layering and seeds. IN room conditions The most common propagation method for citrus fruits is cuttings.
Calamondin, or citrofortunella (Calamondin) - a fast-growing and well-branched evergreen tree - a hybrid of mandarin with kumquat (fortunella). © Luigi Strano If you love citrus fruits and decide to make yourself a holiday at home, then you can think about how to grow tangerines at home. Tangerines are usually propagated by grafting or layering (the second method is more difficult). In the first case, you need to worry about a stock in advance, for which any citrus plant is suitable - an orange, lemon or grapefruit grown at home from a seed.
Reproduction of mandarin by grafting
It is best to take 2-4-year-old specimens with pencil-thick stems. On them, the selected variety is grafted with an eye or a cutting. The operation is carried out during the period of sap flow, when the bark is easily separated from the wood of the seedling, exposing the cambium. Therefore, budding can be done 2 times a year during intensive growth - in spring and at the end of summer. To activate sap flow, the plant is watered abundantly a few days before vaccination. Then they check how the bark is separated by slightly incising it above the place intended for budding.
For beginners, it is better to first practice on the branches of other plants, for example, on linden. To prevent evaporation of water, all leaf blades are pre-cut from the scion, leaving petioles (during the operation, shields with eyes are held for them).
On the stem of the seedling, 5-10 cm from the ground, they choose a place for grafting with a smooth bark, without buds and thorns. Very carefully, with one movement of the knife, first a transverse incision is made in the bark (no more than 1 cm), and from its middle, from top to bottom, a shallow longitudinal incision (2-3 cm). With the bone of the budding knife, slightly pry the corners of the incised bark and “plow open” it a little. Then they are immediately returned to their original position, only they are not pressed tightly at the top (the peephole will be inserted in this place).
After preparing the stock, without delay, they proceed to the most important procedure - they cut off the kidney from the scion branch, which was previously in a plastic bag. First, the scion is cut into pieces, each of which has a petiole and a kidney. The top cut should be 0.5 cm above the kidney, and the bottom cut 1 cm below. Such a “stump” is placed on the priest and a peephole with the thinnest layer of wood is cut off with a blade.
Having parted the corners of the bark on the rootstock with a knife bone, quickly insert the eye into the T-shaped incision, as if into a pocket, pressing down from top to bottom. Then the grafting site is tightly tied with a polyethylene or PVC tape, starting from the bottom, so that water does not leak in the future. A garden pitch can be applied over the tape.
If after 2-3 weeks the stem of the scion turns yellow and falls off, then everything is in order. And if it dries up and remains - you have to start over.
A month after successful budding, the upper part of the stock is cut off. Do this in two steps. At first, 10 cm above the graft, so as not to cause the eye to dry out, and when it sprouts, then directly above it - on a spike. Remove the bandage at the same time. Old trees are often grafted in this way, but not on the trunk, but on the branches of the crown. The technique of operations is the same.
The survival rate of cuttings is significantly increased if the stem below the graft is wrapped with wet cotton wool, and a plastic bag is put on top of the tree, which creates its own microclimate inside with high air humidity.
In the future, it is necessary to remove the shoots coming from the stock, otherwise they can drown out the scion. Grafted plants begin to bear fruit in the second or third year.
Green (unripe) tangerines. © Mamoto46 Further care for mandarin
In room conditions, tangerines, as a rule, are short and gradually turn into original dwarf trees. When flowering, the fruits are tied without artificial pollination, ripen in a few months, usually by the end of the year.
Their taste depends on the proper care of the plants, which must be transplanted into containers annually. bigger size with good fertile soil, being careful not to damage the roots. In addition, the trees are regularly fed with fertilizers - mineral and organic. It is best to use manure infusion, diluted 10 times before use. A good fertilizer can also be used tea, which is buried in the top layer of soil.
It is necessary to constantly monitor the humidity in the "citrus garden". Next to the plants, you can install a wide bowl of water. It is useful to spray the crown of tangerines daily with water at room temperature.
Illumination matters a lot. Trees should stand at the brightest window. In late autumn and winter, it is advisable to strengthen ordinary fluorescent lamps above them. They are turned on early in the morning and in the evening, extending daylight hours to 12 hours.
In summer, if possible, tangerines are best kept outdoors, but where there is no strong wind and direct sunlight. Plants are accustomed to new conditions gradually - in the first days they endure only for a few hours, and if it is cool outside, moisten the earthen ball with warm (up to 40 ºС) water. When kept at home, they are watered almost daily, making sure that the earth in the pot is always slightly damp. It is advisable to use not tap water, but rain or snow water.
Types and varieties of mandarin
Mandarin is characterized by strong polymorphism, as a result of which groups of its varieties (or even individual varieties) are described by different authors as independent species. The fruits of tropical varieties stand out with a particularly large variety.
Typically, mandarin varieties are divided into three groups:
- in the first group - very thermophilic noble tangerines (Citrus nobilis), having large leaves and relatively large yellowish-orange fruits with a large-tuberous skin;
- the second group consists of heat-loving and more small-leaved tangerines, or Italian tangerines ( Citrus reticulata) with rather large orange-red fruits of a slightly elongated shape, covered with a plump peel (its smell in some varieties is sharp and not very pleasant);
- the third group includes satsum(or unshiu) ( Citrus unshiu) native to Japan, characterized by cold resistance, large leaves and small, thin-skinned, yellowish-orange fruits (often with green on the skin). It is satsums that tolerate short-term slight frosts (down to -7 degrees) that are successfully grown on the Black Sea coast.
Unlike noble tangerines and tangerines, seeds are very rarely found in satsum fruits - this is probably why this variety is also called seedless tangerine. Its varieties, when grown in containers, usually grow up to 1-1.5 m. Slender tangerine trees with a beautiful crown of slightly drooping branches, covered with numerous dark green leaves, during abundant flowering and fruiting, especially decorate the house and fill it with wonderful smells.
As a result of crossing mandarin with other citrus fruits, various hybrids were obtained:
- clementines (Clementina) - (tangerine x orange) - with small or medium-sized, flattened, very fragrant orange-red fruits covered with a shiny thin peel (multi-seeded clementines are called monrealis);
- ellendale (Ellendale) - (tangerine x tangerine x orange) - with orange-red seedless fruits ranging in size from medium to large, with an exquisite taste and aroma;
- tangors (Tangors) - (orange x tangerine) - have large (10-15 cm in diameter), flattened, red-orange fruits with a relatively thick, large-pored peel;
- minneola (Minneola) - (tangerine x grapefruit) - differ in a variety of sizes of red-orange fruits (from small to very large), in shape - elongated-rounded, with a “tubercle” and a “neck” at the top;
- tangelo, or tangelo (Tangelo) - (tangerine x pomelo) - have large red-orange fruits the size of an average orange;
- santines (Suntina, or Sun Tina) - (clementine x orlando) - with fruits that look like noble tangerines, which have an exquisite sweet taste and aroma;
- ugly (Ugli, ugly) - (tangerine x orange x grapefruit) - the largest among hybrids (fruits with a diameter of 16-18 cm), flattened, with coarse, large-pore yellow-green, orange or yellow-brown skin.
Mandarin tree in a pot. © Marco - "Unshiu"- frost-resistant, fast-growing, very productive variety. The tree is short, with a spreading crown of thin, very flexible branches covered with corrugated leaves. This tangerine is excellently branched, grows quickly, blooms profusely and willingly. The fruits are pear-shaped, without seeds. With artificial lighting, it grows without ceasing.
- "Kovane-vasse"- a strong tree with thick branches; branches reluctantly. This variety of mandarin can grow quite large for the size of an apartment. Leaves are fleshy and tough. Blooms profusely. The fruits are medium in size, orange-yellow.
- "Shiva Mikan"- a compact, fast-growing tree with large, fleshy, dark green foliage. Early blooming excellent. Yield is average; fetus weighing up to 30 g.
- Murcott(Honey) - a very rare variety with a compact bush. The flesh of this summer-ripening mandarin is sweet as honey.
Mandarin orange
Mandarin is an evergreen citrus plant. Proper Care will provide him with a healthy appearance, active flowering and fruiting.
Mandarin is an unpretentious and easy-to-grow representative of the Rutov family. It has the appearance of a shrub or tree up to 5 m high. its parameters are regulated by cutting.
A prerequisite for growing mandarin at home is a sufficient amount of light. When choosing a place for this crop, you need to take care of a sufficient flow of direct sunlight.
In the summer lunchtime, you need to shade the citrus tree. It is preferable to put pots on the south side of the apartment, as well as create outdoor conditions, periodically taking the plant to the balcony. In winter, when the daylight hours are short, you need to put the mandarin in the brightest place, add artificial lighting if necessary.
There are special phytolamps on sale that provide plants with a sufficient amount of light at any time of the day and season.
It is necessary to gradually transfer crops to a new light regime with additional illumination: with a sharp change in the situation, the foliage may crumble.
Determining the lack of light in a houseplant is simple: tangerine leaves become faded, dull, lose saturation and brightness. New shoots are thin, weak. Flowering is inactive.
The optimum temperature in summer is + 20-25 ° С. When the first buds appear, +20 (you should not raise it higher: this threatens to shed color). IN winter time mandarin "rests" at + 5-10 ° C. Such rest will ensure active development and high fruiting in the next season.
Annually in the spring, the crown of the tree is pruned, which contributes not only to the beautiful appearance, but also the improvement of the tangerine. Pruning acts as a stimulation of budding and rejuvenation of green leaves. Thinning is carried out with the removal of overgrown branches (fruit-bearing do not touch). As a result, the tree becomes more magnificent.
Prevention should be carried out periodically by cutting off dry and unhealthy branches. On newly formed units, it is necessary to remove the excess ovary at the rate of 1 cut per 20 intact leaves for normal fruit ripening. The older the plant, the more ovaries must be left.
The cut should be done with disinfected sharp scissors or secateurs, treated with activated charcoal.
Landing
An easy way to purchase a citrus tree is to buy a ready-made specimen, often already with fruits. Another option is to purchase a seedling and plant it in the ground.
When growing a mandarin from a seed or seed, you need to know the important steps in this process:
- Preparation of material for planting in the ground. Seeds (10-12 pieces) must be removed from a ripe fruit. This amount is due to the lack of a guarantee that all of them will germinate. The grains need to be wrapped in a damp cloth flap or soaked in a container and left for several days to form sprouts.
- Landing process. Pour a layer of expanded clay into a pre-prepared pot: it is ideal for drainage. Lay out the soil and plant sprouted mandarin seeds to a depth of 7 cm. Water the soil periodically. After a month, the first shoots will appear on the surface.
- Plant nutrition (after germination).
You can grow a tangerine using a branch of an adult tree. To do this, you need to choose a healthy long process with a diameter of at least 0.4 cm. You do not need to cut it off. The branch is bent in half and sprinkled with earth, maintaining moisture. The top should not be in the ground. After the appearance of young roots, a new tree is cut off from the main mandarin.
It is necessary to transplant a tree annually, and when it reaches the age of seven, once every 2 years. The best substrate is specialized soil for citrus fruits with little acidity.
You can make the soil yourself, taking turfy soil as a basis and adding humus, sand and foliage to it in equal proportions.
The pot should not be too large to avoid rotting of the root system, but a few centimeters larger than the previous one. The bottom is lined with expanded clay, stones to prevent the accumulation of water and the formation of rot. At the end of the process, water the soil and after half an hour add the earth.
For a positive result after transplantation, you should follow the rules:
- During the period of budding and the appearance of flowers, mandarin cannot be transplanted. March is the perfect time for this procedure.
- A few days before the proposed transplant and two weeks after it, it is categorically not recommended to fertilize the plant.
Watering
Mandarin tolerates drought well. With a prolonged lack of water, the plant can throw off the leaves to reduce the area of evaporation of the liquid. Inexperienced owners often pour tangerine. This is dangerous for the development of fungal diseases.
Irrigation factors:
- plant height and crown volume: the presence of abundant green mass requires frequent watering;
- pot size and amount of substrate;
- temperature regime: the higher the temperature in the room, the more water the culture needs;
- seasonality;
- lighting conditions.
Mandarin is demanding on watering conditions. Irrigate the tree should be in the morning. In the case of low temperatures (below +15 ° C), it is required to stop supplying the plant with water for several days.
Growing mandarin in apartment conditions, it is necessary to regularly irrigate the leaves, and during the period of budding and flowering, prevent moisture from getting on the flowers.
Dry indoor air can cause spider mites to appear on the plant.
Treatment
During the development of mandarin, infection with all kinds of diseases, the appearance of pests are possible. If you notice the appearance of leaves of yellow or light green flowers on the tree, it is worth watering the plant and reducing the frequency of feeding, and if the symptoms persist, look for another solution to the problem.
The causes of diseases can be different:
- The presence of pests and a glut of potassium can provoke the release of gum from the trunk. It is necessary to change the soil, clearing the roots of possible insects.
- The infection causes a black sticky coating to appear on the green mass. To remove it, each leaf is washed with water.
- A fungicidal agent will help to cope with the fungus that appears on the foliage in the form of spots.
- A fungal disease can cause the plant to rot. Pathology occurs due to high humidity, deficiency of potassium or phosphorus. To cure a tree, you need to treat healthy branches with fungicides, and remove the affected ones with a pruner.
- White plaque is powdery mildew. To eliminate this disease, it is necessary to ventilate the room more often and spray the culture with a copper-containing preparation.
Pests (spider mites, aphids, etc.) are no less dangerous for mandarins than diseases. To combat the group of insects in question, a solution based on soap or garlic should be used. With a large number of pests, it is better to use chemical agents (insecticides). It is recommended to spray mandarin three times a month with the same breaks between treatments. After application, you need to wrap the plant with a bag for 20-30 minutes.
How to feed a tangerine at home?
Natural restoration of the soil in pots is impossible, and the amount of nutrients that was originally present in the soil is quickly absorbed by the plant and washed out when watering. Therefore, for the full life of the tangerine tree, it is worth regularly feeding it with organic and mineral fertilizers. On store shelves you can find a variety of dressings: dry granular, powdered and liquid.
The increase in the amount of fertilizer should be carried out in proportion to the increase in daylight hours. In early spring during the growing season, top dressing is a prerequisite for growing mandarin: this is important to support its active development.
Top dressing is done in the morning, as well as watering. This is the most optimal time when the plant actively absorbs useful components. The temperature indicator must be at least 18 ° C. Popular are liquid top dressings, which are universal in use for the root system and irrigation of green mass.
Best time for fertilizer - summer. Scheme of application in the summer:
- nitrogen-potassium - 3 times a month;
- fermented manure and superphosphate - every 14 days, 4 days after nitrogen and potassium.
In winter, feed the plant no more than 1 time per month.
You can fertilize with the help of products available in home stocks:
- Wood ash. Dissolve 0.5 tbsp. l. in 1 liter of water.
- Weed grass. Grind the leaves of the quinoa and add to the soil.
- Brewing tea and grounds from natural coffee. Pour well-dried raw materials into the soil.
- Sugar. Use as a solution (1 tsp per 200 ml of water), water once a week.
- Egg shell. Grind to powder, sprinkle around the tangerine stem.
- Aquarium water. Apply when watering: it will strengthen root system.
- Bone glue. Dilute 200 g in a liter of liquid, boil until the consistency of liquid jelly. Pour the resulting substance over the ground, then carefully loosen it.
- Metal rusty items. Bury in the ground or sprinkle the surface (if we are talking about chips). This method helps to compensate for iron deficiency. For the same purpose, add bone meal several times a season.
- Potassium permanganate. It is used as a growth activator, protection against harmful insects. To prepare a useful composition, you need to mix 6 crystals of potassium permanganate with 2 liters of water. Watering with a solution of mandarin should be done once a month.
Mineral mixtures based on phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen
The most optimal for growing mandarin are nitrogen, potash and phosphorus fertilizers. Dissolution should be carried out in water at room temperature (its hot or too cold state is not allowed).
When feeding, you should adhere to a certain dosage indicated in the instructions. Oversaturation can lead to plant poisoning or leaf burns. In spring and summer, it is necessary to fertilize tangerine trees no more than twice a week.
For fertilizing with nitrogen, a nitrate solution (0.5%) is added when calculating 2 tbsp. l. on a bucket of water (10 l). In the same volume of liquid, add 50 g of saltpeter and 2 tsp. potassium salt. In order for the granular fertilizer to dissolve quickly, it should be added to a small amount of water, stirred, and only then added to the bulk of the liquid.
Urea is also rich in nitrogen. It is dissolved in an amount of 1.5 g in a liter of liquid.
Nitrogen top dressing is excluded during the formation of the ovary or flowering. Otherwise, the mandarin flowers may crumble. As soon as the fruits reach a size of 1.5 cm, the fertilization process must be resumed.
Phosphorus make-up is presented in the form of poorly soluble superphosphate. It in the amount of 50 g must be boiled in 10 liters of water for half an hour. Superphosphate top dressing can be applied in a dry state by adding 0.05 kg of the drug to manure mash (10 l). You can simply scatter the substance on the surface of the earth.
Wood ash is another method of replenishing phosphorus deficiency. This type of fertilizer is important in the formation of the ovary and color.
Calcium is found in large quantities in plaster.
The plant must be properly prepared for wintering: increase the amount of phosphorus-potassium top dressing, and reduce nitrogen. Fertilizer is advisable to carry out by alternating root and foliar feeding.
organic fertilizers
Alternate application of organic matter and mineral supplements is the most correct solution when growing tangerine trees. You can prepare an environmentally friendly feed using horse or cow manure with water in a ratio of 1:10. Chicken manure will work too. The substance should be infused for three days, then add 3 g of superphosphate and 2 g of potassium salt to it. Pour in small portions into the pot, after watering the soil.
As a result of the use of this tool, the yield increases, the vegetative process is activated, the external data of the plant and the taste of its fruits are improved. Organics should be used carefully, given the volume of the pot in which the tangerine tree grows.
It is forbidden to use mineral and organic fertilizers at the same time: this way you can burn the roots. The best way top dressing - alternation. It is impossible to fertilize the affected plant, as well as to make preparations in non-moistened soil. The first feeding is carried out 60 days after planting to strengthen the root system.
By adhering to the basic rules for caring for an exotic tangerine tree, you can grow a healthy plant. Its aroma will fill the owner's home, while delicate flowers and bright fruits will add aesthetics.
Homemade orange and tangerine tree looks beautiful and spectacular. During its flowering, white fragrant buds are formed. And after a while delicious fruits are formed. If grown in a bonsai style, you can get a real work of art. The article will tell you how the plant looks like, what varieties are suitable for an apartment, how to properly organize care at home.
Orange and mandarin house is a flowering evergreen plant. Belongs to the genus Citrus, the rue family (calamondin). The height is 4-5 meters. The yield varies from 5000 to 7000 fruits per tree. The crown is round and spreading, with a diameter of about 3.5 meters. The bark is light grey. Young shoots are dark green. The leaves are leathery and small in size. They are egg-shaped, pointed at the end. Photos of the tangerine tree can be seen in the specialized literature.
Growing mandarin at home
At home, growing tangerine, kiwi, pomegranate, persimmon is easy. When planted with a stone, the tree begins to bloom and bear fruit after 7-8 years. But such a state can be achieved much faster if, at the age of 4, grafting is performed from a fruit-bearing tree. If you do not want to mess with planting and propagation, it is better to buy a plant in a specialized store or order it online. Usually fruits are formed without artificial pollination.
To get a good harvest, the plant must be properly looked after, fertilized.
From the bone, seeds
Planting a pit is the easiest way to get a tangerine tree at home. But this process is lengthy. In addition, not all varieties form seeds. For landing should buy quality material that has been properly stored, not exposed to direct sunlight, or frozen. Seeds need to be washed and dried. Then they are wrapped in a damp cotton cloth. When the bones increase in size and sprouts begin to hatch, they are planted in a pot with a fertile substrate. As the plant grows, it is transplanted into a larger container. It is better to sow several seeds at once, because the percentage of their germination is average. It is important to consider that fruits grown from the stone are inedible. Therefore, in order to improve the taste, they are vaccinated. You can watch the video for more details on the process.
Grafting a tangerine seedling
Grafting a tangerine seedling allows you to get a bountiful harvest. The procedure is carried out in the period from April to May or in the month of August. It is important to take the best rootstock and cuttings from a fruiting healthy tree. Use biennial or annual branches of grapefruit. Thorns and leaves are cut from the cutting. A plant with a well-developed bark is suitable for a rootstock. The barrel is first wiped from dust and dirt. Then a small T-shaped incision is made on the bark. The bark is removed with a knife and the cutting is inserted into the hole. This area is smeared with garden pitch, wrapped with a cloth, leaving only a kidney on the surface. A grafted homemade tangerine is covered with a plastic bottle or plastic bag to create a greenhouse effect. After three weeks, the branch should take root.
Cuttings for growing a tangerine tree
Often for growing decorative tree cutting is used. A small branch with a leaf can be bought at a specialty store or cut off from an existing tree. The stalk is planted in a fertile, loose substrate. Then it is plentifully watered and covered with a plastic bottle. After 60 days, the branch will take root, leaves will begin to appear. It is allowed to remove the shelter only when the plant is fully strengthened. Further care consists in timely irrigation, annual transplantation and top dressing.
Crossing mandarin with other citrus fruits
At home, it is easy to get hybrid forms of mandarin. To do this, they cross with other citrus plants. For example, with lemon, orange, grapefruit. When a mandarin is crossed with a North African orange, a clementine is obtained. The tree produces medium-sized or small, orange-red, flattened fruits. To cross, you need to pollinate the flowers of one plant with the pollen of another. The seeds obtained from the fruit are planted in a box with a fertile substrate. To grow such a hybrid, a vaccination is needed. Without this procedure, a good harvest cannot be achieved. If provide clementine the necessary conditions content, after a few years the tree will begin to bear fruit.
Features of tree care
When keeping mandarin at room temperature, it is important to observe the light and temperature conditions.
In order for the young plant to get stronger, the first three years after planting, all ovaries and flowers are removed. Only in the fourth year the tree is allowed to bear fruit. But since at this age the branches are still weak and thin, it is impossible for more than 6 fruits to form. Every year the plant will be able to produce more and more fruits. It is desirable to tie shoots during fruiting. If care is organized correctly, about 60 tangerines can be collected from one adult tree.
Temperature and lighting
Mandarin is a light and thermophilic plant. Therefore, it should be placed on the east, south or west window. In this case, it is necessary to build shading from the midday sun. In winter, additional lighting is installed. In summer, the tree is taken out to the veranda or balcony. But the plant should be accustomed to fresh air gradually. The optimum temperature is +25 degrees in summer and +17 degrees in winter. In order for the aged mandarin to bear fruit abundantly, experts recommend cold wintering: keep the pot in a room where the temperature does not exceed +12 degrees.
Watering a tangerine tree
In spring and autumn, irrigate once a day with settled warm water. The irrigation regime must be adjusted so as to prevent waterlogging and drying of the soil so that the mandarin does not shed its leaves. Excess moisture causes rotting of the roots, and its deficiency leads to leaf fall. The tangerine tree prefers high humidity, so regular spraying will be useful. It is important to ensure that during spraying and watering water does not fall on the flowers. Experts advise putting a pot of wood on a pallet with wet expanded clay, pebbles or moss.
Soil requirements and necessary fertilizers
To grow homemade tangerine, use slightly acidic soil. You can buy ready-made soil for citrus fruits in the store or prepare the substrate yourself from soddy and leafy soil, clay, humus and coarse sand. Fertilize begins in June, when the plant enters a phase of active growth. Nutrients are added twice a month. Feed after the irrigation procedure, so as not to burn the root system. As fertilizers, it is better to use an infusion of cow dung, yeast. Special formulations for citrus fruits are also suitable. In winter, top dressing is not carried out.
Transplanting a tangerine tree
Transplantation is carried out as the tree grows. For a young plant, this procedure is carried out once a year. Tangerines older than 7 years are transplanted every two years. Use the transfer method. The new pot should be 6 centimeters larger than the previous one. FROM 
once planted in a large container can not be. This is fraught with root rot. Do not repot during flowering. Optimal time for such an event - the beginning of spring. Feeding should be stopped a few days before the planned transplant date.
For the procedure to be successful, you must adhere to the algorithm of actions:
- Water the tree generously.
- Remove the plant from the old container.
- Place carefully in a new pot.
- Sprinkle with earth.
- Lightly moisten the soil.
Reproduction, pruning, shaping
Mandarin is propagated at home in a generative or vegetative way. The first method involves growing from the bone. The essence of the second is the rooting of branches. When choosing cuttings, you should use a special rooting solution. Then the percentage of survival will increase several times. Both methods take a lot of time. Therefore, some flower growers prefer to buy already grafted in the store. indoor tangerine.
Usually home varieties are undersized. If you form the crown correctly, you can create a bonsai tree that will become a real decoration of the room. To make the plant look neat, you need to control the growth of side shoots and tops. To do this, pruning is carried out lowered down and growing inward branches.
Varieties for home growing
For growing tangerines at home, varieties are used that are short and compact. The most popular are Unshiu, tangerines of the Vase group, Shiva-Mikan, Clementine. Unshiu is a Japanese variety, which is characterized by unpretentiousness, early maturity, good branching. The tree grows up to 1.5 meters. Flowering is plentiful, falls on the spring season. The fruits ripen at the end of November. The tree is resistant to low temperatures.
Kowano-Wase and Miyagawa-Wase are dwarf varieties that range in height from 40 to 80 centimeters. Kovano-Vase grows no more than 50 centimeters. Is different abundant flowering. The tree bears fruit in the second year of life, gives orange-yellow fruits of a rounded flattened shape. The advantages include frost resistance and high yields. Miyagawa Washe is the most tall variety in Vasya's group. It is characterized by large fruits that have a smooth thin skin and are pitted. Fruits ripen in September and retain their taste for a long time.
Shiva Mikan is a fast growing, compact variety that produces small but very sweet fruits. Shiva-Mikan tangerines ripen in summer. Often grown in apartments and Clementine - a hybrid of orange and tangerine. The tree enters fruiting in the second year of life. One plant produces about 50 orange-red fruits per year. Fruit contains many seeds.
Potential Growing Problems
If you follow all the rules of care, take into account the characteristics of the variety, there will be no problems when growing a tree. But beginners often make mistakes in keeping a citrus plant for a month. Often flower growers notice that the foliage begins to turn yellow, curl and fall off. 
This happens for various reasons:
- The tree is getting old.
- Light deficiency.
- Too dry air.
- The transplant was done incorrectly.
- There are drafts in the apartment.
When the yellowing starts from the bottom of the crown and spreads upward, there is most likely a nitrogen deficiency. If first the young leaves turn yellow and dry, and then the old ones, this means that the tree is deficient in iron. It happens that the leaves begin to fall off for no apparent reason. In this case, resuscitation and top dressing with potassium nitrate should be carried out. If the cancer is cured and the cause of the yellowing of the foliage is eliminated, the tree will quickly recover.
Mandarin is susceptible to such pests:
- Spider mite. It is manifested by the appearance of light small dots on the underside of the sheet.
- Mealy worm. It looks like a white fluffy coating.
- Aphid. These are small insects of a light green color.
- Shchitovka. A sticky syrup-like coating forms on the leaves.
citrus products
Tangerines are considered low-calorie, so they are often used in diet food. Drinks, juices, classic compotes, lemonade are prepared from this fruit. They make Isabella wine and chacha from it, alcohol and grapes. There are also recipes for compotes and pomace from dandelions, apples and plums with alcohol. There are many recipes that allow you to create a real dietary treat from healthy tangerine.
For example, crusts, candied fruits are delicious. To prepare them, soak the crust in water for a day. Then cut it into thin strips. Boil candied fruits in sugar syrup for an hour. Then they are laid out on a baking sheet and left to dry.
In the East, fresh slices of this fruit are added to sweet soups and vegetable salads. Delicious ice cream is obtained from tangerine, milk, condensed milk, sour cream. Mandarin is peeled and mashed with a blender. Add condensed milk and sour cream. Mix everything and pour the mass into a container with a lid. Put in the freezer for 6 hours. Every 40 minutes you need to take out the container and mix the ice cream. It is recommended to serve dessert with fruit syrup.
Exotic plants can be a real decoration of the house. Of course, growing them on your own from seeds is not at all easy, but you can buy an already grown seedling of such a tree or flower and just organize the right balanced care for it. So, homemade citrus fruits are very popular among amateurs: tangerines and oranges, as well as laurels, etc. And growing them in an ordinary apartment is not so difficult. Today we will talk about how to care for a homemade tangerine in a pot.
So, indoor tangerine is a representative of the rue family, evergreen, which grows successfully in greenhouses and various winter gardens. Although this tree can reach a fairly large size, it is quite possible to grow it on a windowsill. In addition, on sale now you can find dwarf and undersized tangerines, the height of which does not exceed sixty centimeters - one meter.
How to care for tangerine at home?
Optimum lighting
In order for this exotic tree to feel good, readers of "Popular about Health" need to organize the right lighting for it - good enough, but with a minimum amount of direct sunlight. If the plant feels a lack of light, it may practically not bloom, and with a strong lack of lighting, its leaves will become pale, the shoots will begin to stretch and weaken. So it is best to place a pot with a plant on the windowsill of an east or southeast window; when growing on the south side, it is advisable to organize a shading for a pet from direct sunlight. In the hot season, it is quite possible to take the tree out into the street, but it is worth gradually accustoming it to open space.
In the cold, it is extremely important to place a pot of tangerine in the most illuminated place, and it is even better to organize additional lighting for it.
Optimal temperature performance
It is best to grow indoor tangerine in the summer at a temperature of twenty to twenty-five degrees. At the stage of budding, as well as during the flowering period, it is desirable to slightly reduce the temperature of the content - up to twenty degrees or even slightly lower. With more high temperature the tree may drop flowers or buds. In cold weather, in order to organize a period of small rest for the pet, it is worth lowering the temperature of the content to five to ten degrees. If the tree has the opportunity to rest during the winter, it will bloom and bear fruit much better.
How to water homemade tangerine?
Indoor tangerines at home are quite resistant to a lack of life-giving moisture. They successfully tolerate a lack of watering, and in case of severe drought, they can only shed their leaves. Quite often, such plants suffer from excessive moisture, which can lead to the development of fungal diseases.
So it’s worth watering the tree only after the soil in the pot dries out a little. It is advisable to carry out this manipulation in the morning. During the period of temperature decrease (in winter), watering is reduced, performing it only to maintain life.
Humidity
For all their drought resistance, indoor tangerines really do not like dry air. Therefore, they should be systematically sprayed. With a lack of environmental humidity, plants can suffer from spider mites. But during the flowering period, it is extremely important to ensure that water droplets do not fall on the mandarin flowers.
top dressing
In order for exotic trees to look attractive and remain healthy, they must be fed. After all, the soil in the pot is depleted quite quickly. For top dressing, it is worth using soluble fertilizers, they can be used for both irrigation and spraying, but in the second case, the concentration should be very weak. From fertilizers, you can use any complex mixtures that have in their composition the main particles needed by plants, they are represented by phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium.
Top dressing of tangerines is carried out, starting in March and ending in September, once every two weeks. In autumn, it is worth carrying out such manipulations less often - once a month.
Experienced flower growers also recommend organizing indoor tangerines for fertilizing with organic fertilizers. In this case, it is necessary to dilute well-infused cow dung, adhering to a ratio of 1:10.
Transfer
Young trees need to be replanted annually, and adults - with an interval of two years. For transplanting, it is best to purchase a special soil designed for citrus fruits. It is advisable to move the plant into a pot, the diameter of which is no more than five centimeters larger than before. The organization of a sufficiently good drainage layer in the new container also plays an extremely important role.
The best time to transplant a tangerine is early spring when the growing season is about to begin. A couple of days before this procedure, it is worth abandoning the use of fertilizers. Feeding is not carried out for two weeks after transplantation. At the end of this procedure, you need to water the tree, and after half an hour add soil (if necessary) and water again.
Additional Information
In order to get a lush tree in a pot in a home flower garden, indoor tangerine needs to pinch the branches. It is also worth periodically removing dried leaves, stretched twigs and extra flowers. For every fifteen leaves, no more than one ovary should be left. And when fruiting, the branches must be tied to a support so that they do not break.
Mandarin- an evergreen plant that belongs to the Rutov family. The specific Latin name of the mandarin is Citrus reticulate. Like orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, it belongs to the genus Citrus. The life form of this plant is interesting - it can be a shrub and a tree, reaching a height of 5 meters.
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room tangerine
Like other representatives of the genus Citrus, mandarin has long been grown in greenhouses, conservatories, and winter gardens. Despite its size, mandarin at home can be grown on a balcony or on a windowsill. Currently, breeders have bred many varieties of dwarf and undersized tangerines for home cultivation, the maximum height of which is 0.6-1.1 m. Indoor tangerine may not be a dwarf variety, then the plant needs to be severely cut and shaped.
Indoor tangerine is a very effective pot plant. And not only because of the bright, fragrant and appetizing orange fruits that can be stored on it for several months. Sometimes the plant gives pleasure only by its flowering, because the delicate white flowers of the mandarin exude an amazing aroma. In some varieties, flowering begins in spring and may continue all year round. room tangerine, grown as a bonsai, is a true work of art.
1:882Indoor mandarin fruits tied without artificial pollination, usually ripen at the end of the year. Often, indoor tangerine in a pot is bought in a store with fruits already hanging on it. Despite the fact that they are very appetizing, they should not be eaten. Indeed, to achieve such a high decorative effect, plants receive high doses of fertilizers. Leathery and corrugated leaves are beautiful in mandarin.
1:1619Popular mandarin varieties for growing at home
Unshiu - a Japanese variety, the most unpretentious, begins to bear fruit for 3-4 years, grows up to 0.8-1.5 m in room conditions. It branches well. It blooms profusely in spring, forms fruits in late October-November. Pear-shaped fruits do not have seeds.
Kowano-Wase, Miha-Wase, Miyagawa-Wase - dwarf tangerines
Vasya groups - 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 plentiful. Like all dwarf varieties, they do not need crown formation.
Shiva Mikan is an early compact fast growing variety. Fruits are small, not more than 30 g
Murcott- the fruits of this compact mandarin variety are very sweet, ripen in summer, taste very sweet, which is why the name of the variety is translated as "honey".
Clementine- a hybrid of mandarin and orange, bears fruit at home in the second year. One adult domestic tree per year produces up to 50 medium flattened orange-red fruits, very fragrant, with a shiny skin. Plants of this variety with numerous seeds are called monrealis.
Mandarin care at home
Tangerine lighting at home
The first step in successfully growing an indoor tangerine is choosing a location for the plant and lighting it properly.
Mandarin room, as well as grown in open field, you need good lighting with some direct sunlight. In low light, the plant slows down growth, throws out a small number of flowers or does not bloom at all. With a strong lack of light, the leaves of indoor tangerine become faded, new shoots are elongated, thin and painful in appearance. Therefore, it is better to grow a plant on the eastern, southeastern and southern windows, shading from midday direct rays. In summer, the plant can be taken out to the balcony, gradually accustoming it to the street.
IN winter period, with a short daylight hours, indoor mandarin should be placed in the most lit place with direct sunlight. But sometimes this is not enough: you need artificial lighting. For this purpose, an ordinary fitolamp is suitable, which can be screwed into a chandelier or table lamp. It is necessary to transfer the plant to supplementary lighting gradually. With a sharp change in the length of daylight hours, it can shed its leaves.
Content temperature
The optimum temperature for room tangerine in summer time+ 20-25 оС. 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 dormant period, tangerines are kept at + 5 -10 ° C. A plant that has rested over the winter will flower and bear fruit better.
How to water and spray tangerine at home
Indoor mandarin, like its wild ancestors, is adapted to endure dry periods. IN last resort, 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 mandarin depends on several factors:
- the size of the plant;
- the size of the container in which the tangerine grows;
- ambient temperature;
- duration of daylight hours and light intensity.
The larger the surface of the leaves of indoor mandarin, the stronger the evaporation, and the more it needs to be watered. The temperature also affects the rate of evaporation: the higher it is, the more the plant loses moisture. The length of daylight directly affects the amount of moisture that evaporates. Stomata - formations on the underside of terrestrial plants that serve for gas exchange open during daylight hours.
Watering indoor tangerine should be carried out in the morning, when the plant has activated its vital processes. When the temperature drops, watering is reduced, up to stopping for several days during the period when the temperature in the room is only + 12-15 ° C. In this case, the tangerine is watered with a small amount of water, only to maintain life.
Mandarin at home needs regular spraying of leaves. Strongly dry air has a bad effect on the plant and is often a prerequisite for its infection. spider mite. If indoor tangerine blooms, then you need to make sure that water does not fall on its flowers.
How to feed mandarin at home
A complete care for a mandarin at home is not possible without additional mineral and organic top dressing. The soil in a pot depletes quickly enough and is washed out during watering, and recreational processes practically do not occur in it, unlike the soil in nature.
For top dressing, you can use soluble or dry fertilizers. In the spring, with an increase in daylight hours, top dressing for indoor mandarin is increased. It is in the early spring period that vegetative and generative buds begin to develop intensively, at which time the plant requires additional nutrients.
At home, mandarin is fertilized, like everyone else. houseplants, that is, in the morning. The ambient temperature should be at least + 18-19 degrees.
Soluble fertilizers are often used for top dressing. They can water the plant, and in a weaker concentration spray its leaves. For feeding indoor tangerine, any complex mineral fertilizer containing phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium - the main elements necessary for plants.
Dissolve fertilizers in soft or settled water at room temperature. The main thing is not to increase the dose. If the instructions say: 1 cap of the product per 1 liter of water, do not think that 2 caps 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 mandarin at home during the period of intensive growth (from March to September) 2 times a week. Maybe less often, but not more often.
Dry fertilizers, which are applied to the soil and gradually dissolve, giving the soil trace elements, must be applied even more carefully. Their advantage is that by making them in the spring you can forget about feeding for a long time. However, they can be quickly used by the plant, and it will be difficult to guess about it. The introduction of an additional dose of fertilizer will lead to the above overdose.
Mandarin cultivation also requires organic fertilizers. To do this, you can dilute infused cow dung in a ratio of 1/10. The best option there will be the use of organic fertilizers in combination with mineral fertilizers for soil top dressing.
Additional care for mandarin at home
To form a lush tangerine tree, pinch the tops of its branches.
Caring for a tangerine at home also consists in removing dried leaves or stretched twigs.
On the young flowering plants partially remove the flowers so as not to deplete them and allow several fruits to ripen. For 15-20 leaves of an adult plant, one ovary can be left. The fewer fruits left on the tangerine, the larger they will be.
The fruit-bearing branches of indoor mandarin are tied, tied to a support, otherwise they may break due to the severity of the fruit, and the plant will not have an attractive appearance.
Diseases and pests
Mandarin at home can be affected by scale insects, red spider mites and mealybugs. Spraying the plant with a soapy solution (2 tbsp. L) will help from the scale insect. liquid soap, you can "Fary", for 3 liters of water). It is better to pre-clean pests by hand. After keeping the solution on the leaves for half an hour, it is washed off with warm water. In case of damage by a spider mite, the pest is collected manually, after which the leaves and twigs are wiped with a cotton swab moistened cold water or alcohol, then sprayed with a two-day infusion of garlic or onions (crush 200 g and pour warm boiled water). Against the mealybug, removing the pest with a cotton swab and 3 times spraying with infusion of garlic (1 time in 7 days), or rubbing with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol (can be replaced with calendula tincture) will also help. With persistent damage by any pest, they resort to potent chemicals, which are used according to the instructions.
With improper watering, mandarin leaves become stained and fall off. To prevent or eliminate the problem, follow the rules for watering citrus plants.
Mandarin transplant at home
Proper care of a mandarin at home involves a plant transplant. Usually, a transplant is carried out if the plant, in our case, indoor tangerine, is cramped in a pot. As a rule, young indoor tangerine plants are transplanted annually, plants older than 7 years - once every 2 years. For transplanting, use a special soil mixture for citrus fruits or make it yourself from soddy land (50%) and leaf, humus and sand, taken in equal parts.
For transplanting indoor tangerine, choose a pot with diameters 5–8 cm larger than the previous one. You can not plant a small plant immediately in a large pot: this often leads to rotting of the roots. In addition, it is neither aesthetic nor practical.
Mandarin at home, as in nature, prefers a light substrate with low acidity. Drainage must be placed at the bottom of the transplant tank - this is the prevention of stagnant water and root rot. As a drainage, you can use: expanded clay, small stones, fragments of ceramic dishes, pieces of foam.
Transplantation of indoor mandarin can not be carried out during the flowering of the plant. It is better to do this in the spring at the beginning of the awakening of the plant from a relative dormant period.
You can not feed the plant 2-3 days before transplanting, and also use fertilizers within 12-14 days after transplanting.
After transplanting, indoor tangerine is lightly watered so that the soil settles down. After 30-40 minutes, if necessary, a substrate is added to the pot and watered again.
Reproduction of indoor tangerine
Mandarin at home can be propagated in two ways:
- vegetative (rooting of twigs);
- generative (growing from the stone).
For rooting cuttings, it is better to use a rooter - the percentage of survival will be 3-4 times higher. To do this, cuttings with 2-3 leaves are dipped in a rooter and planted in moist soil, covered with a film or cut from above. plastic bottle Be sure to leave holes in them for ventilation. Cuttings take root within a few months.
Growing mandarin at home from the stone is the longest method of reproduction, especially since some varieties almost do not form seeds. In addition, indoor tangerine grown in this way will need to be grafted, otherwise it will not bloom. For a rootstock, indoor lemon or grapefruit grown at home from a grain is better.
Since both methods of propagating indoor mandarin take too much time, more often amateur flower growers buy already grafted indoor tangerine in the shops.
