citrus flowers- edible flowers of citrus plants, whose homeland scientists consider Southeast Asia. Most species prefer a subtropical or tropical climate and do not tolerate even the slightest frost. In any case, citrus fruits prefer to grow in well-lit and humid places. The most main feature these plants - uneven growth. First, the plant enters a phase of active growth, and then a dormant period begins, when the shoots do not grow, but the wood ripens. The next stage of growth begins only after the dormant period of the shoots ends.
Citrus fruits are flowering woody plants, representatives of the Rutov family. The most famous citrus fruits are lemons, oranges, tangerines. Lemon is interesting plant, the fruits of which are consumed during colds. The plant is of Asia-Pacific origin. Wild lemons are unknown to science, and the yellow fruits that are familiar to us are grown on plantations. To date, it is not known who and when created this hybrid, so it is possible that a person is not involved in its appearance. Lemon is a tree with hard large leaves (see photo). Lemon flowers have an attractive creamy hue, thin petals and a pleasant fragrance. Lemon leaves have a fairly long lifespan: one leaf lives up to 3 years. Upon physical impact, a fresh leaf emits a rich lemon smell, which is due to the high content of essential oil in this part of the plant.
Orange mandarin has long been a symbol of the New Year in Russia and Ukraine. Back in the Soviet Union, the most important winter holiday was associated with this citrus. Mandarin is an evergreen tree with a spreading crown. The plant blooms in the 3-4th year after planting, if we are talking O room tangerine. Its flowers are slightly smaller than lemon ones. This plant is native to Southeast Asia. The tree and the fruit got their name due to the fact that this citrus was available only to Chinese nobles - tangerines. In China, these orange fruits are treated with special trepidation. Tradition to meet New Year with tangerines appeared due to the fact that in Chinese the “pair of tangerines” and the word “gold” are consonant. As a sign of gratitude, the Chinese presented each other with a few tangerines so that the coming year would be financially prosperous. Now the main suppliers of this citrus fruit are Georgia, Abkhazia, China, Morocco, Ecuador.
Growing at home
Some citrus plants can be grown indoors. In any case, they will need to create an optimal climate. Room citrus fruits are different interesting feature bloom several times a year. If the plant is grafted, then it should bloom almost immediately. Flowering of seedlings occurs only after four to five years. Some seedlings practically do not bloom or bloom only in the twelfth or fifteenth year. In order for the plant to bloom, it is important to maintain the optimum temperature - about 15 degrees Celsius, and the air humidity should reach 70%.
Citrus flowers are bisexual, in many varieties they are self-pollinating. In order for the fruits to be better tied, they should be subjected to artificial pollination. The fruit in place of the flower is not always formed. A full-fledged ovary is considered if it reaches 2 cm. The fruits ripen in five to nine months. It depends on the type of plant. If the fruits are not picked, they will remain on the tree until the next harvest. Interestingly, skin color does not play a key role and is not considered a sign of fruit ripening. In tropical climates, ripe fruits may remain green. In addition, green-skinned fruits contain more vitamin C than yellow-skinned fruits.
Beneficial features
Useful properties of citrus flowers are due to the presence of biologically active substances in their composition. citrus plants contain essential oils that have a beneficial effect on the state of the human body.
The calorie content of flowers is 0 calories, so they can be part of the diet. Flowers will help diversify the diet and at the same time will not greatly exceed the number of calories consumed. In addition, they have a pleasant aroma and taste and do not need salt at all, which is important for some diets.
Citrus flowers contain essential oils that give them their recognizable fragrance. In small quantities, oils have a beneficial effect on the body, help work internal organs. For gastronomic purposes, only fresh flowers are used without traces of pests and plant diseases. Only such flowers will benefit the body.
Application in cooking
In cooking, citrus flowers have found use as edible flowers. This category also includes flowers of plants such as rose, nasturtium, lavender, chrysanthemum. The concept of "edible flowers" entered our lexicon not so long ago, although flowers have been used for gastronomic purposes for a large amount of time. Each flower has its own distinctive taste characteristics. Nasturtium flowers, for example, have a peppery flavor and are added to salads and other dishes as a condiment. The rose is considered a real flower delicacy. Its petals are candied and used to make dessert dishes.
One of the most delicious options preparation of flowers is their sugaring. To get sweet flowers, just get this product in the supermarket and cook according to one of the recipes. Flowers cover with whipped egg white and sprinkle with powdered sugar, then they are left for several hours to solidify. Once the flowers have set, they can be used to decorate desserts, including jellies, cakes, and pastries. Flowers are perfect for decorating alcoholic cocktails and other drinks.
Small florets can be frozen in ice cubes and then used to make drinks.
Flowers can be added to salads, decorate sandwiches and other snacks with them. They are great for making jam.
The disadvantage of using this product is its scarcity, because even in large supermarkets edible citrus flowers are extremely rare.
Benefits of citrus flowers and treatment
The benefit of this product lies in its balanced composition. Aboveground part plants emits the so-called phytoncides - volatile biologically active substances. Phytoncides of citrus plants can be compared with onion or garlic phytoncides in terms of their impact. These substances increase defensive forces organism. Citrus fruits contain essential oils that kill many harmful bacteria. It is known that lemon oil neutralizes pneumococcus, staphylococcus, typhoid pathogens in just 15 minutes. official medicine recognizes the ability of essential oils to purify the air and boost immunity. Doctors recommend consuming lemons during a cold to provide the body with vitamin C. Phytoncides effectively protect against viruses and have a beneficial effect on a person's condition after long illnesses.
Citrus contain a large number of vitamin C, which gives them a characteristic sourness. Because of this, they are useful for colds. Ascorbic acid in citrus products has special property: even after heating, such products are still useful. This advantage allows you to use citrus fruits not only in fresh, but also as a jam, jam.
Citrus fruits also contain vitamin P, a plant bioflavonoid that is powerful antioxidant. Bioflavonoids protect cells from oxidation, prevent aging processes. Vitamin P is good for the cardiovascular system. He is simply necessary modern man against the background of the intensification of the formation of free radicals, since it is used to prevent cancer. Vitamin P strengthens the walls of blood vessels, making them more elastic. Regular consumption of foods rich in bioflavonoids improves blood circulation and normalizes blood pressure. Vitamin P is an excellent prevention of atherosclerosis.
In addition, citrus flowers are excellent aromatherapists. Particularly distinguished in this sense are the flowers of bitter orange - neroli. Their aroma has a calming effect, relieves stress and nervous tension. Breathe in flower petals orange tree(or derived from them essential oil) is recommended for depression or psycho-emotional arousal, which is very important in our life rhythm.
Harm of citrus flowers and contraindications
This product can cause harm to the body with individual intolerance. Citrus fruits are one of the most common allergens, therefore, they should not be used by people prone to allergic reactions. At the first signs of intolerance to the product, it should be excluded from the diet and contact your doctor.
Only flowers collected in ecologically clean areas and grown without the use of chemicals can be eaten.
It often happens that the citrus plant you bought, when you brought it home from the nursery, sheds not only fruits and ovaries, but even leaves. When moving from a store or greenhouse to an apartment, citrus fruits can shed their leaves because the familiar climate is changing. But, when the plant gets used to the house, it should start to grow new leaves. If you don’t see new leaves, you may be making one of the most common mistakes.
Let's see what the tricks of caring for citrus houseplants are.
Citrus fruits do not like permutations: no need to move the plant from place to place. The citrus pot does not need to be rotated 180 or 90 degrees at once. In this case, the leaves turn yellow and fall off, the plant may die. Every 10 days you need to turn the pot 10 degrees (no more). 
Citrus fruits do not tolerate drafts.
The pot must be right size! Plants are not planted "for growth", and this applies not only to citrus fruits. If you plant a small plant immediately in a large tub, its leaves will turn yellow and fall off. Especially since big pot increases the likelihood of flooding (which citruses really dislike).
You can not put citrus fruits next to the microwave.
Plants can suffer from improper feeding and transplanting. Citrus fruits do not prefer transplanting, but transshipment!
In summer, plants feel great on the balcony, in the garden. 
Fruiting lemons, tangerines, and other citrus fruits usually also bloom profusely at the same time, which leads to a weakening of the tree. Flowers need to be thinned out, leaving larger ones, on which the ovary is better developed. Of the ovaries, it is better to leave those that are located on short (rather than long) branches. On long fruits grow more slowly.
It takes several months for the fruit to ripen. There can be a lot of ovaries, the plant will shed the extra ones. This is normal.
If you bought citrus in winter
If a plant with fruits was bought by you in the winter, it will certainly shed all the fruits, and then some of the leaves (or even all the leaves). When buying citrus fruits in winter, it is better to immediately remove all the fruits, remove the emerging flowers. 
If you over-moisten the soil in winter time, it will turn sour, citrus leaves in this case turn yellow and fall off.
Buying citrus trees with fruits is not recommended, it is better to choose a flowering tree. If you still bought a tree with fruits:
- pluck all fruits
- branches that had fruits, shorten by half
- spray more often
- the soil should always be moist (but not flooded)
When is it time to transplant?
It is better not to rush with a transplant! 
If the roots have come out of the drain, this is not necessarily a reason to repot the plant. You need to move the top layer of the earth: if the earthen ball is wrapped around with many roots on top, grab the stem, tilt the pot a little and try to pull out the earthen ball by lightly tapping on the bottom of the pot. If the lump comes out of the pot easily, the plant needs a transplant. It's best to do it in the spring before the middle February. In autumn and winter, it is better not to touch the plant.
If the earth ball is not strongly entwined with roots, a transplant will not be needed until next spring.
As a drainage - expanded clay 1.5-2 cm thick, pour on the bottom of the pot.
If the citrus does not feel well in winter, it is better not to replant it, but to do otherwise: remove a couple of centimeters of the upper soil, fill in the prepared soil from under the oak (it must be prepared in the summer, taking it in the forest, grove). Citrus fruits after such a procedure begin to look much better. In general, citrus fruits are very fond of oak soil, they can be transplanted into it. Or buy citrus primer from the store. In fresh, nutritious soil, citrus fruits develop good root system, which is required after plant transplantation.
Watering
Citrus fruits do not like chlorine, so water for irrigation must be defended. It is important not to over-moisten the soil when watering.
Citrus fruits love watering with settled water, to which vinegar is added (a few drops per liter).
Citrus fruits love spraying. Sometimes you can use a weak solution of potassium permanganate for spraying, the plants will be healthier.
What to do if citrus is poured. How to save a plant?
It is very undesirable to pour citrus fruits. But if this still happened and the roots began to rot, the plant can be helped. 
- remove the plant from the pot, soak in water until the earth ball is wet, wash off the soil
- cut off all rotten roots to a healthy part, soak the root system in a heteroauxin solution for 5-6 hours
- now the plant can be planted in soil with a high content of baking powder (add perlite, sand, vermiculite to the soil), heavy soil is not suitable, drainage of 2-3 cm is required
the root neck should be 2-3 cm below the edge of the pot
- pour a solution of heteroauxin, put a plastic bag on the crown, ventilate it once a day, spray the crown with a solution of zircon in a week, and pour it on the ground
- water carefully, waiting for the earthen clod to dry to a depth of 3-4 cm
Citrus (like most other plants) is better to underfill than overfill, the surface layer of the soil should dry out.
top dressing
Citrus fruits, like other plants, need regular feeding. In stores, you can find top dressing for these types of plants, or take universal ones. 
Nitrogen provides rapid growth, the leaves acquire a rich green color.
Phosphorus helps to start bearing fruit faster, it is needed for the ripening of fruits and the growth of young wood.
The growth of young leaves, shoots, fruits depends on potassium. With a lack of potassium, citrus fruits acquire an ugly shape and often fall off before they have time to ripen. Potassium supplements help increase resistance to various diseases.
For dressing citrus fruits, you can use:
- manure (100 g of manure per liter of water; use a two-week infusion)
- eggshell (two-week infusion in water)
- ash (the best is from potato tops, sunflowers or straw), 1 tablespoon per liter of water
- silt (150-200 g per liter of water)
Variegated citrus fruits
Variegated citrus fruits are more capricious and require more careful care than green-leaved ones. But they are a rarity (you will be very lucky if you meet such a plant on sale), they are preferred by those who love exotic indoor plants.
They need more light, but they can suffer from burns in direct sun.
Choose fertilizers for variegated leaves with low nitrogen content.
Variegation is more noticeable if the plant is grown in cool conditions.
Required high humidity(requires spraying).
Sometimes on variegated plants just green shoots (and even white ones) can grow, they need to be removed so that they do not drown out the variegated ones.
Citrus fruits belong to the rue family. Lemon, orange, tangerine, grapefruit, kinkan and other citrus fruits are grown at home. Although it must be said right away that attempts to grow a fruit-bearing citrus tree at home often break off when more than a meter tall evergreen trees never bear fruit. Although with an annual cold wintering (+ 5-8 ° C), citrus fruits can bloom and bear fruit in 2-3 years (rooted cuttings).
If you decide to grow citrus fruits from seeds for their fruits, then even if you achieve fruiting, the taste of the fruits will most likely disappoint you, as it will be too sour and bitter. It is easier to buy an already fruiting citrus tree, in which case you will not have to take care of the graft and wait for years for it to bear fruit.
In general, at home, trees obtained from grafted or rooted cuttings will more likely bear fruit, and wild animals grown from seed do not bloom for a very long time - decades, but in their natural habitat, somewhere in the open spaces of Spain, trees begin to bear fruit at the age of 6 -7 years. For some, it will be a pleasure to grow a tree from a seed, and it doesn’t matter if it bears fruit or not. Be that as it may, in order for a citrus plant to develop well, it is important to know the conditions it needs and something about crown formation.
Citrus Fertilizer
Fertilizers are used in the first half of summer. This increases the sugar content of the fruit and reduces the bitter taste that is characteristic of citrus fruits when room culture. The plant needs more fertilizer, the older it is and the longer it stays in one dish. Fertilizers are applied with water for irrigation, but only healthy, not weakened plants can be fed. With additional artificial lighting citrus fruits in winter they also need to be fertilized, but not more often than once a month.
If citrus fruits were transplanted into fresh ground in spring, then after 1-1.5 months you can start feeding with fertilizers for flowering plants. If the plants have not been transplanted, then you need to start feeding with the introduction of organic matter: 2-3 times with an interval of two weeks, this can be an extract from dry horse manure, well-lain humus, ready-made vermicompost from the store. It is very important not to overfeed citrus fruits with organic matter and check the acidity of the soil. After two feedings nitrogen fertilizers, you can already feed with complex fertilizers for indoor flowering plants (for example, luxury fert).
by the way
Sometimes on sale you can see citrus fruits with a stalk - a small twig with a couple of leaves, mostly Chinese tangerines, passed off as Abkhazian ones. They taste good, but most importantly, if the branches are not frozen and have not had time to dry, you can try to carefully separate and graft them.
by the way
Light shading of citrus fruits from the scorching rays of the sun promotes the formation of healthy, dark green foliage. When placed in direct sunlight, the leaves of the plants acquire a pale green color, and after a gloomy winter, burns may appear in the spring. On the contrary, in dark room citrus fruits gradually shed their leaves, and new leaves, if they appear, are small and deformed.
Therefore, it is recommended to keep the plants in the summer on a window facing the northwest or southeast (these windows are less sunny, but also less hot), and in the winter to the south and southwest, so throughout the year there will be uniform lighting for the plant. But, of course, such permutations are possible in apartments and houses where the windows are on opposite sides.
You can also move the plants back into the room in summer, and in winter, on the contrary, move the plants as close to the window as possible.
The fruits of orange and lemon, with a lack of light, are characterized by high acidity. However, in the summer, plants should be shaded from the sun in the afternoon.
Citrus pests
Scale insects: this pest is not difficult to detect, scale insects are clearly visible on citrus fruits, but they cause significant harm - spreading throughout the tree, their brown shields stick around stems, petioles, leaves. If you run a fingernail over the shield, a damp spot remains. Under a microscope, these pests are similar in shape, sorry for the comparison, to fascist helmets, furry from the inside, and just as nasty: they suck out cell sap, leaves lose color, dry and fall off.
Control measures: if your citrus tree is small, it is better to take it to the bathroom and wash the stems and leaves with a soapy sponge. If a large tree is in a bucket or tub, wipe all accessible places with a cotton pad dipped in alcohol.
Now we need the insecticide Aktara (or confidor), it is effective against any worms, including scale insects. It is necessary to dilute the drug according to the instructions and pour a lemon or orange under the root, and then spray carefully over the leaves. Repeat treatment after a week.
Other insecticides are also produced against scale insects and other insect pests: actellik, fitoverm, karbofos, decis and others. But they are more smelly, toxic and it is highly undesirable to use them at home.
The spider mite is one of the nastiest and most common pests on citrus fruits. Ticks are dangerous because:
- multiply and grow rapidly
- it is extremely difficult to wash them off - they hide in the axils of the leaves, in the buds, in the upper layers of the soil
- ordinary insecticides are not effective against them, but only special preparations - acaricides
- after two treatments, resistance is formed in ticks - the new generation is more resistant to the active substance of the drug.
Signs of mites on citrus fruits
- yellowish or whitish spots on the leaves without clear boundaries
- strokes and dots are gray or silvery, especially noticeable on young leaves
- deformed flower petals, young leaves, shriveled buds
- on the reverse side of the leaves there are small grains, crumbs, husks - the pests themselves and the skins from molting
- with a strong increase (with a magnifying glass, in a microscope), the thinnest cobweb is visible.
Therefore, if you have mites at least once, you will have to observe and observe and periodically, at least once a month, carefully inspect the entire plant
Control measures. First, wash or wipe off the pests by hand. To do this, you will either have to take the pot to the bathroom or shower, put the pot on its side so that the leaves are in weight, and water with a powerful pressure of a hot shower; or wash each leaf by hand - take and wipe on both sides.
The problem is that there are no systemic drugs against ticks - so that you water it - and the ticks die. Only enteric-contact: sprayed, got a tick. Where the solution does not get - ticks will survive and continue to multiply.
Against ticks, it is worth trying such remedies as apallo, vermitec, oberon, etc.
More about pests indoor plants read the section "pests"
Citrus houseplants are not only a wonderful home decoration, but also useful plants, the fruits of which are rich in vitamins and excellent taste. However, growing these southern delicacies at home requires special conditions that differ for each variety of fruit. In this article, we will look at how to grow citrus fruits in a pot in a city apartment.
Growing citrus fruits at home involves following the basic rules for caring for southern crops.
First of all, indoor citrus fruits need the right soil. For the base, you can take the "flower" or "lemon" soil, diluting it in one part with foliage, sand and humus and three parts of the turf. In structure, this will be low-acid, lumpy and loose, which will provide free access of oxygen and moisture to the root system of the plant.
It is better to plant a plant in clay pots, which, due to their properties, are excellent conductors of heat. In addition, such pots "breathe", which will allow excess moisture evaporate without lingering in the soil.
Citrus fruits in pots need to maintain an optimal level of humidity - at least 65%. The fruits grown in moist air will turn out juicy and tasty, but with an excess of moisture they are threatened with decay and falling off. Citrus houses need to be watered as the soil dries up: in winter this happens once a month, in summer - once every 1-2 weeks. On hot days and during heating season The plant needs regular spraying.
In an apartment, most often citrus fruits stand on the windowsill, since it is there that the plant will be provided with sufficient access to light and heat. If there is not enough lighting (for example, on the north or north-west side of the apartment), then it is necessary to provide citrus additional lighting using conventional lamps with good heat dissipation. The temperature during the entire period of development should not fall below +8 degrees. In winter, the temperature regime should be maintained in the region of +12-15 degrees, and with the onset of spring - not lower than +18. With warm temperatures and quality lighting the plant will begin to produce buds, the flowering of which will mark the proximity of fruiting.
Reproduction of citrus fruits is carried out at the end of summer by separating the growing shoot from the main cutting. Such a shoot is carefully cut off and cleaned from the bottom of the bark, after which it is lowered into a pre-prepared pot with nutrient soil, which is fertilized with moss, manure and a small amount of peat. The pot must have holes in the bottom, which are necessary for the outflow of excess water.
You can propagate by seeds and grafting, but for this it is better to familiarize yourself with the varietal characteristics of the plant, since even fertile trees can become inedible during reproduction.
Pruning citrus fruits is necessary not only to maintain the health of the plant, but also to form a beautiful rounded shape that can be created after the second year of the plant's life. If the aesthetic side requires pruning of too long shoots, then the vegetative side requires too thick ones. Shoots that grow inside the crown and prevent the free development of buds due to their large number should also be removed. Pruning is done in the spring, all cuts are made at an angle.
If you are interested in how to grow a citrus tree on your own, then there are two options - cuttings or from a stone at home. The apartment is ideal for this, because it is possible to create conditions in it that are as close as possible to greenhouses. in the best way growing from cuttings is recognized, since this method will provide you with fruits in the coming years, while plants obtained from seeds begin to bear fruit in best case not earlier than 10 years later.
Lemon care is simple: regular watering, bait, crown pruning. The only thing that can be difficult is the need to replant annually lemon Tree into a larger pot.
Indoor tangerines
Mandarin, like lemon, requires a regular spring transplant. In addition, he is more thermophilic and picky about the level of humidity. Home tangerine it is better not to keep at temperatures below +20 degrees, otherwise the plant will quickly die. but clear advantage species is its faster fruiting time - after 5–6 years, fruit development is possible.
Mandarin, in addition to the requirements for lighting and moisture, also needs regular feeding and pest control. Unfortunately, these plants are very susceptible to aphids, spider mites and mealybug. Also, the problem of mandarin is the complexity of the flowering process, which often needs stimulation.
Orange
It is better to grow calamondin from cuttings or ready-made annual plants bought in the store. Such a tree will begin to bear fruit already for 2-3 years.
Despite the resistance to cold weather, the optimal growing temperature in summer is 21–25 degrees with a humidity of 70%, and in winter - 10–16 degrees with a humidity of 50%. This mode will provide the plant with healthy and abundant fruiting.
Grapefruit
Homemade grapefruit can be obtained from Duncan and Marsh varieties. This variety of citrus fruits, according to the conditions of detention, resembles a lemon. However, grapefruit needs more abundant and frequent watering and the maximum amount of sunlight.
Citron
Citron is a plant with very large yellow fruits (from 15 cm in length) and thick skin. For home growing Pavlovsky, Buddha's Hand and Mir varieties are suitable. It should be remembered that the size of the fruit needs a tall tree (1.5 m), which should be provided with an abundance of sunlight and warm temperatures during the whole year.
Video "Growing citrus fruits at home"
From this video you will learn how to grow and care for lemon, tangerine, lime at home.
Citrus crops can be grown at home - right on your windowsill. Although this is a troublesome task, it brings a lot of fun!
What citrus fruits can be grown at home?
The most common citrus crop is the lemon.
It is lemon that is found not only in residential premises, but also in offices of administrative buildings. Everything is useful for a lemon: both fruits rich in vitamin C and leaves that emit phytoncides, enriching the air.
A little less often you can see oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, citrons, pomelo and even lime quite suitable for growing at home on the windowsills, on tables and cabinets. All these exotic plants can produce quite tasty fruits, however, if you take good care of them.
Choose a place
Citrus lovers are somewhat lucky, because these plants are shade-tolerant, but they can thrive perfectly on sunny place, so that they can be placed near south-facing windows. As for the window that faces north, it is not worth putting plants near it (with the exception of lemon and citron).
It's all in the pot
Responsibly you need to approach the choice of dishes for your exotic. The best option for placing citrus fruits is a pot of unglazed baked clay, as well as tightly knitted wooden tubs, selected according to the size of the root system. But no matter what the pot is - made of clay, made of wood - it must have good drainage and holes for the outflow of excess moisture.
For good fruiting must be great food. For citrus fruits, ordinary soil from the garden will not work; the pot should be filled with a special mixture for citrus fruits. It is better not to make such a mixture yourself, but to purchase it in a store, it is inexpensive, but you will be sure that it will benefit the plant and will not cause harm.
Components of success
An important component of the successful cultivation of citrus fruits at home is the humidity of the air, soil and the availability of top dressing. Periodic spraying warm water- this is the minimum that will allow the plant to feel comfortable.
As for soil moisture, there are some nuances. Do not use water for irrigation, just taken from the tap. Citrus fruits should be watered with water that has settled for several days, and even with the addition of a couple of drops of vinegar to it. If the fruits are definitely included in your plans, then top dressing should be first on the list of work for a citrus plant. All exotics simply adore fertilizing with mineral fertilizers, they also love organic matter. Feeding can be carried out from February until the start of the dormant period.
How to propagate a citrus tree at home?
It is still problematic to buy seedlings of such crops, and they are not cheap.
The easiest way is to sow seeds. It seems that it could be easier - they bought a fruit in the market or in a store, took out a seed, placed it in the ground, watered it ... And after a week, a sprout will appear on the surface of the soil, which will gain strength every day and will soon become an adult, independent plant. However, in reality, everything is more complicated. We will get a plant, it will please us only with green mass, but flowering, and even more so fruits, will either have to wait a very long time (from 7 to 15 years), or not wait at all, because many plants grown from seeds, even being large shrubs, for some reason they stubbornly do not bloom.
Such seedlings are suitable only for a stock, and any shoot that you, after asking permission from the owner, cut off from a fruit-bearing tree, can serve as a scion.
Citrus transplant
Grafting is a complicated matter, it is much easier to root a cutting taken from a fruit-bearing tree. For rooting, apical cuttings 12-15 cm long are taken, placed in river sand, moisturize and cover with glass or plastic bottle. Optimum temperature for rooting - 20-25 degrees. Place a pot with a cutting covered with a jar in a well-lit place, but so that the sun's rays do not fall directly on it.
The stalk should be periodically sprayed, constantly keeping the soil moist. Usually after 35-54 days the cutting will have a well developed root system and can be transplanted into a citrus mix.
The main thing when transplanting is to very carefully remove the root system of the cutting from the sand so as not to damage the roots, because they are very fragile. Subsequently, when the plants gain mass and their roots become cramped in the dishes, it is necessary to transplant them.
Top dressing for citrus fruits at home
As organic fertilizers you can use settled slurry that does not emit bad smell. Before watering, it is diluted with water 8-10 times.
You can apply the solution twice per season: the first time in early spring, the second - in the middle of summer. From mineral fertilizers, potassium nitrate is used - 50 g of nitrate per liter of water, this solution is diluted 10 times before application. Ammonium nitrate also gives good results, its dose is 30 g per 10 liters of water, this solution is diluted 10 times before application. These fertilizers are usually applied once or twice a month, depending on the condition of the plants.
citrus grafting
Grafting on a cutting
Citrus crops are usually propagated by grafting or rooting cuttings to produce fruit-bearing plants. The first method requires experience and skill. The second is not applicable to all plants. So, tangerines, kumquats and limes practically do not take root at all. A little 
oranges and grapefruits do better. So, which is better - grafting or cuttings?
Cuttings of chitrus
If you are engaged in cuttings, then you should stop at lemons, citrons and pomelo. You can root them in different substrates, I use vermiculite for this. I preliminarily keep the cuttings for 10-12 hours in a concentrated solution of Heteroauxin - I dilute 1 tablet in 500 ml of water. It is best to take root cuttings put on root from May to September.
Vaccinations take root better and grow together at the same time. Here, an important role is played quality material. The stock and scion must be healthy, free of obvious signs of pests and diseases. In addition, they must be compatible with each other. My own experience speaks volumes about how important this is. A year and a half ago, I ordered a Lisbon lemon by mail. The seller said that he was grafted onto a lemon seedling. For a long time the plant did not grow at all.
I concluded that the problem is in the incompatibility of the scion with the rootstock. And I decided to experiment and regraft the Lisbon lemon to another variety - Macrophyll. especially since I just had a rootstock of the desired diameter, obtained by cuttings. I grafted in the splitting method in the spring of 2016. The fusion of the rootstock with the scion occurred very quickly, within a month. After that, the lemon actively began to grow and quickly overtook the plant from which the graft was taken. This is clearly visible in the photograph.
Rootstock and graft
As a stock, both a seedling grown from seeds and an already rooted cutting, taken, for example, after a formative pruning of one or another citrus, can be used.
It is believed that the rootstock grown from seeds is the most viable, it has a powerful root system and is already adapted to those conditions. climatic conditions in which he grew up. I agree with this, but only partly. After all, what if we soon need to be vaccinated? It takes a very long time to wait for a full-fledged seedling of the desired diameter to grow from a seed. Therefore, in this case, you can use a stock from a rooted cutting. And, in my opinion, it is no worse, and maybe even better than the seedling.
Personally, I like to use Macrophyll lemon as a rootstock, which I specially cut into cuttings for subsequent vaccinations. They take root very quickly and grow the root system just as quickly. Citruses grafted onto Macrophyll grow together very quickly and immediately grow.
Returning to the question posed at the beginning of the story, what is better - grafting or cuttings? - I will say that I did not manage to give an unambiguous answer. In some cases, it is more appropriate to use grafting, and in others - cuttings. It all depends on individual features plants. But the most important thing is not to be afraid to experiment, and then there will be a real opportunity to receive a fruit-bearing citrus plant as a reward.
New Year with citrus aroma
We always associate the New Year with the smell of citrus. But almost any of their species and varieties grow well, bloom and bear fruit in the microclimate of apartments and winter gardens. The quality of the fruits when fully ripe is excellent, and the yield only grows over the years. How to achieve this? Our experts will reveal secrets, share their experience, advice, tips.
The genus Citrus includes great amount cultivated plants of the Rut family - evergreen shrubs or trees. They bloom profusely fragrant flowers, produce edible berry-like fruits. The most famous representatives are orange, tangerine, lemon, grapefruit, pamelo, lime, kinkan, calamondin.
HOW TO PRODUCE
Citrus fruits are propagated by seeds (sowing at any time of the year), cuttings and grafting.
And although a beautiful tree can be grown from seeds: a seedling will bloom no earlier than in 8-10 years.
To get fruits, you should purchase grafted plants in specialized nurseries. Some species, for example, lemon or lime, are easily rooted by cuttings - in light soil at a temperature of + 20-25 degrees. But you need to take them from a fruiting specimen.
After rooting a cutting or grafting, citrus fruits bloom quickly, sometimes even in the first year. However, in order not to deplete the plants, flowers and ovaries should be removed and fruits should be allowed to form for 3-4 years of life, when the trees develop and get stronger.
CONDITIONS FOR EVERYONE IS THE SAME
For these subtropical crops, a dormant period in coolness (about +10 degrees) is desirable in winter. At the same time, they do not have leaf fall, like a pomegranate or fig. Even when stored for 2-3 months in a dark, cool room, they practically do not lose foliage.
The rest of the time citrus fruits are needed good lighting and maximum summer sun.
They prefer abundant watering with warm water, but without overflow and stagnation of moisture in the pan. In dry rooms, spraying and "bathing" procedures are required. Air humidity - 75-85%.
During flowering and fruiting, requiring a large consumption of food, plants are fed with complex humate fertilizers at least 2 times a month. The best option nutrient mixtures - ready for citrus. During the winter holidays, fertilizers are not applied.
Plants develop well in fertile soil rich in humus and humus. Suitable and garden land, and special soil substrates.
Citrus crops are significantly susceptible to pest attacks: spider mite, thrips, California scale insects, mealybugs and others. Attention should be paid to preventive plant protection - at least once a month, carry out treatments with appropriate preparations.
Sergey RYZHOV, agronomist, collector exotic plants, director of the Exotic Garden nursery, Sochi.
Transfer
Young citrus plants are transplanted with careful transshipment shortly after purchase (then annually in the spring), since the peat soil dries out easily and there is a threat to dry out the plant, and the roots tightly braiding the lump can get burned from heating the pot in the sun. Coarse sand or perlite is added to the finished substrate for citrus fruits, for example, "Lemon", for looseness and a little soddy land, the amount of which in the mixture can be gradually increased during the next transplants. Older specimens are transplanted every 3-4 years, for large ones, instead of transplanting, the top layer of soil is changed annually, adding coarse sand or perlite and soddy or leafy soil to the finished mixture.
The soil mixture for citrus fruits should be neutral or slightly acidic (if the water for irrigation is hard) - pH from 5.5 to 7.0. Before use, the substrate is disinfected by heat treatment.
FROM CHERENKOV…
A mature (about 6 months old) young shoot is cut off, which has turned from angular to rounded. It is important that it is in a dormant stage, otherwise the chance of rooting is very small.
The branch is divided into segments with 3-4 leaves, the bottom leaf is removed, and an oblique cut is made under the kidney. It is useful to slightly scratch the bark with a thin, clean needle and dip the cuttings into Kornevin powder. They are planted in sterile soil of peat and sand, buried to the next leaf. They root at a temperature of about +25 degrees, in a greenhouse, preferably with lower heating, in bright diffused lighting (fluorescent lighting can be used). If it is humid in the greenhouse, it is better to leave the leaves without shortening - they will serve as a source nutrients. In case of poor tightness of the shelter, the two lower sheets are cut in half. Rooting lasts from 2 weeks to 1-2 months, sometimes longer.
… AND SEEDS
Citrus seeds germinate together, usually within a month. Seedlings grow well, are quite unpretentious, emit useful phytoncides. With the help of pruning, you can form beautiful trees.
SECRETS OF FERTILIZING
Many indoor citrus fruits are characterized by remontance - the ability to bloom and set fruits several times a year. Optimal conditions for the development of flowers - the temperature is + 18 degrees, and the humidity is about 70%. The flowers are bisexual and in many varieties self-pollinating, but for the reliability of fruit set, it is better to resort to artificial pollination with a soft brush. After flowering, not all ovaries remain on the branches, a large number of them soon fall off. The ovary can be considered complete if it has reached a size of at least 2 cm. The fruits ripen for 5-9 months, depending on the particular variety, and can hang on the tree until the next harvest.
CUTTING AND SHAPING
To give beauty and compact look I form the crown of citrus fruits The best time for pruning at the end of the winter rest period (early February). In summer, too long and fattening branches should be shortened.
At various kinds and varieties their own way of growing. So, a lemon is not very willing to branch, and it is difficult to form a compact tree from it. Orange grows powerfully upwards - regular shortening pruning is required. In mandarin, the crown thickens quickly, you have to cut out part of the shoots growing inside. Kumquat grows compactly, requiring little or no pruning. It is not often necessary to cut off calamondin - young seedlings almost immediately acquire a beautiful shape.
Seedlings of citrus fruits should be formed from the age of one, if by this time they have reached at least 30 cm, they stop the crown.
Everyone's favorite "New Year's fruit" - mandarin is not only tasty and rich in vitamins, but also an assistant in solving many health problems.
Fungal diseases of the feet and nails: rub the juice into the affected areas 2 times a day. With nail fungus - for a long time.
Colds, SARS high temperature, cough, bronchitis, bronchial asthma: drink juice heated and slightly diluted with water, 2/3-1 tbsp. several times a day.
Intestinal upset, loss of appetite: eat 0.5-1 fruit 2-3 times a day half an hour before meals while dieting.
Mandarin is useful for anemia, hypertension, atherosclerosis, excess weight, influenza, swelling of the legs, joint and skin diseases, tumors of various organs, metabolic disorders, decreased vision, intestinal candidiasis, helminths.
Attention! Tangerines and their juice are contraindicated in gastric ulcers, acute nephritis, exacerbation of colitis, hepatitis, cholecystitis and gastritis with high acidity of gastric juice.
Dina BALYASOVA, Doctor of Chem. Sciences,
Growing mandarin at home
Homemade tangerine - photo Did you know that the mandarin, familiar to everyone and everyone, came to Europe only in the 19th century? A hundred years ago, it was almost unknown to the general public, and now we simply cannot imagine life without its fruits. beyond incredible short term tangerine has spread throughout the planet, won the universal love and recognition of mankind.
The Amazing History of the Mandarin
In fact, mandarin has been cultivated for several thousand years. Its culture is almost as ancient as grapes, and perhaps older, since wild tangerines are unknown to botanical science. Only its cultural forms have come down to us. At the same time, tangerines were available to a limited circle of people for many centuries - they were grown in the gardens of tangerines, wealthy dignitaries of imperial China (hence the well-known name of the culture).
It is believed that the mandarin comes from South-East Asia, this territory now belongs to India. There is no exact data on exactly when he migrated from China to the West. According to one story, Portuguese missionaries who returned from the colonies brought its trees with them, according to another version, a mandarin plant in a tub was presented to Napoleon Bonaparte. But one way or another, he got to Europe and conquered it.
Today, in Asian countries, Japan occupies the first place in the cultivation of mandarin, China is in second place, then India and others. On the European continent man-
Mandarin blossoms in January-February
The yield of tangerine is impressive
pot culture. Incidentally, the mandarin was the most unpretentious. compared to other citrus crops, and much easier to grow indoors than lemons and oranges.
Let's grow it!
Mandarin can be purchased at a specialty store or grown on your own.
After buying a plant, it must be kept “in quarantine” for several days, separately from other indoor plants, to make sure that no harmful insects have entered the house along with the tree.
This culture is propagated in the spring, by seeds and grafting.
The optimum temperature for growing mandarin is 16-18 °C. In winter, it is best to place the pots in well-lit, south-facing windows, and rotate occasionally so that the crown forms evenly (except during flowering and fruiting, when they are best left alone). In summer, it is desirable to shade the plants from direct sunlight, and also protect them from drafts.
A mandarin tree in protected ground can reach 0.8 to 1.5 m in height. Blooms in winter, in January-February. At this time, a delicate aroma spreads in the room. Fruits densely. The fruits are tied during self-pollination, remain on the branches for several months.
Young mandarin trees form a crown before fruiting. Remove dry shoots, too long, thickening and growing inside the crown of the branch. The crown of young and fruiting mandarin trees must be sprayed with water several times a week. If necessary - with complex fertilizer (the consumption rate is indicated on the package of the drug). Mandarin is fertilized from the second decade of February to September.
As the trees grow, they need to be transplanted into larger containers. The best time to transplant is spring, from March to May. Before transplanting, the plants must be abundantly watered with water at room temperature. The tangerine tree is carefully removed from the old pot and placed in a new one filled with drainage and moistened soil. The stem of the tree should be located in the center of the container, and its root collar should be slightly above the soil surface, but below the top edge of the container. Then they gradually fill up and tamp the soil, but make sure that the root collar remains at the same level, it cannot be filled up. After transplanting, the trees are carefully watered again, the spout of the watering can is kept closer to the surface of the soil so that the water jet does not knock the earth out of the pot and expose the root collar and roots of the plant. Subsequent waterings are carried out as the topsoil dries up.
It is interesting
The tradition of giving tangerines on New Year's Eve is almost as old as the culture itself, dating back to 1000 BC. The Chinese, coming to visit, presented the hosts with two tangerines as a gift, and leaving home, in turn, received the other two tangerines from them. The word for a pair of tangerines in Chinese is consonant with the word "gold" and thus people wished each other prosperity, abundance, happiness ...
Growing citrus fruits at home - video
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