Citrusare plants that are very eagerly grown at home in a pot. Miniature forms, adapted precisely to pot cultivation, work best. With the right growing conditions, plants can decorate small flowers and round, yellow or orange fruit. Here's whatgrowing citrus at home should look likeand what species of citrus should be best chosen for growing in a pot.
Citrus - growing at home in a pot
In the photo kalamondyn, also called miniature orange
Citrus , belonging to the Rutaceae family, are trees and shrubs that produce popular citrus fruits, min.orange, lemon, lime and grapefruit. Citrus also includes slightly less known fruits, such as pompelle, citron, kumquat, calamondine or muraya.
The characteristic structure of the fruit is a berry grown from a few or a dozen orbones. The flesh is very rich in vitamins, especially vitamin C. The fruit can be eaten raw, but is also widely used in the food, perfume and pharmaceutical industries.
Allcitrus treeshave dark and shiny leaves. Citrus flowers are white, waxy, composed of protruding stamens and five oblong petals curving outwards. Often, e.g. in calamondine, you can observe flowers and fruits on the plant at the same time.
Citruscome mainly from the East. Asia. They are evergreen plants, very sensitive to frost. Therefore, in our climate , the cultivation of citrustakes place mainly in containers or pots in homes.In summer, they can be put in the garden or on the terrace, but in autumn they have to return to the rooms.
Citrus fruits recommended for growing at home
Lemon Citrus limon
Lemon smallcitrus treewith shiny oval leaves, white flowers with a touch of purple, yellow fruit 5 to 10 cm long.
Growing citrus at home. In the photo of ripening lemons
Skierniewicka lemon Citrus limon var. ponderosa
The plant was established in the USA as a result of crossing a pomelo (Citrus maxima) with a citron (Citrus medica). In 1969, she was brought to Poland by prof. Szczepan Pieniążek working at the Horticulture Institute in Skierniewice. Since then, the name Skierniewice lemon has been adopted in Poland. The plant grows slowly, only about 1.5 m tall, and is perfect for potting at home. In relation to the size of the entire tree, its fruits are very large, sometimes the size of a grapefruit, light green, with a thick, grooved skin.
Grapefruit Citrus paradisi
A tree with a spherical crown and dark green oval leaves, white, waxy flowers, large, yellow, spherical fruit, up to 15 cm in diameter.
Lima Citrus aurantiifolia
Lima produces shiny, oval leaves 8 cm long, white, waxy flowers and green fruit with a diameter of 3 to 6 cm.
Mandarin Citrus reticulataMandarin forms a shrub or a small tree with thorny branches and shiny, oval, dark green leaves, white or yellow-orange flowers, spherical fruit up to 8 cm in diameter.
Chinese orange Citrus sinensis
It is a tree with thorny branches with shiny oval leaves, white flowers with a strong smell, orange or yellow fruit, oval to spherical, up to 10 cm in diameter.
Calamondas Citrus mitis
The plant is commonly known as calamondas or miniature orange, suitable for home cultivation.These ornamental-fruited potted plants are evergreen trees that grow up to 1.5 m tall, with white, fragrant flowers. The fruits are small, orange in color, edible but very sour.
Bitter orange Citrus aurantium
Creates a tree with a spherical crown, oval leaves up to 10 cm long, white, waxy, fragrant flowers, spherical fruit up to 8 cm in diameter.
Growing citrus at home. Flowering Calamondas
Growing citrus in a pot
Light and temperature
Citrus plants should first of all be provided with the right amount of light - it is best to place them on the windowsill of a south or west window, and in the summer to take them out on a balcony or terrace. From October to April, the plants enter a state of dormancy - during this period they should be a bit cooler, then it is good to move them to another place, with a temperature of approx. 10 to 15 ° C. Remember that too sudden changes in lighting or temperature can cause yellowing and falling leaves. Soil for citrus
The soil for growing citrus should be humus and slightly acidic, with a pH of 5 to 6.5, and also permeable. In the first years of cultivation, it is good to transplant the plants once a year, then less often, every few years, into a pot 2 to 3 cm wider than the previous one.
Watering citrus
Citrus treesWater moderately. The substrate in the pot must always be slightly moist but not wet. Therefore, water regularly, but after watering, pour out the water from the tray (the water remaining in the tray causes the roots to rot). The drainage layer placed at the bottom of the pot helps to maintain the appropriate humidity of the substrate.
Growing citrus at home. Calamondas fruit - miniature orange
In spring and summer it is worth sprayingcitrus trees , which promotes their growth. However, never spray leaves heated by the sun, as spots may appear on them.Fertilizing citrus
Citrus grows quite slowly, so you don't need to fertilize them very intensively. In the first year after planting, they do not need any food, in the following years it is worth giving them liquid fertilizer for potted plants or a special fertilizer during the growing season (from April to the end of October)fertilizer for citrusWe fertilize every two weeks. In the event of yellowing of young leaves, we apply foliar fertilization, using the same fertilizers as usual, but in a lower concentration.
Pruning citrus trees
Citrustolerates pruning well. From time to time, it is advisable to shorten the shoots of several-year-old specimens by about a third of their length. This treatment makes the plant more beautiful to branch and grows faster.
Note! Citrus cannot be grown in the kitchen if we have a gas stove. Gas vapors are very toxic to them and cause plant death.
Citrus reproduction
Citrus from seeds
Citruscan be grown from seeds, but only from those that come from ripe and good-looking fruit.After removing the seeds from the fruit, they are placed in pots with a mixture of peat and sand as soon as possible (peat and sand should be mixed in a 1: 1 ratio), because they quickly lose their germination. It is worth scratching the seeds with a razor blade beforehand or rubbing with sandpaper to make them absorb water better. For them to germinate, the substrate must be constantly moist and the temperature must not drop below 25 ° C. We will see the effect after a month, and maybe even sooner. Unfortunately, as a rule, seeds obtained from fruit bought in the store do not produce such good-looking plants as seeds obtained from professional growers. Therefore, it is better to buy selected, high-quality seeds.
Citrus seedlings
Unfortunatelygrowing citrus from seedswe will wait quite a long time for the first fruits to appear. Therefore, it is better to getcitrus seedlingsfrom a plant that has already passed its juvenile period. To obtain a seedling, a one-year-old shoot (young but already slightly woody shoot) is selected, cut off and then cut into sections so that each has 2 leaves.
Then the seedlings are placed in a pot filled with sand. To make rooting easier for them, it is worth immersing the tips of the shoots into the rooting agent before planting. The pot is placed in a plastic bag to create a moist microclimate for the plant. Holes must be made in the foil to ensure air exchange. Then place the seedling on the windowsill, in a bright place, but not in direct sunlight. We take care of constant soil moisture. The plant should take 5 to 6 weeks to take root. After this time, it is transplanted into a pot with soil.
Citrus diseases
In the event of improper fertilization, there arecitrus diseasesphysiological, related to the lack of the following elements:
- magnesium - its deficiency is manifested by yellowing of the tips of the leaves, with an inverted green triangle at their base
- zinc - zinc deficiency is manifested by sagging young leaves that turn pale yellow between the veins and eventually die, with severe deficiency, the entire leaves turn yellow
- manganese or iron - a deficiency of one of these elements contributes to a bright discoloration of the space between the veins, but the entire leaves remain green and do not die.
If you notice the presence of the above symptoms, make sure to fertilize the citrus with fertilizers containing easily digestible forms of the indicated elements (most often they are foliar fertilizers).
Growing citrus at home. In the photo: discoloration on leaves,
caused by improper fertilization
Another physiological symptom isyellowing and falling of citrus leavesIn this case, you can observe that the edges of the leaves turn yellow, turn brown, curl downwards and fall off. The reason for such changes is too low air humidity. Watering the plant helps then.
Citrus treescan also be infected with infectious diseasescitrus diseases The most common fungal disease islemon anthracnoseWith anthracnose, brown, oval or round spots appear on the leaf blades, often with dark, semicircular clusters of the fungus spores. Later in the development of the disease, the leaves fall. Spraying with fungicides such as, for example, Score 250 EC and Topsin M 500 SC is used against this disease. Spraying must be repeated, alternating between the preparations. You can also use biopreparations such as Biosept 33 SL, Biochikol 020 PC, Pokon Biochitan 020 PC, Bioczos BR. Spraying should be repeated every 7-10 days.
Citrus grown in apartments can also be attacked by pests of houseplants. The most common problems are spider mites and insects belonging to the group of scots, such as scale, cup and mealybugs. Against spider mites, one of the spider mites should be used. Meanwhile, June is combated by spraying Provado Plus AE twice, with an interval of 14 days.It is also possible to apply the preparation Chalknik BR in the dose of 1 stick per liter of soil. A similar product from another manufacturer has a similar effect - Shield Ultra.
Note! When deciding to combat diseases or pests of citrus with chemical pesticides, remember that spraying must not be done at home. The best time to spray the plants is outside. In living quarters, we can safely use biopreparations based, for example, on garlic extract.
