Tangerine tree — instructions on how to care at home (80 photos)

Many people dream of having a tangerine tree at home. Of course – after all, such a plant not only lifts the mood, but also brings delicious and juicy fruits, useful both for maintaining immunity and for health in general. Dwarf tangerine trees are usually grown in indoor conditions. Having planted such a tree at home, everyone will be able to enjoy its pleasant aroma, giving a feeling of cheerfulness and helping to relieve tension and irritation.

Unfortunately, not everyone decides to plant this plant, as many are afraid in advance of the upcoming difficulties associated with the care of the tangerine tree. Such doubts are completely justified, because there are many citrus plants that are quite difficult to care for. Tangerine, fortunately, does not belong to them.

Today, anyone can plant and grow a tangerine tree at home without much difficulty. The easiest way is to buy a seedling in one of the flower shops, subsequently planting it. It will be a little more difficult to grow this plant by planting an ordinary mandarin stone in the ground, but this method is also quite simple

So, to understand how to grow a tangerine tree from a stone, read the following tips:

• First, take the largest and ripest fruits of tangerines and extract several seeds from them (10-14 seeds). Then wrap the bones in wet gauze and leave for a few days.
• Periodically moisten the gauze with water, without letting it dry completely. As a result, the bones should swell and give small sprouts. Instead of gauze, you can also use a hydrogel. And finally, start planting ready-made seeds in the ground.

Soil selection

To grow a tangerine tree in a pot, you should take a very responsible approach to preparing the soil, which you will have to prepare yourself. It's all about the presence of peat, which is part of the vast majority of mixtures sold in stores. And peat is contraindicated for citrus plants. So, to make your own mixture, you will need the following components: leafy earth (one part), turf soil (three parts), rotted cow manure (one part), quartz sand (one part) and clay.

If, for some reason, you do not have the opportunity to create your own mixture, then try to find the most neutral soil in stores. As a last resort, mix ordinary earth with some ash, organic fertilizer and superphosphate.

When the soil is prepared, do this:

• Take a pot and put small pebbles or expanded clay on the bottom.
• Fill the pot with the resulting soil mixture.
• Place the swollen seeds in the soil. The planting depth should be about 5-7 cm.

Next, put the pot with the planted seeds in a place flooded with light, but at the same time do not allow direct sunlight on the sprouts to avoid their combustion.

Tangerine tree care

Any plant needs attention, and if you want your tangerine tree to grow beautiful and full of strength, start taking care of it from the very beginning.

Firstly, immediately after the appearance of the first sprouts, it is recommended to feed the plant with mineral and organic fertilizers, since those that were originally contained in the soil are usually washed out by this time due to frequent watering.

Top dressing should be done once a week, and in the period from March to September – even more often. Active fertilization of the plant in the future will affect the quality of fruits: the more correct and intensive the top dressing, the sweeter the fruit will grow.

To know what healthy fruits look like, you can find a photo of a tangerine tree on the Internet – so you will have a clear idea of what result you need to strive for.

It is easiest to find mixtures for fertilizing and fertilizer for citrus fruits in flower shops. When buying, you should pay attention to the composition of the fertilizer: it must contain nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.

Secondly, you should put a pot with a tangerine tree on the window located on the south side of the house, if possible. This plant loves the sun. It is important that in winter the temperature on the windowsill does not fall below 15 degrees.

Thirdly, it is worth taking care of the amount of moisture delivered to the tangerine, because it needs moisture. You need to spray the tree every week. As for watering, in the summer the plant needs to be watered very abundantly, and more than once a day. In winter, during the week, only 3 watering will be enough.

Fourth, once a year (preferably in the spring) it is necessary to transplant a tree. It should be done carefully. When transplanting, try to keep the ground near the roots intact.

Pruning a tangerine tree

The main task of pruning is to form a lush crown of the tree and subsequently get juicy and fragrant fruits. Usually during the first year (and sometimes even the first two years), the citrus plant has to be constantly pinched and pruned, thereby forming it. To understand how to properly prune a tangerine tree, study the following tips:

If you see that your tree has already reached a height of 16-20 cm, then you can safely pin the top. Thanks to this, the lateral shoots will begin to grow. Then, if after some time some shoots have stretched excessively, then they will need to be pinched again.

In most cases, the mandarin tree does not bloom for the first 1-2 years, but if you still have flowers during this period, then they should be removed. They will not give fruit anyway, but they will take a lot of effort from the plant. Dried leaves should also be cleaned.

If everything is done correctly and carefully, then as a result your tree will be slim and healthy, and the flowers will be large and beautiful.

Threat to the health of the tree

When the tree is still young, it is quite vulnerable. Various pests can get on it, such as citrus whiteflies or red spider mites, which can significantly harm the plant.

If you have at least the slightest suspicion of the presence of pests, then you need to immediately buy one of the special preparations: "Aktellik" or "Fitoverm". With such solutions, you need to wash the leaves of the tangerine tree from top to bottom. It is to rinse, not to spray.

When buying, an instruction is attached to the solution, which is recommended to be carefully studied in order to do everything correctly and prevent the death of the plant.

There are also many diseases of the tangerine tree. Here are some of them: wartiness, anthracnose, late blight, citrus cancer, citrus gommosis, root rot, tristosis.

Usually these diseases are the result of the ingress of microorganisms such as viruses, fungi, mycoplasmas and bacteria that enter the plant through wounds, with the help of insects or as a result of watering.

If the tangerine is sick, then various rot, ulcers, growths and spots appear on the tree itself and on its fruits. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to save the tangerine tree from such diseases.

In any case, do not be afraid of the difficulties described above in advance. If you are very attentive and give your plant warmth and care, then it will definitely grow healthy and will delight you with its beauty, sweet fruits and pleasant aroma.

Photo of a tangerine tree