In eating a mandarin orange this last Christmas, I came across a seed which had germinated inside the orange. I planted it, and it appears to be growing quite well.
Does anyone happen to know if I can tell if I will get fruit from it eventually? Can I keep it indoors in a pot?
NIce! They make lovely plants. It may produce an orange in five to seven years. The fruit may or may not be good. Most fruit trees are grafted and early fruiting. Some even have the fruit on when you buy them. After starting they fruit yearly if managed properly.
Thanks. Hopefully mine is a good tree :)
My orange tree (grown from a seed I planted when I was a child) is 18 years old now, but I haven't seen a single fruit or flower yet...
What kind of orange is it?
This is typical when grown from seed. What kind it is does not matter. Rarely do seed planted citrus produce anything but a nice plant. Check out your supply lines at your sources and purchase a potted plant with friuit on it. Meyer Lemons are very popular here. There are a few oranges and a common kumquat frequently sold as home and garden plants in our country. You will get fruit on the tree often and within three years most of the time. They like South East windows for winter growth here. I feed mine a regular diet of diluted fish oil and kelp augmented by compost teas in the summer outside position. Our product Neem Oil or Fisher's Soap Insecticide is all I ever use....even this very sparingly and only when I see trouble in the making.
.....Let us know if you find a plant designed to fruit for you.
I can't remember which one it was (18 years is a long, long time ;) but it was either an orange or a mandarin tree. Yesterday I bought a kumquat tree to have at least one citrus like plant with fruits on it. I came to this thread when I was looking up info about kumquat trees, but it looks like this plant is quite unknown. It looks like there's also a variegated kumquat existing, though, but thever seen it before.
I wanted this plant because the fruits are small, fresh tasting and their husks are edible too. The tree bears plenty of fruits (I think 30 or 40) while it's only one feet high, so I hope the plant will stay in this fruity condition...
I have a kumquat that flowers and fruits after I take it outside. The flowering inside never seems to want to produce fruit. I like to squeeze one kumquat rine and all on ice with a bit of sugar substitute as an orange tea. This pleases my quests who have never had a kumquat tea. If the mints are fresh and producing I garnish the drink with a sprig of mint.
Maybe because they get pollinated by bees or other insects when standing outside. You may try to pollinate it manually with a brush or something when the plant stays inside.
As far as I know all citrus are self pollinating. The male parts stand tall right beside the female parts. The males more or less fall in onto the females. Outside the smaller mason bees are what work these flowers the most. Going either direction to the outside or to the inside kumquats seem to be shocked quite easily. Leaf drops result in either instance. Then they settle down, make new leaves and begin flowering.
Does anyone have any tips on picking a fruiting tree that is small enough to keep in a pot indoors? I would like to move it out in the summer and bring it in for the winter. I would prefer a citrus of some sort.
In my humble experience I feel the Meyer Lemon is the best for any kind of management. They seem to fruit for almost anyone given an East or Southeast window. They do not grow fast, maintain a nice shape and require minimal trimming. My tree (this time) is now five years old and has fruited since the very first year with a need to thin to six fruit this year.
It is in a twelve inch pot. We can still pick it up and move it without to much stress. In a year or two it may be a two person job to move it. Five to six feet is about as large as they get. Trimming them narrow to go out the door is a gradual process from about the third year.
I think everyone would agree the Meyer Lemon is the most idiot proof anyway you look at it.
Here is a link to four winds growers list of indoor varieties.
http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/solver/indoor.html
All of their trees will only get 5-6 ft tall, they are all grafted onto dwarf stock. I have quite a few of their varieties and am very happy with them. I don't know where you would get them in Canada,
http://www.floraexotica.ca/Fruit-Citrus.htm has some but I don't know if they are grafted.
Thank you both for the input. I emailed flora exotica to see whether their plants are grafted.
Redhead give this a look. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/96333/
Also meyers lemon would do well for you.
My pick would be the first one I linked to.
Ooo.. I like that one :) Thanks Core.
I got a reply from flora exotica, and it doesn't look like they graft :(
My two were both grafts. Based on what I hear grafts tend to fruit earlier and better. I can not agree or disagree. I really do not know anyone who does not have a grafted Meyer Lemon.
I have some ungrafted Meyers but they are only 2 inches high, lol.
A friend gave me some citrus trees she raised from seeds, I think she said they were 7 years old and never fruited. They are about 12 ft high. One of them is in bloom now, so it will be interesting to see what it is.
I want to head over to one of the major greenhouses (hopefully soon!), so I will see if they have anything. Last year when I went, things were pretty picked over (mind you, it was August...)
