The tangerine is a citrus fruit appreciated for its scent and its flavor that is both sweet and tangy. This fruit is very beneficial for health, in particular thanks to its content of antioxidants and vitamin C. To benefit from the benefits of this citrus fruit and taste organic mandarins, you can grow a mandarin tree at home. Growing this fruit tree is easy and suitable even for people who don’t have a green thumb! Find out how to plant tangerines at home to have unlimited them, and without a trace of pesticides.
Mandarin should not be confused with clementine. The latter is a hybrid of the mandarin. That is to say, it comes from the fertilization of a mandarin flower with the pollen of a sweet orange. There is also a difference in taste. Mandarin is sweeter than clementine and contains more seeds. This fruit is also the least acidic compared to the rest of the citrus fruits.
How to plant tangerines in pots?
To plant tangerines at home, simply follow these 3 steps.
- Step 1: Prepare the tangerine seeds for germination
First select the seeds of an organic tangerine and wash them. Then place the seeds on a damp cotton pad to germinate them, and place the cotton pad in a glass.
- Step 2: Prepare the pot to plant the tangerine seeds
Choose a flowerpot that contains drainage holes and place stones in the bottom. Add a layer of sand on top to ensure better air flow. For potting soil, use a mixture of peat moss, perlite and fertilizer. You can also enrich the potting soil with humus. Then water the soil without soaking it.
- Step 3: Plant the tangerine seeds
When the seeds begin to sprout, gently plant them in the ground and cover them with a little soil. Then cover the surface of the pot with transparent plastic film, to maintain heat and humidity, and accelerate the germination of the seeds, thus obtaining young shoots. Keep your pot in a warm, bright room, but avoid direct sunlight. Water as soon as the soil dries out, but not excessively. When the first shoots appear, remove the transparent film and place your pot in a temperature of around 20°C, in partial shade.
How to maintain the mandarin tree and obtain good mandarins?
The mandarin tree is easy to maintain. Water your fruit tree regularly, ensuring that the soil remains moist between waterings. The mandarin tree needs a regular supply of water, like all citrus fruits. Furthermore, if you notice that the leaves are pointing towards the ground, this means that your tree is lacking water. Fertilize your tree throughout its vegetative growth period, that is to say from March to September. Choose a slowly decomposing fertilizer for this, and add it to a moist substrate, so that the minerals do not burn the roots of your tree.
When the young plants reach 10 to 15 cm in height and their root system is well developed, repot them into a larger pot. Repotting is also necessary every 2 or 3 years. Place clay balls at the bottom of the new pot to ensure good drainage, and use a substrate consisting of sand, compost and garden soil.
Then prune your tree as soon as the flowers appear. To do this, cut the branches and thin twigs to avoid cluttering your shrub. This will give the fruits of your mandarin tree more access to light.
Also protect your fruit tree from diseases and pests that ravage it. As an example, we cite mealybugs, which suck the sap of the tree and produce a sticky juice called honeydew. The latter attracts ants and fungi responsible for sooty mold, which is a cryptogamic disease. Other pests can attack your tree such as aphids or whiteflies.
Furthermore, if you want to transplant your shrub into the ground, wait until it is at least 30 cm high. This way, you will be sure that your mandarin tree is sufficiently robust for outdoor cultivation, especially since this fruit tree fears the cold. Indeed, if you have potted mandarin trees grown outdoors, it is recommended to keep them in a sheltered place in the garden. In winter, you can attach the winter veil under the rim of the pot.
With just a few seeds, you can grow tangerines at home, to perfume your home and harvest unlimited organic tangerines!
