A friend of mine gave me a wonderful tasting orange. How can I sow the seeds and start a new tree?

orangeblossom.jpgCitrus trees are simple to grow from seeds, but you could wait a long time for the first fruits to develop. For example, if you plant the seed from an especially tasty orange and nurture that tree for better or worse, you may have to wait 8 to 15 years for that seedling tree to bear fruit. Also, you can’t be sure what type of new tree you’re going to get! Usually, 75% of the seedlings will grow into a tree that will produce fruit just like the one you enjoyed. The others may produce somewhat similar fruit, but different in color, taste, or size.
Citrus trees grown from seed often grow larger than the parent tree which produced your fruit and can be noticeably thornier. In general, it would be much easier to purchase a grafted tree with an identifiable scion/rootstock label (e.g., ‘Hamlin’ Orange/ ‘Swingle’ citrumelo) than to grow one from seed. A grafted tree would bear in three or four years and yield exactly the kind of fruit you were expecting. And you'll get the added, beneficial effects from a carefully chosen rootstock.
Bottom line: unless you're adventuresome, totally patient and have a bright green thumb, buy a grafted tree from a reputable nursery in your area.

Additional Resource
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS116


Article Details

Last Updated
23rd of April, 2010

Would you like to...

Print this page Print this page

Email this page Email this page

Post a comment Post a comment

Subscribe me

Add to favorites Add to favorites

Remove Highlighting Remove Highlighting

Edit this Article

Quick Edit

Export to PDF

User Opinions (0 votes)

No users have voted.

How would you rate this answer?



Thank you for rating this answer.

Related Articles

Attachments

No attachments were found.

Visitor Comments

No visitor comments posted. Post a comment

Post a comment

To post a comment for this article, simply complete the form below. Fields marked with an asterisk are required.
   Name:
   Email:
* Comment:
* Enter the code below:
 

Continue