Citrus indoor plants: types, features of cultivation and care.

Decor elements 14.06.2019

Decor elements

Let's analyze the florist's letter:
“I bought a delicious lemon, and in a month it dropped all the fruits and leaves. There is one branched snag in a pot. In general, the snag turned out to be very decorative, I don’t drink my soul in it, water it and spray it, hung a light bulb over it, it burns around the clock "It's hot at home, 28 degrees in winter, so the snag reminds me of African saxauls. It's a very soulful plant. It seems to say to me: "I'd rather die, but I won't grow with you!". If so, I think, then now "I'll teach you politeness! - I tore the snag out of the ent's pot, didn't even shake off the peat from the roots, and transplanted it into a large bucket, made holes in it, poured half a pack of expanded clay on the bottom, and piled a special lemon soil around it. And what do you think? This the vile plant did not appreciate my care, there were no leaves, and there are none, even though I add top dressing to it every month and apply a special fertilizer, it is called "Lemon". Every day I spray it with water in the evening and water it in the morning. I came to the conclusion that it is completely shameless creation of nature s, and that in an amicable way with him it is impossible. From tomorrow I will begin to apply repressions to this snag: I will turn off the lamp and make a suggestion to it: if in a month it does not bear a single leaf, I will pull it out of the pot and throw it away. This is not a plant, but just an ungrateful bastard!"

Dear fellow gardeners, in no case do not make such mistakes!
I want to describe in detail the scheme for caring for citrus fruits so that you do not have problems with them. And I'll tell you about it on the example of the above letter.

** Consider the causes of leaf loss in citrus fruits:
1. If you put the plant on the window, then you do not need to periodically transfer it to another place; citrus fruits are "one stop" plants.
2. The most common mistake - the citrus pot should not be strongly "twisted" by 180 or 90 degrees. In this case, the leaves turn yellow and fall off - the tree dies. Every 10 days you need to turn the pot 10 degrees (no more), and better - counterclockwise.
3. When you get into an unusual climate, i.e. when moving from a store or greenhouse to an apartment, citrus fruits can also shed their leaves.
4. If there are drafts in the apartment, citrus leaves will definitely fall off.
5. If the soil is excessively moistened in winter time- it turns sour and, as a result, citrus leaves turn yellow and fall off.
6. If you plant a small plant immediately in a bucket, and even more so in a tub, then in a week the leaves of the tree will turn yellow, and after another 1.5 weeks it will have "leaf fall";
7. Many do not know this, but based on my many years of experience, I want to warn you: in no case should citrus fruits be placed next to a microwave oven. Otherwise, the leaves will not just fall off - the tree will die.
8. Citrus fruits lose their leaves and fruits due to improper feeding and transplanting.

If in winter the leaves of citrus fruits begin to curl, turn yellow, fall off, the shoots dry out, then the tree sheds unripe fruits. If a plant with fruits was bought in winter, then it will definitely drop the fruits (especially if the tree is imported), and then some of the leaves (or all the leaves). Buying in winter citrus trees I recommend removing most of the fruits from them (and preferably all), removing the emerging flowers and trimming the fruiting shoots by 1/3.
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**Transfer

root system citrus plants has a feature - it does not have root hairs, through which the absorption of water and minerals dissolved in it usually occurs. Their role is played by a symbiotic fungus that forms mycorrhiza of the roots. The death of mycorrhiza leads to the extinction of the plant itself. It is very sensitive to conditions, suffers from prolonged absence of moisture, lack of air in heavy and dense soil, low and high temperatures, and especially when roots are exposed or damaged. Sometimes you can see outwardly normal roots in a dead plant - this is precisely due to the death of mycorrhiza. That is why citrus fruits do not tolerate transplantation well and can get sick for a long time after it. It is worth replanting citrus fruits only by the most accurate transshipment, in no case changing the soil and without washing the roots (with the exception of severe damage to the roots, when there is no other way out).
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**Substrates for growing citrus fruits.
There are several recipes for land mixtures for citrus fruits - they include peat, turf and leaf soil, sand, manure humus. It is important that the mixture is slightly acidic or neutral (pH 5.5 to 7.0). If your water is hard, then it is better to take a slightly acidic soil. However, preparing a mixture of all these components separately and adjusting the acidity is quite difficult. It's easier to take a ready-made citrus soil (usually called "Lemon"), and bring it to the desired condition. Before use, the substrate must be subjected to heat treatment in a water bath (to kill larvae, eggs and adult pests, pathogenic fungi and bacteria).

Small plants should be transplanted shortly after purchase, as peaty soil dries out easily, and dense roots easily overheat and dry out. Then transplanted every year in the spring (if necessary). Older plants in the first year can not be touched, then transplanted every 3-4 years. Large-sized plants are not transplanted, but the top layer of soil is replaced annually.

If you have purchased a small plant that is usually planted in a peat substrate, in no case should it be changed or a denser soil added - roots will not be able to sprout into it. It is better to use a ready-made peat substrate for the first transplant, adding sand and a little soddy soil to it. With further transplants, the amount of soddy land in the mixture can be gradually increased.

Large specimens are usually already planted in the ground with the addition of sod land, so sand and more sod or sod can be added to the finished mixture. leaf ground.
It is better not to use manure humus in mixtures, but to replace it with an extract, which is added to irrigation water.

And do not abuse the loosening of the soil, in which it is easy to damage the roots.
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**Watering
For watering citrus fruits, water just taken from the tap is completely unsuitable (it contains a large amount of chlorine, which they do not like). It is better to water citrus fruits with settled water, to which vinegar is added (a few drops per liter of water); they respect it very much.

Citrus fruits need regular feeding. They need:
- nitrogen (provides rapid growth). Thanks to nitrogen, citrus leaves acquire a rich green color;
- phosphorus (thanks to phosphorus, the seedling begins to bear fruit faster). Phosphorus is also needed for the ripening of fruits and young wood;
- potassium (normal and timely ripening of young leaves, shoots, as well as fruits depends on potassium). With a lack of potassium, citrus fruits become ugly and often fall off before ripening. In addition, potassium supplements help increase resistance to various diseases.

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**Reproduction from seeds
Citrus seeds, freshly extracted from the fruit, germinate very well, usually within a month. Seedlings are actively developing and quite unpretentious. From them, you can form beautiful trees with the help of pruning, which will also enrich the atmosphere of the house with useful phytoncidal substances. But for fruiting, such seedlings must be grafted with cuttings of varietal plants.
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**Crown formation

Shaping is needed to give a beautiful and compact appearance of the crown. The best time for her comes at the end of the winter holiday period, in early February. In summer, too long and fattening shoots should also be shortened. Different kinds and varieties of citrus fruits have their own growth pattern. So, a lemon does not branch very willingly, and it is rather difficult to form a compact beautiful tree from it. Orange grows powerfully upwards, requiring regular shortening. In mandarin, the crown thickens quickly, you have to cut out part of the shoots growing inside. Kumquat grows quite compactly, requiring little or no pruning. Calamondin does not have to be cut too much.

Young plants grown from rooted cuttings begin to form almost immediately, giving the tree a beautiful look. Seedlings should begin to form at the age of one. If by this time they have reached at least 30 cm, the top of their head is stopped. However, even the correct formation of seedlings does not lead to long-awaited fruiting at home.
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** Top dressing.

Citrus fruits should be fertilized only during the months of active growth, from mid-February to mid-September, and in no case should they be fed during winter rest. In preparation for the rest period and when leaving it, reduce the concentration of fertilizers by 2 times. Fertilize only on pre-moistened earth. For good absorption of mineral fertilizers from the soil, it is important to control the acidity of the soil. For the assimilation of organic fertilizers, be sure to maintain the beneficial microflora of the substrate by the systematic introduction of microbiological preparations (Vostok-EM1, Baikal, Vozrozhdenie). Plants respond well to foliar feeding.

It is impossible to feed a heavily crumbling plant - the causes of leaf fall are often not a lack of nutrition, and top dressing done at the wrong time will only bring harm. After buying or transplanting a plant, do not feed it for 1-2 months.

And you should always remember the rule that it is better to underfeed the plant than to overfeed. Lack of nutrition is easily eliminated by timely top dressing, and excess fertilizer leads to burns of the roots, improper development and often ends in the death of the plant. One of the signs of excess fertilizer is a dry border along the edge of the leaf and the beginning of leaf fall. An excess of one element often causes a deficiency of another, and it is quite difficult to diagnose this imbalance and determine the exact cause. But in order to avoid it, only special fertilizers for citrus fruits should be taken for top dressing, which must also include trace elements. Their application rates are calculated for the period of maximum growth. If the plants have insufficient light or other conditions of maintenance are not observed, the dose of fertilizers must be reduced.
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**Pests and diseases

The most common pests of cirus crops are mealybug, shield, false shield. Citrus fruits are also affected by aphids and spider mites.
White lumps in the sinuses, on branches and trunks - defeat by a mealybug.
Plaques that look like droplets of wax on leaves, branches and trunks, sweet discharge on the leaves - a lesion with a scab or a false scab.
Uneven small yellow dots on the leaves, powdery coating from the bottom of the leaf, sometimes a cobweb - a spider mite.
The accumulation of small green or black insects on young shoots, sweet discharge - aphids.
Small mobile light insects in the ground, jumping when watering - podura, or springtails. They start when waterlogged, do not cause harm to the plant. It is enough to reduce watering and shed Actara (1 g / 10 l).
Small black flies flying over the ground are mushroom mosquitoes. They also start from waterlogging. The larvae live in the soil, but do not cause harm to healthy roots. It is enough to adjust the watering, you can shed Aktara (1 g / 10 l).
Details - in the article Pests of indoor plants and measures to combat them.

Chinese sweet orange
Diseases of citrus fruits are caused by improper care and lesions by various pathogens (which is also often due to errors in the content).

Fungal diseases often affect citrus fruits in plantations or greenhouses. Drying and blackening of branches - malseko have a mushroom nature; gum disease - gummosis, when a wound forms on the trunk, from which a liquid resembling resin oozes; leaf spot and anthracosis, when weeping spots spread over the leaf and subsequently merge; powdery mildew, when a white powdery coating forms on the leaves. The fight against fungal diseases is reduced to the establishment of care, to the removal and destruction of the affected parts of the plant, to the treatment with systemic and contact fungicides.

Sometimes a black coating forms on the leaves of citrus fruits, which can be easily removed with a damp swab - this is a soot fungus. It does not harm the plant, usually settles on the sugary secretions of pests. The cause of sugary discharge should be eliminated, the sooty coating should be removed with a swab dipped in soapy water, and washed well under a warm shower.
Diseases caused by viruses appear in the form of a marble color and cannot be treated.

Causes of yellowing leaves: chlorosis caused by a lack of iron, magnesium, sulfur, zinc, excess calcium; lack of nitrogen; lack or excess of light; spider mite damage.

The reasons for the appearance of brown spots on the leaves: non-compliance with the irrigation regime (overdrying or waterlogging of the soil); sunburn; burn from a strong dose of fertilizer; imbalance in the batteries; fungal and bacterial diseases.

The cause of leaf fall in citrus fruits can be any severe stress: sudden temperature fluctuations, hypothermia, overheating, waterlogging of the substrate, overdrying of the substrate, improper transplantation, too much fertilizer dosage, prolonged lack of light.

Why is leaf fall dangerous? Depending on age, lemon leaves perform different functions; with aging, they turn into a pantry of nutrients, ensuring the growth and development of young growths. The loss of these leaves leads to the depletion of the plant.
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**Physiological disorders associated with a lack or excess of nutrients

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** Flowering and fruits

Fruiting lemons, tangerines and other citrus fruits bloom profusely, which leads to a weakening of the tree. Therefore, flowers located nearby should be thinned out, leaving larger ones - those on which the ovary is better developed. Preference should be given to fruits sitting on short twigs - fruits. On long branches, the fruits grow more slowly.

It takes several months for the fruit to ripen. There are so many ovaries that there is an active discharge of young ovaries and fruits that have not yet filled with juice. The fruit fall is so strong that the soil under the trees is completely covered with small fruits. That's why
it is recommended to regulate fruiting. Immediately after flowering, cut off a number of young ovaries. I do not recommend buying trees with fruits in the store. It is better if you buy only a flowering tree. But if, nevertheless, a tree with fruits comes home to you, then proceed as follows:
1. try to find out how old the tree is;
2. Pick off all the fruits (do not spare them);
3. Cut the branches on which the fruits were in half;
4. Spray the plant more often;
5. The soil must always be moist.

And now - advice for everyone: do not expect the impossible from a citrus tree! In winter, citrus fruits most often do not bloom at home. Be patient and do everything according to the instructions. If you do everything right, your citrus pets will delight appearance and harvests. Good luck!

Citrus fruits belong to the rue family. Lemon, orange, tangerine, grapefruit, kinkan and other citrus fruits are grown at home. Although it must be said right away that attempts to grow a fruit-bearing citrus tree at home often end when evergreen trees that have grown more than a meter in height do not bear fruit. Although with an annual cold wintering (+ 5-8 ° C), citrus fruits can bloom and bear fruit in 2-3 years (rooted cuttings).

If you decide to grow citrus fruits from seeds for their fruits, then even if you achieve fruiting, the taste of the fruits will most likely disappoint you, as it will be too sour and bitter. It is easier to buy an already fruiting citrus tree, in which case you will not have to take care of the graft and wait for years for it to bear fruit.

In general, at home, trees obtained from grafted or rooted cuttings will more likely bear fruit, and wild animals grown from seed do not bloom for a very long time - decades, but in their natural habitat, somewhere in the open spaces of Spain, trees begin to bear fruit at the age of 6 -7 years. For some, it will be a pleasure to grow a tree from a seed, and it doesn’t matter if it bears fruit or not. Be that as it may, in order for a citrus plant to develop well, it is important to know the conditions it needs and something about crown formation.

Citrus Fertilizer

Fertilizers are used in the first half of summer. This increases the sugar content of the fruit and reduces the bitter taste that is characteristic of citrus fruits at room culture. The plant needs more fertilizer, the older it is and the longer it stays in one dish. Fertilizers are applied with water for irrigation, but only healthy, not weakened plants can be fed. With additional artificial lighting of citrus fruits in winter, they also need to be fertilized, but not more often than once a month.

If citrus fruits were transplanted into fresh ground in spring, then after 1-1.5 months you can start feeding with fertilizers for flowering plants. If the plants have not been transplanted, then you need to start feeding with the introduction of organic matter: 2-3 times with an interval of two weeks, this can be an extract from dry horse manure, well-lain humus, ready-made vermicompost from the store. It is very important not to overfeed citrus fruits with organic matter and check the acidity of the soil. After two top dressings with nitrogen fertilizers, you can already feed with complex fertilizers for indoor flowering plants (for example, luxury fertik).

By the way

Sometimes on sale you can see citrus fruits with a stalk - a small twig with a couple of leaves, mostly Chinese tangerines, passed off as Abkhazian ones. They taste good, but most importantly, if the branches are not frozen and have not had time to dry, you can try to carefully separate and graft them.

By the way

Light shading of citrus fruits from the scorching rays of the sun promotes the formation of healthy, dark green foliage. When placed in direct sunlight, the leaves of the plants acquire a pale green color, and after a gloomy winter, burns may appear in the spring. On the contrary, in dark room citrus fruits gradually shed their leaves, and new leaves, if they appear, are small and deformed.

Therefore, it is recommended to keep the plants in the summer on a window facing the northwest or southeast (these windows are less sunny, but also less hot), and in the winter to the south and southwest, so throughout the year there will be uniform lighting for the plant. But, of course, such permutations are possible in apartments and houses where the windows are on opposite sides.

You can also move the plants back into the room in summer, and in winter, on the contrary, move the plants as close to the window as possible.

The fruits of orange and lemon, with a lack of light, are characterized by high acidity. However, in the summer, plants should be shaded from the sun in the afternoon.

Citrus pests

Scale insects: this pest is not difficult to detect, scale insects are clearly visible on citrus fruits, but they cause significant harm - spreading throughout the tree, their brown shields stick around stems, petioles, leaves. If you run a fingernail over the shield, a damp spot remains. Under a microscope, these pests are similar in shape, sorry for the comparison, to fascist helmets, furry from the inside, and just as nasty: they suck out cell sap, leaves lose color, dry and fall off.

Control measures: if your citrus tree is small, it is better to take it to the bathroom and wash the stems and leaves with a soapy sponge. If a large tree is in a bucket or tub, wipe all accessible places with a cotton pad dipped in alcohol.

Now we need the insecticide Aktara (or confidor), it is effective against any worms, including scale insects. It is necessary to dilute the drug according to the instructions and pour a lemon or orange under the root, and then spray carefully over the leaves. Repeat treatment after a week.

Other insecticides are also produced against scale insects and other insect pests: actellik, fitoverm, karbofos, decis and others. But they are more smelly, toxic and it is highly undesirable to use them at home.

The spider mite is one of the nastiest and most common pests on citrus fruits. Ticks are dangerous because:

multiply and grow rapidly
it is extremely difficult to wash them off - they hide in the axils of the leaves, in the buds, in the upper layers of the soil
conventional insecticides are not effective against them, but only special preparations- acaricides
after two treatments, resistance is formed in ticks - the new generation is more resistant to the active substance of the drug.

Signs of mites on citrus fruits

yellowish or whitish spots on the leaves without clear boundaries
strokes and dots are gray or silvery, especially noticeable on young leaves
deformed flower petals, young leaves, shriveled buds
on the reverse side of the leaves there are small grains, crumbs, husks - the pests themselves and the skins from molting
with a strong increase (with a magnifying glass, in a microscope), the thinnest cobweb is visible.

Therefore, if you have mites at least once, you will have to observe and observe and periodically, at least once a month, carefully inspect the entire plant

Control measures. First, wash or wipe off the pests by hand. To do this, you will either have to take the pot to the bathroom or shower, put the pot on its side so that the leaves are in weight, and water with a powerful pressure of a hot shower; or wash each leaf by hand - take and wipe on both sides.

The problem is that there are no systemic drugs against ticks - so that you water it - and the ticks die. Only enteric-contact: sprayed, got a tick. Where the solution does not get - ticks will survive and continue to multiply.

Against ticks, it is worth trying such remedies as apallo, vermitec, oberon, etc.

Read more about pests of indoor plants in the section "pests"

The countries of Southeast Asia are considered to have a warm subtropical and tropical climate. There all year round warm, with some decrease in temperature in winter, a lot of light and quite humid. Therefore, citrus plants require a well-lit place both in summer and in winter. Daylight hours all year round is approximately 12 hours, in our climate the most suitable day lengths are spring and autumn. Most species do not tolerate even short-term and short-term frosts at all.

One of the characteristics of citrus plants is uneven growth. After a period of active growth, a dormant period begins, when young shoots and leaves stop growing, and wood ripens. Only after this, a new wave of shoot growth begins.

Many indoor citrus fruits are characterized by remontance, the ability to bloom and set fruits several times a year. Flowering of grafted plants or grown from rooted cuttings occurs almost immediately. The flowering of seedlings in nature usually occurs in some species at 4-5 years, in others only at the 12-15th, but it is almost never possible to wait for the flowering of citrus seedlings at home.

The optimal conditions for the development of flowers will be a temperature of about +18 ° C and an air humidity of about 70%. The flowers are bisexual and in many varieties self-pollinating, but for the reliability of fruit set, it is better to resort to artificial pollination with a soft brush. After flowering, not all ovaries remain on the branches, many soon fall off. The ovary can be considered complete if it has reached at least 2 cm. The fruits ripen, depending on the specific species or variety, from 5-9 months, and can hang on the tree until the next harvest. By the way, skin color is not a sign of maturation. So, in the tropics, where there is no cool winter, the color of ripe fruits remains green. Orange color also does not indicate the maturity of the fetus. If it is not plucked in time, the peel may turn green again, and then re-color.

Winter content. Species originating from the subtropics need a mandatory decrease in temperature in winter, this is their physiological need. Illumination and temperature of the content affect the degree of metabolism of the plant: the higher they are, the more actively the vital processes proceed. The most difficult time for citrus crops at home comes from the end of autumn, when the amount of light drops sharply. It is due to light that the plant receives energy in the process of photosynthesis. If little energy is produced (in conditions of lack of light), and a lot is spent (in a warm room), the plant is gradually depleted, sometimes “eats” itself and dies. In our winter conditions, even the lightest window sill does not provide the insolation that the plant receives in its homeland, so citrus fruits in winter will always, under any illumination, suffer from a lack of light. To help them successfully overwinter, it is necessary to lower the temperature of the content and increase the illumination.

For wintering, a warmed loggia or a greenhouse with a temperature of about +14 ° C and additional lighting is suitable (in cloudy weather - during the whole day, in clear weather only - in the evenings, so that the total daylight hours are 12 hours). Citrus fruits winter well in non-hot apartments or private houses. In a warm apartment, you can isolate the window sill from the room with a third frame or film so that a lower temperature is established inside.

In the absence of a cool wintering, citrus plants usually do not live longer than 3-4 years, gradually become exhausted and die. Vacation lasts from November to February. In early to mid-February, when the day is noticeably added, most citrus crops “wake up”.

Content temperature. Both too low a temperature and too high a temperature inhibits the normal development of citrus plants. In summer, it is desirable that the temperature be kept within + 18 + 26 ° C, in winter you need coolness, + 12 + 16 ° C. Never expose the plant to negative temperatures.

Different parts of the plant (roots and crown) should be in the same temperature conditions. If the temperature in the zone of the root system is lower than in the crown zone, the roots do not have time to absorb right amount water. Otherwise, the roots absorb too much of it. Such differences lead to stress and can cause leaf fall in the plant. At the floor, the temperature is always several degrees lower than at the crown level, so it is better to put the plant on a small stand. If there are warm floors in the room, there is a danger of overheating for the root system.

In spring and summer, it is useful to put citrus fruits on the balcony or take them out into the garden, where they grow and bloom beautifully. However, the pots need to be shaded from the sun. Through the heated walls of the pots, the roots get burned, the temperature balance of the roots and foliage is disturbed.

When the plant returns to the room in autumn, abundant leaf fall is often observed due to a sharp change in conditions. To avoid it, you should not wait for a strong cold snap and turn on the heating systems, but bring the plant in early. Then there will not be a big difference in temperature and humidity. You should also take care that the illumination does not fall too much.

Illumination. Citrus plants are very photophilous, they should be protected only from the midday summer sun. Optimal location south - east or south - western windows, and in the summer in the garden - under the light shade of trees. In winter, it is desirable to provide additional intense lighting, with a day length of 12 hours. Without sufficient light, the plant will not be able to fully develop. Too long daylight hours in the middle lane, and especially in the northern regions, negatively affects the normal development of the plant.

A sign of a lack of light is the appearance of too large and too green leaves, and with a strong deficiency, yellowing and fall of foliage. The result of too bright light will be the formation of discolored, too light leaves, on which, with a sharp increase in light without prior adaptation, burns, white or black spots may appear. There is a high probability of such burns in February-March, when during the winter the plant “weans” from sun rays.

Watering should be regular and moderate. Citrus fruits are not drought-resistant, but it is extremely important to prevent systematic waterlogging of the substrate. In summer and winter, keep the soil always moist, but between watering the top layer should dry out. When watering, make sure that the water has reached all the roots (it should go a little into the pan, from which the excess must be drained). In summer, more frequent watering will be required, possibly even daily (depending on the weather, the volume and composition of the soil, and the size of the plant).

In the winter months, when cool temperatures are maintained, the frequency and abundance of watering is reduced. Keep the soil slightly moist, do not allow it to dry out, watering the frequency of about once every 7-10 days.

Water for irrigation should be soft and free from chlorine. Hard water is softened by boiling, sometimes acidified with lemon juice (1 - 3 drops per 1 liter). The temperature of the irrigation water should not be lower than the room temperature or 3-4 degrees higher. During the winter holidays, do not water with too warm water so as not to “wake up” the plant ahead of time.

Air humidity. Citrus fruits grow in regions with high air humidity, this must be taken into account when keeping them at home, spraying water over the foliage or using a household air humidifier.

Transfer. The root system of citrus plants has a peculiarity - it does not have root hairs, through which the absorption of water and minerals dissolved in it usually occurs. Their role is played by a symbiotic fungus that forms mycorrhiza of the roots. The death of mycorrhiza leads to the extinction of the plant itself. It is very sensitive to conditions, suffers from prolonged absence of moisture, lack of air in heavy and dense soil, low and high temperatures, and especially when roots are exposed or damaged. Sometimes you can see outwardly normal roots in a dead plant - this is precisely due to the death of mycorrhiza. That is why citrus fruits do not tolerate transplantation well and can get sick for a long time after it. It is worth replanting citrus fruits only by the most accurate transshipment, in no case changing the soil and without washing the roots (with the exception of severe damage to the roots, when there is no other way out).

Substrates for growing citrus fruits. There are several recipes for land mixtures for citrus fruits - they include peat, turf and leaf soil, sand, manure humus. It is important that the mixture is slightly acidic or neutral (pH 5.5 to 7.0). If your water is hard, then it is better to take a slightly acidic soil. However, preparing a mixture of all these components separately and adjusting the acidity is quite difficult. It's easier to take a ready-made citrus soil (usually called "Lemon"), and bring it to the desired condition. Before use, the substrate must be subjected to heat treatment in a water bath (to kill larvae, eggs and adult pests, pathogenic fungi and bacteria).

Large specimens are usually already planted in the ground with the addition of soddy soil, so sand and more soddy or leafy soil can be added to the finished mixture. It is better not to use manure humus in mixtures, but to replace it with an extract, which is added to irrigation water.

And do not abuse the loosening of the soil, in which it is easy to damage the roots.

reproduction. Citrus crops are easily pollinated, giving rise to new hybrids with properties that are different from the mother plant. Therefore, in order to preserve the desired properties and accelerate fruiting, methods are used vegetative propagation: grafting, cuttings, air layering. For industrial purposes, preference is given to grafting, it makes it possible to pick up a stock the right quality(in terms of frost resistance, drought resistance, etc.) Some varieties have a poorly developed root system, and grafting onto a powerful stock provides the plant with good roots. In home citrus cultivation, grafting is often used to breed particularly capricious variegated varieties, but their implementation requires special knowledge and skills. Many popular varieties do not require them, they develop perfectly from rooted cuttings, while fully maintaining maternal qualities and blooming quickly (often still at the rooting stage).

For rooting use sterile soil (peat + sand). The rooting temperature is about +25 ° C, always in a greenhouse, preferably with bottom heating. The light is bright, diffused, at least from a fluorescent lamp.

Mature young shoots are taken to the cuttings, which are currently at the dormant stage, this is important. If you take a shoot that is in the growth stage, then the probability of its rooting is very small. It is optimal that the shoot is about 6 months old, and it has already turned from angular into rounded. Cuttings are taken only from healthy plants. The shoot is cut into segments of 3-4 internodes. The top cut is straight. The bottom sheet is removed, an oblique cut is made directly under this bud, the bark is slightly scratched with a clean thin needle, dipped in Kornevin rooting stimulator powder and immersed in the ground until next sheet. If the greenhouse holds moisture well, then it is better to leave all the leaves whole, without cutting the leaf blades. They will serve as a source of nutrients for the cuttings. If the tightness of the greenhouse is poor, then so that the cuttings do not lose too much moisture, the two bottom sheets will have to be cut in half. In a greenhouse it is necessary to support high humidity air. Rooting lasts from 2 weeks to 1 - 2 months, sometimes longer.

Citrus seeds, freshly extracted from the fruit, germinate very well, usually within a month. Seedlings are actively developing and quite unpretentious. From them, you can form beautiful trees with the help of pruning, which will also enrich the atmosphere of the house with useful phytoncidal substances. But for fruiting, such seedlings must be grafted with cuttings of varietal plants.

Formation needed to give a beautiful and compact appearance of the crown. The best time for her comes at the end of the winter holiday period, in early February. In summer, too long and fattening shoots should also be shortened. Different types and varieties of citrus fruits have their own growth pattern. So, a lemon does not branch very willingly, and it is rather difficult to form a compact beautiful tree from it. Orange grows powerfully upwards, requiring regular shortening. In mandarin, the crown thickens quickly, you have to cut out part of the shoots growing inside. Kumquat grows quite compactly, requiring little or no pruning. Calamondin does not have to be cut too much.

Top dressing. Citrus fruits should be fertilized only during the months of active growth, from mid-February to mid-September, and in no case should they be fed during winter rest. In preparation for the rest period and when leaving it, reduce the concentration of fertilizers by 2 times. Fertilize only on pre-moistened earth. For good absorption of mineral fertilizers from the soil, it is important to control the acidity of the soil. For the assimilation of organic fertilizers, be sure to maintain the beneficial microflora of the substrate by the systematic introduction of microbiological preparations (Vostok - EM1, Baikal, Vozrozhdenie). Plants respond well to foliar feeding.

If a negative reaction to the new fertilizer is detected, stop fertilizing, rinse the soil with plenty of water (by passing it through the soil, but without removing the plants from the pot), at first use only the foliar method of fertilizing (a highly diluted complex fertilizer with microelements is sprayed over the leaves once a week ). Then switch to another brand of citrus specific fertilizer.

Physiological disorders associated with a lack or excess of nutrients

Leaves lose their gloss, acquire a yellow tint, young leaves are narrow and small, flowering is weak- with a lack of phosphorus.
Plants need phosphorus for flowering and fruiting, it helps resist disease. Excess phosphorus inhibits vegetative growth.

The leaves show notches and folds along the veins., in the future they brighten, turn brown at the edges. Growth is delayed, some of the adult branches die off. During flowering, strong leaf fall can be observed - with a lack of potassium.
Plants use potassium to produce sugar, starch, protein, and enzymes needed for growth and development. Potassium helps plants regulate their water intake and better withstand the cold. Excess potassium leads to brown necrotic burns along the edge of the leaf.

The lack of iron, magnesium and zinc is manifested in chlorosis- on the background yellow leaves the green network of veins is clearly visible, growth stops, young shoots often die off. Iron deficiency usually extends to the entire leaf, with a lack of magnesium and zinc, changes can be local. A deficiency of sulfur, manganese and zinc, as well as an excess of calcium, also leads to chlorosis. Citrus fruits with chlorosis require additional fertilizing with iron-containing preparations (iron chelate, Ferovit), and driving rusty nails into the ground will not help the plant.
Magnesium (Mg) and iron (Fe) are important for the production of chlorophyll. Sulfur (S), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn) are "catalysts" that aid in the absorption of other nutrients such as nitrogen.

Death of growing points, loss of natural color by young leaves, growth of defective leaves- observed with a lack of calcium and boron. Calcium deficiency with hard irrigation water is excluded. Calcium (Ca) and boron (B) are essential for proper water absorption and both are important for correct formation cells.

Pests and diseases

The most common pests cirus crops are mealybug, scale insect, false shield. Citrus fruits are also affected by aphids and spider mites.

White lumps in the sinuses, on branches and trunks - defeat by a mealybug.

Plaques that look like droplets of wax on leaves, branches and trunks, sweet discharge on the leaves - a lesion with a scab or a false scab.

Uneven small yellow dots on the leaves, powdery coating from the bottom of the leaf, sometimes a cobweb - a spider mite.

The accumulation of small green or black insects on young shoots, sweet discharge - aphids.

Small mobile light insects in the ground, jumping when watering - fools, or springtails. They start when waterlogged, do not cause harm to the plant. It is enough to reduce watering and shed Actara (1 g / 10 l).

Small black flies flying over the ground are mushroom mosquitoes. They also start from waterlogging. The larvae live in the soil, but do not cause harm to healthy roots. It is enough to adjust the watering, you can shed Aktara (1 g / 10 l).

Diseases citrus fruits arise due to improper care and damage by various pathogens (which is also often due to errors in the content).

Fungal diseases often affect citrus fruits in plantations or greenhouses. Drying and blackening of branches - malseko have a mushroom nature; gum treatment - gommosis, when a wound forms on the trunk, from which a liquid resembling resin oozes; leaf spot and anthracosis, when weeping spots spread over the leaf and subsequently merge; powdery mildew, when a white powdery coating forms on the leaves. The fight against fungal diseases is reduced to the establishment of care, to the removal and destruction of the affected parts of the plant, to the treatment with systemic and contact fungicides.

Diseases caused by viruses appear in the form of a marble color and cannot be treated.

Causes of yellowing leaves: chlorosis caused by a lack of iron, magnesium, sulfur, zinc, excess calcium; lack of nitrogen; lack or excess of light; spider mite damage.

Causes of brown spots on leaves: non-compliance with the irrigation regime (overdrying or waterlogging of the soil); sunburn; burn from a strong dose of fertilizer; imbalance in the batteries; fungal and bacterial diseases.

Cause of leaf fall any severe stress can serve citrus fruits: sudden temperature fluctuations, hypothermia, overheating, overmoistening of the substrate, overdrying of the substrate, improper transplantation, too much fertilizer dosage, prolonged lack of light.

Why is leaf fall dangerous? Depending on age, lemon leaves perform different functions; with aging, they turn into a pantry of nutrients, ensuring the growth and development of young growths. The loss of these leaves leads to the depletion of the plant.

Earth.

In practice, over the years it has become clear that the land does not have such a great influence on the cultivation of citrus fruits. Most big influence has light, heat and moisture; in comparison with them, the composition of the earth does not have significant significance. The purpose of the substrate in a flowerpot is to create sufficient conditions for the roots of plants to take water, nutrients and air in a small space.

In short, when growing citrus fruits, you can be guided by the rules:

1. The flowerpot should not be large. Land not used by the roots, especially wet, is the cause of rot and turns sour. The plant withers, sheds leaves. (My experience - I planted a small lemon in a 15-liter flowerpot. It stood on the veranda all summer - under the wind, rain, sun, even hail broke the leaves. I watered it quite plentifully, with the addition of a weak infusion of chicken manure. So I watched the plant and gave him what he lacks. The lemon became so strong, big - everyone was surprised. Not in a scientific way, but it is so. And in small flowerpots everything is according to science, and growth is also small).

2. The abundance of water is harmful to the plant. Good drainage is needed. When transplanting a plant, we choose a flowerpot in size a couple of centimeters larger. The shape of the flowerpot should be such that the root who was spacious and he easily "slip" out of the flowerpot when needed (my experience is that the same plant in a large flowerpot does not need to be replanted, the plant is not stressed: there is enough land, spacious and good) .

3. Between waterings, let the soil dry out (do not dry out). The water temperature should be 2 degrees higher than the air temperature. If the temperature of the substrate and irrigation water differ by more than 8 degrees - the plant gets stressed, sheds flowers and fruits. The same is true when spraying a plant.
In a small pot, it is good to “drink” the plant with water by immersing it, along with the leaves, in a bowl of water. When the bubbles stop coming, pull out the flowerpot, let the water drain and put it in the pan. If watering directly into the flowerpot, it is important to water at the edges of the flowerpot to moisten the roots that are near the walls of the flowerpot. Drain the water that drains after watering into the pan after an hour. If water quickly flows through the substrate during irrigation, it means that the soil of the plant is dangerously dry, and the flowerpot must be placed all with the leaves of the plant in a bowl of water.

Growing a plant in an apartment, you need to spray it every day (but not in the sun). Drying is very dangerous for a young plant. But even if it drops all the leaves, you don’t need to throw it away, the leaves can grow back. A moistened bag is applied to the plant, and the leaves will not keep you waiting. The plant through the leaves well accepts not only water, but also fertilizers. If there is any doubt - whether it is necessary to water or not yet - it is better to spray the plant, adding not only fertilizers, but also pesticides to the water if necessary (only not in the evening and not in the sun).

Watering, of course, depends on the growing conditions and vegetation. Lemon is ideally placed outdoors, where the plant enjoys dew, fog, raindrops. The plant loves it. And also for practice - sometimes the plant is poured and water flows over the edge of the pan; to prevent this from happening, you can water through the pan and pour as much water into it as the plant sucks. If necessary, this procedure can be repeated after several waterings. Some flower growers by this contribute to the cultivation of roots that need to reach the water (my experience is to water only with rain or melt water and always with a small amount of those fertilizers that the plant "requests").

4. Vases. Clay containers are breathable, but they dry out quickly. Plastic retains moisture, but does not allow air to pass through. Wooden containers have both positive properties, but they are short-lived.
The roots of the plant breathe air that passes through the bottom of the flowerpot, so the drainage of the flowerpot is mandatory, and no water should remain in the pan after watering. The flowerpot is selected according to the size of the plant, the composition of the substrate, according to the place where it will stand (the black flowerpot heats up in the sun). In a large plastic flowerpot, you will have to drill side holes so that the plant can breathe (my experience is that I did not drill holes in a large flowerpot; however, I periodically stick thin wooden sticks into the flowerpot).

If you use a wooden flowerpot, you can not process it with chemical compounds. Best to handle linseed oil mixed with ash, and crushed charcoal. A clay flowerpot dries quickly in the sun, and salt clogs the walls of the flowerpot, which prevents air from passing through them. But an earthen pot prevents the roots from rotting when the plant is poured, as in a plastic pot; in addition, if the flowerpot will not stand on the balcony, it can be buried in the ground in the garden.

The roots of the plant eventually rest against the walls of the flowerpot. In wooden flowerpots, it is these thin roots that suffer from drying out - then the edges of the leaves dry (this is often the reason for the drying of the edges of the leaves). When growing citrus fruits, flower growers most often use square containers - they save space, provide a microclimate (plants standing next to each other protect each other from overheating, moisture loss, it is convenient to spray the leaves). In large flowerpots, the top layer of the earth is periodically replaced. Any flowerpots should be protected from sunlight.

Place.

Choosing a place for citrus fruits is one of the important tasks. In an apartment, it is dangerous to put a plant on the windowsill both in winter and in summer. In winter, batteries are heated, and they are most often located under the windowsill. Cold air from a window cools the substrate and roots, causing them to rot. Dry and warm room air dries the leaves, and we water the plant more often. Where the plant stands, you need to cover the batteries with something or put a humidifier. The flowerpot must be raised so that its bottom does not cool.

Lemon is a plant that loves a warm and fairly sunny place; loves the greenhouse. (My experience is that after spring and until autumn frosts, lemons stand on open space- steps of the veranda). When there are cold nights in autumn or the temperature difference between day and night is large, I cover the plants with agrofilm for the night. They stand on the south side of the house, covered from the north by a wall. Citrus fruits are very resilient if taught from an early age, you just have to look at the leaves - they show the problems the plant has.
When a plant is taken outside after winter, it is necessary to gradually accustom it to open sunlight - out of habit, there may be burns on the leaves.

Light.

Sufficient lighting intensity is one of the essential conditions citrus growth. Lack of light can affect the absorption of water by the plant. There are plants of "long" and "short" days, citrus fruits are neutral.
Still, problems are revealed in winter - you need to lower the temperature and water, otherwise the plant begins to grow unhealthy: due to a lack of light, the branches stretch out, the leaves become smaller. This is a problem for apartments. The plant, although growing, may later shed its leaves and even die, having lost too much reserve energy. The only way out is to find a balance between watering, air humidity, temperature and lighting. That's when additional lighting may be needed. By the way, direct lighting is not necessary for citrus fruits, they are good in diffused bright light, but they cannot tolerate long shadows.
In the summer, when the plants are on the street, at noon it is sometimes necessary to cover them and make a temporary shadow from the intense rays of the sun.

Temperature.

Beginning amateur citrus growers often imagine that in their homeland citrus fruits grow in very warm conditions that we cannot create. It's true - citrus fruits love warmth and in our climatic conditions they catch every ray of sunshine. Still, on native plantations, the average annual temperature is 16-18 degrees, the average temperature of fruit ripening is 9-15 degrees. In places of natural cultivation, the average temperature of the coldest month is 7-14 degrees.

So what temperature is acceptable in our conditions? Citrus fruits are hardy, in the absence of flowers or fruits, they can be in sub-zero temperatures for a short time (up to 3 hours), as well as up to 50 degrees heat (this can happen in a greenhouse or on a windowsill). This, of course, inhibits the development of plants, and with a longer exposure, it can destroy them. Just as the temperature difference between the irrigation water and the substrate of 8 degrees can lead the plant into a state of shock, so the rapid transfer of the plant from a dark place to bright light - from home under the direct rays of the sun - can destroy the plant.

Temperature influence:

Vegetation and cultivation of fruits: 22-24 degrees;
- Flowering: 14-16 degrees;
- Fruit flower set: 22-24 degrees
- The ovaries fall off at a temperature of 30 degrees;
- Fruit ripening: 14-18 degrees;
- Seed germination: 20-25 degrees;
- Wintering: 5-10 degrees;
- Active spring growth: 12 degrees;
- Growth stops below 12 degrees and above 38 degrees;
- The water temperature for watering and spraying citrus fruits should be 1-2 degrees higher than the substrate temperature (if the water is 8 degrees warmer or colder than the substrate, the plant will get stressed);
- The air temperature should be 1-3 degrees higher than that of the substrate.

Transpiration.

Transpiration is the evaporation of moisture by a plant through its leaves; 98% of the water passing through the plant is used for transpiration. This is of great importance when growing citrus fruits. The leaves of the plant must be clean, free of dust, not sprayed with leaf gloss, etc. At high temperature and wind, the intensity of moisture evaporation increases by 6 times compared to normal weather. Sometimes, it would seem, all the conditions have been created for the plant, and it begins to shed its leaves. One of the reasons is the failure of the balance of fluid passage in the plant.
Air humidity at 22-24 degrees: 60-70%;
Humidity in winter: 40-50%.
Water should be soft, without chlorine. Ideal - soft fresh rainwater (it contains air, slightly acidic, pH 6-6.5). Clean rainwater is collected 15 minutes after the start of rain.

A few tips for growing citrus fruits in an apartment.

Many examples show that growing citrus fruits at home is quite possible. Of course, more attention should be paid to them, especially in winter. All the problems of citrus fruits when grown in an apartment increase significantly, but citrus fruits tend to adapt.

In the apartment you can grow citrus fruits:

A whole year;
- take out into the air;
- if you find a place for wintering (about 10 degrees).

The positive side is that plants are less prone to fungal diseases, because fungi do not like dry air, unless we ourselves bring these diseases home from somewhere.
In apartments, the temperature is too high (sometimes the same day and night), low humidity - this is also harmful for a person. When caring for plants, it is desirable to bring the air humidity up to 60%, this is useful for plants and humans.
All citrus fruits require winter rest at low temperatures. In an apartment, plants begin a dormant period due to a lack of light intensity which can kill plants. Wintering takes place in a cool place (10 degrees) with minimal watering, because the dormant roots do not accept moisture and will begin to rot. The leaves are sometimes sprayed. Wintering conditions depend on the type of citrus.

For three months, citrus fruits can be kept in a dark room - in the basement, garage, on stairwell etc. (this applies to strong and healthy plants; for amateur citrus growers, this can be difficult, because it will be difficult to control the plants).

In a cold room, when the plants hibernate, watering and spraying stop, as at low temperatures they have enough moisture from the air. Of course, the fertilization also stops. Do not leave plants for the winter in places of chemical fumes. When checking plants, they should not be allowed to dry out.

Warm winter.

If the plant hibernates in a warm room - put it in the brightest place, reduce watering. We shorten the young unripened branches, since in the spring they will still be lost, and in the winter they will bother the plant.
Isolate the plant from batteries; we organize everything in such a way that warm air currents do not reach the plant. We also protect the plant from cold air currents; a cold flowerpot and dry warm leaves will lead to the death of the plant.

In winter, we spray the plant through the leaves more intensively than we water. The solution can be made slightly nutritious.

Plants in winter spend more resources than they can take. If they grow, they stretch out, because they want to get more light and moisture. We have to do additional lighting.

In the spring we add moisture when we see that the plant is waking up; little by little we start feeding.

Citrus fruits do not like the same temperature at night and during the day. At night, you need to either ventilate the room, or turn off the heating. It's unnatural anyway citrus terms- high wintering temperature and dry air.
In winter, it is not the overdrying of the substrate that is more dangerous, but the general decrease in plant fluids. If the leaves of citrus fruits begin to dry out in winter, do not rush to water the plant, as the resting roots will begin to rot. All attention should be focused on the humidity of the air, spraying and spraying water around the plant. You can put the plant in an aquarium or next to another plant (but not on another flowerpot), you can fix a plastic bag over the plant.

Landing-transplant.

Transplantation is an inevitable process, after which we look at the plant as a critical patient, for which any stress can turn into death.
Young citrus fruits are transplanted every year or every other year, older - less and less. The older the plant, the more transplant stress it has.
For adult plants, the top layer of the earth is changed, and, while it is possible, it would be good to change the lateral earth as well (by picking up a larger flowerpot). The new substrate should be nutritious, it is advisable to add rotted manure to it.
Seedlings of citrus dive when the first pair of leaves appears.

Citrus fruits are transplanted in early spring before the start of the growing season (during the dormant period). Then the plant is brought into a lighter and warmer room, gradually increasing heat and light. When the first signs of growth appear, increase moisture and only then fertilize.

If the plant will winter in the warmth, you can transplant it in the fall, if the ground is warm enough and rooting will occur before November. Summer transplantation is possible only without damaging the root ball, between two periods of growth; then keep the plant in the shade. In winter, citrus fruits can be transplanted with the destruction of an earthy coma, since the roots are inactive at this time; this is unacceptable for plants without leaves, at temperatures below 12 degrees.
Plants are transplanted if they are bought in a store and if necessary (diseases, clogging of the earth, etc.) at any time, after transplanting, taking all measures to save the plants.

The rules for transplanting citrus fruits are the same as for other plants. If the roots are damaged, they are disinfected. Planting is done in a moist substrate, as the plant is watered only the next day. When transplanting, a certain amount of old earth is necessarily left on the roots, since bacteria live in it, which contribute to the absorption of nutrients by the roots. If this is not possible, you need to take some earth from the flowerpot of another citrus.
The plant is planted at the same level, preventing the base of the neck from falling asleep. After transplantation, the plant is shaded; other conditions do not need to be changed so that there is no stress. Citruses need quite a lot of attention; mistakes are not easy to fix. The critical period after transplantation is 6 months.

If the volume of roots decreases during transplantation, we take a smaller flowerpot. Then we cut the crown in proportion to the roots. Pruning the crown does not harm even with minor damage to the roots.
If, after transplanting, unwanted branches with leaves appear in the plant - let them grow, let the plant breathe - this contributes to the growth of roots. They can be cut later.

Pruning.

If we want to get a good harvest, we definitely cut citrus fruits.
The main thing is to prune often so that pruning is moderate. And keep in mind that the brains must work faster than the hands.
The rules for pruning citrus fruits are similar to those for pruning fruit trees. There may be different purposes of pruning, so there will be a difference in timing and methods. The main goal is to form a crown and keep the plant in good shape. Pruning is carried out during the life of the plant to rejuvenate it, stimulate the growth of lower branches, thin the crown, when transplanting, to obtain a bountiful harvest, etc. The notion that pruning has a direct effect on yield is erroneous; it only rejuvenates the plant.

Fertilization and pruning are closely related. A well-fertilized plant needs less pruning and will yield more. On the other hand, pruning can reduce the yield so as not to overload the plant. With heavy pruning, the growth of citrus fruits slows down, so you need to find harmony between pruning and harvest. It also depends on the type of plant; Some citrus fruits tend to thicken their crowns.
You can consult a specialist about the features of pruning citrus fruits.

Fertilizer.

Fertilizer helps the plant grow, but it is not a way to “pump up” the plant in the hope of a miraculous result. Fertilizer is selected carefully so as not to harm the plant; especially since the plant has a rest period that can be disturbed.

General fertilizer rules:

Do not fertilize dry soil;
- Take into account the temperature, the growing season;
- Frequent watering or rain washes out the fertilizer.

The plant itself says what it needs. For this, there are many rules that flower growers with experience know. (If you spray a plant with beer, it not only feeds, it also glistens. Some citrus pests really dislike beer.)

Plants with constant care usually feel quite good. After transplantation, citrus fruits do not need to be fed for two months. Some citrus growers recommend feeding citrus fruits not only with beer, but also with the remains of coffee or tea. It is often impossible to feed a plant - overfeeding is more dangerous than not feeding.

Diseases.

It is known that a strong plant has good immunity. We must remember that by destroying pests, we also destroy the living creatures that help the plant to exist and defend itself. When spraying against pests, you can feed the plant through the leaves. If the pests can be picked up by hand, fine, but you can’t rub the leaves with a brush (only hard branches or a trunk). When spraying, first treat the underside of the leaf.

Health.

What are the benefits of citrus for health? Its smell kills bacteria and viruses; have a positive effect on the person essential oils. Plants, not only citrus fruits, absorb harmful secretions emitted by devices in the environment. Plants have a positive effect on the psyche and health of their loved ones.

So ... If we want to propagate our citrus fruits:
We sow citrus seeds and then graft, propagate citrus cuttings. If the plant does not bloom, you can graft a sprig of flowering citrus on it; fruits will be like those of the mother plant.
Citrus species are identified by their leaves.

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Citrus cultivation also occurs on an industrial scale, in greenhouses and in private households. All citrus, in particular lemon, lime, tangerine and even orange or grapefruit, you can grow up in an apartment. Citrus fruits are cultigens, as they have been growing in culture for a long time. grown from seeds, they do not require grafting, but shaping is necessary for them, otherwise citrus fruits will not bloom.

Features of growing citrus fruits

In addition, they are important for the presence of mycorrhiza in citrus fruits, which is found in the mother soil in the roots of each citrus plant, since they grow in community with microfungi living on their roots. Microfungi will die - the plant itself will die. Therefore, it is impossible to use pesticides or a too bright solution of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate) for watering the soil in pest control. For the same reason, it is forbidden to use fresh manure for top dressing or apply large doses of mineral fertilizers.

seeds, taken out of a ripe fruit, should be warmed up in warm water, this will accelerate germination. The seeds are buried in the soil by 2-3 seed diameters, that is, a little deeper than the nail. Sometimes several plants grow from one seed at once, since citruses are characterized by polyembryony. Only one plant should be left, cutting off the rest with scissors. Citrus seeds have good germination. Plants grown from seed usually flower and bear fruit in the 10th year, and fruit quality may be poor.

You will get a much better result if you first grow a seedling from a grapefruit seed or pomelo, and then graft any other citrus plant on it at an early stage when the seedling has a matchstick-thick stem (2-3 years after germination). The grafted plant develops faster, since the root system of pomelo and grapefruit is more powerful than that of other citrus fruits. This significantly speeds up the entry of the plant into fruiting. In this case, you will need a cutting of a fruiting plant (you can contact the greenhouse, nursery or friends). From the grafted cuttings, the plant blooms and begins to bear fruit already in the 2nd or 3rd year.

Grafting when growing citrus

vaccination the easiest way is to do budding, that is, with an eye. Vaccination will require more than mature plant(i.e. 5–6 years old). Budding begins when the bark is well separated from the wood (in April or August). A well-ripened 1–2-year-old branch is cut from a fruiting citrus plant. Cut off the leaves, leaving only the stalk, and put it in a glass of water. On the stem of a plant grown from seeds, at a height of 5–6 cm, the place chosen for grafting is carefully cleaned, there should not be any dirt on it. You can wipe this place with vodka, as well as your hands and a knife blade. The operation must be sterile - this is the key to success.
With a sharp knife (it is placed perpendicular to the stem of the seedling), it is necessary to make a T-shaped incision on the bark, without touching the thin green layer of cambium between the bark and wood. The length of the incision is about 2 cm, the width is about 1/2 cm. On the prepared cutting for grafting, two transverse cuts of the bark are made 1 cm below and above the eye. Then the bud is carefully cut off, grabbing the bark along with the cambium (this is literally jewelry work, so first practice on the branches of any plants brought from the street). While spreading the upper edges of the T-shaped notch on the seedling, insert the bud (pay attention to where it has the top) and slide it deep into the notch. Smooth the incision well with your fingers, firmly pressing the kidney to the cambium. Tie top and bottom so that the kidney remains outside. The easiest way is to use a narrow strip of ordinary polymer film for strapping, which must be wiped with vodka.
After about 20 days, the kidney should take root, that is, begin to grow. When the stalk from the bud grows 5-10 cm, the seedling on which the bud was grafted should be cut obliquely, 2-3 mm above the base of the new shoot from the graft. After that, you need to immediately cover the cut with liquid garden pitch, or black varnish for metal - bitumen, or natural oil paint(it is now sold only in art stores and is expensive). A shoot developed from a grafted bud is tied to a peg stuck in the soil.

The stalk can not only be grafted, but also rooted. rooting goes slowly, it takes 1.5–2 months for a lemon and up to 6 months for an orange and a tangerine! The grafted plant will bear fruit in the 3rd year. In any case, cuttings should be taken from the ends of the shoots of a healthy fruit-bearing tree, which have just finished growing this season, managed to slightly lignify, but still retained flexibility. The bark on them should still be green. The length of the cutting is 8-10 cm, it should have 3-4 leaves. Cut the cuttings with a very sharp and thin knife or scalpel. The lower cut is made oblique (directly under the leaf or bud), and the upper one is straight (1–1.5 cm above the bud). Cutting citrus fruits room conditions it is possible throughout the year, but it is better to do this in April - May, then they will have time to build up a good root system by winter.

Substrate for planting cuttings when grafting citrus

Best substrate for planting cuttings- This is a mixture of sphagnum moss and steamed sand in an equal volume. Cuttings are planted immediately in pots, on the bottom of which shards or coarse sand (2-3 cm) are placed. Then a layer of nutrient soil is poured (5-6 cm), and on top - a substrate of moss and sand (3-4 cm).

After planting cuttings sprayed and placed in a plastic bag, in which you need to make a few exhalations (to increase the concentration of carbon dioxide), and then tie the bag. Pots are placed in a bright, but not sunny place. Every morning and evening, the bags are untied, the cuttings are sprayed with warm (about 25 ° C) water, the air is exhaled into them and tied again. The procedure can be simplified if you cover the cuttings with jars and exhale air into them or use small pieces of dry ice as a source of carbon dioxide. The air temperature should be within 20-25 °C. After rooting, the upper bud will begin to grow, then the jar or bag can be removed, but daily spraying must be continued throughout the life of the plant.

soil at citrus cultivation

Soil for citrus should be rough, but at the same time fertile, with a neutral reaction and necessarily containing a large set of trace elements. The introduction of fresh organic matter or a large number mineral fertilizers can kill citrus cohabitants (microfungi) and thereby harm plants. At the bottom of the pot, be sure to put broken shards for excess water flow. And of course, you need to put the pots on pallets. A coarse or heavy mixture consists of soddy soil, coarse river sand and leaf humus, taken in a ratio of 1: 1: 1 by volume. Now, in gardening stores or the corresponding departments of large supermarkets, ready-made mixes for the most various plants, including for citrus fruits X.

Don't like citrus movements. Plants can shed their leaves even when turning the pot. Therefore, before starting citrus fruits, determine a place for them in the apartment. It should be light, but do not place the plants on the windowsill (except when there are double-glazed windows). The fact is that citrus fruits come from the subtropics, that is, they love heat and moisture, so they get chilly on the windowsill near the glass in winter. Roast summer time without turning the pot, they must be moved away from the window deep into the room to avoid direct sunlight, which can cause sunburn. In case of burns or freezing, plants should be helped by spraying them with a solution of Ecoberin or Epin-extra.

Air temperature when growing citrus fruits

Citrus fruits love heat, so room temperature should not fall below 24–25 °C. In addition, all citrus fruits need moist air, for this reason they should not be placed close to heating batteries. In addition, in winter, when the apartments are too dry, constant spraying of the leaves with water is required. For this, water obtained from melted snow or ice and heated to 22-25 ° C is best suited. You can not use water directly from the tap, it must be passed through a filter or at least let it stand for a couple of days and be sure to warm it up before spraying.

Watering citrus fruits

For glaze, which must be combined with top dressing, you should also use filtered or settled, necessarily warm (temperature not lower than 20–22 ° C) water. How much water should be poured, what top dressing should be added to it, and how much is needed? All of these questions are sure to come up for you. Despite love for moist air, citrus fruits die from excessive watering. Water them sparingly, especially in winter. Their leathery leaves evaporate little moisture, and therefore excess water leads to root rot. It is better to loosen the topsoil more often. With rare watering, water should moisten the entire clod of earth. An indicator of sufficient watering is the appearance of water in the pan. I advise you to combine watering with weak mineral dressings (1 teaspoon per 5 liters of water).

Top dressing for growing citrus fruits

Top dressing should contain all the necessary composition of macro- and microelements. It is best to use Uniflorom-bud. It has everything needed by plants macro- and microelements, including extremely useful citrus substances - magnesium, selenium, cobalt and molybdenum. In addition, all minerals are enclosed in an organic shell, that is, they are in a chelate form, and therefore are absorbed by plants immediately. The fertilizer itself is liquid, it is easy to dose it. They poured a cap into 5 liters of water, stirred it - and let it settle. Ready solution can be stored indefinitely.

You can also use the powder fraction fertilizer Ava. It is necessary to pour 1 teaspoon of the powder into 3 liters of water and let it brew for at least 3 days. Then you need to stir, let the sediment settle and water the plants. This fertilizer does not dissolve in water (so you can not boil it for the sake of the experiment), but ions of the mineral elements contained in the fertilizer gradually penetrate into the water due to Brownian motion, and in very small doses. You will add water to the sediment for almost the entire year and continue to use it. This is a very profitable fertilizer, despite its apparent high cost. It contains all the necessary nutrients, but at the same time it does not contain any harmful impurities that are necessarily present in other mineral fertilizers, although this is not written anywhere. All plants, especially citrus fruits, need organic silicon. It is contained in the preparations Energen and Siliplant. It is necessary to add only 1-2 drops per 1 liter of solution for watering and top dressing.

When citrus fruits bloom, especially lemons, the apartment has a fabulous aroma! They bloom for a long time, usually in inflorescences collected in a brush. The flowers are pink or white and appear on current growths of 3-year-old horizontal lateral shoots. During flowering, you can pollinate the plants manually, applying pollen from the stamens to the pistil with a soft (squirrel) brush.

citrus leaves emit phytoncides, so the smell of these plants is constantly poured into the apartment. It is very gentle and also has a detrimental effect on pathogenic microbes in the room. At a temperature of 18-20 ° C, the fruits do not ripen. For the ripening of one fruit, 15 leaves are needed, if there are not enough of them, then the lemon will discard the extra fruits. Therefore, keep the leaves, each of them is very valuable for the plant. Leaf shedding can occur as a result of increased dryness or air temperature (more than 24-25 ° C). If the plant does not bloom for too long, it can be "hurried" by reducing watering and slightly dragging the horizontal 3-year-old branch with a dense constriction.
Citrus leaves are glossy, shiny, leathery, well adapted to retain moisture. Although these plants are called evergreens, each leaf lives only 3 years. Dead leaves turn yellow and fall off, so don't be alarmed when this happens..

Citrus transplant

The transplant is done every 3-5 years, along with the entire clod of earth. Plants should not be planted or transplanted into too spacious pots. If the plants are allowed to grow freely, then they either stretch upwards with one trunk without side branches, which means that there will be no fruiting, or they take the form of a very dense bush.
It is a must to practice citrus crown formation. In a young tree that has reached 15–20 cm in height, in February, before the start of the next growth, the top is cut off, leaving 5–6 well-developed buds below. These buds will soon germinate and give rise to lateral branches of the 1st order. Of these, 3-4 shoots are left, growing in different directions.
As soon as these branches finish growing, their ends are cut off, leaving 3-4 buds on each. Of these, shoots of the 2nd order will appear, the ends of which are also cut off after the end of their growth, again leaving 3-4 buds. Of these, fruit branches of the 3rd order begin to grow. They do exactly the same.
From the moment the branches of the 4th order appear, the formation of the crown ends and the fruiting period begins. Until the formation of the skeletal branches of the 4th order is completed, fruiting should not be allowed, since the premature appearance of buds on the branches of the 3rd order will stop the further growth of the tree, therefore, before the end of the growth of the 4th order branches, the first buds on the branches of the 3rd order should be removed .

FROM fruit tree in late February - early March, you need to cut off strong branches by 10-15 cm, cut out vegetative branches. In addition, it is necessary to cut out the fattening top shoots, remove the dry branches that have fruited the branches (they are usually without foliage). Branches that grow too strongly upwards are bent to a horizontal position (as long as they grow upwards, they will not bear fruit). In addition, cut out branches growing inside the crown, which are not capable of bearing fruit.

All citrus fruits are very sensitive to frost during which the roots may dry out. In winter, plants are best kept in a bright room with a temperature of 7-8 ° C. For this, a glazed loggia or balcony is suitable. At the same time, it is necessary to constantly monitor the temperature so as not to overcool the trees, otherwise they will die (citrus crops cannot tolerate temperatures below 5 ° C). Watering at this time is done very moderately.
In case of frost, plants should be brought into the room, keeping their orientation to the sun (that is, without turning), and keep them near balcony door. If you do not have loggias and balconies, keep citrus fruits on the windowsills near the glass, but in severe frosts move them deeper into the room. Transfer lemons carefully without turning the plants. AT dark room Citrus fruits, especially lemons, can shed their leaves, so lighting is needed in winter.

Pests in the cultivation of citrus fruits

Citrus pests, like any other plants in the apartment - whitefly, aphids, scale insects, less often thrips. The enemy of exclusively citrus fruits is a mealybug.
Against aphids, spraying with an absolutely safe and also useful for both people and plants, Healthy Garden preparation (4 grains per 1 liter of water) perfectly helps. The shield will have to be scraped off onto the litter and destroyed. Whiteflies and thrips are sucking insects. To combat them, it is necessary to use the absorbable biopreparation Fitoverm, which is allowed to be used in an apartment (1 ml per 3 liters of water). It is especially effective in combination with Healthy Garden.
whitefly- this is a disgusting insect, similar to a very small moth, which sits on the underside of the leaf, and therefore is hardly noticeable. It reproduces as quickly as aphids, but at the same time, a sooty fungus (black smearing plaque) immediately settles on its sweetish secretions. The whitefly must be destroyed, the plaque washed off the leaves with soapy water, and then the leaves are sprayed with Zircon (4 drops per glass of water).
Against worm it is necessary to use a pink solution of manganese at the next watering of plants. For preventive purposes, this is done with every watering-feeding, since potassium permanganate contains not only manganese, which has a detrimental effect on the worm, but also potassium, and all citrus fruits love potassium. Do not forget that too strong (dark pink) potassium permanganate solution can kill microfungi living on the roots.

Recommendations:
Growing citrus fruits at home, very promising type of home business, ornamental plants are always in high demand. You can sell plants on the market, through flower shops.

Profitability: