Blue Sky
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Italian Orange treeHas anyone ever tried to grow an orange tree?
I would be very interested to hear a few hints and tips (successes/disasters) on the subject.
We visited Sorento on last year's tour and camped under a grove of orange trees. I couldn't resist bringing a few back here (fruits). They were green at the time of picking but ripened here in the fruit bowl. I planted the pips in January without much hope of success but to my delight the first seedling has just popped thru' this morning.
I don't want to mess up now ..... please help
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Treacodactyl
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I've not grown an orange, just lemons, limes, mandarins, calomondins, kumquats and limequat; oh and a grapefruit! These are my tips but I'd suggest getting a citrus book if anyone is keen, especially if you buy the plants as they can be quite expensive.
The only ones that fruit are the ones I've bought or grown from cuttings. The grapefruit is probably about 8 years old and grown from seed but never flowered. Citrus should flower from seed but it could take many years.
Lemons are more tolerant of the cold but should be protected from frost and shouldn't go much below 5-10°C but most citrus like winter temperatures of about 10-15°C and plenty of light. Don't give them too much water during winter, if anything keep them on the dry side. When the risk of frost is past they prefer to be outside in a sheltered sunny place where they can be watered more freely. I use rain water as they don't like too much lime and I feed with a citrus fertiliser (I will be experimenting with home made feeds for them once my cuttings are ready).
There is all sorts of advice on pots & soil but the main thing is a slightly acid soil with a very well drained open compost. When they are growing they like a reasonable amount of water but hate their roots standing in water and can easily die as the roots rot off. Even after several years I'm only just managing to keep mine healthy!
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Blue Sky
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Thanks Treac! Orange tree number two poking thru' today.
Yesterday's shoot is over a centemeter now. This is exciting stuff.
Will keep posting.
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Goxhill
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How did you get the cuttings to take, Treac - any tips? I tried with lemons but no success.
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Treacodactyl
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Hi Goxhill, the lemons ('four seasons' & 'meyer') were rooted about this time of year. Take a healthy shoot about 5 inches long, trim under a bud and remove the soft tip and most of the lower leaves. Dip the base into rooting powder and place in a very, very sharp draining compost or even just horticultural sharp sand. Then stand in a propagator for several weeks while you germinate other stuff and keep the pot moist. I think the bottom heat is required.
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Goxhill
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Thanks Treac - I've got a Meyer's & a heated propagator so I'll give it another shot!
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Blue Sky
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Orange seedling number 3 thru' today .... that's one a day so far.
Could this mean I am heading for an orange grove?
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Bugs
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Simon, there's something weird about citrus - their seeds can be something called polyembryonic...limes and oranges are particularly prone to this, apparently. They may produce two or three seedlings from just one seed. One of these will be a true seedling - ie produced sexually - the other one or two will be clones, really produced like a cutting, from a different layer of cells within the seed.
Why am I telling you this - because the vegetative ones will be plants identical to that produced the fruit you enjoyed so you are much more likely to get a successfully fruiting tree if this happens.
The bad news is you can't tell the difference between the two types of seedling so if you do get several seedlings from one seed you must grow them all on 
This information is largely based on The Pip Book by Keith Mossman - I have a feeling it is no longer in print but it is well worth looking out for second hand, lots of fun.
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Blue Sky
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Thanks for all that info bugs. These are all definaltely seperate plants though as they are all in seperate pots (still only three so far). Will keep you updated on the progress in the hope that you will keep me informed as to what I should do later on. Thankx a bundle. S
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Blue Sky
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Update
Out of my little italian oranges I got 17 pips to germinate.
Of the 17 plants I now have 13 small trees. The other four didn't survive that first winter, poor things.
I brought them all into the kitchen today for hybernation. The trunks are now woody and they have plenty of leaves so I don't anticipate losing any more to Jack. They have had their leaves polished and are looking rather nice. No sign of any flowers to date but I rest hopeful.
(I took some photos but I don't think they turned out well)
They will stay indoors for the winter and the plan is to transplant them into huge containers and move them into the conservatory (project for 2009  ) in the spring as their permanent abode - until we move from here.
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