tangerine tree

Discussion in 'Citrus' started by sanmak, Feb 21, 2007.

  1. sanmak

    sanmak Member

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    hi, Five years ago i planted seeds from a clemintine tangerine. I now have 3 trees growing well. 2 were 2 ft. tall and today just cut 6 inches off the top. The other one is 12inches tall and bushy.
    I have no idea what a mature tangerine tree looks like, how tall it grows, how old it needs to be to grow fruit, and most important how to care for them. I live in a cold climate so am growing them on my southern window sill in the winter and put them out in the sun in the summer. HELP! Can I keep them small enough to be a house plant? What temp. is to cold for them to survive in? HELP!
    Thank you Sanmak
     
  2. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    A mature one is typically 5-8m tall; fruit production starts when they're a metre or two tall. You can keep them small by pruning, but you'll be unlikely to get many (if any) fruit.

    In pots, they need a minimum temperature of about 10°C. You are doing right to put it outside in the summer, that will increase the chances of fruiting. Keep it in half-shade for the first few days after putting it out, so it can adapt to full sunlight (glass blocks UV light, and plants, just like people, can get sunburn when suddenly exposed to strong outdoor sun at the end of the winter).
     
  3. skeeterbug

    skeeterbug Active Member

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    Clementine is one of the citrus varieties that does not come true from seed, although you will problably get something similar, and you have a very slim chance that it may be a great new variety.

    It would normally take 3-5 years at normal growth rates for most in the mandarin family to fruit, but container grown in a northern climate may add 2-3 years. To fruit, a tree must accumulate a certain number of leaf nodes, pruning removes those nodes and can postpone or prevent the tree from fruiting.

    Skeet
     
  4. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Sanmak, Skeeter gave you some good advice. Clementine trees, or any citrus tree for that matter, does NOT fruit because it has reached some predetermined height. Every citrus variety has its own pretermited node count that must be reached before the tree will fruit. In this discussion we can think of a node as equaling a leaf. After a citrus seed germinates, and produces it first true leaf, the tree has grown by one leaf (node). As time passes the tree keeps growing and producing additional leaves (nodes). After a several months it might have 10 leaves, therefore 10 nodes. After a year, perhaps 250 leaves have developed (250 nodes). As time passes additional growth produces more and more leaves (nodes), until one day the required node count is finally reached, then the tree will begin to bloom and fruit. Your tree will NEVER bloom and therefore NEVER fruit, *IF* you keep pruning the tree. By pruning, you are constantly cutting away the new growth, thereby constantly reducing the node count. Pruning keeps the tree from ever reaching the required number of nodes. I must tell you, as Skeeter has said in the above thread, Clementines do not come true from seed, meaning that the tree will not produce a Clementine fruit. The chances are high that the fruit that a seedling "Clementine" will eventually produce, will be of inferior quality. If they were my trees, I would not recommend keeping them at a temperature of 10C (50F), because citrus discontinues all growth at temperatures below 53.4F (11.9C). Therefore if you keep your tree at 53.4 or lower for the winter months, your tree will have no growth at all during that period. A five year old seedling "Clementine" tree should be 4 to 7 feet tall. If you keep pruning your trees, you will have a nice house plant, or if you stop pruning the tree, and continue to repot the trees as it grow, someday the tree will fruit. My guess an indoor container tree in WI would be 10 years from seed, 5 years if grown properly.

    Millet
    Robert Southwell
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2007
  5. sanmak

    sanmak Member

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    Wow. Thank you all for the quick and wonderful information. I don't have room in my small apartment for 3 tangerine trees to grow to maturity , so i guess i'll keep them for a few more years to see which one is the best to keep and give other two away..
    I love plants and have an apartment full of them in the winter that i can't leave out in the WI. cold winter. I'm home bound in the winter due to poor health and have time to take care of lots of plants and love to try growing plants not of this area. I can't thank you enough again for this information. i will put them in a bigger pot every year will fertilize them and not trim off the top growth. Thank you Sanmak
     
  6. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Sanmak, Key Limes have the lowest node count requirement of all common citrus varieties. Therefore, a Key Lime will produce fruit in the shortest time from seed. From seed to fruit for a Key Lime can be as little as two years. If you go to the store and buy a bag of Key Lime fruit, plant all of the seeds (perhaps 10-20 seeds) let them grow to about 4 inches, then select the tree with the greatest vigor, toss out the poorer trees, grow on only the chosen tree, you should receive fruit in 2 to 3 years time. My old English teacher would give me a low mark for that last sentence, but it saved a lot of typing.

    Millet
    Louis Albert Hakes
     
  7. sanmak

    sanmak Member

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    Millet, Thanks for the info. I never had a key lime. But it sounds like something i would like to do. Are the trees smaller and easier to grow in the house than a tangerine tree? What kind of fertilizer should i give my tangerine Tree. Is there something special or can i use the same as i give my other plants? thanks again Sanmak
     
  8. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Sanmark, Key Limes make a great container tree. The have beautiful foliage, blooms are very fragrant, and a containerized tree does not get all that large. Use any fertilizer as close to a 5-1-3 ingredient ratio that you can locate, plus be sure that the fertilizer contains trace minerals.

    Millet
    Hakes, Louis Albert (16 Apr 1874)
     
  9. sanmak

    sanmak Member

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    Millet,You talked me into it. Next time i go to the market , i'm going to buy a key lime and plant all the seed. It sounds like a fun project. thank you. and thank you for taking out time to answer all my question.. What type of plant to you grow? sanmak
     
  10. LPN

    LPN Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Millet ... my Key lime was scentless! I expected the usual citrus fragrance, but was surprised by the results of the bloom period. Fruit seems to be setting fine though.

    Cheers, LPN.
     

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