Mandarin, tangerine tree
Mandarin - an evergreen plant that belongs to the family Rutaceae. Species Latin name Mandarin Citrus reticulate. Like orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, he belongs to the genus Citrus. Interesting life form of this plant - it can be shrubs and trees, reaching a height of 5 meters.
Morphology
Like other members of the genus Citrus tangerine long grown in greenhouses, greenhouses, conservatories. Despite its size, Mandarin at home can be grown on the balcony or on the windowsill. Currently displayed a lot of breeders of varieties of dwarf and dwarf mandarins for home cultivation, the maximum height is 0.6-1.1 m. The room Mandarin and may not apply to dwarf varieties, then the plant will need much pruning and shaping.
Room Mandarin very showy pot plant. And not just because of the bright, fragrant and appetizing orange fruits that can be stored on it for several months. Sometimes the plant delight only for its flowering, because the gentle white flowers exude a wonderful aroma of mandarin. Some varieties bloom begins in the spring and can continue throughout the year. Room Mandarin grown as a bonsai is a work of art.
Fruits of the room Mandarin fastened without artificial pollination, usually mature at the end of the year. Often room Mandarin in a pot bought in the store already hanging fruit on it. Despite the fact that they are very appetizing, they should not be there. After all, in order to achieve such a high decorative effect plants receive high doses of fertilizers. Beautiful in mandarin leathery and corrugated sheets.
Plant care
Lighting. The first step in successfully growing indoor mandarin - choice of location for the plant and its proper lighting.
Mandarin Room, as well as grown in the field, you need good lighting with a certain amount of direct sunlight. At low light plant growth slows down, throws a small number of flowers or no flowers. With a strong lack of light leaves the room tangerine become faded, new shoots stretched thin and painful to look at. Therefore, the plant grow better on the eastern, southeastern and southern windows, pritenit from the direct rays of the midday. In summer the plant can be taken on the balcony, gradually accustom him to the street.
In winter, with short photoperiod, room Mandarin need to put on the most lit place with direct sunlight. But sometimes this is not enough: we need artificial lighting. For this purpose, regular fit fitolampochka, which can be screwed into a chandelier or table lamp. Translate plant on supplementary lighting must be gradual. If rapid change in the length of daylight, it may lose leaves.
Temperature. The optimum temperature for the room during the summer tangerine 20-25 °C. During the period of budding and flowering that do not fall flowers, the plant is best kept at a temperature below 20 °C. In the winter time to provide a relatively dormant period Mandarin kept at -10-5 °C. Rested over the winter the plant will be the best flowers and fruit.
Water. Room Mandarin as its wild ancestors, is adapted to carry dry periods. In an extreme case, the plant will throw the leaves to reduce the amount of liquid that evaporates. A common problem in growing mandarin home - a excessive watering, which leads to the development of fungal diseases.
The amount of water for watering potted tangerine depends on several factors:
- the value of the plant;
- the size of the container in which growing mandarin;
- ambient temperature;
- daylength and light intensity.
The greater the surface of the leaves in the room Mandarin, the more evaporation, and the more it needs watering. Also on the rate of evaporation affects the temperature: the higher it is, the plant loses more moisture. The length of daylight directly affects the amount of moisture that evaporates. Stomata - education on the underside of terrestrial plants serving for gas exchange, open during daylight hours.
Watering indoor mandarin should be carried out in the morning, when the plant has stepped life processes. As the temperature decreases reduce watering, until the end of a few days at a time when the room temperature is only 12-15 °C. In this case, mandarin poured small amount of water to sustain only.
Mandarin at home requires regular spraying the leaves. Much dry air is bad for the plant and is often a prerequisite for its spider mite infestation. If a room tangerine blossoms, then care must be taken that no water enters the color.
Feed. Full care of mandarin at home is not possible without additional mineral and organic fertilization. Soil in the pot sufficiently rapidly depleted and washed with irrigation and recreational processes it practically do not occur, in contrast to the soil in nature.
To feed can be used dry or soluble fertilizers. Spring with increasing daylight fertilizer for indoor mandarin increase. It was in early spring begin to develop rapidly vegetative and generative buds, at this time the plant requires additional nutrients.
At home, Mandarin fertilize, like all other indoor plants, that is, in the first half of the day. The ambient temperature at the same time should be at least 18-19 °C.
To feed more likely to use water soluble fertilizers. They can water the plant, and in a low concentration to spray the leaves. For dressing room mandarin suit any complex fertilizer containing phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium - the main elements necessary for plants.
Dissolve the fertilizer needed to defend or soft water at room temperature. The main thing - do not increase the dose. If the instructions say: 1 cap funds in 1 liter of water, do not think that 2 caps make the solution more useful. This will lead to the opposite effect - the toxic chemical burn or poison plants.
Feed Mandarin at home in the period of intensive growth (from March to September) should be 2 times a week. Less often, but not often.
Dry fertilizers, which are introduced into the soil and gradually dissolve, giving the soil trace elements needed to make even more carefully. The advantage of them is that by making their spring can be a long time to forget about feeding. However, they can be readily used by the plant, and this guess will be difficult. Adding an extra dose of fertilizer also lead to the above overdose.
For growing mandarin essential and organic fertilizers. To do this, you can dilute real cow manure in the proportion of 1/10. The best option is to use organic fertilizer in combination with mineral soil for fertilizing.
Note. Young flowering plants flowers partially removed, so as not to deplete them and enable more mature fruits. 15-20 leaves of adult plants can leave one ovary. The smaller the fruit remains on Mandarin, so they will be larger.
Fruiting branches indoor mandarin bind, tie to the support, or the severity of the fruit they can break, and the plant will have an attractive appearance.
Diseases and pests. Mandarin at home may be affected by scale insects, red spider mites and mealybugs. By scale insects will spray the plants with soapy water (2 tbsp. L liquid soap, you can "Fairy", 3 liters of water). Pre pests better clean off manually. Aged solution on the leaves for half an hour, it is washed off with warm water.
With the defeat of spider mite pest harvested by hand, after the leaves and twigs wiped cotton swab moistened with cold water or alcohol and then sprayed with a two-day infusion of garlic or onion (200 g of crushed and pour warm boiled water).
Against mealybug pest removal will also help with a cotton swab and a 3-fold sprinkling of garlic extract (1 time per day 7) or rubbing soaked in alcohol (you can substitute calendula tincture) cotton swab. With the defeat of any pest resistant resort to potent chemicals, which are used according to instructions.
At the wrong watering mandarin leaves covered with spots and fall off. To prevent or correct the problem follow the rules watering citrus plants.