Citrus houses

Almost all kinds of citrus fruits can be successfully grown at home. The difference between these crops and the known fruit trees is that they grow, bloom and bear fruit throughout the year. Citrus cultures can not be called unpretentious indoor plants, their cultivation requires certain knowledge, effort and patience. As far

needs it personally to you - you will decide, of course, yourself.

The method of growing citrus in a city apartment is almost the same for different species, so the technology can be used to cultivate lemon.

Recently, it is quite easy to purchase seedlings of lemon and other citrus fruits - this can be done in a flower shop or in a greenhouse.

The main attention in the care of citrus in the room conditions should be given to the leaves and croons of your fruit tree. The leaves are washed with water or sprinkled through the strainer at least once every 2 weeks. Replacing the leaves of the lemon occurs gradually, as they grow older. Each leaf lives on average about 2 years, and in favorable conditions and with good care - up to 3 years. Leaves of spring growth are larger in size, dark green in color. Leaves of summer education are smaller and less intensively colored. After intensive growth of each branch, a short period of relative rest sets in. It is then that the maturation of new leaf and tree tissues takes place.

And if the gain is weak or not at all? And the more so if there is a premature fall of the leaves? This indicates an unfavorable microclimate for the plant, which must be changed immediately. It should be especially careful to protect last year's leaves( darker and thicker) - in the spring they are physiologically more active and provide the whole plant with nutrients. And young leaves, just developed, are connected to the diet of the whole plant organism only next year.

It is clear that the fall of leaves, generated by unfavorable conditions, negatively affects the yield of fruits. It is established that for the formation and maturation of one fetus in the room conditions, the citrus sap must have at least 10 mature leaves. But the plant also needs nutrients - for the formation of new leaves and for the normal functioning of the root system.

If the conditions of the content are satisfied with your citrus tree, then it will have 3-4 growth periods within a year.

What are the conditions of the

Solar or very illuminated location.

Uniform watering.

Timely transplantation( no more than 1 time in 2 years).

Uniform temperature( 16-22 ° C).

Air humidity is about 70-75%.

Additional lighting in winter.

Placing

Citrus needs a lot of sunlight and a certain amount of air humidity - because they come from the subtropics. Lemons - the most shade-tolerant and hygrophilous of citrus. But

with excessive shading and they will not bloom and bear fruit. They are successfully grown on the windows facing east, west, south-west, south-east and south. Oranges are more capricious - they need only southern sunlight for normal development.

When growing in rooms vases with citrus, it is recommended to place on pedestals. This is necessary to avoid intensive cooling of the root system compared to the crown. After all, from below the pot with the earth sometimes cools down to 5-6 ° C, and the leaves can be heated by a stream of air from the batteries to 20 ° or more. As a consequence - leaves evaporate moisture in large quantities, and roots absorb it badly. This can lead to stagnation of moisture in the pot and decay of the roots.

In the summer citrus fruits can and even be desirable to take out in a semi-shady place in the garden, digging in with the pot into the ground. The plants are watered daily, and the crown is sprayed. If the weather is hot, spraying is done several times a day. On the balcony to expose is not recommended - because of drafts and wind, which take away from the plant too much moisture.

Flowering

Buds on lemons appear at any time of the year. According to the peculiarities of flowering, it is also possible to judge how much the conditions of maintenance suit our pet. Only a normally developed flower - large, with 5 slightly colored pink petals, with a large number of stamens - is capable of giving life to a normal fetus. There may be a strong fall of buds, in addition, the appearance of deformed flowers. This means that either the room temperature is too high or the soil is over-dried. In addition, as we already know, citrus fruits are very sensitive to drafts. If the temperature in the room is uneven, the plant begins to lose its ovaries, buds, flowers and leaves.

Propagation

It is possible to propagate almost all citrus fruits with seeds and vegetatively - inoculation. The vegetative mode of reproduction is advantageous in that the plant begins to bear fruit fairly quickly. With the seed method of the appearance of the fruit, you can wait no sooner than in 8-10 years.

Seed method

Seeds of lemon are sown at any time of the year, preferably fresh, in clay pans with wet river sand or in a loose nutrient moistened soil mixture to a depth of 3-4 cm. Germinates germinate in 3-5 weeks - provided that indoorsthe uniform temperature was maintained at 18-22 ° C.When 3-4 leaflets appear on small seedlings( up to 7-8 cm), they should be transplanted into small pots with the following earth-forest:

1 part sod;

1 part hardwood;

1 part of the old sparring Mullein;

1 part of sand.

1-2 weeks after planting in vases to seedlings, it is possible to plant a stem of a cultivating fruit-bearing lemon( if this is a summer period), which will accelerate flowering and fruiting.

Vaccination is done from June to the end of August - when the thickness of the seedlings near the root collar exceeds 7-8 mm, and also if the cortex is easily separated.

Seedlings, or oculants( ie plants that have been vaccinated) are planted in flowerpots, careful care is required. Every day, 2 times a day, they are watered, protected from direct sunlight by shading and after a while doing additional fertilizing.

Vaccination can be done on biennial plants in May or August, when the plant gives a new growth and the crust is easily separated. On a cut one-two-year branch of a tree, which already fruited, the leaves are cut off, leaving cuttings. Pay attention - in the sinuses of the cuttings, buds that have already bloomed should be visible. A sharp knife or a razor blade cuts the kidney with a part of the bark or a small piece of wood under the kidney.

On the stock, in which the trunk or twig is not thinner than a pencil, make a T-cut. The bark is gently bent with the stick or blunt end of the knife to the side. Then, under the bent cortex, insert the scute with the kidney. In doing so, you should carefully monitor, so as not to insert a prickly eye down. Inoculation tightly tied with a thin polyethylene tape or soaked fibers of the bast. Open only the eye - the kidney. After 1.5-2 weeks the stem of the leaf that remains near the ocellus should fall away, this is a sign that the vaccine has begun. In the third week, when the kidney swells, the bandage should be slightly weakened, but before the complete fusion of the tissues, vaccination can not be disturbed.

As soon as the kidney gives a sprout with a length of at least 10 cm, the bandage is removed, and all branches are removed 5-7 cm above the graft. Place the cut with soapstone or oil paint or sprinkle with crushed charcoal.

Reproduction by cuttings

For this, take young, mature( 4-5 mm thick) vegetative shoots. It is necessary to observe the following rules of propagation:

the length of the cut with 4-5 buds should be 10-12 cm;

the lower cut is made obliquely through the kidney( the so-called knot);

cut the tip of the cuttings so that 2-3 cm remain under the kidney;

2 cut the lower leaves, and leave 2-3 upper leaves.

In the room, cuttings can be planted in small wooden boxes( 15-17 cm in height), or in clay sandbags or in small pots - they are covered with a glass

jar to preserve moisture in the air. Dishes with cuttings should be placed above the room radiators to increase the temperature of the bottom layer of sand. But do not overdry either the soil or the air - in time to moisturize them.

Before the appearance of small roots, the stalk is fed by the substances present in the leaves and shoots. It absorbs a small amount of moisture, and its leaves evaporate very intensely.

To avoid falling leaves and reduce the intensity of evaporation, you need to make sure that the sand is always wet. A cuttings are regularly sprayed with water and covered with glass or plastic wrap.

The best temperature for rooting cuttings is 18-25 ° C.With the appearance of roots( usually in 2.5-3 weeks) cuttings can be slightly fed with a weak solution of saltpeter - 5 grams per 10 liters of water. Then, in 12-15 days, they need to be planted in pots with greenhouse land. Then they begin to grow rapidly and after 3-4 months reach a height of 25-30 cm.

transplant After a while, when the root system braids, the young plants can be transplanted again into the special earth mix recommended above. The soil must be loose, with small lumps, light, with good penetrating ability. Old trees require a more dense zemesmesi. To do this, add more sod land to its composition. Sometimes in a too dense and heavy earth mix, due to lack of air, the root system grows along the walls of the pot.

In case of excessive moistening, the inside of the coma turns sour or, conversely, dries out negligently, water drains along the walls of the pot, without moistening the entire soil of the coma. In good soil mixtures, the roots grow evenly, filling the entire pot, and with regular watering and top dressing the lemon normally grows and fructifies.

Lemons are transplanted from smaller vases to large ones at any time of the year. The main thing is that it was done carefully, without breaking the coma, with the addition of fresh earth mix.