Mandarin - 95 photos of the best varieties of citrus tree

Mandarin is an exquisite, beloved citrus fruit. The tangerine tree is evergreen, with dense leaves.

Often this fruit is planted at home, someone on the windowsill in the house, people living in warm regions grow tangerine trees right in their yard.

Growing tangerines at home is not at all difficult, the main thing is that there is no frost outside. The tree pollinates on its own, after which the fruits quickly develop.

After planting a tree, already in the third year you can pamper yourself with juicy fruits. The fruit ripening season is September, and by the end of October the fruits will be completely ready for consumption.

For sale, tangerines are picked in September, when they are slightly greenish; as a rule, they ripen well under artificial conditions.

Unlike oranges, tangerines are quite easy to peel; the skin separates well from the pulp.

What are the benefits of tangerine?

The composition of beneficial microelements in mandarin is special; the fruit is considered indispensable for the body during the cold season. Recently, tangerines have begun to be brought to Russia even in spring and summer, therefore, it is possible to receive vitamins and macroelements all year round.

Mandarin is rich in vitamin B, A, C, rutin, organic acids and sugars. Winter varieties have a large supply of minerals, namely calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc. Citrus pulp is also rich in phytancides necessary for the body, which protect against fungus and virus.

After eating tangerine, your appetite awakens, and you can eat it in unlimited quantities, since the fruit has absolutely no calories.

Tangerine peel, rich in essential oils and carotene, is especially useful. Healthy oils are produced from tangerines and are widely used in cosmetology.

Tangerine oil, when consumed internally, has a beneficial effect on the walls of the stomach, helping food to be absorbed and digested well. The activity of blood vessels and the heart is normalized if you eat this wonderful fruit more often.

Various decoctions are prepared from citrus peel, also with the addition of lemon and mint, which help with colds, relieve stress, and alleviate diseases associated with pneumonia. If you make compresses with tangerine oil, you can defeat fungus on the skin in a short time.

The fruit can be considered waste-free; even tangerine seeds are used to strengthen and restore the body. They are rich in potassium, which has a beneficial effect on the heart, prevents heart attacks, vitamin A promotes the natural production of collagen.

Where to start

Today, anyone can plant and grow a tangerine tree at home without much difficulty. The easiest way is to buy a seedling in one of the flower shops and subsequently plant it. It will be a little more difficult to grow this plant by planting an ordinary tangerine seed in the ground, but this method is also quite simple.

So, to understand how to grow a tangerine tree from a seed, check out the following tips:

First, take the largest and ripest tangerine fruits and remove several seeds (10-14 seeds) from them. Then wrap the seeds in damp gauze and leave for several days.
Periodically moisten the gauze with water, without allowing it to dry completely. As a result, the seeds should swell and produce small sprouts. Instead of gauze, you can also use hydrogel. And finally, start planting the finished seeds in the ground.

In what cases is tangerine contraindicated?

Despite its unique taste and beneficial properties, tangerine is still prohibited for consumption in some cases. People with chronic diseases need to eat it in small quantities.

Citrus should not be consumed if:

for stomach ulcers;
for colitis, enteritis, gastritis;
for hepatitis, cholecystitis;
for diabetes mellitus;
for allergies.

Soil selection

To grow a tangerine tree in a pot, you should take a very responsible approach to preparing the soil, which you will have to prepare yourself. It's all about the presence of peat, which is part of the vast majority of mixtures sold in stores. And peat is contraindicated for citrus plants. So, to make your own mixture you will need the following components: leaf soil (one part), turf soil (three parts), rotted cow manure (one part), quartz sand (one part) and clay.

If for some reason you do not have the opportunity to create your own mixture, then try to find the most neutral soil in stores. As a last resort, mix regular soil with some ash, organic fertilizer and superphosphate.

When the soil is prepared, do this:

Take a pot and place small pebbles or expanded clay on the bottom.
Fill the pot with the resulting soil mixture.
Place the swollen seeds into the soil. The planting depth should be approximately 5-7 cm.

Next, place the pot with the planted seeds in a place filled with light, but do not allow direct sunlight to hit the sprouts to avoid burning them.

Photo of tangerine

Pruning a tangerine tree

The main task of pruning is to form a lush tree crown and subsequently obtain juicy and aromatic fruits. Typically, during the first year (and sometimes even the first two years), a citrus plant must be constantly pinched and trimmed, thereby shaping it. To understand how to properly prune a tangerine tree, check out the following tips:

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If you see that your tree has already reached a height of 16-20 cm, then you can safely pin the top. Thanks to this, side shoots will begin to grow. Then, if after some time some of the shoots have become too long, they will need to be pinched back.

In most cases, the tangerine tree does not bloom for the first 1-2 years, but if you still have flowers during this period, then you should remove them. They still won’t produce fruit, but they will take a lot of energy from the plant. Dried leaves should also be removed.

If everything is done correctly and carefully, then as a result your tree will be slender and healthy, and the flowers will be large and beautiful.

Errors when leaving

Often tangerines do not have enough nitrogen fertilizers, so their leaves lose their rich color. At the beginning of spring you need to feed with nitrogen fertilizers. Nitrogen deficiency can be replenished with fertilizers such as ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate.

Dry air can also cause poor seedling development. A container of water will help restore air humidity. Poor lighting is another maintenance mistake. During short daylight hours, tangerines need to be illuminated.

A small or too large pot also creates discomfort for the tangerine.

A common mistake when growing is improper preparation for winter. If the leaves begin to wither, then you need to stop feeding and water abundantly. The seedling must be moved to a semi-dark and cool place so that it enters the dormant stage.

Replant it immediately

During the growing process, some seedlings may die. But natural selection will allow you to get strong shoots.

— After the seedlings grow up, they need to be replanted. Choose a new pot with a diameter 2–3 cm larger than the previous one. This way the plants evenly form the required ratio of above-ground and root mass. For young trees, the flowerpot is changed once a year. Those that already bear fruit no more than once every 2-3 years and only after harvesting.

Humidity mode

The tangerine tree is a resident of the tropics. Therefore, the desired humidity level for it is 65-70%. How to organize it in dry air conditions in our homes? First of all, you can place the plant next to a water source (aquarium) or simply place a plate of water near the pot.

Of course, spraying needs to be adjusted. During the heating season and summer heat, this procedure should be carried out at least 2 times a day - in the morning and in the evening. Use only filtered water at room temperature for spraying. This manipulation is carried out with caution during flowering: drops of moisture leave unsightly spots on the petals.

Pests

Dangerous pests of tangerines are spider mites and scale insects.

To prevent pests, you should wash the tangerine with soap and water once a month. To do this, you need to cover the soil in the pot with a film, wrap the trunk with a cloth and treat the tangerine crown with cotton wool moistened with strong soap suds.

In case of spider mite infestation, a solution of tobacco powder and laundry soap is used. To make it, you need to pour 1 tablespoon of tobacco dust with a glass of boiling water and leave for 6 days, and then add 10 g of soap to the solution.

also proven itself to be excellent - a crushed head of garlic is poured into a glass of boiling water and infused for 2 days. Each solution is filtered and used for spraying three times with an interval of 6 days.

When affected by scale insects, it is necessary to resort to water-oil emulsions. It is very important to cover the ground with film during treatment, and wrap the plant trunk with gauze, folding it in several layers.

Types, varieties for rooms

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Several varieties are suitable for growing plants in a room. All of them are perfectly adapted to the growth of the house.

Calamondin

This is a beautiful evergreen plant obtained by crossing kinkan and mandarin. Another name is Citrofortunella. Citrus trees should be grown on well-lit window sills, as well as in winter gardens and greenhouses. As a landscape tree, Calamondin is used only in subtropical regions. At home, the plant can grow up to 1.5 m.

Despite the fact that this is a light-loving plant, it does not like the direct rays of the midday sun. If there is too much light, the leaves turn pale. If there is not enough of it, the leaves will begin to fall off. Therefore, in autumn or winter, the tangerine tree needs to be additionally illuminated. The total daylight hours at this time should not be less than 12 hours.

indoor calamondin

In summer, Calamondin feels good on a shaded terrace or balcony.

Homemade Pavlovsky

Other names of the variety are Bitter Orange, Pomeranian, Bigardia. Bred from pomelo and hybrid tangerines. The variety is ideal for indoor growing. The plant produces very tasty and juicy fruits.

In indoor conditions it grows up to 1 m. The branches are thin and long. The leaves are similar to those that grow on the common tangerine. They have a small petiole, shiny, with dense skin. The flowers are large, have a diameter of up to 3 cm. They are collected in axils. The petals are white, the buds are painted in a beautiful light purple hue.

The fruit of the homemade tangerine is spherical and somewhat flattened, weighing up to 80 g. The peel is easily separated from the pulp and smells like a tangerine.

Homemade Pavlovsk mandarin

This tangerine variety requires sufficient sunlight. Without it, the tree will not develop. In winter you need to take care of artificial lighting.

Anniversary

The variety is the creation of Soviet breeders by crossing the Unshiu mandarin and a hybrid orange. It is distinguished by rather large and tasty fruits. In room conditions it grows approximately 1.5 m. It differs from a regular orange in the presence of orange wings.

Fruits weakly. The fruits are quite large, with excellent taste. The skin of the fruit is dense, reminiscent of an orange. The leaves are strong, with a tough skin.

Due to its large size, the Yubileiny variety tangerine is problematic to grow on a windowsill. The plant needs more space.

Kovano-Vase

This is one of the most common varieties of indoor tangerines. Countries of origin: China and Japan. For some time, these trees were actively grown on the Caucasian Black Sea coast.

At home, this is a fairly compact plant, characterized by abundant fruiting.

Interesting. In an apartment, the plant rarely grows above half a meter.

The crown of the plant is wide, sometimes even spherical. It is densely covered with beautiful light green leaves. The bark is brown, with slight roughness visible on it. The leaves are very dense, with thick skin, pointed at both ends. The petioles, unlike other varieties, are slightly elongated. There are no thorns on the branches.

Mandarin Kovano-Vase

Already at the age of 2 years the plant blooms and bears fruit. In indoor conditions it can bloom several times a year. In this case, you can simultaneously observe the flowering crown, buds and ripening fruits. This tangerine blooms very profusely.

Emperor

The variety is characterized by high productivity. At home, the tree grows about a meter. Despite this, it is capable of producing tasty and juicy fruits. With proper care, flowering can occur several times a year. The main conditions for this are a sufficient level of illumination and optimal room temperature.

Unshiu

The homeland of this tangerine is Japan and the Philippines. There are a large number of hybrid subspecies. They differ in the size of the plants, the size of the buds, and the number of flowers in the ovary. In indoor conditions, the height of the tree does not exceed one and a half meters.

Mandarin Unshiu

Note! Throughout their life, shrubs are constantly in an active state.

The flowers of this variety are white, five-petaled. They are most actively formed at a temperature of 18 degrees. In winter, the plant can be kept in a cooler room. It will not bear fruit if the temperature is high in winter.

Imperial

The variety has similarities with the Emperor. Produces large and juicy fruits. The tree takes root well in indoor conditions and, with proper care, grows more than a meter.

The Imperial variety can be successfully grown at home on a windowsill. The tree blooms beautifully and produces delicious juicy fruits. Suitable for decorative decoration of premises.

Shiva-Mikan

The tree is fast growing, compact, with beautiful dark green leaves. The fruits are small, with a characteristic sweet and sour taste. At home it is used as an ornamental plant. It has a very lush and abundant color. Caring for the plant is easy.

Citrofortunella

Citrofortunella is the same as Calamondin. Both plants have exactly the same characteristics.

Botanical description

The characteristics of a well-developed mature orange leaf are presented in the table.

Location on Escape	another
Color	dark green
Form	oval
Tip	spicy
Base	rounded
Length and width	15x10 cm
Venation type	reticular peristonervous
Central vein	light, clearly visible
Lateral veins	weakly expressed
edge	finely serrated
Surface	flat or slightly wavy
Front side of the plate	smooth, shiny
Wrong side	matte
Texture	dense, leathery
petiole	average
Stipules	paired, green, fused with the petiole, larger than a lemon or tangerine, compared to a grapefruit, pamelo - smaller

Watering

Mandarin loves water very much, but watering must be done in doses, especially in winter. This is very easy to determine - just take a pinch of soil from the pot and squeeze it with three fingers. If the clump sticks together, the soil is still moist. Crumbly soil indicates that irrigation is required. Typically, in summer, daily watering is needed, so such diagnostics need to be carried out every morning.

Particular attention is paid to water quality:

Ideally, use water from a well or spring - it is the cleanest. It is not recommended to collect rainwater or fill a container from a hot tap.
It is allowed to use cold tap water, but only after boiling. Then it needs to sit for two days; only half of the liquid is suitable for use. Chlorine and other impurities settle below, which are very harmful to citrus fruits.
Even the cleanest water needs to be settled and heated to room temperature. In summer, it is enough to leave a glass of water on the windowsill.

In hot weather, it is recommended to spray the leaves and wipe them with a damp cloth. To prevent soil contamination, it is better to lay thick gauze on the ground and remove it after the procedure.

Photo gallery

The homeland of this plant is the northern part of ancient India, where mandarin is still found in the wild. Later its grains were brought to China. In this country, over time, citrus found its second home. At the end of the 18th century it became widespread in Europe.

Currently, mandarin is cultivated in all Mediterranean countries, as well as in regions with tropical and subtropical climates. Grown in India, China, Japan, Greece, Italy, France, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Argentina, USA. Some of its varieties are grown in Russia.

In global production, this crop ranks second after orange. The largest supplier of this fruit is Japan.

Beauty requires sacrifice

An important stage in growing citrus fruits is crown formation. The tangerine tree is pruned to speed up fruiting. Vasily Opimakh explains that if a seedling at a height of 30–40 cm flatly refuses to branch, the top should be pinched:

— This manipulation will force the plant to send out lateral branches. But this is not enough for flowering - it bears fruit only on branches of the 4th–5th order. To force the tree to share its harvest, the tips of the shoots are cut off behind the fourth leaf and weak branches are removed. Crown formation takes about 3–4 years.