Red Navel Orange Trees

Discussion in 'Citrus' started by lpettis1, Jan 25, 2009.

  1. lpettis1

    lpettis1 Member

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    Location:
    Ocoee, FL USA
    I am so glad that I found this site and registered. I do a lot of planting, reproduction of flowers, and shrubs also. I just recently have cut and stuck some christmas cactus that I am hoping the cold didn't damage.

    Anyway, I have been looking for a Red Navel Orange tree to possibly purchase. However, I do have three seeds that I managed to find after going thru 20 oranges. I have them in the refrigerator wrapped in a moist paper towel inside a ziplock bag. They have been there for around a month now. I was wondering when do I take them out and put them in the soil for growing? I've read a few websites and was wondering, how do I peel a seed? These seeds are so small I will need a magnifying glass to see what I am doing. I figure around the middle of March would be a good time for planting them. Am I suppose to see any germination beginning before I plant them? I live in zone 9, very warm climate usually. NW Orange County, FL

    Also, do I have to graft the seedlings once they get big enough? Is this a necessity to get the tree to produce fruit or will it produce fruit without any help? I would think that these trees bloomed and produced fruit long before we came along and helped them.

    Thank you for any help you can give me. I am really excited about these few seeds and hope to be able to get them to grow and the tree produce fruit. Also, how long will it take for a navel orange tree to produce fruit?

    Thanks again.
    Linda
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2009
  2. aesir22

    aesir22 Active Member

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    durham - england
    How small are these seeds??? They should be about 5mm-10mm long. If you plan to plant them outdoors, plant them out when the temps are well well above dangers of frost (do you get frost in that climate?). If you are going to germinate them indoors and plant them out later, any time is good. Just pop them in some potting mix and put in a really warm location. They will germinate really quick if they are warm. My lemon seedlings took three months when left on their own. My key lime seedlings took 2 days to germinate in a heated propagator.

    Exactly how big are these seeds? Don't worry to much about peeling the seed coats until you have more seeds to work with - you don't want to make mistakes when you only have 3! Just clip a tiny bit of the end off, being careful not to damage the inside, and plant them. The soil needs to stay warm and moist, but never wet! You won't see them germinate where they currently are. They need heat to germinate, not cold. I would just pop them in some potting mix as they are without the paper towel method - always worked for me :)

    You do not have to graft it. Nature doesn't graft her seedlings and they turn out fine! The purpose of grafting is to give the desirable top plant a strong root system. It will do fine on its own roots I think if you don't let it freeze or let pests take over, and it will fruit without grafting. It is also self pollinating, so you don't need bees or other trees to get fruit, each flower has the capacity to make fruit by itself.

    Your climate, from what I understand, is perfect for growing citrus lol I'm so jealous! You should see really quick growth if you read up on citrus care, and fruit, well I'm no 100% sure but I think I remember seeing somewhere that it takes 4-7 years to mature and reach fruiting age. In your climate the 4 years is easily achievable.

    Don't forget to post back on the size of these seeds. That is my only concern
     
  3. lpettis1

    lpettis1 Member

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    Location:
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    They are average size. I haven't measured them, but the navel is supposed to be seedless, so I'm lucky to have found any seeds at all. I'm just keeping them in the moist conditioning of the refrigerator until the temperatures are in the steady 70's and there's no more danger of frost. You never know down here, one day it's 70 and the next thing you know it's freezing. We just went through a really tough freeze down here and I lost a lot of my plants. I'm hoping they will come back after I prune them. Thanks for the response!
     

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