Occasionally, people like to have an answer filtered through another person instead of a search engine. No big deal. You might also like to read this thread on growing citrus from seed.
In reading the posts, that Daniel referred to there is correct information and some information that is incorrect. All most all sweet oranges, all true grapefruit, lemons, limes, mandarins (other than the varieties Clementine and King), most all tangelos, hybrid tangerines and tangors (except the variety Temple) will come true from seed. In other words, the seed will produce a tree identical to the mother tree which produced the fruit. As Jim mentioned, there could possibly be some very slight differences, but the differences are very minor. Most every one in the citrus industry simply say that the seed will produce an identical tree. To grow a mandarin seed simply extract a seed from a mandarin, wash the seed, and plant it in a small container filled with potting soil. Keep the potting soil between 86 - 90F (27-30C) and the seed will germinate in 18-25 days. The lower the temperature of the potting soil, the longer time it will take to germinate. At temperatures below 60F the seed will not germinate. As stated above, if the mandarin seed you wish to plant is a Clementine seed, than it will not produce a true Clementine tree. It will however, produce a Clementine type of tree, however, the chances are high it will be inferior to the mother tree. Any other type of mandarin, except a King mandarin, will produce a tree that will be true to the seed's parent. Mandarins are an excellent variety of citrus to grow from seed, and a good variety to be grown as a container tree in Canada. When properly grown it will take an average of 5-years before the seedling tree matures and begins to bear fruit. NOTE: If you remove the hard outer seed coating, called the Testa, than plant the seed, it should germinate in 7-10 days. Good luck, and welcome to the world of citrus growing. - Millet
Starting Mandarin orange seeds is very easy. as is with all citrus seeds. Simply wash the seeds in clean water. Let them soak for 24hrs in water. toss the floating seeds in the trash after the 24hr soaking. Place the remaining seeds between some moist paper toweling and place this in a clear zip lock baggy. You can place the baggy on top of the refrigerator, computers cpu, vcr etc. check it each week you can see through the baggy when seeds germinate, once germinated plant in a seed starter mix growing any citrus from seed is always fun it's a great way of testing your growing skills it's also a great way of testing your grafting skills. Hope this helps. isaac
The method issac (Dale) provides certainly can work. Just one word of caution concerning this method. Be sure that the radical (root) does not bend, become crooked, or form what is commonly called by the industry a "J" root, which frequently happens when this method is used. This will cause a problem to the tree's growth for years to come. Once a root is deformed it will always be deformed. However, if you are very careful this method can also work. - Millet
Stan, I'm soaking a couple dozen seeds tonight, the ones I have done over the past few years are doing great, I use them for root stock, last week I cleft grafted a few on last years stock. It's all a lot of fun. I hope you find the joy also.
