In early 1991, I was hospitalized for an extended period of time. While there I received a "Mother Martin" magazine with the topic "Junk Seeds". It happens at that same time I received a fruit basket from a family member. I planted an orange seed, Naval I think. And sure enough it has grown since. I am in the Northeast , so I put it outside during the warmer months and keep it in my sunroom during colder months. Now 17 years old it is 6-7 feet tall. No fruit or blooms, but it does have thorns.... Is this normal? will it ever bloom or bare fruit. Is there any procedures I can follow IE fertilizer etc. to help insure the possibility of fruit. Right now all I do is water it......thanks...
You should fertilize it with a fertilizer that contains trace minerals. Use one with as close as you can get to a 5-1-3 NPK ratio. I use a slow release fertilizer that does not have trace minerals, so I have to add them separately. There are 2 slow release fertilizers that have trace minerals (minors) Osmocote and Dynamite, but not all of their formulations have minors. In addition to fertilizer, your tree will need to aquire the necessary node count and the proper exposure to cold (about 800 hours below 65F) to be able to bloom. If you prune the tree you are removing nodes and the tree may never bloom. Otherwise, your tree should be well past the the age it normally takes for oranges to bloom (8-10 years). BTW, your orange is probably not a naval orange as most naval oranges do not have seeds.
Some Citrus may require a pollinizer. The books tells us no, that a pollinizer is not needed for a variety of Citrus but I've seen results from iffy indoor plants that would not bloom over a period of years change their tune and initiate flowering once they have been in contact, when placed outdoors, with other Citrus. Citrus that have more of a tendency to bloom more frequently in a growing season such as Lemons, Limes and some Grapefruit have shown to me in the past to be useful pollinizers for finicky non flowering Oranges and Tangelos. You may need a second Citrus tree to help trigger your tree to set flowers if your tree continues not to bloom for you. Note: I cannot guarantee you satisfactory results using this method. It may require you to have more than one pollinizer and you may still not get bloom set on your seedling Orange. Some trees are simply stubborn and some seedling Oranges can take up to 20 years before they will set flowers, regardless of node count and nodal elongation. Jim
My guess is that the tree has been pruned, or has not been stepped up into larger containers as the tree grew. A 17 year old citrus tree should have bloomed long ago, and should be taller than 6 feet. A pruned citrus tree, is a non-blooming tree. As Jim said, some citrus require a pollinizer to set a good crop, but a pollinizer tree would be helpful only after blooming has commenced. However, the vast majority of citrus are self fertile. - Millet
Please allow me to be more specific on my orange tree from seed. I stepped it up to larger pots as needed, currently it is in a huge 40 gallon pot. I have trimmed it only because the stems were brown and brittle. The thorns on the tree is what I dont understand, is this normal, thanks for all the pointers....
Yes, thorns on a seedling citrus tree (started from seed) are normal. It really does not matter what the reasons for pruning (trimming) a citrus tree, it still remains, a trimmed citrus tree is a non blooming tree, or at the very least a delayed blooming tree. This is because fruit production on a citrus tree develops on the new growth. - Millet
ok, so no more trimming, I suppose I am so proud to say I began this tree from seed, I just really never thought of it as producing fruit. Now that I have been in touch with those that know, I will attempt to turn things around and do better, any and all suggestions are deeply appreciated thanks
