A 10-plus year-old rather healthy navel orange tree this year is bearing seeded oranges!? In the past there were never any seeds. They are coming from all oranges I have eaten so far, from all limbs (none arising from below the graft union). They taste like navel oranges. The tree is rather healthy. No new citrus planted in the vicinity (so far as I can tell). Any thoughts why? Thank you.
Perhaps someone nearby has started beekeeping as a hobby or has put up a bee hotel for native bees. Has there been a noticeable increase in pollinators in your garden?
Perhaps the wild bees did not pollinate the citrus properly, or else someone nearby got a new citrus tree and the bees are pollinating your navel orange with its pollen. In any case, many citrus will produce seedless fruit if not pollinated, but will produce seedy fruit when pollinated. There have been many cases where beekeepers were not wanted due to making citrus crops seedy: State's tangerine growers tell beekeepers to buzz off Citrus growers, beekeepers clash Supreme Court Economic Review, Volume 23
