Only one seedling survived. Remarkably, this seedling was also able to survive several repottings, 5 cats and several forgotten waterings.

Last year the seedling became around 3-4 feet tall and is still growing. As of now, the tree is in my room. How should I care for it? It is covered in approximately 2 inch thorns, is starting to lean backwards, and has never been fertilized. What should I do to care for this citrus?

Pictures:

Entire Tree:

Close-Up of Main Branch ( Leaves are a few shades darker than pictured because camera flash makes them appear brighter. ):

Close-Up of Upper Leaves ( Wayyy too bright and they are in no way that glossy. ):

down below is the equipment I used. Click on picture.

here are the most currant picture of my one year old Meiwa tree along with other citrus. All are from seeds I got from fruit.

Not to be rude, but your post was rather unhelpful.

If you can provide what I am about to list, then you should be off to a good start.

Provide a very good 'porous mix'

Provide as much sunlight as possible.

Provide a fertilizer that gives all the important nutrients.

Provide a pot that drains well

Now the do's and don'ts........................

Do keep a close eye for pests, in particular spider mites.

Do not over water

Do not under water

Do pick up some vinegar if you tap water pH is too high

Do give it lot's of sun from spring to winter so teh roots can develop nice and strong before you have to bring it back in for next winter

And most importantly, stick with advice where everyone is on the same page and you know have great success with northern growing in containers.
Be willing to admit your mistakes and humble enough to accept advice since I noticed a few here run when you tell them the work needed to be successful.

Have a great day:-)

You may not know that trees from seeds may not grow true to the type of fruit it was and it will take anywhere from 5-15 years to get fruit production from seed.

Thank you for the tips. What would be a good N-P-K to use on an orange tree, and what should I do about the tree leaning backwards?

@Mgk

Thank you for the information, but I already know this. Do you have any advice on pruning / staking?

Personally, I thought your tree looked great and quite
health. Each of the three pictures above represent a different topic. The first picture shows the history of the tree. The second shows the equipment use,and how and why it was used, the third picture are of the Meiwa tree's 1 year birthday party.

I have learned a lot more about citrus just looking at other's entries and pictures. Example,; your tree to me looks great. If their is a problem, I don't see it and if any one else dose please point it out. I will learn to.

Last, Be ready for anything you can think of. When, 'not if', it happens, being ready is often the difference between success and death. of the tree.

Insects and pests, hand killing is the best organic control for any tree less than 8 feet tall. I know .I do it.

If this is an option on the south side of your house you can build a geen house. All I have is the foot to what will be a 6 ft wide, 35 foot long, by 16 foot tall lean-to structure. Be creative and work with your assets. See picture.

Good luck with your tree and keep reading for fun.

The tree will automatically fill out as it grows. just let it do its thing and don't try to force it

Trees from seed have more thorns because their genetic code is to protect the new low-to-the-ground plant with extra thorn protection that the grafted trees lack.

I fertilize with an acid plant fertilizer with micro nutrients including, zinc, iron and, manganeese

Thank you! I did have an issue with mites at one time, but a quick use of some spray did them away.

I Forgot to ask, what part of Ohio are in. I am 4 miles up the mill creek from the Ohio river.

I also wanted to state that my tree double there groth rate when I started blowing air in their root base. one 5-10 second burst with the blow dryer per day is all you need.

for my 55 gallon drum plant I use a PVC tube will whorls of air hole to blow the air down. I used about 5 minutes of air here. In the picture bellow circled in red you can see the tube and the blow dryer funnel. This has dramatically improved the growth of the fig trees

The thorns can be clipped off at no risk to the tree. don't damage the tree trunck.

For the strongest trunk, don't use a stake.

Success be with you

this is the bucket system it has to fit in.

Have the seedlings that you have grafted to fruited or did the scions produce fruit. What I am asking is did you graft a mature scion to trick the seedling to fruiting sooner or did the seedling only serve as root-stock for your scion. There is a big difference. I believe that popdo would like his orange tree to fruit. I have done a lot of research on the idea of grafting a mature twig to get the rooted plant to think it can produce sooner. I have found nothing on this subject. Do you know and would you share your knowledge. I would be greatly appreciative, and it would save Popdo a lot of work if you know it does not work. If you found it does work, then you have Popdo answer to early fruiting. If any one else knows that this does work, please let us know, I would like to grow a grapefruit tree from seed and get fruit in five years with a simple graft from my friend's fruiting Meyer lemon. Hears a picture of how to make a citrus tree grow much faster wile growing starts for your vegetable garden.

Citrus hanging though the top in the center of a ring of 8 CFL's shining over broccoli, next peppers & eggplant, then tomatoes for the garden. Last year I was pick red pepper 5 week before USDA last frost date with this setup.

Steve

2. The orange tree was moved outside for the first time this year yesterday. Hopefully the humidity outside will kill the rest of the spider mites.

3. Due to the mites, I'd rather not try any grafting on the tree in it's current weak state.

4. While I may try it, the grafting idea has some flaws. Try taking a small cutting off a tomato plant. The cutting instantly reverts from it's blooming state and becomes similar to a seedling again. I think blooming is triggered when the plant believes it has the amount of nutrients required, rather than by simply reaching maturity. However, I may be wrong.

5. While fruit would be nice, I really just wish I could turn the tree into some sort of over-sized bonsai. Considering the fact that my tree was grown from a random sunkist orange, I'm not really expecting any fruit. Even fruit from a graft would probably be just a silly idea, since I know little to nothing of the tree's durability, but seeing as it was able to survive the winter indoors and even grow a few branches, I'd say it's a rather strong plant.

To keep this forum citrus I'll have to post some pics of my fortunella crassifola.

HAPPY SEED GROWN MEIWA KUMQUAT TREE

hows your tree doing. I would like to hear and see pictures.

My tree went through a very rough time and i lost 4 sweet lee tangerine trees. My meiwa kumquat went from looking great, Too looking like a WWII german concentration camp survivor with 90% of its leaves missing.

POTTED MEIWA TREE SEED GROWN IN GROW / LIGHT/HEAT BUCKET

sAME SEED GROWN MEIWA TREE SHOWING 30.5 in OF LINEAR GROWTH

PIC OF MEIWA JUST BEFORE SHE WAS UP POTTED FROM MAYONNAISE JAR TO GALLON SALAD DRESSING JAR.

MY FAVORITE PICTURE OF THE SEED GROWN MEIWA TREE.

Then catastrophe strikes. I drop meiwa 3 times, catch the tree top and snap whip it 2 times, and finally forget to put the bucket spacer in and burn the trunk. I lost 4 inches

Pictures will show the rest Fears Tears and more Tears

Potted meiwa in the buff

Top of my potted meiwa tree from seed budding out

The next 6th of meiwa kumquat tree from seed

upper middle, some small swells

This is the lower middle section of the potted meiwa tree

One section above the root base and trunk. potted meiwa is struggling

The three buds you see here have been remove since there are already to limbs there. A whorl of limbs tends to choke out the main trunk. I wish for maximum growth of the main trunk to reach my node count to fruiting. I will then encourage the tree to bush out more like a bushy single trunked tree. Click link below to see where the tree will reside. Click on any thumbnail then use mouse wheel to magnify