A few years back I grew a miniture orange tree. It just had regular potting soil and it really liked full sun. My orange tree produced a one time crop of about 20 small oranges (about loonie size in diameter) and then proceeded to drop its leaves and die. It was a nicely shaped tree, but the branches were rather thin. My guess is that fruit trees respond to the changes in light intensity and length of daylight hours for fruiting cycles. I had a jade plant growing in similar light conditions and it flowered prolifically.
I wish I knew why my orange tree gave up the ghost after fruiting.
Janet

I had a constant battle with spidermites, aphids and scale etc .... I simply was forced to give up on the idea of growing citrus!

Terry

Sometimes I think you just have to have the touch. My grandma was a great gardener. After she moved into the seniors' lodge she would save seeds from her breakfast orange, snitch some dirt from the flowerbeds, and plant them in styrofoam cups. My mom had a lovely 18" tall orange tree from her, with a beautiful shape. I can't get a citrus seed to grow more than 3 leaves.

Connie

I use to grow them too. I don't have one at the moment as I haven't seen one for sale in several years. I did get fruit off of mine the first year then all the leaves fell off and it died. I inquired at a nursery and they said I didn't water it enough. Apparently a 2' tall orange tree needs over 4 cups of water a week. I was giving it about 1.5 cups. Ooops... Plus bright light, and warmth, no drastically different temperatures between night and day.

Hope this information helps.

Syreeta

Syreeta, I think that could be what happened to my citrus. I had a Valencia orange tree, about 4' tall, for 3 years. I hand pollinated it and it produced edible fruit about 3 times. It used to blossom twice a year but the fruit would only hold on once a year. I also found it dropped leaves on a regular basis. But, then it started to really drop its leaves and dried out. At that point, it got spider mites really bad and no amount of insecticidal soap could save it. I moved it, pot and all, outside to die with dignity over the winter. I think, in hindsight, that if it had been watered more, it would have been OK. It finally got tired of crying for water and had enough.

I've been tinkering with trying a lime tree. Might be kind of fun. I grew about 6 babies from the seeds in the fruit of the mother plant and they sprouted nicely. But, I went away for a short holiday and they didn't make it. I found that if I put a clean slice through the seedcoat, they would germinate quite quickly. So, I may try a lime at some point. The smell of citrus in bloom in the house is wonderful.

Shauna

Shauna, are you going to try growing limes from the seeds of one in the grocery store? I always thought those were bigger trees and won't flower for quite awhile until they were big enough. I.E. over 6'. I don't have the patience or the room for one that big.

Syreeta

Could very well be that you are right, Syreeta. I haven't really investigated them yet. But, the Valencia orange tree can get pretty big, too, I think. This is the website of the supplier of the tree that I bought at a local greenhouse. I think Hole's might carry them in Edmonton, but I haven't seen them anywhere else. The greenhouse that I bought it from isn't in business anymore. So, my thought was that I would try to start a lime from the grocery variety and see what happens.

One thing I did notice from this website is that it says the Valencia orange takes 15 - 18 months to produce fruit. I know mine took almost a year but it didn't take that long. Gee, maybe our houses are good for these things. If we could only control the spider mites that seem to love them.

Anyone tried growing a tree from grocery store stock?

Shauna

Here is a link that might be useful: Citrus Trees