How to grow orange
Rutaceae, hard to grow
In the UK, grow in a pot and bring indoors for winter.
Growing orange for the first time
Difficulty: Hard · Sun: full sun · Ready in: about 300 days
1. Choose the spot
Pick a sunny spot (6+ hours of sun). It does best in loam, sandy soil with a pH of 6.0–7.0. Avoid clay soil, or improve it with compost.
2. Sow or plant
Start indoors or under cover in Apr, May. Space plants about 150 cm apart.
3. Look after it
- Water roughly every 5 days, more in hot or dry weather. Water the soil, not the leaves.
- Feed every 14 days once it is growing strongly.
- Keep weeds down, and add a daily note and photo to your BeAgric grow diary so you can spot problems early.
4. Watch for problems
Common problems: Huanglongbing (citrus greening), Scale insects. Take a photo with Check a plant if leaves look spotted, yellow or wilted.
5. Organic tip
Feed with citrus feed: summer feed in summer, winter feed in winter.
6. Harvest
Expect your first harvest about 300 days after planting. Record it in Harvests and list any spare on the marketplace.
Growing it organically
Feed with citrus feed: summer feed in summer, winter feed in winter.
Common problems
- Huanglongbing (citrus greening)
- Scale insects
Spotted something? Check a photo of the leaf.