Orange seedling

[Peanut]

I haven't been on here in years and I'm surprised to remember my password. Anyways I was eating some oranges and collected about 11 seeds in total. I removed their protective layer and placed them in a damp paper towel in a Ziploc bag and left them. A month passed by and I totally forgot about them until a few days ago. Out of the 11 seeds only 1 took root, 3 long roots. I grabbed some Miracle-gro garden soil I was growing my herbs and mints in since it's the only thing I have available for right now. Currently I have it in a plastic cup with a hole on the bottom for drainage. I water it with filtered tap water when the top gets a little dry and leave it where it can get plenty of direct sunlight. I'm not sure if this is the proper way to grow an orange seedling, but it sprouted and I can see a leaf forming.

Any citrus heads out there that can give me any advice on growing oranges? What type of soil should I use when it's time to transplant? What type of fertilizers do I use? This wasn't going to be a big project for me, but now I am intrigued.

I have an old school phone ($20 a month for unlimited everything so I'm not complaining) so bear with me on the quality.

 

[SubRosa]

I don't grow them now because of winter space, but the main things I remember about citrus are lots of light and heavy but infrequent waterings. The top inch or two of the soil should get dry between heavy soakings. Which means you probably don't want to over pot it, particularly while very young. Also be aware that by growing from seed you are rolling the dice as far as fruit quality. If I had greenhouse space I'd definitely have citrus again. There's a local nursery, Ott's with some stunning greenhouse displays, and a huge number of citrus trees for sale including some pretty large specimens. When the main blooming season hits the smell in that house is incredible!

 

[hcarlton]

I have both regular and blood oranges together in a big pot that I grew from seeds. They certainly seem to appreciate good light whenever they can get it, and I have yet to determine if periodic fertilizing has had any large effect....

 

[DragonsEye]

And with citrus, one must be ready for the fact that there are soooo many pests that seem drawn to them -- scale, spidermites, whitefly, mealies .....

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[Peanut]

Here's a recent picture of it 4 days after the first picture I posted. I may not have the room for a full grown orange tree and it would be a hassle to move once my lease is up. I may just end up trying to bonsai it.