How to Plant Citrus Fruits - We need to know that our homeland has a high level of soil fertility with a tropical climate. Therefore, various natural resources are available abundantly, especially in agriculture, fishery, and marine sector.
The vast biodiversity should be able to make Indonesia the superpower that dominates the world market in the agribusiness sector.
However, on the contrary, the agribusiness sector can not be worked out optimally. Information technology is very important and needed for the agribusiness actors so that the resulting product can compete with non-native products, especially imported fruit.
To get the fruit with superior quality would require knowledge and sufficient experience. Therefore in this article I am trying to write tips on how to grow oranges are good and right.
Things that must be considered:
1. Terms Grow
Orange plants will grow well at an altitude of 0-400 M asl, with temperatures of 25ºC - 30ºC or 20ºC average, and rainfall not more than 100 mm or 1200 mm per month, and humidity 50% - 85% with minimal 3 months dry.
Planting should be in an open place or place that gets enough sun, planting in the highlands makes the skin of the thick fruit and it was not sweet either.
Good soil to be planted orange is a loose soil and there is a high organic content. In addition, there should also be irrigation and drainage with acidity (pH) 6-7.
2. Selecting a Location
The first thing you should do is choose the best location that is the location that has warm weather, enough sunshine, and facing south or west.
The height of a land also has an important role, some varieties want different height of the land.
For example, the cultivation of lime is good at altitudes between 700-1.200. As for the big oranges in Bali and Madiun would be good planted at an altitude of 1-700 M above sea level.
Consider also the rainfall factor at the planting site, although each variety requires varying rainfall but the benchmark is around 5-9 months rainy season.
Choose land that is not covered by the trees to sunlight to the plant properly. Planting oranges will be better if the planting is done on paddy fields or tegal that are not blocked by other trees.
While for good planting media is on the type of soil andosol or latosol (sandy loam soil rich in humus content).
If the nature of the soil is too acidic, it would be nice to have dolomite lime to neutralize the soil pH, a good pH to grow the orange between 5-6.
3. Determine Tree Types
Tips on choosing good citrus seeds:
Choosing the type of orange tree you want to plant, you can choose (orange sweet fruit, lime, grapefruit, and so on.
- Note that the seeds are protected from any kind of disease or plant pests
- Choose seeds that have 95% similarity with the parent
- See the growth from the start of dense leaves or not, stems strong or not, or rocking when lifted
- It has many fiber roots, if the roots are looking for a medium size
- A safer way is to buy seeds that already have certificates from seed breeding
- Ask the seed seller about the right climate for a particular type of planting.
- Search for information around when the types of oranges you plant are fruitful.
In addition to the determination of superior seeds, selecting seeds with varieties in accordance with market demand is also worth noting. And most importantly, choose the type of orange with a stable price is also desirable may be a lot of market.
How to Plant a Citrus Tree:
If you have got the seeds seeded then the next step is to plant, in this way:
- Planting that good when it will fall (in the beginning) the rainy season around (October - December)
- Make a planting hole with an ideal size of 30 x 30 cm
- Notice the plant spacing, which is nice it is 5 x 5 cm
- Previously planted seedlings give first manure up to 1/4 of the hole, add the NPK fertilizer approximately 1 handful, stirring with manure that has been mixed with the soil
- After that put the seeds upright
- Urug the soil and put pressure on every corner until the seeds do not waver
- Watering is done when the soil dries
- Lastly always control your plants with routine
How to Plant Oranges from Orange
- Orange seedling can also be obtained from seeds or commonly called generative way. Here's how:
- Slice the orange and squeeze the seeds
- Leave the seeds in open containers and place them in a location that is not exposed to direct sunlight for 3 days until the mucus in the seed dries
- While waiting for the time, you can prepare the seeding area by cultivating the soil as deep as 30 cm and make a map measuring 1m x 1m
- Add manure to add fertility to the nursery area
- After that plant the seeds into the seedbed area with a distance of 2 cm, then cover again with soil and flush with enough water
- At the top give a shade or shade to avoid orange seeds from direct sunlight
- At the age of 3-5 months and 20 cm high you can move the seeds into polybags size 15 × 35 cm which contains a mixture of fine sand husks and manure with a composition of 1: 1: 1.
Care and Maintenance:
After understanding how to plant good then the next step is to do maintenance and maintenance properly. Here's how.
1. Lighting & Illumination
In one day at least 5 hours exposed to the sun and do not forget to water it.
2. Watering and Fertilization
For fertilization, can use NPK routinely every 4 months with a dose of 25 grams per single tabulompat (Fruit In Pots).
With age, the dose of fertilizer must also be added to 50 grams per plant, to 100, and so on.
3. Pruning
Pruning is done so that each plant does not fight each other offense, but it also aims to make plants look more neat and beautiful.
If there is one branch affected by the disease, then immediately cut the twig.
Pruning of twigs is done with 1-3-9 system plus 3 tertiary branches of each secondary branch. Primary branches are set apart, at least 10 cm between twigs.
And the primary, secondary, and tertiary branches are cut approximately 30-40 cm long from the base of the branch.
4. Always Check Leaf Health
One of the causes of damaged leaves is aphids, these small pests have the main characteristics of black, clustered, and usually attack the upper shoots of young leaves.
While the characteristics of the plants affected by the tick is on the leaves look rolled, not only that the lice are also able to remove the sweet liquid.
So that the ant will come to gnaw at each other plant leaves. Even worse if the louse attacked the flower, it could be a crop failure.
If fleas attack the twigs then immediately cut the twig and to be more secure, burn twigs. Can also provide insecticides such as a liquid exterminator such as Curacon 500EC or Desic 2.5EC.
Can also use insecticides made from organic, which is of concern when spraying insecticide is (not to be exposed to the fruit).
