You received some oranges in your CSA box, and they're delicious. As you lament that you only have one piece of fruit left, you think, "If I grew this orange into a tree, I'd have a steady supply." Genius! Plant an orange — a whole orange and not just the seeds — in a container of potting mix or even straight into a garden bed, and you might end up with a citrus tree. Notice we said might? That's because this idea, while viable in principle, comes with some caveats well above standard advice on how to grow and care for an orange tree. House Digest's master gardener Tiffany Selvey and professional gardener Peg Aloi say it's not worth the effort. As Selvey remarks, "It's possible, I suppose, but I don't think anyone would recommend it."
The truth about growing oranges from seeds
Tiffany Selvey, a horticulturist, explains that growing a tree from store-bought fruit may not produce similar fruit. This is because most store-bought fruits come from grafted trees, which means the fruit from the parent tree will have qualities of both the rootstock and the grafted tree. Citrus trees, in particular, are usually grown from grafted stock. However, some fruit trees, like citrus, are bred to have sterile seeds. Sweet orange trees, for example, can produce seeds through apomixis, a natural cloning process, instead of pollination. This means that any offspring will be an exact copy of the parent plant, but it is impossible to know if a store-bought orange is from such a tree.
If you bury an entire orange in the ground or a planter of soil, the skin and flesh of the orange will decompose over time, freeing the seeds to potentially germinate. Rotten fruit can act as a natural fertilizer for the resulting seedlings. However, orange peels can take anywhere from six months to two years to biodegrade, even in the wild. This method requires patience and may not be suitable for everyone.
It's simply not worth it
If you've read this far and still want to try growing a tree from a whole orange, consider first how long you'll have to wait to see if the orange you planted produces fruit true to the original. The answer: A long, long time. Citrus trees grown from seed can take up to 14 years to fruit, according to a NAFEX hardy citrus consultant replying to a UBC Botanical Garden forum query. Conversely, grafted trees fruit in one to three years.
There are a few other downsides to trying this method, too. The taste of a seed-grown orange is often lackluster, even if the plant ends up being the same variety as its parent. Though your whole orange-grown tree might withstand the cold better than its grafted or cutting-cultivated counterpart, it'll probably be less disease-resistant and is also more likely to be covered in thorns.
Is it Possible to Grow Edible Oranges from Seeds?
Many people have wondered if it's possible to grow edible oranges from seeds. Tiffany Selvey, a gardening expert, has conducted an experiment to find out the answer. According to Selvey, while it is technically possible to grow oranges from seeds, the resulting fruit may not be edible. She explains that oranges grown from seeds are likely to be different from their parent plant and may not have the desirable taste and quality.
Selvey suggests that growing oranges from seeds can be a fun experiment for those who have the time, space, patience, and curiosity. However, if you're looking for edible oranges, she recommends saving yourself the bother and getting a grafted sapling from a nursery instead. Alternatively, you can learn how to make a bird feeder out of an orange, which is a creative and useful DIY project.
