How to Grow Tangerine Trees in Arizona
Tangerines are a form of mandarin orange, known for their rich color and sweet, tangy taste. Like most fruit trees in the U.S., tangerine trees are best grown from saplings or dwarf trees purchased from a nursery or garden center. Arizona is one of the best places for growing tangerine trees because of the temperate weather. It is very simple to grow Arizona tangerines, either in your yard or even in large pots that can be taken indoors if the weather turns unusually cold. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Tangerine tree
- Shovel
- Garden hose
- Water
- 16-8-4 fertilizer
- Burlap or frost blanket (optional)
Instructions
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Choose a spot that gets full sun for at least half of the day. Tangerines need a lot of sunlight, which is one of the reasons they do so well in Arizona. Spring is usually the best time to plant citrus, but you can actually do so at any time of the year.
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Dig a hole that is at least 2 inches deeper than the width of your tangerine's root ball. You don't have to measure; you can just eyeball it. Make the hole about 10 inches wider than the root ball so that the roots will have room to spread out.
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Set your little tangerine tree gently into the hole you have prepared for it. If it came from the nursery wrapped in burlap, loosen the wrappings but leave them in place.
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Fill in the dirt around the root ball, watering it with the hose as you go. Don't flood the hole; just dampen the soil enough to eliminate any air pockets, help the soil settle and support the root ball.
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Use the leftover backfill to build a small, raised ring of soil around the base of the tree, about 6 inches tall and 6 inches wide. This will help keep the water at the base of the tree rather than letting it just run off into the rest of the yard.
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Water your tangerine tree generously every three days for the first two weeks. Go ahead and flood the hole inside of the ring; the hot Arizona sun leaches a lot of water from the ground. Water your tree once a week in the morning and in the evening during the hot summer months. In the winter, you can cut back watering to once a month.
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Fertilize your tangerine tree on its birthday, one year after you planted it. A good 16-8-4 fertilizer should be given to the tree in March, June and September. Read the label for instructions on if, and how, you should dilute the fertilizer, because each brand is different.
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Tips & Warnings
Wrap your young tangerine tree in burlap or a frost blanket if the weather turns unseasonably cold.
Do not use compost or any other soil amendment until your tree has been in the Arizona soil for at least one year.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit tangerine-tree 2 image by Lucy Cherniak from Fotolia.com
