Can You Grow Tangerine Trees From the Seeds?
- Determine the variety of tangerine, or mandarin, from which you plan to collect seeds. For example, the old-fashioned Dancy tangerine is an heirloom tree whose seeds will grow into a plant identical to its parent ("true to type"), unlike hybrid varieties. Allow one fruit to remain on the tree until it begins to shrivel a bit or even drop to the ground. Then scoop out the seeds and rinse off the pulp.
- Place your clean seeds on a piece of screen propped up with bricks or boards. Leave them in a warm, dark, dry, well-ventilated area for one to two weeks and then plant them in a prepared medium immediately.
- Fill small pots with a mixture of 8 parts potting soil and 1 part each of peat moss, vermiculite and sand. Plant seeds a half-inch deep. If you are using a 3-inch pot, plant one seed in the center. If your pot is larger, plant seeds 1 inch apart. Water well and cover with clear plastic, into which you have poked a few holes. Keep pots in a sunny area at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the plastic after you see germination. Transplant seedlings to larger pots when they are 2 to 3 inches tall.