Fruit Trees from Pips

[Furkin]

Hi all,
I have some fruit pips/seeds that I intend to grow this year & was wondering if it's too early yet ?
I have a couple of small heated propagator things that run at 12w.
I'll be planting: Oranges, cum-quats, tangerines & Mangoes.

Does anyone know if these trees will fruit,,,, or will they be barren ? Is there a rule-of-thumb about this ?

I have an apple tree coming into it’s 6th year,,,, so am hoping it will flower this year,,,, am itching to see what sort it might be ?!?!

I will also be doing Tomatoes (bush & hanging), peppers & chilli's at some point.

I don't have a heated greenhouse. I have a small porch facing N/NW so it dosn't get sun/heat till afternoons.

I seem to have left things too late last year,,,, so don’t intend to make the same mistake again.

Any other help or advice appreciated.

F

[starloc]

Citrus fruit is quite easy to grow, but is very susceptable to root rot particularly when a small seedling size, you need a very very free draining compost, something like 20% compost and the rest perlite, or if you can get it CHC ( 20% compost / 80% CHC) , let it dry out well before each watering, to water push the pot into a bath of water to soak it fully for a few minutes

The seeds can be slow to get to germinate, the best way is to crack the outer shell off the seed, then put it into a damp papertowel in a sealed plastic bag, place the seeds on somewere warm , they want to be close to 30 deg C ( easiest with a heated propergator , but not strictly necessary, if you have it use it and they will germinate quickly), my citrus seedlings ive in pots on the base of the heated propergator, they had the top closed for about 6 months, now just heating the pots

The seeds at 30C will germinate in a few days to a week, 2 weeks tops, keep the paper moist till they start to grow roots and a shoot, once they are growing a tiny root , plant them about 1/2 inch down into the free draining compost mix, then you need to keep them warm, not the air around them, the compost temperature

They will all fruit,how long to fruit and what will it be.... it depends exactly on the variety, the growing conditions/fertliser ,and you must never prune them, pruning reduces the leaf node count, cut some off , it remembers how many it has, cut some off it knows that as well....

Oranges, i cant remeber how long to fruit in ideal conditions, decent light, 30C root temperature etc
I do know kumquats dont take that long (for a fruit tree) , about 6 years i think they grow true to type , mandarins/tangarines give you a different type of tangarine every time (i think) in about 5 years,

It usualy takes longer though as ideal conditions are hard to come by, lemons are the easiest to grow and fruit in about 7, key limes (not nornal limes) are the quickest to fruit at about 3 years, grapefruits about 30 years being one of the slowest,

due to not being able to prune them they will be very large, not like the ones you see in garden centers, grapefruits are about 45 foot tall, mandarins, 20-30 foot tall before fruiting

If you prune a seed grown tree though it will never flower or fruit

It is better if you want fruit to buy a grafted citrus tree,or take a cutting from someone elses tree, they are both from mature wood already so you can prune them (but shouldnt), keep them in a pot and take in and out for winter and summer or in the greenhouse, they will give fruit within a year or so of buying as long as you look after them, after a few years they will give lots of fruit

[Furkin]

many thanks for a detailed reply.
I knew that apple pip trees took years to fruit, but wasn't expecting citrus to ! Any idea about Mangoes trees from stones ?

It looks like i'll end up buying a couple from a garden centre,,,, but will still plant some - just for the sake of it,,,, & I've saved the pips !

Almost all the pips that I planted last year grew,,,, until I started to play with the composts,,,, peat-less / sand / high this / low that etc.

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Apart from the fruit pips, I intend to grow toms, chilli's & peppers.

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This year I want to start off as soon as I can,,,,, hence my question about timing. I'm in west cornwall, so we don't usually get the worst of weathers (this year has been an exception,,,, we even had white stuff falling from the sky on one day - very pretty,,,, but we wern't ready for it !?!?).
I have a couple of 12w heated propagators – when do you reckon I could start my plants (fruit & toms) ?

Thanks again

F