After Kagzi Lebu, Sweet Orange is the second most important commercial citrus fruit in India. There are several varieties of Sweet Orange like Sathgudi, Blood Red, Hamlin Sweet, Valencia and Jaffa but the best-known is Mosambi.
Sweet Orange (citrus sinensis) is most abundantly grown in states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan and out of these Mosambi is most popular in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra. In West Bengal, Mosambi is grown in the red soil of the western districts but home gardeners of Salt Lake grow it too, generally as a potted plant.
Growing fruit trees in containers was practised by the ancient Persians, Greeks and Egyptians and gained popularity during the 17th and 18th century in England and France. Today potted fruit trees are used as a feature in a patio or mini garden, which is useful as well as decorative.
Climate and Soil: The Sweet Orange is grown under both tropical and sub-tropical conditions but results are not guaranteed in cooler climes. Dry and semi-arid conditions, coupled with distinct summer and winter seasons, are most favourable for growth.
Sweet Orange can be grown in a wide range of soils from sandy loams, alluvial and red soils to black clayey soils.
But again, well-drained sandy-to-clay loam is preferable. The tree is particularly sensitive to high concentration salts and cannot stand water logging.
Propagation: “T budding” and patch budding are commonly used for the propagation of Sweet Oranges. Selection of proper rootstock is very important in case of budding.
The overall performance of the tree depends upon proper cultivar of rootstock. The taste and colour of fruits also depends on the rootstock. Most commonly used varieties of rootstocks are Jatti Khatti, Karna Khatti, Jamir and Rangpur Lime.
For Mosambi, Rangpur Lime is the best rootstock. It is highly tolerant to draught, is of good quality and bears a lot of fruits. To ensure budding success, the budding is to be done between January and March or September and October, when there is active growth and good sap flow in the plants.
Cultivation: Most home gardeners in Salt Lake grow Sweet Oranges in container but this requires regular attention and right conditions.
One should use nutrient-rich soil-based compost for the plant, which retains most of the water and drains sufficiently well. A loamy soil enriched by well-decomposed compost is a good potting medium but a specially prepared potting mix with organic and inorganic fertiliser will be better.
The potting mix should be prepared by mixing good sandy loam with well-decomposed Farm Yard Manure in a 1:1 proportion. Add to this, 300g nitrogen, 100g phosphorus and 200g Potassium for a 12in size pot. This mix should be supplemented with a little quantity of wood ash.
The young Mosambi plant should first be planted in a container two to three inches larger than the existing root ball. The size of container can be increased during re-potting and a container measuring 12 inches diameter should be reasonable. The planting should be done before the rainy season and the bud union of the plant should be kept above ground level while planting.
Most container plants need daily watering during summer and little in winter. Water the plant freely but make sure the pots drain well. Never let the compost in the container dry out.
After-care: Top dress established plants with fresh compost every year during spring. All citrus trees require plenty of nitrogen and to supplement it, liquid feed the plant regularly using high nitrogen feed as and when required.
The home gardener can use the colour of leaves in spring as a guide to whether more nitrogen is required. Healthy foliage will be dark and glossy green. But for commercial growers the chemical analysis of leaves is required to asses fertiliser requirement.
Home gardeners, who grow Mosambi as specimen plant, may follow the procedure of plantation as adopted in Acid Lime (kagzi lebu) discussed previously in this column.
Harvesting: Mosambi generally matures in nine to 12 months. The fruits should be harvested when fully ripe, having attained proper size and attractive colour. The main harvesting time of Mosambi is October to November.
To be continued
