Introduction to Oranges Growing Oranges for Pleasure and profit
Oranges and lemons sold for a penny.
Oranges, along with others citrus fruits are considered to be one of the most popular and extensively cultivated of popular fruits all over the world. This is a very important fruit, grown not only for its taste and flavor, but also for its nourishing and nutritive qualities.
The sweet orange is popularly grown in the United States. Mandarin oranges are what you are going to find more commonly grown in other parts of the world and which are an important part of the economy of many countries.
In medieval times, oranges and lemons were exotic fruit, brought by sailors from warmer regions like Spain to colder regions like England. The sour orange species, which are also known as Seville oranges scientifically known as Citrus aurantium was brought into the Mediterranean basin by the Arabs in 1000 anno Domini. This is a plant which he used as a root stock for others citrus species.
It was in Spain, when this fruit began to be grown extensively for the bitter or sour fruit, which was used in marmalade. Its sour juice, just like lemon juice was used to a lesser extent. However, the oil, extracted from the rind, flowers and leaves were used by the Arabs and also people living in other countries of the East, like India for making perfumes.
Even today, orange oil, which is known as Neroli oil is used as a necessary ingredient in fine perfumes. It is obtained from sour orange petals and is different from the perfume obtained from sweet orange petals.
In the 15th century oranges were still affordable only by people who could buy them from traders coming from abroad. That is why orange pomaders embedded with cloves were considered to be a status symbol and were used by aristocrats to sniff at, when the smells surrounding them grew overpowering.
Sweet Oranges
Sweet oranges are different from sour oranges in aromatic oil Constitution and different physical characters. A sour orange is going to have more acutely pointed leaves, rougher rind, with a brighter orange color on the fruit. Both the sweet and the sour variety are used to make marmalade.
Sweet orange varieties are found in three groups – blood oranges, common oranges, and navel oranges. So here is the reason why navel oranges are named so that is because there is a navel like marking at one end, owing to the formation of an extra set of carpels at the apex of the central axis.
The Washington navel originated in Bahia, Brazil. These fruit are large with a rather thick rind and a pol which is rich in flavor, but does not have so much juice in it. It ripens just in time for Christmas and the fruits are usually seedless.
Growing Oranges
Orange trees grow best in loamy soil, especially deep soil. Poorly aerated soil is going to give you a bad crop. So look for soil, which is not deprived of nitrogen and is well fertilized. These trees absorb very little of nutrients during the cold winter months. However, a high supply of nitrogen in the spring is going to increase the number of shoots in the spring growth. These are going to have flowers in the axils of the leaves.
Any sort of phosphorus deficiency in the soil is going to have a yield with thick rinds. The juice content is also going to be low. Potassium deficiencies cause pale and not fully elongated leaves. The size of the fruit may be increased by application of more potassium in the soil.
Planting Oranges From Seeds
There is an old traditional Eastern tale about a Prince, who found three magic lemons and the moment he opened each of them, he found a fairy Princess in the lemon. The Princess asked for water. He did not have water handy and the Princess disappeared. This happened twice. The third time he had water handy, so he could give the Princess a drink. And so they lived happily ever after.
The moral of the story is – Consider anything inside a citrus fruit to be wanting a drink, so make sure that your oranges and orange seeds do not get dry. A dry seed is not going to germinate. That is why if you intend to plant oranges from seeds, make sure that the seeds are placed in a container of water, after you have removed the seed from your chosen orange fruit.
Soaking the seeds in water overnight is suggested. That means that they are going to have absolutely no chance of dehydrating. You can grow the seedlings by planting them half an inch deep in well moist and well fertilized potting soil.
Allow the seeds to germinate in a sunny and warm spot, but protect them from direct heat by covering them with a piece of sack. It is going to take you about a few weeks for the seeds to grow. So be patient. Then you can remove the piece of sack, but you still need to keep the pot in a sunny place.
Planting is going to be done by removing the seedling and placing it gently in the hole which you made, well fertilized and well watered. Water your orange regularly. It is going to need plenty of organic fertilizer during the three years when it is growing and before it starts bearing fruit.
Flowers and Fruit Setting
In a climate, which is too dry or too cold for growth flushes, orange trees, especially sweet oranges trees – like the sour oranges and the grapefruit tree – are going to have just one blossoming every year. This is not going to be a short blossoming of 10 – 15 days like trees in a cold climate, have. This is going to be a period of 5 to 6 weeks during which the flowers are going to open or the fruits will set or fall.
If you want them to flower, especially when you are carrying a heavy crop, it is going to require another strong influence such as a dry or a very hot period. Another factor influencing this blossoming is the interference with the movement of food or the removal of fruit at some particular times of the year.
In places where the winter is not so cold and there is no great water deficit, orange trees do not blossom so heavily or to set so much fruit at any one season. In such cases they are more prone to blossoming and to make your fruit at more than one season of the year.
How to Get a Good Harvest
This experiment has been tried successfully in Australia and in many parts of Asia. Remove 30 or 40% of the fruit from the orange trees about three months after the law. Some this is going to increase the average size of the fruits and little even though the yield may seem considerably reduced, the fruits are going to be larger and often more high quality.
Thinning about three months after the blossom is going to cause the crop from the next blossom to be larger and of better quality. Harvesting the heavy crop are a large part of it still immature about two months before the next blossom is going to cause a heavier proper to set from that new blossom.
This book has introduced oranges to you, especially when you are looking for something to plant this coming spring. Apart from their nutritious value, oranges have been well-known to cure you of many ailments. They are considered to be among the best toxin removers available to you in nature because they have lots of vitamin C in them along with other nutrients.
Oranges were considered in olden times to clear up the system, tune it up and purify the blood. This was given as a diet fruit to people who are suffering from jaundice, fever, heart problems and dental problems. Here are some more natural remedies which have been used traditionally to cure problems, down the ages.
Natural Remedies Cures by Oranges
Pain in the chest –
Intense chest pain should be seen by a doctor immediately.
Nagging chest pain or pain in the ribs normally occurs when you have been out in the cold, without adequate covering. If left untreated, this can turn into a cough, cold, chest infection and even pneumonia. For this you need some slices of oranges, dried in the shade. This drying procedure can be done in the summer, when the sun is overhead. Just place them outside and cover them with a muslin cloth to keep away the dust. When the slices are totally dehydrated, grind them and put them in a glass bottle.
In the winter, you are going to take one teaspoonful of this powder in a glass full of warm water for breakfast. Not only are you going to get your daily dose of vitamin C, but you are also going to be getting the world’s best natural resistance enhancer fruit. Just 2 doses or even one is going to get rid of all that winter induced pain in the chest.
Constipation
An unhealthy diet will lead to tummy problems in the future.
Add a little dried ginger powder to some fresh pieces of orange. Add some black salt for flavor. This is the best remedy for chronic constipation, and that is the reason why so many people in the East lunch on a salad of oranges, black salt and ginger powder.
Nausea
People suffering from nausea are going to be restored with just one glass of fresh orange juice.
Swelling in Your Belly?
This normally happens when your stomach gets infected and your immunity system is down. Take 250 g of fresh orange juice, 1 g of edible soda-sodium bicarbonate – and sugar or honey to taste. Mix the orange juice and honey thoroughly, and put them in water. This is now an orange juice sherbet. Now you are going to squeeze two – three drops of essential orange oil from the rind of the orange in this mixture. Not more than that. More orange oil means a bitter sherbet. Add the baking soda, just before drinking. And while the drink is still sizzling and fizzling.
Not only is this good for getting rid of tummy infections and swelling, but it is also used as a traditional way to cure jaundice.
So enjoy the fruit of the orange, Live Long and Prosper!
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