Indoor orange tree - care, blooming, harvesting its fruits

The indoor orange tree is one of the only citrus plants that is perfectly suited to living in the heated indoors of our homes and apartments.

Key Indoor Orange tree facts

Name – Citrus madurensis
Family – Rutaceae (Rue family)

Height – 3 to 6 ½ feet (1 to 2 meters)
Exposure – full sun
Soil – soil mix

Foliage: evergreen – Flowering: January to December

Repotting, care, watering and pruning are all good practices that will help you to grow a very nice calamondin.

Planting and repotting an indoor orange tree

Planting potted indoor orange trees

Typical planting of the indoor orange tree is soil mix enriched with fertilizer.

The pot must absolutely be holed at the bottom to avoid having the roots stagnate in water.

An ideal solution is to pour in a layer of gravel, clay pebbles or rocks to ensure that excess water drains well to the bottom. Make this layer about 1 to 2 inches (3 to 4 cm) thick.

Anticipate re-potting in a pot that is slightly larger than the previous every 2 or 3 years on average.

Repot in spring or at the end of summer.
Follow our lead on how to repot your calamondin

Propagate calamondin through layering.

Pruning and caring for indoor orange trees

It isn’t really necessary to prune it.

To rebalance the silhouette or reduce branch size of your indoor orange tree, prune just after repotting, preferably in spring.

It is advised to repot every 2 years.
Best to do this at the end of winter or in spring after the blooming and fruit formation..

You can also provide citrus plant fertilizer during the entire growing phase, from September to January.

Watering indoor orange tree

Indoors, regularly water with small amounts of water as soon as the soil is dry.

You can increase the amount of water in spring and summer, especially in warm, dry weather.
In winter, wait for the soil to have dried on a full inch (a couple centimeters) before watering again.

All there is to know about the indoor orange tree

The indoor orange tree is a small fruit shrub that produces edible fruits. Sadly, these are so acidic that they’re not easily taken in. Make jam instead!

A cross between the kumquat and the mandarin orange, it is often used as an indoor plant.

If you can, it is good to bring your indoor orange tree out after any risk of freezing has disappeared, from May until the end of summer.

Simply set it in a well-lit spot but avoid direct sunlight during the hottest hours.
Also avoid setting it right next to a radiator in winter because these tend to dry indoor plants up.