Indoor Plants
Outdoor Plants
Sweet Orange
A sweet orange tree with fruit for eating fresh and juicing, glossy evergreen leaves and fragrant white flowers.
- Light: Direct sun
- Water: Regular water, more in summer
- Temperature: Likes warmth
Description
Sweet orange is one of the most widely grown fruit trees in the world. It is an evergreen tree with glossy leaves and fragrant white flowers, and its fruit is eaten fresh or juiced, with an aromatic peel used in cooking.
Why a sweet orange?
- Fruit for juice and eating fresh.
- Glossy evergreen leaves.
- Fragrant white flowers in spring.
- A ready-grown 1.8–2.0 m tree.
Where to plant it
Home gardens, sunny courtyards, in front of villas and along wide paths. Leave about 4.5 m between it and other trees or buildings.
Care in the Saudi climate
- Light: full, direct sun; in light shade it gives less fruit.
- Water: twice a week in the first month, then whenever new leaves wilt in the afternoon. In a Saudi summer it needs more water.
- Soil: best pH is 5.5–6.5. In the alkaline soil common in Saudi, yellow leaves with green veins mean iron deficiency – treat with chelated iron in the soil and a yearly manganese and zinc spray.
- Feeding: in the first year, a balanced fertilizer about every 6 weeks from February to October, kept away from the trunk.
- Pruning: remove shoots growing from below the graft; the tree needs little pruning, and too much reduces fruit.
Sizes
- 1.8–2.0 m: Established tree. Home gardens – instant presence.
Three things to get right.
Lighting
Needs full, direct sun to fruit well; light shade means less fruit.
Watering
Water twice a week in the first month, then whenever new leaves wilt in the afternoon. In summer it needs more water.
Temperature & humidity
A warmth-loving tree that grows well in Jeddah and Riyadh with regular watering.
More fruit tree.Pairs well with
It depends on the variety; most sweet oranges are picked between autumn and spring. Ask us about this variety's season.
In alkaline soil, yellow leaves with green veins usually mean iron deficiency. Add chelated iron to the soil and spray manganese and zinc.
They are rootstock shoots from below the graft. Remove them – they weaken the tree and won't give the same fruit.
Leave about 4.5 m between it and other trees or buildings.
The ASPCA lists citrus trees such as orange and lemon as toxic to cats, dogs and horses because of their essential oils; the fruit flesh is edible, but peel and leaves can cause problems.