10 Tips for Homegrown Oranges

There’s nothing quite like plucking a sun-ripened, juicy orange straight from your own backyard tree, especially when enjoyed together with family. Growing oranges at home is easier than you think, and these tips will help you get started.

1. Choose the right variety

There’s nothing quite like plucking a sun-ripened, juicy orange straight from your own backyard tree, especially when enjoyed together with family. Growing oranges at home is easier than you think, and these tips will help you get started.

2. Find the perfect spot

Select a variety that best suits your taste and harvest season. The most popular orange grown in Australian backyards is Washington Navel, favoured for its superbly sweet, low-seed fruit that mature in winter, making it perfect for fresh eating with your family on a sunny afternoon. Blood oranges, with their distinctive red flesh and rich flavour, add a unique touch to a cool-season harvest, ideal for creating vibrant family meals and treats. Valencia is prized for its juice, with fruit maturing from mid-spring into summer, perfect for fresh-squeezed juice to enjoy at family breakfasts.

3. Prepare the soil

Improve your soil by mixing in compost to enhance its fertility and drainage. Then shape the soil to create a raised mound that further improves drainage.

4. Plant properly

Dig a hole twice the width of the root ball and slightly deeper than the pot your tree came in. Gently remove the tree from its pot, place it in the hole, and backfill it with the amended soil, ensuring the tree is planted at the same depth as it was in the pot. Water thoroughly to settle the soil around the roots.

5. Water wisely

Water deeply and infrequently, allowing the soil to dry out slightly between waterings. This encourages deep root growth and a healthier tree. Give your established tree a good soaking during drought periods to keep it productive. This practice ensures your tree remains fruitful, providing plenty of oranges for the family to enjoy.

6. Mulch and protect

Maintain a 5-7 cm layer of The Garden Family Sugar Cane Mulch around the base of your tree to retain moisture and regulate soil temperature. Keep the mulch away from the trunk to prevent rotting the bark.

7. Fertilise regularly

Oranges are hungry plants, and fertilising is crucial for keeping your tree healthy and productive. Apply fertiliser in late winter, late spring, and early autumn, and water it in well.

8. Prune for health and size

Check trees regularly and remove dead or diseased wood. Thin crowded branches that rub together and cut off stems infected by citrus gall wasps (look for the swollen galls towards the tips). When maintaining the size and shape of the tree, avoid giving trees an all-over haircut which removes fruiting wood. Instead, just cut back branches that are getting too long. Pruning ensures a healthy tree that’s manageable for the kids to enjoy the process of harvesting for family and friends.

9. Monitor for pests

Keep an eye out for common pests like aphids and scale. To manage infestations, use safe, effective organic sprays, including horticultural oils.

10. Harvest at the right time

Oranges don’t ripen further once picked, so ensure they are fully mature before harvesting. The best indicator is a taste test—pick one, and if it’s sweet and juicy, the rest of the fruit should be ready too. There’s no need to pick all your fruit at once—they will keep on the tree for many weeks. Don’t forget to get the kids involved, teach them to use a gentle twisting motion or clippers to harvest the fruit, being careful not to damage the tree or surrounding fruit. There is nothing better than a fresh juicy orange straight from the tree! It keeps all the mess outside, half the fun is learning to peel an orange with your hands!

Growing oranges at home provides not just a supply of fresh, healthy fruit but also an opportunity for family time in the garden. From planting and tending, to harvesting the juicy fruits of your labour.