We have been eating a lot of small citrus fruits this winter. Mostly we have been getting those small seedless mandarin clementines branded as Cuties or Halos. They are really sweet and delicious, although we’ve found the shelf life is limited to about a week. After that they start to dry out inside the fruit.
This week my wife wasn’t able to find any of those tiny clementines at the grocery store, so she bought some larger mandarins, which regrettably aren’t as sweet. The bonus? They have seeds. As I was eating the second fruit I started spitting out the seeds in my hand and was considering whether to try germinating them. My grandfather, a very good gardener, could grow citrus trees from seed and did so regularly. As I was considering this my daughter saw the seeds in my hand and got really excited and asked if we could plant them, and grow a orange tree and pick the oranges and eat them and never have to spend money on oranges again!?! Yes, these were her words. And you can guess that made up my mind.
Remembering what my granddad had told me, I nicked each seed with a knife (not sure how deep, so I could have screwed it up right off the bat). Then I soaked the seeds in water for 24 hours. My daughter, with the great memory, asked me at dinner if we get to plant them now. Yes, thanks for remembering when I forgot!
We planted the 4 seeds 1/2” deep, moistened the soil, and covered the pot in plastic wrap. Here goes nothin!
This week my wife wasn’t able to find any of those tiny clementines at the grocery store, so she bought some larger mandarins, which regrettably aren’t as sweet. The bonus? They have seeds. As I was eating the second fruit I started spitting out the seeds in my hand and was considering whether to try germinating them. My grandfather, a very good gardener, could grow citrus trees from seed and did so regularly. As I was considering this my daughter saw the seeds in my hand and got really excited and asked if we could plant them, and grow a orange tree and pick the oranges and eat them and never have to spend money on oranges again!?! Yes, these were her words. And you can guess that made up my mind.
Remembering what my granddad had told me, I nicked each seed with a knife (not sure how deep, so I could have screwed it up right off the bat). Then I soaked the seeds in water for 24 hours. My daughter, with the great memory, asked me at dinner if we get to plant them now. Yes, thanks for remembering when I forgot!
We planted the 4 seeds 1/2” deep, moistened the soil, and covered the pot in plastic wrap. Here goes nothin!
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