Orla

Sweet orange tree

• 
  Easy care
• 
  Bright light
• 
  Pollinator friendly

• Orla likes...
  • 
    A sunny spot

    Like all citrus trees, she likes lots of sunshine. More sun means sweeter fruit.

  • 
    Moist soil

    In hot weather she’ll need frequent watering to keep her soil moist. She won’t need much in winter.

  • 
    Feeding

    You’ll get a lot more fruit if you give her a good feed every week or so in spring and summer.

• Quick facts

  Botanical name

  Citrus sinensis

  Nickname

  Sweet orange

  Plant type

  Outdoor citrus tree

  Plant height (including pot)

  80cm

  Pet/Baby safe?

  Mildly toxic to pets, but cats hate the smell

  Nursery pot size

  21cm

• About sweet orange trees

  Yes, you can grow your own oranges in the UK, and delicious they are too. This lovely tree is a hybrid of pomelo and mandarin orange. It produces heavily scented leaves, beautiful flowers and lots of edible fruit. The fruit, which is about the size of a tangerine, appears after the flowers and takes around a year to ripen.

  Like most citrus plants, it loves lots of sun, so put it in your brightest outdoor spot. It likes its soil moist, which may mean watering every couple of days at the height of summer. In colder months, every few weeks should be fine. Always make sure excess water can drain out of the bottom of the pot.

  Citrus trees can be damaged by very cold temperatures, so it’s best to bring it inside for autumn and winter, then put it back out when the weather warms up. Put it near a window, so it can get lots of light, but away from hot radiators.

  Depending on the time of year, your tree may arrive without fruit, but if you give it enough warmth and sun it should flower and fruit from spring.

  Did you know?

  While the sweet orange is a hybrid, rather than a naturally occurring fruit, it has been around for a very long time. The first recorded mention was in 314 B.C.