Hello,
A month ago i put some mandarin sees into soil, and now i have 6 seedlings. I researched growing mandarins in pots with google, and from somewhere i found out that mandarin seedlings die very often. Is this true? What causes it?

I would've loved to buy a citrus, but it isn't too commonly sold here in finland, so i couldn't find one.

A few days ago i was cleaning out my germinating desk, and almost threw away two germinating cups with mandarin seeds in, i searched through the soil and found two seeds that were growing roots. So i washed one of them and planted it in my ebb&flood hydroponic system along with my chilis, and it started growing fast.

Does anyone have any experience with citrus in a hydro? Once again, google gives no results.

Also, i noticed this funny thing with one of my mandarin seeds:


How normal is that one citrus seed grows three seedlings?

- Citrus are very easy to grow from seeds but it is long to germinate.
- You will often hear the citrus don't like to have roots in water. It is not true, they love it but they cannot stand reducting (anoxyc) middle.
I grow citrus in water (glass test tubes) and it's ok. It will do fine in hydroponic I presume.
- For the second question, make google search with "citrus polyembryonie nucellar"
- If you grow those seeds just for the fun its ok, but don't hope fruits.
You would better buy citrus from European nurseries they send plants in all Europe and you will have no issue with sanitary controls.

I do not know much about hydroponics, however, if you wish to grow a citrus variety as a containerized tree from seed with the intention of obtaining fruit, then mandarins are a very good choice. Normally as a container grown tree started from seed a mandarin will begin to flower and fruit in 5 years. I have grown many seedling mandarins in containers in a year around warm greenhouse, which have bloomed and fruited in 2-1/2 years. For the fastest growth a mandarin should always be kept between 25C - 30C. Temperatures at or below 13C the tree will stop all growth. If your mandarin is setting in direct sunlight always keep the root zone (soil) at least 18C, or your tree could very easily drop all of it leaves. Good luck to your tree. Let us know from time to time how your mandarin is doing. Welcome to the citrus forum, we are very happy that you have become a member. - Millet (Drill ANWR)

Citrus roots require (1) warmth (2) moisture (3) oxygen (4) nutrition. A tree could be grown under many types of systems, that provides all four requirements. It will be interesting to follow the progress of your mandarin using your system. - Millet

I am very interested in your progress with hydroponics.
Please keep us posted.

Well,
in hydroponics I did a test of four well know rootstocks in their performance and usage of this system!
I used:

• Citrus volkameriana - Volkamer Lemon
  
• Citrus aurantium - Sour Orange
  
• Citrus macrophylla - the Alemow
  
• Poncirus trifoliata - trifoliate Orange
  

The seedlings were grown in typical hydroponic pots and got regular treatment with a nutrition solution.
The oberservation was done on about 1 year. Starting in Spring and ending in Spring of the following year.

Usually most seedlings of Sour Orange suffered from a very hard root decay, due direct contact with the nutrition solution. So here, this rootstock endet up in reaching only 20 cm height....
The Alemow, know as very tolerant for flooding conditions and root rot as the trifoliate orange was promising, because growing good, and exhibit the a dense rootstock, but suffering often from rotten rot tips.... So the plant reached only 30 cm, but was still alive and growing.
The Volkamer Lemon was a surprise. I tought, that those rootstocks, very susceptible to root rot and intolerant to flooding coditions would quickly die, but this was not what happened. The Volkamer Lemon was only 20 cm behind the 40 cm high grown trifoliate stocks, still growing and most roots, which died due contact with the nutrition soluten were quickly replaced by new roots. So as the trifoliate stock in winter lost it's leaves and get into dormancy, the Volkamer Lemon still growing was ending up 10 cm ahead of the trifoliate stock in next spring... the rootstock I considered dying frist survived and showed largest growth...
Pocirus trifolata was growng well, showed the less damaged roots of all compared rootstocks and was very vigorously growing, faster than all other stocks. So it was in fall 40 cm high, reaching up more double of all other rootstocks, before getting into a dormancy....

So these are my experiences, before I abandoned this trial....

Hello,
My mandarin triples that grew from the same seed have only grown the first leaves, and seem to have stuck in this stage, when five other plants are already growing their third or fourth pairs of leaves. What could cause this? The conditions for all seedlings are the same..

Citrus go thru growth spurts--the leaves grow for a while, then the roots, then the leaves again. The three together may be competing for nutrients, you can divide then carefully.

Once you put your mandarin seedling into a container, be sure to only water the trees in the morning. Then place the trees in the sun so the surface layer of the soil quickly dries. This will greatly help to keep your seedling from being killed due to the fungus rhizoctonia. (stem rot). Rhizoctonia, is a very common killer of small mandarin seedlings, if the surface of the soil stays moist. The fungus does not live on dry soil. - Millet