With mandarin, a representative of the large family of citrus fruits, almost everyone is familiar. The birthplace of this bright orange fruit is, according to some reports, China, and according to others - India.
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About tangerine tree
Citrus fruits belong to the root family and are divided into 7 subfamilies. Mandarin - from the subfamily of oranges. Vegetation of most citrus fruits begins in the usual time for central Russia - in late April or early May. On tangerines, a friendly and powerful growth of shoots with young foliage begins. The old, dark foliage on the branches that grew earlier is preserved, like all evergreen trees. Mandarins have a leaf life of 2 years, so the growth of new leaves and branches is accompanied by massive decay of two-year-old leaves. Leaf fall in tangerine groves stretches from spring to mid-summer, gradually fading away.
Young shoots are strengthened, and the leaves darken on them, tangerine begins to bloom. This occurs in late May and the first half of June. The flower petals are white-pink and very fleshy, after the tangerines fade, all the soil under the trees is covered with them. After flowering is over, the second wave of shoot growth begins. They grow less than in spring, and they are formed mainly in the crown.
It takes several months to ripen the set fruit. Sometimes a lot of ovaries form, and already in June-July, half of them fall. To regulate fruiting, even in the flowering period, they try to break off the extra ovaries, which only deplete the tree. This is a very time-consuming process, but it affects the quality of the crop in the best way.
Tangerines ripen in the fall. The fruits are edible in October, but at that time they are still very sour. Full ripening occurs from mid-November to the end of December in some varieties. After harvesting, tangerine trees continue to grow without dropping leaves. In the winter months, tangerine groves begin a short rest period.