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I'm a freshman in college. After moving into my dorm, I can't do a lot of the hobbies I had before college. Either I don't have enough space or enough money for almost everything I used to do.
When I was at home, I would grow a garden every year. As I was sitting at my desk eating an orange and drinking out of a bottle of water, I had an idea.
I happened to think "Hey, why can't I have a garden here?" After thinking it over, I realized that my dorm wasn't large enough for a decent garden, and I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on seeds.
I started trying to find ideas for a plant that produces fruit or vegetables in a dorm that would be long lived, have readily available seeds, and didn't cost too much top start and maintain.
Thinking this over, I was spitting my orange seeds out into the garbage can, I started thinking "what good are those going to do going to a landfill?"
For me orange seeds seem to fit the bill:
~Orange trees might produce the fruit I want***.
~Orange trees live for years.
~Oranges are covered under my school's meal plan, so I have an almost unlimited supply of seeds.
~Most of the items needed are recycled and are free or low cost.
~I'm already paying for my meal plan, so why not?
***NOTE: This is a big "might". Most indoor fruit trees never produce fruit. Most don't get enough light and don't get large enough to fruit. Your chances get better if you put your plants outside during the summer (and maybe winter if you live somewhere insanely hot).
When I was at home, I would grow a garden every year. As I was sitting at my desk eating an orange and drinking out of a bottle of water, I had an idea.
I happened to think "Hey, why can't I have a garden here?" After thinking it over, I realized that my dorm wasn't large enough for a decent garden, and I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on seeds.
I started trying to find ideas for a plant that produces fruit or vegetables in a dorm that would be long lived, have readily available seeds, and didn't cost too much top start and maintain.
Thinking this over, I was spitting my orange seeds out into the garbage can, I started thinking "what good are those going to do going to a landfill?"
For me orange seeds seem to fit the bill:
~Orange trees might produce the fruit I want***.
~Orange trees live for years.
~Oranges are covered under my school's meal plan, so I have an almost unlimited supply of seeds.
~Most of the items needed are recycled and are free or low cost.
~I'm already paying for my meal plan, so why not?
***NOTE: This is a big "might". Most indoor fruit trees never produce fruit. Most don't get enough light and don't get large enough to fruit. Your chances get better if you put your plants outside during the summer (and maybe winter if you live somewhere insanely hot).
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-Any type of citrus fruit- oranges, tangerines (which I like to call oranges too haha), lemons, limes, grapefruit, etc. (NOTE: some hybrid types of fruit can't be grown from seed. For example, navel oranges don't have seeds)
-a water bottle- The thick ones with straight rings around it are better, but almost any plastic bottle will work.
-Soil- I suppose you could use soil from outside, but the ground was frozen and something tells me the campus officials would have my head if I took any of their dirt. The first time I did this I used peat pellets. They retain water and don't have much nutrition. I went out and bought top soil from a local big box store.
-Paper towel
-Plastic bag
-Tape-Optional
Tools:
-knife- to cut the bottom of the bottle off. Remember cut away from yourself. Knives are sharp. Don't maim yourself. I'm not liable if you do.
-a water bottle- The thick ones with straight rings around it are better, but almost any plastic bottle will work.
-Soil- I suppose you could use soil from outside, but the ground was frozen and something tells me the campus officials would have my head if I took any of their dirt. The first time I did this I used peat pellets. They retain water and don't have much nutrition. I went out and bought top soil from a local big box store.
-Paper towel
-Plastic bag
-Tape-Optional
Tools:
-knife- to cut the bottom of the bottle off. Remember cut away from yourself. Knives are sharp. Don't maim yourself. I'm not liable if you do.
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Mango takes a long time to germinate. A heating mat helps. About $30, 15 watts. I've kept a few alive but no great successes (on the other hand, the mango trees i had shipped from Florida died in their first winter, indoors). Depending on the species, they can be monoembryonic or polyembryonic. The Atulfo mangoes seem to be mono, the big ones seem to be polyembryonic.
Pomegranate germinate very easily, grow like weeds. I'm still waiting to see mine flower though. It's over 3 ft tall and living in my greenhouse.
Dragon fruit are from cacti. The seeds germinate easily. They don't grow particularly quickly , but they seem very tolerant of my cold house. Hopefully they'll produce in a few years.
Growing fruit from seed that you plan on eating can be really rough. Fruit trees for eating are generally started with cuttings. There's even folktales that all of Johnny Appleseeds apple fruit was inedible; but it made some banging applejack (strong liquor).
With oranges, you generally get 3 sprouts; 2 the genetic twins of the "mother" plant, and the 3rd is like a sexually reproduced baby; it's got whatever the mom and dad plant contributed....and the dad plant might not necessarily be tasty. So making sure to cut down the 3rd seedling to sprout (usually the biggest and strongest) will help. Buuuutttt, a tree grown from seed also might not produce fruit for 3-4 years after it seeded, and then only produce for a year or two. It's just how fruit roll.
That being said, just like Johnny Appleseed's hooch; that doesn't mean that you won't have a beautiful tree that produces fragrant blooms, and brings fresh air and greenery into your home or yard, or that there's no use for it's fruit. Just don't blame the tree toooo much if its fruit doesn't taste quite like the "parent"
I took an idea from the "tree sculptures" and wrapped the two sprouts around each other, so they hold each other up. Works very well
i also use 2 litter pop bottles for green house starts