Orange, Santra - 0.5 kg Seeds

Orange or Santra, Citrus reticulata, is the loose-skinned mandarin grown widely as a commercial fruit tree in India, most famously in the Nagpur, Coorg and Darjeeling-Sikkim belts. It is a small to medium evergreen tree with a rounded crown of glossy aromatic leaves and fragrant white blossoms, followed by easy-peeling, sweet-tangy orange fruit that ripens through the cooler months. Every part is aromatic, the fruit and peel are widely used fresh and in juices and flavourings, and the tree also makes an attractive, fragrant garden specimen.

• Family: Rutaceae
• Native region: North-eastern India and southern China
• Mature height: 4–8 m
• Growth rate: Moderate

Citrus seed is best sown fresh as it loses viability on drying, and mandarin seed is often polyembryonic, throwing several seedlings per seed. Rinse off the pulp, soak the seeds for 12–24 hours, and sow them about 1 cm deep in a moist, well-drained nursery mix kept warm. Germination takes roughly three to four weeks; prick out the strongest seedlings into bags, noting that seedlings are mainly used as rootstock since named varieties are propagated by budding for true-to-type fruit.