Description of the distinctive features of citron, conditions for cultivation, transplantation and reproduction, pest and disease control, interesting facts, species. Citron (Citrus medica) is a member of the numerous genus Citrus (Citrus), which, as dicotyledonous and dicotyledonous representatives of the flora of the planet, are ranked in the Rutaceae family. There is another name for it Tsedrat, and in Hebrew the name sounds like Etrog. Since time immemorial, this fruit has been cultivated in the western lands of India and Asia, and also found on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. This plant got to the countries of Europe long before our era. Today, this outlandish fruit is grown in many countries, but the areas that are occupied by citron plantations are quite small, since when the temperature drops to -3 - (- 4) degrees, the plants become very frozen. In the food industry, they are not used much, unlike other more hardy citrus fruits.
Citron takes its name from the word "citrus", which sounds like "zest" in ancient Greek and Latin dialects, although later it passed through the filter of romanization of scientists for whom Latin was not native. The Italian language still has this form, which denotes cedar (a coniferous plant with small nuts) and a representative of the citrus genus - citron.
It is a perennial plant with a tree or shrub growth. Differs in branches covered with single thorns that grow in the axils and reach a length of 3-5 cm.
The leaf plates are large in size, have elongated oval or elongated ovoid outlines, their surface is dense. Petioles are short, small with lionfish, sometimes absent. The edge of the sheet is serrated. On young shoots, the leaves are colored purple, and on mature branches, they become dark emerald. The length of the leaves can reach 17 cm. The scent of the leaf plates resembles lemon.
Flowering occurs in white buds with an admixture of reddish tones. They can be located singly or collected in inflorescences. As with all citrus fruits, the flowers are bisexual or functionally male, but, as a rule, self-pollination occurs.
The fruits of this exotic citrus are the largest in their entire genus, they can grow in length 12–40 cm with a diameter of 8–28 cm. Their shape is elongated, similar to lemon, there is a narrowing at the end. However, the shape varies greatly depending on the variety. The color can be either yellow, yellow-greenish or orange. The peel of the fruit is unusually thick and measures 2, 5–5 cm, its surface is bumpy and hard. There are a lot of seeds in the fruits.
The pulp of the fruit is not very juicy, consisting of sacs with practically no juice. Her taste is sour or sweet and sour, but fresh this fruit is not used for food. In cooking, it is used for the manufacture of confectionery, making jams, and all kinds of fillings. But from a very fragrant peel, an essential oil is produced with a strong odor, with its help drinks are flavored, and again used in cooking and confectionery. Very fragrant candied fruits and jam are obtained from the zest. The pulp contains about 5% citric acid, and sugar up to 2.5%, this is 0.7% sucrose. The essential oil in the peel of the fruit contains about 0, 2% and its composition is filled with the following components: limonene, dipentene, citral.
The growth rate of citron is very vigorous, it is practically devoid of a dormant period. It blooms several times a year.
Description of citron, agricultural technology when growing
- Lighting and selection of a place for a pot. The plant is light-loving enough, so a window of any location is suitable for it, just not the northern one. On the southern windowsill, you will have to shade the citron a little during the hours from 12 to 16 in the afternoon. The duration of daylight hours for a citron should not be less than 10 hours a day, if such lighting is not created, then the branches of the tree will begin to stretch out and the plant will lose its decorative effect. They are usually supplemented with fluorescent lamps or special phytolamps. With the arrival of autumn, supplementary lighting will have to be carried out on any windowsill.
- Content temperature. Citron is a thermophilic tree and it is better when the heat indicators in the spring-summer period fluctuate within the range of 25–35 degrees, and from autumn days the temperature is lowered to 10–15 degrees. Cold wintering will ensure further flowering and fruiting.
- Air humidity when growing citron. It is better when the moisture content in the air is in front of 40-65%. In spring and summer, it is necessary to spray the tree every day, you can shower the crown with warm water once every 1-3 months, only cover the soil in the pot with polyethylene.
- Watering. It is necessary to abundantly and regularly moisten the substrate in the pot, but it is not recommended to allow waterlogging and overdrying. The signal for watering is the drying of the topsoil. Water is taken soft, at room temperature. Better to use river or rainwater. When the plant is kept at low temperatures, watering is reduced.
- Fertilizer. In order for the citron to feel normal, bloom and bear fruit, then from the end of February to the beginning of September days, that is, during the period of active growth, it will be necessary to apply fertilizing with two-week regularity. Use citrus fertilizer according to the instructions. It is also recommended to alternate them with organic dressings (for example, mullein).
- Transfer and selection of soil. Plants are transplanted as they use up all the soil provided, when the roots are already visible from the drainage holes. Transplanting is required by the transshipment method, since citrus fruits do not like when their root system is disturbed, and this method is the most gentle. The pot is selected 1.5–2 cm larger than the previous container. Several holes are made in the bottom to drain excess moisture. Then a layer of 2-3 cm of drainage material (expanded clay or small pebbles) is poured there, on top of 1-2 cm of river sand, and only after that the soil is laid. The root collar is not deepened, but is set to a height, as in the previous pot.
The transplant substrate should have neutral acidity, be loose and light. You can use commercially available citrus soil or mix it yourself. To do this, mix sod soil, leafy, humus, coarse sand and a little clay (in proportions 3: 1: 1: 1: 0, 2). You can mix in a little ash or crushed charcoal.
Recommendations for breeding citron indoors
You can get a new decorative bush at home by grafting, since there are very few seeds in the fruits, and if they are, then in an immature state.
To do this, it is best in early spring to choose a twig with a semi-lignified top and cut a stalk 10-15 cm long. It is better to use garden tools or a well-sharpened knife for this, as the use of other tools will lead to chipping. This will negatively affect the future rooting of the cuttings. It is better not to use scissors, as they injure the branch and living tissue of the future plant. At the top of the cut branch, you need to leave only 3 leaf plates.
For rooting, use either soil for citrus plants or mix a substrate based on sand and humus soil, taken in equal parts. You can use the following design for landing - a plastic bottle is taken and cut in half. Several holes are made in the part where the bottom is located, they will serve to drain excess moisture. Then a disinfected moistened substrate is poured there, or you can lay the soil, and then pour boiling water over it. When the water drains and the soil cools down, you can plant a cutting. With the help of a long nail, a hole is made in the soil and the branch is deepened by about 2 cm. The ground around the cutting should be lightly pressed with your fingers or with the help of a carnation head. Then the second, upper part of the bottle is put on this "pot".
This entire structure is placed in a warm place with good lighting and a temperature of 20-25 degrees. The cover can be unscrewed slightly. With the help of the upper part of the bottle, it is easy to air the cuttings and moisten the soil. If you do not want to use a bottle, then after planting the cuttings in small containers filled with moistened soil, it is better to wrap them in a plastic bag - this will create the conditions for a mini greenhouse.
After 3-4 weeks, white roots will appear on the cuttings, when they grow a little, you can transplant into large pots, on the bottom of which a drainage layer and a substrate suitable for further growth are laid.
Problems when cultivating zedrate in rooms
Most often, citron is attacked by a red spider mite, scale insect or mealbug. Symptoms are yellowing of the leaves, their deformation and shedding, a sugary sticky bloom, a thin translucent cobweb or formations in the form of small lumps of cotton wool may appear on the stems and leaf surfaces. If these problems are identified, it is necessary to immediately treat the plant with insecticides, for example, "Aktara" or "Aktellik".
With a fungal disease such as wart or anthracnose, it is necessary to treat the plant with Bordeaux liquid or fungicides. If at the base of the plant trunk the bark began to peel off and die off, and this is accompanied by the release of gum - a light yellow liquid, then this began a viral disease of gummosis or gum flow. It is necessary to clean the trunk from dead bark to living tissue and treat the wounds with garden pitch.
Interesting facts about citron
Citron is used as one of the necessary plants when performing the ritual commandment "Netilat lulav", which is performed during the holiday of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) - one of the main holidays of the Jewish people, in which it is necessary to live in a special tent (Sukkah) and indulge in memories of wandering Jews in the Sinai Desert.
It is problematic to buy real citrons, for example, even in Israel, you can buy the fruits of this citrus only on holidays.
The peoples of Asia have a belief that if a woman eats one citron fruit a day, she will give birth to a son.
Since the fruits are practically not edible, citron extracts are actively used in cosmetology, adding as a perfume to shampoos or toilet water.
In some countries, citron leaves are used in cooking, stuffing is wrapped in them and something like dolma or stuffed cabbage is cooked in them. If the essence of citron is added to the dough from which the pasta will be made, then they will acquire a green tint.
In India, citron seedlings are often used as a rootstock to obtain citrus plants of more valuable crops, such as orange, grapefruit, lemon or tangerine. Many people grow citron as an interesting exotic plant (Citron medica var. Sarcodactylis). Since in the pulp of citron fruits, as in another representative of citrus fruits, there is a large amount of vitamins C, A and B, as well as useful trace elements and fiber, it is recommended to use it for the prevention of colds or flu. Warmed citron juice stimulates the improvement of immunity. The plant has pronounced antiseptic and antiviral properties. If you prepare a remedy based on honey and juice, you can treat cough, sore throat or bronchitis.
Eating fruits that contain so much fiber that are beneficial to the body can solve constipation problems and improve bowel function.
However, people who have problems with intestinal ulcer, stomach or duodenal ulcer should refuse to use citron, and also should not eat the fruits of exotics with viral hepatitis.
Interestingly, the citron fruit can relieve motion sickness and has been used as an antidote.
Citron species
- Citron etrog (Citrus medica etrog). Cultivation areas - the Mediterranean coast or Western Asia. The plant can be found under the name Ephroga or Greek citron, citron zedrat or Hebrew citron. As mentioned above, it is used in the ceremonies of Israel and even in ancient manuscripts it was called "the fruit of a beautiful tree." Its fruits are small in size with an elliptical or fusiform shape. Their surface is rough, covered with tubercles or mastoid outgrowths, painted in a yellow tint and rather thick. The pulp has a sour pleasant taste and a delicate smell; it has a pale yellow color. The fruit contains numerous grains.
- Citron Corsican (Citrus medica Corsican). A very old and popular variety of citron, which came from the island of Corsica, but for the first time it was mentioned in literary sources since 1891, when seedlings were brought from France to the lands of the United States. The plant is a low bush with a spreading crown. Its branches are sparse, but very powerful spines. The shoots are colored green. The leaf plates are very large, but their surface is thin and very fragile. The plant does not tolerate direct sunlight, drafts and temperature changes, gusts of wind. It blooms with medium-sized white buds. The fruits are very large, rarely medium. They take an oval or obovate shape. A prominent furrow is located at the base of the nipple. The surface of the peel is rough to the touch, rough, can be wrinkled, its color is bright yellow, and when it is fully ripe, it changes to orange. The thickness of the peel is significant. The albedo (the layer between the zest and the pulp) is thick, cotton-like, not juicy. There is practically no pulp in the fruits, it is also not filled with juice, but it tastes sweet.
- Finger citron (Citrus medica var.sarcodactylis). Also in literary sources it is called the "Hand of Buddha". Tropical and subtropical territories are considered the birthplace of growth. The plant reaches 3-4 meters in height, has the shape of a shrub or tree. The branches are sprawling and covered with sparse thorns. Leaf plates are located alternately on the shoots, attached to short petioles. Their length is 8-15 cm with a width of 3, 5-6, 5 cm. Their surface is leathery, pale green in color, dotted with glands, from which oil is released. The leaf shape is elongated, oblong-elliptical, elongated-obovate or oval. The apex is obtuse or may even be concave.
The buds are arranged one by one and have a delicate aroma. The flower has 5 petals, colored in shades from whitish to purple or light purple. The number of stamens can be up to 30 units. The flowering process starts from mid-spring to late May.
Fruiting occurs in the period from October to December. The fruits of this plant have multiple finger-dissected processes. They remain not spliced at the base, and this makes them look like a human palm. Probably, this association became the basis for the second name of citron. There is absolutely no pulp in the fruits, and if there is, then its amount is very small. Its taste is bitter and sour. The bones are either absent, or there are few of them and they are underdeveloped. It is believed that this shape of the fruit is associated with an abnormal defect in the plant's genetics.
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