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Have you ever wondered what is the life cycle of an orange? When are they collected and when are they the sweetest? In this blog we explain everything you need to know about their growth cycle.
The orange tree
The life of the orange tree – the tree that produces the oranges – often begins with a rootstock that will support it throughout its life. The orange tree can rarely be grown from seeds because it is a delicate tree: it can not stand the cold, it needs certain types of soils and it takes a special care.
The childhood
The second phase of life is childhood. This is a period of approximately 2 – 3 years in which there is no production.
Youth
The orange tree reaches its youth between 5 and 7 years and at this point begins its reproductive life. In this stage the tree is giving more and more fruit and continues to develop, although in a more relaxed way.
The maturity
Maturity is the stage of full production. In this stage the growth slows down and most of the energies of the tree are spent in flowering and fructifying and not in growing. The flowering and fruiting phase can last up to 30 years if the tree is well cared for.
Old age
Fruit production will decrease more and more but the tree will continue to produce for a few more years.
The decrepitude
In this time the tree hardly bears fruit and is increasingly sensitive to diseases, parasites and viruses.
The Orange
The flowering phase
This phase corresponds to the spring when all the trees are filled with flowers and invade nature with their aroma. However, not all the flowers of the orange tree become fruit, most of the flowers of orange blossom falling to the ground.
The curd phase
In this stage the orange blossom finally becomes fruit. In this phase is when you can use techniques such as parthenocarpy (a form of sterile development) that allow you to create fruits without seeds. Even so, the pollination of bees continues to play a very important role in obtaining a good harvest.
The phase of fattening of the orange
This is the stage of growth of the fruit itself. In this process there are several factors that influence the outcome of the harvest, a very important one being the climate. Climate depends both on the size of the fruit and its sweetness or acidity, how juicy it is and how quickly it reaches maturity.
– High temperatures during the day make the juice sweeter
– Average temperatures improve the synthesis of carbohydrates
– Temperatures lower than 13 degrees during the day cause the oranges to undergo a change in their color.
The collection stage
It is the stage of collection of the fruit. To obtain the best results, it is important to collect at the most optimum moment of ripening, since if it is too hot, the fruits fall from the tree because they can not stand.
Do you want to know more about oranges? Click here to find out why you should add orange juice to your breakfast.