Sanguinelli Blood Orange Tree

1. Planting: Blood Orange Trees need plenty of sunlight...6 to 8 hours per day is best. They can tolerate some shade but thrive in full sun. These trees also do better in areas with high humidity, so we recommend misting the leaves daily.

If you're container planting, ensure the container you choose has drainage holes and is about twice the width of your plant's shipped container.

When you're ready to plant (in the ground or in a container), make a hole twice as wide and just as deep as the root system. Place the tree in the hole and backfill it with your well-draining soil. After planting, mulch around the tree to conserve moisture.

2. Watering: Generally, we recommend watering about once or twice weekly. Allow the top 2 to 3 inches of the soil to dry out completely before watering again.

For potted Blood Oranges, stick your index finger into the soil down to about 2 inches. If there is moisture present, hold off on watering until it feels drier at that depth, and when you do water, stop once you see it escaping the drainage holes at the base of the pot.

3. Fertilizing: Feed your Blood Orange Tree during the warmer spring and summer seasons with a citrus specific fertilizer, once every six weeks. During the fall and winter season, ease back to fertilizing once every 2 to 3 months. Once the tree has matured a bit and has got a few years on it, you can skip the cold season fertilization. When you fertilize, follow the application instructions written on the fertilizer bag.

4. Pruning: Pruning can be done at any time of the year for in-ground Blood Oranges, except during the winter. Make 45-degree angle cuts to remove dead or crossing limbs and also to thin out the tree to allow more light between the branches.

After the tree fruits, remove any dead wood and ventilate the center of the tree. Remove suckers as they form/grow from the base. Pruning can be done at any time of the year for the potted Blood Orange.

5. Pollination: You can pollinate your indoor trees by hand - simply take a small, dry, fine-tipped paintbrush and stick it into the center of the bloom. Swirl it around and collect the pollen on the brush. Go to the next bloom and repeat the process until every bloom has been treated. Do this once daily and don’t wash the paintbrush until all blooms have been pollinated. The blooms will fall off naturally and the fruit will form in their place.