Tree · Rutaceae
Tangerine
Citrus reticulata
Set it in full sun with steady water and shelter from frost, and a tangerine brings sweet fruit to the winter table.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 9–11
12–15 ft · 3.7–4.6 m
Overview
A tangerine is a kind of mandarin, the deep red-orange, easy-peeling citrus that turns a cool-season kitchen into something festive. Its fruit ripens through the quiet winter months, arriving just as the garden and the fruit bowl run bare. Placed in a warm, sunlit corner, it offers fragrant spring blossom and, later, a generous harvest of bright, sweet fruit.
By nature these are subtropical trees, at their most at home in warm regions where frost keeps its distance. Where winter arrives in earnest, a large pot lets the tree live on a sunny terrace through the season and move under cover when the cold sets in. That ease in a container makes a homegrown citrus part of everyday life far beyond the groves.
The tree fits gracefully into a routine built on a few steady habits: a sunlit position, soil that drains, and regular feeding to hold its color. Given that, it stays for years as a long-lived perennial, a lasting fixture rather than a passing season's flourish. Most of its troubles trace to soggy roots, hungry soil, or a hard freeze.
Care
The short version: a bright, sun-filled spot, sandy soil that drains freely and leans slightly acidic, and steady water that never leaves the roots sitting wet. Feed a citrus fertilizer through the growing season, and give it cover once frost is in the forecast.
Light
Give a tangerine full sun, 6 to 8 hours a day, and site it where the light pours into the brightest part of the garden or terrace. It will accept a little partial sun, though shade thins the crop and draws the growth out, so the sunniest corner is the one to choose.
Water
Water a new tree about twice a week and an established one weekly to every two weeks, easing back through cool or rainy stretches. Let the top inch of soil dry between waterings, a rhythm easy to fold into a weekly routine. The one thing it will not abide is soggy roots.
Soil
Plant it in sandy, well-drained loam kept slightly acidic, at a pH of 5.5 to 6.5. That range keeps iron, manganese, and zinc available, and the free drainage spares the roots the wet feet that invite rot.
Temperature
A tangerine is comfortable across a broad range, from about 39°F (4°C) up to 100°F (38°C), so ordinary conditions rarely trouble it. Frost is the exception, since a freeze burns the leaves and kills tender twigs, which makes a warm, sheltered position the heart of a good spot.
Humidity
Average indoor air, around 40% to 60%, suits it perfectly. Outdoors there is nothing to manage, and a tree brought inside wants only a little extra moisture through the dry rooms of winter.
Feeding
Feed a balanced citrus fertilizer carrying iron, manganese, and zinc from spring through fall, roughly February to October. Those micronutrients hold the foliage a deep, even green and keep the yellowing that dulls citrus at bay.
Pruning
A tangerine asks for little at the pruning bench. Remove dead, damaged, or crossing wood, clear the rootstock suckers below the graft, and thin lightly once the harvest is in. A heavy hand only trades away next season's fruit.
Repotting
Move a container tree into a larger pot every 2 to 3 years, or sooner if roots circle the pot, water runs straight through, or growth slows. Fresh mix and a little more room keep a potted tangerine looking and cropping its best.
Size & spacing
A tangerine settles at about 12 to 15 feet (3.7 to 4.5 m) tall and nearly as wide, an easy scale for a courtyard or a sunny border. Give it that much open room, or hold it smaller and more contained in a generous pot.
When to plant
A tangerine keeps to the rhythm of a warm season and has no patience for a hard frost. Plant a young tree in spring once the cold has lifted, let the fragrant white bloom mark the warming weeks, and gather the fruit from late fall into winter.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Spring, after all danger of frost has passed
- Harvest: Fragrant white flowers in spring; fruit ripens late fall to winter (about November to January)
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 9–11
Temperature: down to -7°C
Troubleshooting
A tangerine tends to signal its needs early, and the story plays out in the leaves and the fruit. Yellowing, sticky foliage, and dropped fruit each speak to a different cause. Read the sign that matches yours below and respond before it turns.
Fallen leaves and dead twigs after a cold snap
Dropped leaves and dying twigs after a freeze signal cold injury, and tender mandarins feel it sooner than the hardier satsuma types. Wait for new growth before pruning, since it reveals just how far the cold reached. Cover young trees and add warmth during a freeze to keep it from returning.
Fix:
- Prune out dead wood only after new growth shows extent of damage
- Protect with covers or heat during freezes
Yellow leaves with the veins still green
When the leaves pale to yellow while the veins hold their green, the tree is short on iron, manganese, or zinc. It usually follows soil that has slipped past the 5.5 to 6.5 pH range and locked those nutrients out of reach. Offer a citrus fertilizer with chelated micronutrients, ease the pH back into range, and open up the drainage.
Fix:
- Apply a citrus fertilizer with chelated micronutrients
- Correct overly acidic or alkaline soil
- Improve drainage
Sticky leaves, a black film, or speckled foliage
Sticky leaves and a sooty black film mark the arrival of sap-sucking pests, usually scale, mealybugs, or spider mites. They feed on the sap and leave honeydew for the mold to settle on, while mites bring a fine stippling and webbing instead. A wash of water clears a small outbreak, and horticultural or neem oil handles a wider one.
Fix:
- Spray horticultural or neem oil per label
- Wash off light infestations with water
Young fruit dropping before it ripens
A tangerine releases some of its young fruit as a matter of course, and a thirsty tree lets go of far more. This is premature fruit drop, often woven into the tree's rhythm of a heavy year followed by a light one. Deep, steady watering and a layer of mulch help it hold on to more of what it sets.
Fix:
- Provide steady, deep irrigation
- Mulch to conserve moisture
Toxicity
For people the ripe fruit is a simple pleasure, sweet and entirely safe at the table. The rest of the plant asks for care, since the peel, leaves, and stems carry citrus oils and psoralens that can unsettle cats, dogs, and horses. Keep pets clear of the rind, the foliage, and the prunings.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Mild
A cat that chews the peel, leaves, or seeds may drool, be sick, or develop loose stools, with the oils leaving the skin irritated. The flesh does no harm, though few cats show any interest in the sour fruit.
Dogs Mild
A dog that gnaws the rind or foliage tends toward an upset stomach, loose stools, and a subdued, low mood. A taste of the peeled segment is harmless, while the bitter oils in the peel are not.
Horses Mild
The citrus oils and psoralens in the leaves and peel can leave a horse drooling, off its feed, and loose in the gut. Keep prunings and peelings well away from the paddock.
Rabbits Caution
The oily peel and leaves do not suit a rabbit's sensitive gut and belong out of reach. A thin sliver of the flesh on occasion is the most to offer.
Livestock Caution
Goats, sheep, and cattle may pick at fallen fruit, yet the peel and foliage can turn the stomach in any amount. Gather up prunings rather than leaving the herd to browse.
Birds Caution
A small piece of the peeled flesh suits most pet birds, though the peel and leaves carry the irritating oils and are best withheld. Set the rind and seeds aside.
People Safe
The ripe fruit is a sweet, everyday indulgence and perfectly safe to eat. Only the bitter peel and leaves hold the strong oils, so the table is nothing to worry over.
Keep peels, leaves, and seeds away from pets, where the irritating essential oils are most concentrated.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
United Kingdom
Animal PoisonLine: 01202 509000 (fee applies)
Australia
Animal Poisons Helpline: 1300 869 738
Varieties
Many mandarins reach the market as tangerines, though a handful of names recur. These are the ones worth knowing.
Dancy
The heritage Florida tangerine, dressed in deep red-orange skin that slips away with ease and ripening from December into January.
Clementine
A small, sweet mandarin, all but seedless, that comes free of its skin at the lightest touch.
Owari Satsuma
The most cold-hardy mandarin of this set, seedless and among the earliest to ripen.
Sunburst
A Florida mandarin hybrid grown as an early-season stand-in for the true tangerines.
How to propagate
A tangerine can be increased three ways, and they are far from equal. Grafting is the grower's choice, seed is the slow gamble, and air-layering rests between the two.
GraftingModerate
Spring to summer · Bears fruit in about 2 to 3 years
Grafting is the grower's method of choice, joining a chosen variety to a rootstock through spring or summer. It holds the fruit true to type and lends the tree disease and cold tolerance from the roots, with a grafted specimen usually fruiting within 2 to 3 years.
SeedEasy
Spring · Several years to first fruit
Sowing seed in spring is the simple route, and the patient one. Seedlings tend to stray from the parent and linger in a long juvenile phase, so first fruit can be several years off.
Air layeringModerate
Warm growing season · Several months to root
Air-layering through the warm growing season produces a clone on its own roots and asks for several months to take. It sets the rootstock aside, and with it the extra disease and cold tolerance those roots would lend.
Myths
A tangerine is its own botanical species, apart from the mandarin.
In fact, tangerine is a market name for certain deep red-orange mandarins, all of them the single species Citrus reticulata. The word itself recalls the port of Tangier. So a tangerine is a kind of mandarin, never a species standing apart.
Every part of a citrus is poisonous, which makes the fruit itself unsafe for pets.
The ripe flesh carries no such risk. The ASPCA traces citrus toxicity to the essential oils and psoralens held in the peel, leaves, and seeds, and their effect stops at mild stomach upset. Keep the rind and foliage from pets, and leave the segments off the worry list.