Day 1: Planting the seeds.

After doing a bit of research through Google, I took information from all of the websites, and conducted my experiment.

One website *here* was very informative. It explains that if you have seeds from an orange, you need to refrigerate them for 3 or 4 weeks because the store-bought seeds are usually shocked too. It said to wrap the seeds in towels but it did not say if you should wet them or not. It also said to test the seeds in a cup of water... the seeds that sink will be able to sustain themselves to grow (hardy seeds), while the ones that floated (bad seeds) weren't hardy enough to sustain themselves. This information is new to me, but I accepted the challenge.

Another website *here* reads that you can use the paper towel method to start germination, but using soil cups are more effective.

So we now have a few options to grow the seeds:
1. Chill the seeds for 3 weeks dry, then plant them in soil
          (I chose 1 hardy seed)
2. Chill the seeds for 3 weeks wet, then plant them in soil
          (I chose 1 bad seed)
3. Grow seeds paper towel wet, then plant them in soil
          (I chose 1 hardy seed in the sunlight, and 1 hardy seed in the dark)

*OR*

4. Grow seeds in soil from the get-go, cross your fingers and hope the most logical application works.
          (I chose 12 bad seeds) [These are exposed to direct/indirect sunlight]

Extra: A website *here* described how oranges are a perfect flower, meaning they have both male and female parts, and that you can grow an orange tree indoors, but they get very large and there probably isn't enough sunlight (duh). However, you can make bonsai trees (see *here* ) with orange trees (very exciting!).

So, here's to day 1.

-Dee

Orange Seeds

Walking down one of the rows of our orange grove, I spotted what appeared to be the most beautiful orange I have ever saw since moving back to Florida. It was on the ground, but it was bug-less and it smelled very citrus-y, so I decided I would take it inside and butcher it.

Unfortunately, it did not occur to me that when things rot, they become very sour. Now, this orange was VERY sour tasting, but it didn't look rotted, so how was I to know? Sheesh.

Since it was such a beautiful orange, I didn't want to waste it. I decided I would try to grow the seeds to make more beautiful oranges, and use those trees to replace the ones that have died in the grove.

As I "googled" "how to grow an orange from a seed", I came across a few websites in which I read, and gathered information on how to grow myself a tree from a seed. What was unexpected was that many people had different ideas on how to grow their own seeds, and I was definitely confused on what would be the most successful way to grow my trees. So I decided to do a little experiment and grow these seeds a few different ways to help clarify the best way to grow the seed. I thought it would benefit the world if I cleared up a few things (or just make them more complicated) by keeping a blog for the progress of the seeds. After all, I'm obviously no professional.

Note: My idea was to put a seed in a bag with a paper towel and set it by the window until it grew roots, then plant that into a pot, and let it grow for a bit, then replant it in the ground. Simple.

So, throughout the weeks, I will be blogging about my seeds. What works, what doesn't, what I've done and have not or will not do. Hope this benefits someone out there...

-Dee