How To Grow Oranges: Orchard Planting, Care & Harvest

Growing Requirements For Orange Orchards

Orange trees prefer well-drained, deep, and fertile soils. Grow them in subtropical and tropical regions with moderate temperatures and at least 8 to 10 hours of sunlight a day.

What Soil Do Orange Trees Grow In?

The best types of soil to grow these citrus trees are sandy loams or loams that allow water to drain freely rather than pooling around the roots. In waterlogged and compacted soils, the trees experience water stress and often develop health issues.

Ideally, the soil pH for orange trees to grow should be between 6.0 and 7.5 (slightly acidic to neutral soils). Highly acidic soils (below pH 5.0) can lead to deficiencies in calcium and magnesium, while highly alkaline soils (above pH 8.0) can cause chlorosis and negatively affect tree health ^{Revelant, L. et al. (2004, December 17). How to manage soil for citrus. NSW (New South Wales) Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Australia.}. Soil salinity restricts plant growth and reduces harvests. If you’re dealing with salty soil or irrigation water, you’ll need to leach the soil to move salts out of the root zone or find better water sources.

What Climate Do Orange Trees Grow In?

Growing oranges comes off in climates where stable, warm temperatures support healthy flowering and fruit development. While the growing crop can tolerate some temperature fluctuations, both extreme cold and intense heat can significantly impact fruit quality and overall tree health.

To plan an orchard effectively, you need reliable climate data for your specific location. EOSDA Crop Monitoring provides over 20 years of field-specific weather records, helping you analyze temperature, wind, and precipitation patterns. These insights, along with five-year averages, guide practical decisions about row direction, cold and heat protection, irrigation, and windbreak placement. Besides using the platform for analysis, growers can download comprehensive XLSX reports with key weather parameters for external usage.

Site Selection And Planting Orange Trees

To ensure healthy growth and abundant fruiting, start with selecting a spot that gets enough sunshine and has good drainage. Plant orange trees providing room for their roots and crowns to spread.

How To Choose A Planting Site And Manage The Soil

Successful orange tree growing starts with a careful site assessment. First, consider elevation — sweet varieties need to grow in areas below 1,640 feet (500 meters) with year-round moderate temperatures. Choose flat terrain or gentle slopes that naturally drain cold air, minimizing the risk of frost damage to growing trees. EOSDA Crop Monitoring’s Slope and Elevation maps make this assessment easier by showing you detailed terrain characteristics before planting. In just a few clicks, you can evaluate multiple areas, including scattered and remote ones, and choose the best for your new orchard.

To grow orange trees on the sloped land, you should construct terraces. Terraces not only prevent erosion but also help maintain vertical tree growth and simplify orchard management. Soil preparation comes next: use deep tilling to break up compacted soil layers, particularly in previously cultivated areas. Incorporate organic matter and balance nutrients to support the establishment of strong root systems in newly planted trees.

When To Plant

Spring (minimum 6 weeks after the last frost) is an optimal time for planting in many growing regions, as the soil temperatures are warming up, and there is residual moisture from winter precipitation. Early autumn, September to October, is also a good time to start the orange growing season. The air temperatures begin to cool, but the soil remains warm, promoting root establishment without the stress of summer heat.

How To Plant

Growing commercial orange orchards starts with grafting — joining a youngees (within 10 years), combines the best characteristics of a rootstock and scion, such as disease resistance and fruit quality ^{Niedz, R. P., Bowman, K. D. (2023, October 18). Improving citrus bud grafting efficiency. Scientific Reports, 13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44832-x.}. Space the grafted trees 20–23 feet (6–7 meters) apart to giv shoot, also known as a scion, from a quality orange tree variety onto sturdy rootstock. This method, which allows trees to bear fruit sooner (typically within 3–4 years) than seedling-derived tre them room to grow. Consider planting low growing cover crops between rows to increase soil organic matter and prevent erosion, which are particularly important in sloped growing areas.

How To Care For An Orange Tree Orchard

Irrigation, pest and disease control, fertilization, and pruning are the most critical parts of caring for orange trees. Taken as a whole, these methods make crops more resilient, which in turn increases fruit quality and production.

Irrigation

Growing healthy oranges requires precise irrigation management. Typical orange tree water requirements are about 35–47 inches (900–1,200 mm) per year, with more frequent watering during spring and summer growth. Drip irrigation systems help maintain consistent soil moisture while conserving water to prevent both root rot from overwatering and reduced yields from water stress.

Crop growth stages and rainfall patterns should be considered in your orange tree watering schedule. To simplify irrigation management, many growers use EOSDA Crop Monitoring’s Field activity log. This digital tool helps agriculture consultants and farm managers plan and document watering schedules across different growing areas. The log also serves as a central place to record all field operations, helping you make informed decisions about your orange orchard’s water needs throughout the growing season.

Pest And Disease Control

Growing orange trees attract various harmful insects, from tiny aphids to distinctive bronze orange bugs. These pests, especially sap-sucking ones, can seriously damage leaves and fruit when populations grow unchecked. Natural predators and well-timed treatments help keep pest numbers low while protecting beneficial insects.

The challenge grows when crop diseases enter the picture — fungal infections discolor leaves and fruit, while bacterial diseases can stunt growth and eventually kill trees if untreated. Understanding these threats helps crop producers spot and solve problems quickly. Let’s explore the key diseases that affect growing orange trees, along with effective ways to manage them.

While these diseases seem overwhelming, modern technology offers powerful tools to stay ahead of them. The Disease risk feature in EOSDA Crop Monitoring transforms weather forecasts and plant growth stages into timely alerts about possible disease outbreaks. Instead of discovering problems after they’ve damaged your trees, you get clear warnings when conditions favor disease development. This helps you apply preventive sprays and other controls at exactly the right time, protecting your orchards before diseases can take hold.

Fertilizing

Growing orange trees are heavier feeders than most other citrus crops. Young trees require more frequent feeding (monthly) starting about 6 weeks after planting, while mature trees can be fertilized every two to three months. For best results, add most of the nitrogen fertilizer when trees start growing leaves until they form fruit. Don’t apply fertilizer during the cold season when trees are dormant.

Average orange tree fertilizer requirements per year are 107–178 lb/ac (120–200 kg/ha) of nitrogen, 27–40 lb/ac (30–40 kg/ha) of phosphorus, and 54–134 lb/ac (60–150 kg/ha) of potassium. It may seem like applying one amount from the lower limit to save fertilizer or the one from the upper limit to boost yields is enough. However, in practice, this method frequently fails to provide the intended outcome. We recommend using VRA maps to identify areas with lower and higher productivity and then fertilizing orange trees accordingly.

Pruning And Thinning

For young trees, early pruning establishes a strong canopy structure that can support heavy crop loads in future growing seasons. Commercial farmers typically begin shaping a growing orange tree in its second year, repeating selective pruning every 2 to 5 years. Regular pruning of mature trees focuses on removing:

• dead or diseased wood that can harbor pathogens and reduce plant vigor;
• crossing or rubbing branches that create entry points for diseases;
• water sprouts and root suckers that divert resources from fruit production;
• low-hanging branches that are more susceptible to soil-borne pathogens and diseases and can obstruct access to the tree for maintenance tasks.

Fruit thinning complements these practices by managing crop loads. While hand thinning demands significant labor, it offers precise control in removing undersized or damaged fruits, particularly beneficial when growing premium orange varieties like Navel and Valencia. For regular varieties, combining manual and mechanical methods during an early fruit set might be more practical.

How Long Does It Take To Grow An Orange Tree?

Trees grown from seeds need 7–10 years before producing fruit, and there’s no guarantee the fruit will match the parent tree’s quality. A more reliable approach is growing from grafted trees. These 1–2-year-old plants are already established and typically bear fruit within 2–3 years when properly maintained. The exact timing can vary depending on factors such as the variety of the orange tree, growing conditions, and care practices. After successful pollination, it takes an additional 5 to 13 months for the fruit to mature, depending on the specific variety and growing conditions. Orange trees can remain productive for 30–40 years, though production gradually decreases after this period.

How To Harvest Oranges

Since oranges don’t ripen after being picked, they need to be harvested when fully mature, typically 6 to 12 months after flowering. Growers have a 2–3 month window to complete the harvest before the fruit becomes overripe, ideally finishing before frosts.

Modern farms often use mechanical harvesting methods to reduce labor costs. Tractor-mounted shakers — available in trunk, air, limb, or canopy configurations — help speed up the process. While efficient, these farm machines tend to collect more debris like leaves and twigs compared to manual picking, requiring additional cleaning steps.

After harvesting, oranges go through washing, sorting, and grading. Proper handling throughout these stages helps prevent bruising and maintain fruit quality. The final steps involve packaging and storage, which need careful attention to ensure the fruit stays fresh during transport to market.