Tree · Rutaceae
Tangerine
Citrus reticulata
Give it full sun, steady water, and a guard against frost, and a tangerine rewards you with sweet fruit right through winter.
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, one of the deep red-orange, easy-peeling stars of the citrus family. It ripens through the cool months when hardly anything else is cropping, which makes every harvest feel like a win. Plant it somewhere warm and it delivers fragrant spring flowers followed by a heavy load of bright, sweet fruit.
These grow as subtropical trees, and they hit their stride in the warm zones where frost rarely turns up. Cold winters are no dealbreaker, since growers pot them up big and roll them under cover the moment the temperature dips. Tangerines take to container life with real gusto, which puts homegrown citrus firmly within reach far from the groves.
Give the tree sun, sharp drainage, and steady feeding to keep those leaves green, and it just keeps going, because a tangerine is a long-lived perennial, not a fleeting one-season plant. Nearly every hiccup traces straight back to soggy roots, hungry soil, or a hard freeze. Head those off and the tree runs for years.
Care
The short version: full sun, sandy soil that drains fast and runs slightly acidic, and steady water that never bogs the roots down. Feed a citrus fertilizer through the growing season, and shield it the moment frost threatens.
Light
Pour on the full sun, 6 to 8 hours a day, and a tangerine answers with the sweetest fruit and the fullest canopy. It puts up with a little partial sun, but shade thins the crop and stretches the growth, so the brighter the better.
Water
Water new trees about twice a week and settled ones roughly weekly to every two weeks, backing off in cool or rainy stretches. Let the top inch of soil dry out before the next drink. Soggy roots are the one thing a tangerine flatly refuses, so keep that drainage sharp.
Soil
Set it into sandy, well-drained loam that stays slightly acidic, right around a pH of 5.5 to 6.5. Hold that range and iron, manganese, and zinc stay on tap for the roots, while the free drainage keeps rot from ever getting a foothold.
Temperature
A tangerine takes a wide range in stride, from about 39°F (4°C) up to 100°F (38°C), so heat is rarely the trouble. Frost is the one to watch, since a freeze scorches the leaves and kills tender twigs, which makes a warm, sheltered spot the smartest move you can make.
Humidity
Ordinary air suits it fine, somewhere around 40% to 60%, so no need to chase a number. Outdoors, let the weather do the work, and an indoor tree just wants a touch more moisture through the dry rooms of winter.
Feeding
Reach for a balanced citrus fertilizer loaded with iron, manganese, and zinc from spring into fall, roughly February to October. Those micronutrients drive deep green leaves and shut down the yellowing that citrus so often drifts toward.
Pruning
A tangerine barely needs the shears, which is half the appeal. Cut out dead, damaged, or crossing wood, snap off the rootstock suckers pushing up below the graft, and thin lightly once the harvest wraps. Prune hard and you only chip away at next year's fruit.
Repotting
Bump a container tree up to a bigger pot every 2 to 3 years, or sooner the moment roots circle the pot, water blows straight through, or growth stalls. Fresh mix and a little extra room, and a potted tangerine roars right back into production.
Size & spacing
Turned loose, a tangerine climbs to about 12 to 15 feet (3.7 to 4.5 m) tall and nearly as wide. Hand it that much open ground, or rein it in smaller and easier to manage in a large container.
When to plant
A tangerine thrives on warmth and simply won't take a hard frost, so timing pays off. Get young trees in the ground in spring once the cold breaks, watch for fragrant white flowers as the season warms, and start picking 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
Half the fun of a tangerine is how readily it talks to you, flagging trouble in its leaves and fruit long before things go south. Yellowing, sticky foliage, and dropped fruit each trace to their own cause. Spot your match below and jump on it while it counts.
Dropped leaves and dead twigs after cold
Leaves down and twigs dying after a freeze spell cold injury, and tender mandarins take the hit before the tougher satsuma types do. Hold the pruners until new growth pushes out, because that shows you exactly how far the damage runs. Wrap young trees and add heat during a freeze to shut the problem down next time.
Fix:
- Prune out dead wood only after new growth shows extent of damage
- Protect with covers or heat during freezes
Yellow leaves with veins that stay green
Yellow leaves crossed by still-green veins are the tree calling out for iron, manganese, or zinc. The culprit is almost always soil that has drifted out of the 5.5 to 6.5 pH range and locked those nutrients up tight. Hit it with a citrus fertilizer carrying chelated micronutrients, pull the pH back into range, and sharpen the drainage so the roots can grab what they need.
Fix:
- Apply a citrus fertilizer with chelated micronutrients
- Correct overly acidic or alkaline soil
- Improve drainage
Sticky leaves, black film, or speckled foliage
Sticky leaves under a sooty black film mean sap-sucking pests have moved in, usually scale, mealybugs, or spider mites. They tap the sap and drip honeydew that the mold feeds on, while mites leave a fine stippling and webbing instead. Blast a light attack off with water, then bring in horticultural or neem oil once it spreads.
Fix:
- Spray horticultural or neem oil per label
- Wash off light infestations with water
Small fruit dropping ahead of ripeness
A tangerine tosses off some young fruit on its own, and a thirsty one throws down far more. Call it premature fruit drop, and it usually rides along with the tree's swing from a heavy crop one year to a light one the next. Water deep and steady, spread some mulch, and the tree grips onto more of what it sets.
Fix:
- Provide steady, deep irrigation
- Mulch to conserve moisture
Toxicity
Go ahead and enjoy the ripe fruit, since it is a sweet, safe snack for people. The rest of the plant needs a watchful eye, because the peel, leaves, and stems pack citrus oils and psoralens that can upset cats, dogs, and horses. Keep pets clear of the rind, the foliage, and the prunings and everyone stays happy.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Mild
A cat that chews the peel, leaves, or seeds might drool, throw up, or run loose, and the oils can irritate its skin. The flesh does no harm, though hardly any cat bothers with the sour fruit anyway.
Dogs Mild
A dog gnawing the rind or foliage can wind up with an upset stomach, loose stools, and a dull, low mood. A bite of the peeled segment is harmless, but 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 clear of the paddock.
Rabbits Caution
The oily peel and leaves don't agree with a rabbit's sensitive gut and are best kept out of reach. A thin sliver of the flesh once in a while is the very most to hand over.
Livestock Caution
Goats, sheep, and cattle may go after fallen fruit, but the peel and foliage can turn the stomach in any amount. Rake up prunings rather than letting the herd browse them.
Birds Caution
A small piece of the peeled flesh works for most pet birds, though the peel and leaves carry the irritating oils and should stay off the plate. Leave out the rind and the seeds.
People Safe
The ripe fruit is a sweet, everyday snack and completely safe to eat. Only the bitter peel and leaves hold the strong oils, so nothing at the table needs a second thought.
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
Loads of mandarins head to market as tangerines, but a few names keep earning a spot. These are the ones worth knowing.
Dancy
The classic Florida tangerine, sporting deep red-orange skin that peels away in a flash and ripening from December into January.
Clementine
A small, sweet, near-seedless mandarin that practically peels itself.
Owari Satsuma
The cold-hardiness champ among these mandarins, seedless and quick off the mark to ripen.
Sunburst
A Florida-bred mandarin hybrid raised to fill in early for the true tangerines.
How to propagate
There are three ways to raise more tangerines, and they play out very differently, so match the method to your patience. Grafting is the grower's pick, seed is the slow gamble, and air-layering lands in the middle.
GraftingModerate
Spring to summer · Bears fruit in about 2 to 3 years
Grafting is the standout way to launch a tangerine, marrying the variety you want to a rootstock in spring or summer. It locks the fruit true to type and pulls disease and cold tolerance up from the roots, and a grafted tree usually starts cropping within 2 to 3 years.
SeedEasy
Spring · Several years to first fruit
Sowing seed in spring is easy, but patience is the price. Seedlings often won't match the parent and drag through a long juvenile phase, so several years can pass before that first fruit shows.
Air layeringModerate
Warm growing season · Several months to root
Air-layering across the warm growing season hands you a clone on its own roots, and it takes several months to root. You bypass the rootstock, which means you also give up the extra disease and cold tolerance it would have brought.
Myths
A tangerine stands as its own botanical species, split off from the mandarin.
Not so. Tangerine is a market name for certain deep red-orange mandarins, and every one of them is the same species, Citrus reticulata. The name itself harks back to the port of Tangier. Bottom line, a tangerine is a kind of mandarin, not a species of its own.
Every part of a citrus is poisonous, so the fruit itself threatens pets.
The ripe flesh is completely fine. The ASPCA traces citrus toxicity to the essential oils and psoralens loaded into the peel, leaves, and seeds, and those bring nothing worse than mild stomach upset. Keep the rind and foliage from pets, and let the segments be.