Last edited on October 16, 2026. View history
Mandarin
Mandarin
How to sow mandarin: Transplant grafted sapling or direct seed indoors
Sun requirement for mandarin: Plant in Full Sun
The Mandarin is a small citrus tree with an open, spreading crown, glossy green leaves, thorns, and fruit that look like smaller, slightly flattened oranges. Mandarins are native to China and northeastern India and are one of the five original types of citrus (the other four are pomelo, citron, kumquat, and papeda) that all other citrus are descended from. Mandarins are distinct in being the only sweet fruit in this original group of citrus. They have a sweeter, stronger taste than oranges and a thin skin that peels easily. Tangerines, clementines, and satsumas are all types of Mandarins. Mandarins grow best in tropical and subtropical areas, although they can also be grown in containers and brought inside in the winter in cooler regions. They are one of the more cold hardy citrus varieties, but are damaged by temperatures below -3.8° C. For the first two years after transplanting, pinch off any fruit after the blooms have died to focus the tree's energy on establishing roots and vegetation. Trees will bear harvestable fruit in their third year. Mandarins are self-pollinating. Cross-pollination from nearby citrus trees will produce seedier fruit.
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Mandarin facts
Lifespan
Height × spread
350cm × 350cmCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For mandarin, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 12°C and a shortest growing cycle of 60 days at its best temperature, about 990 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your mandarin will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
How members grow mandarins
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Where mandarins grow
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Who's planted mandarins
- bobb3666 Coburg Fruits and Flowers · Coburg, Victoria,...
- At_Home_In_My_Garden AHITG_Fruit 4 · Brisbane, Queensland
- Wilf Back Yard Orchard
- fe2h2o Citrus Grove · North of the River...
- auntie Garden
Mandarin harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 60 to 365 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Citrus reticulata Blanco
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Rosidae Sapindales Rutaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | tree |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | deep (>>150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, light |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours) |
Learn more about mandarins
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