Cara Cara Orange Tree

For the pleasure of eating a superb orange you grew yourself, you can’t do better than to grow the Cara Cara Navel Orange Tree. Not only is it sweet and juicy, with low acidity, the flesh is pink-red, like a pink grapefruit, but different to a blood orange. Fabulous eating, and oh, so pretty on a plate, you can grow this small tree in your garden if you are in a zone with no more than a few hours below zero in the year, or, anywhere in the country, you can grow it indoors in a pot in winter, and outdoors all summer, where it makes a great patio or balcony tree. In the ground it develops into a small tree, perhaps 15 feet tall in as many years, but in a pot you can easily keep it around 6 feet and produce some nice oranges. The clusters of beautiful white, fragrant flowers open in spring, and navel oranges produce no pollen, and make a full crop of fruit all on their own, without pollination or needing a second tree. From a spring flowering, fruit is usually ready around the middle of winter. The medium-sized fruits, of a good size, have a lovely orange skin, which when it appears tells you your crop is ripe. The skin is thin, with very little pith, each segment separating easily from the others for eating or salads.

• Compact evergreen tree with glossy, deep-green leaves
• Fragrant, white spring flowers that don’t need pollinating to become oranges
• Oranges ripen through the winter months
• Beautiful deep-pink flesh with a sweet, delicious, low-acid flavor
• Grow indoors in winter, outdoors in summer

Grow the Cara Cara Navel Orange Tree in full sun, and when indoors keep it in a bright window with plenty of light. Return it to a sunny, sheltered outdoor spot once night temperatures reach 45 degrees F, and bring it in when they reach that in fall. Grow it in well-drained soil if planted outdoors. Indoors, use a pre-blended citrus soil, or mix half regular potting soil with half cactus soil. Water when the top inch is dry. For plenty of tips on growing this tree in a pot, see our helpful blog post on growing citrus trees in pots. Deer don’t eat citrus, and although it may pick up some typical houseplant pests while indoors, these normally disappear after time outdoors.