Planting guide

When to plant orange

Classic juicy citrus; navels for eating, Valencias for juice. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Nov.

Start as: Potted plant
Ready in: 3+ years to the first crop
Spacing: 400 cm
Depth: 0 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means orange can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Brisbane	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Townsville	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Cairns	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Darwin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mackay	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Rockhampton	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Bundaberg	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
London	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Singapore	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Paris	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant orange

Plant in full sun, sheltered from wind, in free-draining soil.
Water deeply weekly in summer, mulch clear of the trunk.
Feed with citrus food in spring and autumn.
Pick fruit when sweet; they hold on the tree.

Orange varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Washington Navel Classicsweet · 34–47 wksSeedless, easy-peel winter orange
Valencia Classicsweet · heavy-cropper · 43–60 wksJuicy late orange, summer harvest
Cara Cara Adventuroussweet · colourful · 34–47 wksPink flesh with low acidity
Arnold's Blood Adventurouscolourful · 34–47 wksDark crimson flesh; berry-like flavour
Seville Adventuroushot · 34–47 wksBitter orange for marmalade
Lane's Late Classicstorage · sweet · 43–60 wksLate navel that hangs well
Cara Cara Navel Classic34–47 wks
Chinotto Classic34–47 wks
Hamlin Classic34–47 wks
Navelina Classic34–47 wks
Pineapple Sweet Classicheirloom · sweet · 34–47 wks

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Chive, Nasturtium, Marigold

Orange by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Lemon · Lime · Apple · Fig · Avocado · Banana

Not sure orange is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now