Known for their sweetness, pineapple oranges reach their full ripening in January and February. Learn how to care for a pineapple orange tree below.

Enjoying the taste of fruit from your pineapple orange tree is an amazing experience. You've had them from the supermarket but knowing you grew it makes it oh-so-special.

Growing pineapple oranges isn't an easy feat. The tree requires years of growth before it produces fruit. Sometime along that way anything can happen from flash freezes to insect infestations.

With enough care and patience, you'll enjoy the fruits of your labor. The following shares what you can do to see your sapling mature into a succulent source of Vitamin C.

Pineapple Orange Tree 101: Bearing the Fruits of Your Labor

Pineapple orange trees are resilient plants usually grown throughout the South. Planting begins in spring-time with harvesting between December to February.

Gardeners found the citrus plant a rewarding challenge. Overcoming the challenge of it reaching maturity provides endless fruit. With your daily dose of Vitamin C -- from your garden -- you enjoy many health benefits. What's not to love?

To see your oranges from root to fruit, you will do the following:

1. Start with a Strong, Healthy Plant

Empower your green thumb by picking a strong, healthy plant from the get-go. Your plant should show promising growth as noted by its roots. Look for saplings with lush, leafy greens curated and hand-selected during budding.

Check reviews of the pineapple citrus tree and its provider. Or, as your fellow garden enthusiasts if they have suggestions where you can buy the trees.

2. Offer a Great Growing Environment

There are many factors whether your citrus tree will flourish:

• Location
• Sun and surroundings
• Soil quality
• Insect population
• Weather

Citrus trees thrive in moderate climates.

You can acclimate the plant by introducing it to more direct sunlight as it grows. Yet, you're a little out-of-luck in colder climates as frost can get to them, fast. An option is growing your citrus tree indoors!

Consider its environment:

• Give it ample space from other plants
• Spray for disease and insects

Fertilize or compound your soil if needed.

3. Lots and Lots of Watering

Citrus plants need a lot of water and if you're lucky, the local weather will sustain its needs. Otherwise, water the plant when you see the soil drying out. You can build a water retention ring around the plant to soak more into its roots.

Are you growing your pineapple orange tree in a container? Make sure it has adequate drainage! You want to moisten the soil but not overdo it.

4. Fertilizer and Compound

Your pineapple oranges won't likely grow without proper fertilizing. Fertilizing usually takes place at the beginning of its growing season.

Start with about one cup of fertilizer every month for the first year. Then, double this every month for its second. You'll add +1 cups for every year, monthly, throughout each year of the plant's life.

5. Prune After Harvest

Harvest season ends in February although your plant may continue producing weeks after. Once it's done, prune the plant and remove any dead foliage and trunk suckers. Clear the area, giving it space if other plants encroached.

All Your Citrus Questions (and More) Answered

Growing a pineapple orange tree is a labor of love presenting many questions along the way.

Check out our citrus tree and fruit blog for more helpful advice or get in touch if you'd like to chat. Citrus is our passion, and we hope it becomes yours, too!

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