Lemons... this tropical miracle can be grown at home even on the windowsill. To successfully plant a lemon at home from a seed, you need to know the features of planting. The article will inform you what, when and how to do so that the lemon tree from the stone grows healthy and bears abundant fruit.
When asked how to plant a lemon from a seed, and even achieve active fruiting, many gardeners shrug. However, it is not. If you follow all the rules, planting and care techniques, then in 4-5 years it will be possible to start harvesting.
The main key to success is the right seeds and the planting process itself. To start, choose a couple of ripe, undeformed, and undamaged lemons. Wash them, cut them in half and choose the largest seeds. It is desirable that the bones must be moist when planting. Dry seeds will germinate poorly, or even remain in the ground.
Treat them with a natural stimulant by placing them in the solution overnight. The use of biological stimulants is necessary so that in the future the roots of the lemon will actively grow and develop. In the morning, you should prepare a solution of one of the bioregulators, for example, Epin-Extra or Zircon. To do this, add a drop of the drug to a glass of water and immerse the seeds there for 12 hours. This treatment will help the seedlings cope with the lack of lighting and dry air in the room.
In order to plant a lemon from the seed, prepare shallow and small containers. You can buy ready-made in a specialty store or make from improvised material, such as yogurt cups, or you can cut plastic bottles to the desired size. Before planting, make holes for drainage at the bottom of the prepared dishes. Lay drainage at the bottom of the pot (you can use vermoculite) with a layer of 1.5 cm. It is recommended to plant several dozen seeds at once. This will help over time to choose the best and healthiest seedlings. After all, not everyone will grow.
Before planting a lemon from a stone, it is necessary to prepare fertile and loose soil. The land for planting citrus fruits, which is sold in flower shops, is perfect. And you can prepare a fertile mixture yourself. Take equal amounts of soddy soil and humus, mix as thoroughly as possible and add peat. The mixture is slightly moistened and placed in a prepared shallow container. Seeds are placed at a depth of approximately 2 cm.
In the room where the lemon from the stone will be planted, the air temperature should be +18 degrees and no less, otherwise the seed will not germinate. And how to plant a lemon from a stone if it is slightly cool in your place? In order to successfully grow a lemon tree from a stone, it is necessary to create greenhouse conditions (in the photo - one of the ways in which cut plastic bottles are put on cups). To do this, the pot is carefully covered with a film and placed in the warmest and draft-free corner in an apartment or house. The abundance of light or its lack does not affect the growth of seedlings.
But with watering you need to be careful. It is advised not to water the pot with planted seeds at all, so that moisture does not contribute to the death of emerging roots. It is advisable to spray 2 times a week. And water when the ground starts to crack.
cultivation
The time of emergence of sprouts depends on the temperature in the apartment. It usually takes 2 weeks to 1 month. As soon as 4 or more leaves appear on the sprout, you can remove the film if you made a greenhouse, and place the pot with sprouts in a well-lit place. It is important that young leaves are not exposed to direct sunlight, otherwise the young sprout will die. Follow the watering schedule. Water the soil as it dries. Water must be pre-settled and be at room temperature. For irrigation, it is recommended to use rainwater, but make sure that such water is not cold.
It is not necessary to feed the lemon sprout in the first months. In spring and summer, a little fertilizer can be applied every 14 days. But only a little, proceed from the fact that it is better to feed less than to overfeed. Remember, the lemon tree is very demanding and capricious. The slightest violations in care and changes in the environment will affect the tree very unfavorably. Too much sun, strong winds, and drafts can cause your plant to lose its foliage. Non-compliance with the temperature regime is also undesirable for the germ.
With the advent of autumn, watering is carried out as rarely as possible. Landmark - the state of the upper layer of the earth. Top dressing is necessary only once every 30 days.
It is worth starting to form a crown in time, this must be done already in the first year of a young seedling's life. All weak, inward growing and deformed branches should be removed.
As soon as the seedlings germinate, you should choose the strongest and transplant into a larger pot.
In order to choose the right seedlings for transplantation, you should pay attention to the following criteria:
- crown. You have to look at its density. To determine this, pay attention to the distances that pass between the buds on a lemon seedling - they should be minimal.
- needles. Their number on the trunk should be minimal.
- leaves. The more of them, the better. It is good if they are strong and do not fall off from the minimum breeze.
All seedlings that are weakened, have thin shoots and insufficient leaves must be immediately discarded.
Care
The transplant should be carried out together with the earthen clod in which the seedlings grew. Add biohumus to a pot with fertile soil. The diameter of the new "place of residence" should be approximately 7 cm larger than the old one. It is at this moment that a seedling can be formed. To encourage the growth of side shoots, pinch the top of a lemon seedling. For uniform development of the crown of the tree, turn it over a quarter of a turn once every 10 days. Due to a properly formed trunk, you can get high-quality fruits in the future.
Further care for an adult tree is carried out according to the rules described above. Proper watering, sufficient lighting (in winter, do not forget to use fitolamps) and appropriate top dressing. Use both mineral and organic fertilizers, alternating between them. Make sure that the interval between top dressings is no more than 10 days. Use only liquid form of fertilizer. The allowable dose of mineral fertilizer will be 2 g. If you add more, you can burn the root system of the plant.
If the tree began to bloom already in the first year, be sure to remove all the buds, although it will be a pity for you to do this. If this is not done, the young seedling, having spent all its strength on the flowering process, will begin to wither. According to the rules, flowering should take place when there are at least 15 leaves per 1 flower.
Know that a young tree should be replanted once every two years. And an adult lemon tree needs to be transplanted less often - once every 3 years. These time intervals must be adhered to so that the root system of the tree does not experience a lack of discomfort in the pot and does not get tangled. If this happens, then the lemon tree will stop growing. When transplanting, be careful not to damage the roots. With each replacement of the pot, the new one should be larger in diameter, usually 4-6 cm. The optimal time to transplant in the summer is June, and in the winter - February.
In order for a homemade lemon to bear fruit as early as possible, it must be grafted onto citrus fruits (for example, grapefruit). The best time for this agrotechnical event is summer or late spring. Grafting can be done in two ways: budding or splitting. The most successful and optimal is considered to be cleavage grafting.
The evergreen lemon tree is not only beautiful, but also useful. Even before it bears fruit, it will benefit you and your home. This is because its leaves are able to release active biological substances - phytoncides. They prevent the reproduction of bacteria and various pathogens in the air. After reading this article, you learned how to plant a lemon from a seed so that it grows and turns into a beautiful tree. Even if you have failed before, try again. After all, now you already know exactly how to grow a lemon tree from a stone in order to eat the exotic fruits of your own harvest.
Video "Growing citrus fruits at home"
This video will show you how to grow citrus fruits at home.
Many types of citrus grow well at home. But how to grow a lemon from a seed, which would not only decorate the room with leathery dark green foliage, but also bear fruit?
It is the absence of ovaries on grown plants that often disappoints home citrus growers. Indeed, in the best case, from the moment of planting to the flowering of an indoor lemon, it takes from 4 to 7 years. And yet, getting a lemon from a stone is an exciting and not hopeless task. A strong tree can be used as a rootstock by grafting a cutting of a cultivated specimen onto it, or it can be pushed to bear fruit with competent care and crown formation.
Seed preparation for growing lemons
If you are going to grow a lemon from a stone at home, you need to be patient and have some knowledge.
The main mistake of indoor plant lovers who have failed in the cultivation of lemon or other citrus fruits is that for sowing seeds were used that were long removed from the fruit and had time to dry out.
It is much more correct to remove the seeds from ripe fresh lemons, rinse them with warm water and embed them in the substrate immediately, without drying. This will greatly increase the number of seedlings.
And experienced citrus growers recommend another way to increase the speed and quality of germination. For this, moist, home-grown lemon pits are carefully removed with a sharp knife from the hard surface shell, which is the main obstacle to the sprout hidden in the seed.
Following this advice, you need to be extremely careful and careful. An incorrect movement threatens to damage the cotyledons or the tender embryo, and then it will definitely not appear from the bone.
If lemon seeds remain in the shell, it is useful to immerse them for several hours in a growth stimulator solution, preventing the surface of the seeds from drying out between processing and planting.
Growing lemon from seed at home
Before planting lemon seeds, choose shallow wide containers with obligatory drainage holes. A 2-centimeter layer of fine expanded clay or vermiculite is poured onto the bottom of a pot or other container so that all excess moisture that is dangerous for delicate roots, flowing down, does not linger and leaves the ground in time.
The soil for growing lemon from the stone at home can be made independently by mixing garden soil, humus and sand. It is useful to add some crushed charcoal to such a substrate, which will reduce the risk of bacterial infections. If you do not have the necessary ingredients on hand, a ready-made citrus substrate, which is easy to buy in a specialty store, will do.
All preparatory work has been completed. Now it's time to start planting. How to grow a lemon from a stone at home?
The best sowing time is the end of winter. Then the hatched sprouts will receive good support in the form of an increasing daylight hours.
Seeds are planted in moist soil to a depth of about two centimeters. Several seeds can be planted in one container at once. Since the first transplant is waiting for the seedlings, when 3-4 true leaves appear on them, the plants will not interfere with each other.
Containers are determined in a greenhouse or placed in heat, after being covered with a bag or film. Do not forget that all citrus fruits are thermophilic, therefore, it is possible to grow a lemon from a seed at home only if a certain temperature regime is observed.
Seedlings will not start growing if the air and soil in the room are colder than +18 ° C. It is optimal if seed germination and subsequent growth takes place at a temperature of 22 to 25 ° C, with constantly high humidity, the absence of drafts and other negative factors. Compliance with simple rules on how to grow a lemon from a seed allows you to get friendly strong seedlings.
On average, from sowing to the moment sprouts appear, it takes from a week to a month. During this time, the soil in the pot can be gently sprayed, but it should be watered only when there are obvious signs of drying out.
Caring for seedlings of lemon seeds
With the appearance of green sprouts above the soil surface, they gradually begin to accustom them to room conditions, airing and opening the greenhouse. When 3-4 leaves appear on a young lemon from the stone, the film is removed altogether, and the seedlings are sorted and transferred to their own small pots.
Since the seeds of hybrid fruits do not always bear parental characteristics, citrus growers seeking to get a lemon from the stone at home risk growing a "wild".
It is possible to understand how soon the tree will begin to bear fruit, and what quality the ripe fruits will be, already by external signs. First of all, cultivated citrus trees are distinguished by a small number of thorns on the shoots.
Further care in the first year of seedlings consists in timely watering, transplanting and pinching for the initial formation of the crown of the future tree. 
In addition, plants
- in the summer months, after 10–14 days, they are fed, alternating humus solution and liquid;
- on cloudy days and in the cold season, they are additionally illuminated with the help of.
The duration of illumination largely affects the flowering and fruiting of plants from the tropical zone. Therefore, the acquisition of such lamps should be taken care of before growing a lemon from a seed.
A transplant for young lemons is carried out annually, and the plant should be transferred very carefully, without disturbing the root system. If the roots have not yet mastered the entire earthen ball, you can get by with replacing the surface layer.
Interested in how to grow a lemon from a seed, many enthusiasts look forward to first shoots, and then the first flowers. But in order not to weaken the plant, the lemon should not be allowed to bear fruit until it reaches the age of 2-3 years. Seed lemon is ripe for flowering when there is only one flower per 15 leaves of its crown.
If earlier the formation of the ovary weakens the tree, then pinching at the age of about a year only contributes to the formation of the crown and lays the foundation for future good harvests. Therefore, in a very young plant, it is necessary to remove all shoots directed deep into the crown, pinch the tops of excessively long shoots, and sometimes turn the pot with a tree so that it is illuminated and develops as evenly as possible.
We grow a lemon from a stone - video
Part 1. Planting seeds
Part 2. The appearance of the first sprouts
Part 3. Transplanting seedlings
The article discusses the step-by-step process for growing a lemon at home from a stone. See also a video on how to plant a lemon in a split for quick fruiting.
The content of the article:
Growing a lemon tree at home will not be a particular problem, but it is very difficult to wait for its fruiting. Usually a lemon begins to bear fruit already in the seventh, tenth, or even twelfth year. If you want to see fresh yellow fruits (read about) at home, then you should take good care of the ornamental tree and graft it in order to get fruits faster.
But usually a lemon tree is not grown for fruits, but for exotic in their apartment. After all, the leaves of a citrus tree (lemon) tend to release phytoncides - biologically active substances that do not allow bacteria and various fungi to develop. Also, a pleasant, fresh aroma will refresh the room, and endow all those present with a positive mood. There is nothing to chase after the fruits, they are in bulk in all stores and on the shelves of bazaars. Another advantage of this tree is that it is evergreen.
A lemon can be grown from a seed, or it can be grafted. In this article, we will consider the first option in a phased sequence. He's even more interesting. By the way, all citrus fruits are grown from the seed.
Stage 1: soil and pot preparation
The pot for our future green "brainchild" can be taken small for a start, but there must be a hole in it from below. At the bottom you need to lay out one and a half to two centimeters of drainage. Next, fill the pot with soil. You can immediately buy it in a specialized flower shop and do not suffer, there is a special land for citrus fruits, it is perfect.
If you refuse to buy, then you can make a mixture of loose soil: half of the humus earth and half of the turf. If desired, you can add a little coal or peat.
Stage 2: selection of planting material
When the place for planting a lemon is ready, you can go to the store or to the market to buy suitable planting material. You need to choose the ripest and most yellow lemon. The fruit must not be damaged. We cut the purchased lemon and take out the largest seeds, it is better to choose two at once. So then you can choose the most actively growing tree and leave it.
Bones are needed wet and from fresh fruit, dry ones will not work, they lose their germination capacity over time.
Stage 3: planting a lemon from the stone
Moisten the soil in the pot with a little water so that it is wet, and place the stone 1–1.5 centimeters deep. Then, if desired, you can cover the top of the pot with a film. The temperature of the house should not be less than 18 degrees Celsius, otherwise the tree cannot be seen. If it’s cool in your place, then you should definitely cover the workpiece with a film and put it in a warm place. The amount of light does not play any role in seedlings. It is impossible to water, otherwise the oversaturation of moisture will destroy our lemon, the resulting roots will rot. But with a frequency of once every 2-3 days you need to spray. You can water a little soil only if it is very dry.
Stage 4: growing a lemon from a stone
Then we can only wait for the appearance of a sprout from about 2 to 3 weeks, or even longer if the apartment is not very warm. The film can be removed if the pot was closed with it after the appearance of the second pair of sheets. Now you need to rearrange the sprout that has appeared in a bright place, just do not put it in strong sun, the young tree may burn out. Now it remains to observe the watering regime for the plant: do not fill it with water and do not let the soil dry out. Water only with settled water at room temperature. You can use rain, but not cold!
There is no need to feed the lemon for the first months. In spring and summer, you can add a little fertilizer every two weeks. Here, as with water, without fanaticism, everything is in moderation and less is better than more. Lemon is a capricious tree and any measurements in care and maintenance can be detrimental. The tree should be carefully taken out to the balcony, if there is wind or strong sun, then it is better not to do this, otherwise all the leaves may fall off in the morning. Also with a sharp drop in temperature.
In autumn and winter, you need to water the lemon less often: as soon as the top layer of the earth has dried up. Top dressing should be done more than once a month.
Stage 5: Lemon transplant
A young lemon should be transplanted no more than twice a year, and an adult plant is enough only once every 3 or 4 years. Such a periodic transplant is due to the fact that the roots of the tree become entangled and, due to lack of space, growth at home will stop. With each change of the "new house" you need to take a pot larger than the previous one by 3-6 cm in diameter. When transplanting, be careful with the roots, do not break them.
In this article you will find answers to all questions on the topic of interest, including how to germinate seeds. Florists in this case use one of two simple methods. We will talk about how to grow a lemon from a stone later, but now we will only warn that flowering and fruiting can be expected no earlier than in 8-10 years. To achieve the desired goal, special conditions must be created in the house and proper care should be organized.
Cultivation possibilities
Whether or not there is a chance to grow a lemon at home, an assessment of this probability will help using the table below.
Since it is not easy to grow a lemon at home (this process is long and laborious), you need to be patient in advance. Only then will the lemon tree once bloom and bear fruit, which, depending on the variety, can be 15-50 pieces per year. When they ripen, they fill the air with a strong aroma, and their color takes on a rich yellow hue.
No houseplant needs as much attention as a lemon. But it also has advantages over them:
- hardy - with good care and the creation of the necessary conditions for normal life (then the tree grows all year round, blooms and bears fruit at the same time);
- durable - if you take good care of the plant, life expectancy will be 35-45 years (although diseases and numerous pests reduce this period);
- useful - ozonizes the indoor air with volatile essential oils;
- beautiful - lemon (including mandarin), as ornamental plants are valued because of the emerald shiny leaves and large fruits, thanks to which they stand out from other indoor plants.
The first method of planting seeds
Now let's talk about how a lemon is grown from a stone at home, using for this purpose a mixture of peat, leafy soil and coarse sand in a ratio of 2: 1: 1. Seeds are planted after heat treatment (sterilization) of the soil, when it was first frozen, and then melted or steamed:
- in the oven for an hour at a temperature of 100-120 ° C;
- microwave - five minutes at maximum mode;
- on the stove (filling the soil with water and turning on a slow fire for an hour).
Before planting, the ground must be damp (but not wet, otherwise the lemon pits will rot - this can also happen if they are not washed off from the mucous coating). Prepared (sterilized) soil is poured into a small pot with drainage holes. For planting 1 seed, it should be 10 cm wide and 15 cm deep.
In the soil, a depression of 1 cm is made with a finger or a stick, into which the bone is immersed vertically - with the pointed end down, and rounded up, sprinkling it with earth. It may not germinate only when it is too small - like a grain of rice or shriveled (like a raisin). In these two cases, even if a sprout appears, a healthy plant will still not grow, so don't waste your time.
After planting the seed, the pot is covered with a plastic film, in which several holes are made with a pencil, toothpick or fork. Find a warm place for him with an air temperature of 20-28 ° C (sunlight is not a vital factor at the moment). Water as needed when the soil starts to dry out. After about two weeks, a sprout will appear, then remove the film and transfer the pot to a sunny place, continuing to keep the soil moist.
Flower growers with experience advise planting 5-10 seeds at a time, while recommending Meyer lemon, which, in comparison with other varieties, has sweeter fruits, is compact and high-yielding. Grown from seed, it blooms for the first time at the age of four.
Sprouting seeds in a plastic bag
Lay a paper towel out on a flat surface and dampen with water. Choose 5-10 plump seeds (just not tiny or shriveled). You will have to come to terms with the fact that not all of them will germinate, of which not every seedling will survive later. Note that the bones are kept in water overnight the day before.
They should remain moist at all times while they are being prepared for germination. Preparation consists of a number of actions:
- Rinse the seeds in cold water to remove the gel-like coating filled with sugar, which can encourage the growth of mold and bacteria.
- remove the outer white shells with a knife (it is easier to start peeling the bones from the pointed end);
- remove thin brown films from the grains (coatings are removed with the help of fingertips).
In this form, the seeds are evenly laid out on a damp towel, and then, without covering with anything, they are carefully transferred to a plastic bag with a zipper. Close tightly (this will help retain moisture) and transfer to a dark and warm place. Under these conditions, they germinate within one to two or even three weeks.
The picking of seedlings into the ground is carried out after the growth of roots 2-8 cm long. The pot is filled with soil, in which a shallow hole is made. A vertically germinated seedling is lowered into it with the root (tail) down and watered. The soil should always be kept moist throughout the following days (not soggy or getting dry).
Proper Lemon Care
After the formation of four developed leaves on the seedlings, they begin to take care of them as an adult plant.
| 1. Watering - two or three times a week, with warm, boiled and acidic water. | When only the surface of the soil dries out, the bottom layer must always remain moist. |
| 2. Lighting - 8 hours of sunlight. | In winter, turn on the lamps: in the morning / in the evening, if the lemon is on the windowsill; for 10 hours a day, when he is at some distance from the window. |
| 3. Transplant - the first time the plant reaches the age of 1 year. | Each new pot should be only 2-4 cm wider than the previous one. |
| 4. Support soil pH in the range of 5.7-6.5. | Continuous measurement of acidity with a test kit or test strips. |
| 5. Top dressing - from March to October. | With the frequency recommended in the instructions for fertilizer for citrus plants. |
1. For irrigation in 3-4 liters of water, dissolve the powder of one acid from the list:
- ascorbic - 0.1 g;
- lemon - 0.5 g;
- nitrogen or phosphoric - 4 drops.
It is also watered with an infusion of 200 g of high-moor peat, which is diluted with water in an amount of 3 liters and infused for 24 hours. From time to time, a solution of 2 tablespoons of soot is also prepared for feeding in a 10-liter bucket.
2. In summer, young and adult plants are exposed to fresh air, accustoming them to direct sunlight gradually. To keep the soil from overheating, a pot of lemon is placed in a wooden box and the space between the containers is filled with drainage material, expanded clay, pebbles or moss, pouring water over them from time to time.
3. A rule that helps you understand that it's time for a transplant - the roots begin to crawl out through the drainage holes. As experience shows, a plant with fruits grows normally in a pot 30-45 cm wide and 25-40 cm deep.
4. You can reduce the acidity of the soil by watering with a small amount of coffee or tea.
5. Room lemon needs to be fed twice a year with organic matter, for this purpose only one of all the types of top dressing listed below is chosen.
In 10 liters of water:
- stir 20 g of potassium salt and 50 g of ammonium nitrate;
- liquefy chicken manure or humus, which is then insisted for 10 days. For top dressing, a solution of a slight concentration is prepared, stirring an additional few grams of potassium salt in it.
- superphosphate is diluted, but first 50 g of the substance is boiled for half an hour in 1 liter of water. Simultaneously with the introduction of phosphorus fertilizer, the lemon tree is fed with manure or compost;
In winter, once a month, foliar top dressing is carried out - spraying with a pink solution of potassium permanganate. Such procedures are recommended to be done in the evening, at night. Manganese is necessary for the plant in the same way as potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, magnesium, copper and many other elements. Their lack in the soil leads to serious difficulties in growing lemons.
The consequences of a deficiency of macro- and microelements in the soil:
| Flaw | leaves | fruit |
| nitrogen | turn pale | small, in small quantities. |
| Phosphorus | fall off | wrinkled |
| potassium | Are deformed | small weight, low yield. |
| Gland | turn yellow | lemons lose their rich color and fall off before ripening. Branches dry up. |
| calcium | Spotted, twist and crumble. | |
| manganese | Dull, with pronounced veins. | |
| Sulfur | turn yellow | |
| boron | The same changes occur as with a lack of calcium. | with dark spots |
| copper | The growth of shoots of an abnormal shape, which suddenly die off, as well as the upper undeveloped leaves. |
Only the right top dressing allows you to grow lemon at home without experiencing any difficulties. But if, nevertheless, something goes wrong with him, and there is no way to use organic matter or ready-made mixtures from the store, then home methods of lemon resuscitation help.
Folk remedies:
Everyone who grew a lemon from a stone may know about two more useful folk remedies:
- aquarium water, which is also sprayed on a lemon tree;
- sugar - as a source of glucose needed by the plant at the growth stage, 1 table is scattered over the soil surface once a week. l. sand or watered with a sugar solution.
Pruning a lemon is a guarantee of a good yield
For a year, a long vertical shoot grows from a seedling, which is called zero. In the spring, in March, it is cut at a height of about 20 cm, leaving at least four developed buds on the branch. Of these, the main side shoots (of the first order) are formed. When they grow 30 cm long, they are pinched.
The shoots of the second generation are cut, leaving 20 cm of the branch, the third - 15 cm, and the fourth - 10 cm. This completes the formation of the crown, and the first fruits appear on the lemon. In addition to regular spring pruning, old and weakened branches are removed from the tree, as well as growing ones:
- inside the crown;
- and vertically upwards (such shoots are called fatty, they never bear fruit).
Increase productivity with:
- additional, winter pruning and pinching;
- removal of part of the flowers.
Growing a lemon from a seed may not be as hard as the care it takes to produce a tree. Only patient and responsible people achieve results.
Your goal is to grow a homemade lemon so that it becomes an interesting element of the interior and even hope to enjoy the vitamin fruits from the lemon tree.
Where to begin? If there is no desire or opportunity to purchase a citrus tree, then the easiest way is to grow a lemon from a stone.
Today we will discuss in detail how to grow a lemon at home, how to care for homemade citrus fruits, and what needs to be done so that indoor lemons begin to bear fruit.
Growing citrus fruits
Homeland lemon - subtropical forests, where it grows wild. For many centuries, people have tried to spread it in the lands of Europe. The twentieth century was marked by the experiments of geneticists. Scientists have done a good job of breeding varieties that bear fruit well in northern latitudes and in room conditions.
Today you will not surprise anyone with homemade lemon. Thanks to the efforts of professional breeders and amateur flower growers, indoor lemon has appeared in many home greenhouses and just on the windowsills. Citrus indoor plants always look amazing in the interior, but they delight us not only with their excellent appearance, but also with edible fruits.
The citrus tree is an evergreen, moisture-loving, shade-tolerant short-day plant. The room actively begins to grow in February-March, stops - in November. Lemon propagates in the following ways:
- Seeds - a familiar bone taken from the fruit.
- Vegetatively - cuttings, grafting, layering.
Lemon from the stone: where to start?
Seeds are used only freshly harvested. They are selected from mature fruits that do not have signs of disease. Purely theoretically, this is true, but lemons come to us from supermarkets and bazaars.
Such fruits can not exactly be called freshly picked. How to be? Dried seeds that have lain for a month at room temperature significantly lose their germination capacity, but still germinate.
To completely grow a lemon at home, you need to stock up not with one or two seeds, but with a much larger amount. Out of a dozen seeds, there will definitely be several sprouts.
Do not be afraid to grow many seedlings at once. It is not a fact that all your lemons from the stone at home will live to bear fruit. Some will die due to diseases, others will suffer when you vaccinate them.
We begin to grow homemade lemon from the stone as follows:
- We buy special soil or prepare the soil ourselves from river sand, soddy soil, humus.
- We lay out the prepared soil mixture in separate small pots or cups.
- The seeds are planted in moist soil to a depth of 3 cm.
- We cover the top with a film to create a better microclimate.
- We are waiting for the appearance of sprouts, which appear after about 3 weeks.
- If 2 shoots grow from one lemon seed, one (which is weaker) should be removed.
Growing citruses in this way is the easiest and most reliable option at home. Many flower growers have a decorative lemon at home, many waited for their fruiting. It should be noted that homemade tangerines are grown in a similar way.
Citrus plants obtained from seeds adapt better to indoor conditions, are more hardy and viable compared to cuttings or grafts. Fully fruit-bearing cultivated seedlings grow from the seeds. Their only drawback is that they begin to bear fruit late.
Caring for lemon seedlings
Sprouting a lemon from a seed is not difficult, it will be more problematic to continue to care for it. When seedlings appear, the film is gradually removed, accustoming them to the conditions of the room.
Regular care of homemade lemon means that it:
- Water moderately, avoiding waterlogging, so as not to cause root rot. In hot weather, watering is carried out 3 times a week, in winter it is reduced to 2 times.
- Wipe citrus leaves from dust every week, regularly spray them with water.
- Keeping near the battery requires additional air humidification.
- Turn the lemon gradually by 2 cm per month around its axis so that there is no sharp change in the light regime for the leaves.
- Transplant indoor lemon every year in the spring in a larger pot. You can not immediately plant a plant in a pot that is not the right size.
- Good gains are given by top dressing with complex fertilizers "Health", "Ideal" or special fertilizers for citrus fruits with the addition of trace elements of zinc, boron, manganese - once every 2 weeks.
So that a lemon from a stone does not turn into a wild dense tree, the crown must be constantly formed. The central shoot is cut off at a distance of 20 cm from the ground. Branches of the second order appear, which, when they reach 18 cm, are pinched. The process is carried out until shoots of the fourth order appear. Flower buds are laid on them, and fruiting begins.
Indoor lemon - pests and diseases
Lemons grown at home are most often affected by scale insects, spider mites, aphids, and worms. All these pests feed on the sap of the plant, causing the leaves to dry out and the shoots to bend.
To prevent pests from destroying a lemon tree, the following general control measures should be carried out:
- Remove pests from the stem with a soft toothbrush, from the leaves with cotton swabs, previously moistened with a soapy solution of anabazine sulfate.
- Rinse the solution from the plant in a day. Repeat treatment after a week.
- With a large number of pests, treat the tree with infusion of celandine, tobacco, onion peel or Actellik, Ditox, Fitoverm preparations. It is necessary to use preparations for the destruction of pests very carefully, as these are the strongest pesticides.
The most common diseases of indoor citrus fruits are soot fungus, gommosis. Why are they dangerous for homemade lemon? The soot fungus covers the leaves with a dark gray bloom, disrupting the normal nutrition of plants. Gommosis forms a gum that flows from damage to the bark, causing the leaves and branches to dry out.
Indoor lemon diseases are removed:
- Cleaning the sore spot, treating with copper sulphate.
- Smearing with the preparation "RanNet" (garden putty paste).
- Wiping with a wet cloth (if fungus).
- The fight against insect pests that affect the bark and leaves.
- Top dressing with complex fertilizers to maintain the viability of the tree.
For a novice gardener, advice on how to deal with homemade lemon diseases will seem incomprehensible, but there is nothing complicated here. In all specialized stores you will find the proposed preparations, and there are detailed instructions on the packages. If you have specific questions on how to grow a lemon from a stone, how to care for it, feel free to ask them on the flower growers forums. You will definitely be helped!
Cuttings of lemons for quick fruiting
Why cuttings are needed? Lemons grown in this way begin to bear fruit faster. The only negative is that the future tree should get used to the changed living conditions.
If you already have some experience in floriculture, then it will not be difficult to grow a fruit-bearing lemon by cuttings:
- The best time to germinate the roots of cuttings is March-April. Cuttings are taken only from a fruiting lemon.
- The landing box is prepared in advance. Make small holes in it. For drainage, washed expanded clay, fragments of brick or gravel are used. Then river sand 1.5 cm is poured in layers, nutrient mixture 6 cm, finished with sand 2 cm.
- Cuttings are harvested from last year's growth. Make an oblique cut, cover it with warm wax or garden pitch. The branches are divided into several parts, 4 buds each.
- Before planting in the ground, the lower parts of the cuttings are immersed for a day in a heteroauxin solution. Sprinkled with wood ash, planted in prepared soil at a distance of 15 cm one at a time, leaving 2 buds on the surface.
- Press the earth tightly around them, spray with warm water. Create a mini-greenhouse, covering with a film. For better rooting, a little heating from below is necessary.
- Around the cuttings maintain a temperature of about 25°C. At a lower one, the leaves fall off, their condition worsens, the rooting time doubles, the percentage of survival decreases.
- During the first 2 weeks, the leaves are sprayed with water 4 times a day, then reduced to two. The film is periodically lifted, the greenhouse is ventilated. Subject to all conditions, a good root system grows in a lemon in a month.
- Rooted cuttings are transplanted one at a time into clay pots using a drainage layer and nutrient soil. To increase branching, pinch the central root.
- Having installed the plant in a new container, carefully sprinkle the soil to the roots, pressing it with your hand. In several stages, they are poured with warm water so that the earth settles.
- Spray the leaves, put for 2 weeks in a shaded place. After that, young trees are gradually accustomed to light.
Over time, you will begin to do many processes for caring for citrus fruits on an intuitive level, experience will affect. Growing indoor lemon at home is an interesting and exciting pastime. For many, this becomes a hobby for many years, maybe this is your new hobby?
