Many people want to grow lemons at home, but they are afraid, because... lemon tree does not grow in our region, but growing lemon at home is not difficult, but good harvest will give joy, pride and add health to the whole family.
Many ancient legends testify that our ancestors knew and used healing properties lemon fruit. Lemon appeared as a houseplant more than a hundred years ago. Our climate has an unfavorable effect on the lemon tree, but room conditions he feels great. Beautiful evergreen tree, with dark green leaves and yellow-orange fruits, pleases the eye and perfectly decorates the interior. Aroma lemon blossom it makes you crazy and makes you crazy.
If you decide to get a lemon tree, then you have two options - buy a plant in a store or grow a lemon at home from seeds. The first way is naturally the simplest. But if you want the lemon to become truly dear and loved to you, you need to do everything yourself.
Growing lemon at home: planting a plant
For planting you will need a small pot with a tray, drainage, and soil mixture (for citrus plants). Everything you need can be found in flower shop. Don't forget to buy a lemon whose seeds you will plant.
Many novice gardeners ask: “When should I plant seeds to grow lemons at home?” It is necessary to not only plant seeds, but also replant adult plants and prune shoots in early spring.
It's time to plant. Take the pot and check for holes in the bottom to allow excess moisture to drain out. If there are none, make 5-7 pieces. Pour drainage, about 2 cm thick, and soil onto the bottom, but not to the edges. Leave a centimeter and a half.
Remember - than longer seeds lie without planting, the longer you will have to wait for germination. Therefore, we quickly plant them in the ground. Yes, not just one thing, but several. When the seeds germinate, you will be able to select strong, healthy and beautiful shoots. Water well and cover the pot with glass or film, which will create greenhouse conditions and will retain heat and moisture. We put our greenhouse in a warm and very bright place and wait for the shoots.
As it dries, do not forget to water the soil, and ventilate the crops daily, removing the greenhouse for 20–30 minutes a day. When growing lemon at home, we gradually increase the ventilation time so that the plant gets used to the indoor environment. When 6–8 leaves appear on the seedlings, we plant them in separate pots.
Growing lemon at home: plant care
Lemon grows very quickly and surprises with something new every day. But don’t forget to look after him, then he will love and delight you. Some simple tips will help you care for your pet.
Lemon loves plenty of light and warmth, but keep its leaves away from direct sunlight. We water the plant with settled warm water as it dries a couple of centimeters earthen coma, but not often, so as not to sour the roots. Every two weeks, fertilize it with fertilizers - mineral and organic (you can alternate). Lemon also loves moist air, so every day, better in the evening, spray it with water.
The young plant is replanted into the pot a little bit every year. larger size. Lemon roots do not like space. Mature plant need to be replanted less frequently, about once every 2–3 years.
Growing lemon at home: crown formation
To form a beautiful crown, trim the shoots every spring to one third of the length. It gives the lemon beautiful view, will stimulate it to grow and bear fruit. To speed up the appearance of fruits, you can graft lemon. To do this, you will need a shoot from an already mature, fruit-bearing plant, which you need to graft onto your lemon.
Growing lemon at home: dormant period
Lemon has a dormant period - winter. Provide it with a cool place, reduce watering and fertilizing from October to February. Give the plant a rest, and then it will delight you in the spring with new shoots, leaves, flowers and fruits.
When growing a lemon at home, take care of it, and the lemon will respond to you with abundant color, lush foliage and delicious fresh fruit.
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Those who believe that it is impossible to grow a lemon from a seed at home and get it to bear fruit quickly are wrong. With the right approach, you can get fruit-bearing trees from the seeds of lemon, orange, tangerine, and other citrus fruits, even at home in 4–5 years!
It is known that in nature - in countries Southeast Asia and in the subtropics of Italy and Spain - fruiting of citrus trees grown from seeds occurs in the 5th-7th year. Harvesting in this way is faster and more efficient than by grafting. It is no coincidence that in some states of India this method is preferred. Vaccination is used only if it is necessary to preserve everything varietal characteristics plants.
Of course, the subtropical climate is much more favorable for growing lemons and other citrus fruits than the conditions on our window sills. Therefore we will need special moves to make plants bloom and bear fruit.
Which citrus fruits are best to grow from seeds at home?
Citrus plants have earned our love for a reason; each species is interesting in its own way. Oranges have the most beautiful crown with dark leaves, tangerines have the brightest, beautiful fruits, and grapefruits have the largest fruits, although at the same time the tree is the most bulky and is more suitable for winter gardens and offices than for home. But it is easier and more rewarding to grow lemons, which produce fruit all year round, and at home it is quite possible to get larger, brighter and more fragrant fruits than store-bought ones.
The use of certain techniques makes it possible to obtain fruits from citrus seedlings from seeds already in the 4th – 5th year after germination. The first one is right choice and sowing seeds.
How to properly prepare and sow seeds
The largest seeds are selected from the fruits of lemon or other citrus fruits and immediately sown in small containers: cups, pots, etc. The container must have a drainage hole. It is advisable to pre-treat the seeds with a biological preparation. natural stimulant. For example, soak lemon seeds overnight in a solution of Sakhalin sodium humate (no darker than beer). This will have a beneficial effect in the future on the development of the root system, and then for another 8 - 12 hours - in water with the addition of zircon and epin-extra preparations at the rate of one drop per glass of water. This stimulates the acceleration of seedling growth, and most importantly, makes them more resistant to low light conditions and dry air in the apartment.
You need to sow a dozen or two plants at the same time in order to subsequently select the best, potentially early-fruiting ones. Citrus seeds are placed in loose, fertile soil. Deepen by 1 - 2 cm.
Which seedlings will be fruit-bearing trees?
After 3 - 5 months, when the seedlings have grown, the seedlings are carefully transferred to large capacity, maintaining a completely earthen lump. At the same time, to accelerate the development of plants, vermicompost (compost processed by earthworms) is added to the soil mixture.
During this period, the selection of seedlings begins for the following external characteristics:
- initially stocky crown (this is indicated by minimum distance between the buds on the stems); such plants, even without formation, tend to bush in the future
- minimal number of short needles (or complete absence thereof) and thin shoots;
- maximum quantity leaves that rarely fall.
Plants that quickly become bare, plants with few leaves and thin elongated shoots must be discarded.
How to properly form the crown of citrus fruits for fruiting
Also at this time they begin correct formation citrus crowns. Already in the first months of life, it is necessary to prevent the single-stem development of the seedling in the form of a rod. It is necessary to stimulate its lateral branching. To do this, during the next “wave” of growth (citrus fruits do not grow constantly, they have periods, “waves” of growth - no more than 4-5 times a year, with breaks of one to three months), the tender tip of the growing shoot is pinched with a fingernail or tweezers. If after pinching a side shoot does not appear and the tip grows back, it is removed again.
When they grow up side shoots, they are also pinched as early as possible, when two or three leaves appear on them. This allows you to get minimally short branches in the future. In this way, you should continue to form a bushy and proportional crown. To ensure proportional growth of citrus fruits, slightly turn the pots of plants from time to time. Not sharply - no more than a quarter turn.
It is equally important to prevent the appearance of individual vertical branches – “tops” – inside the crown. Such “tops,” while they are young and flexible, are tilted and tied with a thin rope to a stem or pin stuck into the ground.
It is also necessary to ensure that the crown of the tree does not thicken too much as it grows; to do this, one must strive to prevent the branches from growing inside the crown.
They also carry out “ringing” - the most important technique, bringing fruiting closer. It is performed as follows. They take copper wire and tightly grasp (“ring”) the stem of the plant or one or two skeletal branches at the very base. The wire should be slightly pressed into the bark. As a result, an influx quickly forms at this place and deformation occurs, causing the accumulation of substances inside the plant organism that stimulate the formation fruit buds. After six months to a year, the ring is carefully removed so that there is no breakage or excessive constriction. The wire mark is covered with garden varnish and tied with a strip of elastic polyethylene.
Secrets of caring for citrus fruits
To approach flowering and fruiting, you must comply special rules care for citrus fruits. Firstly, regular additional lighting special phytolamps (lamps for plants). Secondly, air humidification using electric humidifiers. Thirdly, regular transplantation once or twice a year: in February and June. Pots for replanting should be taken 3–5 cm larger than before. Best fit soil mixture, consisting of equal shares completely rotted leaves (collected in the park or in the forest under old maples and linden trees), turf soil (it is enough to shake out layers of turf cut in a meadow with good grass) and compost with manure humus. If it is difficult to make such a mixture, you can use ordinary loose soil from the garden, adding 1/3-1/4 of the volume of horse manure to it.
Fourthly, even with regular transfers citrus fruits are essential additional fertilizing between the end of February and September. The nutrients in fresh soil last for a maximum of three to five months, and during active growth, citrus trees need adequate nutrition.
To do this, you can use complex mineral fertilizers, including all essential microelements. It is better to choose drugs in liquid form rather than in the form of dry mixtures. The fertilizer must be diluted strongly with water (concentration no more than 1-2 g of the drug per 1 liter) so as not to “burn” the roots of the plants.
It is useful to alternate feeding citrus fruits mineral fertilizers and ready-made infusions and concentrates of organic fertilizers available for sale.
The long-awaited lemons from the pit
Most often, after a few years, the effort spent will be rewarded. Lemons, oranges, tangerines and grapefruits grown from seeds will bloom and bear their first fruits. It is important that citrus fruits grown independently from seeds turn out to be much more hardy and adapted to home conditions than citrus fruits purchased in a store: they can do without perfect lighting, And optimal humidity air. Having initially appeared in your home, they become almost as unpretentious inhabitants of it as geranium or ficus.
After you have grown flowering and fruiting citrus trees yourself, you can successfully continue your selection activities in another simple way - by cutting and rooting cuttings from the best, promising plants in a mini-greenhouse (a pot of wet sand under a glass jar). Such seedlings, being equally unpretentious, bear fruit already in the third year.
Lemon is an evergreen citrus tree. The homeland of lemons is the subtropics, so the plants love warmth and moisture. IN open ground the tree grows up to 8 meters, although there are also dwarf three-meter trees. With good care, domestic varieties bear fruit all year round.
Indoor lemon - brief description
At home, lemons are grown in flower pots or tubs. By growing lemon in a tub, you can get from 10-30 fruits from a young plant to 200 from an adult plant every year. Lemons, not inferior in quality to southern varieties, can be picked from a tree about one and a half meters high. You can grow a houseplant from a lemon seed, but really delicious fruits obtained only from varietal plants. Lemon – perennial and it blooms profusely, although the flowers are not too noticeable behind the dense foliage, but the room is filled with a fresh aroma from the essential oils released by all parts of the plant.
Features of cultivation
Growing lemon at home is not as easy as others indoor flowers. A home tree requires a spacious, well-lit room and constant attention. But there are also obvious advantages - durability, pleasant smell, tasty and healthy fruits.
Several years pass from the moment of planting to the first fruits, so be patient and wait until your tree blooms and gives you the first small lemons. Over time, the tree will get stronger and will delight you with a more generous harvest.
When growing indoor lemon the following conditions must be met:
- Bright room.
- Regular ventilation.
- Good drainage.
- Regular feeding.
- Cool winter.
Planting a lemon
If you decide to grow a lemon from a seedling, pay attention to the “pedigree”. It will be difficult for a fruit-bearing tree from the subtropics to acclimatize. We recommend choosing seedlings from indoor plants or from a tree living in your climate. Lemons from the Caucasus, grafted on trifoliate, are suitable for growing in cool rooms - winter gardens or greenhouses. At home, the plant will most likely die. When choosing a seedling, carefully study the information about it.
Upon landing root collar should be buried only 5 mm into the ground. The soil level is 1 centimeter below the edge of the pot. This is necessary so that the root collar does not rot and the soil is not washed away during watering. After planting, spray the seedling and water it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Place the pot in a bright place, but protect the leaves from direct sunlight and shade the tree if necessary.
Lemons do not like to move from place to place, so choose a permanent home for the plant and do not turn it suddenly so that home flower could develop normally.
Optimal time
The best time for planting is late winter–early spring, as the natural growing season begins at this time.
Soil
loose and nutritious soil pour into the pot after laying the drainage. Soil composition:
- Light loam (meadow turf) - 2 parts.
- Leaf soil - 2 parts.
- Manure humus - 1 part.
- Coarse sand - 1 part.
On ordinary land With summer cottage the lemon will not bear fruit well.
If you cannot assemble such a complex composition, buy “Lemon” or “Rose” soil at a flower shop.
Important! The tree will grow in the same soil for several years, so correct selection substrate and regular feeding are very important.
Features of care
Flaw sunlight should not destroy the plant. As the days lengthen, tree growth accelerates, but fruiting is delayed. South and east windows are suitable for indoor plants. The most favorable place for lemon is the window sills of eastern windows, where the rays of the sun are bright but not scorching in the morning. Hot summer flower pot protect from the sun with a gauze curtain.
Indoor lemons do not like changes in lighting and rearrangement; the growth and development of fruits may slow down a little, but the tree will form correctly when rotated.
Advice. In winter, it is advisable to organize daylight lighting for 6 hours a day. Place an incandescent or fluorescent lamp 60 cm above the tree.
Humidity
The most difficult period for indoor plants is October-March. The air in the apartment at this time is dry due to heating. Move the pot aside or cover the radiators with a damp cloth. Spray the lemon periodically, but do not get carried away so as not to cause the development of fungus. Place a cup of water in or near the pot.
In summer, it is useful to give the tree a cool shower once a week and wipe the leaves with a damp sponge. This is necessary so that the plant can breathe fully.
Important! The plant reacts painfully to changes in air humidity; dry air is especially dangerous when high temperature during flowering and fruiting. Flowers and ovaries may fall off. The more humid the air, the longer the leaves of the plant live.
Watering
In May-September, lemons should be watered daily, but in moderation. Wet soil is absolutely not suitable, but overdried soil can destroy the tree. In winter, water the lemon less often, but provide it with sufficient air humidity.
Important! You can't water lemons cold water and in the sun. The optimal time for watering is morning or evening.
Temperature
Optimal temperature for the development of shoots and leaves +17°C, for fruit growth the temperature must be higher - +21...22°C. Lemons do not survive heat well, especially in low humidity. In the summer, when it gets sharply warmer, flowers and ovaries may fall off, and temperature changes in autumn and winter can lead to leaves falling off.
Attention! The soil temperature should be close to the air temperature. It is dangerous to bring lemon from the open air into a heated room. When it gets colder, try to gradually move the pot with the plant so that it can adapt to the new conditions.
Feeding and fertilizer
Fertilizers should be applied to the soil moderately but regularly, since their excess is harmful to plants.
Based on the condition of the leaves, shoots and fruits, you can judge what kind of nutrition the lemon needs:
- The leaves turn yellow, the number of fruits decreases, and they become smaller - there is not enough nitrogen.
- The leaves turn pale and fall off, and the fruits become deformed and become rough - phosphorus deficiency.
- Leaves enlarge and fruits become smaller - potassium starvation.
- The tops of the branches dry out, the leaves turn pale and yellow, the lemon does not bloom or bear fruit - there is little iron.
In the summer, when the plant can be taken out of the house, you can feed it with organic fertilizer (bird droppings or water in which the meat was washed). There is no need to apply all the fertilizers at the same time - lemons suffer from excessive feeding.
Carry out scheduled feeding twice a month in the summer; from October to February there is no need to feed the lemon.
Trimming
When growing indoor lemon, it is important not to let it grow to the size of a tree, especially since this plant is prone to forming long branches. If the bush is not trimmed, the crown will become too large. When pruning, part of the branches is removed after the fifth leaf - the crown from such a pruning will become productive and compact.
Lemon transplant
The fact that it is time to replant the lemon is indicated by the roots sticking out from drainage hole, but this is a case of extreme neglect. Planned replanting should be carried out as the tree grows; each subsequent flower pot should be slightly larger than the previous one. Circumstances arise that require a forced transplant, for example, a pot may break or you feel bad smell from the ground.
If the lemon grows poorly, it can be replanted in the fall, although optimal time- end of February, before active growth begins, or mid-summer.
- Carefully remove the plant, cut off broken and damaged roots, and sprinkle them with crushed coal or Kornevin. There is no need to completely shake off the earth ball.
- Place drainage at the bottom of the pot and add some river sand. On top is a layer of soil.
- Trim off some of the branches to make it easier for the roots to feed the plant.
- Make a depression in the soil, place the lump so that the neck is just below the edge of the pot. If you need to raise it, add more soil.
- Add soil in layers around the edges, making sure that the trunk is located in the middle of the pot.
- Compact the soil with your hands so that there are no voids left.
- Water with settled water and loosen the soil a little.
Advice. To make the lemon endure stress more easily, sprinkle it with Zircon and cover it with film for 5-7 days.
Reproduction
Lemons can be propagated using cuttings or seeds. A tree grown from a seed will bloom and begin to bear fruit no earlier than after 8 years. If you plant a cutting, you can expect to see your own lemons in about 4 years. A baby lemon grown from a seed will not necessarily inherit the characteristics of the variety from the parent tree, and with cuttings, identity is guaranteed. But trees and seeds are more resistant to disease and adapt better to life in captivity.
Propagation by seeds
You can get a lemon seed from any ripe fruit. Each lemon contains several seeds, take them out and plant several at a distance of 5 cm. It is better to plant seeds from several fruits.
Soil for planting - well-drained peat and soil for flowers in a 1:1 ratio. Bury the seeds 1cm deep and keep the soil moist but not overwatered. At room temperature sprouts should appear in two weeks. Select the tallest ones and remove the rest. Cover the sprout with a jar and place it in a well-lit place without direct sunlight. Every day, ventilate the sprout for several hours by removing the jar.
When a few true leaves appear, plant the sprouts in pots up to 10 cm in diameter with good drainage. When replanting, try to preserve the roots and the soil around them. Pour a mixture of peat and flower soil into the pot. Transplant the plant that has grown to 15-20 centimeters into an “adult” pot.
Propagation by cuttings
In the spring, semi-lignified twigs about 10 cm long with several leaves are cut off and rooted in a homemade greenhouse with high humidity and temperature. Soil: peat and soil for flowers.
Place drainage at the bottom of the pot, on top - a 5-centimeter layer of a mixture of turf soil and sand (6:1), then - a mixture of sand and moss. This layer will mainly contain root system future plant. Plant the cutting, water it and spray it with warm water. Cover with a jar.
You need to spray the cuttings twice a day with water at about +25°C until rooting occurs. At room temperature, the cutting should take root in 3-4 weeks. After this, remove the jar for several hours a day, and after a week, remove it completely. After another 7 days, you can transplant the cutting into small pot with nutritious soil and reliable drainage. In just a year you will be able to transplant the lemon into a regular pot, and after 3-4 years it will begin to bloom.
Bloom
The tops of young lemon shoots are pink-violet. The oval toothed leaves contain essential oil. The leaves are replaced after 2-3 years. Large lemon flowers (4-5 cm) bloom in spring five weeks after the bud appears; flowering continues for more than two months. After the petals fall, the fruit begins to ripen in 200 days or more.
If young plant It begins to bloom in the first years of life; it is advisable to cut off the buds so that the tree can develop normally. When the buds appear for the second time, they are no longer torn off - the lemon itself “decides” how many fruits it can bear. The extra buds will fall off on their own. Flowering can be allowed when the tree already has at least 20 leaves. It is believed that each fruit requires at least 10 mature leaves.
Care after flowering
Lemon grows, blooms and bears fruit all year round. One tree may contain ripe fruits, ovaries, flowers and buds. There is no need to pick off faded inflorescences, as they turn into ovaries. If the lemon bloomed in summer, the fruits ripen faster than when spring bloom.
Problems, diseases, pests
Many diseases of ornamental lemons are caused by improper care. In case of insufficient lighting and nutrients lemon leaves lighten. Buds and leaves fly off if there is not enough moisture. The plant is especially hard-pressed by the dry air in the room; flowering may stop, the leaves darken and fall off.
Pests also often settle on the plant:
- Scale insects lead to drying of branches, leaves and death of the lemon. Remove the pests with a toothbrush and wash the lemon with soapy water.
- Spider mites settle on the underside of leaves and the web gradually envelops the entire tree. Spray with a 0.15 percent Aktelika solution three times, every 10 days.
- The mealybug leaves a sticky discharge on the leaves. Fruits and leaves fall off. It is recommended to inspect the plant and collect larvae.
- Citrus aphid. The Aktelika solution helps get rid of this pest.
- Thrips and whiteflies also settle on lemons, which must be collected by hand, and the tree must be washed in the shower and treated with soapy water.
Popular types of indoor lemon
- If your lemon leaves turn brown, increase the humidity in the room and water the plant more often.
- Small leaves and thin shoots indicate that the lemon urgently needs to be fed and placed in a more illuminated place.
- Leaves dry out and curl when there is not enough light and moisture. Spray the lemon every day, water it and feed it with complex fertilizers.
Answers to questions
Lifespan of indoor lemon
With careful attention and proper care, lemons can live up to 45 years. Indoor flower dies prematurely due to diseases and pests.
Why don't lemons bloom?
You probably planted the plant in too cramped potty. Replant it and feed it with complex fertilizer.
What to do if a lemon drops its leaves?
For lemons, leaf fall is a reaction to stress. Perhaps after the summer you moved it into the room or, conversely, sharply placed it under bright rays. Arrange artificial lighting or create shadow. The cause may be excessive or insufficient watering - acidification of the soil and drying out of the earthen coma are equally harmful to lemons. If you have not watered the tree for a long time, do not moisten the soil abundantly; add water little by little over several days.
Why does a lemon drop its fruit?
A lemon drops its fruits when it does not have enough strength to develop them. The first flowers that appear on a young lemon must be cut off, and only 2 fruits can be left on a three-year-old plant. In the future, each fruit should have at least 10 leaves.
How to arrange winter quarters?
The main task during wintering is to preserve the leaves. The room should not be too hot - no more than +20°C. Keep the plant pot away from radiators and place a container of water next to it. If the windows provide reliable protection from cold air, place the tree on a southeast or southwest window. Lemon should not be watered as much in winter as in the warm season.
Lemon is a plant that belongs to the citrus family. It includes large number vitamin C. It helps improve immunity and prevent the occurrence of various viral diseases. Those who would like to have such a tree at home are wondering how to grow a lemon from a seed at home.
Lemon can be grown from a seed
To grow a lemon at home, you should study the technology and know how to properly care for it. After all, no plant can grow without proper care.
The best varieties for growing citrus at home
To answer the question of how to grow a lemon tree from a seed, you need to choose a variety, it depends on necessary conditions for planting and seed germination.
To obtain this citrus fruit from seeds, these varieties are most often used:
- Pavlovsky. It has large lemons (the weight of one can be about 500 g). The taste of the fruit is sweetish with sourness. The tree can reach 2 meters. The Pavlovsk variety has fragrant leaves, the smell of which spreads throughout the house.
- The Meyer variety is a mixture of lemon and grapefruit. The fruits have a pleasant sweet and sour taste with a slight bitterness. This tree is small in size, with small fruits (the weight of one is maximum 150 g).
- Ponderosa is another hybrid with predominantly grapefruit characteristics. The seeds of this plant are quite large. The variety is constantly in the process of flowering. The advantage of this type is its ease of care.
- Genoa variety is a tree small sizes. By the second year of life, the seedlings of this plant begin to actively bloom, and in the fifth year of life they produce a good harvest. The fruits have a sour taste, but a pleasant aroma.
Once you decide on the variety, you can start selecting the seeds and planting them in a pot. The first good seedling will appear from a lemon seed within a year.
Every person at least once in his life tried to plant a plant, but few managed to get the fruits. There may be several reasons: Not proper care or incorrect landing. How to plant a lemon from a seed so that it pleases you with its fruits?
Ponderosa lemon produces large seeds
Growing lemons from seeds is quite possible. Therefore, you should not ask the question whether it is possible to grow lemon at home. Inside the fruit you can see more than one seed, which is perfect for this. The main thing is to choose the right ripe lemon. Only from the seed of such a lemon will it be possible to grow a full-fledged plant, because the embryos will already be formed inside.
Growing lemon at home should be done using 10 large seeds. This will allow you to choose the strongest seedling from several sprouts. It is also very important to choose the right variety, because it determines whether the tree will bear fruit and how many fruits it can produce.
Landing technology
To grow a lemon from a seed at home, you need to follow all the steps step by step. The first thing is to germinate the seed. To speed up the process, it is carefully cleared of the top layer, being careful not to damage the core of the stone. You can't expect germination from a spoiled seed.
There are other methods. Before planting the seed, it must be soaked in water for several days. Be sure to germinate the seeds if you want to get good seedlings. If desired, you can soak the seeds in a special solution to accelerate growth, which is sold at any gardening store.
You should prepare a small pot in advance and pour soil into it. There must be small holes at the bottom of the container to allow excess moisture to be removed from the soil. Before planting a lemon, add a little expanded clay to the bottom of the pot. Planting lemons from seeds at home should be done to a depth of no more than 2 cm and only sprouted seeds should be used for this.
After a seedling grows from the seeds, it should be transplanted into a larger pot. You need to replant in the same way as you planted the seeds. Next, you should carry out proper care at home.
You can grow lemons from cuttings. This method allows you to quickly get fruit. But many still prefer to plant lemon seeds. This method takes more time, but it allows you to get new, young trees.
Lemon seeds should be soaked before planting.
Fruits of indoor lemon
Some people think that a growing seedling is useless because it is not a fruit. How long do you have to wait to receive them? The citrus you grow will bear fruit only after 7 years. There are several methods to accelerate fruiting:
- Cleavage A cutting of a fruiting plant is taken. A small cut is made on the seedling and a fruiting cutting is applied to it. The vaccine must be wrapped with electrical tape and covered with a bag. When the branch grows, the polyethylene must be removed.
- Budding. The seedling is pruned to 10 cm and grafted with a fruiting cutting.
Most often, the first method is used to vaccinate. It is much simpler and more effective. Many gardeners claim that if we grow lemons from seeds at home, they will begin to bear fruit earlier than those planted from cuttings.
You can use any of the above methods. Experienced gardeners Both the first and second methods of vaccination are practiced. The result will be the same, only in the second case you will have to wait a little longer.
A lemon grown from a seed will bear fruit 7 years after planting.
Caring for a young plant
When a seedling is actively growing, it needs careful care. The first thing to do with the tree is to replant it when four leaves appear on the trunk. Young lemons need to be replanted twice a year.
The lemon tree reacts to any climate change. Therefore, it is best to keep it in one place all the time. Window sills that are located on the south or southwest side are suitable for wood. The optimal temperature is 22 °C. Air humidity should be about 65%.
It is recommended to water the lemon with rainwater. The temperature of the liquid should be at room temperature. IN summer period Watering should be done twice a day. With the onset of autumn and the shortening of the day, you should illuminate the lemon with LED lamps. In summer, fertilizing is carried out using humus and mineral fertilizers.
Rainwater is optimal for watering lemons
Diseases and insects of lemon
Lemon can be attacked by pests and diseases, especially if the tree grows in the garden. In order for lemons to grow well, we care for them carefully. A lemon can only get sick if it is not cared for properly. At insufficient watering the tree dries out, and when there is excess moisture, the leaves begin to turn yellow. This indicates that the roots of the plant are rotting. If a lemon lacks iron, the leaves not only turn yellow, but also dry out.
There are also a number of pests that actively attack lemons:
- mealyworm;
- scale insect;
- spider mite
It’s worth getting Fitosporin. It allows you to fight all diseases and pests of lemon.
In Russia, indoor citrus growing goes back almost three hundred years, because lemons were brought into the country under Peter I. And now we have many amateurs growing this evergreen fruit-bearing plant in a room or on an insulated loggia in pots or tubs.
Perennial lemon tree It blooms quite profusely, but its flowers, as a rule, are not striking, since during this period they are usually completely covered with leaves. But you instantly feel that the air in the room is filled with a fabulous aroma. And even if you enter a room with a large selection of indoor plants, even in this case, the hard, leathery, shiny leaves of the lemon tree immediately attract attention, even if it has not yet begun to bloom. And even if this plant is “wild”, i.e. not grafted, it is still extremely decorative, because it has beautiful emerald shiny leaves.
And it is no coincidence, apparently, in the countries where they grow citrus crops, the bride is decorated for her wedding with a large wreath of flowering branches of lemon or orange. By the way, if blooming apple orchards we see from afar - three or four hundred meters away, the fragrance of a blooming lemon grove, presumably, spreads for many kilometers.
It must be admitted that growing lemons at home is not easy. Firstly, for this it is desirable to have sufficient spacious room With good lighting. Secondly, homemade lemon requires more attention than ordinary indoor flowers. But at the same time, it has many advantages over them: it is more hardy and durable; the whole plant smells pleasant, releasing volatile essential oils that ozone the surrounding air.
In indoor conditions, the oldest trees reach a height of 1.5 m, although in large rooms with huge, bright windows, lemons grow up to 3 m or more.
Growing lemon fruits is a rather long and painstaking process, so you need to be patient in advance to wait until lemon tree will finally gain strength and bloom, and the flowers will form good size fruit.
When growing homemade lemon
it is imperative to take into account its biological and varietal characteristics, know agrotechnical cultivation techniques, methods of its propagation and measures to protect against numerous pests and diseases.
We hope that after reading this article the number of people growing this at home magnificent plant, will increase significantly. Having started a lemon garden at home, in a few years you will be able to treat your family and friends with your own grown lemon fruit. After all, a normally formed five to seven year old lemon tree can give an amateur citrus grower from 15 to 50 fruits in a year (depending on the variety).
Lemon is a small tree or shrub with strong, usually thorny, branches. The tops of its young shoots are purple-violet in color. The leaves are oval, oblong, toothed; have many glands containing essential oil. Their replacement on the plant occurs gradually (as they age): the leaf lives for about 2-3 years. Lemon flowers are bisexual, arranged singly, in pairs or in small racemes, they are large (4-5 cm in diameter). The bud grows and develops for about five weeks, the flower blooms for at least 7-9 weeks. The period of growth and development of the fruit from setting (falling of flower petals) to the beginning of ripening under indoor conditions during spring flowering of the plant can last up to 230 days. In summer (optimum temperature and better lighting) this period is reduced to 180-200 days. If in the first year a young, recently grafted tree produces flowers, you should cut them off (preferably when they are still in buds) so that the plant does not waste its energy and preserves them for further normal development. During secondary flowering, the buds are no longer removed; Most often, the tree itself decides how much fruit it can “feed” and how many “extra” flowers it needs to shed.
It is recommended to allow lemon to flower and bear fruit if it has at least 20 full leaves.
Fruits on lemons are formed both with pollination of flowers and without pollination - parthenocarpicly (in this case, seeds are not formed in the fruits). Lemon fruits are oval or ovoid in shape. When ripe, their skin acquires a light yellow color and a strong lemon smell. Their pulp is usually greenish, divided into 9-14 segments, very juicy and sour. The seeds are irregularly ovoid, white, covered with a parchment-like shell.
There is a close relationship between the number of fruits and the number of leaves on the tree. It has been established that for normal growth and development of each lemon fruit, there must be at least 9-10 mature (physiologically active) leaves in the crown of the tree.
When growing lemons, care for the plant should be such that the leaves do not fall off. Most often this happens in winter. The condition of lemon trees can be judged by the degree of their foliage: the more foliage on the tree healthy leaves, the better it grows and bears fruit. Without leaves, the plant will not be able to bear fruit: if Not favorable conditions If a lemon loses a lot of leaves, then next year it will not form fruit. That's why main task in winter - preserve the leaf apparatus of the tree.
The complete ripening of lemons is fully indicated by their characteristic intensely golden peel, the color of which is given by carotenoids - sources of vitamin A. After full ripening, the fruits, as a rule, do not fall off and continue to grow the following year. But, increasing in size, they at the same time deteriorate their qualities (the peel becomes very thick, the pulp dries out and becomes flabby, the juice becomes less sour).
Under normal conditions, a lemon grows, blooms and bears fruit within all year round, therefore, on the same plant there can be mature fruits, young ovaries, flowers and buds at the same time. The period required for fruit ripening, which begins from the moment of fruit set, largely depends on the period of flowering and setting. Fruit ripening when lemon blossoms in the summer months occurs 1-2 months faster than in the spring. The time from fruit set to fruit ripening can vary widely (7-14 months). Experienced amateur flower growers know how to regulate the timing of lemon flowering, skillfully using various techniques, for example, temporarily drying the tree. Thus, a tree that is dried (to the initial stage of wilting of the leaves) stops growth and flowering and enters into forced dormancy, in which craftsmen can keep it for some time. If after this they give abundant watering, then the lemon begins vigorous growth and abundant flowering.
When growing lemon in a tub, it is very important to achieve dwarfism, especially since lemon tends to form very powerful, long (not branching only at the top) branches, so it will need to be trimmed regularly: without this, the shoots make the crown very voluminous. According to experts, it is advisable to prune all strong growths of a tree after 5-6 leaves, which makes the crown more compact, mechanically strong and productive. Systematic care is also required for the roots (this is usually carried out during transplantation), since they ensure the vital activity of the plant. If the root system develops abnormally, lemon growth is inhibited, the color of the leaves changes, etc.
Lifespan indoor lemon under favorable conditions it can be quite large. For example, in the city of Pushkin I saw a wonderful almost three-meter 30-year-old tree, it grows in a greenhouse and is, one might say, in its heyday. Several hundred fruits hang on it at the same time.
Diseases and pests usually play a significant role in reducing the longevity of plants. If the owners treat their pet lemon with care, like a member of the family, then under favorable conditions the life expectancy of the tree can easily be 35-45 years.
Being southern plant, a lemon tree will definitely produce a good harvest of fruits in indoor conditions if it is provided good care and all the conditions necessary for normal life. But I’ll note right away: it makes quite high demands on heat, moisture and light. The optimal temperature for the growth of leaves and shoots of lemon is about 17°C, and for the development of fruits 21...22°C. Very high air temperatures are harmful to lemon; the plant reacts especially negatively if the temperature rises sharply at the same time as low relative humidity air. This happens in the spring months and early summer - this is caused by sudden warming outside. Such a phenomenon can lead to the fall of flowers and ovaries, and a strong temperature drop in the autumn and winter months - and foliage.
The soil temperature should also be close to the air temperature; A sharp lag in soil temperature and air temperature is especially harmful. This happens when a tub of lemon standing long time in summer and even in autumn outdoors, when it gets cold, they immediately bring it into a warm place living room. Sometimes he reacts to this by dropping leaves.
Lemon is sensitive to fluctuations in indoor air humidity. It reacts negatively to its deficiency, which is most dangerous (especially at high temperatures) during flowering and fruit set. This causes flowers and ovaries to fall off. Some experts believe: the higher the air humidity, the longer the lemon leaves live.
Lemon is a short-day plant; he is quite reconciled with the disadvantage solar lighting. With a long daylight hours its growth is enhanced, and fruiting is delayed. Most favorable for indoor growing Windows on the south and east sides are considered. On the south side in summer it receives a lot of light, but it should be shaded with a gauze curtain from direct sunlight (this is especially important during the midday hours). Some experts consider the eastern side to be universal: its morning sun rays, although bright, are not so scorching, and plants have enough of this lighting.
To prevent a one-sided tree from growing, it is recommended to turn the box with the plant at a slight angle every half month. Although, due to this procedure, the growth of shoots and leaves is somewhat inhibited (lemon is very sensitive to changes in lighting and moving from place to place), but the plant is formed correct form. Other experts advise making turns of approximately 10° every 10 days: then it will take a year for the plant to complete a full rotation. It should also be borne in mind that lemon is sensitive to sudden change lighting: as its intensity decreases, the size of new leaves increases.
During winter period The lemon will benefit from daylight illumination (5-6 hours) with a fluorescent lamp (or an incandescent light bulb 100-150 W), which is placed at a height of 60-80 cm above the plant.
The period from October to March is the most difficult for plants; due to non-compliance with maintenance conditions during this period, they often die. In winter, with radiator heating, the air in the room is dry, so it is better to move the plants away from heating devices (sometimes the radiators are covered with damp cloth); You can spray the leaf surface with a spray bottle. However, we must remember that excessive spraying of the leaf surface, especially of the Meyer variety, can contribute to the development of fungal diseases. It also doesn’t hurt to keep water on the surface of the soil in a pot (or nearby) in a wide bowl for evaporation. In summer, it is advisable to wash the leaves at least once every 1-2 weeks in the shower or gently wipe with a damp cloth so that they are clean and breathe “deeply”.
The lemon tree is grown in the same soil for several years, so great value for its normal functioning, they have a properly selected substrate for it, as well as feeding with fertilizer mixtures. We'll talk about this later.
Alexander Lazarev,
Candidate of Biological Sciences,
senior researcher at the All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Pushkin
