Lemon care at home, growing from seeds, recipes. How to grow a lemon from a seed easily and simply. How long does it take to grow a lemon from a seed?

Everyone knows the benefits of lemon. to the human body. It helps cope with colds and many other ailments. And also its yellow juicy fruits increase and strengthen the immune system, bring it back to normal hormonal background, improve vision and functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. The plant secretes phytoncide, essential oil, which has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.

A lemon in a pot looks impressive, but the tree makes a greater impression when the fruits ripen on it. Many people would not mind seeing this sunny fruit not only in your garden, but also on your windowsill.

Features of cultivation

You can grow lemon from a seed at home. The plant will be small in size, up to 1.5 m high, sometimes higher. Growing a lemon tree from a seed is not difficult, but in order for it to begin to bear fruit, you need to observe certain conditions for its maintenance. To plant, it’s not enough to take the seeds and plant them in the ground, but you also need to know some of the nuances of growing lemons at home.

If a person wants to grow lemon at home, he must know the basic rules.

1. Take seeds for planting only from ripe lemons; their color should be deep yellow.
2. The bones do not need to be dried. After removing them from the lemon, rinse them warm water and immediately embed them in the substrate. If the seeds dry out, you won’t have to wait for results.
3. Choose the largest seeds, 10–15 pieces. In this way, it will be possible to select strong and stable seeds for planting.
4. The choice of variety for planting also plays an important role. Sprout only those varieties that will grow well in room conditions.

Suitable varieties for home cultivation

There are quite a few varieties of this crop. But only 5 species are suitable for home cultivation.

1. Variety Pavlovsky - has large fruits, the weight of which reaches 500 g. The taste is sweet, the leaves are aromatic. The plant reaches up to 2 m in height. There are usually 4–5 seeds inside the fruit, sometimes there are none at all.
2. Meyer - hybrid variety, which was developed by crossing with grapefruit. The taste of the fruit is sweet and sour. The tree always produces a good harvest. The weight of one fruit reaches 150 g. The Meyer variety lies dormant for a certain time.
3. Ponderosa is also a hybrid variety. The fruits have a bitter taste and a lot of seeds inside. This lemon is blooming all year round. The plant is unpretentious in care.
4. Genoa is a medium-sized plant. The yield is high; it begins to bear fruit at 4–5 years of age. The fruits have tender pulp, a sour taste and persistent aroma. The variety is undemanding in care.
5. Variety Yubileiny - the plant reaches medium size. The harvest is rich, the skin of the fruit is thick. The variety is ideal for growing at home.

Growing indoors

To grow a lemon at home from a seed, you need to know how to do it correctly. You need to prepare lemon seeds, soil, and provide proper care, including fertilizing, watering and replanting the plant.

Preparation of planting material

Large, ripe fruits are easy to find. It is enough to go to the market or to the store. To make growing lemons from seeds successful, you need to take only the ripest fruits. Before purchasing, you should carefully examine the fruit for rot and dry crust. At home, the fruit is cut in half and only the largest seeds are selected. It is advisable to plant several seeds at the same time so that you can select the strongest sprouts.

Before planting a lemon from a seed, planting material treated with special preparations. Growth stimulants must be used: sodium humate. The procedure helps:

• quickly grow seedlings;
• strengthen the immune system and prevent the occurrence of diseases;
• quickly germinate seedlings.

Preparing the container for planting

First, you need to plant the lemon seeds in a small pot. Only after the seedling has germinated is it transplanted into a large and beautiful pot. At this point, a number of procedures still need to be carried out. To successfully germinate a lemon from a seed, you need to take a small container with holes in the bottom. And you also need to lay drainage at the bottom of the pot, 1.5–2 cm thick. For it, take small pieces of red brick, expanded clay or just small pebbles. The lemon pot should not be high, because its roots are small.

Soil preparation

Drainage and soil for planting can be purchased at the store. Ordinary soil for seedlings will not work; you need special soil for domestic citrus fruits. If you can’t purchase one, you can prepare the soil yourself. To do this take:

• 50% turf land;
• 50% humus;
• peat and coal or ash.

The soil in the pot is well watered and then the seeds are placed there. The seeds are planted to a depth of 1–1.5 cm. If the air temperature in the house is 18 °C or lower, then it is better to cover the plant with film and place it in a warm place. It is often not worth watering the soil with seeds, only if it is dry. The seeds begin to sprout after 2–3 weeks.

Transplanting a plant

After some time, the sprouted seedlings need to be transplanted. This must be done very carefully so as not to damage the root system. In order for the plant to form a strong stem, the size of the pot should be approximately 10 cm. After a year, the crop is transplanted into a larger pot. The size of the container is selected 10 cm larger than the previous one. It is better to take a clay container. An adult plant is replanted once every 3–4 years. The soil for replanting is the same as for planting seeds.

The crown must be trimmed from time to time to form a beautiful and healthy bush. Weak or dried branches are removed. To ensure that the foliage grows evenly throughout the bush, the crop is rotated 90° once a week.

Rules for caring for a house plant

Care at home must be carried out carefully; this determines how long the plant will grow and when it will begin to bear fruit. You need to pay attention to the recommendations of specialists so as not to say later: “we take care of it correctly, but the lemon does not grow.”

Feeding

Any plant needs feeding, and home-grown lemon especially. If the plant begins to lose leaves, it is lacking nutrients. This can lead to stunting of growth and fruiting. Fertilizers are applied once a month in the form of nitrogen, potassium and phosphate. But ready-made fertilizer, which is sold in a specialized store, is also suitable. To prepare the solution yourself, take:

• 2 tbsp. l. phosphate salts;
• 1 tbsp. l. potassium salt;
• 1 tbsp. l. superphosphate.

All components are diluted in water. To ensure that the nutrient solution is distributed evenly throughout the soil, the plant is watered before applying fertilizer. To prevent the roots from burning from fertilizers, the solution is used in a volume of 100–150 ml per bush. In addition, you need to monitor the condition of the tree. Inspect its foliage regularly to ensure it is healthy and the leaves do not turn yellow.

Among potash fertilizers release potassium ash. Apply 1 tsp. for 1 liter of water. In addition to mineral fertilizers, it is necessary to provide organic fertilizers. For this, infusions of mullein and humus are prepared. Only feed an adult, strong plant.

Watering

Lemon does not like the soil to be very wet or dry. This may damage the plant's roots. Soil moisture should be moderate. Watering is carried out only with settled water at room temperature.

Air temperature

Lemon does not tolerate sudden changes in temperature. An important component of crop care is control of humidity and general air temperature in the room. The lemon tree loves a lot of light, so it needs solar treatments every day for 12 hours. Therefore, it is better to put lemon on south side, and compensate for the lack of light with special phytolamps.

Air humidity should be 60–70%. If the humidity level is lower, place a container of water next to the flower or spray the foliage. Too dry air, as well as extreme heat and drafts can kill the plant.

Grafting for fruiting

The most famous pests that attack lemons are scale insects, aphids, mites and scale insects. These insects drink the sap of the plant, which causes the leaves to curl and dry out. All pests can be destroyed in one way.

1. Remove pests manually using a washcloth or brush and apply anabasine sulfate soap solution. It is more convenient to remove insects from leaves with a cotton swab.
2. After a day, the solution must be washed off. After a week, repeat the procedure.
3. If insects have severely damaged the plant, the bushes should be treated with an infusion of onion, garlic, tobacco or celandine. Any of the ingredients is infused in water.
4. You can also use ready-made preparations Actellik and Fitoverm. The drugs are used very carefully, as they are very poisonous.

Among possible diseases sooty fungus and gommosis are isolated. The fungus covers the foliage with a coating gray, as a result of which the nutrition of the plant is disrupted. Gommosis appears as gum on the bark, and leaves and stems begin to dry out. To cure a plant from diseases, do the following:

• the diseased bark is cleaned and treated with copper sulfate;
• use the putty preparation RanNet or garden varnish;
• wipe the leaves with a damp cloth;
• and also feeding helps support immunity.

The drugs are used according to the instructions attached to them. They can be purchased at any specialty store.

Disease Prevention

To prevent the lemon from getting sick during growth, preventive measures are taken:

1. Hot water treatments in the form of a shower. The plant will not be harmed, and the pests will be destroyed.
2. Once a week, wipe the leaves with soapy water. To do this, it is better to take laundry soap.

Fitosporin helps a lot. The drug is odorless and non-toxic.

These measures will help prevent the occurrence of diseases and death of the plant.

Conclusion

Many people wonder whether it is possible to grow lemon from seeds. At great desire everything is possible. Growing a lemon is not difficult, but if the owner of the plant wants to get a harvest all year round, he will have to work hard. This tree needs proper care. In return for the time and effort expended, the lemon tree will not only give you tasty and aromatic fruits, but will also bring comfort and good mood to your home.

Many types of citrus fruits grow well at home. But how to grow a lemon from a seed that would not only decorate the room with leathery dark green foliage, but also bear fruit?

It is the lack 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 seed is an exciting and not hopeless activity. A strong tree can be used as a rootstock by grafting a cutting from a cultivated specimen onto it, or you can push it to bear fruit with proper care and crown formation.

Preparing seeds for growing lemons

When planning to grow a lemon from a seed at home, you need to be patient and have some knowledge.

The main mistake of indoor plant lovers who have failed in growing lemon or other citrus fruits is that for sowing they used seeds that had long been 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 increase the number of seedlings many times over.

And experienced citrus growers recommend another way to increase the speed and quality of germination. To do this, wet lemon seeds intended for growing at home 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 delicate embryo, and then it will definitely not emerge from the seed.

If lemon seeds remain in the shell, it is useful to immerse them in a solution of a growth stimulator for several hours, not allowing the surface of the seeds to dry out between processing and planting.

Growing lemon from seed at home

Before planting lemon seeds, choose shallow, wide containers with mandatory 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, dangerous for the delicate roots, flowing down, does not linger and leaves the soil in time.

You can make your own soil for growing lemon seeds at home by mixing garden soil, humus and sand. It is useful to add a little crushed food to such a substrate. charcoal, which will reduce the risk of developing bacterial infections. If you don't have it at hand necessary ingredients, a ready-made substrate for citrus fruits is suitable, which can be easily purchased in a specialized store.

All preparatory work carried out. Now it's time to start sowing. How to grow lemon from a seed at home?

The best sowing time is the end of winter. Then the hatching sprouts will receive good support in the form of increasing daylight hours.

The seeds are planted in moist soil to a depth of about two centimeters. You can plant several seeds in one container at once. Since the seedlings wait for the first transplant when they have 3-4 true leaves, the plants will not interfere with each other.

The containers are placed in a greenhouse or placed in a warm place, first covered with a bag or film. Do not forget that all citrus fruits are heat-loving, so you can grow lemon from a seed at home only if certain conditions are met. temperature regime.

The seedlings will not begin to grow if the air and soil in the room are colder than +18 °C. It is optimal if seed germination and subsequent growth take place at a temperature of 22 to 25 ° C, with constantly high humidity, absence of drafts and other negative factors. Following simple rules on how to grow a lemon from a seed allows you to get friendly, strong shoots.

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 carefully sprayed, but it should be watered only when there are obvious signs of drying out.

Caring for lemon seedlings from seeds

With the appearance of green sprouts above the soil surface, they gradually begin to accustom them to room conditions, ventilating and opening the greenhouse slightly. When 3-4 leaves appear on a young lemon from the seed, the film is removed completely, 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 trying to get lemon from a seed at home run the risk of growing a “wild” one.

You can understand how soon the tree will begin to bear fruit and what quality the ripe fruits will be by looking at their external signs. First of all, cultivated citrus trees do not differ a large number thorns on the shoots.

Further care in the first year of seedlings consists of timely watering, replanting and pinching for the initial formation of the crown of the future tree.
In addition, plants:

• in the summer months, feed every 10–14 days, alternating humus solution and liquid;
• on cloudy days and in the cold season, additional lighting is provided with the help of.

The duration of lighting largely affects the flowering and fruiting of plants from the tropical zone. Therefore, you should take care of purchasing such lamps before growing a lemon from a seed.

Replanting 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 by replacing the surface layer.

Interested in how to grow a lemon from a seed, many enthusiasts look forward to first the shoots and then the first flowers. But to avoid weakening the plant, the lemon should not be allowed to bear fruit until it reaches 2-3 years of age. A lemon from a seed is ripe for flowering when there is only one flower per 15 leaves of its crown.

If the earlier formation of the ovary weakens the tree, then pinching it at the age of about a year only promotes the formation of the crown and will lay the foundation for future ones. good harvests. Therefore, in a very young plant, you need to remove all shoots directed deep into the crown, pinch the tops of excessively long shoots, and also sometimes turn the pot with the tree so that it is illuminated and develops as evenly as possible.

Growing lemon from seed - video

Part 1. Planting seeds

A home garden can not only please the eye with fragrant flowers, but also bear useful fruits. For example, in a pot on the windowsill you can grow a fragrant lemon, or even a tangerine. The citrus tree will become the most useful plant home garden. The easiest way is to buy an already sprouted tree at a flower shop, however, it will not bring as much pleasure as one grown with your own hands from a seed.

This is actually very simple to do, and even a novice gardener can cope with this task. It is best to use the seeds of domestic lemons, for example the Miyer variety (it is small in size and frost-resistant), these plants are not watered with all sorts of fertilizers to accelerate growth, and the fruits are not treated with chemicals to extend their shelf life, and the likelihood of growing a healthy tree from seeds homemade lemon much higher. However, when it is not possible to get the seeds of a home plant, store-bought lemons are used.

Procedure

The first thing to do is to carefully separate the seeds from the fruit itself, without damaging their shell, then rinse them under water, removing any remaining fruit. When the seeds are ready, they must be wrapped in wet gauze. It is recommended to use gauze as the material, as it allows enough air to pass through and will not allow the bones to rot. It is advisable to change the gauze every two days. It is best to wet several seeds at once, then the chance of germination will increase. In this form, the seeds will last from three weeks to one and a half months, depending on the speed of germination. As a result, a sprout should appear from the seed, which should be planted in a pot.

It is not necessary to choose a clay pot as a container for the seed. At first, it could be a half-liter plastic cup or a mayonnaise bucket. You need to make several holes at the bottom and sides of the future pot to drain excess moisture. The lemon tree is a rather whimsical plant, and in ordinary land it will not grow, so it is better to take care of this circumstance in advance and purchase special soil for citrus fruits; it can be found in any flower shop. Place drainage at the bottom of the pot. Expanded clay or crushed eggshells can serve as drainage.

If you have problems purchasing specialized soil, you can try growing lemons from seeds in a mixture consisting of:

• four glasses of earth;
• two spoons of ash;
• six tablespoons of humus or manure;
• glasses of river sand.

Video on how to grow a lemon from a seed:

Care

Lemon is a light-loving plant, so it is advisable to place it in the sunny part of the room. Experienced flower growers It is not recommended to move the pot with the plant from place to place, but it must be turned a little once a week so that all the leaves are illuminated and the crown does not turn out to be one-sided. The tree needs to be watered once every two days, while sprinkling the leaves with a sprinkler.

On the shelves in flower shops You can find many fertilizers for citrus fruits, and in the first year of life it is advisable to feed the plant to strengthen the root system. As soon as the lemon grows stronger and has 5-6 leaves, it’s time to pinch the tops. It is best to do pinching with tweezers, but in its absence you can do it carefully with your fingernail. Thanks to the timely removal of the tops, the tree will produce lateral branches, which contributes to the formation of a beautiful fluffy crown.

It must be remembered that the side shoots should also be pinched when 3-4 leaves are formed on them.

Many people believe that a tree grown from a seed is not able to grow strong and healthy, and will not bear fruit. In fact, this is a deep misconception. .

Another pleasant bonus that citrus fruit lovers receive is freshness and a pleasant aroma in the apartment, because the leaves of the plant can increase the humidity in the room and emit a light, unique fragrance.

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No one will be surprised by an indoor citrus tree. But not everyone knows how to grow a lemon from a seed if it is not possible to buy a tree. A lemon tree can decorate any interior, but when grown from seeds, it will take a long time before it grows to a large size.

Suitable variety for growing from seed

It is possible to grow a lemon tree from a seed, but not every citrus variety is suitable for this purpose. The following varieties are best suited for growing a tree from a seed:

1. Pavlovsky. The plant reaches a height of 2 meters, has a pronounced citrus aroma from the foliage, and the fruits can reach enormous sizes. One fruit can weigh up to 500 g. Fruiting lemon from the seed of this variety at home will produce smaller fruits.
2. Meyer. The tree is small and bears medium-sized fruits. The plant is a hybrid of lemon and grapefruit. This plant variety blooms in clusters and bears fruit only in a certain season.
3. Panderosa. Unpretentious plant, a hybrid of lemon and grapefruit, characterized by year-round flowering. It has small fruits with a large number of seeds. The tree is small in size, which is convenient for growing in an apartment.
4. Anniversary. Tree small sizes, is characterized by high yield and thick-skinned fruits.
5. Genoa. A fast-growing lemon variety with medium-sized fruits. The tree is of medium size, flowering appears in 2-3 years, and fruits appear in 4-5 years. The plant is characterized by high productivity and unpretentiousness in cultivation.

Having decided on the variety, you should prepare the seeds and start planting them at home.

How to plant seeds

For successful cultivation lemon tree, you need to choose and prepare the seeds correctly. Only those seeds that have just been removed from the lemon and have not had time to dry out are suitable for planting.

The dense, large seeds should be removed from the lemons. Deformed seeds will not sprout. To speed up the germination of the plant, use a sharp knife to carefully remove the top layer from the seed without damaging the internal parts. The shell prevents germination and can cause the seed not to germinate at all.

Important! If inner part the seeds will be at least slightly damaged, a sprout will not appear from it.

If you decide to plant the seeds in a shell, they should be soaked in water overnight or in a growth stimulator for several hours.

Before planting, you need to prepare the pot; several holes should be pierced in the bottom to drain excess moisture, which can lead to rotting of the roots. A layer of expanded clay should be poured into the prepared container. This is necessary so that excess liquid quickly leaves the roots of the plant and comes out.

The best time to plant lemon at home is the end of winter. Gradually increasing day length will have a beneficial effect on plant growth.

For planting, you can purchase ready-made soil for citrus plants, or mix the soil yourself from garden soil, sand, gravel and charcoal. Several seeds should be planted in the prepared soil, at a short distance from each other. The seeds must be immersed in the ground no more than 2 cm.

Pay attention! Planting several plants in one pot is done because not all seeds will grow. Small sprouts that will be planted when 3 leaves are formed will not interfere with each other.

The plantings should be covered with film and placed in a warm place, creating greenhouse conditions. Optimal temperature indoors – 22 – 25 degrees. At lower temperatures, plants will not grow or growth will be significantly slower.

The first shoots will appear in the period from 7 to 30 days. The rate of germination depends on the temperature and the method of planting the seed.

Will an indoor lemon tree produce fruit?

Will homemade citrus bloom, of course! Grown at home, it will delight its owners with flowers for about 3 years, provided all care rules are followed.

When will it start bearing fruit? indoor lemon? A lemon grown from a seed will bear fruit, but this requires 5-7 years of plant care. If all the rules are followed, the lemon will grow large and produce a good harvest.

Do I need to vaccinate? If you graft, the harvest will appear much faster, but without experience, there is a risk of destroying the tree.

Why doesn't indoor lemon bear fruit? If the plant is more than 7 years old and does not produce a crop, most likely the tree is wild. Not every tree grown from seed will be a parent tree.

Growing conditions

How to care for lemons so that they bear fruit? To grow a lemon tree in a pot you need special conditions. The room in which the tree is grown must have a stable temperature. Lemon cannot tolerate temperature changes and can die from this.

The plant must receive uniform lighting, so you should choose a place where the light will fall evenly on the crown of the tree, or unfold the plant, exposing one side or the other to the sun.

In winter, the plant should be put into a dormant state; for this, the air temperature in the place where the plant stands is gradually lowered to +10 degrees.

Care after landing

When the first greenery appears above the surface of the soil, they begin to accustom it to room temperature, periodically ventilating the improvised greenhouse. When 3 leaves appear, the film is removed from the pot, and the seedlings are planted in separate containers.

Pay attention! Not every tree grown from a lemon seed will bear fruit. Parent trees whose seedlings have small, sparse thorns are considered to bear fruit.

Further care consists of timely watering and replanting of sprouts, as well as proper formation of the crown.

Transplanted trees in summer time should be fed organic fertilizers once every 2 weeks. IN winter time plants are provided with additional lighting. As a light source, you should choose special lamps for indoor vegetation.

1. The lack of additional lighting will result in the plant not bearing fruit and its growth will slow down significantly.
2. Young plants need to be replanted once every 12 months. If the roots have not spread throughout the entire soil, instead of replanting, the top layer of soil is replaced.
3. To form the correct crown, all branches directed inward are removed, and the ovaries should also be plucked off if the plant is under 3 years old. To achieve a neat shape, remove the tips of excessively long branches. Such care will add strength to the plant and contribute to timely fruiting.

Reproduction

You can grow a lemon not only from a seed, but also from a cutting. To obtain a plant, it is necessary to take a shoot from an already fruit-bearing tree. The branches should be vertical and without dense formed bark.

The cuttings should be placed in prepared soil. The same type of soil is used as when planting seeds. The plant should be watered with warm water. Root system will begin to develop in a couple of weeks, this can be noticed by the appearance of new leaves.

Diseases and pests

On house plant may appear spider mite or aphids. To prevent their appearance, the foliage must be regularly washed with a sponge and sprayed.

Important! If there is too much vinegar, the plant will begin to turn yellow and die.

Growing a plant from seed is not a simple process. If you act step by step, then in a few years the room will be decorated with a beautiful, fruit-bearing, exotic tree.

Citrus trees are quite expensive, for example, a lemon tree about 45 cm high will cost 2.5 thousand rubles. Therefore, many people prefer to grow lemons themselves, especially since the seeds are easily accessible and can be bought at any supermarket. You can also purchase fairly inexpensive seeds of varietal lemons (and other citrus fruits, such as tangerines and oranges).

For those who decided to try their luck with a seed from a purchased lemon - this article.

Young lemon shoots, 1 month old.

Step 1. The right lemon

You don’t even need to be a professional to understand that the fruit must be mature, high-quality, environmentally friendly and, highly desirable, freshly harvested. If it is still possible to find lemons in supermarkets that meet the first three parameters, then what about freshness? It is clear that on the shelves there are imported lemons that have been sitting for some time. It's OK. You just shouldn’t take rotten, dried fruits or delay planting after purchase. If you bought a beautiful lemon, immediately remove the seeds from it and start planting.

Step 2. Germination and planting

You can do without germination by immediately sowing the seeds in the ground, for example, according to the scheme described below.

The easiest way to grow homemade lemon from a seed:

1. Buy soil for citrus fruits and prepare small containers (plastic cups are possible), at the rate of 1 seed - 1 container.
2. Fill the containers with soil, plant the seeds in the soil to a depth of 3 cm. Water.
3. Cover with film. Place in a warm place. You don’t have to be zealous here, it’s standard room temperature 18-22° C. is ideal for lemon.
4. Ventilate regularly and moisten if necessary. You shouldn't pour it, it's better to spray it.
5. After three weeks, sprouts will appear.

Such sowing in the ground has its disadvantages: it is not visible which seed has sprouted, some of the pots will remain “out of use”.

Another option

Fill the seedling boxes with soil, plant the seeds 1 cm deep, maintaining a distance of 5 cm between them. In this case, seedlings can be expected after 2 weeks. Waiting for a pair of real leaves the best seedlings are planted in separate pots 10 cm in diameter. Now the plants can be placed in a permanent place - such a pot will be enough for plants up to 15-20 cm in height.

Which window should I place young plants on?

A south window would be a mistake; lemons do not like direct scorching sun, they need bright, but diffuse light. Best option– east or west window. Or still a south window - but with shading.

What do young seedlings look like?

Recommendation: it is advisable to grow several seedlings at once, because if you are inexperienced in growing citrus fruits, time will pass From seed to fruit, a lot of troubles can happen to the tree. Diseases, errors in care, and finally, an error in grafting and the plant will die. It would be nice to have a “spare”.

Two sprouts may appear from one seed; in this case, the weaker shoot should be removed.

Step 3. Shoots and further care

Care is not difficult, lemons can really be considered unpretentious indoor plants; it is enough to learn a number of simple rules.

Lemons love:

1. Moderate watering. On average, we can say that in summer you should water 3 times a week, in winter - 2 times. But you should focus on your conditions - you may have to water more often or less often. It is better to spray young shoots, watering only when the soil becomes dry. Overfilling is worse than underfilling, so don't overdo it.
2. Breathable, water- and air-permeable soil.
3. Regular spraying, possibly a shower. It is important that dust does not accumulate on the leaves. Air humidity is especially important if the plant is located near a battery. Do not neglect this aspect of care - it is not only about humidity, but also about preventing attacks by pests or diseases.
4. Turn the lemon towards the light gradually, by 20-30 degrees, not the full 180.
5. Pot size. A large pot of lemon is not recommended, the maximum for adult plants is 10 liters; it should be replanted as often as possible, but according to need and depending on the growth rate of the tree itself - as a rule, this is done once a year in the spring.
6. Fertilizers for citrus plants with a high content of manganese, boron, zinc. Feeding is desirable quite often - once every 2 weeks during the entire period of active growth (from February to September).

But! Overfeeding a plant is more harmful than underfeeding; remember that nutrition is important for the formation of fruits. Young plants (up to 3-4 months) and plants immediately after transplantation into fresh soil (within 1-1.5 months) are not fed.

Why do lemons die or grow poorly?

This often happens to inexperienced gardeners; you can even hear that lemons are capricious plants. But this is not so, the reasons for the death are quite simple:

1. The air is too dry! Apartment air is really too dry for these plants - don’t be lazy to spray.
2. Temperature changes, drafts, changes in humidity - lemons are quite sensitive to changes in conditions.
3. Overflow. Once again, lemons do not like soil that is too wet! Be sure to wait until it dries between waterings.
4. Poor drainage. Drainage is necessary for almost all indoor plants, so we did not dwell on this issue in detail, but we receive letters that clearly indicate that this point is often neglected. Pay attention to drainage - the soil should be loose, well permeable, and excess water from the pot should drain well - this applies even to very young plants planted, for example, in plastic cups.
5. Wrong choice of seedlings. You should not take weak seedlings with long internodes - such plants will be of no use. If you want to get more plants, it is better to sow more seeds, about twice as many.

Lemon tree at the age of 1 year.

Learn more about fertilizing

If you don’t have time to bother with fertilizing, then complex fertilizers like “Zdraven”, “Ideal” are suitable - almost every company produces a special fertilizer for citrus fruits. But it’s better to alternate feedings using:

1. Organic (you can alternate it with complex mineral fertilizer, using, for example, the following scheme: the first ten days of the month are minerals, the second ten days are organics, etc.).
2. Fertilizer can be used as a source of microelements (zinc, iron, boron, etc.) wood ash, iron sulfate, manganese. All these products are used according to standard schemes (for example, you can read about fertilizing), applying fertilizers both at the root and by spraying the leaves.

Substrate for planting

In a sense, it’s easier for city residents - they have ready-made substrates at hand. However, you can prepare the mixture yourself, remembering the following rules:

1. The mixture should allow air to pass through perfectly.
2. The mixture should allow moisture to pass through perfectly.
3. It should be nutritious, lemons are “gluttonous” plants.
4. They prefer neutral acidity, although they are tolerant of slight deviations (acceptable pH level is from 5 to 8).

There are a lot of recipes for mixtures, for example:

1. Purchased land plus peat in equal proportions.
2. Turf soil, humus, sawdust, sand - in equal proportions.

Pests and diseases

Lemons are attacked, and quite often, by the following pests:

1. Shield.
2. Spider mite.
3. Chervets.

Despite the fact that they look different, the symptoms of the lesion are approximately the same. The leaves of the plant dry out, the shoots become bent, growth slows down, and the plant gradually dies.

The following remedies can be used at home:

1. Washing with a soap solution, just make sure that the soap solution does not get on the soil, this alkalizes the soil, plants do not like it.
2. In the evening, you can carefully soap the places where “bandits” accumulate and wrap the plant in cellophane - in the morning, be sure to remove and wash these places, soap makes cellular respiration difficult, if you leave the plant in a soapy state, the leaves will simply fall off. Of course, the guillotine the best remedy from dandruff,” but it is still advisable to rid the plant of pests without losing foliage.
3. From chemicals Fitoverm is good at home. It is odorless and easy to use, although it cannot be said that it will help in one go. It is likely that the treatment will have to be carried out several times at weekly intervals.

Citrus diseases:

1. Sooty fungus.
2. Gommoz.

Shaping and pinching

They are getting started already in the first year of life, this is very important for future fruiting. Weak branches growing inward with deformations are removed. Pinch the branches, leaving 3-4 leaves on them.

The picture below shows a diagram of lemon pruning.

Harvest and fruiting

Lemon trees like indoor plants very popular, in particular, because they are remontant, that is, they bear fruit all year round.

But be prepared that plants grown at home from seeds will bloom and produce a harvest, at the earliest - in 8 years! In addition, plants from seed do not retain 100% of the characteristics of the variety, which means that they can lose fruit size, yield, and taste. A plant grown from a cutting will produce a harvest in 4-5 years on average.

Propagation of lemons by cuttings - this method allows you to achieve fruiting faster. Plants from cuttings bear fruit in 4-5 years. The only “but” is that for this you need to have a high-quality lemon tree on hand that has already produced fruit, or go to a special nursery and purchase a cutting.

Grafting is the fastest, although it requires practice, method - in this case, active fruiting is only 2-3 years old. Seedlings aged from six months to three years are vaccinated - this best time for scion survival. Thus, it is possible to obtain fruits from seedlings grown from seeds in record time - in 2.5 - 3 years.

It happens that lemons bloom very early - such flowers should be removed, no matter how much you want to get golden fruits. But why risk the death of the plant? Fruiting requires strength, a well-formed crown and a sufficient amount of green mass; if there are less than 15 leaves per flower, the flowers can be safely picked off. As a rule, flowers are removed up to 3, or preferably 4. summer age plants.

Lemon varieties

There are a lot of them, and many varieties can be grown indoors. Differences between varieties are usually in the yield and quality of the fruit. The most famous varieties (descriptions and harvest dates apply to trees grown from seedlings):

1. Pavlovsky– a classic, a very old variety, perfectly adapted to rooms, tolerates dry air and low light relatively well, which is inevitable in an apartment. The plant is large, up to 2 m tall, produces fruits in the 4th year, yields up to 40 fruits per year.
2. Eureka– a relatively short lemon. Productivity is average, blooms early, in the third year, fruits are of medium weight, tasty, very common in open ground in Europe.
3. Meyer- a hybrid of lemon and orange. Very popular as a potted plant. The fruits are larger and sweeter than lemons. Very productive, bears fruit for 4 years (we are talking about a tree grown from seeds).
4. Novogruzinsky– a large tree, fruits for 4-5 years, tasty and aromatic, without seeds. Productivity is high (up to 200 per year).
5. Maykop– different increased productivity, up to 300 fruits per year, fairly large fruits, the variety is unpretentious.
6. Genoa- another low variety, up to 3 meters (in rooms up to 1 meter), fruits - in the fifth year, up to 50 fruits per year, the fruits are small but tasty, blooms profusely.

Meyer lemon blossoms.

Video consultation - how to get results?

Lemons are not difficult to grow from seeds, but it is not always possible to get fruit from such plants. What is the reason? Answer to the video.