Lemon is an evergreen tree that does not have high frost resistance, but at favorable temperature conditions it can bear fruit all year round. For the content in the apartment, it is enough to choose the variety of this plant and provide suitable conditions for the harvest. Lemon Pavlovsky, who came to us from the Pacific tropics, is very popular.
Grade history
More than 150 years ago, a merchant from the city of Pavlov-on-Oka named I.S. Having visited Turkey, Karachistov brought as a present to one of his relatives several cuttings of an exotic tree. The fashion for growing lemons in an apartment began to grow very quickly. Homemade limonaria became very popular in Pavlov. In the 30s, an enterprise was created in the city, where Pavlovsk lemons were studied and grown in detail. Today this variety is known throughout Russia as one of the most suitable for growing at home.
Plant description
Pavlovsky lemon is a small tree (or bush), rarely exceeding 1.5 m in height and having 2–4 branches from the trunk. The crown reaches a rounded shape in diameter up to 1 m. Branches covered with gray-green bark hang down. They have spikes 1.5–2 cm long with sharp ends and markedly widened at the base. Glossy dark green leaves are quite large - up to 15 cm in length. Special glands located on their surface make it possible to smell citrus fruits and evaluate the antibacterial properties of this tree. Lemon Pavlovsky changes leaves no more than once every 2-3 years. The number of leaves on a tree is directly related to its fertility - the more healthy leaves, the higher the yield.
Lemon is a self-pollinated plant with bisexual flowers up to 3 cm in size. With proper care, flowering lasts all year round, therefore both flowers and ripening fruits are on the tree.
Breeding
Pavlovsk lemons can be propagated using air stripping, seeds and cuttings. The latter method is the most reliable and is more popular, because ripening fruits do not have to wait a very long time. Begins to bear such a tree already in the third year of life.
From a healthy fruit-bearing tree, a stalk 10–13 cm long and up to 0.5 cm in diameter is cut at an acute angle. The lower cut is 2.5 mm from the kidney, and the upper cut is above 2 cm. It is necessary that the cuttings have 4-5 leaves, of which 2 lower ones are removed, only the upper ones remain. Before planting the cuttings, it is necessary to treat the lower cut with crushed charcoal or a special growth solution (0.1 g of “Heteroauxin” per 1 liter of water).
Capacity for planting is prepared in advance. Drainage is poured on the bottom (pebbles, expanded clay or broken brick), then a mixture of turf and earth is laid in a layer of 5 cm, after which the container is filled with a special earthen mixture, purchased in a store or made from sand and peat mixed in equal parts. Moisten the soil well and plant the cuttings. After planting, they should be sprayed, subsequently performing this procedure regularly. After rooting, the plant is transplanted into a larger flowerpot.
Growing conditions
Young lemon seedlings are especially demanding. Pavlovsky variety is a guest from a tropical climate, so good lighting, humidity and thermal conditions are very important for him.
The best place for the tree is the windows on the southeast side, where there is enough light and at the same time at noon the plant is protected from sunlight, the action of which can cause burns on the leaves of the plant.
Lemon Pavlovsky is a thermophilic plant, the most suitable indoor temperature for it is 20-25 ° C. And only in the spring, during the budding period, it can be several degrees lower. In summer, it is recommended to put the plant on a glazed balcony, if possible. A sharp drop in temperature and draft should be avoided, this can be detrimental to such a southern resident.
Watering is carried out on average 3 times a week in the summer and 1 time per week in the winter. It is necessary to monitor soil moisture. Be sure to regularly spray both the plant itself and the air around it. Its humidity should not be less than 60%.
Top dressing
Lemon Pavlovsky looks much more profitable and has many more fruits, the care of which is carried out with the introduction of top dressing. Fertilize, as a rule, trees that are more than three years old.
Young plants do not need additional stimulation. As a top dressing, special organic fertilizers purchased in the store, or mixtures made at home, are used. Egg shell infusion contributes to more abundant fruiting. To improve growth, a solution of
ammonium nitrate (30 grams per 1 liter of water) is used. It is periodically recommended to water the lemon with
horse manure infusion at a rate of 1:10.
Fertilizers can be discarded if the plant develops normally and has a healthy appearance.
Lemon transplant
Once a year, Pavlovsky indoor lemon needs a transplant. This is especially necessary if the rhizome occupies all the space in the pot. When transplanting, the remains of the old substrate should be carefully removed from the roots, and rotted and diseased roots should be removed. Add drainage and fresh nutrient soil to the pot.
If the substrate in which the tree grew is in a normal state, then the transshipment method can be used. First you need to shed the soil well. Then, gently taking the tree by the trunk in the neck region, you need to turn the pot upside down, holding the ground, and shaking it slightly, release the earthen lump with the rhizome from the pot. After that, remove part of the old drainage, topsoil and put the lemon in another pot prepared in advance so as not to damage the root system.
Pests and diseases
Growing lemon Pavlovsky at home, it is necessary to ensure that pests do not appear on it. Most often, the plant is affected by aphids, spider mites, scale insects. In order to scare away these insects, use ordinary geranium, planting it next to the lemon. You can spray the leaves of the spray with special tinctures and decoctions of tobacco, onion or garlic husk, red hot pepper, bay leaf.
Damage to the lemon with a scale can provoke a disease such as soot fungus. It leads to the fact that photosynthesis is disturbed and the plant “suffocates”. First of all, it is necessary to get rid of this pest by spraying the plant with a Bordeaux mixture.
Improper use of fertilizers can cause gummosis, when part of the cortex dies, forming wounds on the trunk, the leaves fall off. In this case, the affected areas are treated with a 3% Bordeaux mixture and the plant is disinfected by spraying with copper sulfate.
The process of caring for this plant is quite troublesome, but all the work will be rewarded when a tree grows with bright juicy fruits, exactly like lemon Pavlovsky, whose photos delight with its beauty from the pages of gardening magazines.