Lemon is a perennial heat-loving tree that many gardeners grow at home. It is enough to plant a seed in order to admire the evergreen leaves of the plant after a while. But to get a crop, you need to work hard. Ripe yellow fruits will appear on your table only if the plant is properly grafted.
Of course, not everyone will decide on such a procedure, because it requires accuracy and attention. Experts do not recommend independently planting a citrus plant without specific experience and skills in this area. In addition, it is necessary to choose the right tools and prepare high-quality material. But how to plant a lemon? How to plant a lemon, everyone knows - you can use a stone from the fruit. But will you get a crop?
Why is it necessary to vaccinate citrus fruits?
With competent and proper grafting of a tree, you will get many advantages:
- The first harvest will come sooner than usual.
- You can get high-quality varietal fruits with already known characteristics. This is especially important, given the number of hybrid plants that do not transfer their properties to plants grown from seed.
- Lemon can be grafted onto any citrus plant, including orange.
So, how to plant lemon at home correctly? Where to begin?
Vaccination conditions and its features
Growing a citrus tree at home is very simple. It is necessary to choose the right capacity with the ground, high-quality planting material and create good conditions for growth.
Observing all growing conditions, you can grow a beautiful tree with saturated green fleshy leaves. It will be able to bear fruit in about 7 years.
If you plant a plant, healthy fruits can be obtained faster. When choosing high-quality material, you can get the first crop in 3 years. And some varieties give yields a year after vaccination. So, how to plant a lemon at home and what is the peculiarity of this procedure?
Vaccination is the movement of buds or shoots from one plant to another. A quick fusion will indicate that the procedure was performed correctly. Such manipulations can be carried out a year after germination from the seed of a young but strong trunk.
Experts recommend planting plants in spring. At this point, the activity of all life processes in the plant increases. At home, lemon can also be grafted in August.
The right stock choice
To get a good, strong tree that will produce a crop, you need to choose the right stock. This culture, on which engraftment is carried out. As a good mother plant, you can use sprouts grown from seeds, the trunk diameter of which will be about 0.5 cm.
As rootstock often used and strong trees of orange, grapefruit and lemon. When choosing a plant for vaccination, pay attention to its characteristics: a tendency to disease, taste, growth.
Experienced flower growers recommend choosing a stock of dwarf or undersized plants for vaccination.
Before the engraftment process, it is imperative to prepare several branches of a small lemon. This scion must be taken from the fruiting mother tree. The shoots must be cleaned of leaves and thorns. In this case, stalks and stalks should remain on the branches. But how to plant a lemon at home?
Vaccination Methods
Citrus crops can be grafted in three ways:
- budding;
- cuttings;
- copulation.
Each of them has its own advantages.
The most common method of vaccination is budding. Spend it from April to May. For budding, you need to prepare a single kidney with a thin wood coating. It is taken from a healthy handle of a cultivated plant. This peephole must be implanted under the rootstock bark.
Vaccination by cuttings is carried out in the summer and spring. To do this, use branches with leaves. Cuttings can be performed in two ways: “split” and “beyond the bark”.
Copulation - this method of vaccination, which uses not only stock but also the part grafted to it, while the thickness should be the same. This method is quite simple and effective.
How to plant a lemon at home? Be sure to check the condition of the tree before the procedure. Particular attention should be paid to the root system, and if necessary, the soil should be replaced.
Features of vaccination by the method of budding
The easiest way to vaccinate is considered to be budding. This method is also called "eye grafting." This procedure can be performed from April to August. After all, the main thing is that an active sap flow occurs in the plant. In spring, an already sprouted eye is used for vaccination. In the summer, they use sleeping buds.
How to properly plant a lemon at home? To perform this procedure, you need to prepare a sharp clean knife. From the scion, they cut off the shoot with the kidney and make two cuts in the horizontal direction. The incision located at the top should be at a distance of 1 cm from the kidney, located at the bottom at a distance of 1.5 cm.
All housewives and flower growers want to know how to plant lemon properly. In order for the plant to bear fruit, the engraftment of the cuttings should occur in the following sequence:
- The stock should be well cleaned. An incision is made on its bark in the form of the letter "T".
- The resulting corners after an incision are slightly bent.
- The previously prepared graft is put into the slot.
- Well wrapped with tape the place of vaccination. In this case, the kidney itself must remain open.
- The vaccination site must be treated with garden var.
After that, it is necessary to create greenhouse conditions for the plant. You can use a clear plastic bottle, glass jar, or plastic bag. It is imperative to ensure regular ventilation. Unnecessary shoots must be removed in a timely manner.
Features of grafting vaccination "over the bark"
In spring, all plants wake up from hibernation, all life processes come to life. Leaves and branches, which can become excellent cuttings, begin to actively develop. So, how to plant a lemon at home with a young strong cuttings?
The correct grafting by grafting "over the bark" is carried out in the following sequence:
- The stock is cleaned of dust and cut at a height of 5 cm from the ground in the horizontal direction.
- In the main stem, a vertical cleavage of 2 cm depth is performed.
- An oblique cut of the same length as a cut on the stem is made on the handle. Make sure the kidney is at the end.
- The graft is inserted into the formed incision and pressed to the stem.
- The junction is wrapped with tape or electrical tape.
- The resulting slice must be treated with a special garden var.
Remember that after vaccination, young plants must be moved to a dimly lit place. They do not tolerate the negative effects of direct sunlight. Ideal option is artificial lighting.
Features of the grafted grafting vaccine "in the split"
And how to plant a lemon at home using the "split" cuttings? The grafting takes place in a different sequence:
- At a distance of 7 cm from the stem, it is necessary to carefully cut the entire bark.
- The stock is cut in half with a sharp knife. The depth of the cut is 2-4 cm.
- From the opposite sides, the base of the stem is obliquely cut.
- The graft must be inserted into the cut. Make sure that more than three kidneys are present.
- The entire vaccination area must be rewound with a film of polyethylene.
A good vaccination will only occur if the rootstock and scion bark are pressed together during winding.
After vaccination, the pot with the grafted citrus plant must be left in a warm place. A prerequisite for an ideal vaccination is good ventilation. Watch the petioles. When they turn yellow, they begin to fall off, the bandage should be a little loose. Active development of the kidneys is a signal that it is time to remove the film. Now you know how to plant a lemon grown from a seed. This method is most often used by experienced gardeners, because skills and experience are needed here.
Lemon Copy
Copulation is carried out during the period when the plant is in rest mode. The ideal time for this is winter. Some gardeners vaccinate in this way in early spring, before the appearance of buds.
This method is one of the most common methods of grafting. Vaccination is performed in the following sequence:
- The graft and stock should be the same thickness.
- On the cuttings and on the mother plant, it is necessary to make identical slices at an angle.
- The graft and rootstock are connected, rewound with adhesive tape.
Many lovers who do not know how to plant a lemon tree at home should remember that the winding must be done carefully. All sections should be well pressed against each other, displacement should not be allowed.
Correct combination contributes to the fact that after a short period of time sprouts appear on the cuttings. As soon as you notice this, you should immediately remove the tape from the tree.
Conclusion
You can not only grow an unusual and bright citrus tree on your windowsill. Every housewife can even get a fresh and ecological harvest! It is enough to properly care for the plant and know how to plant a lemon on your own. This procedure can be performed in several ways. Therefore, you can safely experiment. And believe me, your attempts will succeed.