The question of how to grow a lemon is most often asked by those who first decided to take up this process. If you grow at least one tree yourself, then you will already be well aware of all the features of this process. Growing a lemon requires some effort, but they are fully offset by the result of your work. After all, the useful properties of this plant can not be overestimated. To help the novice gardener, we decided to bring all the recommendations together and provide the most complete information. You will find here everything you need for proper planting and care.
Why lemon?
Before proceeding to the answer to the question of how to grow a lemon, I would like to talk about why this plant is so attractive, and for which all these manipulations need to be performed. Of course, this plant is attractive from an aesthetic point of view. Lemon is a miniature tree that grows in a pot in your home. But his main value is not this. Indoor lemon has many useful properties. It will not only fill the air in the room with a pleasant aroma, it will enrich it with useful substances. Volatile and essential oils that are released during the growth of lemon have a positive effect on human health. Therefore, do not think long about whether to start the process. Of course it's worth it. Now to the point.
Choosing a landing method
First we need to decide how the lemon will be grown. Two methods are applied:
In order to grow a lemon from a seed, we, of course, need seeds of the fruit. To do this, you need to purchase the fruit itself. Where you will buy it - it does not matter. The main thing is that it was ripe, whole, had a beautiful color. Make sure that the skin is not damaged, dented or speckled. In general, we need the perfect fruit. Otherwise, you may get a seed with an already established infection. And this will certainly affect the quality of the sprouts.
Having bought a lemon, you need to immediately begin the process of planting. The fact is that the seeds can not be allowed to dry. Cut the lemon, take out the seeds and, not letting them dry, immediately place them in the prepared soil. There are some more tips from experienced gardeners. To speed up the process of biting sprouts, you need to “conjure” a little with a bone. To do this, take a knife and carefully remove the upper dense layer of seeds, leaving only the inner germ. Here you need to act very carefully, since any trauma to the embryo will lead to the fact that the sprout does not appear. Also, some experts recommend placing the bones in a container with a stimulator for a short time. It’s enough to hold them there for 3-4 hours.
If you decide to use the method of cuttings, then for this you will need an adult plant. We cut off his young shoot and put it in a container of water. It is important that the shoot has at least three kidneys. It is good to add a growth stimulator to water. When the stalk lets out tiny roots, it can be safely planted in the ground.
Ground and pot requirements
Saplings of indoor lemons turn over time into trees that can have different heights. It depends on the variety. If one variety grows on average three to four meters in height, then another can reach up to ten meters. The choice of the pot depends on this. But do not immediately think about it. After all, if you plant a lemon immediately in a huge pot, then this will adversely affect the development of its roots. First, just select a small capacity. It could even be a plastic bottle. It is enough to trim the top, make a few holes in it for water drainage and put on a stand.
You can use pots and drawers made of wood. It is recommended to plant several seeds or cuttings in large boxes at once. Just make sure that there is a distance of at least twenty centimeters between the planting material. This is necessary for the proper development of lemon roots.
There is nothing complicated in choosing the soil for homemade lemon. Being very unpretentious in this regard, it requires only that the soil is not dry. At the bottom of the tank for landing, you need to place a drainage layer. For this, it is acceptable to use suitable material such as pebbles, pieces of clay chips, sand, expanded clay, polystyrene, etc. It is very useful to cover the drainage layer with peat or moss for a couple of centimeters. This will improve the soil environment. For soil, it is best to take equal parts of turf, sand and humus. You can add ash. But you can also take any land that is sold in a houseplant store. Lemon takes root well in any soil, if it is not dry.
Seed planting
The process of growing lemon from seed begins directly with the planting of seeds in the soil. The whole procedure is quite simple:
- we moisten the earth in the container that we chose for planting;
- we make small pits about two centimeters in depth;
- put two or three bones in the pit;
- we fill the hole with soil and ram a little;
- irrigate the entire surface of the soil with water, using a sprayer;
- cover the container with oilcloth or film to create a greenhouse effect;
- put the box in a place where the temperature will stay in the region of eighteen degrees;
- problems with lighting do not arise, since lemon is not yet required;
- until the first shoots appear, you need to constantly irrigate the soil and ventilate the tank, lifting the film briefly;
- no need to fill the pot with water, as an excess of moisture will lead to decay of the sprouts;
- if several sprouts sprouted in one hole, you need to choose the highest quality, and carefully remove the rest.
Planting cuttings
If you apply the landing of cuttings, then here the manipulations boil down to the following:
- As soon as the stalk has found roots, albeit small, it must be placed in a prepared container.
- It is necessary to ensure that the stalk is planted deep enough, and only a couple of buds remain on the surface.
- It is important to monitor how to water the lemon at this time, because the cuttings need moisture, and he still has nothing to drink, so watering should be plentiful.
- Create a temperature regime from eighteen to twenty degrees of heat, because the lemon loves warm rooms.
- After about a couple of months, the plant will grow strong enough to begin active growth and development.
Take care of the sprouts
When growing a lemon in a pot, you need to monitor where the container will stand. The development and growth of the plant depends on this. Lemon does not tolerate cold and draft. As soon as you notice the first sprouts, you need to change the care of the plant. First you need to remove the film, now it is not needed. Watering should be done regularly, every three to four days. Now the sprouts need sunlight, so the pot must be periodically placed on the windowsill, where there is enough light. In order for the plant to have a beautiful shape and develop evenly, rotate it in a circle about once a month for a couple of centimeters. Do not twist too much, this can lead to a “fright” of the plant, and it will completely stop releasing leaves.
For watering a lemon, you need to use not plain water, but collected after rain or snow. Be sure to warm it to a comfortable room temperature. Moreover, the container with water should be at rest enough time to settle all harmful additives. It is not recommended to water the lemon with tap water, since a huge amount of impurities leads to the death of sprouts.
As dust appears on the leaves, care must be taken to remove it with a soft, damp cloth or sponge.
Fertilize and transplant
Talking about how to grow a lemon, one can not help but mention fertilizer. This is a very important process that helps the plant to strengthen and develop. For the proper development of sprouts, you need to feed them twice a month. Many different fertilizer options are available now, and many of them are great. Make sure that the package contains the composition of the drug, which would indicate the presence of boron, manganese and zinc. These are just the substances that lemon needs.
Equally important is the procedure for replanting a slightly grown plant to a new place. The ideal time for this process is the beginning of spring. Pick up a larger pot of lemon than the previous one. You will need to carry out such a transplant at least four times during the first year. Then there will be no need to transplant so often. You will need to do this as the plant demands. As soon as you notice that the roots of the lemon have grown to the very drainage, and you can watch their tips outside the pot, then the plant shows you that it is cramped. Transplant carefully without damaging the roots. To do this, do not remove the entire earth, but leave a lump of old soil. So you protect the plant from damage, and also help him adapt to the new environment.
Tree care
The above information is not all that a plant needs to ensure proper care. Pruning a lemon is also an important procedure necessary to form a crown. After all, no one wants to see an ugly bush in a pot in the house. You need to do this right away, as soon as the trunk of the plant becomes strong enough, stretches up, and twigs appear on it. As soon as this happened, you need to immediately cut off the central shoot, leaving a stump about twenty centimeters. Branches of the second order will begin to grow. Upon reaching a length of approximately eighteen centimeters, they are pinched. Everything repeats again. And so on until you grow fourth-order branches. It is precisely on them that buds, flowers, and fruits will form. If you do not circumcise, then your plant will overgrow with excess foliage, which will spend extra power.
Caring for a lemon during the flowering period comes down to not letting it produce a lot of buds. It is necessary to immediately remove half of them, so as not to let the plant weaken. The same thing needs to be done with the ovary. By the way, the lemon will begin to bear fruit no earlier than five years after the seeds are planted. So you need patience. But in order to guarantee a result in the form of fruits, we recommend grafting a lemon. This should be done at a time when the trunk of the plant has grown and reached a centimeter in diameter. For this purpose, you will need a lemon stalk that already bears fruit. You can take it from friends, or you can buy it in a specialized store. Follow the instructions below:
- Cut one twig that moves away from the main trunk, leaving five centimeters at the base.
- Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the left quail into two parts.
- Sharpen the stalk and insert into a split branch.
- Treat the cropped places with garden varnish and insulate, completely covering the stump.
- Everything is also cut off from the cutting, leaving about three buds. Cut the cut part with garden varnish and cover the entire scion with a package to create a greenhouse effect.
- When you see the first sprouts, remove the bag.
Such a plant usually begins to bear fruit after three years. When the first flowering occurs, you need to leave only two flowers that are pollinated artificially, transferring pollen from one bud to another. Further on the plant there will be as many fruits as there are ovaries.
Growing Features
A room lemon loves proper care, and you need to monitor not only the watering and fertilizer, but also the light, temperature and humidity in the room:
- As for light, the plant prefers bright lighting, but there should be no direct sunlight. It must be dispersed. Ideal for lemon east side of the house.
- In the room where the lemon stands, it is necessary to maintain a temperature of about nineteen degrees of heat at the time of flowering, twenty-one - during fruiting and seventeen - in the winter, when the plant is resting.
- Since lemon came from tropical countries, it needs a humid climate. It is enough to spray the plant three times a month, and also place a humidifier next to it. For this purpose, a container with water and pebbles can serve.
General recommendations
Information on how to grow a lemon is very voluminous. But there is nothing complicated and impossible in it. Just follow the recommendations. There are also some special tips that we want to bring to your attention:
- At the end of the fall season, you need to start accustoming the lemon to low temperatures. To do this, gradually lower the temperature, reaching fifteen degrees. At the same time, increase the amount of light so that the plant does not drop leaves.
- So that the lemon does not freeze in the winter, while in a cool room, the pot with the plant can be wrapped with insulation. This will protect the root system.
- Periodically, it is necessary to loosen the soil in a pot where lemon grows. This facilitates the penetration of air to the roots.
- Starting from the end of spring and throughout the summer period, we recommend that you take the plant outside, but do not place it in direct sunlight.
We hope that all this information will help you with the question of how to grow a lemon on the windowsill, and how to care for it. Heat, moisture and the sun - this is what this wonderful plant loves. Do not forget about it, and you will succeed.
Any effort put into growing and caring for a lemon will subsequently reward you with wonderful aromatic fruits collected from a tree. And the envy of neighbors and acquaintances who will see this tropical miracle in your house will be an additional reward.