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 know perfectly well all the features of this process. Growing a lemon requires some effort, but they are fully compensated by the result of your work. After all, the beneficial properties of this plant can not be overestimated. To help the novice gardener, we decided to collect all the recommendations together and provide the most complete information. You will find here everything you need for the proper cultivation and care of the plant.
Why lemon?
Before starting to answer the question of how to grow a lemon, I would like to talk about why this plant is so attractive, and why you need to perform all these manipulations. Of course, this plantattractive from an aesthetic point of view. A lemon is a miniature tree that grows in a pot in your home. But its main value is not in 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. Phytoncides and essential oils, which are released during the growth of lemon, have a positive effect on human he alth. Therefore, you should not think for a long time about whether it is worth starting the process. Of course it's worth it. Now let's get down to business.
Choosing a landing method
First, we need to decide how the lemon will be grown. There are two ways:
- seed,
- cutting.
In order to grow a lemon from a stone, we, of course, need the seeds of the fruit. To do this, you need to purchase the fruit itself. Where you buy it doesn't matter. The main thing is that it is ripe, whole, and has a beautiful color. Make sure that the peel is not damaged, dented or speckled. In general, we need the perfect fruit. Otherwise, you can get a seed with an infection already in place. And this will certainly affect the quality of the sprouts.
Having bought a lemon, you need to immediately begin the planting process. The fact is that the seeds cannot be allowed to dry. We cut the lemon, take out the seeds and, without letting them dry, immediately place them in the soil prepared in advance. There are some more tips from experienced gardeners. To speed up the process of spitting sprouts, you need to "conjure" a little with the bone. For thistake a knife and carefully remove the top dense layer of seeds, leaving only the inner germ. Here you need to act very carefully, since any injury to the embryo will lead to the fact that the sprout will not appear. Also, some experts recommend briefly placing the bones in a container with a stimulant. It is enough to keep them there for 3-4 hours.
If you decide to use the cutting method, then for this you will need an adult plant. We cut off a young shoot from him and place it in a container of water. It is important that the shoot has at least three buds. It is good to add a growth stimulator to the water. When the cutting starts up tiny roots, it can be safely planted in the ground.
Requirements for soil and pot
Indoor lemon seedlings turn over time into trees that can have different heights. It depends on the variety. If one variety grows an average of three to four meters in height, then another can stretch up to ten meters. The choice of pot also depends on this. But don't think about it right away. After all, if you plant a lemon immediately in a huge pot, then this will adversely affect the development of its roots. First, it is enough to choose a small container. It could even be a plastic bottle. It is enough just to cut off the top, make several holes in it for water drainage and put it on a stand.
You can use both pots and boxes made of wood. It is recommended to plant several seeds or cuttings in large boxes at once. Just make sure that there is at least a distance between the planting materi altwenty centimeters. This is necessary for the proper development of lemon roots.
There is nothing difficult in choosing the soil for a homemade lemon. Being very unpretentious in this regard, it only requires that the soil is not dry. A drainage layer should be placed at the bottom of the planting container. For this, it is acceptable to use a suitable material such as pebbles, pieces of clay chips, sand, expanded clay, foam, etc. It is very useful to cover the drainage layer with peat or moss for a couple of centimeters. This will improve the nutritional environment of the soil. For soil, it is best to take equal parts of turf, sand and humus. You can add ash. But you can also use any soil that is sold in a houseplant store. Lemon grows well in any soil, as long as it is not dry.
Planting seeds
The process of growing a lemon from a seed begins directly with planting seeds in the soil. The whole procedure is quite simple:
- wet the soil in the container we have chosen for planting;
- make small holes about two centimeters deep;
- put two or three bones in the hole;
- fill the hole with soil and tamp a little;
- irrigate the entire surface of the soil with water using a sprinkler;
- cover the container with oilcloth or film to create a greenhouse effect;
- put the box in a place where the temperature will stay around eighteen degrees;
- problems with lighting do not arise, since the lemon does not need it yet;
- until the first shoots appear, you need to constantly irrigate the soiland ventilate the container by lifting the film briefly;
- do not fill the pot with water, as an excess of moisture will lead to rotting 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 use planting cuttings, then the manipulations are as follows:
- As soon as the cutting has found roots, albeit small ones, 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 keep track of how to water the lemon at this time, because the cutting needs moisture, and it still has nothing to drink, so watering should be plentiful.
- Create a temperature regime of eighteen to twenty degrees Celsius, because lemon loves warm rooms.
- In about a couple of months, the plant will get stronger enough to start active growth and development.
Caring for sprouts
Growing a lemon in a pot, you need to keep track of 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 shoots, you need to change the care of the plant. First you need to remove the film, it is no longer 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. Tothe plant had a beautiful shape and developed evenly, turn it in a circle about once a month for a couple of centimeters. Don't twist too hard, this can cause the plant to "frighten" and stop producing leaves altogether.
For watering a lemon, you need to use not ordinary water, but collected after rain or snow. Be sure to warm it up to a comfortable room temperature. Moreover, the water container must be left at rest for a sufficient time so that all harmful additives settle. It is not recommended to water the lemon with tap water, as a huge amount of impurities leads to the death of the sprouts.
As dust appears on the leaves, care must be taken to remove it with a soft damp cloth or sponge.
Fertilize and transplant
When talking about how to grow a lemon, one cannot but mention fertilizer. This is a very important process that helps the plant to strengthen and develop. For proper development of sprouts, you need to feed them twice a month. There are a wide variety of fertilizer options available now, and many of them will work just fine. Make sure that the package contains the composition of the drug, which would indicate the presence of boron, manganese and zinc. These are exactly the substances that a lemon needs.
No less important is the procedure for transplanting a plant that has already grown a little to a new place. The ideal time for this process is the beginning of spring. Pick up a lemon pot with a larger diameter than the previous one. You will need to carry out such a transplant for at leastfour times during the first year. Then there will be no need to repot so often. You will need to do this as the plant requires. As soon as you notice that the roots of the lemon have grown to the very drainage, and you can observe 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 all the earth, but leave a lump of old soil. So you protect the plant from damage, and also help it adapt to the new environment.
Tree care
The above information is not all that a plant needs to provide proper care. Pruning a lemon is also an important procedure necessary for crown formation. After all, no one wants to see an ugly bush in a pot in the house. This should be done immediately, as soon as the stem of the plant becomes strong enough, it stretches upwards, and branches appear on it. As soon as this happens, you need to immediately cut off the central shoot, leaving stumps about twenty centimeters. Branches of the second order will begin to grow. Upon reaching a length of about eighteen centimeters, they pinch. Everything repeats again. And so on until you grow branches of the fourth order. It is on them that buds, flowers and fruits will form. If you don't prune, your plant will become overgrown with extra foliage, which will waste extra power.
Caring for a lemon during the flowering period comes down to not letting it release too many buds. You need to immediately remove half of them, so as not to let the plant weaken. The same must be done with the ovary. By the way, a lemon will begin to bear fruit no earlier than five years from the date of planting the seeds. So you will 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 stem of the plant has grown stronger and has reached a centimeter in diameter. For this purpose, you will need a lemon stalk that is already bearing fruit. You can take it from friends, or you can buy it in a specialized store. Then follow the instructions:
- Cut one branch off the main stem, leaving 5cm at the base.
- Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the remaining stump into two pieces.
- Sharpen the cutting and insert into the split branch.
- Cut off the cut places with garden pitch and insulate, completely covering the stump.
- Everything is also cut off from the cutting, leaving about three buds. Treat the cut part with garden pitch and cover the entire scion with a bag 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, only two flowers should be left, which are pollinated artificially, transferring pollen from one bud to another. Further, the plant will have as many fruits as ovaries.
Features of cultivation
Indoor lemon loves proper care, and you needmonitor not only watering and fertilizer, but also the light, temperature and humidity in the room:
- In terms of light, the plant prefers bright light, but should not be exposed to direct sunlight. It needs to be scattered. 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.
- Because the lemon comes from tropical countries, it needs a humid climate. It is enough to spray the plant three times a month, and also place a humidifier nearby. 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. It is enough just to follow the recommendations. There are also a few special tips we want to bring to your attention:
- At the end of the autumn season, you need to start accustoming the lemon to low temperatures. To do this, you need to gradually lower the temperature, reaching fifteen degrees. At the same time, increase the amount of light so that the plant does not shed its leaves.
- To keep the lemon from freezing in winter, being in a cool room, the pot with the plant can be wrapped with a heater. This will protect the root system.
- Periodically it is necessary to loosen the soil in the pot where the lemon grows. It makes it easier to penetrateair to the roots.
- Starting from the end of spring and throughout the summer period, we recommend taking the plant outside, but not placing 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. Warmth, moisture and sun - that's what this wonderful plant loves. Keep this in mind and you'll be fine.
Any effort put into growing and caring for a lemon will reward you later with beautiful fragrant fruits picked from the tree. And an additional reward will be the envy of neighbors and acquaintances who will see this tropical miracle in your house.
