Growing Indoor Lemon Tree From Seed – Lemon trees are easy to grow from seed and can be grown indoors (or outside in a warm spot) with minimal care.
Lemon is a great way to add flavor and bright acidity to home-cooked meals. In addition to our daily meals, I use them to make limoncelli at home. I usually add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to homemade jam recipes and pectin to balance out the sugar and firm up the jam.
Growing Indoor Lemon Tree From Seed
All of this adds up to a lot of lemons throughout the year, which means a lot of lemon seeds.
How To Grow Lemon Trees Indoors
It turns out that growing lemon trees from seed is surprisingly easy. The seeds germinate so easily that some plant them in cups and grow them as potpourri (because the young leaves are so fragrant).
Lemon leaf potpourri might be a nice novelty, but I’m more interested in growing lemon trees from seed. About ten years ago I started growing lemon seeds and lemon trees at home so that I could harvest our own home grown lemons.
Here in Vermont, the trees are not very hardy, but if you grow lemon trees in containers, you can bring them inside during the winter months.
These fast-growing plants go from seed to fully grown lemons in just three years, so it’s worth a try.
Lemon Tree Seeds, Grow Your Own Lemons!
A young lemon tree on our window. It is only a few months old, but it is already 15-20 cm long.
Growing a lemon tree from seed, whether or not it eventually produces fruit, is a worthwhile endeavor if you’re interested in propagating seeds or just want to know how lemon trees grow. They are fun houseplants that are not only beautiful, but also fragrant with leaves and foliage.
The real fruit is just the icing on the cake, but it doesn’t take long to make.
Indoor lemon trees usually bear fruit within 2-3 years. Sometimes you can find a tree without a lemon on it, but that doesn’t mean the tree itself is a lemon. Caring for a fruitless lemon plant is, so to speak, a pleasant and rewarding experience.
How To Grow A Lemon Tree From Seed: Foolproof Steps And Plant Care Tips
All you need to get started is a healthy-looking, juicy lemon (more specifically, its seeds). If possible, choose organic lemons or lemons that have not been treated with pesticides.
Carefully remove the seeds from cut lemons and make sure they are whole (read: uncut) when planting. I remove the pulp with my fingers and then wash it off with cold water. I want to remove the remaining pulp, because the remaining sugar encourages the formation of mold, which causes the seeds to rot.
Unlike some seeds that require germination time on paper towels or water, lemon seeds should be sown immediately after washing.
Plant moist lemon seeds with pasteurized potting mix in a small pot with drainage holes (pasteurization is important because it increases the chances of your lemon seeds growing easily).
How To Grow A Lemon Tree In A Pot
At this stage of the process, you can plant several seeds in the same pot. For successful propagation, the seeds need to be sown only 1 cm deep, the soil should be lightly moistened with water and the container should be covered with plastic wrap to keep the growing medium moist but not wet.
Germinated lemon seeds should be kept in a warm environment at around 21°C during the first germination phase. When it’s cold in your home, the top of the refrigerator is a good place to store dishes.
As soon as you see seedlings sprouting from the soil, remove the plastic wrap and place the pot in a warm, bright place. When the seedling produces lots of leaves, it’s time to transplant them into a larger potting mix.
Using the same pasteurized potting mix as before, carefully place the seeds in 4- to 6-inch diameter pots.
Grow Your Own Lemon Tree From Lemon Seeds
As the plant grows, you can move it to a larger pot to match its size and prune the plant well in the spring.
Planted, germinated seedlings should be placed in a location where they will receive at least 6 hours of sunlight per day at a temperature of 60-70°F.
Keep the soil moist by watering when the top 2-3 inches are dry. You can check this by sticking your finger directly into the soil and checking for moisture. Like other plants, lemon trees tend to shed their leaves when they need water.
Unless you live in a very cold climate, move your lemon trees outside when the weather warms. Even if it only lasts a few months, constant, direct sunlight increases the likelihood that your plants will eventually bear fruit.
How To Grow Meyer Lemon Trees Indoors
I was lucky that we built a small greenhouse outside the house where we kept our potted lemon trees during the spring and fall. A greenhouse extends their time outdoors, but we still have to bring them inside for the coldest part of winter.
In spring, lemon trees grow in our greenhouse next to our annual garden. Once the danger of frost has passed, they are ready to go outdoors for the summer season.
Lemon trees are generally hardy to zone 9, meaning they can tolerate occasional light frosts. They are damaged when the temperature drops below 32 F (or 0 C), but most can survive down to 28 F (or -2 C). Some plants are a little more resistant and can withstand temperatures as low as -5 ° C, but you should not risk it.
If your area is under a frost warning, it’s time to bring your lemon trees inside for the season.
Growing Lemon Trees From Seed
You can keep your lemon trees happy during the warmer months by giving them a water-soluble, nitrogen- and potassium-rich fertilizer every two to four weeks, making sure the surrounding soil stays nice and moist (but not too waterlogged or soggy).
A common mistake is to fertilize lemon trees indoors in winter. People get scared when they see trees shedding their leaves. They start adding more water and fertilizer, which is the exact opposite of what the plants need.
When indoor plants begin to shed leaves in winter, reduce watering, stop fertilizing and allow plants to rest. In the spring, when they are in bright light again, they immediately wake up again.
Your lemon tree’s winter care needs depend entirely on where you live, the ambient temperature, and the amount of light. For example, if you come from a warm area like California or Florida, you can keep lemon trees in their containers year-round.
Growing Indoor Lemon, Lime Trees In Wisconsin A Lesson In Patience
On the other hand, if you live in a cold climate where the days are very short during the winter, it is important to bring plants inside during this period. Place the plants in a warm, draft-free place.
Here in Vermont, we winter our lemon trees indoors for four months of the year.
As you can see from the pictures, the greenhouse is an ideal place to grow citrus trees indoors during shoulder seasons. The main idea is to avoid frost. So plant lemon trees before the first frost and (hopefully) after the last frost of winter.
It is normal and even healthy for plants to be dormant during this time. The lemon tree stops growing or loses some of its leaves; This is a way to save power for your system and you don’t need to worry.
Learn How To Grow Citrus Trees Indoors
As the weather warms and the sunlight increases, your lemon tree will begin to grow vigorously again.
This 18-month-old lemon plant is transplanted into our greenhouse at the end of winter. You may still see snow on the ground outside, but the greenhouse allows the lemon tree to enter its growing season before heading outdoors for the summer.
After a period of 1 to 3 years, your lemon tree will be able to bear fruit. Lemons can take up to 6 months to ripen, depending on the variety, and can be picked when the skin is firm, shiny and 2-3 inches tall.
But if you live in a warmer part of the US (or another warm climate), you can harvest lemons by the bucketful.
Can You Grow A Lemon Tree From A Seed?
Either way, storing lemons in one way or another is a fantastic way to preserve their “fresh off the tree” flavor. The favorite and best way to preserve lemons is to make a traditional sweet and sour Italian digestive that can be drunk straight after a meal or mixed with a cocktail (such as limoncello, prosecco, and this impressive sparkling lemonade drink). ). An easy way is to use oranges, lemons, tangerines, kumquats, etc. shows how to save seeds from citrus fruits and grow houseplants. The following steps ensure an excellent germination rate.
Can you save citrus seeds and grow plants from them? Yes
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