Has anyone out there ever grown a lemon tree from seed? I have heard it is done in Siberia. If they can do it, surely we can. Will supermarket lemons give good seed? Should I just buy a started tree? I now have a nice, sunny window and have wanted to give this a try since forever!
By Coreen Hart from Rupert, ID
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It is possible, I've done it and had mixed results. I don't have a green thumb but wondered the same thing one day about growing a lemon tree. All I did was remove a few seeds from a grocery store lemon, put two seeds in each of two pots with potting soil.
Eventually they sprouted and I gave one to my sister. Hers really took off and today (years later) is a six-foot tree and it has always been in the house. Mine reached a few inches in height and then died. Don't know what happened! Both were kept in sunny windows. Give it a try. It's a fun experience. I was really proud of myself (til it died!). And now you've inspired me to try again. Good luck!
I grew a lemon tree from a seed it is over 10 feet tall and this is first year it has had lemons and it is really loaded with lemons
I have a lime tree and I keep it outside in the summer and bring it in in the winter. It is not real fast growing and I have never gotten a lime from it. It also has sharp thorns on it. The leaves get real dark and glossy so it is a pretty plant whether or not it produces fruit.
Hi, I have sent lots of links chock full of information on planting lemon seeds.
Remember if you want to clean your own potting soil, heat it to 160 degrees in the oven and keep it that way for 30 minutes once the soil is heated to that degree. Or you could just buy potting soil. You can have good results with paper towels and a baggie.
I love to plant seeds. Here are some ways to plant lemon pits and grow them.
First you wash the seed, very well, very well washing the seed (notice how I wrote that two times...) NOT letting it get dried out. Lemon seeds will not tolerate being dried out....like being left in your purse on the way home from the fast food joint.Other seeds can can be dried, not so with lemon seeds.
You might choose to plant the lemon seed in soil a half inch deep in a styrofoam cup of potting soil with holes a plenty punched in the bottom for drainage, or place immediately in between two folded paper towels and keep moist.
You can put them in a baggie or on a plate in a warm spot like the top of a refrigerator but not too warm where it would dry out. If they dry out they are done for. Did I mention how a lemon seed will not sprout if it is allowed to dry out?
You don't need to have light until the seed sprouts.
Of course, if there is any sugar on the seed and you plant it in the soil the sugar will cause a problem and kill the plant.
Keep the lemon seed moist at all times, but remember the cup and soil must have drainage holes at the bottom. This is a good way to recycle styrofoam cups into something useful.
Without drainage holes in the cup, the seed would be attacked by fungus which would kill the seedling when it sprouted or before.
Once they do sprout give them several hours of bright light, or direct light each day. It does not have to be direct light.
They need to be replanted into soil once they sprout if you are using the baggie method.
I have also included some links to online nurseries with information on planting lemons from pits.
I like to have homemade plants too. I enjoy planting pits of avocados, and such.
Some of the seeds from fruit require a cooling off period if I am correct, but I have not found the need to do that for lemons. Someone can correct me if I am wrong.
Check out the links below for fun things like drawing a face on a recycled styrofoam cup, poking holes in the bottom, and putting potting soil in it and planting grass seed. You can give this little " plant person" a hair cut as the grass grows....Is that not the cutest idea?
Also, you can plant the tops of carrots between two toothpicks in a glass of water. The bottom part without the leaves goes in the water.
(This is the same way to peel an avocado seed and put three toothpicks in it and sprout it also. I sometimes do not peel mine. It helps to peel them though. On avocado seeds there is a paper like covering around it once it is dry you can peel it off.)
I used to order plants all the time from a different nursery, but I forget which one it was.
The link below to the online nursery is a great place, too. Have fun researching all these links! Here they are below, I have looked at them all:
Info from a college on planting lemon seeds:
aces.nmsu.edu/
Article on planting a seed from a lemon:
www.ehow.com/
Main page for Greenwood Nursery:www.greenwoodnursery.com/
Fun things to plant from Greenwood Nursery and other planting info:
www.greenwoodnursery.com/
www.greenwoodnursery.com/
Have fun!
And remember do not let your lemon seeds dry from the time they come from the lemon to the time you wash and plant them or put them in paper towels and a baggie or they won't grow at all.
Blessings, Robyn
I am working on this now in Oregon and it took off really well with the sunny weather we had. Now it seems to have stopped growing, but is very green, looks healthy and has 6 leaves on it. I am being patient to see what it does next. It's on the window sill with my orchids that are just thriving.
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