A couple of months back, we posted HERE about our discovery of sweet lemons. They were wonderful and have been buying them regularly.
We did a ton of research and only found a few available to ship BUT, they don't ship to Texas (and California and Florida...FDA guidelines on citrus). We'd have to find one here that sold within Texas. We tried and couldn't find any, so after that same research, we found out that they will grow true from seed and should produce fruit, as opposed to some regular store-bought lemons that are hybrids. Hey, it's worth a try, right?
We bought another one and cut it open to get to the seeds and sort through them.
We got four good ones and two that were a bit misshapen and flat, needed to test them.
I had read that the best way to get them started was to soak them for about an hour in water. Also, any non-viable seeds will float to the top. I tested that by dropping those two in there and sure enough, they floated and the others sank to the bottom.
I decided to do the wet paper towel in the baggie method, ha. I folded them into a very wet paper towel and put them into a ziploc with some air and sealed it up. I put it in a dark place (the utility closet) and every few days for a couple of weeks, I opened it to spritz in some water with a squirt bottle.
After about a week...
We had sprouts! In this baggie, one didn't sprout.
I put in the potting soil, soaked it (and soaked the clay pots) and covered the seedlings with soil.
Look!
Little trees coming up after a few days.
Here they are a couple weeks after the other photo. They are green, vibrant and growing quickly. One seed has produced twins (apparently common with citrus). I need to research it to see if we can divide them after they get bigger or cut one down now.
Will they ever produce fruit? Probably.
Will it be a few years? Definitely.
Will it be a fun process getting there? Absolutely!
How exciting! Congratulations on your baby trees! Your thumb is definitely green! Hoping you’ll be picking fruit from them in a few years!
ReplyDeleteThat is exciting! Can I say--orangerie?
ReplyDeleteAwesome! What a wonderful experiment just to see how and when they will produce lemons. Hopefully you are keeping records of your project. It's best to grow your new 'babies' under humid conditions. Them nasty ole pests do not like humidity conditions.
ReplyDeleteBe sure to keep an eye out for nasty pests such as; mealy bugs, spider mites, and scale insects are common lemon trees.
This is something that I have learned through the years; If seeds sink they are good to plant but if they float then they probably won't germinate.
Enjoy your day and best of luck to you on your baby lemon trees. Try with orange seeds, apple seeds, etc.
Only time will tell how it all works out
ReplyDeleteYou and Steve Reed are most fortunate when growing plants and, now ... Lemon 🍋 Trees! I hope all the little saplings survive and produce all the sweet lemons you could ever want!
ReplyDeleteHave you grown any Meyer Lemons? They are the best... sweetish and good for anything calling for lemon ... maybe just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteMeyer Lemons Are the best but just unable to find the Meyers in the grocery store. Used to have a Meyer Lemon tree until the neighbors goat ate it right down to the ground, so my poor lemon tree / bush never did recover.
DeleteWonderful to see you had success.
ReplyDelete