Lemon trees

[jc47]

I went into Wilkinsons today and brought a Lemon tree for £3-99, which seems like a bargain. There was no instructions, so I was wondering if anyone had any experience of growing them as a patio plant, particularly how long do I have to wait for the Lemon for my G & T ?

[Dobby]

You proberbly neeed some citrus tree food
Citrus Trees - Yates Ltd
most Garden centers sell it we have a lemon tree and a orange tree on the living room window sill
£3.99 is a good price did they have a lime tree?

[shirlthegirl43]

Oh, how big is it? I bought one from Woolworths but it is darned near dead so I might just take it back and get a refund. I was in my local garden centre today and saw a grapefruit tree!!! Didn't know they would grow here!

[rustylady]

My friend has a lemon tree that she brought back with her when she moved back to UK from Italy. It spends the summer on the patio and the winter in the greenhouse, and she gets beautiful fruit from it. They are definitely not frost hardy, so will need some sort of protection through the winter.

[Seahorse]

I got one of the Wilko ones a few years ago. It lived quite a long time (three years I think) but it never grew much and never really thrived. That said, this was before I knew much about looking after plants. I'm thinking about getting one that's a bit more established now, though they're certainly not cheap!

[Habanero]

Hi,

i bought one from plants 4 presents last spring for about £30 or so and even though it is quite healthy I did not get any fruit off it last summer. The small lemons that kept forming dropped off everytime! I watered it about once a week or so i nhot weather using citrus feed. It spent most of it's time in the conservatory, ocassionally going outside on a nice day. i don't know what the secret is to get fruit from it!

I also have a kaffir lime tree (much smaller) and that has produced a couple of fruits and it still has a nice big one on now in the unheated conservatory.

My experience so far is that it is very difficult to grow lemon trees which produce fruit but hopefully i will have more luck this year. I think you are only meant to water them when the soil has dried out, so rarely in the winter and may be once a week in the summer (if in a pot).

[deadwood]

I have 2 lemons and they grow fine. Put it in a decent sized pot and use a good compost.
I find that they grow best by giving them a good watering then allowing them to dry out before the next.
If it does make it then I got lemons when the plant was about 3ft high.
One problem I find is that they flower, set fruit then the cold weather arrives.
When they come inside the atmosphere is dry and the fruit dries and falls off. The are self fertile so do not need a pollinator.
The one I have is quite hardy and will stay outside most of the year, the recent frost made me eventually bring it in.
One I grew from a seed is still outside and appears quite happy, the frosts have not bothered it. They may come from places like India but they grow at altitude and are more used to low temperatures then we expect. Maintaining a cool temperature is probably best, not warm.
Have a look at THE CITRUS CENTRE UK NURSERY they have information.

[smallblueplanet]

I also have a kaffir lime tree (much smaller) and that has produced a couple of fruits and it still has a nice big one on now in the unheated conservatory.

I thought kaffir limes were grown for their leaves for cooking? What do the fruit taste like then?

[john erdlevine]

i have a lemon tree grown from a pip and it is now about 3.5 feet tall in a large pot and fed with chicken manure from our own chickens which has rotted down - the lemon is healthy and kept outside until risk of frost then brought indoors - sadly not one flower so far - can i do anything to induce it to fruit?

[Mugsy]

I got a little lemon tree from one of those free offers in a gardening mag where you just pay the postage, I bring it in the winter and treat it as a house plant, then out in the greenhouse come spring. Now in it's second year its well over 14" tall, no lemons yet.

But by bringing on a chaep young plant £3 or £4 it is a chaep option compared to the £49.99 they go for in some catalogues. I started another one this year, same deal free offer just pay postage. So fingers crossed may in a few years have 2 good Lemon trees for very little money.

[daylily]

Seedlings won't fruit for about a decade. Unfortunately, cheap ones are often seedlings and not grafted.

[ally866]

Lemon tree from pips?

Hi guys

Has anyone ever tried to grow a lemon plant from a pip? I thought I would give it a go just to see what happens. Do the pips need to be dried first and, once planted, do they need to be put in a plastic bag to retain moisture? And do they need a lot of heat to germinate?

Sorry for all the questions but any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Gwen11ian]

I grew some from pips last year. I just dried them out for about two weeks on a kitchen shelf, then planted four of them spaced out about two inches deep in a three inch pot, watered them from the bottom and let them drain completely, then covered the pot with a clear yogurt lid, then put them in a warm dark place until they were poking out of the soil.

They make lovely house plants, with bright green glossy leaves. I currently have about five of them growing together in a large pot with an avocado. I had them outside all summer, and just brought them back in a few weeks ago. They're really worth growing just for the fun of it, especially this time of year when we're all feeling the need to just grow something/anything! Don't grow them just for fruit though.. it will be years before you get any, and if you do it's highly unlikely they'll be as good tasting as the parent fruit.

I've also grown dates from pips, using much the same method. Plant them deeper in taller pots, and be patient because they can take about three months to germinate. Also try oranges, limes, grapefruit, apples, etc. It's good fun over the winter, seeing what you can get to grow.