Jay22 - Lemon Tree From Seed

[Ananke]

Hi Jay

Here is the photo of my wee lemon tree.

Hmmm, don't know why it's sideways, it's the right way up when I select it.

[Kirk]

They grow fairly easy from a pip, also many are not really "tropical", they come from the relatively cool parts of the world. So will enjoy being outside. Oranges and Limes are much less tolerant.

Watch it for scale insect, and vine weevil.

Unfortunately it can take a number of years for one to flower+fruit, the grafting of a lemon on to a rootstock speeds up this process so you may have to accept it as a nice green bush/plant for some time. By a number I mean ~20.

Try a grapefruit next. One place I worked at someone planted one, they left, the grapefruit stayed, eventually it was the feature plant in the reception area, it was about 3 foot across and 4 foot high.

[Jay22]

I was going to have a bash at this but Kirk you say maybe 20 years until you get a flower...not sure I'll still be here to see it ( although I hope I would be!!!) Its a lovely plant though Ananke, thanks for sharing.

[Kirk]

The one I grew I allowed it to get a bit too cold, I was always going to bring it in but never did then a sharp frost hit - my fault. Also it was then about 4 or 5 ft tall so not exactly easy to drag in and out or house easy. I think that the size was the reason I kept putting off the moving indoors.

I had bought a lemon from The Citrus Centre, it was grafted and I did get flowers and fruit from it but nothing on the home grown example. I suppose that being in a pot also means flowering can be delayed they are a tree after all. Strange I do not have that one and no idea what happened to it Cannot recall it dying on me.

For a nice evergreen bush and indoor plant they are easy and worth growing. Another (if you can find them) is a Thai Kaffir Lime, they are grown for the leaves, but locating a Kaffir Lime to get pips from is not easy. They are an indoor plant.

As said and shown by Ananke great fun to do it and a sense of achievement, they do look good. If I recall the leaves of a lemon still have a scent on them.

[Philthy]

Always liked the idea of growing a lemon (or lime) tree.

Even if, as Kirk says, they take awhile to come into bearing, will plants grown from shop bought citrus fruit pips grow true?
I'm pretty sure apple trees grown from pips don't (feel free to correct me, I don't really know tbh).

[skeggijon]

Apple trees never grow true if grown from seed. The only way is to graft a cutting from an existing tree.

My Lemon tree is flowering for the first time and hoping for my first Lemons.

[Ananke]

I really don't expect to get anything from it but it was fun doing it

[FlawlessVictory]

I planted an orange tree when I was about 8 at my grandmas and we had it for quite a few years until they killed it . Never got any flowers either!

[Kirk]

Limes are "different" they are more an indoor tree, will take outside during the summer but you are talking of 4 months of the year, maybe 5 if careful.

If I recall limes from a supermarket are seedless, the one I have I bought as a grafted tree, but have had problems in recent years. It is still alive but sort of just. Not sure what is wrong.

Have had a fair number of limes from it, nice small juicy ones. Oddly they turn yellow - caused by the cold, they really are tropical and like 30C and humidity.

If you want to see what is available try The Citrus Centre, they have a selection of varieties. Will say their web site is a little odd. They will list large plants but if you visit they have a number of smaller ones that do not appear on the website.

Problem with visiting is that they are towards the South Coast and finding them is a work of art (and luck). So you have to be southern based really. Shame they do not mention the smaller plants more as saying £350 for a 6ft standard Limequat is not going to happen for me but I am sure they will have 12-18" bushes for £30-40.

[Kristen]

Apple trees never grow true if grown from seed.

... but you might get a new "killer" variety like Discovery

Although many commercial orchards have Crab Apples to assist pollination, so more likely it will be a Crab Apple cross