Cultivating lemons in open field will only work in the southern regions. But lovers of indoor plants can take up his cultivation at home. Do not expect that next season you will taste juicy lemons - the home tree will begin to bear fruit at least in 5 years.
But even without bright fruits on the branches, the plant smells very nice and pleasant, which is attractive for many growers.
Seeds or cuttings: which planting material to choose for growing?
There are 2 methods of growing lemons at home - from seed or stalk. Seed propagation will end up with a more healthy powerful tree, but then it will begin to bear fruit only after 7-8 years. By purchasing plant seedlings, the fruits on the branches you will see in 3-5 years. Planting lemon seeds is a more common way. The quality of the fruit will depend on heredity and conditions of detention.
Lemon Planting Seeds - pits of fruit. So, for the seed material go to the nearest grocery store. Choose a large yellow lemon. Put the damaged fruit aside - we need quality lemons. At home, cut the fruit, get the 2-3 largest bones - so you can choose those seedlings that have got accustomed better. As the dry seeds lose their germination, the stones that have just been extracted from lemon are suitable for planting.
We decided to grow a lemon from the stalk? Young seedlings or buy on the market, or take from friends. Annual cuttings are cut from a healthy fruit-bearing tree. The “correct” seed has a minimum of 3 leaves with a total stem length of 8–12 cm. Pay attention to the cuts - the bottom is made under the first kidney or right through it, and the top goes obliquely over the last kidney. Non-specialists in the field of floriculture will be difficult to choose a quality cutting - it looks normal, but in practice it turns out that the plant is constantly sick.
Land preparation for lemon planting
Whatever way you choose to grow a lemon, you plant in the period from April to June - the house is already warm, and the plant will be provided with optimal conditions for growth.
Do not buy a large pot for your future "pet" - for the first year a small clay container up to 10 cm in diameter will do. At the bottom of the pot must be a hole to drain excess moisture.
Cover the bottom of the tank with expanded clay or small stones (1.5-2 cm) for better drainage. Then fill the ground. For planting seeds of lemon fit ordinary soil, which is sold in every flower shop. There are soil mixtures designed specifically for citrus - you can try this option. Want to do everything yourself? Fertile land for growing lemons can be obtained as follows - half of the sod land is mixed with half of the humus.
for growing lemon from seed
But for rooting cuttings, it is better to prepare the ground in a different way - a layer of moss (1 cm) falls on a layer of drainage, fertile land is poured, and then 4-5 cm of sand. In such a nutrient mixture, a young sapling immediately begins to receive the nutrients necessary for growth.
Planting lemon bones and cuttings
Once the place for the cultivation of lemon prepared, you can start planting plants.
Bone fruit fruit 1-1.5 cm, sprinkle the hole with earth. After planting, slightly moisten the soil and place the pot in a warm place. If it is cold at home, be sure to cover the pot on top. An abundance of sunlight is not required for the emergence of shoots. Spray the soil lightly every 3-4 days. Seeds should grow after 30-40 days. After sprouts appear on the surface of the earth, the film can be removed. Diving seedlings is not recommended. When developing, they form a long rod root - it needs to be cut, without digging out the seedlings. To do this, arm yourself with a sharp knife, enter it into the ground at a distance of 7-20 cm from the germ at a slight angle to the soil surface. Cut the root in circular motions. The operation can be repeated several times.
With rooting of a sapling on a permanent place, too, will not have to mess around. Before planting the cuttings, it is recommended to soak for 12 hours in a root-forming solution (for example, heteroauxin). Root seedlings in a pot covered with a jar on top to create a greenhouse effect. After planting a sprig spray with water. On rooting the cutting takes 1-1.5 months. The plant during this period needs good lighting, regular hydration and warmth. A sign of "successful" rooting is the formation of new roots and leaflets on the shoot. Now you can transfer the plant to a larger pot - use the same mixture as in the case of seed planting of lemon. Replant carefully, so as not to damage the young roots.
rooting of lemon seedlings
Growing and caring for lemon
Caring for lemon is no more difficult than for other home plants. Follow the basic rules:
• Temperature mode. The optimum temperature for growing lemons is 18-25 ˚C. Strong deviations to one side or the other can lead to leaf fall. If it is very hot in summer, shade the plant a little and spray it with water more often.
• Lighting. The growing lemon tree loves the light. He needs direct sunlight at least 2 hours a day. But given that the plant does not tolerate the change of "habitat", immediately determine to it a permanent bright place - on the window facing the south side. Too often, do not turn the pot to the light - an abrupt change of conditions will lead to falling leaves. You can rotate a lemon tree no more than 1 time in 10 days and no more than 10 degrees.
• Watering. Water the plant 2 times a week with boiled water at room temperature. You can use rain, but it should not be cold. Do not forget to spray the tree with water several times a week to moisten the leaves and the stem. Lemon will not tolerate strong soil moisture. But if it still happened, the earth would have to be completely replaced.
• Transfer. Each year, transfer the lemon to a new larger pot, otherwise the developing root system will have no place in a small container. Replant the lemon gently, transferring it from the "native" lump of earth. Accidentally damaging the roots, cover the plant for 2-3 weeks with polyethylene so that it does not die. And when the pot is already large enough (8-10 liters in volume), the transplant can be replaced by updating the topsoil (twice a year).
• Top dressing. In the first months to feed the lemon is not necessary. And then the plant can be fertilized with complex mineral fertilizers - no more than once a month. For good growth, the lemon needs the following trace elements: iron, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur.
• Formation of the crown. In order for the tree to look beautiful and have lateral buds formed, it is necessary to form its crown. In the first year, the lemon will grow to about 30 cm. In the second season, shorten the plant to 20 cm by cutting the upper part of the shoot with a pruning shears. The following year, do the same, but with the developed lateral branches. Branches of 1-3 orders of fruit will not give - lemons will appear only on branches of a higher order. Therefore, the best form of the crown will be low stock. Cut the side shoots so that over time fruitful branches of 4-5 order are formed. And then, in order to maintain the shape of the crown and to prevent strong foliage of the tree, do only pinching. It is important to prevent the formation of fat shoots in the lower part of the trunk - they do not allow the plant to develop normally. They either cut or turn into "ordinary" shoots, bowed to the ground.
During the flowering of the lemon to form the ovary, transfer the pollen from the pistils to the stamens (you can use a cotton swab). Remove too large flowers - these fruits do not give. For every fruit that starts, there should be at least 10 full leaflets. If there are too many ovaries, some will have to be removed.
How to speed up fruiting lemons?
Lemon tree with the rules of care looks great and smells good. But it is not enough for flower growers - as one would like to see bright fruit on the branches. To speed up the fruiting 2 methods are used - hauling and budding.
A simpler technology is hauling Do it on the side branches 1-2 orders of magnitude! In this case, one of the selected shoots is overtightened with a tin ring or with ordinary wire. Haul off when the buds appear on the branches. Do not overdo it - do not damage the bark, otherwise the branch will completely wither.
Grafting (budding) of lemon in the care of a plant is a technique for more experienced gardeners, as it will require certain skills. This is the insertion of a peephole with a fruiting shoot into a T-shaped incision on the bark of the stock. Eyes are cut directly from the shield. Make a cut in two cuts - 1 cm above the peephole, 1.5 cm below the peephole. As a stock can act saplings of 2-3 years. Budding do on a cloudy rainy day. The technology is as follows:
• Choose a budding site - on a branch 5-10 cm from the ground surface.
• Make a cut across (≈1 cm), then - along (≈2-3 cm).
• Carefully pry the bark with the knife and slightly push it apart.
• Quickly return the bark in place, while leaving a small hole at the top. This will need to insert the peephole.
• Cut the peephole, holding it by the leaf stalk, quickly insert it into the cut made on the stock.
lemon grafting
The place of vaccination, so that water does not flow into it, now tape it with PVC tape. After 2-3 weeks, the stalks began to turn yellow and fall off? Vaccination went well! After about 30-40 days, you need to cut off the entire top of the rootstock - first 10 cm above the grafting (so that the eye does not shrink), and then the rest of the branch above the eye is cut. At the same time removed and the bandage.
But if the petioles remained in place, while shrinking, something went wrong during the budding.
Fight against diseases and pests in the care of lemon
Lemon care includes not only watering and feeding, but also combating diseases and pests, because they can overcome even a home plant. This is especially true of trees grown from cuttings.
All the problems that a grower can face when growing a lemon arise for one of 3 reasons - improper care, diseases and pests.
If you do not follow the important rules of caring for lemon, its fruiting can never wait. For example, insufficient watering leads to shrinkage of the tree, and excess water - to the decay of the roots. An experienced florist will immediately determine the lack of one or another trace element in the soil:
• Iron deficiency - yellow blotches appear on the leaf, then it dies off.
• Lack of phosphorus - leaves become red, their tips wither.
• Lack of potassium - leaves wrinkle.
• Shortage of manganese and boron - ovaries fall off.
Only timely help will fix the situation. lemon feeding necessary trace elements.
Room lemon can infect various diseases - bacteria, mycoplasmas, viruses, fungi. They are transmitted from other plants or occur due to improper care. Denote the most common diseases:
• Anthracnose. Buds and leaves fall, shoots die off. Lemon slices must be cut.
• Scab (wartiness). The leaves appear characteristic yellowish spots, which gradually turn into pink-gray "warts". Escape may end up dead. On the fruit scab forms orange spots. Trim affected parts of lemon and discard. Spray the top of the tree with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture.
• Gomosis Red-brown spots appear on the shoots and lemon stem. The crust gradually dies off, and a dark orange gummy liquid, which hardens in air, begins to seep from the cracks on it. The causes of homoze are many - a surplus of nitrogen, lack of phosphorus, poor drainage, high humidity. And to cure a lemon, you need to establish the cause of it. Cut out the lesions with a knife and disinfect with 3% copper sulfate solution.
lemon homose
For the treatment of diseases, try not to use chemicals. Especially lemon does not like chlorine!
Dangerous pests on homemade lemons are rare. But if there are several other types of indoor plants "in the neighborhood" with a tree, you need to be more careful. When caring for a lemon, protect it from the following insects:
• Shchitovka. Eat leaves, shoots. The affected parts of the plant are dying. Having noticed the pests, remove them from the lemon (with a toothbrush, for example), wash the plant with a soap emulsion.
• Spider mite The larvae settle on the inside of the leaf. A pest's web can gradually envelop the entire plant, preventing it from breathing. To get rid of the mite, spray the lemon with special solutions, for example, 0.15% Actelica solution.
• Mealybug. Insect larvae leave sticky secretions on lemon leaves. The fruits die off, the foliage falls. If you notice a pest on a plant, immediately remove it from the branches.
• Citrus Aphid. Insects destroy the tops of young shoots. To prevent the spread of aphids, lemon can be placed next to geraniums.
mealybug
If you take timely measures to treat the lemon tree from diseases and pests, it will remain green and pleasantly smelling all year round.
