The lemon plant belongs to the genus Citrus of the Rutaceae family. The homeland of lemon is India, China and the Pacific tropical islands. It was introduced into the culture in Pakistan and India, and then spread to southern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Where does lemon grow nowadays? Today this plant is cultivated in countries with subtropical climates such as Italy, Mexico, India and the USA.

For indoor floriculture, the plant is also of interest, because you can independently grow a lemon from a seed at home. It enjoys such popularity not only because of its decorative effect. Fruits of some varieties homemade lemon as delicious as the fruit of the lemons growing under the southern sun.

Description of homemade lemon

Room lemon is perennial evergreen having strong thorny branches. The leaves of this undersized tree are oblong-oval, leathery, toothed, green in color, which contain essential oil. Bud development takes place within five weeks. A blossoming flower lives for 7-9 weeks, and such a bloom has a wonderful fragrance.

Fruits ripen from the moment of formation of the ovary and ending with full maturity for more than 9 months. They are covered with a lumpy or yellow pitted peel with a characteristic odor. White ovoid seeds are covered with a dense shell.

Gallery: lemon at home (25 photos)

Growing lemon at home

Lemon is usually grown at home from bone... For this, the seeds are taken from fruits that are purchased at the store. The fruits must be ripe, yellow in color, and the seeds in them must be ripe and mature. The substrate for growing lemon from seed at home must be of a certain composition. To do this, mix the soil for flowers from the store and peat in equal parts, as a result of which the composition is light and well-permeable to water.

The question of how to grow a lemon is most often asked by those who first decided to take up this process. If you grow at least one tree yourself, then you will already perfectly know all the features of this process. Growing a lemon requires some effort, but it is fully compensated by the result of your labor. After all, the useful properties of this plant can hardly be overestimated. To help the novice gardener, we decided to collect all the recommendations together and provide the most complete information. Here you will find everything you need to correct cultivation and plant care.

Why lemon?

Before proceeding with the answer to the question of how to grow a lemon, I would like to talk about why this plant is so attractive, and for the sake of what all these manipulations need to be performed. Of course, this plant is attractive from an aesthetic point of view. Lemon is a miniature tree that grows in a pot in your home. But this is not its main value. Indoor lemon has many useful properties... It will not only fill the air in the room with a pleasant aroma, it will enrich it with useful substances. Phytoncides and essential oils, which are released during the growth of lemon, have a positive effect on human health. Therefore, do not hesitate for a long time about whether to start the process. Of course it is. And now to the point.

Choosing a landing method

First, we need to decide in what way the lemon will be grown. There are two ways:

• seminal,
• cuttings.

In order to grow a lemon from a seed, of course, we need the seeds of the fruit. To do this, you need to purchase the fruit itself. Where you buy it - it doesn't matter. The main thing is that it is ripe, whole, and has a beautiful color. Make sure that the peel is free of damage, dents or specks. In general, we need the perfect fruit. Otherwise, you may end up with a seed with a pre-existing infection. And this will certainly affect the quality of the sprouts.

Having bought a lemon, you need to immediately start the planting process. The fact is that the seeds cannot be allowed to dry. We cut the lemon, take out the seeds and, without letting them dry, immediately place them in the soil prepared in advance. There are some more tips experienced gardeners... To speed up the process of sprouting, you need to "conjure" a little with the bone. To do this, take a knife and carefully remove the top dense layer of the seed, leaving only the inner embryo. Here you need to act very carefully, since any injury to the embryo will lead to the fact that the sprout will never appear. Also, some experts recommend briefly placing the bones in a container with a stimulant. It is enough to keep them there for 3-4 hours.

If you decide to use the grafting method, then for this you need an adult plant. We cut off a young shoot from him and place it in a container of water. It is important that the shoot has at least three buds. It is good to add a growth stimulant to the water. When the stalk starts up tiny roots, it can be safely planted in the ground.

Requirements for soil and pot

Seedlings of indoor lemons turn into trees over time, which can have different heights. It depends on the variety. If one variety grows on average three to four meters in height, then another can stretch up to ten meters. The choice of the pot also depends on this. But don't think about it right away. After all, if you plant a lemon immediately in a huge pot, it will have a detrimental effect on the development of its roots. At first, it is enough to choose a small container. It may even be plastic bottle... It is enough just to cut off the top, make several holes in it for water drainage and put it on a stand.

You can use both pots and wooden boxes. It is recommended to plant several seeds or cuttings at once in large boxes. Just make sure that there is a distance of at least twenty centimeters between the planting material. This is necessary for the proper development of the lemon roots.

There is nothing difficult in choosing a soil for homemade lemon. Being very unpretentious in this regard, it only requires that the soil is not dry. A drainage layer must be placed at the bottom of the planting container. For this, it is acceptable to use a suitable material such as pebbles, pieces of clay chips, sand, expanded clay, foam, etc. It is very useful to cover the drainage layer with peat or moss a couple of centimeters. This will improve the nutrient environment of the soil. For soil, it is best to take equal parts of turf, sand and humus. Ash can be added. But you can also take any land that is sold at the houseplant store. Lemon takes root well in any soil as long as it is not dry.

Planting seeds

The process of growing lemon from seed begins directly with planting seeds in the soil. The whole procedure is quite simple:

• we moisten the soil in the container that we have chosen for planting;
• make small pits about two centimeters deep;
• we place two or three bones in the hole;
• we fill the hole with soil and tamp it a little;
• we irrigate the entire surface of the soil with water using a sprinkler;
• cover the container with oilcloth or foil to create a greenhouse effect;
• we place the box in a place where the temperature will keep around eighteen degrees;
• there is no problem with lighting, since the lemon does not need it yet;
• until the first shoots appear, you need to constantly irrigate the soil and ventilate the container, lifting the film for a short time;
• you do not need to fill the pot with water, so an excess of moisture will lead to rotting of the sprouts;
• if several shoots have sprouted in one hole, you must choose the highest quality one, and carefully remove the rest.

Planting cuttings

If you use planting cuttings, then the manipulations are reduced to the following:

• As soon as the stalk has found roots, albeit small, it must be placed in a prepared container.
• It is necessary to make sure that the cutting is planted deep enough, and only a couple of buds remain on the surface.
• It is important to monitor how to water the lemon at this time, because the cuttings need moisture, and they still have nothing to drink, so watering should be abundant.
• Create temperature regime from eighteen to twenty degrees of heat, because lemon loves warm rooms.
• After about a couple of months, the plant will get strong enough to start active growth and development.

We take care of the sprouts

When growing a lemon in a pot, you need to keep track of where the container will stand. The development and growth of the plant depends on this. Lemon does not tolerate cold and draft. As soon as you notice the first shoots, you need to change the care of the plant. First you need to remove the film, it is no longer needed. Watering should be done regularly, every three to four days. Now the sprouts need sunlight, so the pot must be periodically placed on the windowsill, where there is enough light. To keep the plant beautiful and developing evenly, rotate it in a circle about once a month by a couple of centimeters. Do not twist too much, this can "frighten" the plant, and it will completely stop releasing leaves.

For watering lemon, you need to use not plain water, but collected after rain or snow. Be sure to warm it up to a comfortable room temperature. Moreover, the container with water should be at rest for a sufficient time so that all harmful additives settle. It is not recommended to water the lemon with tap water, as a huge amount of impurities leads to the death of the sprouts.

As soon as dust appears on the leaves, you need to take care to remove it with a soft damp cloth or sponge.

We fertilize and transplant

When talking about how to grow a lemon, one cannot fail to mention fertilization. This is a very important process that helps the plant to strengthen and develop. For proper development of the sprouts, you need to feed them twice a month. There are many different fertilizer options available now, and many will work great. Make sure that the package contains the composition of the preparation, which would indicate the presence of boron, manganese and zinc. These are exactly the substances that lemon needs.

Equally important is the procedure for transplanting a slightly grown plant to a new place. The ideal time for this process is the beginning of spring. Pick up a lemon pot with a larger diameter than the previous one. You will need to do this transplant at least four times during the first year. Then there will be no need to replant so often. You will need to do this as the plant demands. As soon as you notice that the roots of the lemon have grown to the very drain, and you can observe their tips outside the pot, then the plant shows you that it is cramped. Transplant carefully without damaging the roots. To do this, do not remove all the soil, but leave a lump of old soil. This will protect the plant from damage and help it adapt to the new environment.

Tree care

The above information is not all that a plant needs to provide proper care. Lemon pruning is also an important procedure for crown formation. After all, no one wants to see an ugly bush in a pot in the house. You need to do this immediately, as soon as the trunk of the plant becomes strong enough, stretches upward, and branches appear on it. As soon as this has happened, you need to immediately cut off the central shoot, leaving a stump of about twenty centimeters. Branches of the second order will begin to grow. Upon reaching a length of about eighteen centimeters, they are pinched. Everything is repeated again. And so on until you grow twigs fourth order... It is on them that buds, flowers and fruits will form. If you do not engage in circumcision, then your plant will grow overgrown with extra foliage, on which it will spend extra energy.

Caring for a lemon during the flowering period comes down to not allowing it to release a lot of buds. You need to immediately remove half of them to prevent the plant from weakening. The same should be done with the ovary. By the way, lemon will begin to bear fruit no earlier than five years after planting the seeds. So you need patience. But in order to guarantee yourself the result in the form of fruits, we recommend grafting a lemon. This should be done at a time when the trunk of the plant has grown stronger and has reached a centimeter in diameter. For this purpose, you will need a lemon stalk that is already bearing fruit. You can get it from friends, or you can buy it in a specialized store. Then follow the instructions:

1. Cut off one branch that extends from the main trunk, leaving five centimeters at the base.
2. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the foam left over into two pieces.
3. Sharpen the stalk and insert into the split branch.
4. Treat the trimmed places with garden pitch and insulate, completely covering the stump.
5. Everything is also cut off from the cutting, leaving about three buds. Also treat the cut part with a garden varnish and cover the entire scion with a bag to create a greenhouse effect.
6. When you see the first shoots, remove the bag.

Such a plant usually begins to bear fruit after three years. When the first flowering occurs, you need to leave only two flowers, which are artificially pollinated by transferring pollen from one bud to another. Further on the plant there will be as many fruits as ovaries.

Growing features

Indoor lemon loves proper care, and you need to monitor not only watering and fertilization, but also the light, temperature and humidity in the room:

• As for light, the plant prefers bright lighting, but there should be no direct hits. sunlight... It needs to be dispersed. Ideal for lemon east side of the house.
• In the room where the lemon stands, it is necessary to maintain a temperature of about nineteen degrees Celsius at the time of flowering, twenty-one - during fruiting and seventeen - at winter period when the plant is resting.
• Since lemon comes from tropical countries, it needs a humid climate. It is enough to spray the plant three times a month, and also place a humidifier nearby. For this purpose, a container with water and pebbles can serve.

The information on how to grow lemon is very voluminous. But there is nothing difficult and impracticable in it. It is enough just to follow the recommendations. There are also some special tips that we want to bring to your attention:

• At the end of the fall season, you need to start accustoming your lemon to low temperatures. To do this, you need to gradually lower the temperature, reaching fifteen degrees. At the same time, increase the amount of light to prevent the plant from shedding its leaves.
• To prevent the lemon from freezing in winter, being in a cool room, the pot with the plant can be wrapped with insulation. It will protect root system.
• Periodically, it is necessary to loosen the soil in the pot where the lemon grows. This makes it easier for air to penetrate the roots.
• Starting in late spring and throughout the summer, we recommend taking the plant outdoors, but not in direct sunlight.

We hope that all this information will help you in the question of how to grow a lemon on the windowsill, and in how to care for it. Warmth, moisture and sunshine are what this wonderful plant loves. Do not forget about it, and you will succeed.

Any effort put into growing and caring for lemon will reward you with wonderful aromatic fruits harvested from the tree. And an additional reward will be the envy of neighbors and acquaintances who will see this tropical miracle in your house.

Growing citrus plants at home has become very popular among florists. Especially for these purposes, breeders have bred mini-varieties of grapefruit and lemon, as well as other species. This article will focus on the latter of the listed

Lemon at home. Growing it can create a number of difficulties, since this small tree is very whimsical. In order for citrus to delight you not only with its evergreen, bright leaves, but also begin to bear fruit over time, you must adhere to some rules for caring for it.

Lighting

The largest number are photophilous, with the exception of only a few of them (Pavlovsky, Yubileiny). The north and northwest windows of the apartment are well suited for them. The rest of the plant varieties can be placed near sunny southern and southeastern windows. However, in this case, it is worth shading the lemon: growing it can be complicated by direct sunlight, since the leaves can get sunburn... When winter comes, citrus must be placed in the brightest place in the apartment, but you must remember that this tree hibernates in the cool.

Pots. Substrate

It will be comfortable enough to grow lemon at home, the cultivation of which is best done in spacious wooden tubs, this improves air access to the root system. The soil for plants can be purchased at the store, it should be loose, but very nutritious. In order to make the soil at home, you will need to mix humus, turf soil and sand in proportions of 1: 3: 1.

Watering and humidity

Citrus fruits do not tolerate dry air well, so do not place them near batteries. If there is no other place suitable for plants, then cover the battery with a wet cloth. Like all citrus trees, summer period it is necessary not only to water abundantly, but also to spray your lemon with water from a spray bottle. Growing such capricious plants at home always requires soft water: it must be boiled or defended for a day, even better - 2-3 days. Sometimes it is worth rinsing trees under a warm shower (small specimens) or washing the leaves with water and a cloth (adults and large plants). IN winter season watering is reduced, as this can lead to stagnation of water and decay of the root system (an exception can be made if fruits appeared on your trees at this time of the year).

Top dressing

It will be nice to feed mineral fertilizers... This should be done during the period of active growth of the tree, that is, from spring to late autumn. Fertilizing citrus is necessary not only for its healthy growth, but also for the start of fruiting.

Ovary and fruiting

If during flowering it is not possible to take the plant out into the street, then pollination can be done independently with the help of an ordinary one.To do this, pollen is carefully taken on a brush from one flower and transferred to another. This should be done with all colors. How soon will lemon start bearing fruit at home? The cultivation took place according to all the rules, which means that you can wait for the harvest in the third - fourth year.

It is worth remembering that only in rare cases it happens that the plants grown from the seed form ovaries. And even then, most likely, it will be barren flowers.

Temperature regime

The optimum temperature for this plant in winter is 12-15 gaduses. It is considered high already at 23 degrees, if the air is still dry and hot - the leaves begin to curl up and dry out.

Transfer. Pruning

Young citrus tree transplanted two or three times a year, taking into account the growth rate, and older plants are transplanted every few years (usually 2-3). This should be done at the very beginning of spring, while making sure that new shoots do not have time to form on the tree, and even more so the ovaries of flowers. When transplanting, you need to take into account the location of the plant's root system. The root collar of the citrus should be slightly below the level of the pot.

Like many other plants, lemon at home requires good drainage. It is grown, as already mentioned, in a spacious container, on the bottom of which coarse-grained sand can be poured; small river or sea pebbles are also suitable.

With proper and careful care, this citrus will delight you with its fruits annually, and with its bright green foliage - throughout the entire time in your apartment.

Your goal is to grow homemade lemon so that it becomes an interesting element of the interior and even hope to enjoy the vitamin fruits from the lemon tree.

Where to begin? If there is no desire or opportunity to purchase a citrus tree, then the easiest way is to grow a lemon from a seed.

Today we will discuss in detail how to grow lemon at home, how to care for homemade citrus fruits and what needs to be done to make indoor lemons begin to bear fruit.

Growing citrus fruits

The homeland of lemon is subtropical forests, where it grows wild. For many centuries, people have tried to spread it on the lands of Europe. The twentieth century was marked by the experiments of geneticists. Scientists have done a good job of breeding varieties that bear fruit well in northern latitudes and in indoor conditions.

Today you won't surprise anyone with homemade lemon. Thanks to the efforts of professional breeders and amateur flower growers, indoor lemon appeared in many home greenhouses and just on window sills. Citrus houseplants in the interior they always look amazing, but they delight us not only with excellent outward appearance but also edible fruits.

The citrus tree is evergreen, moisture-loving, shade-tolerant plant short day... The room actively begins to grow in February-March, stops - in November. Lemon reproduces in the following ways:

• Seeds - a familiar bone taken from the fruit.
• Vegetatively - by cuttings, grafting, layering.

Pitted lemon: where to start?

Seeds are used only freshly harvested. They are selected from ripe fruits that do not show signs of disease. Theoretically, this is so, but lemons come to us from supermarkets and bazaars.

Such fruits are definitely not freshly picked. How to be? Seeds that have dried up and have lain for a month at room temperature lose their germination significantly, but nevertheless germinate.

To grow a lemon at home one hundred percent, you need to stock not one or two seeds, but a lot more. Of a dozen seeds, there will definitely be several sprouts.

Don't be afraid to grow many seedlings at once. It is not a fact that all your pitted lemons at home will live to fruition. Some will die from disease, others will suffer when you vaccinate them.

We begin to grow homemade lemon from the seed as follows:

• We buy special soil or prepare the soil ourselves from river sand, sod land, humus.
• Prepared potting soil we lay out in separate small pots or cups.
• We plant the seeds in moist soil to a depth of 3 cm.
• Cover with foil on top to create a better microclimate.
• We are waiting for the sprouts to appear, which appear in about 3 weeks.
• If 2 shoots grow from one lemon seed, one (which is weaker) should be removed.

Growing citrus in this way is the easiest and most reliable option at home. Many gardeners have decorative lemon at home, many have waited for their fruiting. It should be noted that homemade tangerines are grown in the same way.

Citrus plants obtained from seeds adapt to room conditions better, are more hardy and viable than cuttings or grafted. Fully fruiting cultivated seedlings grow from the seeds. Their only drawback is that they start to bear fruit late.

Lemon seedling care

Germinating a lemon from a seed is not difficult, it will be more problematic to take care of it further. When seedlings appear, the film is gradually removed, accustoming them to the conditions of the room.

Regular care for homemade lemon implies that its:

• Water it sparingly, avoiding waterlogging, so as not to cause decay of the roots. In hot weather, watering is carried out 3 times a week, in winter it is reduced to 2 times.
• Wipe citrus leaves from dust every week, regularly spray them with water.
• Keeping near the battery requires additional humidification.
• Turn the lemon gradually by 2 cm per month around its axis so that there is no sharp change in the light regime for the leaves.
• Transplant indoor lemon every spring in a larger pot. You cannot immediately plant a plant in an oversized pot.
• Good growth is provided by top dressing with complex fertilizers "Zdraven", "Ideal" or special fertilizers for citrus fruits with the addition of trace elements zinc, boron, manganese - once every 2 weeks.

So that the lemon does not turn from a seed into a wild dense tree, the crown must be constantly shaped. The central shoot at a distance of 20 cm from the ground is cut off. Branches of the second order appear, which, when they reach 18 cm, are pinched. The process is carried out until the shoots of the fourth order appear. They are laid on flower buds, and fruiting begins.

Indoor lemon - pests and diseases

Home-grown lemons are most often affected by scale insects, spider mites, aphids, and scale insects. All these pests feed on the sap of the plant, causing the leaves to dry out, curvature of the shoots.

To prevent pests from ruining lemon Tree, the following general control measures should be taken:

1. Remove pests from the stem with a soft toothbrush, from the leaves with cotton swabs, previously moistened with a soapy solution of anabazine sulfate.
2. Wash off the solution from the plant in a day. Repeat treatment in a week.
3. With a large number of pests, treat the tree with infusion of celandine, tobacco, onion peel or drugs Actellik, Ditox, Fitoverm. It is necessary to use drugs for the destruction of insect pests very carefully, as these are the strongest pesticides.

The most common diseases of indoor citrus fruits are sooty fungus, gommosis. Why are they dangerous for homemade lemon? A sooty mushroom covers the leaves of a dark gray bloom, disrupting the normal nutrition of plants. Hommosis forms a gum resulting from damage to the bark, causing leaves and twigs to dry out.

Diseases of indoor lemon are removed:

• Cleaning a sore spot, processing copper sulfate.
• Covering with the preparation "RanNet" (garden paste-putty).
• Wipe with a wet cloth (if fungus).
• Control of insect pests affecting bark and leaves.
• Top dressing with complex fertilizers to maintain the vitality of the tree.

For a novice gardener, advice on how to deal with diseases of home lemon will seem incomprehensible, but there is nothing difficult here. In all specialized stores you will find the proposed preparations, and on the packaging there is detailed instructions... If you have specific questions on how to grow a lemon from a seed, how to care for it, do not hesitate to ask them on the flower growers' forums. You will definitely be helped!

Cutting lemons for fast fruiting

Why do you need cuttings? Lemons grown in this way begin to bear fruit faster. The only negative is that the future tree must get used to the changed living conditions.

If you already have some experience in floriculture, then it will not be difficult to grow a fruiting lemon by cuttings:

• The best time to germinate the roots of cuttings is March-April. Cuttings are taken only from a fruiting lemon.
• The landing box is prepared in advance. Small holes are made in it. For drainage, washed expanded clay, brick fragments or crushed stone are used. Then, 1.5 cm of river sand is poured in layers, the nutrient mixture is 6 cm, and ends with 2 cm of sand.
• Cuttings are harvested from last year's growth. Make an oblique cut, cover it with warm wax or garden pitch. The twigs are divided into several parts, 4 buds each.
• Before planting in the ground, the lower parts of the cuttings are immersed for a day in a solution of heteroauxin. Sprinkled wood ash, planted in prepared soil at a distance of 15 cm one by one, leaving 2 buds on the surface.
• Press the earth tightly around them, spray warm water... Create a mini greenhouse by covering it with a film. For better rooting, a little heating is needed from the bottom.
• Around the cuttings, maintain a temperature of about 25 ° C. At a lower level, the leaves fall off, their condition worsens, the rooting time doubles, the survival rate decreases.
• During the first 2 weeks, the leaves are sprayed with water 4 times a day, then reduced to two. The film is periodically raised, the greenhouse is ventilated. If all conditions are met, after a month, a lemon grows a good root system.
• Rooted cuttings are transplanted one at a time into clay pots using a drainage layer and nutrient soil. To increase branching, pinch the central root.
• Having installed the plant in a new container, carefully sprinkle the soil to the roots, pressing it with your hand. In several steps, pour warm water so that the earth settles.
• Spray the leaves, put in a shaded place for 2 weeks. After that, young trees are gradually accustomed to the light.

Over time, you will begin to do many of the processes for caring for citrus fruits on an intuitive level, experience will affect. Growing indoor lemon at home is an interesting and exciting pastime. For many, this becomes a hobby for many years, maybe this is your new hobby?

Lemon is evergreen tree with fleshy and glossy leaves, on which, on the branches of a bush, the fruit is located. At the same time, the branch has a large number of pores that secrete phytoncides and essential oils - this is the well-known wonderful scent of lemon. You can grow a lemon from a stone at home with a small tree, which can be up to 3 meters. In this article, we will consider how to plant a lemon tree from a seed at home?

How to plant a pitted lemon?

Before you grow a lemon at home, you need to choose the right seeds for planting and prepare the soil. We choose a ripe, even, beautiful fruit. We get the largest and best seeds from it. And we plant in a wet state, it is not necessary to dry, otherwise they will sprout for a long time or will not germinate at all.

Seeds for rapid formation and germination of good roots in the future can be treated with any biostimulant before planting. Why make a solution, taking into account the instructions for the drug - and soak the seeds overnight.

For sowing it is necessary to prepare good soil and capacity. For seedlings, pots can be purchased at the store, or you can use sour cream or yogurt cups for this, you can also cut plastic eggplants. At the bottom, you need to put drainage and make holes.

It is necessary to plant a large number of lemon seeds- several dozen at the same time. Since not everyone will grow, and you will also have the opportunity to select the best ones for subsequent cultivation, and, finally, not everyone can tolerate the vaccination.

Then it is necessary prepare fertile and loose soil... Lemons can be planted seamlessly in purchased citrus soil or made by hand. We mix the leafy earth, humus in the same amount and add sand and peat for ease. We moisten the earth and plant the bones in pots. The seeds must be planted to a depth of about 2 cm.

For lemon seed germination, the temperature must be at least 19C. In order to create Better conditions cover lemons for development and germination with plastic cut-off eggplants. Or just cover the seed cups with polyethylene and move them to a warm room.

Seeds after sowing should not be poured as they can become moldy and suffocate. It is advisable not to water at all, but only to spray the soil from a spray bottle. Water only when the soil begins to crack. And during the emergence of seedlings, it is also necessary to observe the mode of low watering, so the roots will not rot.

How to grow lemon at home?

The sprouts appear in different ways. Until four leaves are formed, seedlings must be kept in mini-greenhouses. We gradually accustom the seedlings to room air - we spray them more often. Then we rearrange the pot in a bright place, but without direct rays of the sun, otherwise the young plant will die. But remember that you need to water the seedlings only after the soil dries up.

Lemon: Grow and care at home

• In the first months, you do not need to feed a small lemon. In summer and spring, it is necessary to water with biofertilizer.
• Use water room temperature and defended... For irrigation, melt and rain water is good - only warm.
• A dry and hot climate, wind, cooling of the air and drafts, being in direct sunlight - all these factors lead to the loss of foliage and the death of the bush.
• remember, that lemon tree moody... It loves constant humidity and temperature. Abrupt changes in care and climate will immediately worsen the health of the tree.
• They begin to form the crown already in the first year. All weak, inward-growing, deformed twigs are cut off.
• In autumn, watering is completely reduced, only after the soil dries up is a clod of earth moistened. Be sure to make sure that the water does not start to stagnate, and the excess flows out freely. In the fall, they are fed once a month.

Lemon growing and care at home in pots

When 2-3 true leaves appear on the plant, then select the strongest, and transplanted into pots. Clay pots are the best choice for this plant. The depth and diameter are increased taking into account the growth of the bush. A couple of hours before transplanting, the container must be soaked in water. Be sure to cover the bottom with a drainage layer.

We fill in the soil the same as we did when planting the seeds. After transplanting again cover the seedlings with a half bottle or jar... We remove it only after the seedling has completely taken root. At the same time, new leaves begin to form.

How to select the best seedlings for transplanting?

Here are the basic rules to watch out for:

• We look at the presence of needles... It is best when there are few of them.
• Determine the density of the crown... You need to look at the distance on the seedling between the buds - choose with the smallest ones.
• All thin and weak shoots with bad leaves must be discarded immediately.
• Leaves quality... They do not fall off when touched, hold on tightly, there should be a lot of them.

Growing problems and care rules

Growing lemons at home needs special care... While observing all the rules, you can get a fruiting and flowering bush:

• It is necessary to create a humid microclimate in the room. To do this, spray the bush more often.
• Additional lighting is required for the plant - even more so early autumn and in the spring.
• From February to September, the bush grows more actively - therefore, it is necessary at this time to feed the plant with biofertilizers, in turn with mineral fertilizers. It is necessary to feed only with liquid fertilizers.
• For young tree frequent transplants are required. The bush is transplanted without fail with an earthen lump. New containers are chosen more by 6-8 cm. Young plants are transplanted once a year, adult bushes need to be transplanted every 3-4 years. Preferably in June.
• When the lemon at home in the first year began to bloom, then it is necessary to pick all the flowers - do not regret it. The tree must spend all its strength on flowers and then wither away. The plant can be allowed to bloom if there are at least 20 leaves on the bush.
• For the correct formation of the bush, it is necessary to turn the pot a quarter times a week. Subsequently, a well-formed trunk will affect the quality of the fruit.
• In order for the side shoots to grow actively and the tree was more magnificent, the crown must be pinched. It is advisable to do this in the first year of growth.

Will a seed-grown plant begin to bear fruit?

Fruit full-fledged plants can grow from the seeds, however, they start bearing fruit late... Saplings, which are grown from seeds, are characterized by increased adaptability to home conditions. These bushes are much more hardy than cuttings..

In order for the lemon to start producing its first fruits early, you can graft this plant to other citrus fruits. For example: grapefruit, tangerine. Best time for this, the beginning of summer.

Also very important factor there will be crown formation. As already described above, in the first year, pinch the top of the head - or rather, if the bush reaches a height of more than 25 cm.Then branches of the second order begin to grow, they need to be pinched when they grow 20 cm.Then the process must be repeated until the branches of the fourth order are formed.

Varieties of indoor lemon

You can grow many varieties at home - these are Maikop, Pavlovsky, Genoa, Eureka, Novogruzinsky, Meyer. The most productive is Maykop. And the Eureka and Genoa varieties are small plants that can even grow on a windowsill.

Meyer variety

In our country, this variety appeared in 1930. It became widespread in European countries, since it gave large yields in open ground... It is a natural hybrid of orange and lemon.

Pavlovsky lemon

This variety of folk selection. He was taken out in the village of Pavlovo more than a century ago. The variety is quite unpretentious, perfectly adapted to growing at home.

The Pavlovsky variety can grow up to 2 meters. Produces 25-45 fruits per year. Begins to bear fruit in about the fourth year.

Yubileiny variety

Decorative, productive, unpretentious variety. It can grow up to 1.7 m. It blooms quite profusely - from the abundance of flowers it resembles a white ball. Fruits weighing 0.5 grams with a yellow and thick skin. Begins to bear fruit in the second year of life. Perfectly adapts to different conditions, grows quickly and is shade-tolerant.

Variety Chinese

This is a small bush, usually about a meter. Begins to bear fruit early - in the second or third year. Differs in high productivity. Fruits are early ripening, blooms early, blooms on young and old shoots.

It tolerates heat well, however, during dormancy, leaves moisture and coolness are required. Does not tolerate shade very well - must be grown on southwestern and southern windowsills.

Variety Novogruzinsky

Begins to bear fruit for 4-5 years. Tall bush up to 3 meters. During good care can produce up to 220 fruits annually. Fruits without seeds, with a thin crust, quite aromatic.

Variety Maikop

This species is quite popular for growing at home, as it is very productive and unpretentious. Lemons weigh approximately 110-150 grams. Excellent cold tolerance. Branches without thorns. Bushes at the age of 35 give about 750 fruits annually.

Genoa variety

This variety is thornless and grows within 1-3 meters. Fruits begin to bear in 4-5 years. As a rule, it bears about 60 fruits annually. On an adult bush, up to 120 pieces. Small fruits up to 110-140 gr. They are characterized by very good taste.

Diseases and pests

The main diseases of all citrus fruits at home are gommosis and sooty fungus... The leaves from the fungus begin to become covered with a gray bloom, while their nutrition is disturbed. And during homoz, gum forms in the areas of damage to the bark - leaves and branches gradually dry out.

Actions for diseases:

• We clean the place of the disease or the bark - we process it with copper sulfate.
• We process it with garden varnish or with RanNet.
• Wipe the leaves with a damp cloth.
• We feed with fertilizers.

How and in what dosage to use means for pest control or plant treatment can always be read on the pack of each drug. In every specialty store, they can be found in a large number.

Growing in a greenhouse

As mentioned before, lemon loves:

• Constant temperature whole year;
• Good breathing of the root system;
• Diffuse and strong light.

All these conditions the best way you can observe it in the following conditions: in a winter garden, a greenhouse or a greenhouse, on a balcony or loggia with glazing.

Growing lemons or other citrus fruits in greenhouse conditions has certain characteristics. Lemons can be planted directly in the ground or in pots. In order to grow lemon in the ground, the greenhouse must be heated.

Requirements for the greenhouse where the lemon will be grown:

• A lot of diffused lighting is needed. In the autumn-winter period, additional lighting should be used, and in summer and spring, on the contrary, it should be darkened from direct sunlight.
• An indispensable condition - even in very severe frosts, the temperature should not be less than + 5C.
• Do not forget that lemons do not tolerate stagnation in the room air quite well, during high humidity the greenhouse must be ventilated.

At home, the most suitable location for growing and planting lemon is an insulated and glazed loggia or balcony. In another, the care and cultivation of this plant is exactly the same as indicated in this article.