Detox fruit par excellence, full of vitamins and antioxidants, lemon has a thousand virtues: purifies the body, whitens the skin, lightens the hair, eliminates bad odors, repels insects and brilliantly cleans your surfaces. With all this, how can you not dream of having your own lemon tree at home? Can you imagine having an abundance of it at home without spending a cent? Good news: you can germinate lemon seeds yourself. And it’s not rocket science! Here are the steps to follow!
How to grow a lemon tree with lemon seeds?
Planting and caring for a lemon tree can even be a very rewarding experience, and not just for those with a green thumb. Even if you don’t have any special gardening knowledge, you can easily do it. Especially since it is not a very demanding tree, it especially needs sun. Sprouting a lemon tree from seeds doesn’t require complicated equipment either. You probably already have everything you need! With a little patience and good will, you will benefit from unlimited lemons. And if you still needed a good reason to embark on this adventure, here are some compelling arguments.
- What are the advantages of having a lemon tree at home?
- It produces gloriously fragrant flowers, beautiful glossy green leaves and good brightly colored (yellow and green) fruits.
- These fruits remain on the tree in good condition for several months after ripening, allowing for long-term self-storage.
- Result: you get lemons rich in vitamin C, flavonoids and antioxidants that fight free radicals.
So if you want to grow a beautiful, fragrant lemon tree in the garden, patio or even as a houseplant to add a lush touch to your decor, read the rest of our article.
These are the steps to follow:
- Cut a lemon in half on a cutting board and remove the seeds. Discard any that look too wrinkled or sliced, as they will not germinate properly.
- Then place the intact seeds in a glass of water to see if they are viable. The little trick: if they sink, good news, they are good to plant; but if you see them floating, they probably won’t germinate.
- Since the lemons you have were grown for flavor and not to produce new plants, it is best to plant at least 5 seeds to put the odds on your side and hope for successful germination.
- After removing the seeds from the water, you now need to remove the seed layer. Because ? Because it contains sugars that promote rotting during planting. It is true that the acid helps dissolve them during decomposition, but this can take a long time. Therefore, it would be wiser to speed up this process in another way.
- You can remove this layer by washing the nugget under the tap. Another common technique: put the seed in your mouth and suck on it until the lemon flavor disappears. This may seem strange to you, but apparently it’s a faster way to make sure you remove all the coating.
- Alternatively, you can also remove the white shell from the seed. But be careful, it is a little more delicate: you have to do it very carefully so as not to damage the seed inside. To do this, use a knife to create a small indentation to more easily peel off the peel.
- Another important precaution: never let the seed dry out, it must always remain moist to germinate. And if you don’t plan to plant it immediately, keep it in a glass of water or wrapped in a damp paper towel until planting time.
Note : The ideal is to sow seeds in April. But, failing that, you can also do it at any time of the year. It is possible to plant seeds from a store-bought lemon, although some lemons may not have viable seeds.
How to speed up the germination of lemon seeds?
We have clearly specified that this type of planting requires patience. But if you are determined to have faster germination, there is a technique that can make it easier for you. It consists of “peeling” the lemon seeds. With tweezers, you must remove the layer that covers the seed and slows its growth. After this maneuver, you will need a glass of water, a paper towel, and aluminum foil.
Here is the user manual:
- Take the paper towel, fold it on itself, and submerge it in the water.
- Then drain it so it is moist enough, but not soggy.
- Open the towel and place the seeds well spaced on one half.
- Then fold it over again to cover the seeds and fold it over itself.
- Now take the aluminum foil and fold it over the paper towel. You just played with a germination chamber for your seeds.
- All you have to do is wait 2 or 3 weeks by leaving your seeds inside in a dry, warm place.
Can I grow a lemon tree from dried seeds?
We do not recommend this approach. To ensure it grows, the best option is to germinate the seeds as soon as you remove them from your fresh lemon. Remember that the drier the seeds, the less likely they are to germinate.
How long does it take to grow a lemon tree ?
Once the seeds have germinated, bury them one by one in a clay pot. Ideally, use a special seedling soil and mulch it with clay pebbles. Continue watering, wrap the pot in a plastic bag and place it in a bright location, possibly near a window.
But be careful, do not leave it in direct contact with sunlight, otherwise you risk damaging the sprouts. Within a month, usually, you will have small lemon plants emerging from the ground. And it is already a great satisfaction! You decide if you want to grow them together or divide them to install them in different pots.
Does a lemon tree grown indoors produce lemons?
Normally not, but it’s not impossible. When growing a lemon tree from seed , you can usually expect to have a lush indoor tree that produces beautiful flowers. But if the seeds are of excellent quality and you follow all the germination and care guidelines for the lemon tree to the letter, then you will be surprised to see the production of fresh fruit.