Vitamins all year round. Is it possible to grow a lemon and how to do it right?

Indoor lemon is a beautiful evergreen tree. It pleases the owners with a subtle aroma and delicate beautiful flowers. A young tree can produce up to 30 fruits per year, and an adult - up to 200.

To grow long-awaited fruits, you need to know the rules and features of growing a subtropical plant.

This article will help you find out if it is possible to grow lemons at home, choose a suitable variety, avoid mistakes and understand the intricacies of growing and caring for a lemon tree at home and in the open ground from A to Z.

Popular houseplant varieties

The most common varieties of indoor lemons are the following five types.

Pavlovsky

This is a shade-tolerant plant that can grow at home and is suitable for the north side of the house. Reaches in growth to 2 meters. Fruits lemon for 3-4 years. Gives 20-40 fruits of medium size.

We offer you to watch a video about growing Pavlovsky lemon at home:

Anniversary

It features a beautiful flowering. White with a purple tint flowers are collected in inflorescences of 14 pieces. The variety is unpretentious to moisture and watering. Fruits in large fruits for 3-4 years.

Maykop

Attracts high productivity. An adult tree brings in a year from 100 to 300 average fruits. For wintering a tree you need a cool room.

Meyer

It is demanding on watering, lighting and air temperature. Suitable for experienced growers. Thin-skinned fruits with orange flesh.

Panderosis

This is a hybrid of citron, lemon and grapefruit. Large large-skinned fruits, up to 500 gr. Lemon blooms profusely, 2-3 times a year.

We offer you to watch a video about growing a Panderosa lemon:

Photo

Next, the photo shows the processes of lemon, and also shows how it grows:

Landing time at home

The best time to plant a lemon is from late February to early April. This is the time of the natural vegetation period.

Pot selection and soil preparation

Young plants are grown in pots from various materials: clay, plastics, wood. The main selection criterion is a diameter of no more than 15-20 cm. It is also important to make drainage holes in the pot and lay the drainage itself. As they grow, the lemon is transplanted into containers 2-4 cm larger in diameter. Adult plants are preferably transplanted into wooden tubs or ceramic pots.

Drainage is poured with a layer of 1.5-2 cm. Coarse sand, fine pebbles or expanded clay are suitable for drainage. Drainage stones should be no more than 3 cm in diameter.

For growing lemon at home, you can not take ordinary land from the front garden. It must be specially prepared. To do this, mix part of the turf land, one part of humus and half of the coarse sand.

Choosing a place in the house on the windowsill

You can put a pot of lemon on any windowsill, where there is no draft, and strong temperature drops. If you place a lemon tree in a house on the north side, then it needs to provide additional lighting. Be sure to insulate the bottom of the pot and side parts from hypothermia.

Lemon will feel good on a glazed and insulated balcony. The main thing is to prevent drafts and lower temperatures in cold weather.

Breeding methods

From seeds and cuttings

You can plant lemons with cuttings or seeds. The tree that has grown from the cutlery bears fruit in the fourth year, and from the seed - not earlier than the eighth. For the cultivation of lemon at home, ripe, large fruits are selected from the seed. Seeds need to be planted fresh. Experienced citrus growers are advised to remove the top film from the seeds, for better germination.

When choosing a stalk, cut them from healthy, fruitful houseplants. No need to cut the cuttings from trees growing in natural conditions. Such cuttings will take root for a long time and it is difficult to wait for the fruit from them.

Graft

Lemon hatchling begins to bear fruit very late. In order to accelerate the flowering of a tree, it is grafted. Vaccination is grafting and budding. The tree is planted in the spring, during the period of active growth. The grafted trees begin to bear fruit for 2-3 years.

We offer you to watch a video on how to properly vaccinate a lemon:

Propagate by air shoots

How to plant a plant with aerial processes:

1. Spend in March-April.
2. On 1-2 summer horizontal shoots make an annular cut of 5-10 mm.
3. The section is surrounded by sphagnum moss.
4. It is recommended to soak the moss with a solution to stimulate growth.
5. The thickness of the layer of moss is 3-4 cm, it should go beyond the cut border by 5 cm.
6. Moss is constantly moisturized.
7. From above, the moss is wrapped with plastic wrap to avoid drying out.
8. After the appearance of the roots, cuttings are cut from the uterine plant and planted in a separate pot.
9. The cut place is treated with garden var.

Care

Lighting

It is better to keep a tree in bright diffused light, although a lack of lighting will not destroy the plant. Avoid direct sunlight to avoid burns. Window sills on the east side of the apartment are better suited.

A pot of lemon should be rotated every 10 to 12 days in relation to the sun. This will form a beautiful uniform crown.

Temperature

The temperature of the lemon content depends on the stage of development of the plant:

• + 17-20 optimal boundaries during the period of growth and flowering;
• +20 -21 during fruit ripening;
• +7 -14 for the resting stage.

In summer, you can take the citrus tree to the open air, but it is important to pay attention to prevent sudden temperature changes.

Humidity and watering

For indoor lemon, moist air is more important than watered roots. You can put a dish of water near the tree, but it is more efficient to use a spray bottle. The leaves of the plant are sprayed with warm water in the morning and in the evening, and once a week a warm shower is arranged.

In summer, citrus is watered abundantly and regularly, at least twice a week.. Watering should be along the edges of the pot, without filling the roots. In winter, watered weekly, trying not to waterlog the soil.

We suggest watching a video on how to properly water a lemon at home:

Top dressing

Fertilize lemon with organic and mineral top dressing. In the summer, the plant is fed weekly. If the plant bears fruit in the winter, then it must be fertilized once a month.

Before feeding, be sure to water the plant.

For organic fertilizer, horse or cow manure is used. It is useful to water the plant with a solution of iron sulfate (3 g / l) and a weak pink solution of potassium permanganate twice a year. For mineral nutrition of lemon it is better to use special ready-made fertilizers for citrus.

We offer you to watch a video about making dressings for indoor lemon:

Transplant and pruning

Young trees, in the first three years, are replanted annually before flowering in the spring. Each next pot should be 2-3 cm larger in diameter. Transplanted neatly without damaging the root system. I transplant adult plants every three years.

Sprinkle the plant with Zircon and cover with plastic wrap for five days. So the plant will more easily tolerate stress after transplantation.

Lemon tree grows long branches, so it is important to carry out forming pruning. Proper crown formation improves fruiting at home. Pruning is carried out in January-February, removing part of the branches after the fifth leaf. Cuttings remaining after trimming can be used for further breeding.

We suggest watching a video on how to properly transplant a lemon:

Why does a lemon tree grow poorly and shed leaves?

How long does a lemon grow at home? With careful care and favorable conditions, the lemon tree lives 35-45 years. Before time, the plant dies due to diseases and pests. If the tree has stopped growing, or discards leaves, pay attention to the most common mistakes:

• Correctly plant a seedling - do not deepen the root neck. This leads to poor plant growth and root decay.
• You can not plant a seedling immediately in a large pot.
• Wrong watering. You can not pour cold water, this is stress for the lemon.
• Strong overflow leads to soil acidification. Also, you can not water at one point in the pot, the soil is impregnated unevenly, and some of the roots can dry out.
• Avoid stress for the tree in the form of drafts, sudden changes in temperature. Watch for adequate lighting and humidity.
• The leaves turn yellow and fall with insufficient or improper feeding.
• Soil for citrus plants should be slightly acidic. In acidic or alkaline soil, the plant will grow poorly.
• In order to save a tree that has dropped leaves, it is transplanted into new soil and fed. Then cover the lemon with polyethylene to create high humidity. Remove the package gradually after young branches grow.

Avoid these mistakes, and the lemon tree will delight you with abundant flowering and fragrant fruits at home.

Outdoor cultivation

To grow lemon in the open ground is a laborious but achievable task. To do this, a number of conditions must be observed: provide protection from the winds, from a strong decrease in temperature. In open ground, lemons are grown in greenhouses or in special trenches.

Diseases and Pests

Improper care of decorative lemon can cause its illness. With poor lighting and lack of nutrients, lemon leaves brighten. Inadequate watering causes leaf fall. With excessive watering, the roots rot. Lemon is particularly difficult to tolerate dry air.

The smallest insect pests can also damage the plant:

1. Spider mite. Can be identified by curl of leaves and cobwebs. It is destroyed by a 1% solution of boric acid. It will take up to five sprinkles.
2. Citrus aphid. Leaves curl and dry. Helps get rid of the pest solution "Actelika".
3. Shield leads to the drying of leaves and branches and the death of the tree. Lemon is treated with a soapy solution, and then washed under a warm shower. Processing is carried out until complete recovery.
4. Mealybug leaves a sticky mark on the leaves. Collect larvae and inspect the tree.
5. Room lemon can infect viral, fungal and bacterial infections.

Measures for the prevention of diseases and parasites reduce the possibility of damage to citrus:

• Dust, dirt, the smallest pests can be washed off the plant by spending weekly showers with warm water.
• Treat citrus once a month as a prophylactic against pests and diseases.
• Wipe with lemon soap the leaves of lemon on both sides once every two weeks.

You can grow a beautiful fruit-bearing tree if you properly care for it and prevent disease.

We offer you to watch a video about diseases of lemon grown at home:

Useful Tips

• With insufficient lighting and humidity, the leaves curl and dry. Spray lemon daily in the morning and in the evening, carry out complex dressing.
• If a lemon drops its leaves, then this is a reaction to stress. The reason may be a sharp temperature drop, poor lighting, or, conversely, direct sunlight.Pay attention to watering. Souring of soil from waterlogging and drying out is also harmful to the lemon.
• The tree discards the fruits when there is a lack of strength for their ripening. It is necessary to pick flowers from a young plant. After three years, two lemons are left on the tree. And in the future they use the rule: for every ten leaves - one fruit.
• If the lemon tree does not bloom for a long time, then it does not have enough space in the pot. Transplant the lemon into a larger pot and feed.
• Small leaves and thin shoots of a plant indicate poor lighting and fertilizing the plant.
• The leaves of the plant become brown with insufficient air humidity.

We offer you to watch a video about the secrets of successfully growing indoor lemon:

Caring for a room lemon requires patience and attention. But all the trouble will pay off when you pick the first juicy fruits from a home mini-garden.

Watch the video: How to Grow Citrus Trees Indoors EASY! - Complete growing guide (December 2024).