lemons

[Kirsten]

Hi all, I hope it's ok to post this here :)

Lemons are the first thing I started planting, just because my sister was making lemonade and there were seeds available. I had them in a wet paper towel in a baggie at first, but that method has never worked for me for any kind of seed... so I finally gave up and just transferred them to soil in a pot, about half an inch to an inch deep. I kept the soil watered well and the pot outside (it was about 80 to 90 degrees most of the summer)... and soon little sprouts began coming up (I think it took about two weeks on average).

I had so many of them that I had to give most of them away, and some of them just died over the winter as I couldn't bring them all inside. My mother has three of them right now and I have two - she likes to water them once a week, I like to water them every day. I don't know if this is because of the watering difference, but hers are much much taller but spindly, many of them have more leaves but are underdeveloped (curled up), etc. whereas mine are much smaller but seem to take their time growing one big healthy leaf before working on the next. Personally I like mine better :) The leaves are lovely and if you rub your fingers on them you can get a distinct lemon smell. I've heard that the leaves are good to toss in when you're cooking too, but I am definitely not sacrificing any of the few leaves on my plant!

Here are pictures of the two that I have in my house right now:

http://i29.tinypic.com/34xrqio.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/fwk29x.jpg

As you can see, I'm out of pots again and one's growing in a plastic cup.
I like to keep these two together because I think of them as sisters - they came from seeds found in one lemon. I've found slight variations between seeds grown from different lemons, even if they were all of the same brand and species - some have pointier leaves, some are darker green, etc...

I give too much thought to my plants, don't I? ;)

[Riz]

nice pics, they look really healthy

I had them in a wet paper towel in a baggie at first, but that method has never worked for me for any kind of seed... so I finally gave up and just transferred them to soil in a pot, about half an inch to an inch deep.

lol, i know what you mean, i like to start most seeds in the dirt,




I kept the soil watered well and the pot outside (it was about 80 to 90 degrees most of the summer)... and soon little sprouts began coming up (I think it took about two weeks on average).

that's a reasonable time, Ive never tried germinating a lemon seed (pip) i might give it a go :)

do you have mild winters were you live, or do you bring the pants indoors !?



I give too much thought to my plants, don't I? ;)Naa, its a passion which grows more and more as the seasons go by, its a good thing :cool:

[Kirsten]

I bring the lemons indoors. It gets to way below freezing in my area in winter, but fortunately one room in my house has four huge windows and stays warm even in winter. That's also where the pineapple lives :) I almost hate to separate my plants - I like to think of them as friends who live together and miss each other when they're apart.

[Kirsten]

I piled some compost around the stem (I just realized I haven't fed it properly in like... a year) and it immediately shot up three more leaves:

http://i27.tinypic.com/2epofx3.png

[Kirsten]

An update on that same tree - it's in a bigger pot now and seems to be happy :)

http://i35.tinypic.com/156etub.png

[~Obsidian~]

Those plants look lovely and fresh :D What country are you in that you get such warm weather? :confused: (don't have to be specific :))
I'm thinking to try planting whatever I can find in the cupboards now thanks to you lot :p

[Kirsten]

Hi and welcome and thanks :)

I'm on the east coast of the USA - it gets pretty cold in the summer so everything has to come in (this worries me, as I think some of my stuff has probably gotten too big to fit through the door!) but for now we've got temperatures upwards of 95 degrees.

[Riz]

that has shot up since the last time i saw it.. 95 degrees lol, we can only dream of weather like that..

[~Obsidian~]

Hi and welcome and thanks :)

I'm on the east coast of the USA - it gets pretty cold in the summer so everything has to come in (this worries me, as I think some of my stuff has probably gotten too big to fit through the door!) but for now we've got temperatures upwards of 95 degrees.

I know what you mean :D I used to ferry my tomato plants in and out and they were getting HUGE, planting them out was a must by then! But wow...I wonder what I would attempt to grow in temps like that :eek:

[~Obsidian~]

I found a lemon thats been in the fridge for quite a while...d'ya reckon the seeds will still be ok?

[Kirsten]

Probably :) When it comes to lemons for me, I've usually ended up with too many sprouting and tried to force the resultant plants off on poor unsuspecting visiting friends...

[Kirsten]

Here is my lemon as of today:

http://i33.tinypic.com/15daqv9.jpg

[~Obsidian~]

Gorrrgeous!

[Kirsten]

An update... I was a little concerned since one of the old leaves fell off (seriously, I can't tell you how carefully I watched for each of those little baby leaves when they were first growing!) but since it's now happily shooting out new leaves, I decided not to worry.

http://i37.tinypic.com/2eqdzc0.png

[~Obsidian~]

Kirsten that looks so beautiful!! I soo wanna grow one of those

[Kirsten]

You should! They've been ridiculously easy to grow :)

[Kirsten]

I noticed today that the first baby leaf that EVER sprouted on my lemon tree has fallen off. :( I knew it had to go eventually - you don't exactly see trees with leaves at the base of their trunks, and besides it was already starting to look kind of out of place, but that little leaf brought me SO much excitement when it first started to sprout and it's been with me through a year and a half of college.

*sniffle*

[~Obsidian~]

Aww, they grow up so fast don't they kirsten :(


:p

[Foz]

i got a cheap grow it your own lemon kit.....its not grown lol

[Tania]

I put today 2 seeds from the same lemon in the fridge (wet towel paper inside of the plastic bag). I hope to sprout if not i will move them in the pot.

[~Obsidian~]

Hope that goes well for you Tania! I almost bought a lemon tree the other day, but didn't because it was an indoor plant and they don't do well in my house! Plus I'd like all fruiting trees to be outdoors. Plus I don't even eat lemons, so if I want that scent I'll buy one of the many lemon scented plants available :o

[Tania]

I read in the romanian gardeners site the lemon tree can survive to our winter out :) Other tree which is doing well to the cold weather its the fig. In the first years i will move the trees inside, in the garret. I will try also the date and the coconut tree too. I just waiting january to bring new fruits to the supermarket, to be fresh. We are buying more oranges, bananas and lemons, than the rest.

[Kirsten]

Tania how are your lemon seeds coming along?

I think my plant has finally gotten over the trauma of being forced to spend three weeks without sunlight (my friend thought it was a great idea to keep it in a dark room...) and is now sending out lots of healthy new leaves :)

[Tania]

I put them in the pot last thursday. During 30 days spent in the fridge,the seeds didn't germinated, only got a brownish colour.
I read somewhere the plants need a time during the winter to be kept in cold and dark conditions to regenerate themselfs. Your boyfriend helped the lemon trees :)

[Kirsten]

Really?? That's interesting! I've never heard that before - I was just a lazy gardener and plunked my seeds into the dirt right away (no chilling), and it's been in the sun ever since.

[Tania]

A gardener which put the seeds in eggshells its not lazy :o

"Most Citrus trees can tolerate temperatures down to 4 deg C (even 2 deg C for short periods). They must not be frosted, but a cool period is useful over the winter to rest. ....Central heating can put the trees under stress in Winter, and ideally they do better in a cool room or conservatory, rather than a warm living room"

from: http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/advisor/gardening-tips/?p=97

In Italy,during the winter, they keep the lemon trees in the basement.

[farah]

A gardener which put the seeds in eggshells its not lazy :o

"Most Citrus trees can tolerate temperatures down to 4 deg C (even 2 deg C for short periods). They must not be frosted, but a cool period is useful over the winter to rest. ....Central heating can put the trees under stress in Winter, and ideally they do better in a cool room or conservatory, rather than a warm living room"

from: http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/advisor/gardening-tips/?p=97

In Italy,during the winter, they keep the lemon trees in the basement.


Thank you thats very useful to know, personally I would assume the warmer the better for citrus fruits :D

[Tania]

They resist at -4 celsius degrees. And doesn't look to damaged (check up the winter garden thread)

[Kirsten]

A quick update...it didn't do so well while I was gone on vacation, but it's recovering and has started to send out new leaves.

http://i39.tinypic.com/2emo76b.jpg

[aamirc]

wow nice lemon tree, don't you think it needs a bigger pot. unless you plan on making it a dwarf tree. I've grown one before which reached close to 2 metres in height. Don't know how long it is now. I planted it straight into the ground at our old home. I'm growing another one now in a pot.

[Kirsten]

It probably should, but I won't have time to deal with it for awhile (currently in a college dorm without any larger pots, thus why everything is growing in plastic cups and washed out orange juice containers :) ) since I won't be home for another month and a half, and then I'll be out of the country for two. It's still been happily shooting out new leaves since I started feeding it with fish tank water... I wish I'd thought of feeding it during the first year I had it since it was growing so slowly, but we learn as we go, right? :)

[~Obsidian~]

Right :) I still want one of these..one day inshaAllah...

[Kirsten]

What happened to your lemon in the fridge?

[~Obsidian~]

The fridge got cleaned :p

[Kirsten]

Updates! My lemon is home and reunited with one of its sisters, planted from the same seed, that my mom's been keeping at home. It's been growing a lot!! The shorter of the two tall ones is the one I had at university with me and the taller one stayed at home; on the far left is another lemon that went through about a year and a half of dormancy (I have no idea why) after reaching the height of about 2 inches, and only recently started to grow again. And on the right is a teensy tangerine :)

http://i28.tinypic.com/29fcgso.jpg

[edibles]

quite big now kirsten. is the one in terracotta pot branching

[Kirsten]

And updating again :)

Sorry I missed your post edibles - yes, it's branching :) And here it is as of today (I moved back to my uni yesterday, so now it's sitting on the desk of my dorm)

http://i30.tinypic.com/n2fqd4.jpg

[~Obsidian~]

Glossy glossy :natur011:

Back to the ole dorm garden then eh Kirsten :D

[Kirsten]

Yeah last year :eek: inshallah I find a job when I graduate, otherwise I dunno what I'll do in this horrid economy...

[felicity]

I sowed seeds of lemon and orange, from a packet but it's been almost three weeks and they haven't germinated, What could be wrong?

[Foreveryoung]

Nice sharing :) Plz update us soon how are ur lemons doing

Here's mine. Took this pic yesterday... This is 22 years old Lemon plant.

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/AyeshaUK2009/DSCN7417.jpg

[Foreveryoung]

These days Lemon tree is fulllllll of flowers as well as lemons mA :)

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/AyeshaUK2009/Gardening/DSCN0632.jpg


http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/AyeshaUK2009/Gardening/DSCN0634.jpg


http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/AyeshaUK2009/Gardening/DSCN0635.jpg

[pwr_wrx]

Heres my lemons from seed..they are still alive..cant say the same for my oranges