Lemon is a species of a small evergreen tree in the flowering plant. It is a yellow or green-colored citric fruit used all over the world. Due to the sour taste of lemon juice, it is used as an ingredient in drinks and foods such as lemonade, lemon meringue pie, lemon juice, etc. The best season for planting lemons is the onset of monsoon or during the month of June-July. On the other hand, in heavy rainfall areas, the appropriate planting season would be September-October. There are different methods to grow lemon plants such as grafting, layering, and cutting, from leaves and seeds. Here, we will discuss how to grow a lemon plant from seeds at home.
From seeds:- Take a Lemon of good quality. Let us take out some seed from it. Just give a shallow cut in a circular fashion without cutting it in half. Then twist the lemon. Then Lemon will divide into two halves without damaging any seeds. Taking out the seeds from each half. 4 to 5 seeds will be enough for growing one normal plant.
We need to plant at least 15-20 seeds for getting a good quality lemon plant. Take a water test for good-quality seeds. Put the seeds in water and remove the floating seeds because they do not show good germination. In this process of seed germination, we need to be careful while sowing seeds.
We must not sow more than one seed in one place. So, we use a seeding tray. We use coco-peat to sow the seeds. If you don't have the coco-peat, you can use an equal ratio mixture of soil and sand. Do not use only soil, as just soil will create problems later.
Add just one seed to each compartment of the seedling tray. To keep the seed moist and in place then cover it with a layer of coco-peat. Now water properly and place it in bright light, don't place it in the dark. After 8-15 days, Lemon seeds will germinate.
After germination, some seedlings are ready to be transplanted into a bigger pot. So, we will transplant some selected plants into a bigger pot. In lemons out of 10 seeds at least 1 or 2 seeds germinate into 2 or more than 2 seedlings. This character is known as polyembryony and this is used to grow good quality fruit plants from seeds.
Separate these seedlings carefully and transplant them into a bigger pot containing coco-peat and garden mixture soil. Water it gently. Transplant the plant in the evening. Lemon is a heavy feeder plant so fertilize it properly. At an interval of every month add vermicompost or kitchen waste compost mixed with rock phosphate and banana peel fertilizer.
The fertilizer mix will boost plant growth along with lots of good-quality fruits. Also, spray neem oil once every month. To prevent the leaves to eaten by insects, keep the orange jasmine and the wood apple plant near the lemon plant. You can also use some insecticides and pesticides for pest and insect control. In this way, you can grow lemons at home from seeds.