Indoor lemon: proper care at home
Fragrant citrus fruits are always welcome guests on our table. Is it possible to get fruits from a tree growing in a room? Growing indoor lemon is not difficult, but caring for it at home has certain subtleties. In this article we will tell you how to grow a lemon from a seed and how to properly care for the plant. You will learn what you need to do to get the fruits and how to protect your green friend from diseases and pests.
The content of the article
Lemon varieties growing at home
Lemon care at home
Methods for propagating indoor lemons
Diseases and pests of lemon trees
Checklist: 10 rules for caring for an indoor citrus tree for busy gardeners
Lemon varieties growing at home
It is necessary to choose varieties adapted to indoor living.
The 5 most common varieties of lemons for growing at home:
Chinese dwarf (Mayer/Meyer) - a compact tree up to 100 cm high with dense beautiful foliage. Round fruits are small, sweet, juicy.
Kursky, Novogruzinsky - tall varieties, about two meters, are distinguished by frequent fruiting and large aromatic lemons.
Pavlovsky (bush-like) and Maikopsky. Medium-sized (up to 150 cm) - their elongated fruits have thin skin.
Eureka grows quickly, and the lemons themselves are thick-skinned and very sour.
Genoa is a high-yielding dwarf tree, the fruits have tender pulp, and the aromatic peel is devoid of bitterness.
Lemon care at home
Unlike other citrus fruits, the lemon tree is not too demanding on environmental conditions. It feels great in a wide temperature range. In order for the plant to bloom and bear fruit, you need to know how to properly care for indoor lemon. Let's take a closer look at the rules for growing it.
What soil is suitable for planting
Stores sell special substrate for growing citrus plants. It is light, neutral or slightly acidic. If you prefer to make your own soil, take turf soil (2 parts), humus and leaf soil, sand and peat - all in one part.
Be sure to heat in the oven at 80-100°C to kill any possible pests. You can pour boiling water or a medium-strength potassium permanganate solution onto the soil to disinfect.
Lighting requirements
Lemon in room conditions should receive a sufficient amount of bright, diffused light. The most suitable window orientation is southeast and southwest. If you choose a southern window sill, then in summer it is better to remove the pot with the tree away from direct sunlight. You can shade the plant to prevent burns. In winter, lighting is insufficient for the light-loving lemon, so it is compensated with UV/phytolamps.
Subtleties of temperature conditions
Indoor lemon is not capricious. If you follow the rules of care, it grows well on a glazed loggia or balcony. The main thing is to avoid drafts, temperature changes and critical temperatures beyond the range of +14-28°C. Otherwise, the plant will shed its leaves. If you keep a lemon cool in winter (+5-8°C), it will go into suspended animation, but will not lose its leaves.
Air humidity parameters
Proper care at home for moisture-loving indoor lemon, like all citrus fruits, requires sufficient hydration. For a tree to fully develop and grow, it needs a humidity of 65-70%. Use a room humidifier or place the pot next to an aquarium or decorative fountain. If this is not possible, make sure that there is a layer of expanded clay constantly saturated with water on the pallet.
Nuances of watering
When growing lemon at home, watering conditions must be observed. In spring and summer, you need to water the plant abundantly and often, avoiding overwatering. In autumn and winter - water only when the soil in the pot is 1/3 dry. If the lemon has a dormant period, infrequent and weak watering is enough to prevent the soil from drying out completely.
The roots of the plant need to breathe, so it is important to drain excess liquid from the pan after watering. The water should be soft - settled, filtered, melt or rain. The temperature is slightly higher than the air in the room. If used cold or overwatered, the root system may begin to rot.
Fertilizer application
Proper care of indoor lemons involves timely feeding. They are necessary for the plant during active growth. Fertilizing is combined with watering. Every two weeks from mid-March to early November, fertilizers with an organic or mineral composition are added to the water, alternating them. You can purchase special preparations for feeding citrus fruits.
Correct transplant
When growing lemons at home, you need to know and be able to replant them without damaging the roots. Young trees need annual replanting. For adults - every 3-4 years, annually replacing the top layer of soil with fresh one.
How to replant a lemon:
transplantation is performed at the end of March or October;
choose a pot 1-2 cm larger than the previous one;
the plant is removed with a lump of earth, without cleaning or damaging the roots;
a layer of drainage is poured onto the bottom of the container;
transfer the lemon into a new pot, sprinkle with fresh soil;
the trunk cannot be buried - the level of the substrate remains the same.
Crown formation
For uniform growth of the crown in all directions, you need to slightly rotate the pot every week - by 30-40°. If the lemon begins to produce buds, the movement stops. Flowers may fall off when the direction of light changes. The crown of a one-year-old plant begins to form.
The top must be cut off with a sharp knife or pruning shears, leaving a 20-centimeter trunk. The side shoots that appear next year are also pruned, provoking branching. Proper pruning is the key to good fruiting. Until the lemon crown is fully formed, it is better not to allow flowering. During fruiting, it is recommended to remove the shoots from which the fruits are plucked. They will not branch.
Pollination during flowering
If you follow the rules of care, the lemon will be ready to bear fruit. The required temperature for flowering is from +13 to +19°C. When the plant blooms for the first time, you need to remove all the buds, leaving only 3-4. This is exactly how many fruits a young tree can grow. For each subsequent flowering, two more ovaries are left.
Indoor lemon needs pollination by insects, so the gardener needs to take on this function. Carefully transfer pollen from one flower to another using a brush or cotton swab.
Methods for propagating indoor lemons
At home, plants are propagated by cuttings and seeds. The first method is easier. Buy cuttings in specialized stores or take them from familiar plant growers. For successful cultivation you need a seedling 10-13 cm long, with three or more buds. Make a cut at the bottom at an angle of about 45°, treat with a growth stimulator. Shorten all the leaves by 1/2, and cut off the bottom one.
Prepare a small pot with drainage holes. Lay a layer of expanded clay and fill the container with soil for growing citrus fruits. Place the cutting in a vertical position, deepening it to 1.5 cm. Place the pot with the indoor lemon seedling in a warm place and spray it regularly. If the soil is dry, water it carefully. The cuttings will take root in 30-45 days.
Growing a lemon tree from seeds is a more labor-intensive process. Choose larger lemon seeds. You should know that with this method of cultivation, varietal qualities are not preserved, but you will need to be grafted from a fruiting plant.
Algorithm for propagating indoor lemons by seeds:
Soak fresh seeds in a growth stimulator for 5-6 hours.
Prepare small containers. Place a drainage layer on the bottom (with holes).
Add substrate for citrus plants.
Plant several seeds in each pot at a depth of 1.5-2 cm.
Make a “greenhouse” from film or cut plastic bottles.
Place the pots in a warm place (from 20°C).
Spray and ventilate periodically. You can water it if the soil mixture dries out.
The seeds will germinate after 15-30 days.
Transplant them into permanent pots when 4-5 leaves appear.
Diseases and pests of lemon trees
Even with good care, citrus plants can be affected by harmful insect pests and various diseases. You can see their visual manifestations in the photo.
Common pests:
Aphid. The leaves become covered with a sticky coating, become deformed, and colonies of small insects can be seen. Cut off the leaves, treat the branches and trunk with an aqueous infusion of garlic or insecticidal preparations.
Shield. Leaf blades and petioles become sticky, with brownish tubercles, and wither. Treat indoor lemon with a solution of laundry soap and rinse under a warm shower. Repeat every 7-10 days.
Spider mite. Young shoots are covered with thin sticky cobwebs. Spray the tree with boric acid.
Cancer is an incurable disease. Its symptoms are manifested in deformed leaves, dark spots on them and fruits. The plant will have to be destroyed.
If the foliage curls, becomes covered with light specks, and the growth of the tree stops, these are manifestations of leaf mosaic. Immediately quarantine the specimen, care for it as usual, fertilize it with organic and mineral complex fertilizers. If there are no improvements, destroy the tree.
The presence of oblong dark spots on the trunk and branches, cracks that secrete yellow resinous juice is evidence of homosis. Removal of the affected areas and treatment with fungicides until the lemon is completely cured will help cope with this disease.
With anthracnose on citrus fruits, the foliage turns pale and falls off, and reddish spots appear on the fruit. The affected parts must be removed. Fitosporin or Bordeaux mixture are used to treat the plant. The same preparations are used to treat indoor lemons at the first signs of scab. It appears on the leaf blades as yellow spots, which, when swollen, become pinkish. The fruits are covered with orange spots.
Checklist: 10 rules for caring for an indoor citrus tree for busy gardeners
If you water too often or over-water the tree, this will trigger the development of root rot. Its symptoms are falling leaves and an unpleasant putrid odor. You will need to replant the tree unscheduled and urgently. When you clear the soil from the roots, you will see that they have darkened and become soft. Cut off such roots and treat the cuts with charcoal. Replace the soil completely.
Place the lemon on the southeast/southwest window.
Provide phyto-lighting in low light conditions.
Make sure there are no drafts or sudden temperature changes.
Temperature during the growth period is +14-28°C, wintering – +5-8°C.
Watering in summer - when the soil in the pot dries out by 1/3, in winter - extremely rarely, making sure that the soil does not dry out completely.
Transplant into a special substrate for citrus plants annually before fruiting. Then - every 3-4 years.
Fertilizing - alternate organic matter with minerals, apply with watering every 2 weeks in spring and autumn.
Do not turn the pot while the lemon is blooming. Pick off the buds at the first fruiting, leaving 4 ovaries.
Form the crown correctly.
Monitor the appearance and condition of plants, prevent the appearance of pests and diseases.
Now you know how to properly grow indoor lemon so that it pleases you with its luxurious appearance and gives you tasty and healthy fruits.
