Lemon flower at home. Indoor lemon - the subtleties of growing at home. When will lemon fruits with proper care

You bought a young lemon tree in the hope all year round harvest fragrant fruits for tea parties and strengthen immunity.

And it really will give a lot of fruit if you know how to care for a lemon: water it, feed it, replant it, etc. We will learn all the intricacies of caring for home-grown lemon trees, including crown formation and fruit picking.

Lemon care consists in regular watering, sufficient lighting, fertilizing, observing temperature regime and air humidity. It is equally important to know how to transplant a homemade lemon.

Having decided to grow a lemon tree at home, familiarize yourself with the intricacies of care:

Watering a lemon

How to water a lemon? In the cold season, from October until spring, we moderately water the tree once a week, using warm water. In the spring and summer months, as well as in September, we spill the soil well with warm water once a day. Periodically loosen the top layer of the earth.

The main thing in watering a lemon is to prevent stagnation of water in the soil, leading to rotting of the roots, and not to overdry the earthen ball: this is fraught with twisting of the leaf and falling leaves and lemons.

lighting for lemon

How to care for homemade lemon in terms of lighting? Lemons don't need long daylight hours if you want more fruit than leaves. The tree bears fruit well in bright diffused light: it is better to keep it on windows facing east. If the window is south, in the summer we must protect the plant from direct sunlight.

In order for the crown to grow evenly, 2 times a month we turn the lemon tree in the direction of the sun. And we do not allow low lighting: in partial shade and shade, the leaf grows slowly, and the fruits turn out to be too sour.

Temperature regime

Caring for a homemade lemon involves maintaining a certain air temperature.

While the lemon grows and gains green mass, or blooms, we keep it in a room where 17-20 degrees of heat is observed.
When the fruits appear and ripen, you need a temperature a couple of degrees higher.
In winter, during the dormant period, the temperature is not higher than 14 degrees, or 18 ° C, if the plant is not “sleeping” yet - in this case, we provide it with a 12-hour daylight hours with the help of fitolamps.

Do not keep the lemon in a hot room and do not allow sudden temperature changes.

In the summer, you can take the tree outside - the main thing is to have time to bring it home before evening (if cool weather is expected).

Humidity level for lemon

How to water a lemon, we figured out: we will find out what level of air humidity is suitable for growing it. He needs a fairly high humidity, especially during the hot season - in summer or during the heating season.

When it's hot, we spray the tree every day and give it a warm shower once a week.

To increase the humidity level, place a wide-mouth jar filled with water near the lemon pot so that it evaporates, or put the pot in a tray, placing moisture-evaporating material in it.

The third option: turn on a household air humidifier next to the plant.

Top dressing lemon

Indoor lemon needs regular feeding: in summer - every week, in winter - every month (if there are fruits).

What to feed a lemon? Mineral and organic fertilizers, watering the plant 2 hours before the procedure so as not to burn the roots.

Fertilizer with minerals. For top dressing, you will need a ready-made product such as a “citrus mixture”, in which the proportions N: P: K are 14:16:18. Dilute it in water according to the attached instructions and water the soil.
organic fertilizer. We make an infusion by mixing 1 part of water and 1 part of mullein (horse manure) and, after waiting 7 days, dilute it with water: mullein infusion - 1 to 15, horse balls infusion - 1 to 10.

Twice a year we water the soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate - to enrich and disinfect the soil.

Lemon transplant

Young lemon plants in a pot, which we will learn how to care for today, need to be transplanted 1 and 2 years after planting.

In the spring we buy soil for citrus fruits or make it ourselves from humus (1 part), earth from under deciduous trees (4 parts), calcined sand (1 part) and wood ash (1 tbsp).

We simply transfer the plant, gently shaking off part of the old earth, into another pot with soil. The diameter of the new pot should be 4 cm larger than the diameter of the previous one.

Subsequently, we transplant the plant every two years, when the growing season begins. When transplanting, do not forget to put drainage (expanded clay + charcoal or a layer of sand) with a layer of 2 cm. Thanks to transshipment, you do not have to think about how to root a lemon. The main thing is not to transplant while the lemon is blooming or bearing fruit.

crown formation

As the lemon grows, the crown should be cut off - in the spring, on a low trunk of about 18 cm, before the green mass begins to grow. We cut off the shoots, leaving 5 leaves, so that by the beginning of fruiting the tree has branched.

A tree with a well-formed crown blooms in the second or third year.

Lemon blossom on windowsill and harvest

While the lemon is blooming, you can not leave all the flowers on the plant:

At the first flowering, we cut off half of the flowers and leave no more than 4 fruits from the formed ovaries.
At the second flowering, only 6 fruits are left.
At the third flowering, we leave 8 fruits, etc.

Regulation of flowering is necessary to maintain a strong and healthy lemon tree: extra inflorescences will quickly deplete it. Each ovary should have at least 10 developed leaves.

Flowers do not need pollination and bloom for about 2 months.

Fruiting of lemons is possible up to 4 times a year: it depends on the variety. The development of the fetus and the beginning of maturation takes about 6-8 weeks. The peel of fully ripened lemons acquires a rich golden hue: it means it's time to harvest.

If you tighten it with the collection, the skin will become thicker, the slices will dry out and the juice will lose its characteristic acidity.

Now you know how to care for a lemon at home so that it grows strong and healthy, and gives a lot of fruit. Follow all the rules for keeping a room lemon, and it will delight you all year round. beautiful flowering and abundant fruiting.

Indoor lemon is one of the most spectacular and beautiful ornamental plants. Delighting its owners with bright foliage and fragrant flowers, this citrus, however, belongs to the group of very capricious ones. Care must be taken properly. At the slightest violation of technology, the tree will not only not bloom and bear fruit, but may even shed its leaves and die. In order for the plant to develop well and have a lush crown, it should be properly watered and fertilized.

What do you need to know?

Further in the article, we will deal in detail with how a plant such as indoor lemon is cared for at home. Flowering and fruiting of this citrus fruit is possible only if:

right choice places;
use of suitable soil;
regular watering and top dressing;
periodic pruning.

Bloom

The main decorative value of the lemon is its dense leaves of rich dark green color. The star-shaped flowers of this citrus, white with yellow stamens, are quite showy. However, they grow in the depths of the crown, in the axils of the leaves, and are practically invisible from the outside. Therefore, to the group of flowering indoor plants lemon cannot be taken away. But although the flowers of this citrus are not its main decoration, they smell very pleasant. Moreover, the aroma spreads literally throughout the room.

The abundant appearance of buds is possible only if the correct care for a plant such as indoor lemon is carried out at home. This citrus fruit does not bloom most often precisely because of the lack of soil nutrients and irregular watering. Also, the lack of buds and fruits can be affected by a lack of sunlight.

How to choose a variety?

In the wild, indoor lemon, which is really difficult to care for at home, grows in hot India. As a cultural plant, this plant has been cultivated for a very long time, including in Russia. Lemons were brought to our country back in the time of Peter the Great. Over the years of cultivation, many varieties of this citrus fruit have been bred, productive and unpretentious. But of course, not all varieties are suitable for growing in confined spaces. The most popular varieties among indoor plant lovers are:

Pavlovsky. Such lemons, under favorable conditions, can even reach a height of up to 2 meters. The advantages of this variety include, first of all, the fact that it reproduces very easily. cultivation and care at home for which - the procedures, in comparison with other varieties, are relatively simple, well suited to a not too experienced grower. Its fruits are very fragrant and fragile. The variety does not like bright sunlight too much.
Meyer. This variety is good for early fruiting and unpretentiousness. It differs from most other varieties in more acidic fruits. Also, indoor Meyer lemon, which is cared for at home in much the same way as for any other varieties, is compact. This variety grows very low.
Novogruzinsky. This lemon is easy to make produce all year round. Its fruits do not have seeds and smell very good.

How to choose a place?

The peculiarities of the lemon, among other things, include the fact that he really does not like a change of scenery. Therefore, the place for it must be chosen carefully. Most varieties prefer good lighting. But it does not tolerate direct sunlight.

They put a lemon, cultivation and care at home for which will be successful only if the right place is chosen, most often on the east window. Bright, but rather diffused morning lighting is enough for this plant to develop well.

It is allowed to put lemons on the south window. However, in this case, be sure to take care of shading. Direct Sun rays sure to cause burns to the plant. In addition, the lemon will react to excess lighting with the appearance of a large number of small whitish leaves. Thus, the citrus will simply try to reduce the area of contact with UV rays and lose its effectiveness.

Choosing a place for a lemon should also take into account that the pot is not cooled by a draft. This is especially true in the cold season. If the temperature of the soil in the pot is below the ambient temperature, the plant will shed its leaves.

How to propagate by cuttings?

This is the easiest way to get some fresh lemons at home. Cut cuttings from an adult plant in early spring. The branch should be mature, about 4-5 mm thick. The lower leaves are removed from the cutting. It is best to plant a twig in a greenhouse made from an ordinary plastic bottle.

A 2 liter container is perfect. The top of the bottle is cut off, and several holes are made in its bottom to drain water. Next, a layer of steamed sand is poured onto the bottom. A nutrient soil with an acidity of 6.5-7 pH is laid on top. The substrate for lemon can be bought at the store or made by hand. In the latter case, take:

leaf ground - 1 hour;
humus - 1 hour;
sod land - 2 hours;
sand - 1 hour

All components should be thoroughly mixed and placed in a bottle.

The end of the cut cutting is sprinkled with wood ash, powdered with a heteroauxin stimulant and immersed in the ground by 2-3 cm. Next, the plant must be thoroughly watered, and the bottle should be covered with plastic wrap on top. In the future, it is not recommended to moisten the soil in the container until the plant is rooted. The roots of the twigs are released in about a month.

When using cuttings as planting material, in the future it will be easiest to care for such citrus fruits as indoor lemons at home. Reproduction using this technology allows you to quickly get a lush, healthy, fruitful mature plant.

The use of seeds

Planting material with this method of cultivation should be chosen as carefully as possible. From the fruit of an even shape, you need to get the largest seed. It should be planted immediately. In this case, you can use an ordinary plastic cup with drainage holes made in it as a container. At its bottom should be poured a little sand. The soil in this case is used the same as under the cuttings.

It is best to plant several seeds at once in different cups, and then choose the strongest plant for growing. The seeds are buried in the ground by 2-3 cm. Immediately after planting, watering is performed. The selected lemon will need to be transferred to a larger container at the age of 3-5 months. Transshipment should be done as carefully as possible. If the lemon roots are damaged, it will shed its leaves.

How to water?

Moisture is what room lemon loves very much. Care at home for him, as for all citrus fruits, is, among other things, in frequent watering. In summer, the soil under the plant is moistened once a day - two. In winter, the lemon is watered once a week. With a lack of moisture, the leaves of this plant change color to yellow-brown.

If this happens, in no case should you pour a lemon with a large amount of water at once. Otherwise, his root system will die. You can correct the situation in such a situation by slightly moistening the soil under the plant and spraying it abundantly. It will also be useful to wrap the stem with a damp cloth.

How to fertilize?

You should also feed the lemon quite often. In the summer, once a month, the plant is watered with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. It is best to do this at night. It is also useful to water the lemon with a solution once a month. The best organic fertilizer for this citrus fruit is ordinary cow dung.

You can also purchase complex top dressing containing nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus at the store. With this remedy, the lemon is fed twice a month. very helpful for this decorative culture is also wood ash, which contains a huge amount of trace elements.

Lemon care at home in terms of top dressing can also be carried out using purchased formulations designed specifically for citrus fruits. Sometimes houseplant lovers also replace the topsoil in a lemon pot with pond mud, which contains many beneficial substances. In winter, if the plant bears fruit, it should be fed with complex fertilizer or organic matter once a month.

crown formation

Periodic pruning is also something that indoor lemons require without fail. Home care for this plant in terms of crown formation should be periodic. Otherwise, it may happen that the tree will not bear fruit. For the first time, pruning is done immediately after the lemon reaches a height of 20-30 cm. At this time, the top is carefully removed from it so that 3-4 buds remain on the trunk.

Of these, about a year later, shoots of the first level are formed. After they reach a length of 20-30 cm, they are also pinched. Further, shoots of the second, third, etc. levels will begin to form on the branches. Each new "wave" should be pinched in such a way that it is 5 cm shorter than the previous one. That is, the branches of the second level should have a length of 15-25 cm, the third - 10-20 cm, etc. Of course, you need to remove diseased shoots growing inside the bush, etc.

Pests

Thus, the lemon should be watered and fertilized on time. It is also necessary to engage in the formation of its crown. What other difficulties await the florist who cares for such a plant as indoor lemon at home? Diseases afflict this unfortunately often. Therefore, the lemon may have to be treated from time to time.

Trees of this variety can be affected by both fungi and microorganisms or insect pests. Most often, indoor flower lovers have to deal with scale insects, mealybugs and aphids that infect lemons. All these types of pests are engaged in sucking the juice from the leaves. You can fight them with soapy water or tobacco infusion (50-60 g per liter). Sometimes scale insects, aphids and mites are expelled from plants with the help of a chlorophos solution (30 g per 10 l).

Diseases

Gommosis is also one of the problems that many ornamental plant lovers face when growing indoor lemons. Home care for this citrus includes, among other things, a periodic inspection of the leaves and stem. In a plant that has become ill with gommosis, cracks appear in the lower part of the stem, from which gum begins to stand out. A tree is treated with garden pitch or clay. Cracks are pre-disinfected with a solution blue vitriol 3%. Then the wounds are simply carefully covered with pitch or clay.

This is how home care is carried out for such a plant as indoor lemon. The photos on the page clearly display the beauty of these citrus fruits. If you grow your lemon according to the rules described in the article, you will grow the same spectacular fragrant tree with bright green leaves and a lush crown.

Agrotechnics for growing citrus fruits in a room is complex. You should start with a lemon, growing and caring for it at home is easier than other sissies. You can buy a young bush, or you can grow it, starting from sowing a seed or rooting a cutting. Under all favorable conditions, a crop from a plant from a stone can be obtained in 20 years, from a cutting in 7-8. But a lemon from a stone at home will be more adapted, healthy, beautiful with its dark shiny foliage. You can graft a shoot from a fruiting lemon to it, which will speed up flowering. The choice is for the amateur.

What care does indoor lemon require at home

Lemon is a tree room conditions he also wants to grow. There are several varieties that breeders have accustomed to room content. But they rebel if the care is wrong. Before planting a seed, you need to know that only indoor varieties can share a home with a person. These include:

Pavlovsky;
Anniversary;
Mayer.

These varieties are distinguished by their rapid fruiting and high productivity when caring for lemons at home. When buying a ready-made varietal seedling, flowering should be expected in two or three years.

Room lemon at good care lives up to 30 years. After tying, lemon is poured for 9 months, but even after that it continues to increase in size, but becomes tasteless and thick-skinned.

It is important to prevent the weakening of the flower and cut off the buds until there are 20 leaves on the bush. Scientists believe that each fruit feeds 9-10 mature leaves. Depending on the number of leaves, you need to leave the crop. For the same reason, you need to protect the leaves from shedding, which the plant protests when it is uncomfortable. At the same time, it is obligatory to trim the tops of the branches in order to form new shoots, which means to increase the number of leaves. Therefore, plant care is carried out on the verge of knowledge and intuition.

Optimal conditions for lemon care

Only if you have a spacious bright room can you count on creating a citrus garden. Even being in a permanent place, the tree does not like to be moved. And for uniform development, it is rotated a few degrees after 10 days, so that a full turn is obtained in a year:

From the stand to the ceiling must be at least two meters.
Doesn't take out dry air. Optimally 70% humidity. This means keeping the plant away from the radiator, having a humidifier or an aquarium, equipping the humidity zone with any accessible way and often spray the leaves with a fine spray.
In summer, it is useful for a lemon to be in the sun for 2 hours, but not longer. Therefore, the morning sun on the eastern window is just right for him. In winter, when growing lemon and caring for at home, 5-6 hours should be organized.
The temperature of the content for a lemon should be from 14 to 27 degrees. During the flowering period, the lemon needs coolness.
The watering schedule in summer is very busy. The pot is watered twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, soaking the clod of earth completely. Due to good drainage, water stagnation does not occur. A drip tray must be installed at the bottom to collect water. Soft settled water is used for irrigation.

The temperature should not change drastically. If the plant is introduced from cold veranda V warm room, it will drop foliage. The earth in the barrel is cold, but the leaves are warm! In winter, you need to find the coldest corner in the home for the lemon. Without a full dormant period, flowering in the future will be poor.

Of great importance in caring for a lemon is its formation, keeping it growing with systematic pruning and pinching of the green cone. The deepest pruning is done in the spring. 5-6 living leaves are left on the branches, the rest are removed, and material for propagating lemon by cuttings is obtained from them.

Diseases and pests of lemon

When caring for a lemon at home, and growing it, you need to know the signs of disease in order to quickly correct the mistakes made. Often the plant needs moisture, which can be determined:

the earth is gray from above, the lump crumbles in the hands;
the pot makes a loud sound when patted;
the leaves curled up, and the tops drooped.

As a result, after a while, the leaves, flowers and ovaries will begin to fall.

If the plant does not receive top dressing, the leaves become light, flowering stops, the ovaries begin to fall off. But the same signs and with excessive fertilizer. Therefore, it is necessary to follow the recommended doses and instructions on how to care for lemon at home.

If the plant has not been transplanted for a long time and has not changed the ground, fertilizing watering may not save. The earth has compacted, irrigation water has made passages in the thickness and merges without completely wetting the volume.

As a result of errors in care, a weakened plant is colonized by pests or fungal and bactericidal diseases appear.

Various diseases of citrus fruits are specific, they are called:

xylopsorosis and tristera - viral incurable;
gommoz - infectious when a tree trunk is affected;
malseco - infectious, begins with reddening of the leaves, the tree dies;
root rot - fungal disease, it is required to remove the damaged parts and transplant into a new soil.

The cause of any disease is improper plant care. And even if the tree does not bear fruit, it has the same diseases.

How to grow a lemon at home

Of great importance is the selection of a container for the plant and substrate. The container must have good drainage holes. The root system of a lemon is compact, the young plant treats the annual transplant well, so you should not create conditions for acidification of the soil in a large pot. For older plants, the land is changed less frequently, but the upper fertile layer is renewed annually.

The composition of the earth:

leafy humus - 2 parts;
humus from cattle - 1 part;
washed river sand - 1 part;
- 0.25 parts.

At the bottom, lay out a layer of charcoal mixed with expanded clay, add vermiculite to the substrate for looseness. Transplantation of plants should be carried out after the grown roots of the lemon braid a clod of earth, using the transshipment method.

When pruning a lemon tree, a lot of planting material and twigs remained. Cuttings will be obtained from them, if you pinch off a couple of leaves from below and put a green branch in the water. Further, the cutting takes root in the substrate in a small volume. How to care for a lemon obtained from a cutting? After the stalk has given leaf shoots, it is kept as an adult plant. At a height of 25 cm, pinch the top of the plant, limiting growth. The resulting central and lateral shoots in the amount of 4 pieces are left, the rest are cut off into a ring.

Lateral shoots grow by 25 cm and pinch again, repeating the operations, as for the first time. A bush is molded twice more, as a result, enough leaves are obtained on a round tree, and flower buds. The lemon is ready to bear fruit, it has gained enough strength to feed the pouring fruits.

Propagation of lemon seeds is a lengthy process. The resulting seedling must be grafted in order to obtain a fruit-bearing tree. The wild will develop for a long time, bloom little and the quality of the resulting lemons will be poor. Therefore, the grown plant must be grafted by budding or splitting to get a cultivated tree.

A seedling without grafting will become an excellent ornamental tree with good disease resistance. It is necessary to form a crown so that the bush is neat and does not stretch with branches, taking up a large space.

Video about planting and caring for lemon

Indoor citrus varieties are compact, they rarely grow more than two meters in height. How to care for a lemon on the windowsill so that it grows safely, blooms and bears fruit, read the article.

When choosing a lemon for home growing, you need to consider its need for lighting. If the windows of the apartment face west or north, you can choose pavlovsky lemon, it grows well on northern windows. This variety is unpretentious in cultivation, begins to bear fruit for 3-4 years of life, bringing from 20 to 40 tasty fruits of medium size.

For more experienced growers, a variety is suitable. Meyer or Chinese lemon. It is demanding on watering, lighting and air temperature. If in winter the room where it grows is more than +12 ° C, the fruits may not set.

Distinguished by beautiful flowering variety Anniversary. Flowers, collected in inflorescences of 14 pieces, white with a purple hue. The fruits are large, can reach 600 g, they begin to set 3-4 years after planting. The variety is undemanding to watering and air humidity.

Variety Maykop attracted by high yields. mature tree can produce from 100 to 300 fruits weighing about 150 g per year. Lemon prefers to winter in a cool room.

Large fruits, weighing more than 500 g, grow on a variety Panderose. This hybrid was obtained by crossing citron and lemon. He normally tolerates dry, hot air, loves bright diffused light, needs frequent feeding. It blooms with large creamy white flowers.

Miniature delicious lemons, about 4 cm in diameter gives a variety Volcano. This dwarf tree does not exceed 1.2 m. It is very decorative, because it blooms all year round, you can often see both flowers and fruits on it.

Optimal conditions for breeding indoor lemon

It is advisable to choose a well-lit place for indoor lemon, where it will be protected from direct sunlight. In order for the crown to develop evenly, the plant is turned to the window a few degrees once every 10 days.

Growing conditions and care for lemon:

soil with a slightly acidic reaction (pH 6);
regular top dressing all year round;
backlight in winter time;
abundant summer watering;
air temperature from 14 to 27 °C;
shaping cut.

You need to feed homemade lemon, alternating mineral and organic fertilizers. When the tree begins to bear fruit, it is especially necessary to feed it.

You can make nitrophoska under lemons. Fertiku or Pokon fertilizer for citrus fruits are well perceived by plants. IN winter period lemon is fertilized only with wood ash (1–2 tablespoons per 1 liter of water). From early spring to late autumn, they are fed with biohumus, where there is more nitrogen, which promotes leaf growth. In summer, you need to fertilize 1 time in 2 weeks, in winter - 1 time per month.

How to properly water a tree

It is necessary to water the plant as the soil in the pot dries out. In summer, when moisture evaporation is stronger, this is done more often. If the plant is standing outdoors - in the garden or on the veranda, it needs daily watering.

You can check the level of soil moisture with an indicator or by touch, if it dries to a depth of 5 cm, water it. Water is taken at room temperature. He loves lemon spraying in the morning, when the sun's rays do not leave burns on wet leaves.

Cutting technology

In order for the plants to have a compact shape, they need shaping pruning. It is best to cut off the top point of the shoot in January, when the plant is still at rest.

In February, the indoor lemon will begin to “wake up”, and will give side shoots from 3-4 buds located closest to the top. Lateral shoots are also pruned, leaving 3-4 internodes, after which branches of the third order begin to awaken.

Formation is necessary for good fruiting. The more branching orders a plant has, the more fruits it has.

In order for the plant to begin to bear fruit faster, the branches must be taken to a horizontal position. This can be done with thick copper wire.

Lemon cuttings left after pruning can be rooted in sand or perlite, they easily sprout roots in about a month. Then they are transplanted into fertile soil.

Basic transplant rules

Pots for transplanting should match the size of the root system. It is undesirable to place a plant in a spacious planting container.

While the citrus is young, it is transplanted 2 times a year. For an adult 8-year-old lemon, the ground can be updated once every 5 years.

To prepare the soil, take compost, humus, coarse sand. It is good to add fine pine bark, then the root system develops better.

You can not use sphagnum moss as a mulch for lemon, it retains moisture for a very long time, this leads to decay of the root collar, and death of the plant. As a mulch better fit crushed pine bark.

How to care for a lemon during flowering

It is better to cut off blossoming flowers on a young lemon so that it gains strength, grows roots and leaves, and only then bears fruit. The plant must grow at least 20 leaves so that it can produce the first few fruits, and then bear fruit annually.

In order for a full-fledged crop to grow at home, flowers need to be pollinated. Citrus fruits set without pollination, but seeds are formed in them only with cross-pollination. If there was no pollination, the fruits are smaller in size, the ovaries are worse kept on the branches, sometimes fall off.

The more fruits on the tree, the smaller they will grow, so some of the ovaries are removed immediately after flowering. They usually leave the largest of several closely spaced ones. Citrus fruits have a very long fruit ripening period, from 7 to 9 months.

Disease and pest control

If the root system is rotten, the leaves fall off. This happens when the plant overflows. Dangerous intensive watering in the cold season. To help the lemon, which begins to "bald", it is transplanted into a pot with fresh soil.

The roots are well cleaned of the old substrate, washed under warm water, cut off all rotten. You can put the plant for several hours in Kornevin's solution (1 tsp per 1 liter of water). Then the roots are sprinkled with Fundazol and charcoal, and planted in the "Universal" substrate.

Noticing insect pests on the tree, they are treated with Fitoverm. Most often, a spider mite and a scale insect settle on a lemon. Against insects, two sprayings are carried out with an interval of 5–7 days.

What difficulties can be encountered in the cultivation and care

In evergreen plants, nutrition is deposited in the leaves, so they need to be protected. Sometimes, a lemon sheds its leaves and its existence is threatened.

Causes of leaf fall and treatment:

When the earthy clod dries out, the lemon can shed its leaves. To help the plant, it is watered and placed on the lightest windowsill. When new leaves grow, all dry branches are cut off.
A lemon can shed its leaves 1–2 months after purchasing it from a flower shop. This is due to the fact that the conditions of indoor maintenance are very different from the greenhouses to which the plant is accustomed. Lemon lacks, above all, light. Noticing the fall of the leaves, it is necessary to organize a backlight for the plant.
Low air humidity also contributes to leaf fall. You can buy a humidifier or just spray the plant 2-3 times a week on the leaves with water at room temperature.
Yellowing and falling leaves can be caused by a lack of nutrition. The plant needs to be fed and transplanted into fertile soil.
If the leaves have fallen, the lemon needs to be transplanted, fed, and covered with a bag to create high humidity, then young branches and roots will grow. You can not immediately remove the package, this is done gradually. You can treat a weak plant with Epin.

"Aboriginal" plants are more resistant and unpretentious than those bought in a store; you can grow a tree from a lemon stone yourself. To do this, a fresh seed is placed in a pot of earth, deepening by 1 cm, it will sprout in about 1 week. In order for lemons grown from seeds to begin to bear fruit, they are grafted when the trunk thickness reaches 4 mm. Grafting can be done about a year after seedling germination.

For seven years I have not bought lemons in the store. This is because I managed to grow several citrus trees at home in pots. There is really nothing complicated about this. In this article I will tell you how to care for a lemon at home.

Lemon is an evergreen perennial. It has strong spiny branches with purple tips, large leathery leaves and ovoid fruits. Homemade lemons bloom for 7-9 weeks, all this time delighting their owner with a pleasant aroma.

They can bear fruit in the third year after planting. The fruits ripen for several months. To taste, they practically do not differ from lemons grown in tropical countries.

Beneficial features

Lemon is not just ornamental plant is your reliable home assistant. It has many useful properties:

Phytoncides, which are secreted by citrus leaves, purify the air of microbes.
The aroma of lemon helps to increase tone, helps a person fight stress.
Citrus fruits contain a lot of vitamin C, which is necessary for a person to quickly recover from colds and flu.

Favorably affects a person essential oil lemon, which can be obtained from its leaves. It improves mood, relieves cold symptoms, relieves anxiety.

What varieties are suitable for home growing

At home, lemons of the following varieties grow well:

Genoa is a low-growing variety, has a high yield, gives delicious fragrant fruits.
Lisbon is a tall growing variety that tolerates high temperatures well.
Pavlovsky lemon is a low variety that delights its owners with fruits with a thin peel.
Meyer lemon is one of the most popular low-growing homemade varieties. Gives sour fruits.

Any of these varieties grows well in apartment conditions and does not require complex care. You need to choose the lemon that you like the most in terms of taste and appearance, and you can safely proceed to its landing.

Growing your own lemon

At home, lemons can be grown from cuttings or seeds. The first option is easier. To grow a lemon from a cutting, you need to do this:

Purchase a cutting of the variety of your choice. It is better to buy it from trusted people, as inexperienced gardeners often cut cuttings incorrectly, which is why young plants die before they have time to take root in the soil.
The stalk must be placed in water or in a mixture of sand and earth. It is buried by 2 centimeters and covered with plastic wrap to ensure required level humidity.
After 2-3 weeks, the plant that has taken root is transplanted into the ground. Deepen it into the ground by 2-3 centimeters. In order for a young lemon to grow well, it is placed in a room with a temperature of 20-25 degrees Celsius.

Since it is rather difficult to buy quality cuttings, growing a homemade lemon from seeds is more reliable, in my opinion.

For this purpose, the bones of any ripe lemon bought in the store are suitable. The process of germinating seeds is quite simple:

From a ripe citrus, you need to pull out the bone, rinse it thoroughly under warm water. After that, you should lower it into warm water so that it is only half deep. The container with the bone must be removed in a place that is hard to reach for children and pets.
Next, you need to monitor the condition of the bone, periodically changing the water in the container. As soon as it cracks and a small sprout appears on the surface, the future lemon will need to be transplanted into a small pot. At this stage, you can use ordinary universal soil to grow the plant, then it will need to be replaced with a special mixture, which includes two parts of dry clay and leafy soil, as well as part of the sand and part of the manure. The bone itself should be half-immersed in the ground, otherwise it will not grow.

After transplantation, a young lemon will grow rapidly and gain strength. In order for the plant not to die at this stage, it needs to be properly cared for.

How to care for lemon at home

Indoor lemon is a rather unpretentious plant. In order for it to grow well and quickly, it needs to provide:

Regular watering at least 2 times a week. For this purpose, it is recommended to use settled filtered water.
Top dressing. It should be carried out once every 3-4 weeks in the summer months and once every one and a half months in the winter. Mineral and organic fertilizers should be used for this purpose. In order for the plant to form correctly, it is recommended to alternate such dressings. They need to be planted in moist soil.
Pruning. It is held in April lemon Tree did not enter the phase of active growth. Its trunk is shortened to 5 true leaves. After that, the tree is pruned once a year at the beginning of spring.
Frequent spraying. It allows you to make lemon leaves juicy and fleshy, and the fruits more fragrant.

Flowering in indoor lemon usually begins in the 2nd year after planting. Its fruits are formed on the branches of the second, third, fourth order.

If you want to treat yourself to homemade lemons, in the third year of a houseplant's life, remove half of the flowers from it and leave 4 fruit ovaries. The next year, their number can be increased to 6, and a year later - up to 8.

At proper care Behind the tree, homemade lemons are juicy and fragrant. To taste, they do not step on their store counterparts.

Plant care in winter

Lemon does not tolerate cold. The plant needs to provide a temperature of +15 to +18 degrees in winter. If possible, he should be provided with additional lighting due to a UV lamp. To make the lemon feel better, it is recommended to slightly warm up the water for watering it in the cold season.

You also need to ensure that the air in the room with citrus does not dry out. If the central heating is making it very dry, spray lemon leaves or use an automatic humidifier.

conclusions

In general, growing a homemade lemon is not as difficult as it might seem. To succeed in this business, it is enough to choose the right cutting or seed, as well as follow all the recommendations for caring for a house tree in a pot. Then, already in the third year, lemon can please you with its fragrant fruits.