Growing lemon in the apartment. Watering and fertilizing indoor lemon

A lemon tree with bright fruits and rich dark foliage adorns the window sill and lures sunlight into the room. Even without special care this evergreen large plant will be covered with fragrant white flowers and at least one or two fruits. The lemon tree lives from 50 to 100-150 years, which means that it can be conveyed as family heirloom. Proper care of a lemon in a pot at home will give results - the tree will annually delight with a harvest of tasty and healthy fruits.

Description of the crop and the best varieties

Lemon is a Mediterranean guest, but was born in India. From there, a beautiful tree came to the countries of America and Africa. In the southern regions, whole groves of these picturesque trees can be found everywhere. It does not occur in the wild. The pulp of citrina is saturated with acids, vitamins and trace elements:

• citric acid is the main component of citrus;
• pectins, flavonoids, phytoncides, essential oils - concentrated in the peel, as well as in the pulp;
• vitamins C, B, D, PP;
• ascorbic acid, tocopherol, riboflavin and others;
• trace elements - iron, boron, copper, fluorine, zinc, manganese and others.

For growing at home, only specially bred dwarf varieties, well leafy and abundantly fruiting. To grow real on the windowsill lemon tree, you can go three ways:

1. Buy a seedling in the agricultural sector.
2. Plant a seed in a pot.
3. Root a cutting from another adult plant.

The first way is the easiest, the second way is more difficult. But in any case, care is required for a grown lemon.

For successful agricultural technology at home, you can choose one of the popular varieties.

How to care for a lemon

Taking care of the southern guest includes the usual set for any cultivated plant- requirements for light, watering, transplanting, feeding and treatment. Since a lemon is a tree growing in a room, it is necessary to cut off excess branches and form a crown.

Lighting and temperature

Lemon is a southern plant, loves brightness, but young trees do not tolerate direct sun. It is necessary to shade them or put them on the east window. In order for the crown to form beautifully and harmoniously, the plant must be turned towards the light in different directions. mature tree tolerates heat well. In summer, it is useful to put a pot with a plant on a loggia, on Fresh air, and in winter illuminate with a phytolamp. The lack of lighting negatively affects the plant as a whole - the leaves lose their saturated color and fruits become sour.

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The air temperature near the tree should be within certain limits, depending on the life stage of the lemon:

• during the period active growth and flowering - 17°C. If this threshold is exceeded, the buds will fall off. You can take the pot to the balcony;
• with the beginning of fruiting - 20 ° C;
• rest period - 14-17 ° С.

Changes and non-compliance with the temperature regime are fraught with diseases.

Humidity and watering

A young plant does not like dry air, so it needs to be watered and sprayed in a timely manner. Overwatering is unacceptable. Winter watering should not be frequent, it is enough to shed the soil once a week with settled thawed or just warm boiled water, preferably acidified. Between waterings, the soil should dry out by about one centimeter, but no more, otherwise the lemon will begin to dry out. For better water absorption, the soil must be carefully loosened, and so that it does not harden, you can put mulch on top. In summer, it is hot and bright on the windowsill, so the earth dries up quickly, and the leaves become dehydrated. Starting from March, watering is required up to 3 times a week, but not plentiful - the roots may rot. A trickle of water should go around the perimeter of the pot, and not under the root.

Growing and caring for lemon should take place under conditions high humidity(60-70°C). To do this, you can put a bowl of water on the windowsill, but it is better to buy a special humidifier. Moist air is more important to this subtropical plant than watered roots.

Foliage needs to be sprayed warm water from a spray bottle. In winter, the air in the apartments is very dry due to central heating, and in summer the hot sun shines through the windows. To avoid sunburn spraying should be carried out in the morning or in the evening, so that the leaves have time to dry before the sun hits the window. It is very useful to arrange spa treatments once a week for a lemon. warm shower. In order not to flood the soil, it must be protected with a film.

What to feed a lemon?

Lemon can bloom and bear fruit in the 2-3rd year. Caring for indoor lemon is:

• timely watering;
• regular spraying;
• competent supplements.

Once a month, after watering, apply a dose of dissolved in water to the soil. nitrogen fertilizer(urea or ammonium nitrate- 2 g per 1 liter of water). This is especially true for poor organic soil. Nitrogen gives strength to plants, during spring and summer a powerful leaf apparatus is formed, with which the tree safely endures all the hardships of winter. You can water with diluted slurry of low concentration (1:30).

In no case should you fertilize with microelements. Unlike other plants, lemons do not have hairs on their roots. Mycorrhiza fungi play their role. They seem to stick to the roots of the lemon, and through them the nutrition of the whole plant is carried out. Mycorrhiza themselves feed on organic matter, such as humus. They decompose it, forming valuable substances that they feed on first themselves, and then feed the lemon. Trace elements kill mycorrhiza, thus, the tree is depleted and will soon die. Too much nitrogen is not good for lemons. The tree can grow with a powerful crown to the detriment of fruiting.

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The key is healthy soil

Starting from the second year, in addition to nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium must be used. Superphosphate can be sprinkled on top of the ground, and it will slowly but surely feed the plant. Phosphorus promotes abundant flowering and fruiting. flowering period lemon tree- spring, autumn. Single buds appear throughout the year. Fruiting period: after flowering, a fruit is formed that will grow and gain strength within 9 months. This can happen at any time. After harvesting in the spring, it is necessary to feed with urea (or nitrate) and superphosphate. If the crop was harvested in the fall, it is impossible to feed, because the plant goes dormant and excess nutrition will only weaken it. Move feeding to February.

Transfer

The first can be done after buying a young seedling in a pot, but first it must stand in quarantine for a week away from other plants. During this time, you will make sure that the lemon is healthy and not infected. spider mite. When deciding whether a transplant is needed, inspect the soil - are the roots visible, are they sticking out of the drainage hole, is the pot not visually small. If the issue of transplantation is resolved positively, wet the soil, tilt the pot and, holding the stem, very carefully pull out the plant with a clod of earth. Examine the lump - the roots should not stick out of it. If it smells rotten, gently loosen the root system over the basin. Can be dropped into warm water and clean it from the earth.

Examine the roots, remove the bad, blackened, rotten ones. A little in the pot bigger size pour drainage, then soil mixture to half, put the plant upright, spread out the roots and fill with earth, not reaching a couple of centimeters to the top. Water and put in partial shade without drafts, let the plant come to its senses and get used to the new place.

The first 2-3 weeks after transplantation, keep under a plastic bag with "ventilation" and gradually accustom to air. If the seedling is placed without covering, it may die. Keep it away from sunlight to avoid burns. After the plant is a little stronger and accustomed to the air, remove the plastic cover. Watering can already be combined with top dressing.

For the first three years, the lemon is transplanted annually. The size of the next pot should be 2-3 cm larger in diameter and depth compared to the previous one. Then the tree should be transplanted into a vessel of a larger diameter once every five years.

Diseases and pests

indoor lemon susceptible to viral, bacterial, fungal infections, and pests settle on it.

For seven years I have not bought lemons in the store. All because I managed to grow a few citrus trees houses 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 - low-growing variety, has high yield, gives delicious fragrant fruits.
• Lisbon is a tall variety that tolerates high temperatures.
• 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:

1. 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.
2. The stalk must be placed in water or in a mixture of sand and earth. It is deepened by 2 centimeters and covered plastic wrap, to provide required level humidity.
3. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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 leaf ground, 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

Room lemon is pretty unpretentious plant. In order for it to grow well and quickly, it needs to provide:

1. Regular watering at least 2 times a week. For this purpose, it is recommended to use settled filtered water.
2. 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 winter period. For this purpose it is necessary to use mineral and organic fertilizers. In order for the plant to form correctly, it is recommended to alternate such dressings. They need to be planted in moist soil.
3. Pruning. It is carried out in April, until the lemon tree has entered 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.
4. 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 time. 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 a central heating if it dries out too much, spray lemon leaves or use an automatic humidifier.

findings

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.

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.

Choosing a variety for home cultivation

Choosing a lemon for home growing, you need to take into account 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.

Is different beautiful flowering grade Anniversary. Flowers collected in inflorescences of 14 pieces, white with purple tint. 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. An adult 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. It normally tolerates dry, hot air, loves bright diffused light, and needs frequent feeding. It blooms with large creamy white flowers.

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

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.

Plant lovers grow citrus fruits even on the windowsill. What factors are paid attention to in order to see flowering and enjoy exotic fruits?

You can grow a beautiful tree that will delight with fragrant fruits at home. But this plant has a whimsical character, requires attention not only to watering, but also to the temperature regime of the room where it is located. Mandatory element care is top dressing, which is performed in accordance with certain rules. Air humidity, lighting, and timely transplantation are also important. If all elements of care are performed regularly and efficiently, then the plant will bear fruit and delight with ovaries.

A lemon that is grown on its own windowsill may differ slightly from those sold in the markets. This is due to the fact that for home breeding choose indoor varieties. Small lemons, which have a very thin skin, are especially valued. In addition, they are very bright and look beautiful on the window. More large fruits will have a dense and thick skin, and will look no less exotic.

The difficulty of caring for this fruit-bearing tree is that it is accustomed to the climate of the subtropics, where it comes from. This causes it to comfortable temperature air should not be more than 17-18 degrees. In an apartment in winter, due to heating, this figure is higher. The presence of batteries also affects humidity. It goes below 70%. And the compliance of the indicators characterizing the air with the standards is very necessary for the tree to grow.

No less important for the growth of lemons and the degree of illumination of the room. Right place for a tree indoors, they are chosen taking into account the fact that it does not like direct sunlight. The most ideal location will have a good degree of illumination throughout the day, but this light will be diffused.

Crockery for the tree also matters. To enter the phase of active growth and the formation of the ovaries of future fruits, it should be placed in a closer pot. If the root system is too spacious, then the flowering phase will be postponed indefinitely. Ideal for planting a plant will be dishes from natural materials. This is earthenware or boxes made of wood.

Land for growth does not really matter. But it must correspond to the qualities of air and water permeability. The soil mix may contain peat and sand. Fertility will add humus. The soil should be loosened.

moisture has direct impact for growth. Therefore, abundant watering in spring and summer, when the ambient temperature tends to rise. In winter, the frequency of watering is reduced. Older trees require more moisture. It is desirable that watering is carried out with prepared water. Suitable pre-collected in a container and standing. You can also use defrosted water, although most perfect option- rain.

In order for the lemon tree to bear fruit, it is fed. Any of the organic or mineral species fertilizers. The frequency of this procedure should not be too intensive. The optimal period of time is after 20 days.

Lemon care at different times of the year

To grow a lemon, home care for a plant must take into account some differences depending on the time of year. In the spring season, it begins a phase of active growth, and then forms buds, which later become fragrant fruits. The temperature regime should be in the range of 14-18 degrees. An excessively warm room will lead to the dropping of buds and ovaries. And such an event can provoke the death of the entire tree.

Fresh air contributes well to the natural growth of lemongrass. From the moment the air temperature outside the window stabilizes at 13-14 degrees, the plant can be placed on the balcony or terrace for the entire warm period. However, they monitor possible temperature differences due to possible still frost and its decrease by night time. To avoid the death of the plant, it is wrapped.

In summer, the danger for the lemon tree is open sunlight. Therefore, this situation is carefully controlled to avoid burns.

Winter time for lemon is characterized by the stage of final ripening of the fruit. Optimal conditions for this period include moderate temperature regime(16-18 degrees). Be sure to support optimal humidity(about 70%). One more important condition the good condition of the tree in winter is the exclusion of air flows that come from heating sources. A pot of lemon is removed away from heaters and radiators. It is also provided with a light source for at least 12 hours.

Lemon tree care is quite capricious. Too high temperatures are not suitable for him, as well as too low. Watering should be moderate, but very dry soil should be avoided. The plant does not like direct sunlight, but requires prolonged exposure during the day to diffused light. Without taking into account and fulfilling all these conditions, it is impossible to achieve the appearance of ovaries, which will subsequently delight with fragrant fruits. Timely watering and feed, right soil are also of great importance.

Lemon Growing Mistakes Video

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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. For all favorable conditions from a plant from a stone, a crop 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. Lemon after tying 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 citrus garden. Even being on 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:

1. From the stand to the ceiling must be at least two meters.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. The temperature of the content for a lemon should be from 14 to 27 degrees. During the flowering period, the lemon needs coolness.
5. 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 in 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 care behind the plant. 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. root system the lemon is compact, for an annual transplant young plant treats 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.

Put a layer on the bottom 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 left a lot planting material, branches. Cuttings will be obtained from them, if you pinch off a couple of leaves from below and put a green twig 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 growth, it is contained, as mature plant. At a height of 25 cm, pinch the top of the plant, limiting growth. The resulting central and side 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 are laid on the branches. 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