Contents of the article:
Many kinds of citrus fruits grow well at home. But how to grow a lemon from a bone, which would not only decorate the room with leathery dark green foliage, but also bear fruit?
It is precisely the lack of ovaries on grown plants that often disappoint home citrus fruit. Indeed, in the best case, from the time of planting to the flowering of a room lemon, 4 to 7 years pass. And yet, getting lemon from the bone is a fascinating and not unpromising activity. A sturdy tree can be used as a stock, grafting a cultural specimen onto it, or pushing it to fruiting with competent care and crown shaping.
Preparing Bones for Lemon Growth
If you are going to grow lemon from a seed at home, you need to be patient and have some knowledge.
The main mistake of indoor plants lovers who failed in the cultivation of lemon or other citrus fruits was that they used seeds sown for a long time from the fruit and had time to dry out.
It is much more correct to extract the bones from ripe fresh lemons, rinse them with warm water and embed them in the substrate immediately, without drying. This will greatly increase the number of shoots. 
And experienced citrus growers, recommend another way to increase the speed and quality of germination. To do this, wet, intended for growing at home, lemon stones with a sharp knife are carefully released from the solid surface shell, which is the main obstacle to the germ hidden in the seed.
Following this advice, you need to be extremely careful and cautious. An incorrect movement threatens to damage the cotyledons or the tender embryo, and then the lemon from the stone will not appear exactly.
If lemon seeds remain in the shell, it is useful to immerse them in a growth stimulator solution for several hours, preventing the surface of the seeds from drying out between processing and planting.
Growing Lemon from the Bone at Home
Before planting the lemon bones, select shallow, wide containers with mandatory drainage holes. A 2-centimeter layer of fine expanded clay or vermiculite is poured at the bottom of a pot or other container so that all excess moisture dangerous for delicate roots, flowing down, does not linger and leaves the ground in time.
Soil for growing lemon from a stone at home can be done independently by mixing garden soil, humus and sand. In such a substrate it is useful to add a little crushed charcoal, which will reduce the risk of developing bacterial infections. If you do not have the necessary ingredients on hand, a ready-made citrus substrate is suitable, which is easy to buy at a specialty store.
All the preparatory work carried out. Now it's time to start sowing. How to grow a lemon from the bone at home?
The best sowing time is the end of winter. Then sprouted shoots will receive good support in the form of increasing daylight hours.
Seeds close up in a moist soil to a depth of about two centimeters. In one container, you can plant several seeds at once. Since the first transplant is waiting for seedlings, when 3-4 leaves will appear on them, the plants will not interfere with each other.
Containers are determined in a greenhouse or put in heat, previously covered with a bag or film. Do not forget that all citrus fruits are thermophilic; therefore, it is possible to grow a lemon from a stone at home only if you observe a certain temperature.
Seedlings are not affected by growth if the air and soil in the room is colder than +18 ° C.It is optimal if seed germination and subsequent growth take place at a temperature of 22 to 25 ° C, with constantly high humidity, no drafts and other negative factors. Observance of simple rules, how to grow a lemon from a stone, allows you to get a friendly strong shoots.
On average, it takes from a week to a month from sowing to the moment of sprouting. During this time, the soil in the pot can be gently sprayed, but should be watered only with obvious signs of drying.
Taking care of lemon seedlings from
seeds With the appearance of green shoots above the soil surface, they are gradually being taught to room conditions, airing and lifting the greenhouse. When 3-4 leaves appear on a young lemon from a bone, the film is removed altogether, and the seedlings are sorted and transferred into their own small pots.
As the seeds of hybrid fruits do not always carry parental signs, citrus fruit growers who seek to get lemon from the stone at home are at risk of growing wild.
Understand how soon the tree will begin to bear fruit, and what quality the mature fruits will be, can already be by their appearance. First of all, citrus cultivated trees are distinguished by a small number of thorns on the shoots.
Further care in the first year of seedlings consists in timely watering, transplanting and pinching for the initial formation of the crown of the future tree. 
In addition, plants:
- are fed in the summer months in 10–14 days, alternating between a solution of humus and liquid mineral fertilizers;On cloudy days and in the cold season,
- is additionally illuminated with the help of fluorescent or LED phytolamps.
Duration of illumination largely affects flowering and fruiting of plants from the tropical zone. Therefore, the acquisition of such lamps should attend to before you grow a lemon from a seed.
Transplantation for young lemons is carried out annually, and the plant should be transferred very carefully, without disturbing the root system. If the roots have not yet mastered the whole earthen room, you can get by replacing the surface layer.
Many people who are interested in growing a lemon from a seed, looking for seedlings first, and then the first flowers. But in order not to weaken the plant, the lemon should not be allowed to bear fruit until it reaches the age of 2-3 years. A lemon from a stone ripens for flowering, when there is only one flower per 15 leaves of its crown.
If the earlier formation of the ovary weakens the tree, nip at the age of about one year only contributes to the formation of the crown and will lay the foundation for future good yields. Therefore, from a very young plant, it is necessary to remove all the shoots directed deep into the crown, pinch the tops of excessively long shoots, and also sometimes turn the pot with a tree so that it is lit and developed as evenly as possible.
We Grow Lemon from the Stone - Video
Part 1. Planting
Seeds Part 2. Emergence of the First Sprouts of
Part 3. Transplant of
Seedlings
