If there’s one thing I love having in my garden, it’s fresh lemons. I use them all the time for salad dressing, baking, cocktails… you name it! Luckily, my neighbor has a lemon tree and is happy to let me steal as many as I need, which is quite a few! One day as I was cutting up one of their juicy, fragrant lemons, I saw the seeds and wondered whether I could grow my own lemon tree from them. So, I did some research and gave it a go!
A few months later, I have a baby lemon tree that’s (hopefully) one day going to give me my own delicious citrus fruit. I’m sure there’s more than one way to grow a lemon tree, but here’s how I did it! And in case you’re wondering, yes, you can grow lemon trees in pots! They’re a great patio garden addition.
Choosing Your Lemon Seeds
For me, this part was easy – I took the seeds from my neighbor’s lemons. If you don’t have that option, you can use seeds from any organic lemon, preferably from a local farmer’s market so that you’re growing a variety that will do well in your area (though many are hybrids, and the seed won’t necessarily grow a tree with the same genetics as its parent).
If you’re short on space, Meyer lemons are a great option – these trees are relatively small and easy to grow in containers. Meyer lemon trees can be grown from seed following the same steps below.
Preparing Lemon Seeds for Planting
The first step is to get your seeds ready for planting. Cut or dig them out of your lemon, then give them a rinse to remove any residual lemon flesh. Once they’re clean, leave them on a paper towel on the counter to dry for a few days.
Once they’re dry, you’ll need to crack the outer shell of the seed to open it up and take out the slightly smaller seed inside. Most of the tutorials I looked at included this step, though you could always try planting the whole lemon seed to see if it works – it is fiddly to try to remove the small seeds from their casing.
Planting Your Lemon Seeds
After you’ve got your little lemon seeds ready to go, it’s time to plant them! I put around 10 seeds into a 10-inch pot with drainage holes, because I thought I’d probably only see 1-2 of them sprout if I was lucky. I’m sure you could use any potting soil with good drainage, but I had some palm and citrus potting mix already open and figured they’d be happiest in that and I wouldn’t have to transplant them right away.
Make 1-inch holes in the soil, add one seed to each hole, then gently cover them with soil. Keep them wet while they’re germinating, but not soggy – just make sure the top inch of soil is always damp. Keep the planter in a sunny location indoors so the top part of the soil gets nice and warm to help the seeds germinate.
What to Do When Your Lemon Seeds Sprout
If you’re anything like me, you’ll be checking your planter every few hours to see if anything’s changed! Be warned, though – you’re playing the long game here. Mine took at least a month to sprout – I’d almost given up on them! One even came up a few weeks later than the first, so I’d say you could be waiting up to 8 weeks to see a sprout.
Light and Water
When your baby lemon tree does emerge, keep it in a warm, sunny location for the first couple of months. I left mine indoors by a window for a couple of weeks, then gradually moved it outside, starting with about 1 hour of direct sunlight and gradually increasing. Once adjusted, you can’t really give them too much sun – 6-8 hours a day is ideal.
As for water, you don’t need to keep it as wet as you did while it was germinating. As long as it’s in well-draining potting mix, just give it a drink once or twice a week, depending on how warm it is and how quickly the soil is drying out.
When to Transplant
Because I ended up with two trees in the same (small-ish) planter, I had to transplant them after a month or so. If you only have one tree germinate, I’d recommend leaving it in the planter until it seems like it’s outgrowing it, which would probably take six months or more.
Transplant into a larger planter, using citrus potting soil. Lemon trees grow well both indoors and outdoors, as long as they’re in a sunny location. You can even move it to the ground eventually if you live in a warm climate, just make sure it’s in a nice, sunny spot with well-draining soil.
Pest Control
Luckily, I haven’t had to deal with any lemon tree pests other than the occasional giant swallowtail caterpillar (which can do a lot of damage if you don’t notice them early!). Depending on your climate, you might run into aphids, whiteflies, or fruit flies.
If you do have an invasion, spray citrus trees with an insecticide formulated to control whiteflies, mealybugs, and aphids. For aphids, I like to use a solution of dish detergent in water, sometimes with (ironically) lemon juice or peppermint oil. Spray it every few days to keep the aphids in check.
Growing Lemon Tree from a Seed: Long-Term Care
Citrus trees are pretty easy to care for overall, just make sure it’s getting enough sun, and give it an occasional deep watering. It could take 7-10 years to produce fruit, but if it does start to flower, you can fertilize with a citrus-specific food, and apply mulch around the base of the tree.
Other than that, there’s not too much you need to do other than admire your own handiwork! Even if you don’t get delicious lemons, you’ll have a nice, decorative tree that looks great either indoors or out. Good luck!
Last Step? Enjoy your Little Lemon Tree!
While it may a take years to enjoy the actual fruits of your labor, you can still enjoy your tree in the meantime! Lemon blossoms are incredibly fragrant, and citrus trees in containers are a beautiful addition to a porch or patio. However, if you’re the impatient type or just really looking forward to delicious homemade lemon curd sooner, consider ordering a lemon tree online that’ll produce fruit within a few years. Some sites even have trees that’ll fruit the same year you buy the tree! Before you know it, you’ll have more lemons than you know what do with!
Of course these aren’t from my tree. These lemons all came from several trees that Remi’s mom has – and all grown in containers! Here are a few sources that sell lemon trees online if you want to speed the process up!
Feeling inspired, learn how to grow more fruit trees and create your own permaculture paradise. For more patio gardening inspiration, check out these DIY planter ideas, vertical garden ideas and designs, or give your patio a total makeover with these pretty patio flooring ideas and finish it off with a DIY shady patio cover!
My lemon tree is only growing straight up , how do I make it start branching ? .
Ive grown it from seed and its 2 years old .