Each morning, as I squeeze the juice from a lemon for my warm lemon water ritual, I pluck a few seeds from the citrus, flicking them into the garbage. I have long wondered if it would be possible to grow a lemon tree from those seeds. I finally decided to try it as an experiment with the kids and see what happens. Those seeds did their thing, growing into tiny lemon tree champs! 🍋
Growing Lemon Trees From Seed
How to grow a lemon tree from seed:
I’m not sure how many approaches there are to growing lemon trees from seed, but this is the way we did it and it seemed to have worked well.
Step 1:
Remove several seeds from some lemons, rinse, and set aside to dry for a couple days. It’s likely that not all seeds will sprout, so to increase your chances, start with plenty of seeds. (Note: Though not needed, I took seeds from a few lemons, just in case one lemon didn’t produce seeds of optimal health.)
Step 2:
Once dried, very carefully remove the white/yellow outer shell of the seed. You will be left with the internal seed.
Step 3:
Following the “paper towel method” for seed germination, spread the seeds out onto half a sheet of a damp paper towel. Fold the other half of the paper towel over the seeds so that all are covered.
Step 4:
Place the seeds within the paper towel into a plastic zip lock bag and zip it up. Then place in a dark place such as a cabinet or drawer and allow the seeds to germinate for 1-2 weeks.
Step 5:
Once the seeds have germinated, place into soil with the roots facing down. Water a couple times a week and provide plenty of sunlight. I used this grow light over the winter months when there wasn’t much window sunlight.
Here is what the baby lemon trees looked like after 4 month, and then at 1 year,
Wondering if an indoor potted lemon tree will produce lemon fruit? I wondered that too. According to what I’ve read, yes, indoor lemon trees can an do produce fruit. Apparently, they also smell fantastic! Here is a good read on how to successfully care for a potted lemon tree for optimal lemon production.
I’m hopeful that these little trees will produce lots of lemons, though I know that it will likely take a few years. I think they’ll be nice houseplant additions anyway. 🙃
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