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Me again i,m afraid

Alan4711Alan4711 Posts: 1,657
in The potting shed
Morning,and its raining erein Lincs, a few months ago I searched everywhere for an organic  lemon so I could grow a pip,unfortunately I only found unwaxed ones so I,m now growing 2 trees ,one I cut back at 8 inches which now is a well spreading leafy tree at 1 foot high,the other is a slimmer 20 inches high and not cut back, my q is this, will the unwaxed pip trees grow any fruit at all or just be nice trees,and is it ok if I cut the taller one later at about 24/30 inches to make a patio plant fruit or not as they look quite nice,never done this before but growing from a pip is good fun and I get a real kick to think we gave these pips a start.  😎Al

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I dunno either, but I have two that I’ve grown from seed this year, they need repotting, going a bit yellowy and a bit chewed😀 will await some answers. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I don't think organic/inorganic or waxed/unwaxed would make any difference. 
    I should think they'll produce fruit at some stage (the aim of plants is to make seed and reproduce) but I don't know how mature the trees would need to be before they start to flower/fruit.


    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Alan4711Alan4711 Posts: 1,657
    nice trees, Jenny,hope your right, I was told that the ones sold in most supermarkets were sterile ,I dont know why that would be though,I also read that if they do fruit its around 5/6 years and that's ok too,  again that's just something I read some time ago, but as they look quite nice plants anyway lets hope they do, I watched Christofferson sing that on UTube yesterday while exercising in the con,    cheers Al / 
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    The fruit you bought weren't from sterile plants, they had pips and the pips grew! If the parent was a hybrid then the offspring could be different (and I suppose possibly sterile), but it's impossible to know.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Is that just one years growth Lyn?  Years ago, 20 in fact, I had window sill propogaters in the dining room window, Hubby put a lemon and grapefruit pip in with my seeds, the lemon grew to a foot tall, then died for reason unknown the grapefruit is now about 4 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it had flowers after 10 years hasnt flowered since, we visited a specialist citrus nursery in Sussex, they assured us you will never get fruit on one grown from a pip like this.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I don't think citrus trees would have survived and spread over all these millenia if trees from seeds didn't, in turn, produce fruit.  The question is more one of how old will it be befor eit's mature enough to fruit and will the fruits be edible and that's an unknown, wait and see sort of thing as you don't know the parentage of the seed.

    I have a meyer lemon which is fruiting well and is, I assume a clone propagated from a cutting rather than seed sown.  I also have a limquat which, I assume, is a cross breed of kumquat and lime.  It produces small, lime-like fruits with pips which I imagine would grow if I sowed them.  I also have a small yuzu which has yet to produce either flowers or fruit.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • AndyDeanAndyDean Posts: 157
    Could it be that, in the UK at least, the conditions in general are unfavourable to citrus? So most citrus won't fruit in the UK (not enough sun, for example)? Maybe there are specific varieties that do fruit in UK conditions, but the chances of getting those genes from a random pip are near zero?

    This is all just guesswork, extrapolating from the idea that if you plant a random apple pip, you'll get a tree but probably won't get nice fruit... Be interested to know if anyone can actually say one way or another!
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Well, the landed gentry built orangeries in order to get citrus fruit to produce fruit in the UK so that should tell you something and gardeners like Monty take there's in for winter after a summer in the sun.

    Like apples, the pips will be from flowers cross pollinated by anything that passed on ahandy bee and picked up all the uninteresting fruiting genes so the chances of ending up with a worthwhile fruit are pretty slim.

    Still, if you don't try you'll never find out either way and his wee trees may be wonderful.   Even if there are never any fruit the flowers smell amazing when they're in bloom.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Paul B3Paul B3 Posts: 3,154
    A pleasant thought is that all (inc.organic) bought lemons etc.have been treated with Imazalil fungicide , a known carcinogen . This permeates through the skin into the fruit itself .
    Next time you ask for a slice of lemon in your drink , think twice .

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