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Lemon tree from seed v/s cutting

jyotijshahjyotijshah Posts: 47
in Plants
Hi, Please let me know if one should grow lemon tree from seed or a cutting. Pro & cons please. Thanks 

Posts

  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Both are very difficult and time consuming. When you say seed,do you mean a lemon pip? My husband grew a lemon from a pip,after several years it got to a foot high and died. We do have a grapefruit grown from a pip,it flowered after 10 years,is now over 25 years old has never flowered again.any particular reason you want to do this?
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    Agree with @Nanny Beach - neither method offers a quick result tho if you have a named Lemon which you wish to propagate, then you could always try a cutting if you have the means to do it.
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Time consuming was Probably the wrong way y put it,what I meant was it takes absolutely years to grow into the smallest shrub
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Growing from a pip is a gamble as you don't know what fertilised the parent plant and don't know if you'll get anything edible.  Plus it will take years to get to fruiting size.

    I expect you'd need a fair bit of experience, lots of luck and a dozen or so cuttings to strike one using that method and then you'd still have to wait several years for any flowers of fruits.

    Better to buy a small plant of a named variety and research the feeding regime to keep it healthy.  They need nitrogen (N) thru summer for healthy foliage and then thru winter a feed high in phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) plus magnesium and other essential minerals to keep the plant generally healthy and promote flowers and fruit.

    They need plenty of light all year and a frost free environment in winter.  
    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)."
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  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    Nanny Beach said:
    Time consuming was Probably the wrong way y put it,what I meant was it takes absolutely years to grow into the smallest shrub
    Granted it isn't that time consuming to stick a pip in a pot or take a cutting - getting either to grow tho does consume time so you were correct in that usage :D  Anyway, I think we all know what you meant ;)

    That aside @jyotijshah, unless you want to experiment purely for the interest, best off buying a named variety as per@Obelixx :)
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