Many people dream of having a lemon tree at home. Even those who are far from gardening. After all, the plant has such a wonderful view. And everyone knows about the benefits of its fruits, saturated with vitamins. You can buy not only fruit-bearing lemon, also decorative. Its beauty will delight your eyes.
Now many varieties have been bred, especially for home conditions. So the problem of choice disappears. If you make some effort, you can breed citrus fruits yourself. There are several ways to do this. We will take a closer look at the reproduction of lemon cuttings.
You can propagate the plant by sticking the seed of its fruit into the ground. But then you have to wait several years for the harvest. It's not certain that it will show up at all. Most best way- cuttings.
The strongest, healthiest trees are obtained by preparing cuttings in early spring. Then the dormant period ends. There is a need to form a crown. There are many new extra shoots. However, experienced gardeners propagate lemon all year round. For beginners, in addition to March-April, the end of summer is also suitable. We need to wait for the heat to subside.
Training
Cutting selection
A branch of a lemon is taken as an adult, mature. Thickness 4-5 mm. Thinner or thicker is not recommended. Thin shoots will develop poorly. Thick - poorly rooted. Cut cuttings medium length 10 centimeters. Use a secateurs sharp knife. It is advisable to wipe the instruments with a disinfectant solution. Each clothespin must have at least 4 buds. The lower cut angle is 45 degrees. Upper - 1 centimeter above the kidney, perpendicular to the trunk.
The leaves at the bottom of the cutting are removed. Above - shorten 1/3. So the scion retains sap flow. This promotes rapid root formation. It is better not to use shoots without leaves at all.
Necessary conditions for rooting
In order for lemon propagation by cuttings to be successful, a suitable room temperature is required. Optimal - 20-25 degrees Celsius. In winter, additional heating is needed.
Lighting must be sufficient. scattered sunlight fit better Total. If necessary, use artificial lighting. Keep away from direct sunlight. From heating appliances also. Southeast window sill the best place plant location.
The most important condition for the further successful reproduction of lemon is humidity. In cuttings, it is much higher than in adult trees. Approximately 95%. The walls of the greenhouse, and also better leaves should be wet. Apply spraying warm water.
How to prepare a greenhouse
Usually plastic transparent bottles are used. Volume 2 liters for 3-4 scions. Cut off the top and bottom of the dish. Poke holes in the bottom to allow water to drain. lower part fill with wet sand (preferably river sand). Place soil on top. (Leave a couple of centimeters at the edge). Ratio 1:1. For a greenhouse, any earthenware small dish is suitable, which is covered with a transparent jar, or with polyethylene.
landing technique
How to root a cutting
Powder the lower sections of the parostka with wood ash powder to prevent decay. In order for the plant to multiply better, the cut is still powdered with a root growth stimulator. It's called heteroauxin.
2-3 centimeters the clothespin is deepened into the ground. Water generously with lukewarm water. Then its excess is drained. At this stage, watering is completed while rooting occurs.
After 3-4 weeks, the lower cut releases the callus (growth). Later, roots appear just above the growth. They are large white color, fragile. Therefore, when planting, care must be taken, otherwise they can be broken.
How to plant a cutting
You can not immediately remove the plant from the greenhouse. It will be a big stress for him. It is necessary to accustom to the usual room climate gradually. Open the greenhouse for several days in a row. Initially, 3-5 minutes will be enough. Gradually increase the time. Add a few minutes daily. Do this for a couple of weeks. Then the cover can be removed completely.
Lemon grows quite large. However, the first dish should be small. A half-liter ceramic pot is ideal. The bottom of the container is perforated, for better flow excess water. With a constantly wet sump, the soil reaction will become acidic, and the roots of the tree will quickly begin to rot.
It happens that clothespins bloom even in the greenhouse. It's OK. It will just slow down the growth of the root system.
To successfully propagate the plant, you need high-quality soil. Ideal - sand 1 part plus moss 1 part. Fertilizers are placed on top. If there is no sphagnum, you can replace it with peat.
We cover the bottom of the pot with drainage: expanded clay, wood ash, pieces of coal, clay small shards. The next layer is nutritional. Its composition is as follows: 1 part of coniferous land, 1 part of sod, 1/6 of sand. Third layer: a mixture of sphagnum with sand. It is in this layer that rooted cuttings must be placed. All soil is moist. Carry out spraying.
You can take a simpler soil. 1 part ordinary garden soil plus ¼ part horse manure. It will take about a year for the tree to grow stronger and gain strength. Then it is transplanted into a more spacious dish, up to 5 centimeters larger than the previous one.
Citrus fruits propagated by cuttings are called own-rooted. After 3-4 years, it will bloom, and then the first fruits will appear. If you want to propagate with a bone, then the fruits will have to wait about 6 years.
Care after breeding
Lighting, temperature, humidity
Citrus fruits love light. southeast side suitable at home ideally. Choose a permanent place for your pet. He does not tolerate frequent movement. The only exception is the removal of the pot to the balcony. This can be done in the spring, when the heat comes (from +15 degrees).
While the plant is small, a window sill will do. Blinds provide comfortable diffused sunlight. At least 12 hours daily it should be illuminated. Therefore, in winter, use additional lighting. Ideal - phytolamps. Look at the store, what kind of light the fruit display cases have.
Optimum temperature- 18-27 degrees of heat. In hot weather, shade the tree, provide coolness. Otherwise, it may die. In winter, even greater coolness is needed (+ 12-15 degrees). This stimulates normal reproduction as well as fruiting. but sudden changes temperatures should be avoided.
As the lemon grows, the air humidity drops to 60-70%. Spray it, also the air around it, when it's hot. Preferably 2 times daily.
top dressing
Without feeding, the plant will not reproduce. Apply as organic fertilizers, so mineral. They are alternated. Apply once every 7-10 days. Organic is horse, cow or chicken droppings. Inorganic fertilizers can be purchased ready-made at a flower shop. Only you must know exactly the variety of your lemon, name, age.
Video “Reproduction of lemon by cuttings”
You can learn more about how to propagate lemon cuttings from the video.
BREEDING METHODS
lemons multiply different ways: seeds, grafts, cuttings and layering.
Reproduction by seeds. Lemons, unlike many fruit crops at seed propagation give seedlings of a cultivated type with good quality fruits. Therefore, they are best propagated by seeds. Seedlings of lemons adapt well to room conditions.
Plants obtained from sowing seeds begin to bear fruit in best case from the age of 6. In the period of full fruiting, they enter the 10-15th year and even later. It depends on the variety of seedlings, their care and many other reasons. For example, seedlings of the same variety in more southerly areas, where the growing season is long and daylight hours (in summer) short, begin to bear fruit earlier than in areas with a short frost-free period and long summer daylight hours. Therefore, in this case, the fruiting of a lemon is strongly influenced by the length of daylight hours.
The beginning of fruiting is significantly delayed in seedlings with an incorrectly formed crown and with big amount young fat shoots. It is possible to accelerate the fruiting of seedlings by various agro-technical methods. For example, you can take a kidney from a fruiting lemon and plant a seedling with it.
Do not completely cut off the top of the occluded seedling (leave one branch on the side opposite to the occulant). Then the cultivated shoot bears fruit, as usual, in the 2-3rd year after inoculation, but at the same time the fruiting of the left twig of the seedling will accelerate.
In other cases, eyes or pieces of bark (tissue replanting) from a fruiting lemon are grafted into the crown of a seedling. Sometimes the lower sleeping buds are taken from the seedling and grafted onto the young shoots of the same seedling (grafting on itself). At N.V. Ryndina, cuttings from a lemon seedling, grafted into the crown of an adult fruit-bearing mandarin tree, fruited at the age of one and a half years; at M.I.
Proskurin, as a result of grafting on itself, the seedlings fruited in the third year after grafting.
Seedlings can be grown in pots, boxes, etc., and in the south, if possible, it is better on fallow beds, so that the plants develop faster and better. For the winter, seedlings from fallow beds are transplanted into pots and stored indoors. In the spring, seedlings, together with pots, are dug into the ground, and intended for. vaccinations are budded indoors and cared for as indoor plants. Sometimes in the south good care, the thickness of the stem in seedlings in the first summer reaches 5-7 mm, and seedlings can be occluded in autumn.
Seeds for sowing should be taken only well developed. It is better to sow them immediately after extraction from the fruit, otherwise they quickly lose their germination. Seeds can be sown in any dish shallow, 2-3 cm. The most favorable temperature for seed germination is about 25 °C. Water for irrigation should be soft. If the water is hard, then to "soften" it, it is recommended to add potash (1 tablespoon) or sulfuric acid (1 teaspoon) to a bucket of water. Water temperature 25-27°. Under these conditions, the seeds germinate in about 2-3 weeks after sowing.
Young shoots of lemon are very tender, so they need to be protected from direct sunlight and not watered. cold water.
Lemon seedlings can be grown with picks and without picks (with root pruning). Cut the tap roots with a knife at a depth of 8-10 cm, when the seedlings reach 12-15 cm in height. Branching of the root system should not be damaged by pruning.
The soil must be constantly kept moist. For this, seedlings are watered 1-2 times a day. In summer, seedlings are periodically fed. In a month, they give 2-3 top dressings with a one-percent solution of saltpeter and 1 top dressing with slurry. Reproduction by grafting. Lemons are mainly grafted with an eye (bud) taken from a fruit-bearing tree grown in room conditions.
It is better to harvest cuttings for grafting from the second (summer) growth on branches of the 5th-7th branching order. Do not take lower branches and fatty shoots for cuttings. In the shoots cut into cuttings, the leaf blade is removed, leaving only the petioles of the leaves. Store cuttings in damp moss or sand.
As rootstocks indoor lemon 1-2-year-old (sometimes 3-year-old) seedlings of lemon and other citrus fruits grown in room conditions are used. The stem thickness of the seedling should be about 5-7 mm at a height of 10-12 cm from the root collar.
Seedlings intended for grafting are prepared in advance. side shoots 15 days before vaccination, they are removed, and the tops are pinched. Before grafting, the stems of the rootstocks Escape and stalk are wiped with a wet cloth, one for budding. Then, at a height of 3-5 cm from the ground, with a sharp budding knife, first a transverse incision is made in the bark, and then a longitudinal (vertical) 2-3 cm long. At the same time, only the bark is cut without damaging the wood. The upper corners of the bark are slightly lifted with a knife bone. Eyes (buds) for grafting are taken from the middle part of the cutting, where they are better formed.
Cut the eye should be done with a clean and sharp knife. The cut shield "from the knife" is quickly and carefully inserted into the T-shaped cut of the bark on the rootstock.
After the shield is inserted, the vaccination site is tied with a washcloth or raffia. Insulating tape can also be used as a strapping material.
When the kidney takes root (after 2-3 weeks), the bandage is loosened, and after another 2-3 weeks the stock is cut off above (2-3 mm) the place of inoculation. Wounds covered with paint natural drying oil or garden pitch.
Budding is better done during the period of active sap movement in seedlings. IN open field this usually occurs in August-September. In room conditions, budding is best done from March to June. In the greenhouse, you can plant from March to November.
Propagation by cuttings. Cuttings are simple and affordable way lemon breeding. Lemons grown from cuttings begin to bear fruit in the third year.
Under room conditions, lemon cuttings planted in boxes or pots take root better in summer - in June - July. Cuttings grown in greenhouses or greenhouses high humidity air and temperature, will be less adapted to room culture than cuttings grown in the room.
For cuttings, mature young shoots of the previous year 4-5 mm thick from the best fruit-bearing trees are used. The cuttings should be 8-12 cm long with 3-5 buds each. The upper cut of the cutting is made 2-3 mm above the upper bud, and the lower cut is 2-3 mm below the lower eye.
Many hobbyists plant cuttings without cutting or shortening the leaves in order to preserve the supply of nutrients in the leaves. To prevent excessive evaporation of moisture, the cuttings are covered glass jars. Under such a shelter, the cuttings form a powerful root system and develop better.
In greenhouses and greenhouses, cuttings are planted in a clean river sand, poured with a layer of 15-20 cm, and at room conditions - in boxes and pots, into which a mixture of earth and sand is poured.
In greenhouses and greenhouses, cuttings are planted to a depth of 2-3 cm, and in pots - a little deeper, 4-5 cm. Cuttings are planted several (2-3) pieces in each pot with a diameter of 10-12 cm.
Planted cuttings are extremely sensitive to sudden temperature fluctuations and direct sunlight. Therefore, as a precaution, the glass of greenhouses is whitened from the inside with a solution of lime or chalk, and pots covered with glass jars are shaded. You can also not water the cuttings with cold water. best temperature for rooting of cuttings, 20-25 ° heat is considered, the water temperature for irrigation and spraying should be slightly higher, 22-27 °. On very hot days, glass jars above the cuttings should be slightly raised for ventilation. At favorable conditions after 3-4 weeks, the cuttings form
roots, after which the temperature in the greenhouse is gradually reduced to ambient temperature.
For quick and better rooting, cuttings before planting are recommended to be kept for 10-12 hours in a 0.001% solution of heteroauxin.
Reproduction by layering - rooting shoots without prior separation from the mother plant. This method of reproduction in room conditions is rarely used.
Layers are simple, horizontal and air. Lemons are propagated by simple layering if the tree has two or more stems. On one of them, a ring of bark 5 mm wide is removed near the ground. Then this place is covered with earth, which is constantly kept moist. Soon roots appear on the stem. After that, the rooted stem is carefully separated from the mother plant with a saw or pruner and transplanted into a separate bowl.
Hanging branches can be used for horizontal layers. To do this, the branch is ringed, a dish with earth is placed under the ring and the branch is pinned, then the branch is sprinkled with earth on top so that its end comes out. The earth during the rooting period of the branch is kept moist. The rooted branch is separated from the tree and planted in a separate bowl.
Air layers are obtained from branches located in the crown. To do this, remove the ring of bark on the branch. The ringed place is tied with moss or absorbent cotton. Then, on both sides of the ringed place, a pot or other utensils sawn in half and filled with earth are attached. The earth is constantly moistened. Rooted branches are carefully separated from the mother plant and planted in a permanent place.
Advice:
can without cross-pollination. When self-pollinated, they produce even the best, few-seeded fruits.
The site has:
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Growing a lemon root system and crown
How to grow a lemon on a windowsill
Flowers and ornamental shrubs on the suburban area How to place flowers
Planting and growing a lemon from a cutting
There are several ways to grow a lemon tree on your own, the simplest is sowing seeds and rooting a cutting. In order to get the fruits as soon as possible, it is recommended to use the second method. When growing a tree from a cutting, it begins to bear fruit already in the 3rd or 4th year of life, and from a seed - 4–5 years later. In this case, the stalk inherits all the characteristics inherent in the mother plant, while working with seed material more suitable for selection.
How to plant a lemon by cuttings? Only healthy shoots 8.5–10 cm long are suitable for planting, with large, well-developed leaves and buds in the amount of three, and preferably four pieces. The lower cut is made a few millimeters from the kidney and at an angle of 90 degrees. Upper - at a distance of 4-6 mm from the last kidney, the cut should pass at an angle of 45 degrees. To prevent the bottom sheet from rotting, it is recommended to cut it off. The mother plant from which the cuttings were taken should be strong, healthy and already bearing fruit. best time for rooting the cuttings - from the first days of April to the end of June.
The rooting substrate is prepared as follows. As a nutrient mixture, a special soil is suitable for citrus plants, which can be purchased from the gardening department. The manufacturer has already taken care of its disinfection, so the earth packed in vacuum bags is not processed. Also, the grower will need river sand of medium fraction, before using it, it will need to be thoroughly washed in cold running water, and then calcined for 7-10 minutes in the oven. It is important that pathogens and pathogenic bacteria do not get into the substrate.
How to plant a lemon (stalk) in a substrate? First you need to prepare a box for planting. It should be roomy enough and equipped with several drainage holes arranged in a checkerboard pattern. It is better to take cuttings with a margin in case some of them die at the seedling stage. The substrate is placed in the box as follows:
- drainage (small expanded clay, shards, pieces of foam) - a layer of 3-5 cm,
- soil mix for citrus fruits,
- sand - a layer of about 5 cm.
Before planting, the cuttings can be treated with a root stimulator. The exposure time in the solution depends on the selected drug and the recommendations in the attached instructions. Immediately before planting, the slices are powdered with crushed charcoal to reduce the risk of developing fungal diseases.
The top layer of the substrate (sand) is moistened and the stalk is planted to a depth of no more than 2.5 cm. In this case, young roots, as soon as they get stronger, will immediately be able to consume nutrients from an earthen mixture under a layer of sand. After planting, the sand is carefully sprayed with a spray bottle, and the box is covered with glass or a transparent polyethylene "cap" is put on, simulating the conditions of a greenhouse. It is important that there is a free space of at least 5–7 cm between the glass and the top of the cutting. A container with cuttings is placed near the window, but placed in such a way that the rays of the sun do not fall on them. Optimum temperature environment for speedy rooting - 22–25 ° C.
Features of growing a lemon seedling after planting
Knowing how to plant a lemon, the grower often has questions about further care behind him. So that the seedlings do not die, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the features of their cultivation.
After planting the cutting in the ground, the substrate is regularly sprayed and the top layer is not allowed to dry out. The "greenhouse" must be periodically ventilated so that the stagnant wet air did not kill the plant. The lemon will develop rather slowly, and it will be necessary to transplant it into an individual pot no earlier than in a month and a half. A sign that the cutting has taken root and started growing will be young leaves or shoots. In order for the root system to develop faster, it is recommended to feed. You can use ammonium nitrate (0.25%), which stimulates rooting well.
Before diving seedlings into individual containers, it is necessary to harden the plants. Glass or "cap" in the first days is removed for no more than 2 hours, then the procedure time is increased to 4 hours. After 12–16 days, the shelter is completely removed, and the lemon is transplanted.
Young lemon seedling - how to plant in a more spacious container? For the cultivation of growing and strengthened seedlings, a special substrate is prepared:
- sod land - 2 parts,
- leaf ground - 1 part,
- rotted manure - 1 part,
- calcined river sand - 0.5 parts.
All components are thoroughly mixed, the earth is laid out in a container, at the initial stage a pot with a diameter of not more than 12 cm is sufficient. First, a layer of expanded clay, pebbles or broken brick. Lemon seedlings are removed from the common box very carefully, digging with a spoon or a small spatula so as not to damage the root system. In the first year of life, young lemons are transplanted 2 more times, choosing containers of ever larger sizes. During transplantation, the old earthen lump is not destroyed, so as not to injure the tender tropical plant once again.
Further lemon transplant
Knowing how to plant a lemon, it remains to consider the technology of transplanting young and adult specimens. For the first 2–3 years, the plant is recommended to be transplanted up to three times a year, each time increasing the volume of the pot or tub by 4–8 cm, depending on the age of the tree. At the same time, the substrate for adult specimens is slightly modified. Instead of river sand, silty soil and superphosphate with ash are added at the rate of 100 g of the substance per 10 kg of soil. Transplantation is best done in the spring, and if necessary at any other time of the year.
In the first days after transplanting, the plants should be shaded from direct sunlight by transferring the container to the north window, or covered with sheets of cardboard, a thick fabric curtain. And finally, adult specimens are transplanted only when the earthen lump is tightly entangled with roots, if this does not happen, then you should not injure the plant and it is advisable to postpone the procedure.
How to stimulate the fruiting of a lemon?
Many flower growers, knowing how to plant a lemon and grow a beautiful tree out of it, are faced with such a problem as the lack of flowers and fruits. A plant grown from a cutting, under favorable conditions, should begin to bear fruit in the third, or even in the second year of life. When this does not happen, it is possible that the lemon lacks nutrients or the conditions of detention are not suitable for it. If the grower believes that care is provided properly, then flowering can be stimulated by grafting a branch from a fruiting specimen. In the event that there are flowers, but the fruits are not tied, you can try to pollinate the plant yourself with a cotton swab. It is worth making a little effort and the plant will surely please you with tasty and juicy fruits.
Video how to grow a lemon
The essence of grafting is that cuttings cut from twigs from an adult fruit-bearing tree are placed in conditions favorable for root formation. Ready seedlings can be obtained in a month and a half. Even inexperienced lovers of breeding, citrons and oranges can use this method (the probability of rooting other citrus fruits in this way is somewhat less). The best time for cuttings is spring and summer: from April to July. If you root in August or the very beginning of autumn, the rooting process will be delayed. In autumn and winter, weak plants can easily die, as they often shed their leaves before they have time to acquire new ones - young growth. Save seedlings of late summer and autumn cuttings it is possible, without opening the shelter until spring (a glass jar or plastic bag), and illuminated with special lamps.
Cuttings should be cut from straight annual branches. Those with flower buds and barely noticeable buds should not be used, since such cuttings, even if they take root, do not give full-fledged seedlings with subsequent full-fledged growth.
Each cutting should have 3-5 leaves, length - 8-12 centimeters.
The lower oblique cut is usually made directly under the first kidney or through it, and the upper one is 5 mm above the last one.
Drying and even the slightest drying of cut shoots is not allowed. Cut branches are immediately immersed in a container of water or placed in a closed plastic bag.
The size of the greenhouse will depend on the number of cuttings that are intended for rooting.
If 1-2 cuttings, then the greenhouse can be made in flower pots covered on top with a glass jar or plastic bag.
If there are a dozen cuttings - in a shallow box under glass, or in a closed aquarium.
What is the best rooting substrate?
Medium-grained river sand is suitable for rooting cuttings. The sand is pre-washed to remove impurities. The water is changed several times until it becomes clear. Prepared sand is poured into the greenhouse with a layer of 3-5 cm, leveling and compacting.
Before immersing the cuttings in the substrate, the lower sections must be powdered with crushed charcoal to avoid rotting.
The cuttings are immersed 2 cm in wet sand, crushing it around the stem.
Future seedlings should not touch each other with leaves and, moreover, crowd.
After planting, the cuttings are sprayed with water from a spray bottle, covered with glass or a jar on top, protecting from direct sunlight.
THREE COMPONENTS OF ROOTING: LIGHT, HEAT AND GREENHOUSE HUMIDITY.
These three conditions are simply necessary for the survival of the cuttings, while they are without roots!
LIGHT. Without sufficient intense light and appropriate temperature, the cuttings die in a matter of days, and in dry air, in minutes.
A bright window is suitable for greenhouses. You can install a lighting lamp above it. But it is worth remembering that the cuttings do not tolerate direct sunlight, and lamps are most needed. in early spring, winter and autumn.
From March to autumn, additional lighting is not needed, especially if the cuttings are cut from indoor lemons who are accustomed to the lack of lighting.
WARM. Although it is easy to ensure sufficient room temperature, it is important to remember that the cuttings take root at a temperature of + 20-27º C, but not higher than + 30º C. Based on the foregoing, additional heating should not be arranged in summer.
In the cold season, for example, in the spring, under the bottom of a box or pot, it is advisable to attach an electric light bulb of 25 watts. Another heating method: position the greenhouse so that warm air battery central heating heated it from below.
HUMIDITY. The maximum air humidity must be constantly maintained. The ideal figure is 95%, although this is difficult to achieve.
The main thing is to avoid strong deviations that are clearly visible visually - they are given out by small droplets of water.
It is necessary to ensure that water droplets do not dry out on the sides and lid of the greenhouse and, of course, on the leaves of the cuttings.
The presence of drops indicates that the rooting process is normal, and their absence indicates a failure. In this case, it is necessary to urgently increase the humidity, for example, spray it with water from a spray bottle 4-6 times a day, i.e. every 2 hours.
If the greenhouse is not tight enough, then you will have to spray more often. If the greenhouse is tightly closed, then extra hassle are cancelled.
After 2-3 weeks, a callus forms on the lower cut of the cuttings - a tumor-like influx from the cambial layer, and then white thick roots appear from it (sometimes a little higher on the stem).
White roots are very fragile and the seedling can be transplanted into a pot with soil no earlier than after 1.5 months.
To determine the degree of rooting, the cutting must be taken by the top and gently pulled up - with good root formation, the roots firmly hold the plant in the sand.
Before transplanting, the plant is accustomed to outside air for several days: the top glass or jar is removed first for several hours, and then completely.
For better rooting of cuttings, growth regulators are used, which give noticeable effect at minimal cost additional funds and forces.
After the appearance of the first roots, feeding with a weak solution of ammonium nitrate (0.25%) helps the seedling to develop well.
When transplanting, brittle citrus roots can be easily damaged, especially when cuttings are pulled out of boxes where they grow closely. Therefore, it is worthwhile to foresee the removable side of the box in order to reduce the risk of damage to the roots.
Rooted cuttings are easiest to pry and pull out with a small lump of sand with an ordinary fork.
Indoor lemon is a beautiful ornamental tree that gets along well at home. At proper care you can not only enjoy the bright greenery and the pleasant aroma of indoor lemongrass, but also get edible fruits rich in vitamins. It is important to know how to transplant a lemon correctly if it "grows" out of its pot, and how to propagate a lemon yourself so that it develops well and bears fruit. If a lemon transplant at home is carried out incorrectly, the plant will stop growing and blooming, and may even die. Transplanting this plant is very easy. Unlike a rose, it tolerates a “move” well, you just need to follow the recommendations of experienced gardeners.
Homemade lemon will not only decorate the interior, but also benefit.
If a decoration such as a lemon tree has appeared in your home greenhouse, a transplant will be needed in the following cases.
After the purchase
The store usually offers to buy rooted cuttings in a pot. To understand if it's time to transplant a plant, you need to conduct a simple test: lift the pot and inspect the drainage holes on the bottom. If root processes stick out of them, transplantation cannot be postponed.
After breeding
When the cutting is well rooted, the future lemon tree looks like a trunk with several leaves. So far, it is better not to touch it - it should grow and get stronger. But if it seems to you that the root system has already grown enough, do this: moisten a clod of earth in a pot with water, leave it to drain.
Then tilt the pot on its side and gently try to pull out the stalk along with the lump. If the roots are clearly visible, the plant is transplanted. If the lump does not hold and crumbles, you can wait with a transplant.
If the plant develops poorly or is sick
Lemon needs a transplant in case of illness or slow development.
In this case, you need to examine the soil. A putrid smell suggests that the plant needs to be transplanted into a smaller pot, or at least into the same size, but into a new, clean soil. First, the roots must be well cleaned of spoiled soil, and then transplanted into a new substrate and pot.
The plant was dropped and the pot broke
Lemongrass must be carefully removed from the shards, remove the soil and wrap the roots with a damp cloth. A new place of residence for the plant must be provided no later than in a day. Before planting in a new pot, broken roots are carefully cut and treated with Kornevin.
Haven't had a transplant in over a year.
If on this moment there is not enough time to do a plant transplant, you can simply fill the roots with fresh soil from above and avoid getting a jet of water under the root when watering. But in the near future you need to do indoor lemongrass.
Advice! Immediately after purchase, quarantine the lemon tree for one week and treat with an insecticidal agent. Suitable "Fufanon" or "Aktellik".
The fact is that in a store or at a flower base, the plant must have become infected spider mite- the most common indoor pest ornamental trees. This may not be immediately noticeable, but the rooting of the seedling will proceed slowly, and further propagation of magnolia vine will be much more difficult.
Choosing a capacity
When choosing a pot for a lemon tree, two criteria are taken into account.
- Material - wood, ceramics, plastic are suitable;
- Size - a lemon tree is transplanted into a larger pot if the roots of the plant are visible. The roots are only visible in places - a pot of the same size is selected.
As for the form, the branch of the process is not capricious - it will suit the capacity of any configuration. For an adult fruit-bearing plant, it is better to pick up a cone-shaped pot. In any case, the lemon tub should provide good drainage.
If we consider the aesthetic aspect, the lemon looks very beautiful in a pot made of white ceramic or terracotta shade. If a tub with a pattern is chosen, then it should combine in color and ornament with pots of neighboring plants, then an attractive and harmonious composition will be obtained.
We start the transplant
Both transplantation and propagation of lemon by any of the methods are best done in a calm period, before active growth begins. It is better to do this in February or at the very beginning of March. Transplantation includes such basic steps.
- Soil preparation. You can prepare the substrate for lemongrass yourself, taking one part of humus and one part of river sand for three parts of the earth. The earth must first be disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate. And you can buy a ready-made adapted soil in a flower shop - it’s called “Lemon”.
- Pot preparation. The container must have drainage holes. A clay shard is laid on top of them so that water can flow freely. A little medium-grained or fine-grained expanded clay is called over the shard. Then some river pitch and soil.
- Rootstock preparation. The plant, together with the lump, is carefully removed from the old pot and the roots are carefully examined. If they have darkened, mold or mucus is visible on them, the bark exfoliates, the damaged areas must be cut off. Then the root ball is dried, you can additionally treat the roots with Kornevin.
- In the soil, poured over the drainage in the pot, a small hole is made, a plant is placed in it. The transition point of the trunk to the root should be located slightly below the edge of the pot. If the neck of the trunk is too low, the lump needs to be raised and a little more soil added. If too much, then vice versa, part of the soil is removed.
- Then the soil is carefully and gradually filled up around the edges until the container is completely filled. As a result, the tree should be located exactly in the center of the pot, without tilting or falling through. To remove air bubbles, the soil is lightly tamped with a stick.
Soil for transplanting lemon can be used purchased - special for citrus fruits.
That's all, now it remains only to water the lemon at the new place of residence with settled water and slightly loosen the soil. As a preventive measure, to protect against stress, you can wrap it with plastic wrap for several days.
We propagate lemon at home
The plant pleases beautiful color and bountiful fruits? Then it's time to master the reproduction of lemongrass in different ways:
- seeds;
- layering;
- vaccinations;
- cuttings.
Reproduction of lemon seeds is possible, but this is a long and unreliable way.
At home, lemon propagation by layering is available and convenient, but most gardeners prefer lemon cuttings. If everything is done correctly, the resulting specimen will bear fruit in 3-4 years. Experienced gardeners ready to reveal the secrets of how to root a shoot to get a beautiful, healthy and fruitful plant.
Cuttings are the easiest way to propagate.
The most viable and strong cuttings will be obtained from last year's shoots of adult, already fruiting plants. The thickness of the branch in diameter should reach 4-5 cm, the length should be 10-12 cm, while the rooted cutting should have at least three, and preferably five, buds. There should be a distance of at least 3 mm from the slices to the upper and lower kidneys.
Lemon seedlings are not as difficult to root at home as rose seedlings. In order for them to take root better, some flower growers advise not to remove the leaves and shorten them - this way the seedling will retain all the necessary nutrients. After planting seedlings in the ground, they should be covered with glass jars. It is very important to obtain a powerful root system, for this it is impossible to allow intensive evaporation of moisture from the soil.
The best way to propagate lemon is cuttings.
If the cuttings are transplanted under a greenhouse or in a greenhouse, then it is better to use river sand - a layer 15-20 cm thick is enough. If planting in pots that will stand in the room is practiced, you need to use a mixture of disinfected earth and sand. In order for them to take root well, follow these rules:
- in a greenhouse, lemongrass seedlings are immersed in the ground to a depth of 2-3 cm, in a pot - 1-2 cm deeper;
- three cuttings can be placed in a pot with a diameter of 12 cm;
- in the garden, the distance between the cuttings should be 5-6 cm.
Rooted cuttings lemon tree.
It is important to avoid sudden changes in temperature in the room. Therefore, the cuttings are covered with glass jars, and watered with water, the temperature of which is not lower than 22 degrees. As soon as the seedlings take root, the jar is removed and the temperature in the room is gradually reduced to the temperature of the open air. This can only be done after the upper bud has sprouted and strong roots have appeared - this will take about 3-4 weeks.