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 appearance. And everyone knows about the benefits of its fruits, saturated with vitamins. You can buy not only fruiting lemon, but also decorative. With its beauty, it 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, then you can breed citrus fruits yourself. There are several ways to do this. We will take a closer look at lemon propagation by cuttings.
You can propagate a plant by sticking the seed of its fruit into the ground. But then you will have to wait for the harvest for several years. Not the fact that he will appear at all. Most optimal way - grafting.
The strongest, healthiest trees are obtained by preparing cuttings in early spring. Then the rest period ends. It becomes necessary to form a crown. Many new superfluous shoots appear. However, experienced gardeners carry out lemon propagation 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
Choosing a cutting
An adult, mature lemon branch is taken. Thickness 4-5 mm. Thinner or thicker is not recommended. Thin shoots will develop poorly. Thick - poorly rooted. Cut the cuttings medium length 10 centimeters. Use pruning shears sharp knife... It is advisable to wipe the tools with a disinfectant solution. Each clothespin must have at least 4 buds. The lower cut angle is 45 degrees. Top - 1 cm above the kidney, perpendicular to the trunk.
The leaves at the bottom of the cutting are removed. Above - shorten 1/3. So the scion keeps sap flow. This promotes rapid root formation. It is better not to use shoots completely without leaves.
Prerequisites for rooting
For lemon propagation by cuttings to be successful, a suitable room temperature is necessary. The optimum is 20-25 degrees Celsius. Additional heating is needed in winter.
The lighting should be adequate. Diffused sunlight fit better Total. Use if necessary artificial lighting... Keep escape from direct sunlight. From heating appliances also. Southeast window sill - best place the location of the plant.
The most important condition for the further successful reproduction of lemon is humidity. In cuttings, it is much higher than in mature trees. Approximately 95%. The walls of the greenhouse, and also better leaves must be wet. Apply spraying warm water.
How to prepare a greenhouse
Plastic clear bottles are commonly used. Volume 2 liters for 3-4 grafts. Cut off the top and bottom of the crockery. Hole the bottom so that the water can drain. Lower part fill with wet sand (preferably river sand). Put soil on top. (Leave a couple of centimeters at the edge). The ratio is 1: 1. Any small earthenware dish, which is covered with a transparent jar or polyethylene, is suitable for a greenhouse.
Landing technique
How to root a stalk
Powder the bottom sections of the steam with wood ash powder to avoid decay. In order for the plant to reproduce better, the cut is still powdered with a root growth stimulator. It is called heteroauxin.
2-3 centimeters of the clothespin are deepened into the ground. Sprinkle abundantly 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, fragile. Therefore, when planting, care must be taken, otherwise they can be broken.
How to plant a cutting
Do not immediately remove the plant from the greenhouse. It will be a lot of 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 sufficient. Increase the time gradually. Add a few minutes daily. Do this for a couple of weeks. Then the cover can be removed completely.
The 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 drain excess water... With a constantly wet sump, the reaction of the soil will become acidic, and the roots of the tree will quickly begin to rot.
It so happens that the clothespin blooms even in the greenhouse. Nothing wrong. The root system will grow more slowly.
To successfully propagate a plant, you need high-quality soil. Ideal - 1 part sand plus 1 part moss. Fertilizers are placed on top. If sphagnum is not there, you can replace it with peat.
We cover the bottom of the pot with drainage: expanded clay, wood ash, pieces of coal, small clay shards. The next layer is nutritious. Its composition is as follows: 1 part of coniferous land, 1 part of turf, 1/6 of sand. Third layer: a mixture of sphagnum and sand. It is in this layer that the rooted cuttings must be placed. All soil is moist. Spray.
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 get stronger, gain strength. Then it is transplanted into a more spacious container, up to 5 centimeters more than the previous one.
Citrus, propagated by cuttings, is 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 at home will do perfect. Choose a permanent place for your pet. He does not tolerate frequent movements. The only exception is taking the pot out to the balcony. This can be done in spring, when it is warm (from +15 degrees).
While the plant is small, the windowsill will do. The blinds provide comfortable diffused sunlight. It must be lit for at least 12 hours daily. Therefore, use additional lighting in winter. Ideal - phytolamps. Look in the store for the light of the fruit display.
Optimum temperature - 18-27 degrees Celsius. In hot weather, shade the tree, provide coolness. Otherwise, it may die. In winter, even more coolness is needed (+ 12-15 degrees). This stimulates normal reproduction as well as fruiting. but sharp changes temperatures should be avoided.
With the growth of lemon, air humidity drops to 60-70%. Spray it, also the air around it, when it's hot. Preferably 2 times daily.
Top dressing
The plant will not multiply without feeding. Apply as organic fertilizers, so mineral. They alternate. Apply once every 7-10 days. Organic is horse, cow or chicken manure. Inorganic fertilizers can be purchased ready-made at the flower shop. Only you should know exactly the variety of your lemon, name, age.
Video "Propagation of lemon by cuttings"
You can learn more about how to propagate lemon by cuttings from the video.
REPRODUCTION METHODS
Lemons multiply different ways: seeds, grafts, cuttings and layering.
Reproduction by seeds. Lemons as opposed to many fruit crops at seed reproduction give seedlings of cultural type with good quality fruits. Therefore, they are best propagated by seed. Lemon seedlings adapt well to indoor conditions.
Plants obtained from sowing seeds begin to bear fruit in best case from 6 years of age. 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 regions, where the growing season is long and daylight hours (in summer) are 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 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 bud from a fruiting lemon and inoculate a seedling with it.
Do not completely cut off the top of the occulted seedling (leave one branch on the opposite side to the eyepiece). Then the cultivated shoot will bear fruit, as usual, in the 2-3rd year after grafting, but at the same time the fruiting of the abandoned branch of the seedling will accelerate.
In other cases, eyes or pieces of bark (replanting tissue) from a fruiting lemon are grafted into the crown of the seedling. Sometimes they take the lower dormant buds from a seedling and graft them onto young shoots of the same seedling (grafting on itself). In N. V. Ryndin's work, cuttings from a lemon seedling, grafted into the crown of an adult fruit-bearing mandarin tree, fructified at the age of one and a half years; M.I.
Proskurin, as a result of grafting on itself, 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 steam beds so that the plants develop faster and better. For the winter, seedlings from steam beds are transplanted into pots and stored indoors. In spring, seedlings together with pots are buried in the ground, and intended for. vaccinations are vaccinated indoors and looked after as if indoor plants... Sometimes in the south, when good care, the thickness of the stem of seedlings in the first summer reaches 5-7 mm, and the seedlings can be ooculated in the fall.
Only well-developed seeds should be taken for sowing. It is better to sow them immediately after extraction from the fruit, otherwise they quickly lose their germination. You can sow seeds 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. The water temperature is 25-27 °. Under these conditions, the seeds germinate about 2-3 weeks after sowing.
Young lemon shoots are very tender, so they need to be protected from direct sunlight and not watered cold water.
Lemon seedlings can be grown with and without a pick (with root pruning). The taproots are cut with a knife at a depth of 8-10 cm when the seedlings reach 12-15 cm in height. The branches of the root system must not be damaged by pruning.
The soil must be constantly kept moist. For this, the seedlings are watered 1-2 times a day. In summer, the seedlings are periodically fed. In a month give 2-3 feeding with a 1% solution of nitrate and 1 feeding with slurry. Reproduction by grafting. Lemons are mainly grafted with an eye (bud) taken from a fruiting tree grown in room conditions.
Cuttings for grafting are best harvested from the second (summer) growth on the branches of the 5-7th order of branching. You should not take the lower branches and fatty shoots on the cuttings. In shoots cut into cuttings, the leaf blade is removed, leaving only the leaf petioles. Cuttings are kept in moist moss or sand.
As rootstocks indoor lemon use 1-2-year-old (sometimes 3-year-old) seedlings of lemon and other citrus fruits raised in room conditions. The thickness of the stem of the seedling should be about 5-7 mm at a height of 10-12 cm from the root collar.
Seedlings to be inoculated are prepared in advance. Side shoots 15 days before inoculation, they are removed, and the tops are pinched. Before inoculation, the stems of the rootstocks, Shoot 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 in the bark is made, and then a longitudinal (vertical) incision 2-3 cm long. In this case, only the bark is cut without damaging the wood. The upper corners of the bark are slightly raised with a knife bone. The eyes (kidneys) for grafting are taken from the middle part of the cutting, where they are better formed.
Cutting off the eye should be done with a clean and sharp knife. The cut-off flap "from the knife" is quickly and accurately inserted into the T-shaped incision of the bark on the stock.
After the shield is inserted, the vaccination site is tied with a washcloth or raffia. You can also use insulating tape as a strapping material.
When the kidney takes root (after 2-3 weeks), the bandage is loosened, and after another 2-3 weeks the rootstock is cut off higher (2-3 mm) from the site of inoculation. Wounds are covered with paint on natural drying oil or garden pitch.
Budding is best done during the period of active sap movement in seedlings. IN open ground this usually occurs in August - September. In indoor conditions, budding is best carried out from March to June. In the greenhouse, you can graft from March to November.
Propagation by cuttings. Cutting - simple and affordable way breeding lemon. Lemons grown from cuttings begin to bear fruit as early as the third year.
In indoor conditions, lemon cuttings planted in boxes or pots root better in summer - in June - July. Cutting seedlings grown in greenhouses or greenhouses at high humidity air and temperature, will be less adapted to room culturethan cuttings grown in the room.
For cuttings, ripened young shoots of the last year 4-5 mm thick from the best fruit-bearing trees are used. 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 kidney, and the lower one - 2-3 mm below the lower eye.
Many hobbyists plant cuttings without pruning 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 cover, cuttings form a powerful root system and develop better.
In greenhouses and greenhouses, cuttings are planted in a clean river sand, poured into a layer of 15-20 cm, and in room conditions - in boxes and pots, into which a mixture of earth and sand is poured.
In hotbeds and greenhouses, cuttings are planted to a depth of 2-3 cm, and in pots - a little deeper, by 4-5 cm. Cuttings are planted in several (2-3) pieces in each pot 10-12 cm in diameter.
Planted cuttings are extremely sensitive to sudden temperature fluctuations and direct sunlight. Therefore, as a precaution, the glass of greenhouses is whitewashed from the inside with a solution of lime or chalk, and the pots covered with glass jars are shaded. You can also not water the cuttings with cold water. The best temperature for rooting cuttings, it is considered 20-25 ° C, the temperature of the water for irrigation and spraying should be slightly higher, 22-27 °. On very hot days, the glass jars above the cuttings should be lifted slightly to ventilate. When favorable conditions after 3-4 weeks the cuttings are formed
roots, then the temperature in the greenhouse is gradually reduced to the ambient temperature.
For faster and better rooting, cuttings are recommended to be kept for 10-12 hours in a 0.001% solution of heteroauxin before planting.
Reproduction by layering - rooting of shoots without prior separation from the mother plant. This method of breeding indoors is rarely used.
Layers are simple, horizontal and airy. Lemons are propagated by simple layering in the event that the tree has two or more stems. On one of them, a 5 mm wide bark ring is removed near the ground. Then this place is covered with earth, which is constantly kept in a moist state. Roots soon appear on the stem. After that, the rooted stem with a saw or shears is carefully separated from the mother plant and transplanted into a separate dish.
Hanging branches can be used for horizontal layers. To do this, the branch is ringed, dishes with earth are placed under the ring and the branch is pinned, then the branch is sprinkled with earth on top so that its end goes out. During the rooting period, the branches are kept wet. The rooted twig is separated from the tree and planted in a separate bowl.
Air layers are obtained from branches in the crown. To do this, remove the bark ring on the branch. The ringed place is tied with moss or absorbent cotton wool. Then, on both sides of the ringed place, a pot or other utensil, sawn in half and filled with earth, is attached. The earth is moistened all the time. The rooted branches are carefully separated from the mother plant and planted in a permanent place.
Advice:
can be without cross-pollination. When self-pollinated, they give even the best, low-seeded fruits.
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Growing lemon - root system and crown
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Planting and growing lemon from cuttings
You can grow a lemon tree on your own in several ways, the simplest ones are sowing seeds and rooting a cutting. 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 as early as the 3rd or 4th year of life, and from a seed - 4–5 years later. In this case, the cutting inherits all the characteristics inherent in the mother plant, while working with seed material more suitable for selection.
How to plant a lemon using 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 be 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 must 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 for citrus plantswhich can be purchased from the horticulture 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 the middle fraction, before using it will need to be thoroughly rinsed in cold running water, and then calcined in the oven for 7-10 minutes. It is important that pathogens and pathogenic bacteria do not get into the substrate.
How to plant a lemon (stalk) in the substrate? First you need to prepare a box for planting. It should be large enough and equipped with several staggered drainage holes. 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,
- potting soil 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 sections are powdered with crushed charcoalto reduce the risk of developing fungal diseases.
The upper layer of the substrate (sand) is moistened and the cutting is planted to a depth of not more than 2.5 cm.In this case, the young roots, as soon as they get stronger, can immediately consume nutrients from an earthen mixture under a layer of sand. After planting, the sand is carefully sprayed from a spray bottle, and the box is covered with glass or a transparent plastic "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. The container with the 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 early 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. To prevent seedlings from dying, you need to familiarize yourself with the peculiarities of their cultivation.
After planting the cuttings in the ground, the substrate is regularly sprayed and the top layer is not allowed to dry out. "Parnichok" needs to be ventilated periodically so that the stagnant wet air did not destroy the plant. The lemon will develop quite slowly, and it will be necessary to transplant it into an individual pot no earlier than in a month and a half. Young leaves or shoots will be a sign that the cutting has taken root and started growing. In order for the root system to develop faster, it is recommended to feed. You can use ammonium nitrate (0.25%), which stimulates root formation well.
Before diving seedlings into individual containers, it is necessary to harden the plants. The 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 sapling - how to plant it in a larger container? For growing growing and mature seedlings, a special substrate is prepared:
- sod land - 2 parts,
- leaf land - 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 no more than 12 cm is enough.Previously, a layer of expanded clay, pebbles or broken brick... Lemon seedlings are removed from the common box very carefully, digging in 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 larger containers. During transplantation, the old earthen lump is not destroyed, so as not to injure the delicate 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, it is recommended to replant the plant 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, muddy soil and superphosphate with ash are added at the rate of 100 g of substance per 10 kg of soil. The transplant 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 covering it with sheets of cardboard and a thick fabric curtain. And lastly, adult specimens are transplanted only when the earthen lump is tightly entangled with roots, if this did not happen, then you should not injure the plant and it is desirable to postpone the procedure.
How to stimulate the fruiting of lemon?
Many growers, knowing how to plant a lemon and grow a beautiful tree from it, are faced with such a problem as the lack of flowers and fruits. A plant grown from a cuttings, 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 may be that the lemon is lacking in nutrients or the conditions are not suitable for it. If the florist believes that the 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 certainly delight you with delicious and juicy fruits.
Video how to grow lemon
The essence of cuttings is that cuttings cut from twigs from an adult fruiting tree are placed in conditions favorable for root formation. Ready-made seedlings can be obtained in a month and a half. This method can be used even by inexperienced breeding lovers, citrons and oranges (the likelihood of other citrus fruits rooting in this way is somewhat less). The best time for grafting is spring and summer: from April to July. If rooted in August or early autumn, the rooting process will be delayed. In autumn and winter, weak plants can easily die, as they often shed their leaves, not having time to acquire new, young growth. Save seedlings of late summer and autumn cuttings you can, without opening the shelter until spring (a glass jar or plastic bag), and supplementary lighting 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 rooted, do not give full-fledged seedlings with subsequent full-fledged growth.
Each stalk 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 - 5 mm above the last.
Drying and even the slightest withering of cut shoots is not allowed. The 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 potscovered 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?
For rooting cuttings, medium-grained river sand is suitable. The sand is pre-washed, impurities are removed. The water is changed several times until it becomes transparent. Prepared sand is poured into the greenhouse with a layer of 3-5 cm, leveling and compaction.
Before immersing the cuttings in the substrate, the lower cuts must be powdered with crushed charcoal to avoid decay.
The cuttings are immersed 2 cm in wet sand, crushing it around the stem.
Future seedlings should not come into contact with each other with leaves and, moreover, press.
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 THE ROOTING: LIGHT, HEAT AND ORANGE HUMIDITY.
These three conditions are essential for the survival of the cuttings while they are rootless!
SHINE. Without sufficient intense light and adequate temperature, 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 cuttings do not tolerate direct sunlight, and lamps are most needed. in early spring, in winter and autumn.
From March to autumn, additional lighting is not needed, especially if the cuttings are cut from indoor lemonswho are accustomed to lack of lighting.
WARMLY. Although it is easy to ensure a sufficient temperature in the room, it is important to remember that cuttings root at temperatures between + 20-27 ° C, but not higher than + 30 ° C. Based on the above, you should not arrange additional heating in summer.
In the cold season, for example, in the spring, under the bottom of a box or pot, it is advisable to attach a 25 W electric light bulb. Another way of heating: position the greenhouse so that warm air on battery central heating warmed it up 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 - a failure has occurred. In this case, it is necessary to urgently increase the humidity, for example, spray 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 canceled.
After 2-3 weeks, 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 stalk must be taken by the top and gently pulled upwards - with good root formation, the roots firmly hold the plant in the sand.
Before transplanting, the plant is accustomed to the 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 minimum costs additional funds and forces.
After the appearance of the first roots, the seedling helps to develop well with a weak solution of ammonium nitrate (0.25%).
When transplanting, brittle citrus roots can be easily damaged, especially when cuttings are pulled out of crates where they grow tightly. Therefore, it is worthwhile to foresee a 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. When proper care you can not only enjoy the bright greenery and 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" from its pot, and how to propagate a lemon on your own so that it develops and bears fruit well. If the lemon transplant at home is not carried out correctly, the plant will stop growing and blooming, it may even die. Transplanting this plant is not difficult at all. Unlike a rose, it tolerates a "move" well, you just need to adhere to the recommendations of experienced gardeners.
Homemade lemon will not only decorate the interior, but also benefit.
If a decoration such as a lemon tree appears 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 replant the plant, you need to conduct a simple test: raise the pot and inspect the drainage holes on the bottom. If the root processes stick out of them, the transplant cannot be postponed.
After breeding
When the cutting is well-rooted, the future lemon tree looks like a trunk with several leaves. For now, 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 the stem out 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 does not develop well 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 the same size, but into a new, clean soil. First, the roots need to 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, removed the soil and wrapped with a damp cloth roots. The plant must be provided with a new place of residence no later than in a day. Before planting in a new pot, the broken roots are carefully pruned and treated with Kornevin.
No transplant for over a year
If on this moment there is not enough time to start transplanting a plant, you can simply cover the roots with fresh soil from above and avoid getting a stream 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. Fufanon or Aktellik will do.
The fact is that in a store or at a flower base, the plant has probably become infected spider mite - the most common pest of indoor decorative trees... It may not be immediately noticeable, but the rooting of the seedling will proceed slowly, and further reproduction of lemongrass 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 - the 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 chosen.
As for the shape, the branch is not whimsical - it will suit the capacity of any configuration. For an adult fruiting plant, it is better to choose a cone-shaped pot. In any case, the lemon tub should provide good drainage.
If we consider the aesthetic aspect, lemon looks very beautiful in a ceramic pot of white or terracotta shade. If a tub with a pattern is chosen, then it should combine in color and ornament with the pots of neighboring plants, then an attractive and harmonious composition will turn out.
We start the transplant
Both the transplant and the reproduction of lemon in any of the ways are best carried out in a quiet period, before active growth begins. It is better to do this in February or at the very beginning of March. Transplantation includes such basic stages.
- Soil preparation. You can prepare a substrate for lemongrass yourself, taking one part of humus and one part of river sand for three parts of the earth. The ground must first be disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate. And you can buy ready-made adapted soil in the flower shop - it is called “Lemon”.
- Preparing the pot. The container must have drainage holes. A clay shard is laid on top of them so that the water can drain freely. On top of the shard, a little medium-grained or fine-grained expanded clay is called. Then a little river pitch and soil.
- Rhizome preparation. The plant, together with the lump, is carefully removed from the old pot and the roots are carefully examined. If they are darkened, mold or mucus is visible on them, the bark flakes off, 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 from the trunk to the root should be slightly below the edge of the pot. If the neck of the barrel is too low, the lump needs to be lifted and some more soil added. If there is too much, then on the contrary, part of the soil is removed.
- Then the soil is carefully and gradually poured along 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.
You can use purchased soil for replanting lemon - special for citrus fruits.
That's all, now it remains only to pour the lemon in 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 cellophane wrap for several days.
Propagating lemon at home
The plant pleases beautiful color and abundant fruits? Then it's time to master the reproduction of lemongrass in different ways:
- seeds;
- layering;
- vaccinations;
- cuttings.
Seed propagation of lemon is possible, but it is a long and unreliable method.
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 the shoot in order to get a beautiful, healthy and fruitful plant.
Cuttings are the easiest way to reproduce
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, length - 10-12 cm, while the rooted cuttings 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 kidney.
Lemon seedlings are not as difficult to root at home as rose seedlings. In order for them to take root better, some growers advise not to remove the leaves or shorten them - this way the seedling will retain all the necessary nutrients. After planting the seedlings in the ground, they should be covered with glass jars. It is very important to obtain a powerful root system, it is for this that intensive evaporation of moisture from the soil should not be allowed.
The best way to propagate lemon is by 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, adhere to 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 room temperatures. Therefore, the cuttings are covered with glass jars, and poured 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 room temperature is gradually reduced to the open air temperature. This can be done only after the upper bud has germinated and strong roots appear - this will take about 3-4 weeks.