How to Grow Lemon Trees Inside

Once the lemon tree flowers it takes 3 to 4 months for a ripe lemon.

Growing your own lemon tree inside is a great project for small children, but it's also a lot of fun for adults. Harvest a seed from the next lemon you use. The fruit produced from seed may not be a duplicate of the lemon you used to obtain it, but it will be close to the same. Just remove and plant the seed. You're then ready for the treat of watching your own lemon tree grow.

Things You'll Need

• Potting soil
• Seed or nursery stock
• Paper towel
• Plastic bags
• Peat pot
• Perlite
• Larger pots

Instructions

1. Choose the seed wisely. If you intend to grow the lemon tree indoors for its entire life, be prepared for the tree to outgrow your home. Since this takes quite a long time, if you want a tree for several years, start it from seeds that you take from the last lemon that you used. Don't allow the seeds to dry. They are best fresh from the fruit.

2. Wash the seed thoroughly to remove the pulp and any juice on it. If you leave some debris, it's likely to cause a fungus growth, which kills the young plants once they germinate. The easiest method is to plant the seed directly into the soil. Sterilize the soil by heating it to 160 degrees for 30 minutes if you make your own from compost. Make sure that you add about 50 percent perlite to the compost so it drains easily.

3. Plant the seed in a small peat pot at least 1/2 inch deep. Cover the top with plastic wrap to maintain the proper moisture. If you worry about the soil drying or just want to see the leaf and root appear, dampen paper towels and put the seed between several layers, or you could put moist soil in a bag. Slide this into a plastic bag. Set the bag or potted seed in a warm place where the temperature is close to 70 to 80 degrees. The top of the refrigerator is a great spot since the heat from the motor rises. Make sure you keep the soil or towel moist but not wet.

4. Expect the seed to sprout in 2 to 4 weeks. If you planted the seed, you need to move it to a sunny location. If you have the seed in a plastic bag, you need to plant it and then move the small plant to a sunny area. Sometimes you'll get several seedlings from one seed so don't be surprised.

5. Keep your plant warm with lots of sunlight. They need at least 12 hours of sunlight a day. Allow the surface soil to dry slightly before you water. The ideal temperature is 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 55 degrees Fahrenheit at night. Citrus fruit, like the lemon, needs to have a lot of iron, or they get splotchy leaves. This is very easy to avoid. Simply put a nail in the soil with the plant. When you transfer the plant to a larger container, add a few more nails or screws. The rusting nail or screw gives off iron slowly.

6. Transfer the lemon tree into larger pots as it grows bigger. When you grow your lemon tree indoors, you have to make certain that you watch its size. You must remove it when it gets too big. There are miniature lemon trees made specifically for indoor growth. They are grown the same way. See our Resources section for a Website containing ways to purchase them.

Resources

• MeyerLemonTree.com has dwarf lemon trees.