Plant lovers grow citrus fruits even on the windowsill. What factors are paying attention to see the flowering and enjoy the exotic fruits?

You can grow a beautiful tree that will delight you with fragrant fruits at home. But this plant has a whimsical character, requires attention not only to watering, but also to the temperature regime of the room where it is located. A necessary element of care is fertilizing, which is performed in accordance with certain rules. Important and humidity, lighting, timely transplant. If all the elements of care are performed regularly and efficiently, then the plant will bear fruit and delight the ovaries.

Factors that affect lemon growth

A lemon that is grown on its window sill may differ slightly from those sold in the markets. This is due to the fact that for home breeding choose indoor varieties. Particularly appreciated are small lemons, which have a very thin skin. In addition, they are very bright and beautiful on the window. Larger fruits will have a dense and thick skin, and will look not less exotic.

The difficulty of caring for this fruiting tree is that it is accustomed to the climate of the subtropics, where I come from. This leads to the fact that its comfortable air temperature should not be more than 17-18 degrees. In the apartment in the winter due to heating, this figure is higher. The presence of batteries also affects humidity. It becomes below 70%. And the compliance of indicators characterizing the air standards is very necessary for the tree to grow.

Equally important for the growth of lemons and the degree of illumination of the room. The right place for the tree in the room is chosen taking into account the fact that it does not like direct sunlight. The most ideal location will have a good degree of lighting throughout the day, but this light will be diffused.

Crockery for trees also matters. To enter the phase of active growth and the formation of ovaries of future fruits, it should be placed in a closer pot. If the root system is too spacious, the flowering phase will be postponed indefinitely. Ideal for planting plants will be dishes from natural materials. These are earthenware or boxes made of wood.

Land for growth does not matter. But it must comply with the qualities of air and water permeability. The soil mix may contain peat and sand. Fertility will add humus. The soil should be loosened.

Moisture has a direct effect on growth. Therefore, abundant watering in spring and summer, when the ambient temperature tends upwards. In winter, the frequency of watering is reduced. Older trees require a greater abundance of moisture. It is desirable that watering is carried out with prepared water. Suitable pre-recruited in a container and standing. You can also use thawed water, although the most ideal option is rainwater.

To the lemon tree fruited, it is fed. Any organic or mineral fertilizer will be suitable. The frequency of this procedure should not be too intense. The optimal time interval is in 20 days.

Lemon care at different times of the year

In order to grow a lemon, home care for the plant must take into account some differences depending on the time of year. In the spring season, it begins a phase of active growth, and then forms buds, which will later become fragrant fruits. Temperature range should be in the range of 14-18 degrees. An excessively warm room will lead to dropping of buds and ovaries. And such an event can provoke the death of the whole tree.

Well contributes to the natural growth of lemon fresh air. Since the stabilization of the air temperature outside the window at 13-14 degrees, the plant can be positioned for the entire warm period on the balcony or terrace. However, they monitor possible temperature differences due to possible freezing and reducing it by night. To avoid the death of the plant, it is wrapped.

In the summer, open sunlight is a danger to the lemon tree. Therefore, this situation is carefully controlled to avoid burns.

Winter time for lemon is characterized by the stage of final ripening of fruits. Optimal conditions for this period include a moderate temperature regime (16-18 degrees). Be sure to maintain optimal humidity (about 70%). Another important condition for the good condition of the tree in winter is the elimination of air flows from the heating sources. Pot with lemon clean away from heaters and batteries. It also provides no time at least 12 hours of the light source.

Lemon tree in the care is quite capricious. For it, unnecessarily high temperatures are not suitable, as well as too low. Watering should be moderate, but at the same time strongly dry land should be avoided. The plant does not like direct sunlight, but requires prolonged exposure during the day scattered light. Without taking into account and the fulfillment of all these conditions, it is impossible to achieve the appearance of ovaries, which will subsequently be pleased with fragrant fruits. Timely watering and fertilizing, the right soil is also of great importance.

Mistakes when growing lemon video

You bought a young lemon tree hoping to get yields of fragrant fruits for tea drinking and immunity strengthening all year round.

And it really will give a lot of fruit, if you know how to care for a lemon: water, feed, transplant, etc. We learn all the subtleties of care for lemon trees grown at home, including the formation of the crown and the collection of fruits.

Room lemon: home care

Lemon care is a regular watering, sufficient lighting, dressing, compliance with temperature and humidity. It is equally important to know how to transplant a homemade lemon.

Deciding to grow a lemon - a tree at home, familiarize yourself with the subtleties of care:

Lemon watering

How to water a lemon? In the cold season, starting in October, and up to spring, we moderately water the tree once a week, using warm water. In the spring and summer months, as well as in September, it is good to spill the soil with warm water once a day. Periodically loosen the top layer of the earth.

The main thing in lemon irrigation is to prevent stagnation of water in the ground leading to decay of the roots, and not to overdry the earthy lump: it is fraught with leaf twisting and dropping leaves and limbs.

Lemon Lighting

How to care for homemade lemon in terms of lighting? Lemon does not need a long light day if you want to get more fruits, not leaves. The tree bears fruit well in bright diffused light: it is better to keep it on the windows facing east. If the window is south, in the summer we must protect the plant from direct sunlight.

To crown overgrown evenly, 2 times a month turn a lemon tree in the direction of the sun. And do not allow low light: in the penumbra and shadow sheet grows slowly, and the fruits are too acidic.

Temperature conditions

Caring for homemade lemon implies compliance with a certain temperature.

• While the lemon grows and gains green mass, or blooms, we keep it in a room where there is 17-20 degrees of heat.
• When fruits appear and ripen, the temperature is needed a couple of degrees higher.
• In winter, during dormancy, the temperature is not higher than 14 degrees, or 18 ° C, if the plant is not “sleeping” yet - in this case we provide it with a 12-hour light day with the help of fitolamps.

Do not keep lemon in a hot room and do not allow sudden temperature changes.

In the summer, you can take a tree outside - the main thing is to have time to bring it home before evening (if cool weather is expected).

Room lemon: home care

Lemon Moisture Level

How to water a lemon, we figured out: find out what level of humidity is suitable for growing it. He needs a fairly high humidity, especially in hot weather - in the summer or during the heating season.

When it is hot, every day we spray the tree and once a week we give him a warm shower.

To increase the level of humidity, we place a jar with a wide neck next to a pot of lemon filled with water so that it evaporates, or we put the pot in the pan by placing moisture evaporating material into it.

The third option: turn on next to the plant household air humidifier.

Lemon feeding

Room lemon needs regular feeding: in the summer - every week, in the winter - every month (if there is fruit).

How to feed a lemon? Mineral and organic fertilizers, previously 2 hours before the procedure of watering the plant, so as not to burn the roots.

• Mineral fertilizer. For feeding you will need a ready-made tool of the "citrus mixture" type, in which the proportions N: P: K are 14:16:18. We part it in water according to the enclosed instruction and we water soil.
• Organic fertilizer. We make an infusion by mixing 1 part of water and 1 part of a mullein (horse manure) and, after waiting for 7 days, we dilute it with water: an extract of mullein - 1 to 15, an infusion of horse balls - 1 to 10.

Twice a year we water the soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate - to enrich and disinfect the soil.

Lemon Transplant

Young plants of lemon in a pot, how to care for them, we learn today, need to be transplanted after 1 and 2 years after planting.

In the spring, we buy soil for citrus or we make it ourselves from humus (1 part), the ground from under deciduous trees (4 parts), calcined sand (1 part) and wood ash (1 tbsp).

Just cross the plant, gently shaking off part of the old earth, in another pot with soil. The diameter of the new pot should be 4 cm larger than the previous diameter.

Subsequently, we transplant the plant every two years, when vegetation begins. When transplanting, do not forget to put a drainage (expanded clay + charcoal or a layer of sand) in a layer of 2 cm. Thanks to transshipment, you don’t have to think about how to root a lemon. The main thing is not to transplant while lemon blossoms or bears fruit.

Crown formation

As the lemon grows, the crown should be cut off - in the spring, on a low trunk about 18 cm, before the green mass begins to grow. We cut off the shoots, leaving 5 leaves, so that by the beginning of the fruiting the tree branched.

A tree with a well-formed crown blooms in the second or third year.

Formation of the crown of room lemon

Lemon Blossom on the Windowsill and Harvesting

While lemon is blooming, you cannot leave all the flowers on the plant:

• At the first flowering, we cut off half of the flowers and leave no more than 4 fruits from the formed ovaries.
• At the second flowering, only 6 fruits are left.
• At the third color we leave 8 fruits, etc.

Flowering regulation is necessary to preserve a strong and healthy lemon tree: its superfluous buds will quickly deplete. Each ovary should have at least 10 developed leaves.

The flowers do not need pollination and bloom for about 2 months.

Fruiting lemons is possible up to 4 times a year: it depends on the variety. On the development of the fetus and the beginning of maturation takes about 6-8 weeks. The rind of fully ripe lemon leaves gets a rich golden hue: it means it's time to harvest.

If you tighten with the collection, the skin will become thicker, the slices will dry out and the juice will lose its characteristic acidity.

Now you know how to care for lemon at home, so that it grows strong and healthy, and gives a lot of fruit. Follow all the rules of the content of indoor lemon, and it will delight you all year round with beautiful flowering and abundant fruiting.

How to care for lemon at home? This question interests every inexperienced gardener. After all, care affects the growth and fruiting plants. Lemon is a very useful citrus for the human body. With it, you can make delicious tea and improve immunity.

Proper lemon care is a guarantee of fruit

Therefore, if you want to get all the useful vitamins, you need to know how to care for the lemon tree.

Lemon watering

Care at home in the first place is the right watering. In cold weather, homemade lemon is watered once a week. To do this, it is necessary to defend warm water in advance. In the warm season, watering is necessary once a day, because in the heat of any plant requires a lot of fluid.

After each watering, the top layer of soil must be loosened. Water should be brought into the ground according to a scheme so as not to harm the root system of the lemon, because a large amount of moisture can lead to its rotting, and the lack of water leads to the fact that the lemon tree at home begins to throw off the leaves. This is the first answer to the question of how to care for homemade lemon.

Lighting

It is worth knowing about the correct lighting if you ask yourself “how to care for a room lemon”. After all, no plant can exist without sunlight. Lemon tree does not need a long light day. The amount of light affects only the formation of leaves, not fruits. A tree at home is best to keep on the windowsill, which is located in the east.

If there are no windows on the right side, then the plant should be protected from direct sunlight. For the correct formation of the crown, it is necessary to turn the tree several times a month.

Shadow negatively affects the development of lemon. Try to properly care for the lemon, then such problems will not arise.

Lemon tree loves color, but not direct sunlight

Air temperature

Lemon care at home provides for a temperature regime. This is one of the main conditions for fruiting lemon.

Temperature conditions for lemon should be as follows:

1. When the lemon begins to bloom or actively grow, the air temperature should be at least 17 ° C.
2. When active fruiting began: 20 ° C.
3. During the rest period, which most often occurs in winter, the apartment should be between 14 ° C and 18 ° C.

For a lemon at home, care in terms of temperature should be strictly observed. The slightest drops cause illness and death.

In summer, lemon can be taken out to fresh air.

Humidity level

Caring for homemade lemon includes controlling the level of humidity. In order for it to grow normally and produce fruits, the humidity must be high, especially in summer due to the heat. On such days, the plant must be sprayed daily and once a week to wash it in the shower.

To increase the level of humidity, it is necessary to put a small container with water next to the pot, which will evaporate and create optimal conditions for the growth of the tree. If desired, you can purchase a special air humidifier, which should be in the same room with lemon.

Top dressing

Care for indoor lemon includes its feeding. In the summer, it is carried out once every seven days, and in the winter - every month if the lemon is fruiting. If there is no fruit, then it can be done less often. Lemon tree care is supplemented with mineral and organic fertilizers.

Before making useful substances, the plant is watered. This will avoid burning the roots. If you use a ready-made mineral fertilizer, the proportion of substances (N: P: K) is 14:16:18. Use the tool according to the instructions.

Organic fertilizer for lemon must be properly prepared. To do this, pour manure with water and insist on it for a week. Then the mixture is diluted in a ratio of 1:15. Twice a year it is recommended to treat the soil with potassium permanganate, this will prevent diseases.

Manure - an excellent organic fertilizer for lemon

Transfer

Growing a lemon includes not only proper care, but also transplanting it. It is recommended to do it with trees every two years while they are young. In the spring, you need to purchase a special soil and transfer the lemon into a pot that is 4 cm more in diameter than the previous one. Thanks to the transfer method, the roots retain their strength and quickly take root in a new place.

It is necessary to replant the tree several times a year, during the growing season. Use the drainage of expanded clay and charcoal. You can not replant a tree during flowering and in the period when it bears fruit. Proper planting is a guarantee of tree health.

Lemon Transplant Is In Spring

Flowering and fruiting lemon

Lemon trees must be carefully managed, especially during the period when flowers appear on it. For the first time it occurs two years after sowing the seeds. When the plant blooms, you can not leave all the flowers on it, t. K. A young tree is not able to grow all the ovaries that have appeared.

The process of removing flowers:

1. For the first time a blooming lemon is cut in half, leaving an ovary for four fruits.
2. When the tree begins to bloom a second time, the ovaries are left for six lemons.
3. For the third time on the lemon should leave the ovary for eight fruits.

These manipulations with the tree allow you to properly care for him and to achieve active fruiting. The older the tree, the more lemons it will give. Therefore, do not be afraid to tear off the flowers.

The plant produces fruit about four times a year, depending on the variety and care. It takes about 6 months from the moment of development to the time of ripening.

Fully ripened fruit has a golden peel. To delay the harvest is not worth it, because the lemon will lose all its useful properties.

Lemon bloom should be regulated

Pollination of lemon in pots

Flowering and fruiting occur only in adult plants. If the lemon is still young, it is recommended to pick off all the flowers. To get the fruit on the tree should be about 20 adult leaves. Early fructification drains a plant, it can die. If the tree is strong, then you need to wait for it to bloom, and then you can pollinate.

How to pollinate a lemon correctly? First you need to create the necessary conditions. Humidity should be 70%, and the air temperature is 25 ° C. It is also worth preparing special tools:

• soft brush;
• a small piece of fur;
• cotton swab.

Carefully collect the pollen from the stamens using the prepared tools and transfer it to the pistils. Carry it with all the flowers. If you doubt that the pollination process was successful, you can repeat it.

If desired, you can use special preparations. Biological preparations “Bud” or “Ovary” are popular. They allow fruit to form, in cases where the ovary develops very weakly.

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If you have “settled” lemon, care at home will require a lot of work. It belongs to remontant plants, therefore in certain conditions it is able to bloom and bear fruit all year round. But not everyone succeeds in not only trying the fruits of their citrus, but simply admiring the flowering. What is the reason? Let's figure it out.

Variety selection

First of all, for planting in the house should choose varieties specifically bred for this purpose. They do not grow to giant dimensions, but at the same time they are characterized by high yields. Pay attention to these varieties of dwarf and semi-dwarf lemons:

• Meier
• Pavlovsky
• Novogruzinsky
• Maikop
• Eureka
• Genoa

Among the most common varieties in our latitudes lemon Meier, care for him the least troublesome compared to other species. This variety is sometimes called the Chinese dwarf, and its fruits are not as sour as those of other varieties. Dwarf lemons do not differ rich harvest, but will add comfort to the interior of the apartment.

Video about indoor lemon

Tall lemons will certainly delight you with tasty and large fruits, but they require a lot of time for care, because besides the usual activities, they need more frequent pruning, garter and crown formation. If you are interested in such citruses, choose among the following varieties:

• Novogruzinsky
• Kursk

Creation of the optimum mode of lighting, temperature and humidity

How to care for lemon in a normal city apartment, when there is no heating, then windows to the north, then the air for citrus is too dry? You have to provide the tree with comfortable conditions for growth and development.

The first thing that matters to lemon is light.

Photo of homemade lemon

For the location of the pots, it is better to choose south-east windows with moderate lighting, if you are, of course, lucky and you have them. But what to do if your whole alternative is the northern or the southern side.

On the northern windows, the lemon will noticeably lack light, so you will have to use fluorescent lamps, extending the light day for the plant to 12 hours. This is especially true of the winter period.

On the south side of the house there is always plenty of light, and for the lemon it is even surplus. Therefore, in the afternoon it is necessary to shade your citrus, saving it from the destructive action of direct sunlight, they are able to leave these burns on the leaves.

Lemon - a native of the Pacific tropics, so it is not surprising that the tree is demanding to thermal conditions.

In the spring during the budding temperature in the room should be 14 - 16 degrees. A high degree contributes to drying and dropping the buds, and a low degree - slowing down or even stopping this process. During the rest period, room temperature up to 26 degrees is enough. If possible, for the summer transfer your pet to the glassed-in balcony. Fresh air will benefit the lemon and the question of how to care for a lemon will not be so acute. However, you should be wary of both sudden changes in temperature and drafts. Like a true southerner, room lemon requires scrupulous care.

Pictured homemade lemon

Moisture. This parameter is very important for lemon. Therefore, it is necessary to control that the soil in the pot was constantly slightly moist. In the summer, it is reasonable to increase the number to 3 waterings per week, and in winter it can be reduced to 1 time, but to spray the air around the tree. This is provided that the heating devices are far from the plant. Water lemon necessarily non-cold water, which was settled for 5 hours. Water should not be poured directly under the root, but evenly over the entire surface of the soil. The air around the tree should also not be dry - not less than 60% humidity. Otherwise you risk to see rolled up, browning leaves on a lemon.

We fertilize, feed ...

Lemon, like the rest of the plants in your home, needs support, so it must be periodically fed.

Young lemon trees do not need additional stimulation, you need to fertilize lemons that have reached 3-4 years old.

Pictured lemon tree

You can purchase specialized blends of organic fertilizers, and you can use traditional methods:

• For abundant fruiting, sometimes ordinary watering is replaced with egg shell extract. But to get involved in this way is not worth it, so that excess calcium does not reduce the acidity of the soil.
• If the plant develops normally, has a healthy appearance and pleases with flowering, fertilization can be abandoned.
• During the growing season it is worth twice to feed the lemon with superphosphate (50 g of fertilizer per 1 liter).
• Ammonium nitrate is highly recommended for improving growth. It is taken in proportion to 30 grams per liter of water. It is possible to carry out watering by such fertilizer monthly.
• Periodically water your lemon 7-day infusion of horse manure, tenfold diluted.
• Lemon for normal development requires trace elements: magnesium, phosphorus, nitrogen and others. To compensate for their deficiency, you can use the fertilizer once a quarter. Citrus mixture. 2-3 grams of this fertilizer are diluted in a liter of water and used instead of basic irrigation.

Pruning and transplanting indoor lemon

Replant young lemon trees should be at least once a year.

Copies older than 3 years - at intervals of 2-3 years. However, the need for transplantation may occur "unplanned", for example, due to illness or deterioration of the lemon.

On the photo is a lemon transplant

1. The soil around the trunk is watered abundantly, so that it becomes soft, then carefully remove the tree. At the same time, utmost care must be taken not to disturb the earthen room and not to touch the root system.
2. If you find spoiled roots, cut them with a sharp knife or blade.
3. For transplant, take the capacity of 30-50% more than the previous one. Too big, like too small a pot, helps to slow growth. Give preference to a cone-shaped container.
4. At the bottom of the pot on the drain hole set shard so that its convex side was on top. Then a layer of drainage is laid (small pebbles, pebbles), a thin layer of dry manure and earth mixture.
5. Closer to the center of the pot is set a tree with a clod of earth. Slowly begin to fill the container between the clod and the walls of the pot with soil. You can lightly press the laid ground, but it is not necessary to tamp tightly.

Pruning lemon commit to the formation of a beautiful crown and improve fruiting.

With a tree height of 20-25 cm from the ground, the stem is pinched, giving the opportunity to develop lateral branches. Consider that the first fruits appear on the branches of 4-5 order (rows from the bottom) and until they are formed, it is not necessary to wait for the fruits.

Vertically grown branches should be cut without pity.

For the formation of the correct shape of the pot with a flower every 10 days should be carefully rotated relative to the sun. Gardeners sometimes improve the crown using copper wire - they fix individual branches with it, giving them the right direction of growth.

Lemon Trim Picture

The formation of the crown is carried out in the moments of the gathering of fruits. Ripe lemon is cut off not only with the stalk, but also with a section of the branch itself with 1-2 internodes. Thus, the growth of the branch is stimulated.

Lemon Home - Emergency Care

Lemon is very fastidious to the environment and reacts instantly to the slightest fluctuations in temperature or humidity. Care should be taken to save the plant.

A dried citrus needs watering. In appearance foliage - it becomes yellowish-brownish and rare - it is easy to guess the cause of the disease. But do not rush to irrigate the soil abundantly, you can spoil the root system. It is better to pour a little of the separated water under the root, and spray around the crown. You can wrap the barrel with gauze, folded in several layers and moistened with water. Let the tree stand in such an "outfit" for several hours, but do not leave it at night.

An excess of watering will quickly make itself known by a sudden leaf fall. Healthy-looking leaves suddenly fly around massively. As soon as a symptom is identified, transplant immediately. Carefully remove the tree from the pot, place it on a newspaper or cardboard along with the land lump so that the roots dry out. Plant should be in the ground, slightly moistened and continue to water moderately.

Pictured homemade lemon with fallen leaves

Frozen lemon is very difficult to save. In conditions of a cold snap, plant life may stop. In addition to falling leaves, the trunk darkens when frosting. You can try to "reanimation". To do this, move the lemon to a warmer room, extend the light day with the help of artificial lights. It makes sense to change to another pot. When excavating, be sure to inspect the rhizome, remove dead and rotted parts. Remove dried branches.

Overheating is no less dangerous for citrus. Appeared brown spots on the leaves clearly indicate overheating. Therefore, on hot summer days, remove the plant container into the interior of the room. Make sure that the air from the air conditioner does not fall on the crown. Additional watering or cooling is not required.

Important! You can not often change the place and habitat, it is long and poorly adapted to new circumstances. Therefore, it slows growth and fruiting, may even show signs of illness. Equally destructive for him as drafts, and unventilated premises.

Lemon Tree Photo

Lemon Pests and Diseases

Appeared white flies may indicate stagnation. Their larvae feed on roots and cause significant damage to the plant. To combat them, insecticides of various kinds are used - solutions for irrigation and aerosol forms for the extermination of insects that have managed to emerge. Karbofos and Aktelik are quite effective in the fight against these insects.

It is necessary to regularly look through the leaves of lemon, on which mites and shchitovki can settle. Externally, mites are like tiny spiders. They are colored orange or brown, which stands out noticeably on the green background of the back side of the leaves. They tighten the damaged areas with a thin spider web, which makes it easy to recognize pests. Rinse the twigs and leaves from both sides for several times at intervals of three to four days under a shower head with strong water pressure. Multiple spray infusions are effective.

• garlic (1 head medium size insist in 0.5 liters of water),
• onions (1 onion, grated on a fine grater, filled with a liter of water),
• bay leaf (2-3 leaves per 0.5-liter jar of water)
• strong brewing of green tea (for 2 cups of boiled water 2 tablespoons of dry tea leaves).

Attention! It is not recommended to water the soil with these means.

Shchitovka look like small brown turtles, motionless and tightly attached to the leaves. Fight them hard. Three times with a weekly interval, the plant, including the leaves on both sides, the branches and the trunk, should be thoroughly wiped with a mixture of soap and kerosene, taken in a ratio of 1 / 0.5. Cover the earth with cardboard or plastic, wrap the trunk at the bottom with a narrow bandage to prevent liquid from entering the root system.

Often, lemons are “sick” from improper care. Brownish leaves on the outwardly healthy plant, and even during the flowering period - one of the ailments. In this case, review the conditions of the flower, perhaps it makes sense to transplant it. But the soil in this case, choose a different than at present. Maybe it was the acidity of the soil that caused the disease.

Video about pests room lemon

As for the human body, disease prevention is important for citruses. To prevent disease, follow the regime, transplant, prune damaged areas. Sometimes a sudden illness can be dictated by the depletion of the plant itself. In this case, limit the flowering to several buds, and remove the rest, as if it were not a pity. Each house has its own microclimate, not always suitable lemon. The task of the owner of the plant is to adapt it to the existing conditions gradually.

Sometimes the process of caring for a lemon at home is comparable in difficulty to caring for small children - it is difficult at the beginning, but all works are rewarded when the tree begins to actively grow.

Room lemon is one of the most spectacular and beautiful ornamental plants. Pleasing its owners with bright foliage and fragrant flowers, this citrus, however, belongs to a group of very moody. Care must be taken properly. At the slightest violation of the technology, the tree will not only not bloom and bear fruit, but it may even lose foliage and die. In order for the plant to develop well and have a lush crown, it should be properly watered and fertilized.

What you need to know?

Further in the article we will deal with all the details of how a plant such as indoor lemon is used for home care. Flowering and fruiting of this citrus fruit are possible only under the condition:

• correct choice of location;
• use of suitable primer;
• regular watering and fertilizing;
• periodic pruning.

Bloom

The main decorative value of a lemon is its dense leaves of a rich dark green color. White with yellow stamens stellate flowers of this citrus rather spectacular. However, they grow in the depths of the crown, in the axils of the leaves, and are practically invisible from the outside. Therefore, the group of flowering indoor plants lemon can not be attributed. But although the flowers of this citrus are not its main decoration, they smell very nice. And the fragrance spreads literally throughout the room.

Abundant appearance of buds is possible only if the proper care of a plant such as indoor lemon, home care is carried out. It does not bloom citrus most often because of the lack of nutrients in the soil and irregular irrigation. Also, the lack of buds and fruits can be affected by a lack of sunlight.

How to choose a grade?

In the wild, indoor lemon, home care for which is really complicated, grows in hot India. As a cultural this plant has been cultivated for a very long time, including in Russia. Lemons were brought to our country in the time of Peter the Great. During the years of cultivation, many varieties of this citrus fruit, fruitful and unpretentious, have been bred. But of course, not all varieties are suitable for growing in a limited space. The most popular among fans of indoor plants are varieties:

1. Pavlovsky. Under favorable conditions, such lemons can even reach a height of 2 meters. The advantages of this variety include primarily the fact that it is very easy to reproduce. cultivation and care at home for which - the procedures, in comparison with other varieties, are relatively simple, well suited not too experienced florist. Its fruit is very fragrant and fragile. Variety is not too fond of bright sunlight.
2. Meier This variety is good early fruiting and unpretentious. It differs from most other varieties in more acidic fruits. Also room lemon Meier, home care for which is about the same as for any other varieties, is compact. This species grows very low.
3. Novogruzinsky. This lemon is easy to force to produce crops year round. Its fruits have no seeds and smell very good.

How to choose a place?

The peculiarities of lemon, among other things, include the fact that he does not like to change the situation. Therefore, the place for him to choose carefully. Most varieties prefer good lighting. But it does not tolerate direct sunlight.

They put lemon, cultivation and care at home, for which it will be successful only if the correct choice of place, most often on the east window. Bright, but rather diffuse morning lighting for good development of this plant is enough.

It is allowed to put lemons on the south window. However, in this case, be sure to take care of shading. Direct sunlight will surely cause burns on the plant. In addition, the lemon will react to an excess of light by the appearance of a large number of small whitish leaves. Thus, citrus just tries to reduce the area of ​​contact with UV rays and lose in showiness.

Choose a place for a lemon should also taking into account the fact that the pot is not cooled by draft. This is especially true of the cold season. If the temperature of the earth in the pot is below the ambient temperature, the plant will drop the leaves.

How to propagate by cuttings?

This is the easiest way to get some new lemons at home. Cut cuttings from an adult plant in early spring. The branch should be mature, about 4-5 mm thick. Lower leaves are removed from the stalk. It is best to plant a sprig in a greenhouse made of a regular plastic bottle.

Perfect capacity for 2 liters. The top of the bottle is cut, and in its bottom make several holes for the flow of water. Next, pour a layer of steamed sand to the bottom. Top lay nutrient soil with an acidity of 6.5-7 pH. Substrate for lemon, you can buy in the store or cook with your own hands. In the latter case, take:

• leaf ground - 1 hour;
• humus - 1 h;
• sod land - 2 hours;
• sand - 1 hour

All components should be thoroughly mixed and placed in a bottle.

The butt of the cut stalk is sprinkled with wood ash, powdered with heteroauxin stimulant and immersed in the ground for 2-3 cm. Next, the plant needs to be watered carefully, and the bottle covered with plastic wrap. In the future, it is not recommended to moisten the soil in the tank before rooting the plant. The roots of the twigs are released in about a month.

When using cuttings as planting material in the future it will be easiest to carry out such homemade citrus fruits such as indoor lemon. Reproduction by this technology allows you to quickly get a lush, healthy, fruiting adult plant.

Seeds use

Planting material with this method of cultivation should be chosen as carefully as possible. From the fruit of an even form, you need to get the largest seed. It should be planted immediately. In this case, as a container, you can use an ordinary plastic cup with drainage holes made in it. At its bottom should pour some sand. Soil in this case is used the same as for cuttings.

It is best to plant several seeds at once in different cups, and then choose the strongest plant for growing. The seeds are sunk into the ground by 2-3 cm. Immediately after planting, watering is performed. In the larger container, the selected lemon must be transferred at the age of 3-5 months. Handling should be done as carefully as possible. If limb roots are damaged, it will lose foliage.

How to water?

Moisture - this is something that loves indoor lemon. Care at home for him, as for all citrus, is, including, and in frequent watering. In the summer, the soil under the plant is moistened once a day - two. In winter, lemon watered once a week. With a lack of moisture leaves of this plant change color to yellow-brown.

If this happens, in no case should you pour a lemon at once with plenty of water. Otherwise, the root system will die. It is possible to correct the situation in such a situation by slightly moistening the soil under the plant and spraying it abundantly. Wrapping the stem with a damp cloth will also be helpful.

How to fertilize?

Feed the lemon should also be quite often. In the summer, once a month, the plant is watered with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. This is best done at night. Also once a month it is useful to water a lemon with a solution. The best organic fertilizer for this citrus is ordinary cow manure.

You can also purchase in the store a complete feeding containing nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Such a means of feeding the lemon twice a month. Wood ash, containing a huge amount of trace elements, is very useful for this decorative culture.

Lemon care at home in terms of fertilizing can also be carried out using purchased formulations specifically designed for citrus fruits. Sometimes indoor plant lovers also replace topsoil in a pot with lemon with pond sludge, which contains many useful substances. In winter, if the plant bears fruit, it should be fed with complex fertilizer or organic matter once a month.

Crown formation

Periodic pruning is also something that a room lemon necessarily requires. Care in the home of this plant in terms of the formation of the crown should be periodic. Otherwise it may happen that the tree will not bear fruit. For the first time, pruning is done immediately after the lemon reaches a height of 20-30 cm. At this time, the tip is carefully removed from it in such a way that 3-4 buds are left on the trunk.

About a year later, first-level shoots are formed from them. After they reach a length of 20-30 cm, they are also pinched. Next on the branches will begin to form shoots of the second, third, etc. levels. Each new “wave” should be pinned in such a way that it is 5 cm shorter than the previous one. That is, the branches of the second level should have a length of 15-25 cm, the third - 10-20 cm, etc. Of course, you need to remove diseased shoots growing inside the bush, etc.

Pests

Thus, the lemon should be watered and fertilized in time. You also need to do the formation of his crown. What other difficulties await a grower, carrying out such a plant as indoor lemon, care at home? Diseases affect this unfortunately often. Therefore, a lemon may have to be treated from time to time.

Trees of this variety can be affected by both fungi and microorganisms or insect pests. Most often, lovers of indoor flowers have to deal with the shields, flour worms and aphids, striking lemons. All these varieties of pests are engaged in sucking the juice from the leaves. You can fight them through soapy water or tobacco infusion (50-60 g per liter). Sometimes scarab, aphids and mites are expelled from plants and with the aid of a chlorophos solution (30 g per 10 l).

Diseases

Gommoz - this is also one of the problems faced by many lovers of ornamental plants that grow indoor lemon. Care at home for this citrus suggests, including, and periodic inspection of the leaves and stem. A plant diseased with gommosis causes cracks in the lower part of the stem, from which gum starts to stand out. Cut the tree with the help of a garden pot or clay. Cracks are pre-disinfected with a solution of copper sulphate 3%. Then the wounds are simply carefully covered with pitch or clay.

This is how a plant such as a room lemon is taken care of at home. The photo on the page clearly displays the beauty of these citrus fruits. If you grow your lemon, following the rules described in the article, you will grow the same spectacular fragrant tree with bright green leaves and a lush crown.

Agrotechnics growing citrus in the room is difficult. It should start with lemon, growing and caring at home is easier for him than for other sons. You can buy a young bush, and you can grow it, starting from sowing a seed or rooting the cutting. Under all favorable conditions from the plant from the seed, the crop can be obtained in 20 years, from the cutting in 7-8. But the lemon from the stone at home will be more fit, healthy, beautiful with its dark shiny foliage. To him you can graft escape from fruiting lemon, which will accelerate flowering. The choice is for the lover.

What care requires indoor lemon at home

Lemon is a tree, in room conditions it also tends to grow. There are several varieties that breeders have accustomed to room maintenance. But they rebel if the withdrawal is wrong. Before planting a seed, you need to know that only indoor varieties can share a home with a person. These include:

• Pavlovsky;
• Anniversary;
• Mayer.

These varieties are characterized by rapid entry into fruiting and high productivity in the care of lemon at home. When buying a finished varietal seedlings need to wait two or three years.

Room lemon with good care lives up to 30 years. The lemon after setting is poured 9 months, but after it continues to increase in size, but becomes tasteless and thick-skinned.

It is important to prevent weakening of the flower and tear off the buds until there are 20 leaves on the bush. Scientists believe that each fruit is fed 9-10 leaves of mature age. Depending on the number of leaves you need to leave the harvest. For the same reason, you need to protect the leaves from shedding, which the plant protests when it is uncomfortable. At the same time, cutting the tops of the branches is obligatory in order to form new shoots, which means an increase in the number of leaves. Therefore, the care of the plant is carried out on the verge of knowledge and intuition.

Optimal conditions in the care of lemon

Only if you have a spacious bright room you can count on the creation of a citrus orchard. Even being in a permanent place, the tree does not like to be moved. And for a uniform development, it is turned a few degrees in 10 days, so that in a year a full turn is obtained:

1. From the stand to the ceiling should be at least two meters.
2. Lemon can not stand dry air. Optimal 70% humidity. This means keeping the plant away from the radiator, having a humidifier or an aquarium, equipping the humidity zone in any way possible and often spraying the leaves with a fine spray.
3. In summer, it is useful for a lemon to stay in the sun for 2 hours, but not longer. Therefore, the morning sun on the east window for him just right. In winter, when growing lemon and caring at home, there should be organized a backlight of 5-6 hours.
4. The temperature of the content for lemon should be from 14 to 27 degrees. During the flowering period, the lemon needs cool.
5. The watering schedule in summer is very stressful. The pot is watered twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, soaking the whole lump of earth. Due to good drainage, water stagnation does not occur. At the bottom should be installed pan to collect water. For irrigation using soft settled water.

The temperature should not change dramatically. If the plant is brought from a cold veranda into a warm room, it will throw off the foliage. The ground in the barrel is cold and the leaves are warm! In winter, you need to find a lemon the coldest corner in the home. Without a full-fledged rest period, the flowering will later be scanty.

Of great importance in the care of lemon is the formation of it, keeping in growth with systematic pruning and pinching the green cone. The deepest pruning is done in spring. 5-6 live leaves are left on the branches, the rest are removed, and material for propagation of lemon is obtained from them by cuttings.

Lemon Diseases and Pests

When taking care of a lemon at home, and growing it, you need to know the signs of diseases in order to quickly correct the mistakes made. Often a plant needs moisture, which can be determined:

• from above the earth is gray, in the hands a lump crumbles;
• the pot makes a ringing sound when tapping;
• the leaves curled up and the tips wilted.

As a result, after a while, the leaves, flowers and ovaries begin to fall off.

If the plant does not receive top dressing, the leaves become light, flowering stops, the ovaries begin to fall. But the same signs and with excessive fertilizer. Therefore, it is necessary to comply with the recommended dose and instructions on how to care for lemon at home.

If the plant has not been transplanted or changed land for a long time, fertilizer irrigation may not save. The earth is compacted, the irrigation water has made moves in the thickness and merges, not completely wetting the volume.

As a result of care errors, a weakened plant is colonized by pests or fungal and bactericidal diseases.

Various specific citrus diseases, they are called:

• xylopsorosis and tristera - viral incurable;
• gommoz - infectious, when a tree trunk is affected;
• malseco - infectious, begins with redness of leaves, the tree dies;
• root rot is a fungal disease, it is necessary to remove the damaged parts and transplant into a new soil.

The cause of any disease is improper care of the plant. And even if the tree does not bear fruit, he has the same diseases.

How to grow lemon at home

Of great importance is the selection of the container for the plant and the substrate. The tank should have good drainage holes. The lemon root system is compact, a young plant is good for an annual transplant, so it’s not worth creating conditions for acidification of the soil in a large pot. For older plants, the earth is changed less frequently, but the upper fertile layer is updated annually.

Composition of the land:

• leafy humus - 2 parts;
• humus from cattle - 1 part;
• washed river sand - 1 part;
• wood ash - 0.25 parts.

At the bottom lay out a layer of charcoal mixed with expanded clay, add vermiculite to the substrate for looseness. Transplantation of plants is carried out after the grown roots of a lemon will entangle a lump of earth, using the method of transshipment.

When pruning the lemon tree there are a lot of planting material, twigs. They will produce cuttings, if you pinch a couple of leaves from below and put a green sprig in the water. Further, the stalk rooted in the substrate in a small volume. How to care for lemon, obtained from the cutting? After the stalk has been given leafy shoots, it is contained as an adult plant. At a height of 25 cm, the plants pinch the tip, limiting growth. The resulting central and lateral shoots in the amount of 4 pieces left, the rest cut off on the ring.

Side shoots grow 25 cm and pinch again, repeating the operation, as for the first time. A bush is formed twice more, as a result, enough leaves are obtained on a round tree, and flower buds are laid on the branches. Lemon is ready for fruiting; it has gained enough strength to feed the fruits.

Lemon propagation by seeds is a long process. The resulting seedling must be grafted to obtain a fruiting tree. The wilderness will develop for a long time, it will be little to bloom and the quality of the obtained lemon will be poor. Therefore, the grown plant should be planted by budding or splitting it in order to obtain a cultivated tree.

Seedling without vaccination will be an excellent ornamental tree with good disease resistance. It is necessary to form a crown so that the bush is neat and does not stretch its branches, occupying a large space.

Oct 23, 2016 Sergei

28.09.2016 31 936

How to care for a lemon at home - a crib for housewives

Growing an exotic plant in the apartment, you need to know how to care for lemon at home. The tree is quite capricious enough to get a tasty harvest. It takes a lot of time and effort to make a long-awaited result. Only the observance of certain rules will cause the lemon to bear fruit and please healthy growth.

What conditions are needed indoor lemon?

  Lack of nutrients leads to wilting, yellowing of the leaf apparatus, poor flowering, dropping of buds, small fruiting or its complete absence. When to fertilize a lemon? First, in the period of budding, fruit set, and secondly, with visible deficiencies in the nutrients of the plant.

When caring for a lemon, you need to remember, the tree has an enhanced growth period of 3-4 times a year. To get the crop, you need to regularly feed the citrus. Usually, abundant bloom occurs with  February months to  august In winter, the number of dressings is reduced to once a month.

Lemon feeding during the flowering period, exactly as during fruiting, takes place once every two weeks. It is better to feed this room lemon organic. Well suited, for example Gumi Omi Kuznetsova Lemon, the drug is basically natural, so you can use it for home tree. Dissolve 1 tbsp. fertilizers in a liter of water, mix well, pour out 0.5 cups per plant (more volume is required for adult trees). You can use another natural drug Lemon-Mandarin "Mother Earth".

  Fruiting lemon at home can not be achieved without dressings, either in spring or summer. It is also recommended to spray the underside of the leaves with a solution of fertilizer. Feed citrus after transplantation is carried out in 3-4 weeks, the main dose is given before placing the tree in a new container for 2-3 days. After transplanting a lemon in a new pot, it is recommended to water the plants with the Kornesil preparation to improve and restore the root system.

Lemon Diseases and Pests

In bad conditions, lemon content can be affected by pests, various infectious and fungal diseases. The main damage is caused by mites. Red tick and silver are most present on lemon, which is grown indoors in the south of the country. It is known to all and most widespread, both in mid-latitudes and in the north, where plants are located year-round in an apartment, without the possibility of carrying it out to fresh air.

spider mite - on photo

The spider mite is brown, sometimes with a red or yellow tint. With careful inspection of plants, pests are easy to detect. Usually the swarms of pests are on the underside of the leaves, wrapping around the green mass of the tree with the finest web. Over the summer, one female can leave up to 10 generations, laying 150 eggs at a time.

The fight against spider mites on a lemon is carried out using a soap solution that is used to treat leaves and branches. Do not forget about washing the crown with a regular shower (the leaves are washed from two sides). Place a lemon pot away from other plants. Use a garlic infusion, 5-6 crushed cloves pour a glass of boiling water, infuse for 48 hours and sprinkle lemon. If the plant is severely affected, insecticidal preparations are used (Omite et al.).

  on the photo - homemade lemon crop

It can also become an unpleasant guest who damages the citrus leaf plates. On the reverse side of the leaves, sometimes on the stems, one can find clusters of small brown scales that are practically not separated from the plant. It is necessary to fight with the scythe immediately, otherwise the defeat of the leaf apparatus will lead to, fruiting can slow down. Methods of dealing with the shield on a lemon are similar when dealing with aphids.

In addition to dirty pests, lemon can suffer from diseases such as:

• root rotMostly found when leaves start to fall off massively. Here it is necessary to transplant into a new pot with good washing of the roots and removing rotten ones;
• hommoz  destroys the barrel of homemade lemon. In the lower part, the browning of the bark and the formation of cracks are noticeable, from which the gummy liquid of dark color is released. The size of the cracks gradually increases, the process of decay begins. Citrus urgently requires transplantation to the new ground with the obligatory treatment of the trunk with copper sulphate, in difficult cases - the badly damaged bark is first cleaned off, then dabbed;
• malsekko  it is known for its defeat of shoots, sometimes to complete destruction. The disease begins with the tips of the branches, goes to the leaves, trunk. Damaged parts will be painted in brick color. The disease has various forms, sometimes the lesion begins with the root system, as a result, citrus dies very quickly. Unfortunately, currently there are no specific drugs and methods that can destroy the strain of the fungus. Observe preventive measures, if signs are detected, treat infected plant areas with copper sulphate.

Lemon is a tree of subtropical climate, which is possible to grow well at home. How to plant a lemon and will it bear fruit at home?

How to plant a lemon tree

As a planting material, you can use seeds or cuttings. To get a seed for planting, you need to choose in the store the most ripe fruit without flaws.

As for grafting, you can ask the process from someone you know or buy it for money in a store or on the market.

It should be understood that it is easier to grow a lemon tree from a seed than from a sapling. But at the same time, the genetic material is unlikely to be completely transferred during seed planting, but the sapling will retain all parental characteristics.

A tree grown from a stalk will bear fruit in 4-5 years, but if a lemon has grown from a stone, then this period is doubled.

In order to grow a lemon tree from a seed, you need to get from several fruits of the stone. The bones must be mature and of the correct form.

Land for planting should contain one part of peat and one part of flower soil. And of course there must be a drainage layer.

Seeds should be placed at a depth of 1 cm. After planting, the ground must be kept moist.

After two weeks, the small plants will hatch, and from them it is necessary to choose the most viable. Then cover these shoots with cans. Every day, banks need to be removed for admission of air and watering.

After the lemon has released the second pair of leaves, you can transplant it into a separate pot. The next transplant needs to be done when the plant reaches a height of 20 cm.

If the tree is grown from cuttings, then first of all you need to choose the right seedling. The branch should be at least 10 cm long and about 0.5 cm thick. If the cutting is harvested independently, then you should choose a branch with three buds and at least a pair of leaves.

For the emergence of the roots you need to put the process in the water for three days. Then you can plant the stalk in the soil consisting of sand and humus to a depth of 3 cm. It is necessary to spray the leaves every day with water, and keep the soil moist. After a month, the rooted tree can be transplanted into a pot.

How to care for homemade lemon

The soil in which the lemon tree grows must be very fertile and rich in humus. For this purpose, a special flower mixture is sold in stores. At the bottom of the pot should be drainage, so that the roots of the plant from excess moisture do not begin to rot.

It is necessary to water a lemon two times in seven days. If the soil after three days remains wet, then it must be changed, otherwise the plant will die due to overflow. To prevent this from happening, it is better to use pots made of clay for planting.

At home it is better to define a permanent and fairly bright place for a lemon and not to rearrange it in any way. Lemon very bad transfers permutation from one place to another.

For the correct formation of the crown, the tree must be turned every day a little bit towards the sunny side.

Every year, the lemon needs to be transported into the pot a couple of centimeters larger in diameter. At the same time, the basal earthen room is very carefully transferred to a new container, and the rest of the space is filled with fresh soil.

When the pot becomes very large, about 10 liters, instead of transplanting, you can change only the top layer. This should be done every six months. It is also necessary to feed the plant with fertilizers.

Lemon tree does not tolerate drafts. It is very fond of spraying. During the heating season it is necessary to spray a lemon every day.

For the formation of a beautiful crown in the spring at a height of 20 cm, the young shoot must be cut so that the tree releases its side branches. The following year, you also need to shorten the lower branches from the sides.

After the permanent branches are up to the sixth level, the crown will get a beautiful and well-groomed appearance. In the future, young shoots will need to pinch or cut.

If in the first year the lemon bloomed, then all the flowers should be cut off, because the plant is still quite weak and can die, having spent all its strength in fruit ripening.

In normal development, the lemon tree should bloom in a few years, when there will be 10-15 leaves per one ovary. If the ovaries form too much, some of them need to be removed.

Some varieties of homemade lemons fruit regularly, for example, Pavlovsky.

A pair of such home trees will provide seven citrus trees all year round.

Lemon tree pests a bit. One of them is a spider mite. The first symptom of its appearance will be the appearance of dry leaves. At the same time, the lemon should have enough light and no stagnant water is observed in the soil.

But the problem of the appearance of a tick can easily solve the UV lamp. Under its rays ticks die in a couple of minutes.

Also acclimatization and the lack of important trace elements can be causes of tree drying.

Lemon tree requires a lot of attention and effort when growing, but if you properly care for it and follow the recommendations, it will not only create comfort at home, but will also delight you with fruits rich in vitamins.