How to Grow Lemons Organically?

Growing and witnessing two centuries and a drastic change in culture and environment I am always fond of Lemons trees that I see(and the ones I used to see)in homes. Recently growing lemons have become even more easier as it’s possible to get short, pot grown variety now. When I took a survery many of the blog followers had some doubt or the other on this plant. So let us see on How to Grow Lemons Organically?

Selecting the variety

This is an important step as this variety is what you are going to harvest all the plants life.

Lime or Acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia swing) is more popular in India than lemon (Citrus limon) Commonly grown acid lime cultivar is Kargzi lime, but recently identified four high yielding cultivars Vikram, Prumalini, PKM, and Sai Sharbati are now gaining popularity.

Commonly grown lemon varieties are Assam lemon, Italian lemon, Pant lemon, Galgal and Eureka lemon, Sevilla and Malta lemon varieties are popular in South India.

Apart from the lemons and lime varieties available, the variety in plants also matters. Like

• Plants grown from seeds
• Plants that are air layered
• Hybrid plants

Let me give you some insights on the differences between these three.

Seed Grown:

• These take 7-8 years to bear fruits
• They are usually of country variety lemons
• They live upto 30 years and produce fruits all along
• They are more resistant to diseases and pests

Air Layered:

• I’ll explain what is air layering in a separate post soon.
• These plants bear fruits soon. They take 3-5 years to fruit.
• These are already matured and may not live as long as seed grown trees
• These grow and produce exactly like the parent tree from which they are taken.
• Hence if possible, it is wise to see and know about the parent tree before buying them.

Hybrids

• These can produce fruits that are big and aesthetically pleasing.
• They too grow fast but have a bit lesser life span that that of country varieties.
• They huge set back is that they are really high maintanence.
• If cared well then they serve you long and well.

Growing lemons

Growing lemon tree is pretty straightforward and easy. All you need is some good sunlight and water. Still let me give you all the details that I have on this. Obviously like any other plant there are different ways to grow lemons. Let us see them below one by one.

How to grow lemons from seeds?

Growing lemon from seeds is sure exciting. But there is a catch there is no guarantee that the plants grown from the seeds grow and fruit well as their parents. Either way it’s a fun experiment to try. Let’s dig on

• The first step in propagating lemon seeds is to select a good tasting, juicy lemon.
• Remove the seeds from the pulp and wash them to remove any clinging flesh and sugar that can foster fungal disease, which will kill off your seed by the way.
•  You want to use only fresh seeds and plant them immediately.
• Don’t let them dry out which will decrease the chance that they will germinate.
• Plant them is a well-draining pot mix(Coco peat, sand, soil)
• Cover it with a plastic sheet and keep the pot in a warm area. This will help in water retention.
• Keep the soil moist, but not soggy.
• Once the seedlings emerge remove the plastic wrap and place it where it can have good sunlight.
• Once the seedlings produce 3-4 leaves
• Propagate the seedling to a bigger pot as soon as they have 3-5 leaves.
• Then you can plant it either in the garden or in a container

Growing lemons in pots:

Many of us don’t have enough space to grow a tree and this is for those of us. Growin g lemons in pot is a piece of cake if you are smart about them. Let me give you some tips on what to do.

• When you get a plant from nursery it is better to look if it has some fruits already.
• This is to make sure the plant is ready to bear fruit. They are usually bonsai varieties that can fruit in very young stage.

Pot:

Bear in mind that lemon are trees so they require space to grow. So select a pot that is large enough to grow them.

Pot mix:

• Make a mix of Coco peat, compost, manure, soil and sand. Make it rich as the only source of nutrition is this mix.
• Put one layer of this mix at the bottom then  a layer of coco coir and repeat this two times.
• Then insert the plant along with the soil from the nursery
• Fill the remaining space with the potting mix
• Fill the top layer with coco coir, coco peat and pot mix

Watering:

• Water only when the soil seems to be dry. Be careful as to not starve the plant of water
• Make sure to keep the pot where the plant can bathe in sunlight. These love sunlight. That is the basics for starting a lemon plant in pot. Let me tell you about the maintenance part below.

Growing lemons in ground

If you are trying to raise them from seeds, you can either grow them in pot at first or you can directly grow them in soil.

Preparing the soil:

• Choose a place where the plant can receive good sunlight.
• Dig a pit in the ratio of 2x2x2 feet
• During this keep the top soil and the bottom soil seperately
• Keep the feet open and dry it in sun for 40 days. This will cleanse all the harmful microbes present
• Then add some manure(you can also add compost  and neem cake) and water it. Keep this for 20 days for decomposing the manure.
• Now the pit is ready for planting

Planting lemon:

• Now take the plantlet remove the cover and loosen the roots slightly.
• Be careful as you might damage the roots in doing so.
• Then place the plant in it.  
• Close the pit with the top layer of soil that you have kept separately
• Now press the soil firmly. This is very important.

The experts say that if the roots are not tightly packed with soil it will lead to root rot.

Tadaaaaa!!! You have officially have become a tree parent.

But you have to nurture your little baby to make it grow strong and healthy. But I’ll explain everything from watering- to issues faced and their solutions in the next post.

Do you have another great tip to add? Mention them below in the comments. Have questions? You can contact me through contact page or by clicking the WhatsApp Icon that is on the left side of the screen.

Hope this post is useful to you. If you find this interesting share it with your circle lets spread some Organic Love!

Thanks for all the love guys. Without you this blog would be nothing.

Let us plant together and grow together!

This is a bilingual post. இதனை தமிழில் படிக்க இங்கே கிளிக் செய்யவும்.