How To: Grow Citrus Trees!

How To: Grow Citrus Trees!

     Okay, so I told you a couple posts down that I would tell you how to grow citrus trees from fruit such as: Lemons, Limes, Oranges, Grapefruit, etc. So far I have planted Lemon which have sprouted, as anyone who has seen my previous posts will notice, Red Grapefruit and Oranges. I really want to try Lime but I am having a very hard time lately finding any limes that have seeds. Every now and then I will get them, but sadly not lately. 

     Citrus seeds are fairly easy to plant. The first thing you're going to want to do is be very careful when cutting your fruit open, making sure not to damage any seeds. The second step is to collect the seeds, wash all fruit off of them and let them dry for about a minute. After your seeds are washed and dried you can do one of two things. The first thing you could do, is what I've done with my Lemons, Oranges (half of them) and Red Grapefruit, is to just simply plant them in a pot of soil and water until the soil is wet (no puddles or over watering please). If you do this step, within 2-3 weeks you should see some of your seeds sprout up!

     The second option would be to germinate them in a plastic container. To do this I simply fold up two squares of paper towel and wet them thoroughly then ring them out so they are damp and not soaked. Then I place them in the bottom of the container and place my dried seeds a top of them. The next thing I do is to take two more sheet of paper towel and repeat the first step and place that on top of the seeds. I then place the cover on top of the container and make sure it's on nice and tight and place 3-4 tiny holes up at the top for air. Now place your container in a nice warm location, next to a sunny window or a heater. Check your seeds in two weeks and you should see the tap root of the plant emerged from the bottom. Once you see the tap root, feel free to plant your seeds (tap root down obviously). 

      Now, just to let you know, when you are planting your seeds using either option, only plant the seeds about 1/2 an inch into the soil. Within 2-3 weeks you should see your first sprouts for the first option and within about 4-7 days for the second option before you see any sprout.

     If you have any questions, comments, or anything else, feel free to leave a comment below. Until next time, ciao!

-Mathew