http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg101741121462.html?1

here's your other post w/same question

Here is a link that might be useful: same Q elsewhere

If is from a seed, it will never flower, not in our life time, unless you're just a kid of course. If you have many years to spare along with patience and endurance, you might be able to work a miracle.....:-)

How old is it? Is it grafted? Where do you store it? What kind of light does it get? How much? Do you feed it? What kind is it? What are your horticultural practices, etc..

Get the picture?

Goodluck!:-)

well, mike I wouldn't say never a friend of mine had one bloom at 4 years ago still produces huge juicy lemons, make sure your not pruining it will reduce the node count which is needed for the plant to bloom remember most citrus comes true from seed like lemons,mandarins except (temple,clemintine)oranges,key limes and I don't remember the rest. Make sure your feeding with a good fertilizer with micro nutrients, and if you want a citrus that will only take a 1-3 years plant key limes!

Citrus grown from seed may take 3 to 7 years to bloom, depending on the variety. The myth they will never bloom in your lifetime is just that, a myth. Sometimes it just seems to take that long.

Thanks tasty 3....

The truth is, NO one has come here since I have been a member, and proven to us that a seed grown container citrus can produce flowers or fruit within less than 10-20 years, unless I missed it.

From what I have SEEN, and from ALL the poeple I know that have started seed, at least from anywhere, except for in ground tropical ones, no one has ever had this success.

From reading here, on the houseplants forums, and fragrance one, everyone but tsmith and you, has unequivately said that it will take YEARS for blooms to come from seed, if at all.

In fact, that is why I stated.." if you have many years to spare along with patience and endurance, you might be able to work a miracle".....:-).

It is nice to finally see someone go against the grain, and say that this is only a "myth"..I will asuume that you tsmith, have had success from seed, or knows someone to have had succeeded. You are pretty knowledgable, and I respect anything you say here.
You continue to teach many of us here alot, including me after all this time..
If so, thanks for coming here and lettings us know. This is new info for me too then. This particular forum doesn't get enough participation, nor move enough for more to come out and say much of it..

Of the few that do come here, only one or two out of dozens have givin concrete evidence that seed do bloom in such a short time..

I will no longer say it is almost impossible for those of us that want to grow container grown citrus from seed, especially orange, and grapefruit.
Maybe I should say nothing, and leave it up to the many that do make it work..

Thanks for the encouragement...:-)

I will show my sister this thread. Maybe after 20 or more years of trying, there is a silver lining...

Mike..:-)

P.s

Tsmith, please respond to my thread I started on curling up leaves, since you seem to be the only one member actively involved here. I could use your validation on my observance..;-)

Could it be that some seed is simply sterile?

Josh

heres two links of members having seed grwon citrus flower http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg1215122229804.html?15 http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg1213554530447.html?2

Tasty,

Thanks so much for the links..Very encouraging!:-)

mine flowered for the 1st time this fall. I grew it from seed..... in a container..... in minnesota. the seed came from a local store lemon I bought.

OP, give it 8-12 more years. hard part for me were the winters. cold dry and poor lighting. ill bet its similar in NY. get a good light or a south face window will do

Fantastic!!!

There is hope! Thanks for anyone who is willing to be patient..:-)

Thankyou

HI,MY LEMON TREE CAME FROM FLORIDA. IT WAS ABOUT 6 INCHES TALL,THE ONLY FERTILZER I USED WAS MIRACLE GROW. MY POTTED LEMON STAYES OUT SIDE ALL SUMMER, THEN I BRING IT INTO MY SUN ROOM ALL WINTER TILL MAY OR WHEN IT WARMS UP.MY SUN ROOM FACES WEST,SO I HAVE AFTERNOON SUN. IS THERE A SPECIAL CITRUS FERTILZER I SHOULD USE???. ANY EXTRA HELP WILL BE APPRECATED------COLLEEN

MikeMeyer, said: "The truth is, NO one has come here since I have been a member, and proven to us that a seed grown container citrus can produce flowers or fruit within less than 10-20 years, unless I missed it." I have grown a lemon, a Key lime and calamondin from seeds. The lemon bloomed at 5 years old and I donated it to the local botanical gardens to sell while it had small lemons on it. It was about 6 feet tall and sold for $50. My 5 year old Key lime had a few blooms and set 5 limes in 2008 and in 2009. In both years the limes were lost during early summer thunderstorms. I have high hopes for next year. A calamondin seedlings I gave to a friend bloomed after about 4 or 5 years. I have seen other Gardenweb posts which described similar experiences. What I present is anecdotal information which may not be irrefutable by Mikemeyer's standards, but it is true.

Colleen, maybe you could replace the miraclegro with a "Bloom Booster" kind of fertilizer for a few months to see if it forces blooms. I am no expert and I have not tried this - but, I assume that it would not hurt to try it for a few months.

I have seen a Mexican lime (key lime) tree grown from seed bloom and set fruit in South California in a container - it was 5 years old and never trimmed and fed just some kind of slow release citrus fertilizer once every few months, I believe. This is not my tree - it belongs to somebody that i know. So, it is anecdotal too. It was left outdoors all year around (weather is really hot around there and I am sure that is a contributing factor).

Such a rediculous notion, that a plant from seed will not fruit. Do you actually think of these things!? Fruit is a plants only way of reproduction naturally, creating seeds. If seeds did not grow into plants that fruit and thus create more seeds, all forms of fruit trees would be extinct within 2 generations (shy of human intervention ie, grafting/cuttings) Since we can assume that the lemon tree, and other fruits have been around quite a while, we can assume most fruit seeds will fruit. The question is... how long will it take. On average, maybe 5-10 years.

I had an orange tree (of sorts) that was seed grown. I got it at a yard sale when I was 6. It was about 13 years later that it finally fruited. They were the best fruits I have ever had (some where navel shaped and some looked like minneolas). The tree produced a bumper crop every year (after the first) until every citrus tree in the neighborhood was removed (canker). Mine was planted in the ground though, not in a container.

Lisa

stefang,

Who here said that a seed grown plant would not produce fruit?

If this is what you here outside these forums, then we need to get many more on board this forum to see for themselves...lol

Great thread everyone..;-)

Now I can"t say "NO" one since I have been here has shown me that citrus can't flower from seed in less than 10-20 years..I will probably give one a try myself..

You learn something new everyday here. Thankyou

Mike