How to prune a lemon plant grown from seed ...

18 years ago

Hello All,

I have a lemon plant/tree thats been growing from a seed (safeway fruit). I'm not exactly sure what kind of lemon/lime this is. It's not about 5' tall, has what I think are essentially "double" stems - two sturdy about 1" dia stes growing from the ground up. The plant/tree-let is about 5' tall and seems to grow in spurts!

Every now and then I see intense violet/black new leaves which evetually become nice green leaves. Has some nice big thorns - yes thorns - about 0.75" long.

Do I have to prune this tree to get it fruit ? It is about 5 years old and has not yielded any fruit or flowers. Some research seems to indicate that I may not have "enough nodes" - though what is a node or how many is enough is open for debate!!

So how do I prune this plant and when ? Has anyone got any fruits from a store bought lemon/lime ??

Some pointers on how to id a lemon/lime plant would be great! I did some research and the consensus seems that the seed will be true to the root-stock of the store bought fruit - not true to the particular fruit I got it from! Seems pretty incredible - but I'd still like to id the specific citrus if possible - just so I can care for it better. It has done well across 5 years moved with me across 2 apts and a house, and moved from seed -> BIG glass jar -> soil in my house! And seems to have weathered my uneducated care! So it deserves some "chill out time" now!!

Thanks,

rsk.

I'm in SF city if it makes any diff to pruning tech.

Featured Answer

sunshine (zone 6a, Ontario,Canada)

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

Lee, if you separate them in individual pots, they will grow better, but do it in the spring. Keep one for bonsai, the other do not prune and let it grow the way it wants to grow. If they are key limes, you can get flowering and fruits in 3-4 years. Here are my key lime seedlings, 2.5 months old and 7.5 inches tall, they are from one seed:

I am going to up pot them in the spring and let them grow without pruning.

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Comments (21)

birdsnblooms
18 years ago
Rsk, your tree sounds lovely. I'd like to see if pic if yuo have one.
The thing about seed-grown trees is they can take years of patience before blooming/fruiting.
I have read as many as 7-14 depending on the tree..
This is one reason so many people graft their trees..it reduces fruiting time.

Be sure your tree is getting enough light.
Fertiize w/a citrus or azalia fertilizer during growing season.

Pruning may lessen your chance of fruits..Let branches grow freely, unless there's a stray stem and you want your tree shaped a certain way.

Node..look at your tree stems..a node is the little bump nearest a leaf.
I don't know if the node theory is fact..for instance, your tree is 5' tall..I'm sure there are plenty of nodes yet it hasn't bloomed/fruited.
I have had really tiny citrus that not only flowered but grew tiny, tiny fruit that never developed.
Bonsai's are kept small yet flower and fruit, and pruned. go figure (S)

Is your tree growing in or outdoors? Toni
rskrishnan
Original Author
18 years ago
Hello HopefulAuthor,

Thanks for you reply. Yes I will post some pics this wknd - need to get my digi-cam all set up - and as always it's a pain-in-the-*** - mostly cause it's old (only 2 yrs old !!).

In response to your question - the plant is growing outdoors, gets a reasonable amount of sun + I keep mulching it with "home-made mulch" from my kitchen crap - left to "stew" for about 6 mos or so. When it looks nice and black I add it to the lemon plant. This I hope is a treat for the plant as opposed to a "eat your broccoli" type of thing!!

I'm sort of hesitant to use chem. fertilizers since I want the plant to live it's life. I don't want to "force" it to fruit, it would be nice if it did though!!

The reason that I'm so attached to this plant is because it represents almost to the day the time I met my gf (- now wife), so it sort of "represents our life together" !!

I guess I'm going nuts in my middle-age - but thats OK!

Thanks,
RSK.
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birdsnblooms
18 years ago
RSK, that sounds so romantic..you and your honey's tree..One day when it's huge and several fruit grow, you'll have a lot of memories eating each lemon.
Or if there's problems, you can always throw them at each other..LOL>..J/k hope you're a person with a sense of humor..LOL
So you don't use non-organic fertiizers..I'm sure your mulch will hlep a lot..What about fish emulsions or other organic fertilizers? I wouldn't push for fruit either..it'll fruit when it's ready. Good luck, Toni
eddiethek
18 years ago
Hi. The "violet/black new leaves" suggest a lemon, not a lime. When your lemon begins to put out buds (perhaps still years away, or maybe soon) you will note that the buds will also have a violet/black/pink/purple tint. All seedlings seem to have thorns at this early stage, so their presence probably won't help identify the variety of lemon right now. As the fruit was from the supermarket, it was probably a Lisbon or a Eureka. The adult Lisbon tree is thornier than the adult Eureka tree. If a seed comes true, it will be true to the fruit variety, regardless of what rootstock the mother tree was growing on, if any. It is my understanding from others who have posted here that pruning an immature seedling will delay, not expedite, its blooming and eventual fruit production. Grafting to get fruit sooner refers to grafting a bud or cutting from a producing tree, not a young seedling. Hang in there, taking good care of your tree, and do let us know when it finally starts to put out buds!
jessiac_3
18 years ago
You can always grab a fresh leaf off of the tree and break it in half...if it smells like lemons, it's a lemon tree. If is smells like limes, it's a lime tree.

Jessica
birdsnblooms
18 years ago
I agree...lemon leaves are quite fragrant..never smelled lime leaves but haven't tried to experiment..
When I grew lemon from seed it was more fragrant than mature trees I've purchased..Toni
pecanman
18 years ago
All citrus leaves have a citrus smell.
birdsnblooms
18 years ago
Pecanman, I have a good sniffer, yet I've never smelled citrus scent on other plants other than lemons..I'll have to try sniffing..lol.. Toni
aliciaaa
18 years ago
hi everyone you guys seem to know your way around lemon/lime plants so i wondering if you had any tips for me. i took a lemon from the supermarket i had lying around and planted some seeds from it. now i have no green thumb so i was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to care for this plant ( I planted it somewhere near the beggining of May/June and it is now around 7' tall and being grown indoors)
User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I have grown a lime tree from a seed actually two in the same pot.It is 10" tall and very healthy looking,should I trim it or let it grow.My lady friend wants to Bonsai the tree.So should it be pruned.I live in Northern BC Canada
Thanks,Lee
poncirusguy6b452xx
6 years ago
sunshine That is an incredible amount of growth for 2.5 months. They look great. Do you use a heating pad an what kind of lights are they under. My Seville sour orange sprouted about 5 weeks ago and hase 2 true leaves on it.

Steve
sunshine (zone 6a, Ontario,Canada)
6 years ago
Steve, the seedlings get special treatment, you see them on piano bench, my 8 year old daughter places them on both sides on the piano during her practice:)) she thinks they love the music:)) I cannot argue with that:)) Humor aside, they grow under these lights bought from hardware store, light is on for about 12 hours:

My peach seedlings have sprouted and growing under the light.
sunshine (zone 6a, Ontario,Canada)
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Steve, one more thing, I don't use heating pad, they are in the kitchen, my kitchen is warmer than any other rooms in my home.
poncirusguy6b452xx
6 years ago
The warmer kitchen is probably the reason. I heat my house to about 60/65. My plants seem to take forever to do anything until they get about 6 inches tall and then they take off. I also use potting soil from my customers when I clean out their potted plants at the end of the year. The soil gets replaced at the end of the 3rd year and I start it's fourth year with my plants.I do feed it though but that might make a difference anyway.

Steve
Kelley_GA8a
6 years ago
Sunshine, your seedlings are huge!! My key limes are about 8 months old and this one is the larger of the two:
devsense
6 years ago
Herez my seed grown lime 1.5yr old , i pruned twice lopped off a feet each time , wanted to give it a tree form still think the central stem is too high . Its the middle plant.
Viv
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago

I am growing my first lemon tree from seed. Its been almost 2 years since I started it. However it is still very tiny! It is driving me crazy. I fertilize it with a citrus fertilizer as directed. I also have it under a grow light during the day. I even turn the pot daily so it doesn’t grow lopsided. My poor thing is only 5.5 inches tall! I don’t know what else to do to help it grow more. Any suggestions??
poncirusguy6b452xx
5 years ago
Plant another 50 seeds and grow the bet ones at the end of the year. You should en up with a nice tree.

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Steve
HU-574628029
4 years ago
I was looking for suggestions about pruning my lemon tree because I thought it was getting too tall, but according to what I have just read I guess i’ll Let it continue to grow. It was started from an overripe lemon that I had about 3 years ago and right now it is almost. 4 feet tall. I pinched it back several times in the past to try making it bushier which it did and now it is growing rapidly again. Hopefully if I let it grow I will get some fruit to go with the beautiful foliage.
HU-680118165
9 months ago
the stems or trunk is too small for heavy limbs and leaves - i love it but don't know what to do