Which citrus worth growing from seed?

3 years ago

I was surprised to learn that key lime is easily grown from seed, and will eventually produce good fruit. Are there any other types of citrus that can be started from seed and expected to produce good fruit in a reasonable amount of time?

Thanks!

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socalnolympia

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

Almost any citrus can be grown from seed and will be likely to produce good or decent fruit.

Some seedless varieties of citrus are triploids (chromosome set) and so if a seed is grown from it, you will most likely get a very similar type of fruit except it will be full of seeds.

Be careful about pollination because if the flowers were pollinated by a different citrus variety, the plant that grows from the seed may turn out to be a hybrid between two different varieties.

Many citrus varieties produce mostly, or almost entirely, nucellar seed, which means the seed is a genetic clone of its parent. This really depends on the variety. In general, almost all oranges produce almost entirely nucellar seed. Most regular lemons and grapefruits might produce around 70% nucellar seeds.

Also be aware that plants that are not grafted onto different special rootstock will take much longer before they begin producing fruit, and the tree will have to reach a bigger size before it begins fruiting. That could mean you have to wait many more years. This is true with most fruit trees, not only citrus.

Growing from seed is kind of complicated and there are many things about that you should probably know. Things that I do not feel like wasting my time here writing, because this question keeps getting brought up over and over again, and nobody ever bothers to waste their time reading answers that were posted in past threads about the same question.

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Comments (6)

norwoodn
3 years ago
No, expect a 5 year wait.
poncirusguy6b452xx
3 years ago
My Meiwa kumquat produced in less than 2 years for 1 of my seed grown trees and 3 trees in less than 3 years. Any small fruited citrus should do acceptably from seed. Anything producing fruits bigger than 1.5 inches will probably not fruit in a container for decades. 5 years wait sounds good but you will have a sizable tree to produce. You will have to wait 5 years for a grafted tree to reach similar size. Seeds are the cost of a fruit. grafted trees are $40 or more with the included shipping costs. Plant a lot of seeds. The learning curve may cost you a lot of trees.

Steve
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Silica
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Every citrus variety grown from seed will eventually produce quality fruit in time. Most oranges and grapefruit requires 7 - 10 years to fruit. Calamondin and Key Lime 2 - 3 years, Mandarins 3 - 5 years to produce fruit. Lemons 5- 7 years.
nmfruit
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you all so much, that is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Members on this forum are the best!
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Keep in mind with a shorter growing season and grown in a container, it will be on the longer side. Grown in the ground in say Florida, on the shorter side. I had a grapefruit hybrid that grew for 14 years and still had not produced one bloom.

I guess it depends on what you consider a 'reasonable' amount of time. Many of the mandarins are satisfying to grow from seed because they can fruit in under 10 years and still fit in a container that can be moved (or at least slid).

There are a few exceptions to varieties that grow true. Among these are:

‘Pineapple’ sweet orange – makes minor variations in seedlings

Meyer lemon (thought to be a hybrid)

Nagami kumquat

Marumi kumquat

Pummelos (Citrus grandis, aka shaddock)

‘Temple’ tangor (aka ‘Royal’)

Clementine mandarin

‘King’ mandarin (tangor)

Poncirus trifoliata

Citron (Citrus medica)

Which citrus worth growing from seed?

socalnolympia

Comments (6)

norwoodn

poncirusguy6b452xx

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nmfruit
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Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A

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Which citrus worth growing from seed?

socalnolympia

Comments (6)

norwoodn

poncirusguy6b452xx

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Silica

nmfruitOriginal Author

Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A

COMPANY

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nmfruit
Original Author