2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Lemon (lat. Citrus limon) - a species of undersized trees of the genus Citrus of the Rutovye family. The homeland of the plant is considered to be China and India, as well as the Pacific tropical islands. In nature, lemon is practically not found. Currently, lemon is cultivated in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Portugal and other countries with warm climates. In Russia, lemon is grown as a room culture.
Characteristics of culture
Lemon is an evergreen tree up to 8 m high with a pyramidal or spreading crown and shoots with or without thorns. The bark on perennial branches is gray, with cracks over the entire surface; young branches are smooth, reddish-purple. Leaves are green, entire, leathery, glossy, oblong-ovate or broadly oval, fragrant, up to 15 cm long, pointed at the ends; on the underside - light green, matte. The leaves sit on short, winged or wingless petioles.
Flowers are small, paired or single, axillary. Calyx indistinctly dentate, corolla five-membered. The petals are creamy or snow-white, purple or pink on the outside, naked, have a pleasant refreshing aroma. The fruit is oval or ovoid, up to 6 cm in diameter, with snarled ends, at the top there is a kind of "nipple", usually light yellow. The crust is difficult to separate, lumpy, containing a huge amount of glands with essential oil. The pulp of the fruit is yellow or yellow-green, very sour. Seeds are white or yellowish, ovoid, sometimes slightly flattened.
Growing conditions
Lemon is a plant demanding heat and light. When growing crops in room conditions, the optimum air temperature is 15-18C. At low temperatures, lemons are stunted and no buds are formed. Winter temperatures for a plant are 12-13C. Such wintering will have a positive effect on future fruiting.
The location is preferably sunny with diffused light, therefore western and eastern windows are ideal for lemon. In hot hours, the plants shade. Air humidity at 20C should be 60-70%. When the culture is kept in rooms with dry air, it is attacked by various pests, for example, scale insects and ticks.
Reproduction and planting
Lemons are propagated by seeds, cuttings, layering and grafting. Seeds are sown in seedling containers with subsequent picking or separate pots. Lemon shoots appear in 35-40 days. Seedlings dive in the phase of 4-5 true leaves, during transplanting it is necessary to pinch the taproot, otherwise it will curl at the bottom of the container in rings. It is pinching that gives impetus to strong branching. Lemons grown by sowing seeds begin to bear fruit only at 8-12 years, and sometimes much later. To accelerate the onset of fruiting, seedlings are grafted. Shoots of fruiting specimens are used as a stock.
Most often, lemons are propagated by cuttings. Cuttings are cut from healthy shoots that have not yet become salted. Each cutting should have 2-3 well-developed buds. Cutting length varies from 8 to 12 cm. Cuttings can be carried out at any time of the year, but spring cuttings give the best results. Cuttings are rooted in pots filled with garden soil and sand, taken in equal proportions. Good drainage is also required. It is not forbidden to root the cuttings in a glass of water, but in this case the container is placed in an intensely lit place.
Cuttings take root in 2-3 weeks (subject to optimal conditions). To speed up the process, cuttings must be treated with growth stimulants. The soil in the pots is regularly moistened, and warm water is used for irrigation. With the appearance of the root system, young plants are transplanted into pots with a diameter of at least 12-13 cm. The substrate is made up of leafy and sod land, sand and decomposed manure in a ratio of 1: 2: 0, 5: 1. In the first year, it is desirable to carry out three transshipments without destroying the earthen coma: the first transshipment is carried out in the spring, the second - at the beginning of summer, the third - in the second decade of August.
Care
Watering should be regular. For irrigation, it is recommended to use spring water or water from wells, chlorinated water can harm plants. In winter, the amount of watering is reduced, but overdrying of the earthen coma should not be allowed, otherwise the lemon leaves will begin to curl and fall off.
Fertilize lemons in the first half of summer. Liquid complex fertilizers are used, they increase the sugar content of the fruit, and also reduce the bitter taste inherent in most citrus fruits grown at home. The older the plants, the more often they need to be fertilized, and the frequency of fertilizing is also increased when growing crops under artificial lighting.
Lemons also need formative pruning. This procedure can be carried out at any time of the year, but in spring it is preferable. The grafted specimens are rounded. Anti-aging pruning is carried out no earlier than 14-20 years.
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Callistemon lemon belongs to a family called myrtle. In Latin, the name of this plant sounds like this: Callistemon citrinus. As for the name of the family itself, in Latin it will be like this: Myrtaceae. Description of lemon callistemon It is worth noting that not much effort is required for the favorable development of this plant.
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