How to care for limes at home: growing from seeds, cuttings

If you want to grow a small citrus plant, you need to know that caring for limes at home is not difficult. You just need to learn some rules. In open ground, Russians will not be able to receive the fruits of this tree, since temperatures of 1-2 degrees are detrimental to shoots and leaves. The plant is grown in large pots at home. The height of the tree is no more than 2 m, the leaves have a characteristic lemon scent.

Attention! Fragrant buds and ovaries on lime at home are formed all year round.

Features of growing lime at home

The climatic conditions of Russia are not suitable for growing citrus trees and shrubs (lime is no exception) in open ground. Most often, plantings are planned in specially equipped greenhouses or at home.The fact is that on an evergreen plant, flowering and bud formation occur throughout the year. Flowers appear in the spring, and fruits begin to ripen at home by the New Year.

Many indoor flower lovers grow lime as a potted plant. Of course, not every lime can be grown at home. Experienced gardeners recommend these varieties.

Palestinian
Mexican
Lime Tahiti
Kaffir lime or Kaffir lime
Calamansi (musk)
Rangipur
Limequat (Limonella)
Pomeranian (Limetta)

To propagate and grow citrus fruits at home, use seeds or cuttings.

How to grow lime from a seed

For propagation, you can use varietal seeds or take seeds from lime fruits purchased in the store. Only in the latter case is it not worth dreaming about a varietal seedling.

Preparing the seeds

For propagation at home, you need to select seeds from ripe fruits. The seed must be treated carefully: there should be no damage or stains on the seeds.

Rinse the selected seeds with water at room temperature to remove any remaining pulp. Place in humic fertilizer for 30 minutes, then spread the seeds on a dry cloth and dry.

Preparing the soil and planting site

Fill the container for seedlings (volume - at least 2 liters) with special soil intended for growing citrus fruits. Experienced gardeners advise adding 20% coarse river sand to the soil, previously washed to remove silt.

Comment! Since home limes have a negative attitude towards transplantation, it is advisable to immediately grow each seedling separately.

If you are unable to purchase special soil, you can make your own soil mixture.A little sand is added to the garden soil to make the soil loose, water- and breathable.

The presence of a drainage layer is important for growing lime at home from seed. Small pieces of brick and expanded clay are used as drainage. A layer of 2 cm is poured, and a nutritious soil mixture is placed on top.

Important! Lime flower pots should have drainage holes.

Planting a seed

To prevent the embryo from dying out, the seed is buried 1 cm. The top of the pot is covered with glass or film to create a greenhouse effect. This procedure will speed up the germination of planting material.

The pot is placed on a bright window in a room where the temperature is at least 25 degrees. As a rule, when growing lime from a seed at home, sprouts appear within 2-2.5 weeks if the desired temperature is maintained. At low rates, germination extends to 2 months.

Advice! To prevent the sprout from dying, you need to open the film to allow oxygen to enter. Water with a spray bottle when the top layer of soil dries out.

Sometimes when planting, for fear of lack of germination of seeds, 2-3 pieces are planted in one container. It is not recommended to replant, as well as to pull out seedlings, otherwise the root system can be damaged. You need to carefully cut off the weak seedlings with scissors, leaving the strongest ones.

As soon as the sprouts appear, remove the cover and place the pots in a bright window where there are no drafts. If a stable temperature has established on the balcony or loggia within 19-20 degrees, pots of lime grown from the seed are taken there. Water the seedlings a little every day. Lime grown at home does not tolerate dry air, so the seedling needs to be sprayed with warm water from a sprayer.

Sometimes, after a few months, several sprouts may appear from one seed. There’s nothing wrong with that, that’s how all citrus fruits work. After 2-3 true leaves grow on the seedling, the strongest shoot is selected and the rest are removed.

During the year, the lime tree is grown at home, in one container. Then you will have to transplant the seedling into a larger pot (from 5 to 10 liters). Transplantation is carried out using the transshipment method so as not to damage the roots. The root collar should not be buried.

Important! The soil for growing lime at home is the same as for planting seeds. A drainage layer is required!

How to grow lime from cuttings at home

Limes can be propagated not only by seeds, but also by cuttings. This planting material can be cut from your own plants or borrowed from friends.

Selection of containers and soil

For planting at home, choose a deep pot so that there is enough space for the growth of the root system. The bottom of the seat is filled with 2-3 cm of expanded clay to ensure drainage.

The rest of the pot is filled with soil. As with propagating limes from seeds, it is best to buy special soil for citrus plants at the store. It must be mixed with washed river sand (about 20% of the volume) to ensure looseness, moisture and breathability.

Harvesting cuttings

Young branches of the mother plant are used to make cuttings. Only in this case will the harvesting produce a good root system. You need to wear gloves when working, the lime tree is prickly at home. Last year's branches are cut into pieces 8-14 cm long. Each of them should have at least 4-5 buds.The lower cut is made at an angle of 45 degrees, the upper cut at an angle of 90 degrees. You need to leave 3 leaves on the cuttings.

Important! Cut the lime stalks with a sharp knife so as not to break the bark.

The lower cut of the cutting must be treated with any means to stimulate root formation. You can take:

"Kornevin";
"Heteroauxin";
charcoal.

To prevent the cutting from drying out, the top cut must be covered with garden varnish.

Planting cuttings and care

Moisten the soil well in the pot and place the cutting with a sharp cut in the center at a slight angle. Planting depth – no more than 1.5-2 cm.

For better germination at home, a pot of lime is covered with film to speed up root formation. You can use a cut plastic bottle for this purpose.

Place the container in good lighting in a room at a temperature of 25 degrees. But direct sunlight should not fall on the cutting so that the plant does not get burned. Lime cuttings are sprayed with warm water twice daily and watered as needed.

Good roots usually appear after 30 days. After this, you need to transfer it to a new pot. You need to work carefully so as not to damage the root system.

Advice! While the cutting takes root, it is kept under a film and ventilated daily. Before transshipment, it is necessary to adapt the seedlings, increasing the time the lime stays without shelter.

How to care for lime

Growing indoor limes at home and caring for them is not so simple, since the plant is finicky. In order not to lose the lime tree, you need to follow the specifics of agricultural technology and create optimal conditions for the potted crop. Moreover, they directly depend on the time of year.

Optimal growing conditions

In its natural environment, this citrus plant is found in tropical climates. This should be taken into account when creating conditions for home limes. These parameters include:

illumination;
choosing a place to plant limes;
temperature regime;
watering and air humidity to the apartment.

Lighting and location selection

Lime is a tropical plant, so it has a special relationship with lighting at any time of the year. The room where the citrus tree will stand should be bright. Unfortunately, windows are not always located well.

Where to place the lime tree:

Lime loves light; it is best to choose a western or eastern window to place the plant at home.
If the windows face south, then the pot is placed in the depths, away from the scorching rays of the sun.
If the room is northern, then the plant will not have enough light, so you will have to install additional lighting in the form of phytolamps.

Comment! If there is less than 10-12 hours of daylight, the lime may begin to drop leaves, flowers and fruits.

Another nuance that novice gardeners should pay attention to. At home, lime gets used to a certain place; it doesn’t like it at all if the pot is moved. Very often, lime starts to hurt after changing places.

Temperature

Maintaining the temperature in the room where the pot of lime is located will depend on the period of development of the plant and the time of year:

The active growing season of the plant lasts from March to October. At this time, for lime grown at home, the recommended temperature is 20-35 degrees.
From October to March, lime begins a period of comparative dormancy, so the plant needs a cool temperature of 15 to 18 degrees.

This temperature regime will contribute to the timely formation of flower buds, so fruiting will be good.

Air humidity

A tropical plant does not develop well if the indoor air is dry. That is why in the warm season the plant is bathed 2-3 times a month. In a city apartment you can use a shower, in the village - spraying from a spray bottle.

Warning! To avoid overfilling the soil, cover the surface of the pot with film.

In winter, home-grown limes require less spraying. Once a month is enough.

It is not necessary to arrange a shower to humidify the air. A pot of lime can be placed in a wide tray on a small base, filled with expanded clay or sphagnum. Water is poured directly into the tray, and as it evaporates, it humidifies the air.

Watering

Despite its tropical origin, lime does not tolerate soil that is too damp, reminiscent of a swamp. Water limes grown at home from seeds or cuttings as needed. It’s easy to tell when a lime is thirsty: the top layer of soil becomes dry.

The plant especially needs timely hydration during the active growing season, namely from spring to autumn. In winter, watering is reduced (no more than 3 times a month), but not stopped completely.

Advice! To water and spray limes, use soft, settled water at room temperature. Rain or melt water works very well on the plant.

Top dressing

Any indoor plants need timely feeding, including lime. During development, the root system draws all nutrients from the soil. If you do not feed the lime tree at a certain time, the plant will begin to get sick and be damaged more quickly by pests.Of course, one cannot even dream of any harvest.

Spring and autumn are the time of active growing season and feeding of domestic trees with organic matter or mineral fertilizers:

Plants need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. These fertilizers are applied in equal proportions. Many gardeners use special formulations designed for citrus plants for feeding.
If you use organic matter, then mullein solution is best.
In order for the plant to develop normally, fertilizing is carried out regularly every 14-15 days during the period of active growth, flowering, setting and filling of fruits.
In winter, during a period of relative dormancy, fertilizing is carried out every 30-45 days so that the lime has time to form new flower buds.

Trimming

Lime grown at home needs timely pruning at different periods of development. Moreover, work should begin on a young tree, thereby stimulating the growth of lateral shoots on the branches.

When the lime is one year old, it is necessary to trim each branch by a third of its length. In subsequent years, formative and sanitary pruning will be required. These events are held every year.

All types of pruning are necessary to ensure that the crown does not become thickened. This will save your homemade lime from many problems, including diseases and pests.

A lime with a beautifully formed crown bears fruit better and will delight its owners not only with huge fragrant buds, but also with bright green fruits throughout the year.

The picture below shows a diagram of pruning limes grown in pots at home at different stages of life.

Transfer

Every lover of indoor plants is well aware that it is impossible to grow a tree in one pot for a long time.Moreover, lime at home can grow for up to 80 years.

Young plants up to 5-6 years old should be replanted every year before the active awakening of lime begins. This is the end of winter - the beginning of spring.

Older lime trees at home do not need to be replanted every year. The signal for work is the roots that have grown through the drainage holes. The plant is placed in a large pot using the transfer method and the top layer of soil is replaced.

As with propagation by seeds or cuttings, nutritious soil is taken for transplantation. This can be a ready-made composition for citrus fruits or made independently. In this case, the mixture should consist of equal parts of turf, leaf soil, humus and sand.

Attention! When preparing the soil, you need to pay attention to the following qualities:

looseness;
ease;
moisture and breathability.

Transplant rules:

For transplantation, take a pot whose diameter is 2-3 cm wider. Clay or plastic containers are suitable. Several drainage holes are made in each container to prevent stagnation of water.
The bottom is filled with drainage: expanded clay, broken brick, polystyrene foam or stones. The layer should be at least 2-3 cm.
Then pour dry manure in a 1 cm layer and prepared soil to a third of the height of the pot.
In an old container, you need to water the plant so that the water saturates all the soil. Remove the lime from the pot, transfer it to a new container and add soil.
It is not recommended to deepen the plant; the root system should be close to the surface, and the root collar should be above the soil surface.
After transplanting, the lime is watered and removed for 1-2 days in partial shade so that the plant does not wither.

Important! If further care of the lime at home after transplantation is organized correctly, the leaves will not fall off.

Will limes bear fruit from the seed?

When growing limes from seeds at home, gardeners dream of getting tasty and healthy fruits with the aroma of lemons. It should be noted that with the creation of optimal growing conditions and maximum compliance with agrotechnical standards, the first flowers and then fruits on the lime will appear in 6-10 years.

Diseases and treatment of homemade lime

Lyme at home, as well as in open ground, can become sick and be affected by pests. Most often this is:

spider mite;
scale insect;
mealybug.

You can understand that a plant has been visited by pests by the following signs:

Deformation, yellowing, and then falling of the leaves occurs.
The upper side of the leaf blade is covered with a gray or black coating.
Shoots and leaves become sticky.
Very small red or tan-colored bugs appear on the plant.
The underside of the leaf is covered with cobwebs or white foam.
Little or no flowering occurs.

To combat pests, if there are only a few of them, you can use a folk remedy: dissolve laundry soap in water and spray the tree. In case of a massive pest invasion, it is better to use chemicals, for example, Actellik and Aktara or others.

If we talk about diseases, homoz is considered the most dangerous for indoor limes. For various reasons, cracks appear on the shoots, through which sticky liquid begins to leak. After some time, the shoot begins to dry out, which leads to the death of the tree.

There are several causes of the disease:

failure to comply with planting rules;
excessive watering;
use for cold water irrigation.

To save the lime, you need to spray those areas where signs of the disease are noticed with a solution of copper sulfate (3%). Then coat with copper sulfate or lime paste.

Conclusion

Caring for limes at home, if you study the rules of agricultural techniques well and strictly follow them, is not so difficult. As a result, you can grow a tree up to 1.5 m high, which will produce fragrant and healthy fruits.