Lemon and Lime Seed - Help?

 I have some lemon and lime seeds. What kind of advice can you give me on
starting them?

chaz-

 I have taken several citrus courses in the past month. I got hooked on
oranges. One of the courses said to take the citrus seed from the fruit
(fresh)(if you can't plant immediately, put in a plastic bag with some
moisture in the refrigerator and wait until you can) and plant in soil,
keep moist and warm at a minimum of 65 degrees F. Putting them in an
oven (an off oven ) with the door works. I planted:

1. Nu Clementine Mandarin. Bright orange flesh with a good taste on a
thin skinned tangerine.

2. Pong Koa Manadrin. A large fruit for a mandarin. The fruit is very
uniform in shape, size and color (a yellow-orange color) and has a
fairly thin peel. The fruit quality is outstanding-crisp, sweet, and
flavorful. It has a clear medium orange flesh, juicy, sweet and very
full flavored. Is cold hardy.

3. Changsha tangerine produces a brilliant orange, sweet, but acidic
fruit that is seedy. Ripens Oct - Jan and is highly freeze resistant.
Groes true from seed.

4. A mystery orange of Mexican descent

In 30 days, the Nu Clementine, Pong Koa and Changsha all germinated and
are in bright light in a window sill (about 2 1/2 -3 inches tall). They
are photosynthesizing and the leaves are getting bigger.

TANGERINE, MANDARIN, TANGELO, SATSUMA

Citrus are evergreen trees and shrubs, with glossy green leaves
year-round, and many also offer fragrant blooms. Plant them in an area
that receives at least ½ day of sun; citrus do not require full sun as
most other fruit trees do. The size of the trees varies depending on the
variety, from medium shrub to large tree. They do not need pollinators.
Pay close attention to the freeze tolerance of each variety, for freeze
tolerance varies. Citrus cannot tolerate standing water. =


Satsumas are a variety of tangerine. Buy early, mid and late season
varieties to have months of ripe fruit harvests. All Satsumas are cold
tolerant to at least 26 degrees and perhaps more. They grow in a weeping
posture and can become about 10' tall and 10' wide. =


J
http://www.celestialhabitats.com  (I have 6 good citrus links on this
site)



chaz wrote:

Celestial Habitats by J. Kolenovsky
2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
ô¿ô - http://www.celestialhabitats.com  - business
ô¿ô - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html  - personal

 
Hi!  I read the responses to your post and am I baffled!  I would
swear that I was taught that you CAN grow the seeds but the plant/tree
won't bear, and that it had to be grafted to a base tree in order to
have the graft bear. Tell me I'm wrong?  Tell me I'm right?

Mike
Picture Rocks, AZ

 Mike, from the 2 courses I took, one can grow a tree from seed and it
will bear fruit. One has to wait till the fruit is evaluated to see if
the seed was true. Different species have different characteristics.
Grafting can combine good characteristics from different plants. A lot
of citrus is grown on "trifoliate rootstock" which is grafted on for its
cold tolerance.

Cold Hardy Citrus
As citrus trees are basically subtropical or tropical I am often asked
for information regarding their cold hardiness. Most citrus will not
tolerate temperatures below -2 C. For those of you who live in regions
where the winter chill regularly falls below this temperature there are
many preventative measures and cultural practices you can follow to grow
citrus successfully.

Cold Hardy Variety Selections

Trifoliate orange is an inedible citrus used as a rootstock. It
withstands the lowest temperatures of all citrus followed by kumquat,
satsuma mandarin, calamondin, mandarin, orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime
and citron. Considered cold hardy to about -15°F, its range of
cultivation can be extended into zone 5 if it is planted in a sheltered
location and perhaps given some extra protection. Grapefruit, lemon,
lime and citron being cold sensitive. Satsuma and kumquats are the most
prominent of the cold hardy citrus.

Cold Hardy Sweet Oranges
Hamlin and Navel Oranges are the most cold tolerant of the oranges. If
on trifoliate rootstock they exhibit the maximum cold-hardiness, with
swingle and sour orange following.

Cold Hardy Mandarins
The Sunburst Mandarin is one of the most cold hardy again with maximum
cold hardiness being achieved when budded onto trifoliata or sour orange
rootstock.
Satsuma Mandarins are the most cold-tolerant of commercial citrus, with
mature dormant trees having survived temperatures as low as -9C with
serious injury. The Satsuma is adapted to regions that are too cold for
most other citrus. The Satsuma tree is vigorous, of medium size and very
productive. Maximum cold hardiness is achieved when budded onto
trifoliate rootstock.

Cold Hardy Kumquats
Kumquats exceed even satsuma in terms of cold-hardiness being able to
sustain temperatures as low as -12C when dormant. Trifolate is the
recommended rootstock when growing kumquats in cold areas.

Planting site
When planting in cooler climates give some thought to the planting site.
Cold air drains downhill so higher elevations are somewhat warmer than
sites at the bottom of a slope. Planting citrus near a house or other
building will also offer protection. The building will act as a
windbreak, forcing cold air up and over it and therefore over the citrus
also. The house itself radiates considerable heat some of which will be
absorbed by the plants.

Cultural Practices
The soil under and around cold sensitive trees should be free of weeds
and mulch. These act as insulators preventing warmth from the sun from
entering the soil during the day. This warmth is stores in the soil for
release during the night. A clear surface allows maximum heat absorption
during the day and maximum heat radiation at night. It is also
recommended that soil be kept moist as it will absorb more heat than a
dry soil. Keeping your trees strong and healthy through good care will
also help them to withstand cold temperatures.

Cold Protection
For more information on how to protect your trees during winter visit
the July 2001 newsletter. =


Fahrenheit to Celsius Conversion Chart
For those of you in cooler climates you may find this chart interesting
when referring to text printed in the USA. It is a simple
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pub/temp2.htm

Kumquats - The cold hardy Jewels of the Citrus Family
Many people think of kumquats as a tart fruit that is only used in
preserves. However their are two varieties, the Nagami and Meiwa that
are bite-size fruit eaten skin and all. They have a wonderful
combination of tangy and sweet flavours. They are becoming more and more
common on the supermarket shelves and are an ideal snack for school