By ShowMeStepByStepPublished Updated
Based on a video by Project Diaries.
This is Project Diaries walking through how to grow a lemon tree from seed, start to seedling, with a clean paper-towel method that lets you watch every seed sprout before it hits the soil. The seeds inside a supermarket lemon are ready to grow the day you cut the fruit. Rinse them, keep them damp, and most of them push out a root within a couple of weeks.
A lemon grown from seed will not fruit for years, and it may not match the parent lemon, but that is not why you do it. A row of glossy citrus seedlings on the windowsill smells amazing and costs you nothing but a lemon you were already going to use. Once you are hooked, try growing a mango tree from seed and an avocado from seed the same way.
For more free plants from the kitchen, here is how to grow a pineapple from its top and how to regrow green onions in a glass of water. A sunny sill and a few scraps go a long way.
Citrus is just the start. These grow from a seed or pit the same way: grow a cherry tree from seed, grow a peach tree from a pit, and grow an apple tree from seed.
One to three weeks on a damp paper towel in a sealed bag. Some seeds from the same lemon push a root out in seven days and others take a month, so give the slow ones extra time before you write them off.
No, the opposite. Fresh seeds straight from a cut lemon sprout best, and a dried-out seed often never wakes up. Rinse the pulp off and get them onto a damp towel the same day you cut the fruit.
It speeds things up but it is fiddly and completely optional. Peeling the thin papery coat lets water reach the seed faster. If you would rather not risk damaging the seed, an overnight soak in room-temperature water softens the shell just as well.
Eventually, but expect several years, and the fruit may not match the lemon you took the seed from. Citrus grown from seed does not come true to the parent. Most people grow these for the glossy leaves and the smell rather than for a harvest.
The towel is too wet or the pulp was not fully rinsed off. Sugar left on the seed feeds mould in a sealed bag. Wring the towel until it is damp rather than dripping, and rinse each seed clean before it goes in.
You can, but you lose the ability to see what is happening. The paper towel method tells you which seeds have taken before you commit a pot to each one, so you are not watering bare soil for a month wondering whether anything is alive down there.
8 steps · about 6 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Slice a lemon in half and dig the seeds out of the wedges with the tip of a knife or your fingers. One lemon gives you plenty, so pull out every seed you can find. Fresh seeds straight from the fruit sprout best, so do this the same day you cut the lemon.
Tip
Watch this step Organic lemons are the safer bet. Some conventional citrus is grown from trees whose seeds will not sprout true, and a few are treated to resist sprouting.
Rinse the pulp and juice off the seeds so they do not get moldy later. Then sort through them and keep the plump, full ones. Toss anything thin, flat, or shriveled, since those are unlikely to grow. A quick soak in room-temperature water overnight helps soften the shell.
Tip
Watch this step Keep the seeds damp from here on. A lemon seed that dries out completely goes dormant or dies, so do not leave them out on the counter.
Wet a paper towel, wring out the drips, and spread the seeds across one half. If you want faster sprouting, peel the thin papery shell off each seed first, but that is fussy and optional. The damp towel does the real work by keeping the seeds at steady moisture.
Tip
Watch this step Peeling the outer shell can cut germination time in half, but go slow. The seed inside bruises easily, so only try it if you have spare seeds.
Fold the towel over the seeds and slide it into a zip-top bag or a lidded container. Seal it and set it somewhere warm, like the top of the fridge or a sunny shelf. The bag holds humidity so the seeds stay damp without you fussing over them every day.
Tip
Watch this step Check the towel every few days. It should stay damp, not dripping. Add a splash of water if it dries, and pour off any pooled water if it is too wet.
In one to three weeks a small white root pushes out of each seed. That is your signal a seed has taken. Some sprout fast and some lag, so give the slow ones extra time before you give up on them. Once you see roots, it is time to move them to soil.
Tip
Watch this step Handle sprouted seeds by the shell, not the root. That little white root is fragile and snapping it sets the seedling back or kills it.
Fill a small pot with moist potting mix and poke a hole about a half inch deep. Set the seed in root-side down and cover it lightly. One seed per small pot keeps the roots from tangling. Water gently so you do not wash the seed out of place.
Tip
Watch this step A pot with drainage holes matters here. Citrus roots rot in soggy soil, so let extra water run out the bottom rather than sit at the roots.
Set the pots on the warmest, brightest windowsill you have. A south-facing window is ideal. Keep the soil damp but not wet, and in a week or two a green shoot breaks the surface. Warmth and light are what turn a sprouted seed into a real seedling.
Tip
Watch this step Group the pots together to hold humidity around the young shoots, and turn them every few days so the seedlings grow straight toward the light.
As the seedlings put out their first true leaves, thin each pot down to the single strongest plant. Keep them in bright light, feed lightly once they are established, and pot up as they outgrow their homes. A seed-grown lemon takes years to fruit, but you have a real citrus tree started from a piece of fruit.
Tip
Watch this step Crush a leaf between your fingers. That bright lemon smell is the payoff and a quick way to know your seedling is a true citrus.
Keep going
How to Grow an Apple Tree from Seed (Step by Step)
How to Grow a Lemon Tree from Seed
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Question 1 of 5
Why rinse the pulp off lemon seeds before sprouting them?
Quick reference
5 questions, answers, and one-line explanations. Tap to expand.
1.Why rinse the pulp off lemon seeds before sprouting them?
Answer: It keeps them from molding while they sit damp
Leftover pulp and juice feed mold once seeds sit in a wet towel.
2.Which seeds are worth keeping after you sort them?
Answer: The plump, full ones with no shriveling
Thin or shriveled seeds rarely hold enough reserves to root.
3.What is the first visible sign a lemon seed has taken?
Answer: A small white root pushing out of it
The root always comes first; the shoot appears after potting.
4.How do you set a sprouted seed into its pot?
Answer: About half an inch deep, root pointing down
A shallow hole with the root down lets the shoot reach light fast.
5.Why thin each pot down to the single strongest seedling?
Answer: So the roots do not compete and tangle
One plant per pot gets the whole root run instead of splitting it.
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