Our children love trying to grow plants from seeds that they find in the food that they eat. So much so that we end up germinating seeds all year around. Citrus seeds are always very interesting to try and germinate, it’s not all always easy but once you learn how it is a lot of fun. Here are some helpful tips and tricks we have learned over the years that will make growing a lemon tree from seed a whole lot easier.

1 Type of Lemon to Use.
You should always use organic fruit when trying to germinate their seeds. Fruits that are not organic can be treated with chemicals to keep them for either making seeds or to keep their seeds from germinating. Organic fruits are not treated the same way which makes them more likely to germinate. In our experience organic fruits always germinate.

2 Opening the Seed
Normally you can just plant a seed in the ground and it will grow but that is not always the case with lemon seeds. There hard outer shell can make it hard to germinate, but by removing the shell it in almost certain to not only germinate but it will also germinate faster. It will also keep the outer shell from rotting and causing the inner seeds to rot. You can carefully remove the seed by using a pair of nail clippers and clipping a very small piece on the thick bottom part of the seed. Making the smallest cut you can as to don’t damage the seed. The take your finger nail or a small knife carefully peel the seed away.

3 Germinating
Lemon seeds seed to be very warm to germinate. You can germinated them between a moist folded paper towel and place it in a small glass container or in a plastic zip lock bag and placing it in a warm and dark place. The best places we have found to germinate lemon seeds are in closet next to the boiler, in the cabinet next tot eh dish washer, next to the fire place with a pilot that stays in or one that is use often, and on top of the refrigerator.

4 Germination Problems
Lemon seeds take about a week or less to germinate. If you don’t start to see growth after a week the mostly likely reason would be that seeds aren’t warm enough. You can try moving the seeds to a warmer location or even to a sunny window ledge. If you move them into the sun it is important that you make sure they do not dry out and that you keep them covered with the paper towel to keep the sunlight off of them.