When life gives you lemons, you grow trees out of them

Happy Earth Day! By now it’s the 50th anniversary. Earth Day is a reminder of steps and actions that we take in order to protect the environment. It’s a weird time right now, since the COVID-19 pandemic has the whole world on lockdown in order to stop the spread of the novel virus. While the pollution seems to have cleared up since we can’t really go anywhere, it’s still a dark time for many folks. If you want to liven up your quarantine a little bit, then consider sprouting a lemon tree from a seed. It’s a great way to celebrate Earth Day as well.

How to grow a lemon tree

Lockdown is hard for many. I find that nurturing plants with love and care makes it a little more bearable. You can easily do that with seeds from a lemon.

1. Make sure the lemon is organic. If it’s non-organic, chances are that it has been genetically engineered to be a dud. Organic Meyer lemons are good to get seeds from.
2. Wash the seed throughly to get all the sugar, juice, and pulp off. Keep it wet, and don’t let it dry.
3. In a 3-inch pot with fertile soil, make a half-inch dent in with your finger. Drop the seed in and cover it with soil.
4. Put plastic wrap over it and secure it with a rubber band. Poke holes with a pencil so that it ventilates.
5. Keep the pot in a sunny spot.
6. In a couple of weeks, a green sprout should emerge.
7. Remove the plastic wrap and gently drip water on it to keep it moist.
8. When it has grown enough, transfer to a bigger pot. I put it in a 5-inch pot before transferring again.
9. Keep watering your new baby lemon tree, and make sure the soil is damp.

There are some precautions to take in order to protect your tree. Once the leaves sprout more, the tree doesn’t like too much direct sunlight. The leaves slowly turned into an unsightly pale green color, or even white in the sun. The answers online seemed to be conflicting on what it could be. My guess in this case was sunburn. I took the plant inside and kept out of direct light. It does seem to react well with a purple grow light, however. Other than that, the tree seems to be resistant to bugs and pests.

It’s also not clear if this tree will produce lemons of its own. From what I could gather, it takes a few years before it forms flowers.

This tree ended up growing 18 inches in a year! I was thrilled every time it sprouted a new set of leaves. Then it slowed down by quite a bit, probably because there’s no more room in the pot for the roots to keep growing. Pretty soon I’ll need to transfer it yet again.

The young tree gives you more oxygen, and you get something nice to liven up your home. It’s a win-win situation. Let me know how growing a tree was for you!