Lemon propagation methods by cuttings
After planting a citrus seed, some people manage to grow a tree, but waiting for good fruits takes years. To speed up the fruiting process is simple by propagating lemon cuttings. This is an affordable way to get fruit at home.
Lemon propagation methods by cuttings
Why graft
Lemon cuttings are carried out with 3 goals:
- grow a fruiting citrus;
- get fruits from an ornamental tree by grafting;
- propagate indoor lemon cuttings.
For the procedure, a lemon stalk is cut and taken home. Then choose a convenient method for producing a productive plant.
We prepare the material
At home, it is recommended to carry out the procedure extremely carefully. It is important not to infect either an adult plant or a shoot. The injured citrus is temporarily placed in isolation and monitored for its health.
Only healthy plants are suitable for cutting cuttings. The cut is carried out as follows:
- Correctly cut it from the main plant, capture up to 3-4 leaves.
- Perform the procedure with clean and disinfected (calcined) instruments.
- The cut site is treated with garden pitch.
- Excess leaves from the branch are removed, and the rest are pruned.
- For acceleration, the cut material is left in a solution of epin or other growth stimulants.
It is important to choose the right period when to cut. You cannot carry out the procedure during the period of active movement of the juice - be sure to wait for the end of active growth. It is advisable to plant the fruit in the warm season, in the middle of spring or early summer.
Sprouting a branch at home
This method is suitable for multiplying the lemon at home and getting a new fruiting plant.
In the first case, the branch is cut from a decorative tree, in the second - from a fruitful variety. Light, loose, nutritious soil is prepared for the branch;
- make 3 layers in a pot: drainage, nutrient layer, moisture-retaining layer (sand, sphagnum moss);
- the thickest nutritious layer;
- planting a lemon cuttings is carried out in damp ground.
It is not recommended to plant several cuttings in one pot. As they grow, they interfere with each other, and planting citrus fruits is not easy without harming them.
A branch from a pruned tree is rooted in the ground. Then greenhouse conditions are created for the young plant:
- covered with foil or polyethylene;
- maintain moisture under the cover;
- illuminate with indirect sunlight;
- make sure that the temperature does not fall below 20 ° C.
Once a day up to 5 minutes. they are ventilated, adapting to the conditions of the room. Every day the time is increased by several minutes. After 10 days, when rooting has occurred, they are exposed from under the cover.
Plants now need regular care. A year later, transplanting into a larger pot is required. Propagation by cuttings requires thorough preparation and adherence to the rules.
We plant a branch on a decorative tree
Grafting will accelerate fruiting
The process of growing lemon from cuttings is long. At home, the plant will bear fruit in 3-4 years.
If you already have a small decorative tree and want to get fruits faster, they are grafted onto indoor citrus.
To get a lemon stalk, prepare a set of tools:
- hardened sharpened knife;
- tape (they fix the branch with it);
- garden pitch;
- film;
- wet cloth.
A branch with a bud is taken from a fruiting plant. The cut site and the decorative tree are treated with a damp cloth. Then the following actions are carried out:
- cut wild citrus at a height of 5-10 cm from the soil;
- a vertical incision is made, forming a split 2-3 cm deep;
- oblique cuts 2.5-3 cm long are cut on the handle;
- try to plant the stalk in the cleft;
- we wrap it with tape, the stump and the cut are greased with garden var.
The cuttings are placed in full cleavage and semi-cleavage. Next, the grafted plant is placed under a film. In case of successful grafting, the plant can bloom the next year and begin to bear fruit in a couple of years.
Propagated by air layers
For lemon propagation, there is a method with air layers. It is much simpler than the previous ones. But it is believed that plants obtained from such roots grow weak. To plant a plant with layering, you need:
- make an incision near the base of the branch on the bud;
- remove the bark from the incision;
- take cling film and tightly wrap the air layers on the plant; there must be peat in the cling film.
After 1-2 months, the formed roots will be visible through the film.
The next step is planting roots in the ground. To root them, they are cut below the cocoon and placed in neutral, non-acidic soil. Rooting takes place in a greenhouse. The transplantation of such plants occurs as they grow.
Growing lemons at home is not an easy task. Care for both young and adult plants should be appropriate.
Conclusion
To get the fruit of lemons, fruit trees are grown at home. Easy to propagate lemon by cuttings.
To reproduce lemon, cut off a branch, rooting in the soil, or grafted onto decorative citrus. This method also makes it possible to breed ornamental plants at home.
Cutting is not the only option. Some people propagate citrus by means of air layers. The resulting roots are planted in neutral soil and await engraftment.