LEMON TREE IS SO PRETTY! (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

LEMON TREE IS SO PRETTY!

10:57am Sunday 27th February 2011

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If you heard of plant with highly scented pretty white flowers combined with glossy, evergreen aromatic leaves could you resist it? If you were then told that this plant produced fruit that is both edible and ornamental surely that would set you off seeking it out, whatever the cost. The good news is that it doesn’t cost a lot of money and you don’t have to look too far to find it, you just have to look into the world of citrus fruits. If you are tempted there are a few rules to follow.

Firstly, size matters and what you buy will depend on the amount of space you have on offer so look out for smaller varieties bearing in mind that most citrus trees will reach about 1.5m before they are mature enough to produce a worthwhile crop. If the luxury of picking your own lemons to slice in your gin and tonic appeals look out for Meyer, this plant flowers and bears fruit almost continuously. Plants for indoor growing need to be both ornamental as well as practical so look at mandarins, satsumas and clementines as these bear fruit that is in scale. On the other hand if a home-grown grapefruit is your ambition you will have an added bonus. As the fruit is so much larger it follows that the flowers will be in proportion and the perfume from them much stronger.

To grow indoors your plant will need as much good light during the winter as possible whilst in the summer make sure it doesn’t get scorched by the hot sun. If possible, when the weather is warm enough, move it into a semi-shaded position in the garden. It is important that plants growing in a conservatory or greenhouse are protected from the strong sun. Plants growing in containers need watering well during the summer as soon as the surface of the compost shows signs of drying out. In the colder weather in the winter you can let them dry out a little more. Their ideal temperature is between 10-13C, quite a bit cooler than we keep our homes. Frost is death to citrus plants but tolerance to cold will vary so take this into consideration when choosing which kind suits you best.

Another important point – they are hungry plants and to grow successfully will need regular liquid feeds. There are specialist citrus feeds on the market. Follow the instructions carefully. Any pruning necessary is best done in early spring but if this means cutting off any developing fruit wait until the plant has cropped. Keep a lookout for signs of scale insects and mealybugs and deal with them at the first sign. Try using either a suitable insecticide, repeated applications of soft soap solution or by introducing biological control.

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Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here

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