Orange and Lemon trees from seed

[Georgie]

My friend's children bought me a couple of kits for Christmas.  If I'm lucky enough to get them to germinate, does anyone know what their soil requirements are when it comes to potting them on?  Thanks.

G x

[Georgie]

[debster]

i do know you can buy special food for citrus plants one for summer and one for winter if thats any help

[calendula]

whenever I feel like it I just pop the pips into compost and they germinate quite quickly indoors and from then on avoid lime and tap water

[Georgie]

Thanks Calendula.  I had it in the back of my mind that they need an ericaceous compost but I couldn't confirm this doing a quick google.

G x

[flowerlady]

But how long do they take to flower do you think ??? I've lost count of the age of my 'pips' !!  ::) ;D

[Georgie]

My guess would be 4-5 years.

G x

[Paulines7]

Georgie, the compost has to be 6.5 so not ericaceous.  Two sites I looked at said John Innes but one said number two and the other number three.  They both say add perlite, grit or chippings.  Here are the sites I found:

http://www.davids-exoticplants.co.uk/Citrushints.htm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/main.jhtml?xml=/gardening/2005/01/20/gkich22.xml

I have one grown from a pip and have it in a terracotta flowerpot. 

[dtw]

I've been saving satsuma seeds this week, I'll let them dry out a bit more before giving them a go.

[budgiebreeder]

You could also try planting  nuts.I have grown several Almonds  trees from nuts brought back from Malta.But 5 or 6 foot is  the biggest i have managed to  get one to.

[calendula]

lychee seeds also make lovely houseplants and they germinate very very quickly  :)

[Georgie]

Thanks for that helpful advice, Pauline.  I didn't mention it but the children also bought me a 'grow your own coffee bean plant' which I'm told makes a nice house plant too.  I've had success germinating avocado stones and even a banana plant from seed in the past so I'm hopeful.   :)

G x

[allaboutliverpool]

I have a tree that I grew from an orange from a souk in the desert in Morocco 13 years ago. It has spent most of its life outside in the garden in soil and is still alive. Unfortunately it has not flowered but that is not surprising despite it being about 5 feet tall.

http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments1_homepage.html