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How to Grow Lemon Trees from Seed (& Other Citrus Fruits)

Published on January 22, 2022 โ™› By Melissa J. Will

This post contains affiliate links.
Read full disclosure statement here.

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This easy method shows how to save seeds from citrus fruit including oranges, lemons, tangerines, kumquat, and more, and grow them into houseplants. The steps shown will ensure an excellent germination rate.

I also have an easy method for growing avocado pits and starting mango plants from seed.

Using lemon seeds to propagate new lemon trees.

Grow Citrus Plants from Seed

Lemon fruit, seeds, seedlings, and tree in a pot.

Can you save seeds from citrus fruit and grow them into plants? Yes. And it really is easy.

Whether the fruit came from a grocery store or farmerโ€™s market, if it has seeds, you can grow them.

Orange, lemons including Meyer lemon, tangerine, clementine, mandarin, lime, kumquat, and grapefruit with seeds are all candidates.

The steps (below) show you how to prepare the seeds, germinate them, and plant them pots.

While citrus is a tropical plant, it can be grown in colder climates as a potted houseplant, spending summers outdoors and winters indoors.


Contents

  • What to Expect
  • How to Sprout Citrus Seeds
    • Supplies
    • Steps
  • Basic Citrus Tree Care Tips โ€“ Container Growing
  • Get the Ebook

What to Expect

Will they grow fruit?

Yes, it is possible. But only if the plant has just what it needsโ€”and that’s a big IF.

Citrus plants are slow-growing which means it will take several years with good growing conditions to flower and then fruit. Some may never flower.

Most of the citrus fruits we enjoy are hybrids. Grapefruit is a good example. It was an accidental hybrid created from sweet orange (C. sinensis) and pomelo (C. maxima) cross-pollinating.

And that means, while any viable citrus seeds you sow can become beautiful, productive plants, hybrid plantsโ€”if they produce fruitโ€”the fruit will not be the same in taste or appearance as the one it came from. This isnโ€™t necessarily a bad thing, itโ€™s just different.

Satsuma tangerines are one of the few citrus plants that bears fruit similar to the parent when grown from seed.

To me, growing a plant from seed all the way to the fruiting stage is a big, fun accomplishment regardless of the taste.

How do commercial growers do it? How do they get the same fruit over and over again?

They use grafted plants. Cuttings are taken from the desired plant (scion) and attached to a rootstock from another citrus variety. This is cloning and itโ€™s essentially the same plant making more fruit.

If you want to be sure your citrus tree grows fruit true to the parent, start with a grafted tree, or use species seeds (not hybrids).

Timing Tip

Winter is a good time to germinate citrus seeds so you have the warmth and light of spring and summer to get the plants established.

Canโ€™t I just toss seeds in some soil and get a plant that way?

Yes, absolutely! But, if you want a 100% success rateโ€”and know ahead of time that the seeds will germinate and do so quicklyโ€”instead of waiting many weeks to discover itโ€™s not going to workโ€”do the extra steps listed (below).

How big will a potted citrus tree grow?

Itโ€™s up to you. Citrus trees in-ground get quite large but, by growing in containers, growth is somewhat inhibited.

As your plant grows, you can repot it into the next size container until itโ€™s as large as you want it.

Often the weight of the container determines the stopping point because it gets too heavy to lug around.

Once the plant is as large as you want (years from now), you can root prune it to keep it healthy. This is just how it sounds: you remove the plant from the container, trim back the roots, replenish the potting mix, and repot it.

There are more tips on citrus plant care below.

The instructions are also included in my book, Kitchen Propagation Handbook which includes tutorials on growing avocado, mango, citrus fruits, pineapple, ginger, tomato, and bulbing onions.


A peach, peach pit, and young tree grown from the pit.

Related: How to Grow a Peach (or Plum) Tree From the Pit


How to Sprout Citrus Seeds

Citrus fruits, seeds, and plants.

Supplies

  • Citrus fruit (choose varieties that have seeds)
  • Plant tags and binder clips
  • Sieve (for rinsing seeds โ€“ optional)
  • Paper towel
  • Nail clippers
  • Food storage container or food bags
  • Small cups or plant pots with drainage holes
  • Potting mix (see options, below)
  • Mask to avoid inhaling fine particles from potting mix and soil
  • Fertilizer for citrus plants

Apple, apple seeds, and apple tree seedlings.

Related: How to Grow An Apple Tree From Seed (Easy Tutorial)


Steps

1Get Citrus Fruit

Citrus fruits including a lemon, lime, and orange.

Depending on the time of year and your location, you may have quite a variety of fruit to choose from at the store.

When I first tested this out, I bought one of everything because I had never really paid attention to the seeds before.

Be sure to get the ID stickers that come with the fruit in many stores (they have the SKU barcode on them). You want to know exactly what the name of the fruit is, where itโ€™s from, and have this info to further research it (if desired).

Some citrus fruit has nice, plump seedsโ€”that we may not like for eating but work great for germinating.

Others have odd, flat seed-like shells, seemingly devoid of any real growing power. Those are not likely to germinate.

Either way, the next steps will get this sorted out.


Apple, apple seeds, and apple tree seedlings.

Related: How to Grow An Apple Tree From Seed (Easy Tutorial)


2Make Plant Tags

Plastic bags labelled with names of citrus fruits.

Kiwi? No, itโ€™s not citrus but you can sprout those seeds too!

Itโ€™s always helpful to know what youโ€™re growing and keep that info with the seed/ plant for future reference.

I had some old nametag cardstock (Avery nametags 5390) for my printer  so I made labels. You can email me to request a copy of my Word template if you want to use mine.

If possible, make the tags water-resistant (so the ink doesnโ€™t run) and get some binder clips to attach them to your seed / plant containers.

I put the SKU stickers on the tags for future reference.

3Gather Seeds

Citrus fruit slices with peel and seeds.

Cut the fruit in half, top to bottom (if top navel is visible). This avoids damaging too many seeds with the knife, as many seeds tend to form around the middle horizontally.

Gently remove all seeds and set fruit aside.

Discard any seeds that look strangeโ€”small, flat, empty shells, etc.

Some fruit has a lot of seeds, others may have few. The grapefruit (photo, above) had just one seed total but it was a good one and grew into a tree.

4Test for Empty Seed Shells

Floating citrus seeds in water.

There’s a test called the Float Test intended to check if seeds are viable.

While it’s unreliable for many types of seeds, I do use it to check larger citrus seeds sometimes.

Here’s why.

Sometimes a seed coat is empty because the seed has not formed.

If you can’t tell by sight or feel, a float test at least indicates if there is some mass inside.

When you put the seed in water, if there is mass, it should sink.

If the seed is empty and filled with air, it should float.

It’s not fool-proof but can at least help narrow down which seeds are worth (trying to) germinate.

If seeds have jelly-like coating, rinse in a strainer and gently push it off with soft towel.

5Remove Seed Coat

Nail clippers and citrus seed.

This step can significantly speed up the germination time.

Seeds naturally come with outer protection that prevents unwanted germination. Itโ€™s super smart.

For citrus, the seeds have both a hard seed coat (made of two half shells sealed together), protecting the tender seed inside, and there may also be gel around the seed, to provide an additional barrier.

Thatโ€™s why the seeds donโ€™t sprout in the fruitโ€”the moisture canโ€™t reach themโ€”itโ€™s very cool!

To make germination go faster, we can remove both that gel coat (Step 3) and the hard shell.

Look for the hard, flat pointed end of the seed shell and snip it off with nail clippers, careful not to damage the actual seed inside.

Diagram showing where to clip tip off citrus seed for propagation.

Gently slide your fingernail between the two shell pieces to pry them open/apart and remove them (break them apart).

There are also skin-like layers inside which I leave alone (the seed will grow fine with the skin there). Donโ€™t worry if some skin falls off.

Now youโ€™ve got the soft seed. Be gentle with it!


Various types of seeds and details on how to scarify them.

Related: How To Scarify Seeds Before Sowing For Better Germination Rates


6Germinate the Seeds

Germinating citrus seeds.

Moisten a few sheets of paper towel and place the seeds on it, at least an inch apart in all directions to leave room for root growth.

Cover with another layer of moist paper towel and place in a food storage tub with lid or food storage bag.

You want the seeds in contact with warm moisture ongoing. Not too damp. And donโ€™t let them dry out.

Attach your plant tag with a binder clip and place everything in a warm, dark location. I put them in a kitchen cupboard.

I put reminders in my phone to check on them every 2-3 days. Occasionally I forget and weeks later find this crazy-good thing growing in my cupboard!

7Check on the Seeds

Sprouting seeds from oranges.

Check the seeds every few days.

If needed, spritz the towel to keep it moist. You want it moist, not dry or soaking wet.

Some will sprout really fast! Others may take weeks. Some will be duds.

Wrap it back up and put it back in the cupboard. We want roots at least an inch long before planting.

8Plant Seedlings

Sowing sprouted citrus seeds in potting mix.

When there is at least an inch of roots, you can sow the seedlings in potting mix.

The roots often look thick and off-white, like bean sprouts.

In some cases, the plant stem may also start growing.

Plant the sprouted seed in a small cup, pot, or other container with drainage holes.

A regular organic potting mix is good for clay and other non-plastic pots. You could also use a cacti potting mix with plastic pots because they retain more moisture.

It is smart to wear a mask whenever handling potting mix or soil to avoid inhaling fine particles.

I prefer to use separate little pots but sometimes I have limited room for lighting so I will put them all in one container for the first few months.

Young citrus seedlings growing in potting mix.
Citrus seedlings

Position the roots just below the soil surface. Any other growth can be above soil level. Gently press the potting mix around the plant so itโ€™s snugly in place.

Water thoroughly, top up potting mix if needed, and gradually transition plant to a warm, sunny location over a few weeks.

Young lemon tree growing in red plastic cup.

This next photo shows two lemon trees I started from seed a year and a half ago . One I moved to a larger flower pot and the other I kept in the red cup. You can see how much bigger the up-potted one has grown: clearly they like room for their roots.

Citrus trees growing in small pots.

9Grow a Citrus Tree

Potted lemon tree growing indoors.

How long will it take to grow my citrus plant?

Citrus trees are slow-growers and heavy feeders, doing best with 8-12 hours of sunlight per day.

The less light, the slower the growth.

I started several different hybrids from seed and after 5 months (from the day I removed the seed from the fruit) they range in size from 4 to 7 inches tall.

Keep in mind that reduced light and warmth in winter (indoors) will slow or stall growth.

It may be 3-5 years before flowers form, then pollination can occur (you can help it), and fruit forms.

Small fruit may ripen over several months, larger fruit can take much longer.

You can help the plant grow faster by using supplemental grow lights.

Use fertilizer specifically for citrus plants and follow the application instructions on the label.

YouTube video

Growing Citrus Plants in Containers

1. Provide 8-12 hours of sunlight each day. Avoid direct, burning sun.
2. Ensure pot has good drainage.
3. Use a slow-release fertilizer for citrus plants as directed.
4. Keep outdoors until temperatures reach 40ยฐF (4ยฐC), then bring inside for winter.
5. Transition the plant (over days or weeks) gradually to avoid shock.
6. Do not allow soil to dry out. Moderate, even moisture is best. Use a moisture meter to be sure.
7. Most citrus plants are self-pollinating; some benefit from pollination assistance (you or insects).
8. Treat spider mites with neem oil spray.
9. Remove mealy bugs with rubbing alcohol.

Get the Ebook

Ebook

Kitchen Propagation Handbook ebook cover.

Kitchen Propagation Handbook
7 Fruits & Vegetables To Regrow As Houseplants

by Melissa J. Will

Learn how to grow houseplants from avocado, oranges, lemons, ginger, and more using leftover pits, seeds, and roots.

About This Ebook | Visit Ebook Shop

This ebook is a digital file (PDF format) you save to your device. It is not a physical product.

Buy Now
$6 US

PayPal, Credit Card, Apple Pay

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt โ™›

Lemon fruit, seeds, seedlings, and tree in a pot.
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5 from 5 votes

How to Grow Citrus Trees from Seed

Step-by-step instructions for taking seeds from citrus fruits including oranges and lemons and growing them into houseplants.
Total Time1 hour hr
Author: Melissa J. Will
Cost: $10

Equipment

  • Potting mix
  • Flower pot
  • Sieve
  • Paper towels
  • Nail clippers
  • Fertilizer for Citrus Plants

Supplies & Materials

  • 1 Citrus fruit (any type with seeds) ripe
  • 1 Plant tag or fruit sticker with name
  • 1 Food storage bag or container with lid

Instructions

  • Remove seeds from ripe citrus fruit. Do not cut seeds.
  • Test seeds for viability by placing in cup of water. Keep seeds that sink to bottom.
  • Remove seed coat by clipping off pointy end with nail clippers and peeling away shell.
  • Place seeds one inch apart on moist (not dripping wet) paper towels.
  • Carefully fold towel and place in plastic food bag. Add tag/fruit label for tracking. Stash in warm, dark cabinet.
  • Put reminder in phone to check seeds every 3 days.
  • When roots are at least one-inch long, plant one inch deep in potting mix.
  • Water regularly. Do not allow to dry out or overwater. Grow in indirect, warm sun.
  • For feeding, follow instructions on citrus fertilizer label.
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  • How to Grow a Ginger Plant from Ginger Root
  • How to Grow a Pineapple from the Grocery Store
  • How to Regrow Sprouted Onions
Lemon fruit, seeds, seedlings, and tree in a pot.
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I’m Melissa J. Will a.k.a. the Empress of Dirt (Ontario, Canada).
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