How to grow citrus from seed limes oranges lemons

To grow citrus fruits from seed, you will need:

• fresh seeds from your favorite citrus fruit
• a paper towel
• a flat movable surface (like a plate)
• a plastic bag (optional)
• a sharp knife (optional for accelerating the process)
• Water in a spray or misting bottle

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Instructions for growing citrus fruits from seed

• Rinse of the seeds, ensuring to remove any flesh

• Soak the paper towel with water and then wring it out so that it is damp. Otherwise, mist the paper towel with water.
• As shown immediately below, citrus seeds have 2 ends that are shaped differently; a rounded end (pointed upwards) and a pointed end (pointed downwards). Slice through the pointed end of the seeds until either side of the seed's outer membrane can be separated like wings (pictured below). 
   
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• Do not cut beyond the point from which the seed bulges
• Starting from the 'wings', peel away the entire outer membrane from the rest of the seed
• Set the paper towel on a flat surface and place the peeled seeds over one half of the paper towel

• Fold the paper towel so that the empty half covers the seeds as pictured below

              

• As an option for dry climates, place the plate with the seeds into a plastic bag

• Change and water the paper towel every few days to avoid molding

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CONTENT RELATED TO GROWING CITRUS PLANTS FROM SEED

• Grow moringa from seed with a germination success rate of 100%.
• Grow from seed with a high rate of success. See how many favorites, even superfoods and 'exotics' are grown from seed. Examples include moringa, citrus and Jamaican sorrel.
• Citrus fruit trees can be planted directly in the ground with a natural looking but permanent garden edge (made of river rocks embedded in cement).

How to Collect Jamaican Sorrel Seeds for Propagation

Just before Christmas, I created a permaculture needs and yields analysis for Jamaican sorrel and also showed how to separate the flower (from the seed pod) to make Christmas sorrel juice. As promised, I am posting an update of how I prepared the seeds for propagation.

The pod below had just been removed from the flower and therefore needs to be dried to extract the seeds inside.

A few very humid days passed since separating the petals. As you can see below, I tried to keep the seed pods as dry and warm as possible by placing them in a colander on the inside of a sunny window.

However, after about 4 or 5 days, the color of some pods has changed to brown and even black. In fact, some pods have some mold. I was told not to throw any of these away as they were not slimy. As you can see below, some started to split open on their own. That is a good sign. (FYI, you do not need to try splitting open Jamaica sorrel seeds. They do this naturally).

To aerate the Jamaican sorrel seed pods a little more, I rearranged the seeds to maximize the exposure to air that each seed gets.

I started to lose faith when the outside of some turned white. As you may recall, I did this exercise in a very humid and colder-than usual tropical location. I am happy I kept the pods. I would have discarded them if they were damp and slimey.

As you can see below, a few days later, we could no longer see the white. The seeds continued to split open even more and began to release a lot of the seeds. We literally did not need to do anything to get the many seeds that began to fall out.

I opened some of the pods wider to extract even more seeds. However, doing this was time consuming. The great news is that each pod could hold as many as roughly 30 seeds, many of which are likely to fall out on their own.

 Furthermore, every time you move and set down the lot of pods, they leave many seeds in their wake.

I sometimes squeezed the pods to extract a few more. However, nothing was as effective as Mother Nature's natural release of the seeds. The vast majority of the seeds in the bowl pictured below were released naturally simply by leaving the pods alone. These images (regarding preparing the seeds) span a period of 10 days. However, you may be able to complete this process sooner in conditions that are warmer and drier. Besides, time did not always allow me to tend to the seeds.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Jamaican Sorrel, Permaculture Needs & Yields Log, Removing Flowers to Make Jamaica Sorrel Christmas Drink
• Growing from seeds (see how to have a high germination rate for growing many plants from seeds. Some examples include moringa and citrus fruits.

Growing Egyptian spinach / jute / saluyot from seed

Growing Egyptian spinachs / saluyot, jute from seed

Seeds sowed: October 18

Seeds germinated: October 20

==> BUY TROPICAL SEEDS <==

I placed the Egyptian spinach seeds into each cell at a depth that was about only twice their height. Since Egyptian spinach seeds are tiny, I put them on top of each cell and lightly dusted dirt over them. I lightly watered them each day.

MORE ABOUT GROWING EGYPTIAN SPINACH / SALUYOT FROM SEED

• Why I grow Egyptian spinach in my tropical organic garden
• Health benefits of consuming and growing Egyptian spinach / saluyot in my tropical organic garden
• Where I buy viable Egyptian spinach / saluyot seeds
• Egyptian spinach update
• Grow from seed. See how to grow many types of gardening favorites like moringa, citrus and more from seed with a high germination rate. 

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How I grow mango from seed

Mango seeds have a hard outer shell which can be removed to improve the chance and speed of germination. After eating each mango, I scrubbed away any remaining flesh. To remove the hard outer shell, I used scissors to cut a very thin slot on one edge of the seed. 

This ensures that I can pry the hard shell open without damaging the tender mango seed inside.

I have used several mangos and mango seeds for these images rather than a single species. In the image below, one type had already begun to sprout a tiny shoot. 

 Fascinating, isn't it?!

I wrapped the soft seed in paper towel that I kept moist. 

The seed on the top left of the frame below had begun to sprout its seedling through one end of the seed. I had eaten the two mangos and afterwards, left the seeds on the counter and then refrigerator for roughly 3 days overall.

This is how the shoot emerges within a few days. SEE UPDATE

SEE UPDATE

RELATED ARTICLES

• Mango seedling update
• How to identify non-GM fruits and vegetables
• Grow grow seed with a high germination rate. See examples of growing favorites like moringa, mango, citrus fruits and more.

How to grow moringa oleifera from seed

This has been my most reliable method of growing moringa oleifera from seed.

2 Jan: placed in a dark corner of the kitchen counter between two thin layers of moist tissue paper. The paper was always kept moist.

I have tried to grow moringa oleifera using several methods. This method has been successful repeatedly and with 100% germination most times. Thankfully, it is a simple method.

I placed all of the moringa seeds between 2 thin layers of tissue paper. I moistened the paper every morning or more frequently if it seemed dry.

2 Jan: Moringa seeds emerging

Moringa seeds grow very quickly. As you can see below, they have grown by a few inches within only 2 days. As moringa seedlings grow, they bend quite noticeably in the direction of the light source. In that case, turn the dish in the opposite direction to prevent the moringa seedlings from leaning to one side too much.

4 Jan: All 8 moringa oleifera seeds showed a sign of life.

As above, so below! I lifted the top layer of the tissue to reveal the roots. As you can see in the photo below, the roots also grow vigorously.

Moringa seedlings should thrive if transplanted into soil at this stage of growth and watered in well. In fact, if you do not have any concerns with snails, you may transplant them into (small) plant pots and place them out in the tropical sun. If you are concerned about snail damage, you can plant them in pots, place them in the sun at dawn and bring them indoors at dusk. Either way, when I placed moringa seedlings that were this young outside, they were in a verandah that gets direct sunlight only in the morning.

4 Jan: All moringa oleifera seeds germinated. I pulled back the top layer of paper to expose the roots in this photo. Quite unlike many other plants, the root and trunk of moringa seedlings emerge from the same end of the seed.

10 Jan: All of the moringa seeds have grown into seedlings. This is a little too long to keep them indoors exclusively and in this germination container. They should have been planted in soil already. 

==> BUY MORINGA & OTHER TROPICAL SEEDS  <==

This moringa seedling desperately needed to be carried outside to face the sunshine. Although this moringa plant is still alive and well, this photo shows what you should not do. In this photo, it needed to be propped up with a skiing twig and tied into place for support. Just in case you are wondering, this moringa plant is managing fine in the sun today. It no longer needs any support. If you transplant a tender moringa seedling like this into the sun, it is likely to survive if you chopped off the top leaving the bottom row.

I planted the seedling into soil that drains well. My seedlings liked a combination of my homemade garden compost and sand (not salty beach sand). As you can see in the photo below, I planted the seedling with some tissue around the roots. I decided to do this in an effort to disturb the root system as little as possible.

The soil was a combination of my garden compost and sand (not beach sand)

I have found that supermarket products are often packaged in plastic containers that can be recycled into plant pots. Even the plastic covers come with the perfect diameter to be made into plant pot saucers.

Moringa seedling 47 days later the previous photo

RELATED MATERIAL

• Our Naturopathic Control blog (for healing mind, body and spirit)
• Grow citrus fruits from seed. This includes the accelerated method of peeling away the seed's hard outer membrane.
• Grow grow seed with a high germination rate. See examples of growing favorites like moringa, mango, citrus fruits and more.

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