Kaffir (Kiefer) Lime Tree Sprout Update

The little kaffir lime sprout is doing just fine. It's now grown to the point where it will be hard to kill it.
It's my experience that citrus in general are very hardy once their roots take hold and they have a few leaves under their belt. It's not like they use a belt for anything else.
I still haven't added the extra grow lights to the plant hutch but will hopefully get this taken care of by the end of the week before we have company come over.

Cabbage

Not to change the subject, but this blog is about all kinds of plants and when to grow.

For instance, my broccoli and cabbage are doing great. The broccoli is on it's second stage of flowering and the cabbage is starting to form the typical dense center. Unfortunately only two of the three cabbages are actually getting very big. The third one is still alive and growing but it's about a third of the size. Hopefully it will have an end of season growth spurt.



Soon I will be planting carrots, bell pepper, and tomato from seed. I probably should have started the tomato already, but better late than never. I also need to add two grow lights to the plant hutch to really get things growing.



I also have some fennel growing out front which has taken hold and will hopefully stay around for a while until I can get the bulbs a good size.

Sprouting Citrus Seeds (Lemon, Lime, Orange, Grapefruit)

Ok, I don't have any pictures of this, but I really don't think they are needed. Sprouting a citrus seed is really easy.

STEP ONE: Get a seed. You can get this in a few ways. Like I have said before, you can get seed from lemon wedges from your glass of water from your favorite restaurant. You can also get one from a seed catalog. These are usually guranteed to a degree and an be sure you are getting the plant you want.

STEP TWO: Get some dirt. I know that this might seem a little like, DUH, but it really is important. Citrus plants like the same type of soil that cactus likes and can be found at your local gardening store. It's a little more sandy than your average soil. I suggest you plant it in a large pot (12" or larger) or in the ground where you want it to eventually grow. The only problem with that is making sure it doesn't get mowed down since it may not grow very big for a while. Every time I have grown a citrus plant they have started small for a few months at least and then started to grow.

STEP THREE: Water. Keep the ground moist and wait. It can take weeks for a seed to decide to sprout. When I planted the Kaffir (Kiefer) Lime seeds from the same lime they sprouted two weeks apart in the same pot. The blood orange still hasn't sprouted (three weeks later). It may never sprout.

STEP FOUR: Light. Make sure you have either a grow light or a sunny place for the seed to sprout. Without light it won't make it even if it does sprout.


Note: For more information on citrus plants see my Citraphile Blog.

Citrus Seeds (lemon, lime, orange)

If you want to grow a citrus plant, I suggest you start with a seed from fruit either bought at the store or pilfered from a wedge from your glass of water at your favorite restaurant.

If you look at the seed itself you probably won't be able to tell what it came from. I currently have this very problem.



You see, what happened is this. I get the seeds out of many different citrus plants and figure that one day I will finally plant them. I don't know how long you can save a seed before you plant it, but I'm pretty sure it's at least a few months. So, some of the seeds I still have might never be able to grow.


The next few pictures are of some of my seeds. In the first picture all the seeds are mixed up because I haven't bothered keeping them straight. The second picture is the same as the first but I decided to use a flash. The third picture is my valiant attempt at separating the Meyer lemon seeds from the rest of them.

I'm pretty sure I got those right since I didn't rinse those off as well as some of the other seeds I have saved so there is a darker yellow color to them from the lemon itself. The other seeds were scrubbed well and have almost no coloring to them apart from the husk of the seed and insides.

Citrus has to be one of my favorite things to grow since I have had so much success with starting from seeds and the seeds are so easy to get.

For more citrus information see my Citraphile Blog.

Kiefer Lime Sprout Pictures

Yes, I have finally, after several minutes, decided to post the new pictures of my sprout.

I had to take them first.

You can see the small cotyledon, embryonic leaves, at the base of the plant, slightly round.

The top leaves are still small and not displaying the characteristic double leaf you are probably looking for and familiar with.

Next time I will post some pictures of seeds. Unlike the plants, the seeds don't look any differet than any other citrus.

Lemon Tree Growth

I have gone on and come back from a cruise adn while I was gone my lemon tree decided to have a growth spurt. I know I said I would have a picture of the Keifer lime sprout next, but I just can't help myself.

The shiny new leaves are in front. Some of them are coming in a little thin and long but it should do just fine once I put it back outside.