I have a "saved search" on eBay for citrus plants, and every time I see a certain seller, my blood boils!
He/She's selling lemon and other seedlings, 4 inches or less, and tells people they can have fruit in 2 years. ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE!!
I have a plant that someone grew from seed, it is 7 or 8 years old and is just starting to bear fruit. It is also 12 feet tall!
If you are not going be able to plant a seedling outside in the ground, it is much better to buy a grafted plant. They will get a maximum of 8 ft tall and bear fruit much sooner, often in 1-2 years.
It just drives me crazy that this person is getting $6 or $12 for a sprouted seed that most likely will die or never live to bear fruit. Just think of all the disappointed gardeners that will try growing fruit once and then never again.
Shame!!
Whew, getting off the soapbox now.... (grin)
Growing citrus from seed/ buying seedlings
I just "came" from eBay to see if anyone had any Meyer Lemon plants for sale. I believe I saw the same buyer. Offering Meyer lemon seedlings that will fruit in two years. Jeez! Even if they did, they wouldn't be Meyer lemons . . . as a hybrid or a sport, they don't come true from seed!
I was burned buying daylilies off a seller on eBay last year. Buyer most DEFINITELY needs to beware on eBay!
Actually Meyer lemon does come pretty much true from seed, so you likely would get Meyer lemons. But probably not in two years!
I've had key limes to flower and fruit the 3rd year from seed. That's in a pot and down here in Florida.
Where is the seller located? If they were located in zone 10a, they might be able to pull it off since they have 12 months of growth instead of 7 months in zone 6. Essentially, they get twice as much growth time. Also, if the tree is 4 inches, then it is already 6 months old. I mean, there are a lot of "ifs" going on here.
If I had to put money down, I would say she wouldnt be able to pull it off 80 percent of the time.
I found one lady selling them from West Virginia for 12 bucks and says they will fruit in 2-3 years but doesnt state the size. You would need some super grow lights to pull that off in West Virginia. Maybe with some Nuclear powered fertilizer.
By the way, you should graft on the lemon tree that is 12 feet tall. You could put Pummelo, Grapefruit, Navel Orange, Kumquat, Tangerine and Satsumas all on one tree. The best part is they would ripen at different times of the year. Citrus is so easy to graft, you will wonder why you werent doing it all along.
I think the seller is in W Virginia.
I know, I should start grafting! I have 3 tall trees, and about 5 trifolate that I can graft on. I've read about it and watched videos, I'm just afraid to start, I guess. Basically a scaredy cat!
If you ever decide to do it, let me know and I can walk you thru it. I did my first ones 2 years back and had about an 80 percent success rate. If you are doing bud grafting, then you ARE NOT going to hurt the existing plant if you fail.
Just cut a T in the bark and lift it up gently, insert a little bud you cut off the other tree and tape it down. If it grows then it worked. If it doesnt grow, knock the little bud off and try in another spot with a new bud.
OK, I will try it! Don't I have to wait for the bark to get slippery or something (don't laugh). Somewhere I have a gift certificate from Lee Valley, I need to get some tape and polyfilm.
You can get a good knife and tape off of EBAY. A good grafting knife is important. They are as sharp as a razor blade and very thin so you make a clean cut. Be careful because you can cut yourself very easily.
You can get the parafilm, tape and knife here as well.
http://www.orchardvalleysupply.com/ovsstore/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=278
About unscrupled sellers, I recently saw a site that sells Orchid seed. You have to have a laboratory, no joke, to sprout and grow orchid seeds. They don't have the food part that seeds have, you know, the first thingies that open before the first 'true' leaves. They need hyper cleanliness, a certain kind of gel medium, and mold that provides food. Or so I learned on a tour of the Orchid Jungle in Miami.
Never buy orchid seeds.
About grafting, there was a fellow who had wonderful success with apples, he'd drill a hole into the tree, and stick the little graft stem in. Someone told me about this, so I don't know the important details.
I wondered about the knife. I thought I might get by with a regular knife. OK, will get one. When I said polyfilm I meant parafilm. It was too late in the evening for me! lol I worked in labs a lot and had that stuff coming out of my ears, then!
There is a guy on one of the citrus board that has about 60 varieties on one tree!!
There is a link to where the guy does the whole thing will kitchen utensils so I guess you can. This isnt a bud graft but the you can follow the same instructions except cut a T in the wood and dont cut the top off the branch. Most people start grafting when the tree you are grafting to starts to bud out.
http://citrus.forumup.org/viewtopic.php?t=500
Wow, jujube, thanks for that link! I have three orange trees that are birdfood trees. Small bland oranges loaded with seeds. And they all have blackened leaves and mealy bugs. Hum, do you get the idea that I am not in love with these trees?
I've considered just getting rid of them, or maybe grafting other citrus on them. If I can find anything that I want to grow, not many folks here garden.
If I do keep them, I'm wondering if I should just cut them off at knee-high, and try to use the 'water sprouts' that come up, for grafting stock, the places where the sprouts erupt? hmmm.
I agree with all the comments so far. Indeed, raising any tree from seed is a long term proposition. However, once I did have a 7 month old lemon seedling (growing under some flour. lights) bloom. Wish I had a pix/proof as nothing else was blooming at the time and I later lost that seedling.
If you cut them off knee high, you can tree a crown graft. Just Google how to do it.
I would just buy one citrus tree that you like and use it as a grafting wood source.
I know of only a few exceptions to the above orchid seed rule. These are soil orchids and not an epiphyte.
It's 1) Oeceoclades maculata or Monk Orchid. It seems they are spreading through Florida like mad.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/68198/
I've taken mature but undried seed pods and tossed them in various parts of my yard. Seems they prefer areas where there are dried leaves and compost.
I've also sprinkled some dried seeds in a few pots; I have one growing that way now.
Epiphyte orchids really need agar medium to grow; in the wild they have to fuse with some kind of fungus or something like that.
Another is 2) Zeuxine strateumatica or Lawn Orchid.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62751/
these flower around Jan.