New Zealand lemon: species description, cultivation and care at home

Citrus plants look very attractive because they have shiny leaves. When the tree blooms, a unique aroma appears in the room. Substances present in the New Zealand lemon disinfect the air, fill it with ozone, relieve fatigue in a person, and restore efficiency. The tree takes root at home, pleases with large fruits.

Description and characteristics of the New Zealand variety

In the subtropics, lemon grows up to 4 meters in height, tolerates a drop in temperature to -5 °C. The tree has a wide crown of dark green color.The edges of large oval leaves are pointed at the end. The New Zealand variety was obtained by crossing 2 subtropical crops - lemon and citron.

All parts of the plant have a peculiar aroma. The elegant buds are replaced by flowers reaching a diameter of 60 mm. Outside, they have a purple tint, painted white inside. There are many large thorns on the leaves.

Fruits are different:

• oval shape;
• thick skin with bumps;
• there is a nipple at the end;
• loose and juicy pulp.

Weighs an orange or yellow lemon 600-700 grams, has a sour taste, weak aroma.

Advantages and disadvantages

The New Zealand variety takes root well in a different environment, normally tolerates a lack of light, withstands low temperatures, and has decorative properties. The main advantage of the variety is the large size of the fruit.

Growing lemons

In order for an evergreen tree to please with both beauty and fruit harvest, you need to create optimal conditions for it, feed it, ventilate it, water it.

Planting material

You can grow a lemon from a stone, but you will have to wait at least 10 years for the fruits, until magnesium, nitrogen, and moisture accumulate in all the leaf blades. Nutrients travel through the stems to the roots and circulate inside the tree.

The plant from the seed produces new shoots every year, and it takes a long time for all the plates to fill with minerals.

To speed up the appearance of fruits, you need to buy a 3-year-old seedling grafted onto any citrus plant. You should not buy a tree whose leaves are unevenly colored, covered with spots, the roots are not covered with earth. A lemon is grafted at a height of at least 10 cm.

Ground requirements

Citrus crops thrive in light soil enriched with organic matter and minerals. For planting a lemon, a special soil is suitable, a substrate for indoor flowers or soil prepared:

• from humus;
• coarse sand;
• leaf land;
• charcoal.

Culture does not tolerate stagnant water. Needs loose soil with an acidity not exceeding 7.0 pH.

Capacity

Plant a tree in a ceramic or clay pot that does not retain moisture. Expanded clay, foam plastic crumbs or small pebbles are poured onto the bottom.

Boarding process

In a container filled with soil to the top, the tree is placed vertically, deepening the root neck by 50 mm, covered with earth, which is compared with the soil level in the pot.Lemon is sprayed with warm water, poured with a solution of potassium permanganate. The seedling is covered with a jar, which is removed when it grows to 20 cm.

The container is placed on the southern or eastern window, periodically rotated so that the crown is evenly illuminated by the rays of the sun.

Features of plant care

New Zealand lemon requires the creation of certain conditions, only then the tree will develop and grow.

Temperature and humidity

In the house, a subtropical culture feels comfortable not at 30 ° C, but at 17-18. In the spring, when buds appear on the lemon, so that they do not crumble, the temperature should not drop to 13-14, but not be higher than 18 degrees.

In summer, it is better to take the pot with the plant out into the yard, where there is fresh air, but at night it must be covered so that the seedling does not freeze. If in July the optimum temperature for a tree is 22-23 ° C, then in winter it is 13 or 14.

Crown formation

To give the New Zealand lemon a decorative look and remove excess and dried shoots, pruning is carried out. Spreading branches are shortened from a small tree, which allows you to get a compact crown.

In a citrus plant older than a year, lateral shoots are pinched, leaving up to 4 leaves on each. Thanks to this procedure, the tree will quickly get stronger and will be able to hold large fruits.

Regularly remove dried branches, cut out those growing inside.

Irrigation

With excess and lack of moisture New Zealand lemon disappears. From May to the beginning of autumn, the tree is irrigated daily with settled water, but they start watering when the soil at the roots dries out. In the cold season, the plant is moistened twice a week, sprayed with boiling water that has cooled to room temperature.

Feeding

New Zealand lemon seedlings are fertilized every 2 months. Fruiting trees in summer need additional nutrients, during the growing season, plants are fed every 15-20 days, and fertilizers are not applied in winter. The stock of minerals is replenished with ready-made complexes for flowers. Citrus crops need to be fed with organic matter, for this, manure is stirred in water, ash is added. An infusion of birch leaves is kept for three days and the tree is watered.

Protection from diseases and pests

With improper care of the lemon, pathogenic fungi are activated, parasites are born. The tree suffers from root rot, which occurs with excess moisture. So that the plant does not die, it is transplanted into another pot, which is filled with new soil. The container is placed on a window illuminated by the sun, the lemon is not irrigated for up to 7 days.

A tree may fall sick:

1. Citrus cancer, when the leaves become covered with brown spots, the fruits are deformed.
2. Homosis. When affected by an ailment, a sticky liquid is released from the cracks formed on the branches and trunk.
3. Scab. Growths and yellow dots appear on the leaves, which quickly spread to other parts of the plant.

To prevent citrus cancer, which cannot be cured, in the spring the crown of the tree is treated with preparations containing copper and a fungicide.

To cope with homosis, cut off the diseased bark, close up the cracks with garden pitch.

Twigs infected with scab are removed, lemon is sprayed with Bordeaux mixture.

Citrus plant attracts scale insects. The insect is fixed at the bottom of the leaves, drinking the juice. To cope with the parasite, the crown is treated with insecticides or washed with garlic water.

If the room where the lemon grows is too dry, the spider mite will become active. Get rid of the pest by watering the crown with boric acid.

Reproduction of lemon at home

You can breed a citrus tree in an apartment from seeds, air layers, by grafting. The most effective way to grow a fruiting lemon is cuttings. The shoot is cut with a disinfected pruner or a calcined knife so that 4 leaves remain, and placed in a growth stimulator. The branch is planted in a pot, covered with polyethylene, watered regularly, and it will sprout.

Mistakes when growing lemon

Beginner flower growers often complain that the purchased tree is developing poorly. Often this happens when the root collar is placed too deep.

Sometimes the seedling is immediately sent to a large pot, but this cannot be done, the lemon will not grow well.

Abundant and frequent watering of the tree provokes stagnation of water, with insufficient moisture, the roots dry up.

Many feel sorry for cutting off flowers that appear ahead of time, which is fraught not only with the weakening of the lemon, but also with its death.

Collection and storage

The first fruits on a tree growing in the house are not formed soon, they ripen from November to January. Ripe fruit should be picked. At room conditions, lemons will lie for 10 days, in the refrigerator - more than 2 months. Place the fruit in a glass dish, plastic container or snap-on bag.

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