The Yardstead

The citrus that is typically grown for fruit has been grafted onto less-edible but hardy rootstock (sour orange, etc.). Planting a seed will produce a tree but that plant may be more susceptible to cold and disease damage than grafted plants. Additionally, the juvenile period (when stems are thorny) can last several years before reaching the reproductive stage. If that isn't enough, you can not predict the quality of fruit because it is genetically different (product of sexual reproduction). Glass half full: You may actually get something better than the parent. Glass half empty: Many times its is something less. Here's to a full glass!

thanks GreenHornet. My lemon (started from seed)is 3yrs old now and still has plenty of thorns. It survived the winter well and is very green. I hope to see some buds coming out soon. I will post an update in the spring or as soon as I see some buds. Maybe I'll get lucky and have some good lemons.

The three year old lemon has flowered for the first time this year.

We only had couple of flowers last year on the lemon tree, but it grew much taller. We just had several hard freezes that killed most of the leaves, but Im sure the tree isnt dead. Hopefully we will see new leaves in the spring and some flowers as well.