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How Do You Grow Seedless Lemons?

Published in Citrus Propagation 2 mins read

Seedless lemons, like the Wonderful Seedless Lemon, are primarily grown through a process called budding, which is a form of grafting.

Here's a breakdown of the process:

  • Selecting a Rootstock: The process begins with a suitable rootstock, which is the base of another citrus tree. The rootstock is chosen for its vigor, disease resistance, and adaptability to the local soil conditions.

  • Budding: A bud is carefully taken from an existing, mature seedless lemon tree (like a Wonderful Seedless Lemon tree), ensuring it contains the desired genetic characteristics for seedlessness and fruit quality.

  • Grafting the Bud: The bud is then inserted into the rootstock. A T-shaped cut is made in the bark of the rootstock, and the bud is carefully placed within this cut, ensuring close contact between the cambium layers of both the bud and the rootstock.

  • Securing the Graft: The graft union is then tightly wrapped with budding tape or grafting tape to protect it and hold it in place, promoting successful fusion.

  • Development and Growth: Over time, the bud will begin to grow and develop into the desired seedless lemon variety, utilizing the established root system of the rootstock. The portion of the rootstock above the bud is eventually removed to encourage the seedless lemon variety to flourish.

In summary, you don't grow seedless lemons from seeds (since they are seedless!). Instead, they are propagated by taking a bud from a seedless lemon tree and grafting it onto the rootstock of another citrus tree. This method ensures that the new tree will produce lemons with the same seedless characteristics as the parent tree.