Hello everyone, I have a question regarding two young lemon trees. About 9 months ago I planted 2 seeds of a lemon I got off the market. They were both germinated, but only one of them has displayed normal growth in height, and both of them have issues regarding their leaves' shape and size. I have no idea what variety the original lemon belonged to, I didn't expect the seeds to germinate at all. Could anyone explain this to me? The pictures below include anything I have left out:

to the forum Vicky!
And welcome to the Wonderful World of Plant Genetics and Seedling Growth! Seedlings often grow funky leaves at first and then become more normal. Sometimes they will start out variegated for 4 or 5 leaves and then change to normal coloring. Due to exchange of genetic material seeds from one fruit will also turn out very different.

@calpolygardener
Oh, so that's it, then. Thank you! I guess I'll continue to shop in the same market after all. XD Can't wait to graft them!

Most fruit doesn't come true to seed because they've been hybridized with other varieities. They all contain a myriad of genes which express differently or not at all in their progeny (just like people differ from their siblings).

Young plants often have different leaf shapes to their adult conspecifics. Leaves can also look different within the plant; either genetic or environmentally induced.

I see no issues with either of your saplings other than maybe the one with the multiple leaders. They'll compete with each other for dominance leading to an out of balance shape later on in life. Cull/ shorten two to let one develop into the leading stem.

Citrus produce two types of seed: polyembryonic and monoembryonic. Polyembryonic seeds have more than one embryo inside the seed case while monoembryonic seeds have only one embryo. The polyembryonic seed was produced through apomixis - a type of asexual reproduction. Any seedlings grown from a polyembryonic seed are clones of the mother plant; no Daddy plant involved. Once in awhile, some pollen will sneak in there and one of the embryos will be a hybrid of both parents but its unusual to see a seedling like that as they can't compete with the more vigorous clone seedlings. The monoembryonic seeds have only one embryo and are pollenated by another citrus, so are hybrids.

Usually the clone seedlings are much more vigorous than the hybrid seedlings. You may have one strongly growing plant (because it has outcompeted its siblings before they ever emerged from the soil) or a forest of little citrus. So what do you have? The more vigorous tree should be the clone and the split top, less vigorous tree the hybrid. But I'm not sure what to make of those little leaves - it could just be the seedling leaves of that particular lemon or they could both be clones or both hybrids or ... I'm not even going to venture a guess.

@Arico, @DaisyI
Thanks, you've been of great help! The 2nd plant (to the left) starts with one stem, which is then divided in two, and then one of two proceeds to grow tall, while the other stem is divided again. Of the two latest ones, one grows to the same height as the one from the first divide, and the other one does not grow as high. So... perhaps the stem from the first divide that grew tall is the clone, and the other two belong to the hybrid? And if so, should I trim the hybrid for the clone to grow? This pic is from a slightly different angle:

*edit: Also, I forgot to ask, if I don't trim the other two stems will it affect the plant in any way other than just stunt its growth?

No, the clones would each have their own stem coming from the soil - like a grove of small trees. The tree with multiple growth tips had a mis-adventure early in its life which caused it to split.

Personally, I wouldn't prune anything from either tree. They are young, let them develop their own character before you decide what direction to take.

DaisyI, thank you - I won't!

Sumire (who grows a lot of citrus from seeds and cuttings) looked at your photos and she thinks both seeds were monoembryonic, so both hybrids. She says lemons are a complex hybrid and will cross pollinate with just about anything citrus so the only guarantee is both your trees are citrus.

It will be interesting to see what kind of fruit they produce but... that's 7 to 20 years down the line. So for now, enjoy your very special little trees.

I would like to see progress photos once in awhile.

DaisyI,
At least there's that! I'd like to try and make lemon trees out of one of their parts and another citrus variety out of their others, but leave untouched some branches to see what kind of surprise they bear (if any at all). Do you guys think it's doable? To think that I almost killed the weird one though... 🙄

Will most definately post their progress here, especially if there's any additional funky development!

I know this is an old post, but I promised to upload pictures of the development of the plant. This is it, 2 years later:



Oh, and remember the weird one? It died I took care of it the same way as the first one, but its growth was stunted and remained the same size until its demise, while its sibling tripled and quadrupled in size.

I hope everyone is well, be safe!

Interesting!

That's a really happy plant!

They don't always do so well indoors. You're doing a great job.

@CalPolygardener thank you!