Can Meyers lemons be started from seed of purchased fruit?

Hi rjhmullins, Welcome to All Things Plants!

I don't grow citrus but it would be fun to try growing from seed. It just might take a few years before the tree is mature enough to bear fruit. We have two Meyer Lemon's listed in our database with information:
Meyer Lemon (Citrus x limon 'Improved Meyer')
Meyer Lemon (Citrus x limon 'Meyer')

edited to delete the duplicate link and add the one I should have linked to earlier. Thanks @greene for the heads up!

Welcome to ATP!

Meyer Lemons are hybrids - any tree grown from their seed could look like anyone of several ancestors.

Daisy

That is too funny because I just planted two seeds this past week that I got in a seed swap. A grapefruit tree would be nice, especially if it was a red grapefruit!

I don't think you would get the rootstock from a seed, but it might not be the same lemon either depending upon the pollinator. You will certainly get some sort of citrus if the seeds germinate; it may even bear fruit!

I think you'll get lemons from those seeds but not a dwarf tree.

First they have to germinate!

Post deleted.

I grew up in citrus country and we were always told that seedlings most resemble the rootstock of the parent tree but that's not quite right. I wrote it before I remembered I went to college and should know better. But as others questioned that and the conversation went in a different direction, I didn't bother to correct myself.

Here goes: most of the time, a citrus tree grown from seed will revert to one of its parents or ancestors and will look more grapefruit than anything. I think that's where it started as grapefruit is used as rootstock for a lot of citrus. A lemon is a cross between sour oranges and citrons. A sour orange is a cross between a mandarin and a pomelo. If the seeds are viable, you could get just about anything. And don't forget the ancestry of whatever your citrus was pollinated by.

To get citrus seed to germinate, plant it fresh. If the seeds dry out, they won't grow. Also, grow every seed you can find then keep only the most vigorous seedlings. They have the best chance of being a meyer lemon.

Daisy

And your sources are...?

Sounds like she is citing experience?

Thanks to all who replied , I'm just going to plant and see,
I just may get it to work, 😊
Or not never know when it comes to nature.

Greene,

I didn't go into scientific detail or cite references, in fact, I usually dummy things down so that even a non-botanist can figure it out. No, I am not a botanist and no I didn't have any references but because you seem to feel strongly about this, I found you some.

http://www.nature.com/ng/journ...

https://www.sciencedaily.com/r...

About hybrid seeds in general:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu...

About citrus hybrids specifically:

http://www.plantphysiol.org/co...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pm...

Anything else?

Daisy

Ok ,always room to learn☺

Hi Ro,

You don't need to read all that stuff. The basics are:

plant fresh seed
hopefully some will germinate
keep the most vigorous seedlings
wait 7 or 8 years until it is old enough to have fruit
cross you fingers that one is close to a Meyer Lemon

Daisy

Daisy, I like the idea , Plant it & a bit of hope , may just turn out well😊

Post deleted.

I grow Citrus trees from seed all the time. I even have some Meyer seedlings at the moment. Realize that any plant from seed may not come up true to form. Citrus trees take 5-10 years before they will flower (an educated guess based on my experience.) But they do make nice houseplants. I have one student who comes over once in a while. She is from Viet Nam and always picks off a few leaves and eats them. They use them in salads. Gene

Hi Greene,

I have changed my original post but would still like to follow up on the grapefruit rootstock question. Please don't make me cite sources. (You will either become my best friend or my worst enemy ).

Grapefruit rootstock on lemons was used extensively in California in the past but, apparently the grapefruit rootstock is not resistant to any of the diseases and problems that have decimated the citrus industry in some places. Some of the rootstock must have been good because some of those orchards are still producing.

In the 1970's, when the citrus in Southern California started to decline, The University of California came up with Citrange and Poncirus trifoliata to use as rootstock. That seemed to solve their problem.

But, a couple years ago in the San Joaquin Valley (my home turf), the same problems have started to show up.

I found this article for interesting reading: http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcor...

Daisy

It seems I have already made some enemies here on All Things Plants just by asking innocent questions so don't feel bad about hating me.

Thanks for the information. I guess what is done in California may be different from what is done in Florida?