How to Start a Citrus Tree From Seed
- 1). Peel the fruit and remove the seeds by hand.
- 2). Rinse the seeds with clean water. Eliminate as much of the fruit flesh sticking to the seeds as possible. Set the seeds aside on some paper towels.
- 3). Fill the peat pots with potting soil up to ½ inch from the top. Moisten the soil with warm water, then let the pots drain.
- 4). Push your citrus seeds into the soil with your index finger. Plant the seeds twice as deep as the size of each seed. Evenly space two to three seeds per peat pot. Cover the hole with soil.
- 5). Place clear plastic over the tops of each peat pot. Secure the plastic with a rubber band. Keep your pots in a 70-degree room with low light.
- 6). Remove the plastic when the seedlings rise above the soil. Citrus seeds can germinate in as few as seven days. Relocate your plants to receive bright light, but be aware that direct sun can burn and destroy fragile, young plants.
- 7). Thin to one plant to each peat pot in three to six weeks. Pinch off the stem of smaller plants at the soil level. You can then re-pot the whole peat pot--with the plant--to a larger container without disturbing delicate roots. As the plants grow, remove any extra bottom branches that are 8 inches from the soil.
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