Growing Lemons

GROW YOUR OWN LEMONS

Lemons are a favorite all over the world and an essential food in kitchens everywhere.Lemon is one of those super foods with a myriad health and cosmetic benefits. Typically, lemon trees flourish outdoors year-round in hot, sunny regions, but they can also thrive indoors as edible houseplants in cold-season climates.If you don’t live in the right climate to grow lemons outdoors, you can still grow a decent-sized lemon tree inside in a pot. With a little patience, you can even pollinate it and grow indoor fruit.

Germinating From seeds

• It’s possible to grow a lemon tree from seed. Harvest the seeds from the fruit and let them dry for two weeks. 
• Plant the seeds an inch deep in moist potting soil and cover with clear plastic wrap in a sunny location.
• Once the seeds germinate, let the new growth reach a height of 6-12 inches before transplanting the young saplings outside or into pots.

Growing Lemon Outdoors

• Outside lemons prefer full sun, well drained soil, and protection from strong winds. They do well in courtyards and against the south wall of homes. Lemons like fertile soil with plenty of organic matter, preferring a slightly acidic to neutral ph.
• Plant your lemon saplings after finding a suitable location in your home garden. After planting, sprinkle high nitrogen, slow release fertilizer, about a cup per tree, on the top of the soil around the tree and water well.Do not put the fertilizer in the hole as you plant.. Feed lemons about three times a year, evenly spaced between March 1 and November 1.
• Water your lemon tree if it gets very dry, although lemons tolerate some drought. Frequent watering where water gets on the trunk makes the lemon tree susceptible to rot diseases. Also keep mulch from touching the trunk of the tree.
• Lemon trees produce a lot of water sprouts, tiny shoots that grow on the trunk. These should be removed as soon as they appear. You can prune the tree to keep it smaller or to shape it but avoid pruning during the winter months. 

Growing Lemon Indoors

• The Meyer and Ponderosa lemon are often sold as house and patio plants. In the south where the cold period is short, simply move the pot inside by a sunny window for a few weeks. In the north where cold periods are much longer, you will probably need to provide supplemental light from a grow light for several hours a day.
• Lemon trees should be moved inside before temperatures fall below 40 degrees. They prefer an indoor temperature of 65-75 degrees. As soon as temperatures are safe the lemon plant should be moved back outside.
• The pot for your lemon must drain well. Outside on the patio it should be elevated a few inches so water drains out quickly. Use a light, all purpose potting soil in the pots. Do not start the plant in too large a pot. A 6-8 inch pot is good for a seedling tree. As the tree grows move the pot size up by a few inches a year.
• If you can find citrus fertilizer, use that at half the strength recommended for outside plants. Otherwise use a houseplant fertilizer for blooming plants as the label directs. Water the tree when the soil feels dry. Do not over water potted lemons, but they should never get to the point of wilting.
• Keep your potted lemon pruned so that it remains manageable. Even small plants can bear fruit in pots. The lemon is self pollinating and doesn't need another lemon to bear fruit.

Harvesting Lemons

• Harvesting The time from blossom to fruit harvest varies by variety. 
• In general, most lemons and limes will ripen in six to nine months.
• Once the fruit has reached its full color, test for ripeness by applying a bit of pressure to the rind. 
• A slight softening indicates your citrus is ready to pick.

Few Health Benefits Of Lemons

• Cures Acne-  Applying lemon juice to acne dries the existing ones and prevents from getting more.
• Cleans your bowels: Lemons increase peristalsis in the bowels, helping to create a bowel movement thus eliminating waste and helping with regularity. Add the juice of one lemon to warm water and drink first thing in the morning.
• Vitamin C-  Lemons helps to neutralize free radicals linked to aging and most types of disease.The citric acid in lemon juice helps to dissolve gallstones, calcium deposits, and kidney stones.
• Prevents Cancers- Lemons contain 22 anti-cancer compounds, including naturally occurring limonene; oil which slows or halts the growth of cancer tumors in animals and flavonol glycosides which stop cell division in cancer cells.
• Antibacterial Properties- Experiments have found the juice of lemons destroy the bacteria of malaria, cholera, diphtheria, typhoid and other deadly diseases.

Lemon-Cornmeal Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• Baking spray (cooking spray with flour)
• 2 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1⁄2 tsp each baking soda and salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 3⁄4 cups sugar
• 1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
• 1⁄4 cup lemon juice
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt, stirred to loosen

Sugar Glaze

• 1 cup sugar
• 1⁄3 cup lemon juice

Preparation

•  Heat oven to 325°F. You’ll need a 10-cup decorative tube pan or a 12-cup Bundt pan coated with baking spray. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and soda, and salt.
•  In a large bowl beat butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice with mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until blended. With mixer on low, alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk until batter is smooth. Scrape into prepared pan; level top with spatula.
•  Bake 55 to 65 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack 5 minutes.
•  Meanwhile, make the sugar glaze: Whisk glaze ingredients in a small bowl just until combined (sugar will not be totally dissolved). Invert cake from pan onto rack; place rack over a baking sheet. Brush glaze all over hot cake until absorbed (sugar crystals will be evident). Cool completely. Transfer cake to a serving plate and cover. Let cake rest several hours, or overnight, before serving. Store cake covered at room temperature up to 4 days. Cut into thin slices to serve.