Lemon Tree

Have I ever said that I'm a plant lover? Not the kind of plant lover that would go in a plant shop and buy everything, but more the kind that would let the plants grow starting from seeds. It can actually be reduced to an input/process/output system. You have seeds. You put them in soil, water them regularly and let them enjoy the warmth of the sun. And a couple of days later or a few months after, you have a plant.

This is what happened for my lemon trees. One spring day of 2023, I needed a lemon. I bought it in the grocery store, and used it in a recipe. As I was already in the process of growing plants from other seeds, I just naively thought "Why not try with this one as well?".

I took a knife and started picking up a couple of seeds. I washed them with water in order to remove the slimy capsule surrounding it, and prepared a cozy germination bed (consisting of two wet cotton pads) where I tucked them in.

I waited a couple of days, sometimes forgetting them completely but still watering them consistently. And then one day, roots were emerging. At that point, it was preferable to change their bedding completely. I prepared a pot of soil and transfered them in.

Another couple of days passed, the pot remained unchanged. Until one day, shoots appeared. As I got excited, I put three wooden skewers that would act as crutches for the plants and help them grow straight, and set up a glass watering globe. The seedlings utterly ignored the skewers, and continued to grow as they pleased.

I eventually removed the features that seemed to please only myself, and changed the watering globe to a plastic one, for a reason I can't really explain. The seedlings continued to grow, began to develop tiny spikes, and gained height: One of the advantages of living in an apartment with south-facing windows during heatwaves is that plants grow quickly.

During my few longer-than-3-days trips, I watered them using an automatic watering system connected to a bucket. It was very practical, although somewhat uncertain whether the water would be too little or too much. On one occasion, the system was not sufficiently charged and failed to deliver water for about 2 weeks. The lemon tree surprisingly survived without damages. I can't say the same about the other plants (unfortunately).

Time passed. Spring once again returned. After a few days of continuous sunshine, and more pleasant temperatures, the plants woke up and produced new leaves. Just as I was producing new paragraphs in my PhD thesis. With the latter becoming more and more time-consuming, I left the plant to its fate, and didn't follow its progress too much. After my defense, which took place in summer, I once again had time to care for it. Yet, sooner than I thought, it was time to move to a new location.

As I didn't want my plants to be crushed by my belongings in a moving truck, I took the initiative of moving them myself. I wanted a large bag so that my plants would have enough space, but I soon realized that the problem wasn't necessarily the size or type of bag, but rather the type of handle. After several trials, I came to the conclusion that a paper bag was best. I then arranged a piece of cardboard to slide over the handles so that the bag would always remain open there, avoiding squashing the plants. Everything was ready for departure day. I went to the station and waited for the train. Once in my seat, I asked myself what I should do: keep the plants on my lap? put them in one of these dedicated spaces for suitcases? I looked up and saw that the space over my head was free. I opted for this solution. Traveling with the plants above me gave me a feeling of being in a rainforest.

We finally arrived at our destination. After unpacking my things in my new home, I unpacked the plants in their new home. At this point, I also realized that the pot had become too small. I then gently separated the plants into two parts, taking care to preserve the roots. I repotted the smaller lemon tree in the same small pot, and the larger one in a new, bigger one. Since then, they've continued to grow, and the largest lemon tree is slowly developing branches. However, I've read that, on average, a lemon tree becomes a tree within 10 years. I've still got some time ahead of me to see how it develops, but I'm already pleased to see that they're doing well.