Possible lemon hybrid?

[DNoyau]

Hello. I started growing citrus from seed 3 years ago and I think there might be one chance hybrid in my young collection. The female parent is certainly a lemon: leaves have a very pleasant lemon-ish fragrance and lemons were the first seeds I planted. However, Alias and Sylvain from the French forum pointed to me that the leaf shape is not very lemon-like, so I am wondering whether I might be lucky enough to have a hybrid. Of course, the most interesting stage is still very far ahead as this tree is only 3 years old and probably not optimally cared for (I try hard, but I also make mistakes).



It had a very severe chlorosis last year… but this affects a lot of plants in this garden (no idea why, maybe the water?)… anyway, EDDHA-chelated iron showed spectacular effectiveness.


It is hard to believe this was the same plant last year:



I am considering buying a bigger pot in the hope that it could grow faster.

[Laaz]

Nice job growing a great plant. If it was lemon it would have huge thorns as a seedling & the leaves look more like mandarin than lemon. Grow it out & see what it produces as far as fruit goes.

Welcome to the forum.

[Laaz]

p.s. Lemons usually have serrated edges on the leaves.

[zap]

BIGGER pot. More nutrients, & you can miss watering without causing stress on your plant.
Root tips are supposed to be one of the sources of cytokine - which stimulates the growing tips of a plant. Give it more area for roots and perhaps you will get faster growth?

I have read that Meyer lemons are a hybrid with, an orange, or mandarin, so that may account for the leaves?
Think Lemandarin. Meyers make such good lemonade!
Be happy,
Zap.

[DNoyau]

At last I found affordable pots. I repotted my seedling two weeks ago and was pleased to see its root system wasn’t yet entangled (no spiralling taproot).

I am less pleased with the soil I bought (too much water retention, over 65%), but that’s all they had in store. I will have to be careful not to water it too much, but that will be hard as I’m not used to that sort of sponge-like soil.



The lemon the seed originates from was "normal" looking, but maybe I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between regular and Meyer lemon (though the latter is probably not sold on supermarkets – still there’s a small chance the lemon was bought at the local market, which may sell less common varieties).

[Laaz]

In Europe you can get Seramis Clay Granules & mix it 50/50 with your soil for a much better soil mix.

[Laaz]

There are many different varieties of lemon in the EU, you may have gotten lucky.

www.oscartintori.it/en/prodotto/willowleaf-lemon/