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Re: fruit seeds

I have one 2' tall on the front porch that I planted in the dim dark 80's before
I had grow lights.  Not sure if it is grapefruit, orange, lemon or lime...but it
is potted and goes in the cool greenhouse every winter except this past one
which turned out to be mild.  I just got tired of dragging it around and left it
there to fend for itself.  It is still happy -- I may repot and fertilize it,
having taken it for granted for far too long.

Judith Armer wrote:

> >
> >  My husband wants to try and grow an orange tree in our greenhouse.  He
> >had some dried orange seeds along with apple, peach and cherry but after
> >three weeks in soiland under grow lights nothing has happened.  Do they
> >have to go right from the orange into soil?  Has anyone had luck doing
> >this?
> >
>
> Denise,
>
> I hate to date myself.  This goes back a long time. However, in the 70's,
> during an indoor plant craze, I remember a book entitled something like THE
> AFTER DINNER GARDENER.  It was a humorous account of the author germinating
> and rooting various plants in his New York apartment.  All of the author's
> plants were from produce he purchased at the grocery store.  The book is no
> great treatise on propagation, but it did provide instructions.  I tried
> avacodo, papaya and orange seedlings in my first tiny California apartment.
>
> As I remember, I started the orange "plants" with the seeds from an orange
> grown on a friend's  back yard tree. The parent orange had many more large
> seeds than most commercial varieties and I believe I dried the seeds for
> just a day or two in my kitchen window.  I just used  a yogurt carton filled
> with commercial garden soil and left it in the kitchen window.    I am sure
> they sprouted within a week or so or I would have given up.  I did get them
> to grow more than 18 inches.  Then they were ignored when I was on vacation
> (I guess they did not look that impressive to the person watering my
> plants).    Of course, I believe most citrus is grafted onto a sour orange
> stock so it is hard to predict how successful the plants might have been.
>
> The book described starting grapes,  papayas and even commercial variety
> bananas from seeds.   I have no idea if it is still in print, but I doubt
> it. I only had success with the orange. Based on this questionable
> authority, I believe the seeds should germinate fairly easily and grow in a
> sunny location.
>
> Judy Armer
> San Juan Capistrano, CA
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