Lemon and Kiwi Seeds Germination

As you will know from reading the previous posts; in the growbox I have a pot with four lemon seeds and one with a grapefruit seed.  These have been in the pot for coming up to two weeks but I am yet to have seen any changes or shoots come up out of the soil.  Now, I am not too concerned as I also have some other seed projects going on trying a different technique.

Techniques

So for the seeds that I have just planted straight into soil I simply took them out of the fruits, cleaned them of any bits of fruit, kept them moist and planted them. As I said, so far nothing have sprouted but this is expected. The lemon seeds and I now presume the grapefruit seed as well, are actually not what you see when you cut into a lemon. The actual seeds are covered in a  hard outer shell which for the potted ones I have left on. This takes longer for the seed to break down so sprouting can expect to take longer.

The other technique I have used is from a man call Mitchel Boyle who I have linked to before. He has a great set of YouTube videos on how to get seeds to germinate and sprout. You can see these here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57XoFG0QuMI.  As you can see from watching the video, he encourages you to carefully peel off the outer coating of the lemon seed to reveal the actual brown seed. If you then cover this is a paper towel and dampen it to store in a warm place you will see quicken the time it takes for the seed to sprout.  Now I cannot see what is going on underneath the surface of my potted seeds but I have three seeds sprouting from using Mitchell's technique as you can see below. I am going to leave these a bit longer before planting them.

Lemon Seed Shooting

Two Lemon Seeds Clearly Sprouting

The above pictures are very promising for me. I will leave it still a few more days before planting and go from there.  I am working out where best to place them in terms of what pots etc.

Kiwi Seeds

For the Kiwi Seeds I used a rather different but similar technique.If you have ever seen Kiwi seeds you will know they are so so small and tiny.  There is no outer coating and in one Kiwi there are lots.  It is best to get as many as you can. Wipe away any juice from the Kiwi fruit and then store them in a glass of water in a warm place for a few days.  Once you have done this you can follow the same technique for the lemon seeds. Put them in a damp kitchen towel in a warm place and they will start to open.  These have been slower than I expected but I am starting to get a few open. I have taken a  picture but it may be hard to see due to their size.

If you look closely enough you will see the top central one staring to open.

I believe these will need to be left even longer than the lemon seeds before I start to plant them. I am very excited about these but again time will tell on how successful they are.  I am planning an update on the Bonsai Tree, cuttings and growbox in the next few days. I have just received my brand new bright cool daylight lights, so a full update is due.