Growing Citrus Trees from Seed – Fruit to Seedling

This video shows the process of growing citrus trees from seed from harvesting the fruit and extracting the seeds all the way to germination.
I have long wanted to make this video due to countless videos incorrectly teaching both that to grow a lemon tree from seed, a seed from the desired lemon variety should be germinated and also that to grow an orange tree from seed, a seed from the desired orange variety should be germinated. The typical method used by citrus nurseries to grow a citrus tree is to first germinate a citrus rootstock seed and then graft a bud of the desired variety to the resulting seedling.

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Videos on Grafting Citrus Trees:

Video on Breeding Citrus and germinating the resulting citrus seeds:

0:00 Introduction
1:17 Harvesting citrus rootstock fruit.
1:31 Extracting seeds from the citrus rootstock fruit.
1:48 Rinsing the citrus rootstock seeds.
1:59 Eliminating the slime from the citrus rootstock seeds.
2:09 Heat treatment of the citrus rootstock seeds.
2:21 Treating the citrus rootstock seeds with fungicide.
2:27 Drying the citrus rootstock seeds.
2:37 Sorting the citrus rootstock seeds.
2:45 Placing the citrus rootstock seeds in cold storage.
2:52 Peeling the citrus rootstock seeds.
3:24 Preparing the growth medium and watering.
3:30 Protecting the rootstock seedlings from insects.
3:56 Planting the citrus rootstock seeds.
4:09 Germinating citrus seeds.
4:15 Sorting the citrus rootstock seedlings.
4:26 Grafting citrus trees.

I thank TreeSource Citrus Nursery for allowing me to shoot this video in their nursery and share it with you. They can be found on the web here:

Thank you to Georgios Vidalakis for the use of the photos of Citrus Leaf Blotch Virus leaf symptoms and Concave Gum disease.

In California, the collection of any citrus propagative materials, including budwood and seeds, from non-registered sources is illegal. Any citrus trees grown or grafted in California must come from source trees registered with either:
(1) The Citrus Nursery Stock Pest Cleanliness Program, administered by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, or
(2) The Citrus Clonal Protection Program, located at the University of California at Riverside.

[madalineduran]

Interesting video, thanks for all you are doing to educate the public.

[Nihlink]

I bought a house with a mandarin teee that the previous owner let grow from the rootstock and the graft actually died. It grows tons of tiny Mandarin like fruit that are inedible. Now I have a massive 20+ year old rootstock tree. Going to try and put some mandarin and orange buds onto it

[asadullah]

always a fun to watch your videos Dan..

[michaelriley]

Hi lov your story’s
Do you know what they treat the seeds with to remove the outer seed so quickly?
Very interested

[xmadrugadaxeternax]

Another absolute banger video. Thanks, Dan!

[nemanjamilicevic]

Thanks for the video. Is there any conceivable use for the juice? It seems like such a waste to throw it away.

[matthewkheyfets]

Can you buy rootstock seeds online so that, I for example, can graft multiple varities of citrus into one rootstock?

[azumag]

What if I take cuts and seeds from a +5yo big healthy tree?

[TheRainHarvester]

I grow lemon seeds all the time. After 4 years they are 5' tall. No flowers yet...how long?

[AbrahamSauder]

Any clue what type of soil they use or is ideal for citrus seedlings? I've used promix and cactus mix with marginal success

[ihopeugrow]

I have 2 calamondin grafts that died and the rootstock grew and took over. It’s been growing very healthy for 10 years now. Last year it bore 2 giant citrus fruits as big as a volleyball. I haven’t harvested the fruits to see what it’s like inside. It was green but now it turned yellow-green. I was thinking of using the rootstock to graft different citrus like a fruit salad. - Zee, N. Cali zone10a

[alessandroserrao]

what's the chemical to soften the seed coat?

[pedromanuelrodriguezdiaz]

Seria muy interesante poner subtítulos en español. Saludos desde España

[jRen-cx]

Do you sell Carrizo Citrus orange seeds there? DO you know How to Buy Carrizo Citrus Seeds？Do you sell Carrizo Citrus orange seeds there? DO you know How to Buy Carrizo Citrus Seeds？

[alexFortJames]

Lye or slaked lime is used to remove the shell of corn to make hominy. This process is called nixtamalization.