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16 Types of Lemons and How to Grow Them Part 2: Organic to Otaheite!

Updated: Aug 5, 2022


12. Organic Lemons

You’ll use this type of lemon if you want to add the peels, rinds, or juice to your super cheap meals. You can get organic lemons in a huge range of cultivars, because this just means that the producer doesn’t apply pesticides or other chemicals during the growing process. This can make them healthier overall to eat, but it does drive the price up because it can be significantly harder to grow lemons and keep them healthy without using some type of chemical. They come in several sizes and shapes, and most of the packaging will tell you whether or not they’re organic if you look at it.


13. Mediterranean Sweet Lemon

When you pick out lemons, you’ll learn that there are two main types of lemons available. You can get acidic lemons or sweet lemons. Sweet lemons don’t have the same bite that acidic ones do, and this can make them more palatable. You could hear this lemon referred to as Sweet Lime or Sweet Limetta. You can eat this lemon like you would a fruit instead of squeezing the juice. The peel comes packed with an impressive amount of lemon oil too. These lemons come in a huge range of sizes and shapes, and they can be different shades of yellow or light orange.


14. Interdonato Lemon

This type of lemon originates from Italy and Turkey, but you can find them growing very well in California. These are some of the first lemons to bloom in the spring months, and they can bear a decent amount of fruit. It’s a lemon-citron hybrid that has a very mild bitter taste, and it will produce a very small amount of juice. They have a slightly rounded shape with a bright yellow coloring on them, and they produce fruit in the early fall and winter months. They like cooler weather conditions without a lot of humidity, and the fruit is slightly smoother and larger than you usually get with other types of lemons. It works well as a landscape edging idea because it has very dense foliage.


15. Lemonade Lemon

This is a popular lemon cross in Australia and New Zealand. It’s a hybrid between a lemon and a mandarin orange, and this gives in a slightly sweet flavor with very low acidic content. So, it’s perfect to make fresh lemonade with. They produce a lot of juice, and they have a slightly thinner skin that is very smooth. The fruit has a rounded shape, and the skin color varies from bright yellow to green. They can grow year-round under hot and dry conditions, and they have lush, green foliage to make it an eye-catching addition to your yard. This lemon tree can get between 8 and 12-feet tall at full maturity.


16. Otaheite Lemon

If you’re looking for an indoor type of lemon that doubles as a pretty decorative plant, look no further than the Otaheite Lemon. It develops very small fruit that is purely for decorative purposes. It’s an acidless fruit that has a very sweet taste to it, and it has an orange coloring with a lighter orange and white interior. You’ll get pretty flowers in the early summer months that turn to the small fruits around three months later. You will have to cut it back periodically to stop it from getting too tall or gangly, but it will look very nice all year-round. Other than that, it’s relatively low-maintenance and hard to kill.


Parts of the Lemon You Can Use

You can use all of the parts of the lemon for different things, and it’s important that you know which ones work best for your application. If you use wrong, it could ruin whatever you’re trying to do with it, and this is a waste of the different types of lemons.

  • Lemon Blossom – First up is the lemon blossom. These are pretty, fragrant flowers that the types of lemon trees will produce right before they produce the fruit. The lemon fruit will slowly appear amongst the blossoms. Unfortunately, lemon blossoms are not edible. However, you can use them for pretty decorations in cakes and other foods.

  • Lemon Juice – You can squeeze the juice directly from the lemon and use it in several recipes. However, you do want to make sure you get types of lemons that are known for their juice quantities because some are on the dry side. You can use quartered lemons to garnish food, and the juice adds a nice acidic bite to fish or poultry. You also see it on salad, and you can use it in place of salt when you cook low-sodium dishes.

  • Lemon Oil – Generally speaking, you’ll add lemon oil to processed or frozen lemon juice to increase the flavor profile. You can also use it as a scent for personal care or household items, and it works well in perfume, furniture polish, shampoo, and soap.

  • Lemon Rind – The rind is the yellow skin on the outside of the lemon. You can cut strips and candy it for cake or sweet decorating, but most people usually zest it. The grated rind shouldn’t contain any of the white layers, and it’s a popular flavoring for desserts. It works well in meats and savory dishes, as well as salads.

  • Lemon Peel – The peel is the yellow rind with the white pith attached. You’ll get the lemon oil out of this part of the lemon, and it also contains pectin and citric acid. Lemon oil goes into hardy candy for flavoring, and it also gets cut and candied into a sugar syrup to make candied lemon peels. It’s also common as an espresso garnish, and all you have to do is run the pith around the rim of the cup to stimulate the release of the oil.

Growing Types of Lemons Outside

Now that you know what to use the various parts of the lemon for, it’s time to understand how to grow them. You do want to double-check with the label when you buy it to ensure it’ll survive in your particular planting zone because some are more cold-hardy than others. However, you can use the following as a general guideline to grow the different types of lemon outside.


Location

Lemons are more sensitive to the cold than almost any other type of citrus tree. You can cater to the need for higher temperatures by planting your types of lemon trees near the south side of your home. You’ll have to protect your lemon trees from frost as well because they don’t do well in below freezing temperatures. Growing your lemon trees right by your home should help ward off the frost, and you can also pack on a two or three-inch layer of mulch to provide more insulation.


Sunlight

When you think of types of lemons, you usually think of the tropics. This means that your lemons need plenty of sunlight to grow, bloom, and thrive. Ideally, you’ll play them in a place that gets plenty of sun with little shade. Full sunlight will encourage multiple crops throughout the year, and some lemon varieties can produce up to three individual crops in a 12-month period. If you don’t get them enough light, this can stunt their growth.


Soil Conditions

Most types of lemons are very forgiving when it comes to the soil type. However, most of them do prefer to have a well-drained and slightly acidic soil. They should also be on slightly higher ground when you plant them. You want to dig a hole that is slightly shallower than the root ball length. Put the plant in the hole and backfill the soil, tamping it firmly in place as you work. When you finish, the lemon tree should be slightly above the ground level.


Water Recommendations

Keeping the soil adequately moist is easier if you put down a layer of mulch. You’ll have to set up a schedule to water your types of lemons once a week, and water them deeply to saturate the soil. This will encourage healthy and steady growth.


Maintenance

The nice thing about growing different types of lemons outdoors is that you can slack on the maintenance a bit without it looking too bad. Most outdoor varieties are bigger, but you can still prune and trim them to get them to take on your desired shape and height. Prune them once or twice a year at most. Make sure you don’t cut too much off, and use the correct gardening tools to make neat cuts.


Growing Types of Lemons Inside

Did you know that you can easily turn different types of lemons into wonderful houseplants? They do very well in containers if you make a point to provide them with excellent drainage. The container should also be slightly larger to give the plant room to grow and flourish. When you grow your lemon tree inside, you can expect it to get between three and five-feet high at full maturity, and you can always trim it to help control the height if it starts to get out of hand. For the soil, keep it slightly acidic and well-draining. The soil should be evenly moist, and you can apply a liquid fertilizer as needed.

Lemons do very well with a temperate range that hovers around 70°F during the day and drops down to 55°F during the night. If the temperatures in your home routinely get below 55°F, this will encourage your lemon tree to go into a dormancy and it won’t produce fruit or continue to grow until you bring the temperatures back up to a higher range.

These plants do need a high amount of light to be happy, and you can supplement sunlight with fluorescent grow lights during the darker winter months. If it warms up, you can move your container outside to increase the chances that it’ll produce a full load of fruit. Bees and other pollinators are unable to get to your plant if it’s inside, so setting out outside periodically will stop you from having to hand pollinate them.


Bottom Line

Different types of lemons have a broad usage range, and you can easily grow them indoors or outdoors. Looking at the 16 types of lemons I showcased will give you a good idea on the small sliver of options that are available to you. I encourage you to pick out one or two varieties and try you look at growing this pretty and useful ornamental tree in your yard or home.


Reposted by https://happydiyhome.com/types-of-lemons/

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