Is it a Lemon plant??

[Winegum]

I grew the plant below from a pip and assumed all along it was a lemon. A friend (with a degree in horticulture) recently told me she didn't think lemon plants had spikes. I'm now wondering if my plant could be an orange or a lime instead. Does anyone recognize it?

Many thanks

Winegum[8-)]

[IMG]http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q259/bikesindordogne/Flora%20and%20Fauna/Whatplantsml.jpg[/IMG]

[mooky]

My lemon has spikes just like that.

[Bugsy]

Its lemon and it looks healthier than mine............[:)]

[Winegum]

Thanks guys!

Now I won't have to wait in anticipation for it to bear fruit so I know what it is!

Just hope I don't kill it this winter. Last year I left it out in a frost and it reduced itself to a spindly brown stick. I thought it was dead, but kept it anyway, and lo and behold it sprouted this spring and went mad.

Thanks again

Winegum [:D]

[Âme]

I've grown a few lemon pips that look just like yours, Winegum... The pips were from fruit of the tree in my brother's garden, which has the spikes.

I was told by a neighbour that my piplings will never fruit, unless they are grafted onto different root stock (name of root stock lost in translation). Anyone know whether this is true and what the best root stock would be?

[ukhostland]

Yes. That is a Lemon.

Re: the rootstock question. It's a bit like Apples, which are bred to have great fruit but are grafted on rootstocks to control the growth. Lemons are the same. Mine was bought from a commersial nusery in southern Spain: a named lemon variety grafted onto a specific rootstock.

[Âme]

Thanks for the info Colin. If the rootstock functions to control growth, then presumably non-grafted trees are capable of bearing fruit? Even if it is not likely, is it possible?

[ukhostland]

It's the luck of the draw, as with apples. Sowing seed may give you a plant that eventually fruits, but the chances of it being good are limited. You'd do better trying to take cuttings of a good-fruiting plant, or better still, buying one!

[Russethouse]

UK hostland - please check your PM's as requested

[Théière]

[quote user="ukhostland"]It's the luck of the draw, as with apples. Sowing seed may give you a plant that eventually fruits, but the chances of it being good are limited. You'd do better trying to take cuttings of a good-fruiting plant, or better still, buying one![/quote]

So your lemon could turn out to be a bit of a lemon.[Www]

[Âme]

[:D][:D]  Guess I'll just have to suck it & see!  ...and take a cutting from the original tree.