Lemon( Citrus limon)

Lemon is an evergreen tree plant of the family of rutids. In nature reaches 5 m in height.

Shoots branching. Leaves are leathery, short-petioled, lanceolate, with small denticles along the edges, have a characteristic odor.

Flowers are usually single, white, located in the axils of the leaves. The fruits are large, yellow, with a juicy sour pulp. Motherland - Indochina, East India.

Agrotechnics

Not so long ago, the lemon was a rare plant, but today it is grown by many. Under certain conditions it is possible to achieve fruiting for 4-6 years.

It is recommended that lemon be planted in a soil mixture composed of sod, leaf, humus and sand in a ratio of 1: 1: 1: 1.Plant the plant in summer should be regular, in winter - moderately. Periodically, you need to spray the leaves, as this plant does not tolerate dry air.

Lemon needs bright lighting and a long daylight, so additional artificial lighting should be used for successful fruiting in the winter. The temperature in the room where the plant is contained must be at least 17-20 ° C.

An interesting feature of the lemon is that it can simultaneously contain flowers, ovaries and ripe fruits.

To obtain a crop, you should regularly feed the lemon with fertilizers( a mixture of potassium superphosphate and slurry, 0.5% solution of potassium nitrate).It is also important to form the crown correctly. You should leave the main trunk and no more than 4 skeletal branches of the 1st order, and cut off young shoots annually. Propagate the lemon seeds and vegetatively( cuttings, layers, grafting).Cuttings root in moist sand, covered with plastic wrap. The best temperature for root formation is 18-25 ° C.

The healing properties of

Lemon fruits contain many substances useful for the human body: flavonoids, pectins, organic acids, sugars. Very high in them is the content of vitamin C( 60 mg per 100 g of fruit).In addition, lemons contain B vitamins, vitamins A and P. In non-traditional medicine, lemon is used as a restorative, vitamin-containing, antipyretic, wound-healing remedy. Preparations based on the fruit of the plant are effective for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Lemon juice is used to make cosmetic products.

Application for various diseases

For the preparation of medicines use whole fruits of the plant, and squeezed out of the pulp juice. In addition, widely used is the essential oil of lemon, made from the rind of fruit. It has a pronounced bactericidal and antiseptic properties.

A.Krasichkova, "Medicines from the window sill"