How to Germinate Lemon Seeds Fast

Here’s a quick and fun way to jumpstart your gardening skills — pre-germinating lemon seeds.

Pre-germination or pre-sprouting simply means sprouting the seeds without the use of soil. There are different ways to do this, but let’s discuss two of the easiest methods using some basic household items.

First, let’s get those seeds out from our lemon.

How to prepare the lemon seeds for germination

We’ll obviously be cutting our lemon in half to get the seeds out of the pulp.

Wash and wipe them well to remove the sugar layers. Bacteria and fungus thrive on sugar, and we don’t want them invited.

Take the clean seeds and carefully peel the thin outer layer or “white skin”.

Don’t split the seeds in half.

Once you have your clean and peeled seeds, it’s time to germinate.

Method 1

You’ll need:

• 2 Paper Towel Sheets
• Zip Lock Bag
• Water Sprayer (or a glass of water)

Lay one paper towel sheet down on a flat surface and dampen it using the water sprayer. If you don’t have a sprayer, you can get a glass of water and sprinkle it over the sheet using your hand. The goal is to dampen the sheet.

Place the seeds within at least an inch or two of distance.

Cover it up with the other paper towel sheet and spray or sprinkle the new sheet with water again.

Carefully place them all in the zip lock bag — keeping a little bit of air inside before sealing it.

Store it in a warm, dark place.

After 2 weeks of germination, here’s what the seeds should look like:

Method 2

You’ll need:

• Container (bowl or tray)
• Paper Towel
• Clear Plastic Wrap
• Water Sprayer (or a glass of water)

Place the paper towel inside the container.

Spray or sprinkle water to soak the paper towel before adding the seeds at a good distance.

Cover the container with clear plastic wrap.

Store it in a warm, dark place. 

After 2 weeks of germination, here’s what the seeds should look like:

That’s it! Pre-germinating lemon seeds is easy, right? 

The first method is good for limited spaces because you can lay them flat individually on small shelves.

The second method, on the other hand, takes up a bit more space for the containers but lets the seeds open up well. Remember that we sandwiched the seeds between 2 sheets of paper towels in Method 1.

I found that it takes about a week to see the sprouts, but this may also vary with the weather.

To speed up the process, it’s ideal to place it on top of a heating mat or close to any of your heat source. Just maintain moisture and make sure it won’t dry up.

These methods may also work with other seeds such as tomatoes and watermelons, even with pepper, corn, and kale.

But that’s another project we’ll look forward to.