Citrus limon × Citrus paradisi ‘Lipo’

Parentage of Citrus limon × Citrus paradisi ‘Lipo’

‘Lipo’ is a named horticultural citrus with lemon × grapefruit parentage. Its horticultural origin remains unresolved.

Care for Citrus limon × Citrus paradisi ‘Lipo’

• Light: Give the broad crown a very bright indoor position with strong direct sun across as much of the plant as possible. Supplementary light can help when upper branches shade the lower foliage.
• Temperature and humidity: Keep temperatures around 18–28 °C, with prolonged cold below 10 °C avoided. Keep humidity around 50–60%.
• Watering a large pot: Check the pot in more than one place. Water when the surface is dry, the centre is only lightly moist and the container feels noticeably lighter; a large container can stay wet in the middle after the surface has dried.
• Potting mix and repotting: Use a durable loam-based citrus mix with coarse bark or grit to keep it open. Repot when the roots fill the current pot, moving up only one pot size so the new mix can still dry evenly.
• Feeding and size control: Feed with a complete citrus fertiliser during strong new growth or fruit development, at a moderate dose. Shorten selected shoots once they have firmed up, and support or remove some fruit when a young branch starts to bow.

Problems to watch for on ‘Lipo’

• Young leaves become pale between darker veins: The roots may be struggling to take up iron or other trace nutrients because the potting mix is alkaline, cold, compacted or too wet. Check root condition before adding supplements and compare the pattern with the yellow-leaf guide.
• Fruit or green leaves drop together: Review recent drought, relocation, cold draughts and waterlogged roots. Stabilise light and temperature, then correct the moisture problem before feeding; stressed roots absorb fertiliser poorly.
• Wilting occurs while the large pot stays heavy: A deep container can hide a saturated centre even when the surface looks dry. Check deeper around the roots for soft dark tissue or a sour smell. If decay is present, use clean, disinfected tools to cut away soft or rotten tissue back to firm, healthy tissue and discard the removed material. The root-rot guide explains how to recover a waterlogged root system.
• Sticky leaves or firmly attached bumps appear on stems: Inspect the broad crown for scale insects. Isolate ‘Lipo’, remove insects you can see and clean honeydew from the foliage. If scale treatment is necessary, use a product labelled for the pest and the plant, and repeat it only according to the label.

Keep Citrus limon × Citrus paradisi ‘Lipo’ away from pets

• The fruit flesh is edible, while leaves, peel and other plant material can irritate cats and dogs.
• These parts contain essential oils and psoralens that may cause vomiting, stomach pain, unusual tiredness or skin irritation.
• Contact a veterinarian if a pet chews the plant or develops symptoms. Seek medical advice if a person becomes unwell after exposure.

When were Citrus × limon and Citrus × paradisi first published, and what do the names mean?

Citrus is the classical Latin name used for citron and related citrus plants. The epithet limon preserves an old word for lemon that entered European languages through Arabic and Persian. The epithet paradisi means “of paradise”.

Carl Linnaeus established the genus Citrus in 1753 in Species Plantarum, page 782.

Carl Linnaeus first described it as Citrus medica var. limon in 1753 in Species Plantarum, page 782. Pehr Osbeck later placed it in Citrus as Citrus × limon in 1765 in Reise Ostindien, page 250.

John Macfadyen first described Citrus × paradisi in 1830 in Botanical Miscellany, volume 1, page 304.