Question
If I bury a lemon, or lime, or orange in the ground, is there a good chance a tree will grow in a conducive climate?

Or should I extract the seeds from the fruit first?

Thnaks in advance and regards,
Robert--

Answer
Hi Robert,

Thanx for your question.  In general, most fruit will drop to the ground and eventually rot.  Most of these species have genetic properties which prevent the seed from germinating while still inside the fruit.  Most fruit seeds rely upon animal transfer or rot.  That is, most fruit seed are ingested within the animal eating the fruit, digested, treated with digestive acids which wear against the seed coat and then the animal/bird eliminates the seed/partially digested and it lies on the ground and germinates.

If I were to grow citrus?  I would go to a local nursery if you live in the South.  All of the citrus one buys in the store now are hybrids and will not grow true from seed.  In other words, what one buys at the supermarket, has seeds which will germinate but seldom will result in the same type of fruit from whence came the seed.  It's genetics and its overhybridization that causes that. I hope this helps.
Tom