Citron

Citron is a plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time obtained in Far Future. It shoots powerful balls of plasma at the zombies. Its name is based on Citrus medica. In Far Future - Day 15, a Save Our Seeds level, they are the plants the player has to protect.

Overview
When the Citron is first planted, it is small. It charges projectiles when it is small. It takes seven seconds to charge up the first ball of plasma, then takes ten seconds to charge after that. If there are no zombies or tombstones in front of the Citron, it will keep the plasma ball charged until one appears. The plasma balls that Citrons fire deal 40 damage.

Almanac Entry
DAMAGE: Huge

AREA: Single

RECHARGE: Fast

Citrons shoot powerful balls of plasma.

As the owner and primary user of "Vitamin C-U-Later" 20-hour energy shots, Citron is always on and always ready for action. "Let's make this happen!!"

Plant Food
Upon the usage of Plant Food, it gets struck by lightning and shoots a giant plasma ball that kills all the zombies in that row or kills the leftmost Robo-Cone Zombie, Gargantuar, Mecha-Football Zombie, Shield Zombie or Disco-tron 3000 in one shot. It can also bounce away zombies if they have less health than the plasma's damage. It deals 200 normal damage shots in total. It can also destroy a whole row of graves only if there are no Gargantuars or machines before the graves. Gargantuars or machines will prevent the graves behind them from being destroyed.

Level 2

 * Speedy Energy Collection: Citron shoots 25% faster.
 * Combat Training: Citron has 50% more attack power and health (150% of initial).

Level 3

 * Energy Field: Citron shoots 40% faster.
 * Cell Activation: Citron has another 50% more attack power and health (200% of initial).

Costumed
Plant Food have a high damage and chains of electric current to attack zombies.

Strategies
Citron is a powerful plant and can deal with most zombies, even Gargantuars. However, they are particularly expensive and only hit one zombie at a time at a very slow rate. It is best used to kill early strong zombies, as it is the easiest to use plant that can kill a single Robo-Cone Zombie on its own.

Note: It is not advised to use a full army of Citrons in any levels, as the Citrons will kill their targets one by one, even overkilling any zombie who is dead, therefore wasting a shot. Therefore, it is not advised, especially if you are facing a swarm of zombies on any level. It also has a major problem dealing with Chicken Wrangler Zombies when alone. Although the Zombie Chickens are fragile and will easily be killed, they are very fast and the Citron will most likely be eaten due to their huge numbers and the Citron's slow rate of fire.

Avoid using this plant (also using Plant Food on it) in Terror from Tomorrow levels with Shield Zombies in it. The problematic cause is that the Citron's giant plasma balls will only disable the force field and cannot penetrate through the shield. Therefore, use a Laser Bean instead.

This plant can be overpowered when combined with Tile Turnip. Not only will you save sun, but you can get rid of most zombies with ease. It is best to have Power Lily when doing this though.

In addition to that, avoid using this plant when you see Jester Zombies in the levels of Dark Ages (including Arthur's Challenge). The plasma balls will be deflected and will deal a great deal of damage to some of your plants. In addition, its plasma ball can instantly kill a Puff-shroom in one hit. What the Jester Zombies cannot deflect is a giant plasma ball, as this powered up projectile can knock out the Jester Zombies in one hit. What is even worse is that you build up a large army of Citrons against Wizard Zombies in high numbers. If you see many Wizard Zombies in high numbers, the Citrons (and all of your sun-producing plants) will most likely turn into sheep.

Another thing is that using this plant against the Surfer Zombies in Big Beach Wave can be very problematic. Although the Surfer Zombie is slow when it reaches land, it will place its surfboard and the Citron will most likely be crushed by the surfboard instantly. Therefore, do not bring Citrons to Big Beach Wave with Surfer Zombies. However, it is best to boost this plant as its big plasma ball can throw away the Surfer Zombie in one hit.

The Plant Food ability is very similar in many parts to Laser Bean's Plant Food on many levels. The main difference between the two is how they deal with the larger, tougher zombies. Laser Bean can hit the zombies behind any zombies which are too tough to die from the Laser Bean, effectively making it more useful than the Citron for crowd control. Conversely, Citron instantly kills the zombie which Laser Bean would not have killed, making it more ideal against Gargantuars and Gargantuar Prime, who will release their Imp upon taking one instant kill worth of damage. Regardless, on levels without tough zombies, the two are perfectly interchangeable with no penalties or major differences.

Trivia

 * If one looks closely at a zombie that has been flung from Citron's Plant Food ability, small bolts of electricity will arc around the zombie.
 * Before Far Future is released, its sun cost was going to be 400 sun.
 * When the player looks closely, there are alien glyphs inside the Citron's peel after firing its plasma ball.
 * In the Zen Garden, when it gets watered, it jumps and disconnects itself from its leaves. The same happens with Magnet-shroom disconnecting itself from its mushroom and Puff-shroom when jumping out of soil.
 * It is the second Far Future plant shown in the Piñata Parties.
 * The Citron was originally going to cost 400 sun, which is proven by the official screenshot released the Tuesday prior to the world's release by Electronic Arts.
 * During Last Stand setup, Citron's animation stops once it is fully charged, possibly due to a bug. Once the level starts, Citron's animation will resume.
 * If the player looks closely, on the seed packet, the pupils are pointing down, while, on the lawn, the pupils are looking right. Just before it gets fully charged, you can see its eyes are pointing down.
 * The Jester Zombie can deflect Citron's main attack but not its Plant Food ability, despite the fact that it is a plasma. The reason for it not to deflect its PF ability might be because the lane will be devastated due to the power of the plasma.
 * Magnifying Grass' bolt is also plasma, but Jester Zombie cannot deflect it.
 * Citron has the slowest rate of fire that can attack automatically in the entire Plants vs. Zombies series.
 * The word "citron" actually means lemon in French, but is used in the Citron's name as a portmanteau of "citrus" and the suffix "-tron".
 * Citron also means "lemon-like fruit" in English.
 * Citron's Plant Food upgrade can toss away Zombie Bulls and Bug Bot Imps unlike other machines.
 * Magic Vine's projectile from Plant Food upgrade is a recolored version of this plant's.