Growing Lime Trees

I've recently moved house so I've decided to replant the garden and part of my idea is to plant a Lime tree. Hopefully I'll be able to grow my own limes and save having to go to the store. OK, so I'm in the UK so I may only get only 2 or 3 limes a year but hopefully they'll make the best Mai tai's.

Anyway, any Lime growing advice from any of you experts out there?

Mahalo

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[ Edited by: Kon-Hemsby on 2005-03-08 04:50 ]

Is there any hope that this could be done in Wisconsin?

I know a few people who have citrus trees in their yard, but they live in frost-free areas (AZ and Southern CA).

Anywhere that has the potential for more than one frost per year is probably not the kind of place for citrus trees. That's a guess, though: my greenthumb extends to houseplants.

You could do a minature indoor citrus, and maybe they do those in a key lime you might use. I dunno. Good luck.

Can you eat mini-citrus fruits?

On 2005-03-08 08:22, finkdaddy wrote:
Can you eat mini-citrus fruits?

Yep. Lots of pages--courtesy of google--suggest people can use whatever they grow inside (assuming they get the tree to fruit).

The Victory Garden tells you how to grow indoor citrus:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/knowhow/pp/citrusindoor/

[ Edited by: dot hog on 2005-03-08 11:02 ]

Thanks for the link dot hog! I was just considering growing limes indoors...and you saved me some searching.

ummm...move to Florida? :)

I just planted a Key Lime, Meyers Lemon, and Naval Orange in my backyard. They flowered and budded all through the 'harsh' Florida winter, lol.

Really though, citrus just needs lots of sun, water, and warmth. So if you could get a big enough pot, you could theoretically bring the small tree in during the winter. Of course you would then need some sort of lighting on it during the winter...

I know at Epcot Center (Disney) here in Florida, they have an area called The Land that has a huge hydroponic area with lemon trees. It basically just a climate controlled greenhouse.

Lets not forget all the insects that like to live in pots outside in the yard. Mainley large colonies of ants. You'd be bringing them into the house along with your plant.

My dad has had major success w/his Florida souvenir lime, lemon and orange trees - he keeps them inside all winter and as soon as the weather breaks and we're sure of not having anymore snow or frost he wheels them outside. The bees pollinate the hell out of the things and by mid-June there are limes all over! The only problem I've noticed w/some of the super small limes the tree produces are that they are sour as hell...I know a lime is supposed to be sour but these are insane! The bigger ones tend to be bearable and my parents often times find them suitable for Corona's... from my experience they tend to be rather hearty but just remember not to leave them in the cold...that's a sure-fire way of knocking them off!

I live in Central/Northern Cali coastal mountains. I have had some success with the Bearass Lime. I have a dwarf tree in a pot. Dwarf is perhaps a euphemism as the tree is as big as me. While that is perhaps not a stretch it is still not a real small tree. I move it up under a covered deck for the winter as we do get rather sharp winters. If it gets really cold say 20's I break out the halogen lights and surround the deck pots with bubble wrap. It works, I get lots of nice limes :)

Bumping an ancient thread...

Several years back we purchased what we thought was a Persian lime tree. After a few fruitless seasons it finally produced, to my dismay, a few key limes. So we bought another (actual) Persian tree last year and it recently started fruiting like crazy. Unfortunately, right before ripening, a bunch of the fruit started getting attacked, I believe by Grackles. Being in Texas, we keep the tree potted so we can move it in the garage during the occasional freeze. So we found a new location for this tree in our backyard where our dogs could hopefully protect it from preditors. Anyone ever have an issue with birds eating their citrus, or have solutions?

[ Edited by: mikehooker 2018-07-05 14:46 ]

That is bad news, Mike. I’d do a web search asking how to repel those birds, you’re probably not alone in having that problem.

For freezing weather I put two kerosene lanterns on opposite sides under the trees. Works great here in northeast Flori-duh.

Mike, Bird netting should do the trick-especially since your tree can’t be too big. you will lose some fruit but most will be outta reach to dem pests.
Best prices are online of course but Loew’s and Home Depot carry it. Nursery price’s are high but so is the quality. Good luck!

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2018-07-05 21:46 ]

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2018-07-12 21:16 ]

Mike, maybe the Grackles are going after tiny insects on the limes as opposed to the limes themselves? I had a second look at your pic and it got me wondering.
Take a good look at the skins with a magnifying glass and see what you see. There are some good organic insecticides available including plain old soapy water in a spray bottle-you might not need that netting.

Great suggestions. Thanks. Will inspect for insects.