Success of cuttings? Mexican Limes' refusal to bloom

General Fruit Growing
#1

Hey everybody, new member here.
So, a couple of questions…I’ve twice (once in a freezer bag, and once without) tried to start a new Mexican Lime tree from cuttings and they failed both times. Is there a trick I’m missing, or just the wrong time of year.

Also, the same stubborn lime tree used for cuttings has refused to produce even one bloom this year. It looks very healthy with a nice full green canopy, but has not set out even one bloom. The tree is 2 years old, and when I bought it last year from the nursery it had 100’s of blooms and produced maybe 25 sweet limes. I fertilize regularly with an organic citrus fertilizer, but I can’t seem to jump start this tree. I know this year it’s probably late in the season to expect it to start now, with all my other citrus already setting fruit?

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#2

Is it in the ground or a pot, indoors or out?

#3

It’s in the ground.

#4

If it were mine, I’d mix 2 Tablespoons of 5-50-17 or similar into 5 gallons of water and feed it the entire quantity.

#5

Thanks, I’ll give that a try.
See if that forces a late bloom!

Any idea on the failed cuttings?

#6

I know you’re in 9B but otherwise ignorant of your location. In my experience a true mexican/key lime would bloom 2-3 times a year without much stimulus in zone 9B of several southern California counties.

Plant Propagation, ed. Alan Toogood:

plant propagation Citrus.jpg726×1989 1.17 MB

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#7

Thanks again Richard.
I’m in Livermore California (Norcal). Very hot inland climate (9B)
I’ll try the cuttings a little later in the season.

#8

Hi Calron, welcome to the forum. I live just outside of Tracy and work in Livermore.

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#9

Hey there neighbor :slightly_smiling: just over the hill lol
Thought I was the only inland Norcaler here.

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#10

We have a few more people not far away, you can check locations of many forum members on this map: General Location Map of growingfruit.org members. smatthew is the closest one in San Ramon.

#11

That’s pretty neat. My wife works in San Ramon too.

#12

I was about to say - I’m pretty close in San Ramon. And I grow in Sunol.

#13

Cool. Nice to have a few fellow gardeners nearby :slightly_smiling:

#14

I love the Sunol area. 680N was my first AM commute route in CA. Of course, little traffic made me feel better!

#15

Yeah, I’m still on 680 almost daily. Gets old during rush hour however.v

#16

Not in the opposite direction! :grin:

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#17

So a month and a bit after I posted this, my Mexican Lime with several applications of a 5-55-15 fert has STILL refused to have even one bloom. Otherwise it looks very green and healthy.

So I was reading at another site, and wanted to solicit opinions, that if you greatly reduce watering frequency (currently I give about 4 gallons every 2 weeks) to the point that that leaves almost start to wilt, then give it a heavy dose of nitrogen rich fert and plenty of water will force it to bloom.

Thoughts?

#18

Mexican Limes can be quite greedy if I remember correctly, how often are you feeding it? Also despite lemon and lime cuttings being reported to root easily I could never get any to root, not even enclosed in plastic bags and with a generic rooting powder. It was only after I bought a rooting gel with even stronger (like 6x) hormone that I got any to root, so don’t be afraid to look into getting something to help your cuttings along with the rooting.

#19

Well, I’ve been feeding it weekly. Still no blooms. Strange.
As far as cuttings, I’ve given up for now. Just not cooperating lol

#20

I think it’s worth trying. I don’t know how that lime will react, but many tropical and subtropical fruits do have their bloom cycles triggered by the return of a wet season after a dry season. I have zero backup to the thought, but suspect that the dry time may work something like the dormant season does for temperate fruits.

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