It’s time for an update!
Feb 3 - More flowers on the way! I ended up picking in total around 12 limes. All the fruit was very small. Hopefully the second crop will be better. As of March it has been in the ground for one year.
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Did you pick them green or let them ripen first? Personally I prefer them in the yellow stage, but I know opinions differ.
Yes they were all yellow when they were picked! I just learned about that last year.
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There was an old abandoned key lime grove on an island near Miami where we used to go picking when I was a teen, bringing back bucketfuls and making juice and pies. Probably technically illegal (had been absorbed into the national park). The largest ones were barely ping-pong ball sized, but I’m sure the salty soil and poor light (they were overgrown with other stuff) contributed to that. The flavor was phenomenal, though. I’ve often wondered if any of those trees remain. They were struggling with rising sea level and competition for light the last time I was there ~18 years ago. I’ve never tried growing them myself, but once my greenhouse is ready they are on the list.
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I’ve got a few Key Lime seedlings.
Most have thorns.
How big will they get?
Mine has been in the ground for 7 years, and it’s 10 ft tall and would be (if I never pruned) 10 ft wide. They are more of a bush than a tree. Although I prune mine like a tree.
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Yeah, the 80+ year old “trees” on that salty island were maybe 20 ft tall at most, mostly around 10 ft wide, and they had been stretching for many decades due to taller Australian pines and other stuff overshadowing them so probably taller and lankier than typical.
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I picked my first key limes in Islamorada. Found a tree next to a gas station and filled the bottom of a shopping bag. Went back to our rented cottage and I made a pie. Soooo good. I cannot wait to get a bush here to grow on my terrace.
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They are very prolific. I posted here earlier that my tree produced well over 300 Mexican limes last year. I still have so many to use. And my wife made an awesome Key Lime cheese cake. SO GOOD
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I grew about a dozen from seeds.
They’re about a foot tall now.
Also
they have some thorns on the trunk.
thorns are the norm for citrus.
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Here’s my two year old Mexican lime. I rototilled a lot of compost, piled woodchips thick and planted the tree on a mound. It is extremely happy in this location even though it gets shaded by my shed.
The fruit is small and seedy but packs a punch in flavor!
Hopefully this bait gets rid of ants and in turn the aphids
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I usually have heard that key limes are among the most frost sensitive of all citrus, but since I had a few extra seedlings, I planted one outside late this summer. I was just curious about how/when it might die.
Well so far this fall, we’ve had about 10 nights below freezing, six of those were 30°F or lower, and two nights around 28°F (28.2° and 28.4° to be precise). In the last 7 days alone it’s been below freezing for more than 35 hours. Somehow, the key lime still looks OK:
Here’s a frosty photo of it from yesterday morning:
It looks even better than my trifoliates, which have turned yellowish and some have started to defoliate:
I’m very curious to see what temperature does eventually kill the key lime. I assume we’ll get at least one night down around 25°F this winter, which surely would do it.
I’ve noticed since bringing my key lime inside that it has dropped some leaves…quite a few. Its in a south facing sliding door. My coffee plant is doing the same thing.
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I’ve heard people say that happens with citrus, but so far the key lime I brought in about a month ago (15 gal, east-facing window) has been pretty happy. No yellowing or leaf drop. I’m hoping it’s big enough to flower next year, but maybe will take longer. I’ve never grown a key lime from seed before these ones.
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I had mine in a smallish pot from last summer, then planted it out in my neighbor’s yard a few months ago.
Plan on protecting it if/when it gets much below 28 this winter. I’d say it’s not truly established yet so don’t want to chance testing it’s true hardiness.
We’ve had one 31 degree morning last month.
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Mine has a bunch of fruit and some flowers so not sure how that will go. I’ve already seen some scale that i wiped off. It can get really bad indoors over winter.
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