Query-- rare citrus aficionados

General Fruit Growing
#12

I’ve got one. It bloomed heavily last year, but no fruit set (and I have other citrus). It’s about 4’feet tall and has grown well for me.

Easy to grow. Very clean foliage. Thorny, but not atypically so.

Scott

Oh, yeah… I’m in Michigan.

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#13

thanks for the info @Chills !
that you’re growing yours in MI gives me a great deal of optimism!

on the other hand, now i have no reason to complain about our weather here being ‘too cold’ for citrus lol!

#14

I keep it under lights indoors all winter (in my cool, damp basement)

It doesn’t seem to suffer from it, unlike my Meyer lemon which gets leggy and pushes weirdly big leaves after months down there.

If I get fruit, I’ll post pics. I know it’s grafted, but I do not know what variety it is (I probably have it written down somewhere)

Scott

#15

thanks for the tips and thanks in advance for the future updates. I am quite excited!

#16

The other day I tasted my first finger lime or “Citron Caviar”. I purchased 6 of them for $7.99 at Central foods here in Austin TX.
The total weight was 50 grams which made one kilo if this stuff worth $160.
In Paris the Kilo sells for about 274 Euros.
I had to ask myself, why so expensive. So I took my finger lime with me to my favorite Sushi restaurant and used it with my meal.
In the end, I concluded that it was more of a novelty item than anything else.
The fact that it is rare makes it highly desirable, is there any better tasting lime out there? Definitely.
In any case I decided to get my first plant simply because it is a beautiful plant with all the thorns and hopefully the green fruit, but know that I’d have to bring it inside during the winter.
The colored ones are very hard to find and if anyone knows where we could find the colored plants in San Francisco, please let me know.

#17

i am actually giving our specimen the ‘cold shoulder’ this winter, as am not big on sheltering plants. If it survives our 15-20F winters outdoors and naked, i will definitely update this thread. And likewise if it succumbs. Our finger lime actually bears maroon/brown fruits, not the green ones or the pink ones, and like you , am interested in the other colors, in the hopes that anyone of them might be hardier to cold weather than the cultivar we have.

i agree, it has its own unique flavor and texture but it is probably the rarity which make it so expensive. I linked the following as this thread’s sequel, if you haven’t seen it yet.

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#18

Finger limes have really come the thing. Lo and Behold Luis was kind enough to tell me about a grower in Thailand who sells small (tiny trees) at a very reasonable price. They are flown in with all of the accurate paperwork necessary. Well today was a surprise and being a member of the plant club at our main Nursery Botanic, I was informed they now have shrubs of Caviar. (Finger Limes) that are four years old and blooming. They have four different colors, I will go this weekend and buy two. Mine have been out all winter so far, even in the snow and are still sprouting new leaves. I cannot wait to buy an older tree. Yayyy! 59.00 euros

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#19

Yes i am! :grin:

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#20

Will you come and visit and buy shrubs. They are beautiful.

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#21

What varieties are available?

#22

Until I get there I will not know for sure. Right now they are saying Violet, Red, White and Green

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#23

There are a lot of diferent varieties from each color… i will continue to buy from Thailand. Thank’s! :+1:

#24

I’ve been visited by the USDA once too many times already. If they warrant it you will be called upon to verify the source for any plant they deem as non-native to your location.

The variegated Thai finger lime does look very interesting, though…

Scott

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#25

I have it too… it’s beautifull!

#26

if i was with USDA and inspecting your ‘goods’ i am probably more likely to give you a pat in the back and a nod of approval, than to turn you in, lol

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#27

I appreciate that…

Honestly it is not like the passiflora I was “importing” could possibly escape and wreak havoc on the lucrative Michigan passionfruit market…

(and the order had been cancelled anyways).

Scott

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#28

I’ve been visited by the USDA once too many times already. If they warrant it you will be called upon to verify the source for any plant they deem as non-native to your location.

Wait WHAAAAT? :rofl: I’m in SoCal, and a member of the US and local Rare Fruit Growers Association-- I’ve never heard of any home growers being busted by the USDA!

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#29

They did it in Maine for poppies a d currants.

#30

Opium poppies, okay…but currants? If you got busted for every non-native fruit, that’d eliminate so many!

#31

It’s more likely if they catch you trying to import something specifically prohibited as invasive, they might come by to see if you have a collection of other prohibited/invasive stuff. Very much doubt they just drive around knocking on random doors to ask about your landscaping.