We have a few citrus trees which we grow in pots, inside the house, in the greenhouse, and outside some in the summer. Way back when we got what was supposed to be a Key Lime tree. It has since grown large and produces a bunch of small orange fruits every year, I just don’t think they are key limes. The fruit have orange skin and flesh and are VERY sour. I now suspect it is just citrus root stock and that the original key lime graft never took.
Anyway, space in the GH is getting scare, so we were thinking of getting rid of this supposed Key Lime. But then I got to thinking why wouldn’t I just graft some other varieties onto it and get fruit that I want. I certainly would do that if it were an apple outside. However I have no experience grafting citrus, and don’t know if it is even possible with this more mature tree (the tree is 7 to 8’ tall and trunk diameter is ~2" close to the base).
What do folks think? Is it worth trying to graft some other citrus varieties onto this tree? And any pointers as to how to do it? I assume I’d have to prune back the existing growth severely (this thing grows like a weed). anything else?
Can we see a few pictures.
Hi Steve. First, that may very well be Key Lime. Even though limes are marketed when green, they do mature to yellow or orange.
As far as cutting it back, feel free to do so. Here is a photo of my Clemantine (Algerian) Mandarin That is maybe 30 years old. it had dropped in production with very sparse foliage on the north side. I had considered replacing the tree, but I noticed it readily put out new growth when branches were removed, so I went ahead and pruned it hard. That was two years ago and look at it now.
Grafting is also a possibility, as I also intend to do so.
Keep in mind that Huanlongbing disease is destroying orchards in Florida and In California “back fence” grafting, by local scion exchange is ‘verboten’ to prevent its spread. However, certified disease free scions are available at low cost from the Citrus Clonal Protection Program (CCPP). Get their HANDOUT FOR HOMEOWNERS.
Go to Fruitmentor.com for very informative grafting videos, including instructions for ordering from CCPP.
On a tree that size you could top it, then graft to side branches. Do multiple varieties if you wish.
One variety I would like to graft is Sumo Mandarin. If you can find one in the stores you will understand why it is so named.
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Here are a couple of pics. Not the best photography but I needed to use the flash which makes the leaves look a bit more yellow than they really are.
The tree is a bit worse for wear now, as we are just getting over a few weeks of really cold winter weather, and just in general the citrus aren’t that happy in the GH over the winter.
@RandallW That is an interesting possibility, that this is really a key lime and that we have just been harvesting too late. But the times we picked the “limes” in the green stage they did not have much sweetness nor lime-like flavor. However I don’t have any off the tree experience with Key Limes so I could be doing it wrong and/or have the wrong expectations.
I will take a look at the citrus grafting vids. This tree grows like a weed; I’ve cut it back several times and it always comes back fairly quickly. Hopefully that will be a useful trait for grafting,
Any thoughts on how to tell if this really is a Key Lime or rootstock.
The only thing I can say with any certainty is that it appears to be some species of citrus. I have no experience with key lime other than what I see in the markets and they are small compared to other citrus except kumquats.
I have ALGERIAN MANDARIN (Clementine) , A DWARF CARA CARA PINK NAVEL, LANE LATE NAVEL, MEYER LEMON, BEARSS LIME, AND ORO BLANCO GRAPEFRUIT.
The growth habit of that tree looks a lot like that of my Meyer Lemon in that it is ‘twiggy’ with lots of small branches. In any case I think it would benefit from some thinning out.
On my stone fruit trees, a graft union is usually visible at the base, but is visible on only one of my citrus trees. Other than that I have no answer. Since this tree is not giving you useful fruit, does it really matter?
You can prune pretty hard and the tree will put out new growth. I would leave enough leafy growth to keep the tree alive until you have successful grafts. Don’t order budwood until the weather warms and you are ready to start grafting.
Good Luck.
