Key lime

[nomad]

can anyone give me any info or advice on key lime seedlings, i purchased some seeds on ebay,planted them,got seedlings that look like they are doing well. they are under a light at the moment,when would it be safe to put them on the windowsill? and can i put them in the greenhouse in summer and what time of year will i have to bring them back inside.

cheers

[Furkin]

I'm just guessing Nomad, but I would assume you would treat these as other citrus - of which there is tons of advice on these pages.

I managed to get about 12 pips going last year, but then I experimented with the soil/compost/sand etc, & lost them all.

The difference is, that I just planted 'pips', but you are growing 'proper seeds' I assume.

A search for Limes might bring up some advice,,,, if not, there is a lot on lemons.

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I'm just about to plant tangerine, clementine & cumquat pips for this year,,,, tho' I don't expect them to fruit for some years, if at all. I'm only doing it cos I saved the pips.

I also saved a couple of mango stones, & opened them up yesterday,,,, alas - one of 'em is bad. I'll have to dash out for a mango today !

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Good Luck

[starloc]

All citrus like warm roots, preferably about 80F , air temperature isnt that important untill there old enough to fruit, probably at about 4 years old, Citrus dont need light to be very strong and they dont need any dark hours, you can keep light on them 24hrs a day if you want, they prefere about 12 hours minimum light a day.

I put the citrus outside at the start of june, never before as you may still get a frost, but i do have 2 large ones outside all the time, they are far more resilient to frost when large as its only the outer bits that die, and theres more of them, i still wrapped them up in frost cloth till last week and i will wrap them up if theres a frost warning.

In a greenhouse, they should be fine all year round, once they get used to it, if it gets very cold in the winter then they would benefit from a cloth over them to keep them dark or the leaves will fall off with sunlight on them and cold roots

Being small i would take them back in the house in the winter or run a heat mat under them to heat the roots, its only the roots that need to be warm in cold weather and protect them from frost

To put them on the window ledge could be ok, but you need to do it a sort time a day, getting longer each time , or they will sulk and chuck the leaves, once there used to it they will be fine, as long as they have grown some real leaves

what are you feeding them?, they need a citrus fertiliser, most problems with citrus are from lack of micronutrients that citrus need and from overwatering/poor compost, you need a very free draining compost, with no lime in it, preferably with 50% or more something like perlite or CHC, let them dry out very dry between waterings and soak them once they dry, never water a bit here and there when the top looks dry they will die, wait till dry to about 1/2 way down the pot if the pot is small

Just dont let them get any frost, frost is the killer, the realy cold weather the other week, this mandarin tree was wrapped up in frost cloth with christmass lights, the frost cloth froze to the tree, this amount of damage is not much on a large tree, but on a small tree would kill it.

[Mcbee]

Nice tree!

[nomad]

the seeds came from malaysia. they seem to be doing well all of them have germinated, i have them under an envirolite, so there may be some seedlings going in a while if anyone close enough is interested,i do not fancy there chances through the post!!!
i will keep the roots warm and not put them outside untill i know the summer is here if it ever does!
cheers

[Furkin]

I'm almost close enough,,,,,, well,,,, West Cornwall actually - couldn't get much further away ! Shame - i'd have loved a Lime. What sort of size are they at the moment ?

I've just planted my first pips of the year: Clementines, oranges & cumquats.

Popped out specially to get a mango yesterday also,,,, but again - the stone is already bad. I thought the fruit its-self was a bit under-ripe, so I expected the stone to be better this time. Oh well, I s'pose i'd better eat more mango !

Good Luck mate.

[nomad]

they are between one and three inches tall not vey big but are growing slowly and seem to be doing well. if i could think of a way of posting one i would quite happily send you one,have you any ideas. maybe if i took it out of the soil an put a little bag around the roots and packaged it so it could not get bent it might be ok but i think it would be better if i waited a week or so the snow and frost were away. but if you would like me to try pm me your adress.

if anyone else has any suggestions let me know

cheers

[starloc]

When i have sent them in the post, i took them out f the pot, leaving some compost round the roots, quite dry soil, then wrapped clingfilm loosley round the roots to hold the compost on , i put it inside a tube made of a bit of corregated cardboard rolled up, with tape over the ends, i stick a small bit of tape to hold the clingfilm inside the tube at one end

[Eco-Chic]

I've received many plants, plantlets and plugs through the post. As long as the compost is damp and there is enough newspaper, bubblewrap or card around it to prevent crushing they travel very well.

[Furkin]

Hi Nomad,
I have one remaining Clementine from last year which is about 2.5 inches high - so I think I know what you have. Mine only has two leaves on it.

I received some plants last year in green plastic bot/plant holders,,,,, but to be truthful, they had limited success.

I would have sent one but I think your plants are too small for this item.

I'm having an idea about a little box - maybe with a partition at soil height - with a slit for the 'trunk' to go through,,,,, mmmmm.

Can't upload rough image of an idea (slightly over size in MS Word),,,,, i'll p.m you my details & drop you a couple of ideas.


cheers

[greasyfire]

can you grow trees from pips from the fruit you buy to eat

[starloc]

Yes they grow ok but can be tricky to keep alive, and they nearly always do eventualy produce the right fruit, but they take many years to do so , lemons grow to be the same type as the fruit , some others dont, most do though, they amke good houseplants though, no good outside and no good for fruit as key limes take about 4 years to fruit, lemons about 10 years and grapefruits take about 40 years+ if ever!

Citrus on its own roots is a real pain to look after and they usualy die long before you get any fruit, you cant prune them ever if you want them to fruit meaning they will be 30+ foot high or something silly for a lot of varietys before they fruit!

Better to get a grafted plant , on trifoliata rootstock if possible ( better in cold wether and keeps a smaller plant ) , rooted cuttings are available , but although old enough to fruit they are far harder to keep alive as most citrus own roots rot easily, a grafted plant will normaly fruit the year you get it, often they have fruit on when you buy them