I would suggest you take stock of the cultural conditions you are providing and see how they measure against what the plant prefers. Barring any insect infestations, start with a close look at the soil, then move to light levels, your nutritional supplementation program and watering habits, and temperatures. If you can manage to keep this short list in the favorable (to the plant) category, there is no reason you shouldn't expect fruit (but not all fruit that develops) to persist to maturity. Al

I had to top it (though you're right, should have consulted a professional first) because it was getting enormous, and was overhanging neighbor's yard, where i didn't have access to, to prune. and leaf miner look and sound exactly like the cause.. thanks for giving me a serious case of the goose bumps! from quick scan of various sites, it seems i should keep the tree well watered and trim off the infested branch/leaves? is there a more tried n true proactive method (pesticide?) that will kill the miners off? Thanks, Jeff

Hello Citrusenthusiast, If you are willing to start small, take a handful or more 4 to 5 inch cuttings, and follow the rules for rooting them with rooting powder or liquid. I took three cuttings from my Key lime this past fall, dipped the cut ends in the rooting hormone powder, popped them into separate little two inch pots, kept them under plastic bags in indirect light in my house, and got one to take. I lost the other two because I totally forgot to check to see if they needed watering. Regarding the fear of spreading disease, I think that unless every last suburban landscape crew, professional and amateur, in southern California is practicing "safe" pruning techniques you really are unlikely to be guilty of a major crime. I lived for a decade in Florida, including a couple years in Sarasota in the early 90s, where citrus canker disease was a major concern, and I used to watch the supposedly professional landscape crews working through the citrus trees that grew on the apartment complex's property, and I never ever saw them sterilize their pruning tools--which were reportedly a potential way the disease could spread, even though Sarasota had several major citrus groves within a few miles of the location. Up here in Connecticut, I try to remember to always wipe my pruning shears with rubbing alcohol after trimming each tree I have, even though, obviously, I don't exactly have to worry about infecting nearby citrus plantations. I hope you have good results, and that you get a few other people interested in your Grandma's tree. Don

Your little tree will abort the fruit it cannot support. If it is still carrying too much fruit at the golf ball stage, you can always remove a few more fruit. You have a nice, big, healthy (very healthy, btw) canopy that should be able to support a fair amount of fruit. The tree is already most likely 3 years old, so about the time you'd see a nice fruit set. Enjoy, continue watering and fertilizing, and providing lots of light, hopefully outside soon, and you'll enjoy nice fat juicy limes in no time. Patty S.