For those looking for a good source I HIGHLY recommend fourwindsgrowers and I recommend spending the extra money to get the 2-3 year tree. I now have 12 citrus trees and something in the order of 15-20 different tropical fruit trees purchased from a variety of nurseries and the fourwinds plants are far and above superior in quality and hardiness. Even though they werent mature enough to bear their first fruit, all my fourwinds trees did ( I of course pruned them as should be done for the first crop) and they are all now fruit bearers and growing well. I've also had 80% succes with Larry's Tropicals off of Amazon.com however they are one of those companies that send a tiny plant that must be nurtured a great deal to get a well established tree. This can be a lot of work. As far as bang for your buck goes, fourwindsgrowers is the best bet hands down. Another thing worth noting is fourwinds did a fantastic job packing the tree for protection during shipping which many others did not. I can't say enough about how good their products and service is. If you are serious about your citrus they are the vendor for you.

Thanks Brezyb, I am feeling much better about my kaffir lime! Except for the spiraling roots and trunk it seems to be okay. I repotted it a few weeks ago, and the roots werent very tangled or anything, just growing in a circle. If I had known to do so, I could have easily untangled them then. It otherwise seems pretty healthy, not losing leaves or anything. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I harvested some of the leaves to make Tom Yung Goong, and they were fully fragrant, and flavorful! I had tried to make this before without them and now know that regular lime juice or peel are no substitute for the kaffir lime leaves. Thats why I am so desperate to save it. Tom Yung Goong is my favorite Thai dish! I just went outside and checked it really closely and there do seem to be some teeny tiny leaves forming! They are right at the graft line so I will probably have to cut them off, but new growth is new growth right? So I will take it out of the pot and untangle the roots and keep my fingers crossed. While I am at it, any suggestions/recommendations for soil mix/ammendments? I just used generic potting soil from Home Depot, and I am wondering if there is a better mix for it. Thanks for your help! Lydia PS. Any hope of it growing fruit some day?

No, it's a standard rootstock. The only dwarf rootstocks are trifolates -- flying dragon, swingle, et al. Either way, any citrus can be dwarved with aggressive pruning during the winter to make it grow wide rather than tall. Container growing of citrus for Phoenix can be done, especially if you're going after leaves, and not necessarily the fruit. Your big problems are: 1. Cooking the roots on 110+ days in a pot (it's a lot cooler for the plant if it's in the ground). 2. Watering. You're going to have to water every 3-4 days minimum if you want a vigorous tree. Every other day at the very minimum during the summer. Ways to get around that: 1. Wooden pot, if possible. This may not be an option if your tree is coming in as a 1 gallon seedling. Put it on casters to move it around. You'll bake the tree if you use black plastic or even ceramic if the plant hasn't spent a summer previously in Arizona. 2. Afternoon shade, starting at 2 to 3 o'clock. This is imperative. 3. Use of soil supplements like Zeba Quench or Soil Moist that aid in minimizing watering. 4. Lots of TLC. If you do get your plant by mail, be prepared to baby it heavily. If your supplier fails to ship it appropriately, your plant could easily be shocky on arrival, especially if it's sitting on your doorstep after a week of no water and it's 90+ outside. If your order doesn't go through, I strongly suggest paying the additional money and buying an Arizona grown plant. It'll likely be bigger, alive when you pick it up, and you can likely keep it in its plastic pot through the summer until the fall.

Something makes me think you may be in the UK. So I'll convert Patty's excellent advice to English English. First wash off that old soil. Swish it around in a bucket of not too cold water. Several times in fresh water if necessary. Re-pot in a much smaller pot than the one in your photos. Use something really free-draining. For a gritty mix, I use a mixture of equal parts Tesco low-dust cat litter, horticultural grit, and mini bark chips. (Not any cat litter - this one is special. And the best bark chips are sold for orchids, or as reptile bedding!) Add a teaspoonful of slow-release fertiliser to the mix. Don't plant too deep - those top roots should be at the surface. Use sharp secateurs to prune off the lowest green shoot. It is below the graft line, and therefore from the rootstock variety and not your lime. Cut off all the brown shoots at the point they turn brown or just above a green node. And cut back those little stubs closer to the main trunk. Water with a weak soluble balanced feed. The new gritty mix needs to be thoroughly watered, allowed to drain, and no water in the saucer. Keep warm. Now - if you think praying helps - pray! If the plant recovers, it will need more frequent watering than before but allow the surface to become dry.