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Blood Lime update

7 years ago

Spike is doing really well. I potted him into the 5-1-1 mix on the weekend, so hopefully he'll be happy. He is still growing new flowers and leaves. The biggest news is that he has set heaps of fruit! They are growing so well, and there are heaps - I stopped counting at 50! I know I'll have to thin the fruit, but it's so exciting seeing that much fruit on him.

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TrinaJulie
Original Author

7 years ago

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Comments (8)

Laura LaRosa (7b)
7 years ago
Wow!! Lucky duck! Spike looks lovely and very happy. I hope mine will flower someday! Keep us updated as the fruits get bigger!
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Steel Drum Band
7 years ago
TrinaJulie and Laura,

Where did you get your blood lime trees? Are they Australian Finger limes that have the beads inside and are red in color, or are they the actual round limes that are of the BLOOD variety? My fiancé is moving in with me soon from Australia and she asked me for a few trees in the garden. She can't bring hers, I don't think. I asked my granddaughter for help and she says he can't find any here in the US but it looks like you gals have them. I'm in Virgina and there are no apparent restrictions for my state. Please, help this old man out and tell me where you found your BLOOD lime tree.

Thanks,

Timmy
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TrinaJulie
Original Author
7 years ago
Hi Timmy,

I actually live in Aus, just outside Brisbane on the East Coast :) I got my tree from a local nursery here. It's a hybrid bred by our Science institute (CSIRO) from a finger lime and a rangpur (mandarin lime). The fruits are small (about the size of a small thumb) and are filled with a tart citrus caviar, very tasty addition to drinks and dessert.

While I can't help with locating trees in the US, maybe start a new thread and list the trees your fiancé is looking for. I'm sure people will be able to help you out. Folks around here are super friendly and helpful :)

Best of luck with your hunt!

-Trina
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Steel Drum Band
7 years ago
Thank you Trina, I appreciate your response.
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Steel Drum Band
7 years ago
Laura,

You said that you hope yours will flower someday. Do you have the Australian finger lime with the caviar beads inside and it happens to be red, or do you have an actual round lime of the actual "BLOOD" variety?

Most importantly, where did you get yours?

Kind regards,

Timmy
cory (Zone 7a, NJ)
7 years ago
STeel Drum...Logees has both the green one and the red one. They may be small. See link below.

http://www.logees.com/catalogsearch/result/?q="finger+lime";
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Ken "Fruity Paws" (N-Va 7a)
7 years ago
I think Timmy is looking for the round vice finger blood. I haven't found it at any of the normal citrus nurseries (or in the CPPP). That said, given the quick research, it seems that it'd be possible to recreate in a few years (probably 7-10 years for fruit) since they sayd it's a cross for fruit we can get.

"The blood lime is a cross between the red finger lime (Citrus australasica var. sanguinea) and the either the Rangpur lime or the Ellendale Mandarin hybrid."

Buy mature blood finger lime trees and the lime and mandarin. Water, Feed, and manually pollinate. Get fruit. Plant seeds. Wait 3-5 years for the lime mix and 7+ for the mandarin hybrid seedlings.

Maybe someone in the deep south (FL, TX, AZ, CA) wants to take on a long experiment?

CPPP (and other sponsored programs) does take in appropriately provided plant material), but they have to quarantine. Don't know how many generations and tests they have to do. I would suppose someone could facilitate this between the Australian equiv of USDA and the USDA to get cuttings shipped to a program and pay for the plant material and shipping. But I'm just guessing at this. Maybe someone has a better handle on it. I just have read some of the CPPP program's documentation and gleaned this info.
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