I too am in S.W.Ohio and wanting to nurture my Kaffir lime. It is now outside ,growing and seems happy. Thinking of moving it up a size pot wise ,but don't know if it prefers to be root bound.

pretty sure its the combination of cold and the pest infestation that was on it. looks pretty wet also. limes seem to be the most cold sensitive of the citrus family. i think the brown branches are pretty much dead or dying, so prune them off. looks like there's a green branch lower down. could you get a pic near the trunk and one of the whole plant?

Like animals, trees grown from seed must pass through several phases of development before they become sexually mature and capable of producing reproductive parts (blooms/ seeds/ fruit). The plant phases of seed - seedling - juvenile - sexually mature are roughly mirrored in human developmental stages of embryonic - infantile - juvenile - adult/ sexually mature. A freshly sprouted seedling is no more capable of producing reproductive parts (blooms/ seeds/ fruit) than an infant. Too, a plant's aging process is different than an animal's. Where animals age chronologically, plants age ontogenetically. Ontogenetic aging can be thought of in terms of how many cell divisions have occurred to move the plant to its current phase of development. One might reason that the most recent new growth would be the youngest part of the plant, but ontogenetically, it is the the oldest part of the plant because it has taken many more cell divisions to produce the newest parts. Ontogenetically, the youngest part of a tree grown from seed will always be the root to shoot transition area at the base of the trunk, no matter how old the tree is chronologically. Pruning a tree back hard can easily remove all existing mature growth and return it to a juvenile phase that would require a considerable amount of new growth before the wood again becomes mature. All factors that influence growth rate have an impact on how long (chronologically) it takes a plant to become sexually mature, so thinking that a change in nutrition alone will cause a plant to bloom is misguided. The fastest seedlings to mature within any given species will depend on how proficient Mother Nature or the plant's grower is at providing ideal cultural conditions. Ideal cultural conditions = most rapid growth rate and shortest period of time to reach maturity; this, simply because ideal conditions are most conducive to cell divisions and therefore a fruitful tree at a younger chronological age. It should be noted that applying nutrients or other products in willy nilly fashion with no knowledge of whether or not there is an actual deficiency of those nutrients or no good reason to apply them is highly likely to be limiting in terms of both growth and rate of maturation. Whenever we discuss what is or isn't an appropriate part of the methodology we use to make certain our plants get all the nutrients essential to growth and good health, we would probably first want to be sure our objectives are on target. It's difficult to argue with the idea that our focus in supplying supplemental nutrition to our plants should be on ensuring all the nutrients plants normally assimilate from the soil are A) IN the soil and available for uptake at all times, B) in the soil in a favorable ratio - that is to say in a ratio that mimics the ratio at which the plant actually uses the nutrient, C) at a concentration high enough to ensure no nutritional deficiencies, yet still low enough to ensure the plant's ability to take up water efficiently, and the nutrients dissolved in that water won't be impeded (by a high concentration of solubles in the soil solution). The part in bold is where growers often run afoul of sound husbandry. By adding unnecessary nutrients we A) skew the ratio of nutrients, each to the others, such that an excess of one nutrient causes a deficiency of one or more other nutrients, and B) make it more difficult for the plant to assimilate water and nutrients. So, for plants in containers, best results can be had by choosing 1 fertilizer with an appropriate nutrient ratio and all the nutrients essential to normal growth. Forget the snake oil products and claims made on product packaging by sellers whose only goal is separating you from your money. For plants in the landscape, a soil test is ESSENTIAL for any grower aiming at providing the best cultural conditions possible. "A little extra" is almost always going to be limiting rather than beneficial; otherwise, it wouldn't be "extra". Al

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.