How's everybodys Red Lime doing? Mine hasn't bloomed yet, but is growing. I think they must have pruned mine not long before shipping it out. It sits by this window, but I take it outside around lunch time. It's supposed to hit 70F here tomorrow! Carolina winter temps are all over the place.

On a side note, I have some Calamondins popping, but those empty ones behind it are Mandarinquat seeds that never did anything. Planted 5, none have sprouted yet. That's Goji berry plants on the right side. Got those seeds from dried fruit from the supermarket. Using Ocean Forest potting mix - my favorite bagged mix probably.

Mine seems to have adjusted to the bareroot and gritty mix real well. Pushing out new growth strong now and has four or five blooms. I won't pick them off this time but the plant just seems too young to be producing fruit.

Mine is starting to sprout also, though the growth is smaller than yours. Seems happy enough. It’s a cute little tree!

Mine from seed are just so slow growing. They have been growing for almost a year now and are still only about 2 inches tall. I am wondering when and if they will start to take off!

Cory

The red lime I got flushed out over the holidays. Looking pretty healthy. No blooms yet, but I "think" there are some white dots just starting on some branches - hoping they'll be blooms soon.

Here's my little red lime out enjoying the 66F day yesterday, which is such a nice break from the crazy freezing temps we've had the last couple of weeks. Gave it a good Foliage pro watering. All my citrus went out yesterday for a watering.

How's everyone's red lime doing over the winter?

That’s great Dave and Corey! Mine has sprouted and is blooming! It’s very cute and will get a bigger pot and fresh 5-1-1 come spring.

My Red Lime is finally blooming! I was beginning to wonder if I got a dud, but noticed blooms this morning. I was going to repot it today, but maybe I should hold off now - I don't want to upset it.

That is NOT the red lime I am familiar with, calling that tree a red lime is a real stretch of the imagination. It is just about the same coloration as common citrus. Not red at all. The Red Lime I am familiar with is as dark red as a Moro Blood orange.

Silica - I think if you are going by the plant tags, they seem to be generic "lime" ones. Hirts is out of these now but here is the Amazon link where you can see their pic (they are listing it as unavailable there obviously since Hirts is out and sells through Amazon too) - https://www.amazon.com/Red-Lime-Tree-Bearing-Branched/dp/B074W9TTNN

I have a lime on mine that is ready to pick. I’ll try and get it tomorrow and will post pics.

Jenny thanks for the Amazon link. The picture on that link is somewhat better and could reasonably be called "red". However, it is still not even close at all to the darkness of the Red lime I'm familiar with.

That is cool news, Dave and Laura! My kitties shook all of the fruit off of my tree so I was disappointed, but Laura, please post a picture of the fruit when you get the chance and I look forward to hearing a description on the fruit flavor. My tree is lovely and has almost doubled in size since I received it. It is growing out in width. No flowers yet.

Here you go guys...

Wow, it really is orange inside. Not many seeds. I wonder if it would have turned red if left on the tree longer.

Thanks for the pictures, Laura!

Yeah Dave, I wondered when it should have been picked. I went on how I usually pick my Persian lines. The flavor was very nice and, yes, I’ve never seen a lime that color before. It will have a good place in my collection.

Like Dave, first thing that came to mind was the minimal number of seeds. Thanks for the pic Laura!

Here's a 1 year update on the Red lime tree I ordered last October from Hirts via Amazon.

It's been a delightful little tree - no trouble at all. I potted it up into a square plastic pot I had on hand into a coco-based mix I got at the hydro store. It has 11 fruit on it, some are just now starting to turn color - yellowish right now. I haven't picked any fruit from this tree yet, and I'm waiting to see if any will turn red. Here's a pic...

I am glad it got the red lime. I saw Hirts has the variegated centennial kumquat on sale for the same price. I just ordered one - been wanting one. for a long time..

How is everyone's red lime doing?

Your Red Lime tree is lovely, Dave! Hard to believe a year has come and gone since a few of us purchased that same tree around the same time. How large are the fruit on your tree that are starting to turn yellow? My Red lime is growing well and is virtually trouble free so far. It is more bush like in form. I have it planted in a 3 gallon container in well draining mix. It was loaded with blooms and fruit earlier this year and it currently has around 20+ green fruit that seem to have stayed pretty much the same size and color since mid-summer. I am patiently waiting for them to grow a bit more and turn color.

Clinton, you have a lovely tree. How is it doing?

Thanks, Jinny! Your red lime looks great - it has flourished. 20+ fruit is good for a tree that size. I had more fruit on mine, but many fell off, and my tree blew over a number of times which knocked some little fruit off. Here's a picture of one of the larger fruits on my tree turning color. I'll post a pic of the centennial variegated kumquat when it arrives. It has shipped today, expecting it in 4-7 days. I have had some good plants shipped from Hirts, hope it continues.

Mine is a great tree with many limes! I like the fruit quite a bit also. It has periodically been plagued by scale that attack the fruit and junction with the stem, but I keep treating it and clearing it. Great trees Dave and Jinny! And Clinton, beautiful tree!!

Wow, Dave! That lime is huge! Very nice. Laura, are your red limes as big and round as Dave's? Laura, I have a few citrus trees with scale that often attack the stem and fruit area and I clean, scrub and treat but they reoccur. The scale love the Tahitian Pomelo tree. I have been treating that tree since I received it and it is a non stop battle. The tree is lovely but the fruit better be worth it. Lol..

Jinny, that’s exactly the problem I have with two of mine. I wipe and spray but those awful ants I think help. Mine are not as big but I have lots of them. I’ll try and take a pic toy. I think one is ripe. I may make a key lime pie tomorrow. It’s that time of year...yay!

Your red lime tree is a beauty, Clinton. I'd love to see pics of the fruit.

The $25 variegated centennial kumquat I ordered from Hirts over Amazon came today. Not a big tree, but healthy. I like the variegated look. I'll leave it in the original pot over winter. Finally I can cross this citrus off my wish list. Here are a couple off pics...

Laura, I always say hooray for key lime pie! I love it! I would love to see pictures of your and Clinton's trees and fruit.

Dave, that Centennial Variagated Kumquat is so full and the leaves are lovely. Great buy. All of my Hirts citrus trees are robust and growing really well.

I was trying to wait for the lighting to get better, but this should suffice. the tree looks ridiculous with how saggy it is. lol. don't know if I should pick some of the smaller ones off or not...

Wow, Clinton! That is a fantastic looking and well producing tree! Look at all of those limes! Have you decided how you will use the fruit? Do you like key lime pie? Lol.

The branches look like they are strong enough to support the weight of the fruit, but do you see any signs of splitting on the crotch of the branches? You could always stake and tie the heavy fruiting branches for support if you are worried. I staked and supported my Satsuma branches when they bent down from the crotch from all of the fruit. Maybe someone else more knowledgeable will chime in..

I have not tasted the fruit yet but Laura has. She likes it. You have enough fruit to experiment with. All of the above suggestions sounds great to me. Curd, marmalade, marinade? Lol. Have fun! Keep us posted.

Wow! What a great lime tree, Clinton. I don't know either what differences there are in the red lime to other limes. Guess you will be finding out real soon!

Thnaks for posting those pics. Such a beautiful lime tree...

Just finding this thread after searching

“red lime tree.” I thought I bought a regular lime tree several months ago and wondered what was going on when the limes started turning orange. They are finally ripening and the taste is fantastic. Just this morning I noticed new flowers on the tree.

Jinny, I’ll try and compare them to other limes if I get the chance. I really liked the flavor, and also think it was seedless and very juicy. It’s a great little tree. Clinton, all I can say is wow!!

Would anybody happen to know for sure (or have links) about the cold hardiness of the red lime tree we got? When I purchased it, the basic info said "Super cold hardy lime – even better than Rangpur" and said it hardy down to Zone 8. I'd like some more assurance before I try leaving it out around really cold temps.

No idea Dave, but I’d love to know myself.

Ok, I have only found one online reference that mentions any low temp for our red lime tree. A florida nursery website that sells fruits and exotics is offering the red lime tree too. It says the red lime is cold hardy down to 16F, and as low as Zone 8a. That sounds good, but I'm not going to try leaving it out anything near that low myself. It must be pretty cold hardy though.

I'm bringing mine in when freezing temps come. My fruits are tuning orange. No red yet.

I love to eat this red lime out of hand when it's ripe. Also I found out its taste gets incredible after one or two Miracle fruits. Lol, can't stop eating them. The fruits turn dark orange almost red color after some cold temps. I leave the limes on the tree till March. By the way, I didn't like the taste of the limes first year. Wanted to get rid of the tree. Gave it a chance for one more year and the taste improoved to much much better.

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Those are really gorgeous, Halyna. The red lime tree is an attractive citrus. When I prune my one tree I'm definitely going to try to root cuttings.

How often does it fruit in your climate (the months it usually fruits)? This is the first year mine has fruited, and I haven't tasted one yet. I had the same experience as you with my mandarinquat - first year the fruit was terrible, next year it was great.

I've heard a lot about those miracle fruits. I may have to get one around here - I'm told my cooking needs a miracle.

Thanks for posting your pic.

I echo what Dave said. Those are gorgeous looking fruit! Does the interior of the fruit lose any quality hanging on the tree for a bit longer? Lol, Dave. I have a young Miracle fruit tree that is slow growing so no fruit yet.

Those are gorgeous! Mine are orange, but not that red yet. It looks a lot to me like a Rangpur lime. Could it be a cross?

calamondindave

I agree with you. I brought my dormant meiwa kumquat in yesterday 11:00 PM when temps dropped below 33F and went down to 20F for our first frost . The Meiwa kumquat goes down to 15F but why take chances. Your tree looks very healthy.

Steve

The Red lime fruits ,I'd say, a couple of times per year here. It's like it has three stages of fruit on and flowering again. That red like in the picture above it'll be in the winter. The fruit doesn't lose quality, I'd say it gets better like Centennial kumquat. I see people harvest the fruits way early. The fruits have to change color from yellow green stripes to yellow orange like variegated Minneola. Then the fruits are ready to eat out of hand and they get a bit bigger in size too.

What they say about the cold tolerance, they are talking about a mature tree in the ground. We grow young trees in containers, so we have to protect them. My Red lime suffered last year from root rot or something. The limbs started to die. I almost lost it. So it's to weak to have all the fruits. I left a few and they are not looking that pretty this year. The LM got it really bad even though I treated it with the neem oil. But, it's alive and trying to grow back. I don't have a Rangpur lime, so I can't compare.

Did it have any orange taste at all, or was it pure lime flavor?

Im tempted to pick one of mine now, but I want it to turn all the way.

Thanks for posting the pics. Surprised at the seed cluster it has.

I finally harvested a few of my red limes For the first time. They had turned a very dark orange, almost red. They were very juicy and delicious. Best lime flavor of any of my lime trees. I squeezed a whole one into a glass of soda water. Refreshing. Kind of seedy. I planted 4 seeds and all sprouted. I will take cuttings when it begins a growth mode, because this is a tree I want to continue in my collection. It is kind of cold hardy, I have left it out most of the winter, bringing it inside nights when freezing temps come, which isn't that often around here. Mid 30's didn't harm it. No problems with this tree whatsoever.

That’s great to hear Dave! I like is as well, and am reassured about its cold-hardiness from your experience. Mine is right by the door, so perhaps I’ll experiment with taking it out a bit on warm days.

Yeah they taste so good!!! Ummm it can stand cold as 15 degree when they get older you have to cover plastic for two years during winter but next day if it get upper 30 Degrees I cant spell it until after two years in ground will be stand more hardy cold to 15 degrees....

Update: It's been 4 years now since getting the little Red Lime tree off Amazon. I have kept it and enjoyed it very much. It has provided much fruit and has been less fickle than any of my other citrus. I have potted it up several times and pruned it down several times. I just re-potted it today in this picture. This has become my favorite citrus. I've started dozens of seedlings from its seeds and have half of dozen plants from cuttings.

Does anyone else here still have their red lime tree? If so how about a pic? here's mine...

Would you happen to have cuttings of the Red Lime? I'm in North Carolina.