Lime tree in a container - can it be saved?

5 years ago

G'day folks,

I'm the owner of a little lime tree growing in a container.

It has had a traumatic little life of late and I'm really not sure whether it can be saved, so I'd really appreciate any advice.

I had to go overseas for more than a month at the end of Summer, and there was no choice but to leave the lime to fend for itself on a covered balcony for that time. The coir mulch and water I left it allowed it to survive, but only just - ! Upon my return, all the leaves were crispy dry and mostly on the ground, and a large amount of the tree itself was clearly dead (new growth dried up, and quite a lot of the older branches were dry and dead looking). I crossed my fingers and began looking after it again, and much to my surprise it perked up after a month or two - making new branches and lots of new growth, but almost exclusively from brand new branches.

In the end, I had to lop off the large older branches - we were moving again and they were clearly dead/dry old wood with no signs of new growth, so they were pruned off in order to make transporting the tree easier.

I'm including photos of the little lime today (9 months later). You can see it has a heap of new growth but it's all over the shop and I am completely at a loss as to what to do!

Lime tree · More Info

There are very-new-growth branches coming up from the very base of the tree - my partner thinks these are a bit like suckers and should be pruned off. I'm more worried about the general shape of the thing - it always had a funny two-pronged main 'trunk' with 3 main branches, but now it's a tangle of branches all competing for space and light and I'm fairly sure this is far from ideal for fruit-growing… and yet there are several completely healthy-looking flowers that have suddenly opened towards the centre of the bush-like tree!

Lime tree · More Info

Lime tree · More Info

In short, can this tree be saved? Should I just chuck it and start again (shock, horror!)?

If anyone who knows citrus could please take a look at my photos and offer some advice about what and where (if anything!) I should prune, I would really appreciate it. I'd also be super grateful for any other observations or advice based on what you see - we have oodles of sunlight and a climate that should mean a little citrus tree could provide us with a bit of fruit at some point, but I'm afraid it's had a such a horrible shock to the system (and to its form) that it may never get there!

I'll plonk as much other info as I can can think of about the tree at the end of this post, just in case that helps - or prompts suggestions about what I can do better :)

Many thanks for any and all thoughts,

Frenchie

I'm not sure exactly how old it is, but my best guess is 5-6 years. It flowers every year, but has only ever fruited the once (the first year I had it) - and that was one lonely little lime!
It hasn't been too affected by disease in its life as far as I can tell. Every year there's a battle against leaf miners, and this year I've noticed a little bit of scale but I haven't yet sprayed it with white oil which is what I usually do.
The pot is a 'self-watering' type - it has a reservoir at the bottom with an overflow hole and a little floating jigger to tell you if it's dry. It's about 30cm square at the base and closer to 37cm at the top, and the pot has about 30cm depth of potting mix (as its currently sitting - it could hold about another 5cm if repotted). I try not to over-water it, but we live in Sydney Australia and it can get up to 40 degrees or more in the height of summer, so I have to be careful! I've had to move around a lot the last few years, but thankfully there's always been a good sunny balcony or patio for it to live on.
It was potted up in potting mix which was supposed to be suitable for citrus (Osmocote brand, from memory), but the last time it was re-potted was probably about two years ago. The mulch on the surface is a basic coir product - I was hoping to help keep the roots cool the the heat of summer. I'm not super-vigilant about it, but I have some citrus liquid fertiliser which I give it with Seasol in the warmer months.
As a quick side note, some garden-variety black ants have recently decided the tallest 'branch' of the lime is a great super-highway… I have no idea what they're specifically interested in, but they're getting to the point where they're starting to make me uncomfortable. I've had ants decide to nest in container plants before - a total pain! - and a lot of ants always make me suspicious (I suspect them of farming aphids or encouraging other nasties!).