[AG] Lime Care

[Linda A. Guy]

I'm no citrus expert, but I do have a lime tree whose performance was
similar to yours this year. Limes are not the easiest citrus to grow in
our area. They are extremely frost sensitive and need to be planted in a
warm area, out of the winds. You don't say which variety you have, but I
will share that the Bearss seedless (Persian) is the recommended type
for our locale. Others sold include Mexican (Key) and Rangpur. All are
fairly tart and range in green to yellow in color.

I have slightly conflicting information on the 'ripening season' (again
remember these are going to be tart): our publication  AZ 1001 on Low
Desert Citrus
http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1001.pdf
says it is July through January for Bearss. Mexican limes ripen in
September but you can experience some small percentage of fruit
remaining throughout the year.

My lime performed exactly as did yours. Most fruit fell in December [I
have a Bearss] and the tree has been setting new fruit for at least the
last month. The fruit was yellow this year (lack of cold can impact the
color) and is usually always tending to tart/sour.

Your irrigation schedule is not quite what citrus prefer. Deep
infrequent watering (every 10 - 14 days in summer; every 21 to 30 days
in winter) is preferred. Citrus does very well in flood irrigated
communities, e.g. You should also be starting the first tranche of your
fertilization for this year soon.

If you have more questions on care, check out our citrus publications
list at
http://ag.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/html/pubs/pubs.htm#Citrus
Most are not online, but can be viewed in the reference section of your
public library. If you want to order a copy, instructions are at the top
of this web page.

Good luck!
Linda Guy
Master Gardener

ronolive@usa.net wrote:

> arid_gardener
> I have a lime tree that was not taken care of
> for years until we bought the house.  I have
> taken care of it since then and it bore limes
> for the first time this year.  A month ago they
> all turned yellow and fell off the tree with
> little to no green color.  Now there is a new
> small crop on the tree.  I am afraid they will
> turn yellow and prematurely fall off again.
> I was watering every 7 days.  Now I am watering
> every 14 days for thirty minutes.  It takes about 4 hours for the
> water to fully absorb into the ground from the
> birm around the tree.  What am I doing wrong?
>
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