care and planting of my Finger Lime trees (forum)

pat purmort starts with ...
I need any help I can get regarding planting and caring for my (2) little Finger Lime trees. They are grafts and are about 2 feet tall. Any advice will be much appreciated.

Time: 9th April 2010 12:30am

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About the Author pat purmort
South Florida, USA
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BJ says...
Hi Pat,
Im no expert, but I have a two year old in my yard going well. Its in terrible rocky clay soil, gets only a little water when in fruit (though we have had two 'wet seasons' the past 2 years) and treated basically the same as most of my other citrus, with a little less fetilizer. It has provided me with a good little crop already and has grown to about 9 foot tall. I have just trimmed the top to slow its growth after the last wet season, but this was its first trim.

So my notes so far are that it doesnt mind neglect, quite likes a dry area of the garden with good drainage, sporadic waterings (in my case the few weeks of heavy rain in the wet season) seem to kick it along quickly. And definately stake early! The quick growing new stems are soft and bend in the wet, so after a good storm you'll find your tree bowing under the weight of water. And a 9-foot thorn ball is not fun to stake...

Time: 10th April 2010 9:06pm

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About the Author Theposterformerlyknownas
Brisbane
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amanda says...
Hi BJ - thanks for good info - I have one too and interested. What fert' do u use? (I was wondering about the phosphate with these guys too?)

Mine a Rainforest Pearl..

Time: 11th April 2010 11:41am

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About the Author amanda19
Geraldton. WA
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BJ says...
I think mine is a rainforest pearl as well. The fruit are fairly small (6.5 x 1.5cm)compared to a few others, slightly musky and dont give much flavor until you crush the little globules (you get a great burst when you bite them). I'll be getting a Collette when I can too.

I have just been using Organic Xtra, which is about 6 different manures, blood n bone and sulphur of phosphate, but fairly sparingly. The tree seems to do pretty well on its own, really.

Mine seems to be among the spiky-est I've ever seen and can become a real haven for Grasshoppers who use it as a base to launch raids on the rest of my plants...

Time: 11th April 2010 3:10pm

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About the Author Theposterformerlyknownas
Brisbane
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amanda says...
Thanks BJ - I use B+B and manure as well. Mine spikey too! fruited 1 month after planting..alot tougher than I expected - I usually shy away from anything labelled "Rainforest..." here...

Time: 12th April 2010 2:26am

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About the Author amanda19
Geraldton. WA
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pat purmort says...
Thanks guys - I agree with you, BJ, about staking early - AND these are spikes that my dogs will only run into once! I've got these little guys in (2) large clay pots for starters - they must be tough - the little one has already got three blooms!
I have a lot of brown spots on the older leaves - all the new ones look great, so I think it might have to do with the stress of replanting. Do you think that I should trim anything back to start shaping it? If not, when would it be safe to do that?

Time: 25th April 2010 10:35pm

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About the Author pat purmort
South Florida, USA
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ilona says...
i'm looking to buy finger lime .. :-(
any idea?

Time: 23rd July 2010 7:15am

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About the Author ilona
Florida
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