Finger lime changed colour? (forum)

mnm in caboolture starts with ...
Hi, I have had a finger lime growing for a few years but the fruit seems very variable and I'm wondering why and if this is normal? I bought it as a grafted rainforest pearl. The first crop was small fruit with green caviar and the next was larger fruit with pink caviar. It's cropping again now and it is the small green fruit again. It hasn't grown from beneath the graft, and I've followed the stems along to check if perhaps it was dual grafted but every stem bears the green fruit one crop, and the pink fruit the next. Is this usual?

Thanks for your help

Time: 1st December 2013 4:02pm

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sternus1 says...
Rainforest pearl is perhaps the worst fingerlime cultivar there is, and is indeed highly variable accordingly, even when grafted. It tends to also yellow along the leaves, which will make you think it isn't getting something it needs--ignore this, it is, it is just a very bad plant.

Daleys have a few good ones for sale currently, I also know of a seller who has all available varieties in Australia. His trees are very good and often arrive in fruit.

Contact me at ljo 84 at hsuhmail dot com if interested.

cheers

s

Time: 1st December 2013 4:34pm

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Original Post was last edited: 1st December 2013 4:32pm

About the Author sternus1
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mnm in caboolture says...
Thanks, but apart from the variability of the fruit I am very happy with it :-). It thrives on mostly neglect and fruits regularly. It's never been bothered much by the usual citrus problems - no gall, few caterpillars, no aphids or scale. Even though I have other citrus nearby that have every pest known on them.

So when you say fruit is variable, do you mean from crop to crop like mine or from plant to plant?



Time: 1st December 2013 6:33pm

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sternus1 says...
Both. It is just a bad cultivar, and if you got it from bunnings it is no doubt of a altogether greater magnitude of badness.

I have one growing in a pot. You are more than welcome to it free of charge. This will save me a trip to the tip.

Most, if not all finger limes vary in color between fruit sets. I now have eight varieties and was told by the seller to expect this with all of them apart from the two greens I have (Alstonville and tasty--I just ordered collete, and I suspect this will be the same). I don't know why this is, I'm not an expert. I have noticed that even the greens will be lighter/darker depending on whatever confounds serve as an influence.

RP vesicles will vary from light pink to darker pink to clear, and this will change with the tree's age. I have a purple type which varies wildly--It will almost never get the 'poster' fruit that has rich purple skin and pale purple pulp.

Also, finger limes are mono-embryonic and are very susceptible to hybridization. If you have other citrus around, this can effect the particular attributes of the fruit. This includes the citrus you have growing nearby; all it takes is a bee to land on one flower and then migrate to the little pink ones on your RP.

The CSIRO finger lime (blood, I think) is cross between a finger lime and are cumquat of some description. It tastes like something you'd clean a shower with, so don't be tempted to buy it.

I emphatically urge you to try other cultivars--I promise that when you do, you will bash the rp over the head with a shovel, bury it deep in the woods and never think about it ever again. Granted it is very tough and crops heavily, but on the ladder of fruit quality it is around the bottom rung.

cheers
s

Time: 1st December 2013 6:53pm

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Original Post was last edited: 1st December 2013 6:51pm

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jakfruit etiquette says...
The red pigments in all Citrus are subject to climate. Blood oranges require chill for best colour, red and pink grapefruit require heat for best colour.
From memory Fingerlimes have the same pigment types as red grapefruit, so fruit colour could vary according to the weather over the fruit development period.
This is more so out of their natural range, and could vary year to year, as per fruit set of other crops.
mnm and sternus, I think you have summed up rf pearl, maybe not the greatest, but reliable producer out of its normal range ??? Probably the bloodlime is similar, just doesn't rate against a good fingerlime. I prefer the green BL to the red BL fruit later on.

Time: 1st December 2013 8:29pm

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BJ says...
Rainforest Pearl is a brute of a tree and crops heavily. If you don't plan on eating the fruit or going near the tree, its great. Certainly great for showing friends, just don't give them the fruit to try or the species will be in grave danger. I don't think finger limes are bound by the same colour chemistry as blood oranges, which have anthocyanins or red-fleshed oranges like Cara Cara, which have lycopene. The cold doesn't seem to change the colour of the flesh, with Ricks Red in particular being ruby red.

I've not experienced the variability in Rainforest Pearl. They were always a pinky-brown exterior and clearish pink interior and uniformly terrible.

Time: 1st December 2013 8:50pm

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jakfruit etiquette says...
Yes BJ, after checking, the pigments in Fingerlimes are Anthocyanins, as per blood orange, not Lycopene as I said per red grapefruit.

Time: 1st December 2013 10:03pm

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mnm in caboolture says...
Ok, well I might give something else a try if I can find a good spot for it. My son loves the finger limes, he eats then as a snack and takes them to school for morning tea and shares them with his mates. He would be very unhappy if I dug it out before getting another established for him.

Time: 2nd December 2013 8:04am

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Mario Belo Pedro says...
I am interested i buying 5 finger lime trees, or some seeds, do you know a some one that exports good quality trees?
Thank you.

Time: 14th April 2015 11:20pm

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