How to Grow Limes

Days to germination: Seedlings are more typical
Days to harvest: 3 years
Light requirements: Full sun
Water requirements: Regular watering
Soil: Well-drained and even sandy soils
Container: Suitable in dwarf varieties

Introduction

Like most citrus fruit trees, you’ll need a warm climate with mild winters in order to successfully grow a lime tree. You should be in zones 9 to 11, though sheltered areas of zones 8 or even 7 may be suitable. The most popular varieties are Kaffir, Key and Meyer’s limes. The leaves from the Kaffir lime tree are actually edible and are often used in Asian and Thai cooking.

Limes aren’t particularly loaded with vitamins or minerals, but contain nearly half a day’s supply of vitamin C in just a quarter cup of juice. These fruits are notable for that, as they were used to fend of scurvy in British sailors at sea. The nickname “Limey” is still used today.

Like the lemon, limes are most often used as a flavoring rather than as a fruit you eat on its own.

Staring Your Tree

Lime trees are not particularly huge, and will usually grow to around 12 feet high at maturity. Plant your sapling or young tree in a sunny location with the best drainage you can find. Any spot where water accumulates should be passed by.

Plant the tree like any other, making sure that the hole is large enough for the roots. Once planted, tamp down the soil around the tree but don’t pack it down tightly. You still need great drainage, and packed soil doesn’t help.

Planting during late fall will give your tree some time to put down roots before the hot dry summer climate.

Most lime varieties are self-fertile, meaning you only need one tree in order to get a successful fruit harvest.

Tree Care

A few months after the blossoms have fallen, you will start to see fruit developing. Any clusters of small limes that have more than 4 fruits in each should be reduced down to 2 or 3 limes in a group or you will end up with a large harvest of tiny fruit. There is no hard and fast rule to this, but a little thinning can go a long way.

Given its small size, the lime tree seldom needs much pruning so there isn’t a lot of work in that regard. Each spring, check for dead branches and cut them out and also remove any suckers growing out of the trunk. They look like green branches but they grow straight upwards. You can’t miss them. Smaller branches growing through the center of the tree can also be pruned to let more light get through the crown of the tree. That’s really all you need to do with a lime tree with regards to keeping it pruned.

Water your tree if you have had dry weather for several days, with a good drink about once a week when necessary. Don’t over-soak all at once though. Give them a dose of citrus fertilizer 2 or 3 times a year, or more if the soil isn’t very fertile on its own.

Containers

Dwarf varieties of lime will do best in a container, which usually means a standard lime that has been grafted onto a different rootstock to keep it small. If you can’t get a dwarf lime, you may be fine with a standard tree since they are fairly small to begin with.

For a container, you’ll need at least a half barrel sized pot or planter. You can even grow potted limes in cooler climates as long as you are able to bring the whole tree indoors during the winter. A very sunny indoor room should be sufficient and you can still get lime production as long as you put the plant back outdoors during the warmer months.

Pests and Diseases

Lime suffers from attack by the same pests as most other citrus trees: aphids, scale insects and leafminers.

Aphids and scale are more of a nuisance than anything else, but if they are in large enough numbers or you have a very young tree, they can be a problem. Both insects suck out the fluid from inside the plant, and they excrete a sweet “honeydew” as a result. This will attract ants and can also lead to mold or mildew on your trees.

Once these pests start to accumulate, you can use a hose to spray them off (this works best for aphids) or use an insecticide. Scale can be hard to get rid of because their tough shell makes them pretty well protected against most sprays. But as long as they are not harming the plant, don’t stress about getting every last one off.

Leafminers are a bit different, and they chew on the leaves to cause real damage to your tree. Look for little tunnels or tracks in the leaf as the main symptom. Again, insecticides work well and you should cut away leaves and branches that show a lot of tunneling.

Harvest and Storage

Lime trees will start to fruit at 3 years old, though you will get just a handful of limes at that age.

Unlike most other citrus fruits, limes are picked before they ripen to get the best flavor. Green limes do turn yellow if left on the tree, so you want to pick the fruit before that happens. Once ripe, it will be bitter.

Unfortunately, it can be tricky to know the right point to pick your fruit because any that are too immature will be poor as well. After a few years, you will likely learn how to tell but the best way is to just cut down a couple of limes and see how juicy they are. Ready-to-pick fruit should be juicy, and the skins will be lighter green than the younger fruit.

You can store whole limes in the fridge for about 2 weeks if you put them in a plastic bag. If you just want the juice for drinks and cooking, that can be frozen and stored for several months. Ice cube trays work very well, then you can just store the loose cubes in freezer bags.

8 Responses to “How to Grow Limes”

Richard Crespin Says:
August 19th, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Gentlemen: I have a lime tree that after years of no fruit, suddenly it bears boocoo fruit, but all hard and very bitter, I reckon I just do not have the growing skill.
thanks for the info.
Sincerely
Richard
Patrick Burke Says:
February 7th, 2012 at 6:20 am
I live in New Orleans. With a temperate climate and an exceptionally warm winter this year I planted my Persian lime tree (nearly 5′ high when placed in the ground)in mid-January. Within weeks I had blossoms (briefly)and now, early February, I have two small fruit developing. I was surprised that this occurred so quickly given that you wrote that it would take “months” for one to follow the other. There is no doubt that these are very small limelets. The other emerging blossoms are very bunched and, as you suggest, I will trim them back to 2 or 3 so the next fruit will have room to develop to a sufficient size. Thanks for your guidance on this issue. I feel like a farmer, “out standing in his field.”
Mike is bored Says:
March 11th, 2012 at 8:54 pm
Thanks for the tips. I have a lime question. I have a container with dwarf Meyer limes going and the new limes keep falling off at one cm or so of size. Does that mean that it is not getting fertilized. Do you know if Meyer limes are self fertile? do I just need a polinator?
darry thompson Says:
March 15th, 2012 at 7:39 pm
i have a lime tree that is 7 yr. old that i bought at lowes i have never cut it back and it is around 8 to 10 feet tall it has never blossomed
it is planted in full sun what is wrong? need help
i do not wont to cut it down.

no limes in mississippi
Master Limer Says:
May 13th, 2012 at 8:47 am
Darry,
I would try the following keeping in mind that strict adherance is the only way this works. On the second night of the new moon walk around the tree 5 times at a slow pace. On the last walk around the tree urinate on the trunk as you walk being careful to completely soak the trunk in uriune to about 3 feet above the ground. Walk around the tree 2 more times while chanting the Lime God’s name “Mike Hunt” very loudly. This should evoke the Lime God’s blessing on your tree and it will produce. If this doesn’t work let us know and we’ll be glad to find another method to help you out with.
Good luck and drink lots of water about 2 hours before the ceremony!
West Texas Farmer Says:
September 10th, 2012 at 9:56 am
I bought a mexican(key) lime tree a few months ago. I planted it in a 22″ pot, stuck it on the south end of the house so it gets the full moning sun but is shaded from the afternoon sun and most of the wind. I used 70% organic compost and 30% miracle grow citrus soil in the pot, and mulched the top heavily with organic cedar mulch. After a couple days, my new tree bloomed with multiple clusters of pretty white flowers. After about a week and all the peetals fell off the flowerrs, each place there was a flower there are now baby limes! I have over ten clusters of 8+ baby limes all over my tree. Some of the baby limes are bigger than the others so I will thin out the small ones. Its odd, because half my tree is covered in limes but the other half isn’t…. wondering if I have two trees grafted to the same rootstock? Either way, both sides have a ton of pretty, light colored new growth. I love the leaves on this tree because they smell likee citrus! Especially when you break a leaf in half, the smell is almost reminicint of fruitloops. Will be bringing my tre insside for the winter.
Mimika Says:
April 28th, 2015 at 4:31 pm
Well i bought a small lime tree.i planted it in a container with very good potting soil.It grew i a beautiful dwarf tree.This year got a lots of flowers.The flowers later became tiny ,tiny limes.almost half of the size of a pea.It’s been at least 3 weeks now and the size of the limes ,it hasn’t change.What should i do???To make them grow to a normal size..???Thank you!!!
Vincent Ward Says:
May 28th, 2015 at 4:30 am
I live in Thailand, so growing limes is very easy, almost no maintenance except the tips mentioned in your excellent article. We use the leaves in Thai cooking as much or more than the limes or their juice, except when we have a mojito party. I have a large bed of mint as well so it works out quite nicely once or twice a year. The combination of fresh mint and limes didn’t sound that good to me but boy was I wrong. I recommend planting a bed of mint near your lime trees. If you really want to go completely from scratch you can add a small patch of sugar cane. 🙂 You don’t have to go to Cuba to get a decent mojito!