Is anyone here growing Australian Finger limes?

[AltaFarm]

I'm curious if anyone else here is growing finger limes. I have 5 of them in 24in boxes. I bought one from Bay Flora and one from Four winds nursery. Then I ordered 3 from the Lowes in San Dimas. The ones from Lowes were 2x the size of the mail order trees. I have also seen them at a few Home Depots last year, but have not seen any at the big box places this year.

[Harborseal]

I wish the home despots here would get with the tropical program. When the nurseries have them they sell out quickly yet HD is too afraid to sell them in our cooler climate.

[hstark]

I don't know anything about Australian Finger Limes, had to look them up, WIKI says they are grown like any other citrus, and we have a Key Lime tree (and varigated Eureka lemon, Sambo lemon, and navel orange) here. If you have a citrus question, maybe I can help? Worst problem I've had with them are citrus miners, which I get rid of with neem oil spray. You're closer to India than we are, you should be able to get neem oil easily over there.

[AltaFarm]

I was picking a few the other day to give away and the one in the partial shade had the biggest limes on it. Naturally they were an understory tree, so they grew in partial shade. The one in full sun from morning to evening, has the least amount of fruit on it. I'm curious if its a coincidences or if they like partial shade.

We have leaf miners here as well. The finger limes are unaffected as its a different leaf than most citrus. They remind me of a boxwood shrub.

[greenfig]

AltaFarm,

Do you have different colors? Do they taste different?

[AltaFarm]

I took the pic from the web, but that is how mine look. Some get a little deeper pink, so far its like 1 in 10 are pink. I would love to get some of the other varieties, but I'm sure they are tough to find. As I understand they have only legally been in the US for about 10 years.

[greenfig]

Thanks! I need to find some than, they look interesting .
How do you mainly eat them?

[COGardener]

I wish the home despots here would get with the tropical program. When the nurseries have them they sell out quickly yet HD is too afraid to sell them in our cooler climate.

That is interesting Bob, my local HD has had some citris the last couple years.

[Hershell]

I cut my tree down but I still have a faustrime. It is more productive but I don't know what to do with them or who to make think that they are being poisoned.

[greenfig]

What color of yours, Hershell?

[Hershell]

The faustrimes are green

[greenfig]

It seems you did not enjoy them much

[Hershell]

Just obsessed with collecting. They seem to be a good substitute for something that taste really bad.

[greenfig]

Lol

[hstark]

Those are really neat looking, I haven't seen them anywhere around here, but my small yard is out of room for more citrus... especially if I fill it up with figs .

[Altadena Mara]

I tried growing a small one gallon bush from Burkard's Nursery, the largest size I could find at the time, but wasn't able to keep it alive for over a year. I don't know if it was our local water or the hot summer that did it in. Whole Foods was giving the fruit away for free for a while so I decided I didn't want to give it another try. I prefer to grow fruit you can't buy in the stores.
Last year there were larger sizes available at one or two nurseries, but the citrus quarantine now makes it illegal to buy them.

[AltaFarm]

"Thanks! I need to find some than, they look interesting .
How do you mainly eat them?"

GreenFig
They are still kind of a novelty as we have not had a large amount yet. My daughter eats them straight, I give a lot away, cut one in half and drop in a beer, put on a salad. I hope to play with them more this year as the trees are getting bigger.

They did not have them in stock at the Lowes San Dimas, but the women in charge of the nursery called their distributer and said they were available. They came in 5gal pots for 29.99. I also bought one at the HD in Alhambra as a gift as they had them in stock last year.

[greenfig]

Thank you! I will try to call the stores you mentioned in case they can get the plants again.

[binbin9]

I visited One green world Nursery in Portland yesterday and one of the workers let me try these. It's like citrus caviar. It would be pretty awesome as a topping on a lot of beverages and sushi dishes.

[AltaFarm]

Green fig
I was in the Armstrong nursery in monrovia today and they had 5 finger limes at 34.99. They still had the stickers on the pots from La Verne nursery. The ones I got from Lowes came from La Verne as well.

635 West Huntington Drive
Monrovia, CA 91016