How to Plant, Care and Choose Finger Limes

If you love Finger Limes as much as we do, you will want to make sure that they thrive. Here's a quick guide to help you choose the right tree and how grow healthy, productive Finger Lime trees. We also have suggestions on how to use finger limes.

Standards v's Garden Range Finger Limes:

We recommend standard finger limes over the garden range for several reasons. Garden range finger limes are an ugly, dense, prickly plant. The denseness and prickles makes picking the fruit quite tricky/painful. We recommend using gloves when picking fruit on Garden Range finger lime trees. Note: if you don't mind getting scratched and want a lot of finger limes, a garden range finger lime tree will produce more fruit.

Standard trees have an attractive weeping, open shape. The fruit hangs down on both ranges of trees but the shape of the Standard finger lime makes picking the fruit easy and without the need for gloves. These trees look lovely in a large pot or planted in the garden especially when in bloom or covered in fruit.

Above photo: Green Finger Limes on Standard Tree

Location:

• Finger limes thrive in warm climates. In cooler regions, consider planting them in a warm, sheltered area of your property. Another option is to use containers that can be moved indoors during colder months.
• Finger lime trees enjoy a spot with full sun or light shade. Filtered shade is recommended in very hot regions to avoid sunburn.
• Consider protecting your finger lime tree from strong winds and frost, especially when it's young. You can use our frost cloth bags.

Soil:

1. Finger limes prefer well-drained, slightly acidic to neutral soil, rich in organic matter.
2. Before planting, improve the soil with compost, well-rotted manure, or organic matter.
3. Clay soil is a no-go as it retains too much moisture.

Planting:

• Plant finger lime trees in spring or early summer when the soil has warmed up and the risk of frost has passed. This allows the plant to establish strong roots before winter.
• When planting your finger lime, we recommend you stake them. This helps the tree establish strong roots in windy conditions. It also prevents them from growing on a lean or breaking in a strong gust.

Planting your Finger Lime in the ground:

• Dig a hole twice as wide and deep as the root ball.
• Gently remove the plant from its container, taking care not to damage the roots.
• Place the plant in the centre of the hole, ensuring that the soil level around the trunk is the same as the level of the surrounding soil.
• Backfill the hole, gently firming it around the roots to eliminate air pockets.
• Water the newly planted finger lime thoroughly to settle the soil and encourage root establishment.
• Space finger lime trees at least 2.5 to 3m apart to allow for proper air circulation and future growth.

Planting your Finger Lime in a container:

• If your finger lime is one of our nursery grade pots, ensure your new pot is at least 9l. Our 5l patio and standards are best potted into at least 14l pots. But as you can see in the below photo, they will grow well in a five 5L for a while.
• Use a pot with good drainage holes and if using terracotta seal the inside of the pot to retain moisture.
• Use a premium potting mix and citrus food.

Photo Above: 2 1/2 year green finger lime standard. If you zoom in you will see tiny fruit in the middle of the tree. The photo was taken at the beginning of the fruit growing cycle. Note our trees we send out are 1 1/2 yrs old. 

Watering:

• Provide regular, deep watering to newly planted finger limes and during flowering and fruiting. This will keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. Watering deeply encourages deep root growth.
• Once established, finger limes are moderately drought-tolerant but benefit from regular watering during dry spells and hot weather.

Feeding:

• Apply citrus fertiliser in Spring to the beginning of Autumn, (September to March) every three months.
• It is important to wait until fruits are over 1cm long before feeding during fruiting season to avoid fruit drop.
• Fertilize finger lime trees with a balanced citrus fertilizer according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Mulch:

• Apply mulch around the base of the tree to retain moisture and suppress weeds. Leave a small gap between the mulch and the trunk to prevent moisture-related issues.
• We recommend straw, wood chips, or compost.
• If growing in a pot, try one of our coir moisture retaining mats, especially over summer.

Photo Above: Brown and Green Finger Limes. The 5L pots have the coir mats on them. The large brown finger lime in the foreground is our stock tree.

Additional Tips:

• Finger limes are generally pest and disease resistant but keep an eye out for common citrus problems such as scale, mites and mealy bug.
• You can expect fruits within 1-2 years on our grafted varieties. This compares to up to 10 years for non-grafted ones.
• Prune as needed to maintain a balanced shape and improve airflow and sunlight penetration within the canopy.
• Remove dead or damaged branches.