That is normal. Expect only about 2% to remain to maturity.

Your tree is normal. Fruit drop questions come up on a more or less regular basis. Large citrus trees may produce over 100,000 flowers, far more flowers than a tree can mature into a crop. If only 10 percent of the flowers became fruit, a single tree might produce over 10,000 fruits! The tree would be crushed under it own weight. Citrus trees have evolved control mechanisms using the process of abscission(fruit drop) to reduce crop load. Only 0.5-2.0 percent of flowers mature into a harvestable fruit. So you can reasonably expect the tree to retain anywhere form 1 to 5 of the limes to maturity/harvest. During this period of fruit set, be sure the soil does not become to dry. Any water stress at this time will cause most, or more likely, all of the fruitlets to drop. Don't keep the soil wet, but be sure it does not dry. - Millet

update: I have 2 limes developing well. How big will they get before harvest? as big as a store-bought lime, even though it's a tiny tree? how do I know when they are ready for harvest? thanks!

Zip,how small are you trees? The smaller the tree, the smaller the fruit..
Your post reminds me of a seedling I once had..it was no more than 8" tall..(not grafted) One summer, it had over 30 flowers, then most turned into itsty, bitsy beads..they never grew larger than a bead..Toni

Zippelk, you can pick your Limes at any time that they look big enough to you. They will have a very nice, rich, oily, lime odor on the skin, and will feel heavy for their size. I pick mine year-round, as soon as the fruit is a decent size. Even small fruits are useful for zest. A mature Persian Lime tree has plump fruit that rival or exceed that of grocery store limes.

They are wonderful over seafood, in teas, sodas, water, anything that you want that lovely zippy taste added to.

I adore my Persian Lime trees. You made a good choice. I want to hear how you like your first one!

Lisa

Lisa, my Persian is behaving strange..
It's upstairs in a south window next to a Kaffir..the kaffir is doing fine, but the Persian lost leaves when I brought in last fall..Some stems are producing several flowers, and then there's another branch where leaves are yellowing..It's not a mineral defincincy..Could it be asking to be fed? This is the first time I've ever grown a Persian and it's not yet 6 months old.
I fed in summer with citrus food, then in Oct, a last feeding of Osmocote and sprayed (foliar feeding) w/fish emulsion. I checked for pests which, thankfully didn't find anything. Should I feed? If so, with which food?

How's the doggies doing? Sam is getting old. He'll be 8 Jan 31st. He's fawn color, and getting grey where eye brows would be..LOL..How old is your oldest? Toni

Posted by: hopefulauthor z5IL (My Page) on Tue, Jan 3, 06 at 19:40

Zip,how small are you trees? The smaller the tree, the smaller the fruit..

One would think so, but my Tahiti lime is only about eighteen inches tall or so and hasn't put on much growth since I bought it. It had one fruit at the time I purchased it which I left on being only one. I forgot about it until late summer when I noticed it again, turning light green. I figured it was about to mature so I picked it. That thing was the biggest lime I've ever personally seen. It would put the biggest Eureka lemon to shame and was creeping up on the Meyers. I wasn't even sure it was a lime until I ate it. True lime flavor.

It's just now starting to blossom again so if it sets any fruit I'll leave one or two again to see if it will repeat the phenomena.

.....Alan.

Alan, I've seen one big fruit on 18" trees..but I was referring to a small seedling..about 8" tall. Numerous little beads filling the tree, then dropping off..lol..birds that like citrus may have enjoyed the fruits though. It's truly amazing..Toni

Toni, I feed my trees monthly, winter (ha) included. But my climate is a little different. It was 82 here yesterday.

Persian Lime trees are very, very tough. It might just be time to drop the old leaves and make new ones-on your yellowing issue. Check the branch to be sure it is not cracked/broken. One of my trees had a mature pine fall on it-it was split down the middle. The half still attached to the trunk is recovering-shows how vigorous these plants are!

My citrus now are all growing new foliage or flowering now. I use a fertilizer made up for the local rare fruit council. I use it on every fruiting plant I have. I'll have to look up the numbers on the bag for you.

The dogs are fine, most are older than your boy. Pooka is 13, have 2 12 year olds, an 11 year old and a couple that are 9. The others are 5 and 4 (babies). Different bloodlines age faster-mine tend to not turn gray until 9 or older.

Lisa

wow, thanks for all the feedback! Toni, i started with about 25 beads and am down to 2 limes. the tree is 18" tall and the limes are 1.5x2", roughly pingpong ball sized. Alan, i will let them go and see if i can match your experience. Lisa, i will let you know! cheers, kcz

Lisa, thanks, I never considered a snapped branch. The problem is there's only a few branches on the whole tree..It was rather small upon shipping. I'll check in a while..but I prefer your other idea.. it making new leaves..lol.
Yes, there's quite a difference in temps, even though it's been in the 40's and raining the last 2 wks. It's more like fall than winter. We're getting the needed summer rain now. So many perrenials perished last summer, I pray they return.
I'm still undecided whether or not my Persian needs food..I fear feeding it, especially since it's not behaving like the others. It's worse since we haven't had any sun to speak of, and I don't like feeding when there's no sun for weeks on end..and this can last a few more months. If it was your tree would u feed it?

Zip, is this the first winter for your lime? Hey two 'getting matured' limes are better than nothing.(S) My Persian keeps flowering but nary a fruit. Do u have a pic of your tree? Toni

yes, this is the 1st winter. got it in lowe's last spring, it was outdoors all hot/dry summer long, then started to flower when fall got cool. can i post a pic on this site, or do i need to send it to you offlist?

{{gwi:633089}}

oddly enough, even though it flowered in August and still has 2 developing fruits, I see 1 more flower bud coming on now!???

zippelk, that is normal, they flower/fruit year-round and can have flowers, baby fruit and mature fruit at the same time. Mine are loaded now with flowers/fruit and I just picked the last mature fruit for my tea.

Persian Limes are the favorites of all my citrus.

Lisa

Zip, nice lime..I like it's shape, it's so uniform. I think most citrus will fruit and flower at the same time.
Is this correct, Lisa?
Anyway, your Persian looks fantastic..nothing to worry about..Toni

[IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e125/zippelk/lime.jpg[/IMG]
{{gwi:633088}}

it was 1 lime among 20 lemons on the shelf at lowe's when i bought it. the tag says persian lime, but that fruit is getting more and more yellow everyday. hmmmm.....

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:633088}}

It is getting ripe--limes will be yellow when fully ripe(overripe in my opinion). I like them best when still mostly green and just starting to turn yellow.

New growth and flowers on lemons tends to be purple-tinged. You can also scratch and sniff the fruit skin or crush and smell a leaf if you are uncertain.

Nice plant.

I prefer them mostly green with a touch of yellow myself. Same for Key limes.

My older Persian (Tahiti) lime is only about eighteen inches tall and set an enormous amount of fruit over the winter, at least a hundred. It is now finally dropping most of them. I'm hoping it'll keep four or five, but likely only two or three.

.....Alan.

thanks everyone! i thought maybe i bought a lemon, literally. it was just turning ripe, so i ate it (in tea and other things), and it was delicious!! amazing what an 18" tree can do.

Lisa:
When you taste Kishu mandarin you'll change your mind.
Benny

(Just kidding)