So Steve, the clone would be the stronger one and the one I would want right? The others that sprouted only sprouted one. Is that normal? I've never sprouted citrus seeds before.

Most of my seeds only sprout one with a seed or 2 sprouting more than 1. You are lucky because the key lime can flower in 2-3 years.

6b Steve

You should be able to gently pull them apart when they develop their first true leaves. - Silica.

Thanks Silica. I will keep you guys updated as they grow up more.

They are easy to separate as long as you don't let them grow for an extended period, where by their root systems could grow large enough to get tangled together. The two seedling are not joined together. Although they came from the same seed they grew from two separate embryos within the seed. Silica

So, you've got some baby key limes! Congratulations.

That's cool. I'm getting ready to separate some citrus seedlings too for the first time. One of my calamondin seeds sprouted what looks like 5! (I pretty sure it was only one seed). let's see whose fruits first, your lime or my Calamondin, lol...

Thanks guys! I will definitely separate and Dave...we can keep track. Congrats on your seedlings also! Five...wow!

Why bother separating? Just cut off the smaller one. I mean how many plants do you really need? This way no risk of root damage. I think key lime grows true-- so no chances of any hybrids.

Oh that is good to know Dave. I thought Steve said there may be a hybrid. That may be the best approach...I will wait to see how difficult it may be to separate them and then make the call.

coming true to seed means they polinate themselves and produce a clone, but that does not mean they cannot be polinated by another citrus flower. i like growing out sexually produced citrus to try and obtain hybrids, the world needs genetic diversity and why grow a clone out when you can buy it from a nursery. its fun to grow out seedlings and watch them grow.

Laura You may want to move your seedlings to a new container and keep the soil line level with the pots edge. This will reduce pockets of higher humidity that can cause problems with stem rot. this will also force you to water from underneath. Stem rot is a real problem till the tree reaches 8 inches or more. I also lift the trees out so about 1/2 inch of the root is showing. roots are much better at dealing with stem rot.

Steve

Steve, I agree with what you suggest and will try it. What should I plant them in?? 5-1-1?? Is that too porous for them now? I have potting soil, but that does not sound like a good idea either...bonsai mix? That is pretty porous, but not as much as 5-1-1...?

I would leave them in whatever you have them in now or potting soil and put them in 511 when they get to 8 inches.

stick with potting soil for now or you could use 5-1-1 in the bottom 1/3 and potting soil in the top 2/3. My New Zealand lemonade tree is in 3/4 from the bottom up of 5-4-1 with the top 1/4 of potting soil. I will be growing beet in the pot for greens over the winter months.

Thanks guys...I will move them soon and post update....headed to the zoo with my kiddos now...:-)

Laura, this might be helpful: http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=20271.0

Read Millet's post at bottom of the page.

Nice read, and forum. Thanks for the link.

That's a great read Vladimir. Thanks for the link. I have the coarse perlite and peat moss. I will get small pots and move them to those soon. That was very helpful! How is your cutting? Any roots? Based on what I read, it may have been too thin, but it was definitely a strong growth, albeit from a small tree.

I have my seedlings in a 2-1-1 mix as I thought the 5-1-1 was way too porous :) they are doing so well and look so happy!!

joshinya

'...coming true to seed means they polinate themselves and produce a clone, but that does not mean they cannot be polinated by another citrus flower....'

Actually, coming true-to-type in citrus means that they are nearly to 100% nucellar (polyembryonic with the bulk of the embryos being nucellar or clonal). These nucellar embryos are not the result of pollinating themselves. Yes, a key lime can be pollinated by another flower (by a bee), but that doesn't mean the pollination is successful or results in a zygote. In most citrus varieties, a successfully pollinated zygotic embryo is crowded out by the clonal embryos and it dies within the seed. So that out of maybe 300 embryos, you may get one hybrid, if it lives. While most citrus are polyembryonic, a few citrus are highly zygotic and receptive to pollen from other citrus -- 'Temple' orange, Persian lime, for example.

Key limes are true-to-type from seed. Otherwise you'd probably see many man-made hybrids of them (keyquats, key-elos, key-oranges, etc. etc).

This is all according to my notes that I kept from Dr. Malcolm Manners, Florida citrus expert.

Laura, have you tried rooting some key lime cuttings? It would probably result in fruit sooner than a seedling, which according to my notes can take 3 - 6 years from seed, depending on culture.

Thanks for the explanation Dave. You answered many questions I had wondered about. There is no reason in particular that I sprouted these seeds other than seeing them sprout and hopefully watching them grow. I certainly do not need more key lime trees - I have a thorny, thornless, and giant ;-). I don't know...I just thought it would be very rewarding to sprout a seed and watch it grow and turn into a tree. It is also a neat science experiment for my kids.

It is fun to grow citrus from seed. I enjoy watching them grow. I have grown so many I can't count. But I've ended up throwing most of them out when they got too large and still didn't bloom.

One can always try to give them away when they get too big. Or maybe graft a mature scion to the young plant and improve your grafting skills.

Haha those are funny names! I like Keyquats!