Thanks, Denise. I have been wanting a finger lime for so long! And now that I have it I'm afraid I will kill it. Lol! All of my other citrus, I have no problem pruning, but I am so afraid I will screw up and lose this little finger lime! But every time I walk by it I think, "I really need to trim it up". So I will take your advice and prune. Keep your fingers crossed for me! Lol

Prune and plant the trimmed twigs to root, even if you don't need another tree, you will have the experience of rooting cuttings :) and if you have a new tree, you can give it to someone as a gift, the best insurance for your existing tree.

redneckgirl, you don't have to take a lot off. Just enough to shape it because you are setting up a strong foundation of branches as it matures. Those branches you have now will eventually be removed as the tree gets taller so don't be afraid. lol.

I have a few entry level (1 gallon) trees and I pinch back side growth even though I don't want to. The side branches have grown much faster than the leader so I pinch to encourage the center to grow more.

Why do you want to prune it? I would leave it alone. I have one that looks like that and I will not prune it.

Sunshine, good idea. I've rooted key lime and buddha's hand, but have read that finger lime's are one of the harder one's to root.

Denise, it is very leggy looking, with all the side branches really long. I'm afraid if it were to have fruit the limbs would all be touching the ground. Lol

Vladimir, thank you for the reply. I'm not sure if I will prune. Lol (wishy-washy, I know). I've taken the pruner out twice today and can't bring myself to actually prune it! Lol! On a side note, I killed the New Zealand Lemonade cutting you were so kind to send. I'm so sorry. However, I did get one from Four Winds when they had them available. I ordered the entry size, they chopped its top to fit it in the box, but it looks like it will be ok.

I know I will probably have to prune the finger lime at some point, but I may have to wait and build up my courage some first. Lol. Thanks for the advise.

My finger lime is next to a gate, and I am definitely going to prune it to keep it from taking over and denying access! And I have been wondering if I should thin it out too, those thorns are sharp! Let me know how it goes!

KC

Just bend the branches down and close to the trunk and the plant will put out new growth on those limbs closer to the main trunk. The tree will still produce food from photosynthesis in the upsidedown branch ans will pull nutrients out of the leaves and stems when the tree discards them