PlantFiles: Key Lime, Mexican Lime
Citrus aurantifolia

We picked up a 2.5 ft Key Lime plant at a nursery in the Florida Keys. It was in a growing pot & I transplanted it in a slightly larger weather-resistent pot with lots of perlite & peat since it was originally in a sandy mix. It is now (June) sitting in my back yard in a partial sunny spot & appears to be doing well with several, tiny, whitish fruit clusters growing & 1 bigger green fruit. This plant did a lot of traveling as it sat in a trailer while being driven up the east coast by my father-in-law to its new home in MA (zone 5b/6). They purchased one as well. In May, it was cold, dark & rainy in Cape Cod where they lived so a lot leaves dropped & they were worried. I don't know how their's is doing, but we live further inland & more north where it's warmer & more sunny. Our Key Lime have not dropped a leaf and doing well. Ofcourse, I will have to bring it inside maybe around Oct. to protect from below 40F temps. We had one night in May where it dropped to 40F & since I'd just repotted it, I thought I'd play it safe & cover with burlap for the night (pot's too heavy so I didn't feel like moving it). It did great!

There are a couple variations of "Key Lime" sold in my area, the vast majority are a hybrid between a Kumquat and a Lime/Key Lime (sometimes tagged as "limequat"). The true Key Lime's have smaller leaves and spread more than the somewhat upright limequats. The limequats are more cold hardy than the Key Limes. Fruit is fairly similar, though the limequats are sometimes more egg-shaped and occasionally less sweet than the key lime.

I had a hard time finding a Key Lime, and it's taken 2-years for it to flower. It was about 2-feet tall when I purchased and I planted it in a 20-inch pot. I had some minor frost damage the first year despite being in St Petersburg FL (zone 9a) whereas the limequats do not seem to damage in cold weather.

I bought this plant at K Mart for 70% off.

I grow it in a large pot outside in a semi-shaded area and it is doing beautifully. I already have about 12 little limes on it!

It will go into the greenhouse for the winter.

I have a key lime that I purchased at K-mart, it grows in a pot that was sitting outside in the garden center and it was windy and the pot was blown over, so payed for my plant and brought it hom. It is a thornless mexican lime tree , it is 3-4 feet tall and doesnt have any blooms on it yet, I do hope it flowers and bears limes on it.

Despite being rated as frost sensitive, mine endured an arctic blast that lasted for a week and made temperatures plummet into the low and mid 20s. I had a small heater next to it at nightime but no other protection. It flowered and set fruit as soon as temperatures started warming back up.

I love plants, so I had to try to plant some seeds. They sprouted and are doing well. Of course, in NC, they will always be potted plants, but they are easy to grow. I just keep them in a sunny window, and they are fine. Also have a mature tree that blooms- it is a wonderful air freshener for my classroom!

I purchased a key lime about three years ago. The first two years the plant was in a container and it produced fruit during this time. I planted the tree into the ground in the third year, and while it has grown speedily during this period, it failed to produce fruit. It will be interesting to see if fruit production will occur during the fourth year after it is better established.

I have been trying to figure out what the heck was that citrus in my north east corner. I bought this house 3 yrs ago. I am a landscape designer from denver and california. I love plants.
who doesnt --smiles smiles... i have a notion to plant a hedge of evergreen plants that will be under 20 ft because of utility lines... I believe the plant i have on my property is a keylime from everything i've read, learned here on web. i bought a bag of key limes form a local grocer and want to plant a hedge because im having a pool put in and I need
a low maintenance evergreen that says florida. from everything i've read this plant performs best 10a-11 zones.
my zone is 10-10a, in Fort Lauderdale; Florida. but i see comments from people from zones 9, saying its doing well so im trying this out. as directed by daves garden advice above... plant every 15-20 ft.

seedling ( soflatony0722@aol.com)

I grow this citrus in a large pot in central Virginia (7a). It spends the summer on the patio and comes indoors before the first frost.

Because they bear small fruit it is possible to get fully ripe limes from potted trees year round.

They are susceptible to both mealy bugs and scale but spraying with light horticultural oil keeps them under control.

Prune only to maintain shape or size. Like all citrus, key lime is self-pruning when left to its own.

More cold sensitive than some other citrus, don't let it get frost-bit. The tree will come back quickly but you will lose a lot of size.

The fruit is delicious and can be substituted for persian lime in any recipe. WalMart often sells small bags of the fruit, so if you are not familiar with it look for them. They are full of seeds and easy to germinate so you can grow your own this way.

Key Lime or 'Mexican Lime' is very easy to grow in Phoenix. Loves the heat. Though frost sensitive, this isn't really an issue in Phoenix. If you are going to plant a lime tree, this should be it. Honestly, the flavor of these limes (when fully ripe-yellow) are fantastic and very tropical and are far superior to Bearrs/Persian Lime.

San Antonio, Tx.

My small container grown key lime tree sets blooms continuously and there are limes of different maturity on it. These limes may be small, but the juice from one equals in strength to 2 regular size limes in my opinion. They make fantastic limeade. I usually put lemon juice in my guacamole to keep the avacado from turning a dark color. I used some juice from one of the key limes instead and it gave the guacamole an interesting flavor. It is near the end of January and a hard freeze (in the upper 20s) is going to occur so I have to bring the tree which is covered with blooms inside. This tree makes a nice patio plant/container plant in areas that experience hard freezes.

What more could anyone ask for? What was unimaginable decades ago, then became a rarity few years ago and nowadays nurseries routinely sell "Thornless" Key Lime trees.

Known best for Key Lime pies. It is a tropical/sub-tropical commercial crop, but will be an indoors plant for my zone 6b in winter. Known also as West Indian Lime or Mexican Lime, and not limited to the Florida Keys. Fruit is small, round, and yellow when fully ripe. Flowers and fruits almost continuously.

High light requirements, good air circulation, good drainage required. Do NOT overwater, and water less during winters. Thorny compact bush with small blunt-pointed leaves.