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vandevyvere

growing from Lime seeds

vandevyvere
13 years ago

Hello

I would like to grow a lime plant, just for fun, from seeds from lime fruit I bought. But there is no single seed in the lime fruit. Is this normal? The limes we can buy are small and dark green.

A long time ago I grew a huge lemon plant out of seeds from lemons. Is it normal that limes do not have seeds?

thank you

yves

Comments (10)

  • mksmth zone 7a Tulsa Oklahoma
    13 years ago

    ive been buying/eating limes for a long time and have yet to find one with seeds.

  • zecowsay
    13 years ago

    Most I find in the grocery store are seedless. But look for key limes, they have plenty of seeds and will fruit/flower for you in as little as two years.

  • tolumnia
    13 years ago

    Persian limes, also called Tahiti limes, are sterile triploids, hence no seeds. Same reason bananas have no seeds, just those little black specks. Key limes have viable seeds and are not sterile triploids.

  • vandevyvere
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I will look for key limes, if I can find them here, that is

  • va_canuck
    13 years ago

    Ditto to the above. I've grown grapefruit, clementine, lemon and key lime from seeds. Keep in mind that key limes are not really that similar to the normal grocery store (persian) limes - they have a distinctly different flavor and aroma (which I personally prefer).

  • tracydr
    13 years ago

    How big does the key lime tree get? Should I start in a small pot and transplant? Anything special to do for germination?

  • zecowsay
    13 years ago

    One thing you can do is soak the seeds over night, then peel off the hard outer shell before planting. This will speed germination up.

    My personal method is a to take a single layer of paper towel, lay in on the bottom of a small glass jar and then wet it. Then I lay the seeds down, place a second layer of paper towel down (soaking again if needed) and cover the lid with plastic wrap. Then I place it on top of a heater, and wet the paper towels when they need it. You can try and plant them in straight potting mix but I've never had much luck with that. (1 out of 25 seeds germinating)

    You'll want to start of in a small container as it helps with overwatering. I have two seedlings growing and both are in 4 inch containers. Both are around 2 months and the tap root just reached the bottom of the pot. If the roots are small (or nonexistant in this case), no point in placing them in an excessively huge container. This is true at any stage of growth.

    Almost all citrus get pretty big, but don't worry. The size of the pot (and root pruning, which I'd advise you to look up on the container forum) will help restrict the tree's size. A tree in a 2 gallon container won't get very big.

  • jcbrownacu
    13 years ago

    im going to jump in and ask...will you have much luck with the tree producing fruit in a few years if you grow from a seed? i might try this with a clementine or minneola tangelo (spelling)

  • zecowsay
    13 years ago

    Usually not. The only varieties I know that produce early from seed are the calamondin and the key lime.

  • ashita
    13 years ago

    Hi. I planted 24 seeds from a pingpong ball-sized lime from China.It had a thicker skin than a key lime, but was the same shape. Almost all of them have come up, and about 6 of them have two shoots coming out of the seed. I have read about the seeds being polyembryonic. My question is, should I separate the two seedlings, and grow both, or leave them together. And all the seedlings which came up by themselves -- are they not going to be true to the parent?

    Thanks, Ashita