In today's episode we will look at lime trees
And also discuss a very popular, delicious, fragrant and aromatic lime
You can grow in your garden
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So here are some of the common lime varieties that you can grow
The most common lime variety grown around the world
Is the key lime or Mexican lime
The Persian lime also called the Tahiti lime or the Bearss lime
Is one of the most popular variety grown in the united states
And which is what we will be seeing in today's episode
And there is also a variety of lime called Kaffir lime
That is grow more for its leaves, its aromatic leaves although its fruits are edible
So let's look at the Bearss lime tree in detail
The Bearss lime tree produces green limes to start with
And these green limes eventually become bigger
And turn into a yellow color when they mature
The Bearss lime tree is both thornless
And also produces seedless fruit
So its one of the best varieties of lime for the home gardener
Because with no thorns its a lot safer to handle
And seedless fruits means that its easier to use them
Now another thing that you will notice about the Bearss lime
Is that its a very prolific plant
It grows throughout the year
It produces limes throughout the year
And it just keeps growing and growing
And keeps giving you lots of limes
Good sized limes throughout the year
The Persian lime is also called the Bearss lime
After the person John Bearss who invented this variety
So let's talk about two important things about the lime tree
And its also applicable to any other citrus tree
So let's look at the fertilizer schedule for limes and other citrus trees
So here are some examples of fertilizers
That you can use for your citrus plants
And remember that they need to be applied first
When you start seeing lush green foliage
That starts out usually in the beginning of Spring
Which is around February in California
Now the other thing that you need to take care of
Are leaf miners and insects on the citrus plant
And you can click on the video on your screen now
To see that in detail
So you can start harvesting Persian limes or the Bearss lime
As soon as they turn green and are about this size
About golf ball sized, maybe a little bigger
And they are perfectly edible and very fragrant, delicious
And full of flavor even at this stage
And limes are mostly harvested when they are green
But you can also harvest them a little later
When they start becoming a little yellow
Like you see here
And this is probably the best time to harvest it
When they turn slightly yellow
That's the time they have grown to their full size
And wills tart ripening and turning yellow from then on
And the Persian limes drop from the tree when they turn yellow
So let me show you how this lime looks like after being cut
This is a pretty nice sized lime
Which has just started to ripen
And as you can see here
There are absolutely no seeds in this lime
Which make it so easy to use this lime
Now pruning your lime tree is a very important step
That you have to do every year
Make sure that you remove all dead branches
Remove any stems that are very weak and very small
And kind of shape your tree so that it forms a nice canopy
Cut any branches that grow inwards towards the tree
And make sure that sunlight is evenly distributed all around your citrus plant
So do you grow limes?
If so, which variety do you grow?
Or which variety would you like to grow?
I would love to hear from you
So do let me know
Send in your comments
And I hope in today's episode
You got an idea of what Persian limes are
And I'll see you again soon
Happy Gardening!
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