Kaffir lime - what kind of plant is it?

Citrus fruits are consistently popular among indoor plant lovers. Even in a flower pot, they are able to bloom and bear fruit, and the fruits that grow on them are quite suitable for consumption. And orange, tangerine and lemon are not the only trees suitable for growing at home.

Among the most unusual representatives of domestic citruses is the kaffir lime. It has double leaves of an interesting shape, which have such a rich aroma that they are used in Asian countries as a seasoning. Its pimply fruits are no less original. Caring for lima is not much different from the rules for growing other plants from this family. What is kaffir lime and how to grow it on your windowsill - read on.

What is Kaffir lime

Despite its name, kaffir lime is not a real lime. lime from a botanical point of view. The plant belongs to another subgenus - papeda, and kaffir lime is just one of its names.

Popedu echinista is called differently. The list shows the most common names:

• kaffir (kefir, kafir) lime;
• maracuta;
• kaffir lime;
• papeda quillum (official scientific name);
• Lima;
• Thai lime;
• kaffir lime;
• makrut lime

The plant comes from India. It is most actively used in Asian countries and Africa.

Botanical description

Kaffir lime is a tree up to 2 m high. At home, its height rarely reaches 1 m. The crown is spreading, the branches are covered with needles.

The leaves are double and shaped like an 8 or an hourglass. They are thick and juicy, rich green in color, glossy. They are distinguished by a rich aroma in which notes of citrus and bergamot intersect.

This is interesting! Kaffir lime leaves are used as a spice in fresh, frozen and dried form in Asian countries.

The fruits are small and round in shape. The crust is very lumpy, dark green in color. The pulp is not too juicy. The taste is tart and sour. The fruits are rarely eaten; their zest is mainly used. The fruit is also used in cosmetology.

The flowers of the inflorescence are white or cream. On the outside they have darker spots. When flowering, the tree emits a subtle sweetish aroma.

Planting lime at home

Kaffir lime is grown generatively and vegetatively. In the first case, seeds are used, and in the second, cuttings.

When sowing seeds, you will have to wait a long time for the first fruiting (5-7 years), but the plants will be more hardy and neat. Such trees have higher immunity and are able to withstand slight cold snaps.

If the lima is grown using the cuttings method, then the first fruiting is expected already at 3-4 years. However, in this case, the kaffir lime will be less resistant to diseases and errors in care,

Advice! To get all the benefits of the vegetative and generative method, to the kaffir lime rootstock, grown from seed graft a branch of a fruit-bearing tree.

In both cases, the soil is prepared in advance. To do this, mix sand, humus and garden soil in equal proportions. Another option is to buy a special mixture for citrus fruits or a universal soil mixture (in this case, you will have to take 1 part river sand for 2 parts of soil).

Be sure to use drainage.It will prevent moisture stagnation. Expanded clay, crushed brick, and broken ceramics are used as drainage. The soil and drainage are disinfected. To do this, it is poured with a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate or calcined in the oven.

For sowing seeds, use a common, shallow container. It is better if these are containers with a transparent plastic lid.

The cuttings are planted in cups with a diameter of 5-6 cm. Seed shoots with 2 true leaves are planted in the same containers.

Important. There must be drainage holes at the bottom of the containers. Pots are disinfected by soaking in boiling water or a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate.

Seed method

Kaffir lime seeds are sold in specialized flower shops. They are extremely rare on supermarket shelves.

Planting material must be properly prepared. To do this it:

1. Wash and soak in water. Specimens that float to the surface are considered unsuitable for planting.
2. They're sorting through. Remove damaged, thin, crooked seeds, as well as seeds with spots and other signs of disease.
3. Soak in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate for an hour. Such disinfection will reduce the risk of plant disease.
4. Soak for 12-24 in a growth stimulator solution (“Solution”). This will speed up the germination of planting material.

A layer of drainage and soil are poured onto the bottom of the container for sowing seeds. The soil is moistened abundantly. Seeds are planted in it, buried 1.5 cm. The crops are covered with a film or a transparent plastic lid and placed in a place with a temperature of 24-26°C.

Every day the soil is moistened and ventilated for 10-15 minutes. When the shoots appear, the duration of ventilation is gradually increased and the greenhouse is dismantled.

Shoots are placed on the windowsill. They are watered daily from a spray bottle with settled water at room temperature so that moisture reaches the leaves.

After 2-3 leaves appear, the seedlings are transplanted into individual pots. The root collar is not buried.

Cutting method

Before propagating Kaffir lime by cuttings, a suitable mother plant is selected. It must be absolutely healthy and have already given fruit several times.

Further algorithm of actions:

1. 8-10 cm are retreated from the edge of a one-year-old branch and the measured part is cut off. There should be 2-3 living buds left on it. The cut area on the tree is covered with garden varnish.
2. The lower leaves are removed from the cuttings. Some citrus growers recommend removing small leaves at the top of the shoot, but this is not necessary.
3. The shoot is soaked for 20 minutes in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate. Then the place where it is cut is placed in a root formation stimulator (Kornevin) for 2 days.
4. Kaffir lime cuttings are rooted in fertile mixture or sand. Both methods give equally stable results.
5. A layer of drainage must be poured onto the bottom of the container. The rest of the volume is filled with soil, which is watered abundantly.
6. The cutting is inserted into the soil, cut side down, so that it can stand without support. It is sprayed with warm water from a spray bottle, covered with a bag or the top of a cut bottle and put in a warm place until rooting.
7. Every day the seedling is watered, sprayed and ventilated. When it takes root, the film is removed, first accustoming the kffir lime to the conditions in the apartment, daily increasing the duration of ventilation.

The fact that the seedling has taken root will be indicated by awakened buds, from which shoots will begin to appear.If the cutting was planted in sand, it is immediately transplanted into a pot with nutritious soil mixture. If the branch was rooted in fertile soil, then you can wait until the roots fill the entire container.

Plant care

Growing kaffir lime is not difficult. This tree is no more whimsical than other citrus fruits. With regular and proper care, it will not hurt and will produce a bountiful harvest.

Conditions for growth

To prevent kaffir lime from being affected by disease, it is important to provide it with optimal conditions for growth. The main requirements are presented in the list:

1. Temperature. The optimal temperature for growing kaffir lime is considered to be +19…+22°C. During the growing season, the plant is capable of growing in a temperature range from +16 to +35 °C. Particular attention is paid to the indicators on the thermometer during the flowering period. At temperatures above +22 °C, the tree often sheds flowers. In winter, it is recommended to put the pot in a room with temperatures from +10 °C to +12 °C.
2. Humidity. Kaffir lime requires high humidity. In the warm season, to ensure optimal conditions, it is sprayed with water at room temperature from a spray bottle 1-2 times a day. In winter, if there is a heating device in the room where citrus is grown, use air humidifiers, containers of water or a damp cloth placed on the radiator.
3. Lighting. The tree will feel most comfortable on a western or eastern window. On southern windowsills, kaffir limes will have to be removed to a shaded place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. In winter, the plant is in a state of sleep, so additional lighting is not necessary.

Some citrus growers do not have the opportunity to provide the kaffir lime with a lower temperature in winter, or do not do this on purpose so that the plant develops faster. In this case, you will have to use fluorescent lamps, extending the daylight hours to 12 hours.

Important! Citrus fruits that were dormant in winter are hardier, bloom and bear fruit more abundantly than those that were kept warm during the cold season.

Rules of care

It is necessary to care for the kaffir lime regularly, otherwise it will die or not bear fruit. However, daily manipulations do not take much time.

How to care for kaffir lime:

1. Watering. In the warm season, every 1-2 days, kaffir lime is watered with warm, settled water. In winter, it is enough to moisten the soil once a week. Water the plant early in the morning or in the evening when the sun is not active. Otherwise, burns will appear on the greens.
2. Loosening. The top layer of soil is loosened at least once a week. For this it is convenient to use an ordinary villa. Loosening allows you to destroy the earth crust, restore air exchange, and prevent moisture stagnation.
3. Transshipments. For the first 3 years, kaffir lime is replanted annually. They use the transfer method. To do this, the kffir lime is removed from the pot along with a lump of earth. The drainage is removed from the lower part, and the upper 1-2 cm of soil is removed. A drainage layer is poured into a larger container and the tree is placed along with a lump of earth. The missing volume of soil is filled up. Citrus is watered with warm water.
4. Transplants. After the first fruiting, transshipment is stopped. Kaffir limes begin to be replanted once every 2-3 years. In this case, 2/3 of the earthen clod is removed from the tree removed from the pot. Remove all dry and rotten roots; it is recommended to trim the root system by 1/3.After this, the tree is transplanted into a pot with new soil and drainage. When the kaffir lime reaches the desired size, replanting is stopped. It will be enough to replace the top layer of soil once a year.
5. Fruiting and bearing fruit. If the tree has already bloomed 1 or 2 years after planting, all flowers are cut off so that the kaffir lime does not waste its strength on them. Flowers are left only from 3 years after planting. During the first fruiting, I remove most of the ovaries, leaving only 2-3 on the tree.
6. Cleaning. Every week, the kaffir lime leaves are wiped with a damp cloth. Every month it is washed in the shower.
7. Feeding. Thai lime is fed every 1-2 weeks. They use both special fertilizers for citrus fruits and homemade products (herbal infusions, tea, coffee, manure, humus, etc.). It is recommended to alternate organic and mineral fertilizers.

Shaping and trimming

In order for kaffir lime to bear fruit and look aesthetically pleasing, it needs to be shaped. In addition, this procedure improves air circulation in the crown, which significantly reduces the risk of disease development.

Crown formation:

1. When the tree reaches a height of 20-35 cm, its top is trimmed.
   This stimulates the formation of new shoots.
2. Shoots of the first order are cut to a length of 15-20 cm. Buds must remain on the branch.
3. This is done with all shoots up to the 5th order.

Lime is formed in early spring or autumn. At the same time, sanitary pruning is carried out, during which all dry, damaged and diseased branches are removed.

Important! The cut areas on the tree are covered with garden varnish.

Diseases and pests

At home, kaffir lime is rarely affected by pests, but sometimes it happens. The most common insects that appear are:

1. Aphid. Small black or light green bugs stick to young shoots in whole colonies and plant leaves, feeding on its juice. This leads to drying out of branches and greenery. To save the citrus, wash it in the shower, after which it is sprayed every week for a month with a solution prepared from 0.5 pieces of laundry soap and 5 liters of water.
2. Spider mite. Small, usually red, mites form a web on the inside of leaf blades. They feed on plant sap. To get rid of the pest, kaffir lime is washed in the shower and sprayed with a decoction of bitter herbs or a soap-garlic infusion.
3. Scale insects. Scale insect larvae settle on the branches and veins of plant leaves, becoming covered with a durable shell. To get rid of the problem, kaffir lime is sprayed with a product made from 50 ml of kerosene, 0.5 pieces of soap and 5 liters of water.

Sometimes Lima is affected by diseases. At home, fungal diseases most often occur: gommosis, root rot, sooty fungus.

To save the plant, cut off all affected parts. The cut areas are treated with garden varnish. The plant is sprayed with a biological product (Fitosporin) or a fungicide (Epin).

note! The main reason for the development of diseases and pest damage to kaffir lime is violation of the rules of care and planting.

Conclusion

The kaffir lime is one of the most unusual citrus plants. Its fragrant double leaves have found their use in cooking, cosmetology and even medicine. The tree can also be grown at home.

Growing papeda quillum at home is no more difficult than any other citrus. The main thing is to follow the basic rules of care, do not forget to feed and water the plant.