Comparing seed, cutting or graft grown finger limes

Finger lime plants are grown and sold either by seed, cuttings or graft and it's important to know how they were grown and what this means before making your purchase.

Seed grown finger limes

Seeds can take up to 15 years to bear fruit because of the long juvenile period of finger limes. Due to the nature of sexual reproduction, the seed will not be true to type. This means the fruit may taste and look different, fruiting could occur biannually, and overall growth habit may vary.

PROS 

• You may find a new variety of finger lime
• Potentially cheaper

CONS

• May take up to 15 years to bear fruit
• Not true to type

Identifying features: Seed grown finger limes can be identified by juvenile leaf shape, which is generally more circular and signifcantly smaller.

Cutting grown finger limes

Cutting grown finger limes are cloned plants. They skip the juvenile period as cuttings are taken from mature trees. This means fruiting will occur within 1-3 years and you will 100% know what fruit you will get.

PROS

• True to type
• Cheaper than grafts
• Fruit in 1-3 years

CONS

• May not thrive in all soil types (variety dependant)

Identifying features: You can tell the plant is a cutting grown as these plants generally have bigger, less circular leaves.

Grafted finger limes

Grafted finger limes are also clones. Scions are taken from mature trees and then grafted onto commercial citrus rootstocks. The citrus rootstock gives the finger lime greater adaptability to different soil types, disease resistance, more upright habit and increased growth rate.

PROS

• Adaptability to a large range of soil types

• True to type

• Fruit in 1-3 years

CONS

• More expensive 

• Management of rootstock if growth from below the graft occurs

Identifying features: You can easily identify grafted finger limes by the fact they are often staked, quiet often lower trunk is bare as that is the citrus rootstock, and the graft union is evident as there is normally a change in bark type.

All of this infomation may vary depending on the variety of finger lime. 

If you want reliable and quicker fruit from your finger lime tree, we strongly recomend only purchasing cutting grown or grafted finger limes.