Kaffir lime?

ginvzt

Has anyone got Kaffir lime growing at home?

My husband is crazy about Thai food and as our lemon tree seems to have died (never got any fruits of it, just plenty of flowers, and now the leaves have dropped and branches all look dry), I thought we could replace it with Kaffir lime. And maybe another lemon/orange/grapefruit/mandarin.

I know Ken Muir sells them, and so far I am happy with their service (well, just waiting for my minarette cherry to sprout). But the ones they sell seem to be rather small (30cm). I found another website, that I have never used/heard before that sells them at 70 cm:

http://plants4presents.co.uk/giftoptions.aspx?gif=127

Which seems a bit nicer - I imagine it would take a while for it to grow to 70cm from 30cm...

Does anyone have any advice where to buy, what to look out for? Any other suggestions in addition to kaffir lime?

What are your experiences with growing citrus trees?

dogstarheaven

i love thai food too and tried to grow lemongrass once from using a fresh stem put into a pot, but that wasn't successful, then i tried to get it to root in water but alas, this method didn't work either for me - boo hoo!

with the imports that we get they would have come direct from those asian countries, and to mimic the growing conditions would be more difficult to grow. tho' if you have a conservatory or a heated greenhouse, then you'll have no problems there. as i don't have either, i've resorted to freezing the shop-bought ones (i get mine from the chinese supermarket - wing yip - you can buy allsorts of foodstufffs from loads of asian countries there) and they keep v well.

with kaffir lime leaves, you would only need about 4 for a meal, but for lemongrass you need at one, but they're more expensive to purchase.... i get mine from wing yip and they;'re around £1.50 for a bunch of 5

ginvzt

Oh, lemongrass - I will have to try growing that!!!! Might pop into supermarket to get a fresh stalk tonight and put it in a jar hoping it will root!!!!

dogstarheaven

well, i tried to get mine to root, but it didn't happen for me after several attempts.. just make sure you get them extra fresh, and hopefully with as much of the basal root you can.. not that you see that often, but it'll help:beer: let me know how you get on..
btw, i didn't cover the pot to create humidity for them but i did experiment with using hormone rooting powder on one and the others w/o. but still no joy for me:(:(:(

good luck
let me know how you get on.. i'd love to know the secret recipe!!!

ginvzt

I will, but I am still going to get a kaffir lime!

ginvzt

I thought I'll let you know that I have bought the lemon grass in ASDA that night and out it in the jar with water. I was away for a week and came back to the green leaves growing from the middle!!! Also, I put two of them in the jar and I can see roots starting to develop on one of them.

I bought the package of 2 lemon grass stems and I went through all the packages on the shelve to find the ones that had the most of the bottom part left. I know, I am a long way from the plant yet, but it is a good start!

Oh, and I ordered kaffir lime this morning. Can't wait for it to arrive!

dogstarheaven

oh you lucky devil.. i'll have to give it another shot then.. but i don't know how i went wrong, when i've done exactly same method as you. did you leave your on your windowsill. mine was on an east-facing sill, and i used fresh rainwater too!

ginvzt

Our kitchen is east facing. I have used 225ml jar (from jam) and just filled with tap water. I change water every few days (not sure if OH did). While I was home, the jar used to travel from windowsill to counter and back. Not sure if OH did.

The stems I have have about 5mm before "leaves" start. As I said - I went through every single pack in the shop... OH was not convinced it is the roots starting, and was saying this has been there all along. But I showed it again to him this morning, and the 'bumps' are a little bit longer. I think one of them is about 2mm. Probably too early to get exited, but I hope this will work.

The kaffir lime arrived yesterday and it is very nice. Lots of stems with leaves and plenty of new shoots. I just need not to kill it now!

dogstarheaven

hey ginvzt!
ta for your detailed instructions on your experience with this so lovely plant. i was at the Newark Garden Show (Notts) last w/e and a herb stall had a fresh plant for £3 so i couldn't really resist could i?! it's now in my unheated greenhouse and it shall stay there prob till summer until the last frosts have passed then i'll move it in the garden later. i doubt i'll get any to harvest this yr, so hopefully i'll have loads to pick next summer/autumn for my thai feasts!

ginvzt

Lucky you!!!!! It will take forever for me to get mine into proper plant (that is if it won't die in the process of developing more roots as well!)

dogstarheaven

http://www.herbalhaven.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=2&op=
well this is the nursery that i bought it from, they do mail order and their delivery costs are v reasonable. should yours not make it or you can't wait to get your 'plantlet' establish, then i can recommend this place. they're really friendly and knowledgeable too.