Commercial finger lime orchards do well planted in full sun. Some earlier plantings, however, incorporated protection from full sun by inter-planting with taller native trees or covering trees with shade cloth, to mimic the natural habitat of the plant.
Varieties and rootstocks
Over the past twenty years growers and nurserymen have selected a range of finger lime plants with different characteristics directly from the bush or from seedling populations. These selections have then been used as the ‘mother plants’ for vegetatively propagating identical new plants.
All commercial citrus trees in Australia are propagated vegetatively using budwood, which ensures the new trees are identical to the original mother plant. Citrus trees grown from seed are not used because they
are not always true to type, are slower growing and can take many years to bear fruit. All commercial citrus trees are grown on specially selected citrus rootstocks that have different characteristics including tolerance to a range of soil, disease, pest and climatic conditions.
The commercially available finger lime cultivars come in a variety of tree shapes and sizes, from tall upright trees with open canopies and narrow leaves to dense weeping shrubs with broader leaves. The mature fruit range in size from 6 to 12 cm in length and come in a wide range of colours including green, yellow, purple and pink to bright red. The pulp of the fruit is unique with a ‘caviar like’ appearance that also comes in a wide range of colours. The intensity of skin and pulp colour can have some variation as a result of flowering times and climatic conditions. Fruit seediness can also vary with some cultivars being almost seedless and others having many seeds.
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