[Arid_gardener] Lime tree branches dying

[Cathy.Rymer at chandleraz.gov]

Thanks for your question.  There are two types of limes that grow well 
here in the low desert, the Mexican Lime or Key Lime and the Persian Lime 
or Bearss Lime.  The Mexican Lime is very frost sensitive, and frost 
protection is usually a must.  It produces small (~1"), seedy fruit with a 
thin green rind that turns yellow when mature.  The fruit is produced 
nearly year-round and usually drops from the tree when yellow. 

The Persian Lime is the most common lime grown here.  The fruit is small 
(~2")  and nearly seedless.  Most fruit becomes ripe in the winter, 
although small quantities may be produced year round.  Once the fruit 
turns yellow it doesn't store well.  The tree has dark green leaves and is 
less thorny than the Mexican Lime.

If you have a Persian (Tahitian, Bearss) lime your tree may have a genetic 
disorder.  According to Dr. Glenn Wright, Citrus Specialist with the 
University of Arizona "the symptoms you are describing lead me to suspect 
that you have Wood Pocket disease in your lime.  Wood pocket is a genetic 
disorder of Bearss lime trees, for which there is no cure.  You can 
replant another Bearss in the same location, realizing that after 6 to 10 
years, the new tree will die. Alternatively, you can plant Mexican lime, 
which is not susceptible to Wood Pocket.  Wood pocket will not spread to 
other citrus nearby, it is specific only to Bearss lime."

I hope this helps.

Cathy Rymer
Water Conservation Coordinator
Certified Arborist
Master Gardener
City of Chandler
(480) 782-3589
www.chandleraz.gov/water


Hi!,
I have a lime tree that has done wonderful for the last four years and 
survived last winters deep freeze, but all of a sudden leaves on some 
branches are curling under and then the branches die. This seem to be 
happening in the middle of the tree. I fill the well once a week with 
water. Please help! We lost thousands of dollars of landscape last winter 
( 12 huge ficus trees ) and i don't want to lose this tree. Please respond 
to afountainrdh at yahoo.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://CALS.arizona.edu/pipermail/arid_gardener/attachments/20071022/aed95ffc/attachment.html