Re-potting Kaffir Lime tree

[pepperhead212]

A.K.A. Makrut lime, this, and my other indoor plants all seemed to need re-potting this year; I thought it had been 3 years, but it was only 2 years, I found out on another forum. Today, I didn't finish my SIPs, due to the wind - would have blown the covers away, as I would be trying to cover them. Plus, making the soil mix would not have been easy, with the perlite and vermiculite blowing all over. I already had the mix made up for re-potting the kaffir lime trees, so I did the smaller one today. It was definitely rootbound, with some roots growing upwards, into the mulch. This soil mix I made with 2/3 peat, and 1/3 coir, plus some perlite, a little less vermiculite, some granular diatomaceous earth, some DE powder, for the upper few inches, plus some mycorrhizae powder, to inoculate it. The lime tree was put outside a couple of weeks ago, when I trimmed it considerably, brought indoors the last couple of nights, due to the cold, and I trimmed it even more. Looks a little scraggly, because I trimmed all the branches I had to, that were growing on top of each other. It will recover quickly, as always, and I had already seen several areas of new growth, triggered by the first trimming.

This tree is around 10 years old, or a little older. The larger one (which I still need to re-pot) is 20 years old.
The rootbound kaffir lime tree, showing the roots that had grown up, into the mulching medium. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A couple of the leaves are showing a little sunburn, since putting it outside a couple of weeks ago, but nothing serious.
Kaffir lime tree, finished with the Re-potting. 4-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[friedgreen51]

I am going to be re-potting my Valencia Orange this upcoming week. Waiting for this last cold snap to pass. Thanks for the photos. They were helpful.
I have a Calamondin Orange that got too dry down in the greenhouse this winter and dropped all its leaves. The stem is still green, so I gave it a good pruning. Do you think it would benefit from re-potting? It has still not put out any leaves and it has been 3 weeks.
Thanks!

[pepperhead212]

[mention]friedgreen51[/mention] You say it's stem is still green, so I assume that it's not very old? What size is it, and what size pot is it in? I can't remember these things ever dropping even half their leaves - that must have been incredibly dry! Hopefully, it's still salvageable. Check the roots in the pot, to see if it is rootbound; that's how I could tell these needed re-potted - even after soaking, they dry out fast. Mine needed a severe root pruning, but I wouldn't do that with all those leaves gone - you want the roots to help feed it, for the leaves to hopefully start coming back. Maybe just loosen up the roots some, if it's rootbound, and put it in a larger pot; if not rootbound, maybe still re-pot to a larger pot. Good luck!

[PlainJane]

Some wicked thorns on those guys!

[pepperhead212]

You're right, [mention]PlainJane[/mention] - these things have the worst thorns of any plant I have ever seen! When getting ready to move, or re-pot these, I do a "pruning" of the thorns, and snip the tips of the ones I will be most likely to contact!

[friedgreen51]

@friedgreen51 You say it's stem is still green, so I assume that it's not very old? What size is it, and what size pot is it in? I can't remember these things ever dropping even half their leaves - that must have been incredibly dry! Hopefully, it's still salvageable. Check the roots in the pot, to see if it is rootbound; that's how I could tell these needed re-potted - even after soaking, they dry out fast. Mine needed a severe root pruning, but I wouldn't do that with all those leaves gone - you want the roots to help feed it, for the leaves to hopefully start coming back. Maybe just loosen up the roots some, if it's rootbound, and put it in a larger pot; if not rootbound, maybe still re-pot to a larger pot. Good luck!

Thanks. I will pull it out of the pot and check the roots. It is a 10 year old tree. When I said the stem was still green I meant under the bark. The thickest part of the trunk is probably as thick as skinny broom handle.

[PlainJane]

You're right, @PlainJane - these things have the worst thorns of any plant I have ever seen! When getting ready to move, or re-pot these, I do a "pruning" of the thorns, and snip the tips of the ones I will be most likely to contact!

Lol, now I don’t feel bad for snipping the thorns off my lemon and lime trees!

[pepperhead212]

I'm not re-potting, but trimming the older plant - around 21 years old - as it was getting too dense. The other one needs trimming, too, but I left it, so you could see the difference! I'll trim that tomorrow. You can also see a lot of the leaves that I knocked off the one on the left one. The curry and bay plants didn't grow as much, but still have plenty of leaves on them, and I've used a lot of them.
Middle lime tree trimmed, 2-14-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Branches trimmed from the older lime tree, as it was getting too dense. 2-14-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I trimmed those Makrut/Kaffir lime trees, that I have trimmed several times through the summer (they had a bunch more new growth, from last time I trimmed them), but they needed a lot of trimming, to ready them for re-potting (might only re-pot the large one, as that's been longer), before bringing them indoors, for the off-season. I probably have to trim a little more, but it started drizzling out there again.
The younger, 11 year old makrut/Kaffir lime tree, trimmed way back, to re-pot. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The older lime tree, a little over 21 years old, trimmed way back, before re-potting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A lot of trimmed branches from both of the lime trees, prepping them for re-potting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I re-potted that older plant today, as it was not doing well, compared to the younger one. You can see with those light colored leaves in the second photo, compared to the dark leaves to the right, and they just weren't growing much, compared to usual. I mixed some organic mix, along with about 2 gal of seedling mix I had leftover, plus some worm castings, some garden tone granules, and some more perlite. It only took a little over an hour, and tomorrow I'll make up that circle of screen, to put the hydroton on, like I did with the other one.
Severely pruned root ball of the 23 year old makrut lime tree, getting put back in the 15 gallon fabric pot. I could tell it had gotten root-bound, as it was not growing well. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

23 year old makrut lime tree, finished repotted. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I might try to air layer another one of these, like I did this one, to make that "younger" one, which is 13 years old now! I think this rootball on this old one just gets rootbound faster, and ideally, should be in a larger pot, but even this one is getting almost too large for me to be getting in and out of the house twice a year!

[pepperhead212]

Today I put that screen on the newly repotted lime tree, then the hydroton - this keeps the hydroton from mixing up with the soil as much, and easier to remove, down the road.

Here's that piece of screen I cut out, to put over the soil for the lime tree, slightly off center, and it fits perfectly. by pepperhead212, on Flickr



Here's the Hydroton on top of the screen, and the drip line back in place. by pepperhead212, on Flickr