Author Topic: AU Blood lime  (Read 1639 times)

FRUITBOXHERO

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AU Blood lime
« on: June 11, 2018, 07:41:54 AM »
I have a Blood Lime setting fruit for the first time, how does one know when they are ripe and ready to pick? they are around the size of a small egg right now
Joe

citrange

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Re: AU Blood lime
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2018, 02:05:05 PM »
Here in England they hang for a long time with a dark chocolate brown colour, finally turning red in January.
Probably in Florida things will be faster, but they probably won't get any bigger than your 'small egg' size.
Never sweet. See my webpage
http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australiannativecitrus/bloodlime.html

Mike T

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Re: AU Blood lime
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2018, 08:51:58 PM »
That is a bigger size than they usually get and you don't have to wait until they get sweet.i thought Florida would be a bit warmer than their preference as they were developed in Melbourne (Victoria Australia).

citrange

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Re: AU Blood lime
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2018, 04:30:45 AM »
Quote
they were developed in Melbourne (Victoria Australia
Not quite - they were developed at the CSIRO agricultural research station at Merbein, about 350 miles from Melbourne.
This institution hybridized or selected several citrus varieties from the Australian native species.
Although there are 'niche' producers of the fruit, they have never become commercially very popular because they are small and not sweet enough to eat fresh.
Sadly, the Merbein site was sold off in 2012 and all their experimental plantings grubbed up.

I was going to visit the Merbein site until I received this email from an Australian contact:
Yes the Merbein CSIRO site was sold and sadly a bulldozer/backhoe was driven over it before it changed hands, probably to protect the intellectual property of the Citrus collection.
I did chat to Steve Sykes about this before the research station closed.
He said the collection was going to be distributed to other sites.
I'm not sure exactly where to, or when or if that happened.
The Australian Govt at the time cut a lot of the research funding budget to CSIRO.
Steve Sykes retired, and I'm not sure if any other scientist took on that type of research into Microcitrus hybrids.
I did see some fruit of 2nd generation Blood Lime type hybrids at a Merbein research field day quite a few years ago, but doubt they will see the light of day now.

Florian

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Re: AU Blood lime
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2018, 07:05:51 AM »
Last year, I was able to try some blood limes. While the flesh and juice were very sour but otherwise good, the zest had a very particular, strange smell/taste. I cannot really describe it as I don't know anything similar.. but it wasn't pleasant.