Author Topic: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .  (Read 2876 times)

Epicatt2

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Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« on: July 25, 2020, 03:08:54 PM »
I bought a Giant Fingerlime from Briteleaf about a year ago and when I asked about it they explained that it is a sport from a regular green fingerlime that was stock which originally came from Gainesville as a green fingerlime.  Gainseville's stock unbeknownst to them had mutated so they had been selling it as the regular green fingerlme without realizing it had sported. None of  their cuttings had fruited yet so they did not know there was a difference.  Gainesville destroyed all the sported stock once they realized it was not the regular fingerlime any longer.

But Briteleaf kept theirs and, at first  thinking that it was probably an unknown hybrid of something crossed with a green fingerlime, marketed it as a 'giant fingerliime'.  Of course we now know that is was a sport.

The fruit on mine looks like little pointy-ended footballs but I haven't learned how to know when the fruit are ripe and ready to pick because they remain quite hard.

So at last my question:
Is anyone here on the TFF growing this (Briteleaf) Giant Fingerlime and has figured out how to know when the fruit is ripe?

TIA

Paul M.
==

Millet

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2020, 05:37:41 PM »
Your description sounds more like an Australian Faustrime.

Epicatt2

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2020, 06:38:57 PM »
Your description sounds more like an Australian Faustrime.

It's definitely a sport of a green Australian Fingerlime.  This was plant material that was being distributed some years back for a short while by the Florida Division of Plant Industry in Gainesville.

Their material sported and then got distributed to nurseries around the state before they disciovered the sported material at which point the Div. destroyed all the sported material.

The one nursery I mentioned decided to call it a giant fingerlime and when I inquired they filled me in on the situation which they had learned when they contacted Plant Industry to report that the material they had gotten was producing differently shaped fruit, although the plants themselves seemed to be the typically thorny, tiny-leafed fingerlimes. This is information that  I wanted to share here with TFF in this thread.

But I'd still very much like to know if there's anyone else on TFF who's growing this sport and has figured out when to harvest the fruit and how to tell when.

Cheers!

Paul M.
==

Laaz

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2020, 07:51:31 AM »
I agree, it sounds like my Faustrime. I sent seeds to many people years ago. They come true & produce fruit in only a few years. If they turn yellow they are Faustrime.

http://citruspages.free.fr/australian.php#faustrime

pagnr

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2020, 09:41:03 AM »
Is it the same as the type in this previous post
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=5439.0
If you look at the Brite leaf page, it looks like a hybrid,
https://www.briteleaf.com/product/giant-finger-lime/
possibly similar to Citrus virgata which is fingerlime cross roundlime ???
Not sure if that's exactly like Faustrime, looks similar, maybe a seedling variant.

Epicatt2

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2020, 09:58:22 AM »
Laaz, I looked at the Faustrime photos at the link you provided.  The fruit there is similar looking to but the two not really the same, IMO.

Here is what the owner of Brite Leaf wrote when asked about the 'Giant Finger Lime':

The Giant Finger Lime is “new”.  I have 2 trees that I use as my budwood source.  These trees were obtained through the Florida Department of Agriculture’s budwood facility as Australian Finger Limes.  When my trees started fruiting the fruit did not look like it should.  So, I contacted the state to research the issue.  It turns out that the trees they had supplied me with were a bud sport off of an Australian Finger Lime.  They were unaware of the difference until somebody’s tree produced fruit.  Faced with many nurseries having propagated trees with this budwood, they decided to give it a new name.  The fruit inside looks just like all the finger limes that I have seen. The outside shape is all that is different.

Here is a photo of the 'Giant Finger Lime' fruit:



And one of the fruit on the plant:



And one of the plant habit:




So you can see from the photos that the fruit is most likely not the same as the Faustrime.

OK — HTH

Paul M.
==
PS - Guess I'm not going to get an answer about how to tell when this fruit is ripe.
==
« Last Edit: July 26, 2020, 12:23:21 PM by Epicatt2 »

Laaz

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2020, 10:38:35 AM »
Those look like some type of hybrid.

Epicatt2

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #7 on: July 26, 2020, 11:01:48 AM »
Laaz,

I have no reason to believe that Brite Leaf is saying anything other than what is true about this citrus species sport.

I'm willing to accept what has been presented as a reasonable explanation for the difference of this sport from a typical fngerlime. Taxa mutate all the time without any sexual recombination.

The only way to really determine what this plant is exactly is by mapping its genome.  Not sure who would undertake doing that.  Or maybe it has been mapped and we are unaware of where to look for the results.

Regards,

Paul M.
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Luisport

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2020, 11:45:39 AM »
Laaz, I looked at the Faustine photos at the link you provided.  The fruit there is similar looking to but the two not really the same, IMO.

Here is what the owner of Brite Leaf wrote when asked about the 'Giant Finger Lime':

The Giant Finger Lime is “new”.  I have 2 trees that I use as my budwood source.  These trees were obtained through the Florida Department of Agriculture’s budwood facility as Australian Finger Limes.  When my trees started fruiting the fruit did not look like it should.  So, I contacted the state to research the issue.  It turns out that the trees they had supplied me with were a bud sport off of an Australian Finger Lime.  They were unaware of the difference until somebody’s tree produced fruit.  Faced with many nurseries having propagated trees with this budwood, they decided to give it a new name.  The fruit inside looks just like all the finger limes that I have seen. The outside shape is all that is different.

Here is a photo of the 'Giant Finger Lime' fruit:



And one of the fruit on the plant:



And one of the plant habit:




So you can see from the photos that the fruit is most likely not the same as the Faustine.

OK — HTH

Paul M.
==
PS - Guess I'm not going to get an answer about how to tell when this fruit is ripe.
==
My fausterime finger lime is not like yours



pagnr

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2020, 06:18:58 PM »
The Giant Finger Lime is also discussed here
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5369063/giant-finger-lime
It looks like the skin will turn yellow when ripe, and they will probably fall off the plant
How many fruit do you have ? You could probably try one when they seem full size, and start to break colour, ie get a tinge of yellow.
Whatever this is, it doesn't look like a giant finger lime, it looks like a mix of something else.
Maybe someone could check the Florida Department of Agriculture’s budwood facility and see what Microcitrus they hold, ie do they also have virgata and Faustrime.

A bud sport could maybe be a graft hybrid, if the sport limb came from the bud/stock union.
Microcitrus have been at the USA facilities for many many years, with little interest until recently.
That's a long time for things to get mixed up, mislabelled or even seedlings to grow back in place of dead trees.
Some of the Microcitrus at the Citrus Variety Collection, don't exactly match what was found in the wild in PNG recently,
ie the accessions are hybrid seedlings or sports.
It is possible that this Giant Finger Lime is something else.

Millet

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2020, 08:18:53 PM »
Looking at Pagnr's post, I don't think I would want the Giant Finger Lime.  Regular Finger lime seems to be a better selection.

Epicatt2

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #11 on: July 27, 2020, 01:20:14 AM »
I don't think I would want the Giant Finger Lime.  Regular Finger lime seems to be a better selection.

I too would much like to have one or more of the interesting color forms of the typical Austrailan Fingerlime but none seem to be available here in Florida at the present time. 

There are some available for sale in California and Australia but no citrus is permitted entry into Florida in order to protect against introducing certain diseases of citrus into our State.

Paul M.
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Epicatt2

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #12 on: July 27, 2020, 06:35:40 PM »
It looks like the skin will turn yellow when ripe, and they will probably fall off the plant
How many fruit do you have ? You could probably try one when they seem full size, and start to break colour, ie get a tinge of yellow.

Thanx for the suggestion, pagnr; i'll try that.  But . . . so far the fruits on my Giant Finger Lime have stayed green and hard although about two or three have fallen off but that was because they were spoiled, bruised  –or damaged by the tree's own spines because of the wind.

One fruit was only spoiled a little on one end so I cut it open and it had those loose vesicles inside just the same as a regular fingerlime and a good lime flavor, slightly on the acid side, but not too bad. But my sense of it was that it wasn't yet fully ripe.

So far none ot the dozen fruit still hanging on the tree are showing any inclination of wanting to turn yellow yet.  I'll just have to wait and see.

Cheers!

Paul M.
==
« Last Edit: July 28, 2020, 11:36:56 AM by Epicatt2 »

Galka

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #13 on: July 28, 2020, 04:48:05 AM »
I posted pictures on this forum before I think. They will turn yellow and look nicer than the ones from the link above,  those pictures are mine by the way. I liked the taste but I can't compare to the red or green regular finger limes, never tasted them. I will post a picture of ripe yellow giant finger limes if I find it. My tree almost died this spring, just started to come back, so no new pictures of fruit, sorry.

Kevin Jones

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #14 on: August 10, 2020, 10:46:43 AM »
Here's a few shots of my Finger lime/Key lime cross:













Kevin Jones


brian

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #15 on: August 10, 2020, 12:53:58 PM »
Cross section looks like a fig :)

How does it taste?  Typical finger-lime flavor?

pagnr

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #16 on: August 10, 2020, 08:12:10 PM »
That finger lime x key lime cross looks pretty good.
Is that your own cross breeding work Kevin ??
How about some pics of the foliage etc
Also what color was the finger lime parent,
and what was the direction of the cross,
ie what was the pollen parent and what was the seed parent??

Kevin Jones

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #17 on: August 12, 2020, 07:39:23 AM »
The leaves are Finger Lime like...This show a little foliage:

Here's a shot of the Finger Lime Fruit... it has pink caviar:


The flavor is typical Finger Lime.
I can't really claim credit for the cross... That would be the bumble bees.
The finger lime was the Daddy (Pollen Donator) and the Key Lime was the Momma (fruit and seed carrier).
A few years ago... I was sprouting some Key Lime seeds and noticed the Finger Lime-like leaves so decided to grow them.
All my citrus grows in containers... in the same area... so a cross was inevitable.

I have 6 more of these crosses... some that have started flowering this year... so I am waiting to see what they produce too.

Kevin Jones



« Last Edit: August 12, 2020, 07:44:58 AM by Kevin Jones »

Epicatt2

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #18 on: August 13, 2020, 01:59:24 AM »
Hey Kevin,

That red fingerlime cross is very interesting.  Thanx for sharing how it came to be.

How long did it take your fingerlime cross to bear fruit from seed?

And how tall was it when it first set fruit?

Just curious . . .

Paul M.
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Kevin Jones

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #19 on: August 13, 2020, 12:52:18 PM »
Like key limes... they fruited quickly from seed... a couple of years.
It was around the 3 foot mark when it started blooming.
I have several other that are blooming this summer... We'll see!

Kevin Jones


Epicatt2

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #20 on: August 13, 2020, 01:41:44 PM »
Only a couple years from seed to fruit...  That's pretty quick –and good to know, Kevin.

Wouldn't mind having some seeds from the hybrid to play with since we cannot ship citrus plants to Florida.

Cheers!

Paul M.
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Laaz

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #21 on: August 13, 2020, 02:27:06 PM »
Guess it's time I try crossing my Faustrime with my Australian bloodlime...




Luisport

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #22 on: August 13, 2020, 03:44:46 PM »
Guess it's time I try crossing my Faustrime with my Australian bloodlime...




WOW! It can be promissing... i have both too!   ;)

Galka

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #23 on: August 21, 2020, 12:19:37 PM »
I posted pictures on this forum before I think. They will turn yellow and look nicer than the ones from the link above,  those pictures are mine by the way. I liked the taste but I can't compare to the red or green regular finger limes, never tasted them. I will post a picture of ripe yellow giant finger limes if I find it. My tree almost died this spring, just started to come back, so no new pictures of fruit, sorry.




Mike T

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Re: Giant Finger Lime QQs . . .
« Reply #24 on: August 23, 2020, 05:20:51 AM »
I think I would agree that the limes of the original posting are a cross and are only 50% or less fingerlime. Bloodlimes are around but not super popular here and green fingerlimes seem to have lost their shine also. What is popular in the realm of fingerlimes here atm are those with brightly coloured fruit and flesh and heavy bearing small trees.