CSIRO Citrus Varieties

chillidude · **Posted:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:46 am

I'm growing the CSIRO developed citrus (lime) varieties Australian Blood and Australian Sunrise. There is a third one, Australian Outback, that I couldn't source.

Background info here;

http://www.csiro.au/science/New-Native-Limes.html and,
http://www.csiro.au/files/mediarelease/mr2001/Prlimes.htm

I have had my trees in for two years and it looks like I should get a reasonable number of fruit of them this year. The Blood is only about 4 feet high but quite wide (4 feet) while the Sunrise is 5-6 feet and quite narrow (2 feet). I'm curious to know whether these growth rates and habits are normal.

Just wondering if anybody else has these varieties and what their experience is ?

I'll take some piccies tonight of mine and put them up tomorrow.

earthbound · **Posted:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:12 pm

Cool, would be good to see some pics of the growth habit, I just bought a Red Centre Lime today, now I'm just working out where to plant it.

mitch · **Posted:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:48 pm

From what I've been told. The native lime Citrus australasica formerly known as Microcitrus australasica produces the most fruit when it is put under stress, it is one of the few edible plants that you can literally put in the ground and deprive of almost everything and harvest a bumper crop.

The finger limes themselves are full of more vitamins etc when they are grown in the bush or where the plant is put under constant stress.

earthbound · **Posted:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:57 pm

I have the perfect place for it then, right up the back corner where the sprinklers don;t quite reach. even killed rosemary up there.. I've also got a pomegranate tree that can go up in the back corner, I know they can do well without any water.

mitch · **Posted:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:09 pm

That sounds like a perfect spot for it. I've been dying to get one for ages and just haven't got around to it. Where did you get yours from?

earthbound · **Posted:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:17 pm

Bunnings in the end... Was about $10 cheaper than some other nursery's, but not all of them have it. I've found the one on the corner of Leach hwy and North lake rd often has a good variety of fruiting trees and plants, I've bought a few unusual fruiting plants there in the past and they didn't let me down today.

mitch · **Posted:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:26 pm

Argh yes I love that Bunnings. You should see there chuck outs on mondays and tuesdays!!! I've had to stop going in there because I will easily spend my entire paycheck every week if i could. :shock:

They have a really good qualified horticulturalist there and she is just amazing. I should drop in tomorrow. :thunbs:

chillidude · **Posted:** Wed Jan 13, 2010 10:41 am

Wow, generated a lot more discussion than what I thought it would.

Anyway, here's some piccies of my plants. The Blood is fruiting well but there is nothing on the Sunrise yet, hence no close-up of that.

The fruit on the Blood will turn a dark-red-brown as they ripen. Eaten whole (don't peel them) they have a great limey citrus taste that is not overly acidic. Yet to cook with them as we only got about a half dozen fruit last year.

Thanks for the info about the stress Mitch. Mine cop full sun all day, howling easterlies at night, frequently no Freo Doctor to cool things down, and get watered about once a fortnight in summer. They are on a dripper system, but it is not rigged up to a tap and only gets used when I manually hook the hose up to it.

Simo · **Posted:** Wed Jan 13, 2010 11:02 am

how big does the fruit get?

chillidude · **Posted:** Wed Jan 13, 2010 11:07 am

So far they have maxed out at about 40mm long and have a shape reminiscent of a quail egg.

I know native finger limes don't get very large, but I'm unsure if these fruit will get bigger as the tree ages and grows.

earthbound · **Posted:** Wed Jan 13, 2010 1:25 pm

Gee they are quite small fruit.. Funny how when you look at the picture on the label, where there is nothing to reference the size, you just imagine that they are large. The fruit picture on the label is MUCH larger than their size in real life.

Is that a passionfruit in the background with the rootstock shooting? Hmm, might start a new thread.

chillidude · **Posted:** Wed Jan 13, 2010 2:49 pm

Yeah, one of the two passionfruit that Mrs Chilli insisted on. I've always hater the buggers as every time I've had them they send runners up all over the place.

chillidude · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2010 2:19 pm

The Sunrise is just starting to flower, which I thought it would do months ago like most of the other citrus.

Will get a piccy tonight and put it up.

veggie boy · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2010 10:09 pm

Funny - I've never heard of those varieties. Have heard of fingerlimes of course though.

Can't remember seeing at B or anywhere else in Qld. Must look up as anything that can be grown neglected sounds good to me :lol:

chillidude · **Posted:** Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:53 pm

Piccy update time.

First photo is a little over-exposed, but it's a flower on the Sunrise tree.

The second is some small fruit on the Sunrise tree.

The third is the fruit on the Blood tree - a little larger and the colour is just starting to turn.

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