Kaffir Lime

[MattA]

I bought this Kaffir lime last year as a xmas present to myself. It and another had stood out amongst the stocks of a nursery at Medowie (nth of newcastle) because of there stocky squat shape amongst the rows of regular looking citrus trees in any nursery. On discussions with the owner, most of the trees in that area were not for sale apart from 2 that were of no use to him for propagating because of the stunted growth, but he didnt want to sell them. Sure enough he was talking about my 2 and when i told him my purpose ie bonsai... ' oh, can you bonsai a citrus?' 'Yes' 'well that size (45ltrbag) is normally $45 but coz they no use to me you can have it for $10. I keep meaning to burn them as i dont want them infecting the rest of my stock trees.'

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A friend bought me this pot as a gift specifically for this tree & i love them together. It was tidied up & a few shoots below the graft removed but otherwise I have done no styling or shaping as yet. After potting up it was allowed to grow unchecked till this spring when it was cut back to the first leaf of each branch. Once new growth had hardened all the old leaves where then removed & it cut back to the first leaf again. I noticed a few leafs affected by citrus leafcurl so have just pruned it back to the first leaf again. It has many flaws as bonsai but I love it non the less.

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It stands approx 40cm tall 70cm wide & 55cm deep.

Matt

[Jester]

I wonder how well it will take to defoliation for leaf reduction? Pls keep us posted. Good buy though

[Aussie_Bonsai]

awesome grab for $10.

[Asus101]

they dont get smaller leaves. I have one I use the leaves for cooking....

[MattA]

Asus is correct, as far as i know. I have seen them with the second lobe cut off which is efective in reducing the volume, but like any leaf trimming it does show. How long have you been growing yours for? As a bonsai or potted plant?

I couldnt find any info on them as bonsai except to treat like any citrus, so it has simply resided as an oddity amongst my trees. Is it even bonsai?

I repotted in January '10 & allowed it to grow freely for the rest of the year. It even provided 2 fruit! I cut about 6" off the tap root to fit this pot & there is still another 8" to be removed over time as I get some more at my desired point. This is what i intend starting work on next, with a ground layer to hopefully fix the terrible roots and also allow me to remove the long section of tap root still remaining. It is fed monthly with a light sprinkle of Brunnings Citrus Food and has really powered along this spring.

Around the start of september I cut back all of last seasons growth to a single leaf. Once the first leaf on the new growth had hardened I then cut all of the old leaves off to let more light into the branches. Mid november it tried to flower so i cut all the new growth back to the first leaf. I will repeat this process in another week or so, some of the slower shoots havent hardened off enough yet.

I freeze alot of the prunings to use for cooking (the tender young shoots have a slightly more subtle flavour if you can ever call kaffir subtle). I am slowly drinking my way thru the last bottle from a batch of Kaffir liqueur i made some months ago. If you like intense flavours this is for you. A bit like cointreau, rreeaallly ice over ice or mixed with soda/mineral waters etc lemonade if you need more sweetening, the sugar is now alcohol Yummy made into a hot syrup and poured over pancakes & icecream mmmmm pancakes.....

Matt

[Ron]

... I am slowly drinking my way thru the last bottle from a batch of Kaffir liqueur i made some months ago. If you like intense flavours this is for you. A bit like cointreau, ....

Now that calls for the recipe to be posted!

Cheers,
Ron the Cointreau addict.

[MattA]

... I am slowly drinking my way thru the last bottle from a batch of Kaffir liqueur i made some months ago. If you like intense flavours this is for you. A bit like cointreau, ....

Now that calls for the recipe to be posted!

Cheers,
Ron the Cointreau addict.

HHmmmm i dunno Ron... could be dangerous.....This will work for any fruit but really great for citrus, this is a converted lemon liqueur recipe i found many many years ago.

1kg very ripe Kaffir limes cut in quarters
1kg sugar (i use raw which gives a slightly deeper flavour)
1 bottle Smirnoff blue label vodka (43%)

combine fruit with sugar and put in a large jar, the sugar will draw the juices out of the limes as well as alot of the oil in the skin. Stir daily otherwise the sugar sets like a rock on the bottom. Mine sat & brewed for about 4wks, more or less time would be ok as long as all the sugar has dissolved and the mix has fermented (noticable by small bubbles forming). strain off thru cheese cloth, take the now drained remnants and combine with the vodka and let it sit an hour. Then strain this thru the cloth as well, squeeze as much extra juice & oil out of the fruit then recombine the whole lot. I bottled off into Grolsch beer bottles that I have, the spring lock caps are great. the above quantities gave me 3 Grolsch bottles full & a bit over half the vodka bottle refilled. I am down to the last bottle sorry no sharing!

Matt

Btw Ron your not alone in having a Cointreau addiction, keep mine in the freezer, super sweet & syrupy that way. And No I dont want ice or water or anything else thanks, just Frozen cointreau on ice

It drank well from the start tho as i say the flavour is definitely intense!

[Ron]

Wow ... thanks, Matt.

And speaking of Grolsch, once you have had a taste of it, no other beer will do. (And for guitar players, the red washer on the wire fliptop bottles make excellent strap locks! )

[MattA]

Wow ... thanks, Matt.

And speaking of Grolsch, once you have had a taste of it, no other beer will do. (And for guitar players, the red washer on the wire fliptop bottles make excellent strap locks! )

Ron,

Its always a pleasure to be able to share something with someone who truly appreciates it. Grolsch make the best bottles for small batchs of homemade liqueurs & spirits.

Be Warned it is INTENSE, I reckon there is as much oil in the kaffir skins as actual juice, even with the large amount of sugar it is not sweet!

Matt

[MattA]

After a little bit of pruning & roping down the heavy branchs.

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[kcpoole]

thats Different!
Any reason you used rope and not wire?

Ken

[Andrew F]

After a little bit of pruning & roping down the heavy branchs.

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I like what you have done to the lime Matt. Any splitting involved???

That recipe gave me a gut ache just reading it lol

[MattA]

thats Different!
Any reason you used rope and not wire?

Ken

Hey Ken,

Mainly because its how I have always worked my trees, it works

I do have wire & occasionally use it, I find rope as effective if not more so for major position changes. The 3 branches roped up have a fair bit of girth to them & would take some pretty hefty wire and even more muscle to pull them down. The rope being wrapped around the branches also helps protect them from splitting etc.

Matt