How and When to Harvest Limes
Citrus trees offer incredible benefits for home gardeners. Buy a lime tree today and you’ll cultivate it for years! Join seasoned grower Jerad Bryant to learn when and how to harvest ripe limes, as well as how to store them long-term.
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Limes grow off of trees in the citrus family. They’re warm-loving, evergreen species that prefer hot climates. Some gardeners cheat the seasons and train a lime tree as a bush in a container so they can bring it indoors for the winter.
When to harvest limes depends on how you like them to taste. Pick them earlier for more tartness and acidity, and later for juicy, sweet flavors. Some varieties taste incredibly sour, while others are sweet-tart. Like other plants in the Citrus genus, limes are incredibly diverse with different cultivars in unique sizes, shapes, and flavors.
You may think these citrusy spheres ripen green. Surprisingly, some varieties turn yellow if left to ripen on the tree! Growers pick them early so they arrive at grocery stores with tart juice ready for squeezing. When growing limes, you choose how early or late to harvest, depending on your flavor preferences. You’re not forced to eat unripe fruits from the store!
So, let’s dive into the orchard. First, we’ll cover when to pick limes on indoor or outdoor trees. Then, we’ll discover how to harvest the fruits and take a tour of four popular cultivars you should try this season.
When to Harvest Limes
When to harvest limes depends on a few factors, including whether you’re growing your tree indoors or outdoors and what climate you garden in. There’s also an element of choice in the matter, as some growers prefer tart, green fruits while others like more yellow and sweet ones.
Signs of Ripeness
Limes, like most other citrus fruits, ripen only while they remain on the tree. They’ll stop ripening once you pick them, and they’ll begin to lose freshness shortly after. They’re a fruit you leave on the tree until you’re ready to use them, that way they always have peak freshness, flavor, and juiciness.
They are ripe when they taste good, meaning you may have to pick one or two to get a good judge of flavor. Once one tastes tart and not extremely bitter, you can begin harvesting other fruits as you need them.
Some will stay green throughout their lifetime while others start dark green and mature light yellow. Judge them by taste rather than color to know when to pick them. Some types, like the ‘Kaffir’ lime, remain intensely tart no matter how ripe! Choosing a variety of lime you’ll enjoy eating is key to a rewarding harvest.
Harvesting Season
Limes may ripen year-round in warm climates! Tropical and subtropical regions have little to no winter frost and few, if any, ice storms. They’re perfect zones for growing these trees outdoors. The fruits ripen sporadically throughout the year rather than all at once, offering fresh harvests whenever you need them.
Colder regions like those in California and Florida can expect these citrus to ripen all at once at summer’s end and winter’s beginning. The tree grows in a more seasonal nature that matches the cooler winter months and warm summer ones.
Species of Citrus x aurantiifolia survive year-round outdoors in USDA hardiness zones 9 through 11. Some are of a separate species but share similar care needs. If you garden in zones 8 and below, offer winter protection for potted lime trees in a greenhouse, indoor room, or sunroom.
Indoor vs. Outdoor Trees
When bringing your potted lime tree indoors, you may notice it still has fruit attached. Pick these and use them, or let them remain on the tree until you’re ready for them. They may fall off from the shock your tree experiences while moving indoors into less light with little airflow.
If you bring your lime inside for the winter and outside for the summer, you’ll have harvests as summer ends and fall begins. Trees that bloom indoors require some help for successful pollination—give their blossoms a shake if they appear indoors, or use a thin paintbrush to dust each one.
You can expect outdoor trees to bloom throughout the year in tropical regions and from fall to spring in temperate ones. If pollinators are infrequent when the blooms are opening, try shaking the outdoor trees to ensure proper pollination and fruit set.
How to Harvest Limes
Harvesting is pretty easy! There aren’t that many steps for picking them off the tree.
Step 1: Test for Ripeness
Before picking, test them for plumpness, fragrance, and texture. Avoid picking small fruits that haven’t filled their skins with juicy flesh. Choose ones that have a light green or yellow color if they’re of a good size.
The first few of the season may be especially bitter, tart, and sour. Fear not, as they’ll ripen in time with heat and sunlight. These citrus are sun-loving fruit trees that need consistent full sun to ripen properly. If you pick one and it’s not ripe, wait a few days before picking another one to taste test.
Step 2: Twist Carefully
They usually twist off the tree when they’re ready. Simply grab one, twist it, and pull away from the branch. It’s not ready if it holds onto the stem and won’t break away. Immature fruits may twist off too, so taste test each lime to ensure they’re ripe before you eat them.
Step 3: Use Snips or Pruners
Some limes may hold onto the tree. This is especially true if you’re harvesting them early for peak sourness. Instead of twisting, you’ll use pruners or herbal snips to slice the stems. That way, the fruits fall off the tree with some stems attached.
Step 4: Store Long Term
Limes stop ripening when you pick them, in the sense that they’ll stay as juicy and tart as they are from the moment you harvest them. You have a few options for storing them, depending on your cooking and baking needs.
Store them on the counter at room temperature if you plan on using them frequently. They’ll last for a week on the countertop. Long-term storage is best in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. Place them in an airtight container—they’ll last for a month in the fridge.
Other clever ways of storing involve some processing. You can juice the fruits and freeze the juice; it’ll last for a few months in the freezer. Keep fresh lime juice in the fridge for three or four days.
Popular Varieties
Look no further than these four lime tree varieties for your backyard or indoor orchard. They’re excellent producers that thousands of chefs and gardeners rely on. Select one with flavor that you’ll enjoy eating, otherwise you’ll have more fruits than you can manage!
‘Mexican’
‘Mexican’ limes are iconic! They also go by key lime and are famous throughout Florida. If you’ve ever tasted a true key lime pie, you know the flavor this lime holds is out of this world!
These fruits have thin skin that’s much thinner than grocery store varieties. Unlike other varieties, key limes have an occasional seed or two buried in their flesh. Use them in desserts with sugar to enhance their tart, limey flavor. Bartenders prefer this lime for its sour, pungent flavor that meshes well in drinks.
‘Kieffer’
This tree sprouts aromatic leaves that Cambodian and Thai dishes often call for. It sprouts edible fruits that are ugly, sour, and oddly shaped with ridges. Don’t be fooled by their appearance, as they’re lovely additions to stir-fries, salsas, and marinades. This variety also goes by the name kaffir, and it’s perfect for home cooks that need its leaves and fruits for cooking meals and making marinades.
‘Bearss’
‘Bearss,’ or Persian lime, is a seedless citrus variety that’s great for making limeade or salsa. The fruits are seedless, juicy, and semi-sweet, and they’re much larger than key limes. They start light green and turn yellow as they grow, resembling lemons when fully ripe. ‘Bearss’ fruits are the other common ones in grocery stores.
‘Palestine Sweet’
‘Palestine Sweet’ is a low acid variety like ‘Bearss.’ Its fruits have some seeds, but they’re perfect for juicing and cooking if you prefer less tartness than usual. This tree has a shrubby structure, making it ideal for growing in containers.
Frequently Asked Questions
When can you harvest limes?
Harvest limes when they turn juicy and green, or wait until they ripen yellow and grow sweet. Even when fully ripe limes retain some tartness. They’re often ready for picking from late summer through early spring.
When do you harvest limes in California?
Limes are ready for harvesting in California from October through April. They’ll often continue ripening throughout the year in warm zones, although there are seasonal times when they’ll produce many or few fruits.
When do you harvest limes in Arizona?
August through March is the ideal time to harvest limes in Arizona. The fruits typically ripen around the same time, although some may linger on the tree throughout the year.
