Divisi
How to grow Lime
Citrus aurantiifolia · Rutaceae
Photo: Filo gèn' · CC BY-SA 4.0
The lime is a small, thorny, evergreen citrus tree — the most heat-loving and least cold-hardy of the whole citrus family. In warm, frost-free lowlands it never really rests: it flushes new leaves, flowers and sets fruit a little all year round. You plant a grafted tree (a chosen fruiting variety joined onto a tough root variety), give it a warm, well-drained, sunny spot, and it rewards you for many years with small, sharp green fruit — picked green for juice and cooking.
Jeevan Jose, Kerala, India · CC BY-SA 4.0 
Boesenbergia · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Row spacing
- 550 cm
- Plant spacing in the row
- 550 cm
These are general figures for the crop, compiled from published agronomic references including FAO and CABI. The right choice for your field depends on your soil, rainfall and the yield you are aiming for.
Will lime actually do well on your land? Check your field against every crop in the catalogue — free, no signup. Run the free crop check →
Other names for Lime
lemmetjie · lime · key lime · citron vert · lima · ndimu
Working in buckets, bags or paces? The farming glossary turns the measures growers actually use into kilograms and hectares — what a 20 litre bucket of each crop really weighs, and how to size a field by walking it — alongside the Shona, Swahili, Ndebele and Yoruba words used in the field. Open the glossary →
Growing lime, stage by stage
Your lime is a small tree you plant once and pick from for years — this plan takes you from choosing a warm, frost-free spot and planting a grafted tree, through the early years that build its frame, into the flower-and-fruit cycle it repeats all year, while you keep fruit flies and greening disease from stealing the crop.
- Pick the right spot and plant your tree
- Grow the young tree strong (the first years)
- Feed the tree and keep the canopy open
- Flowering — help it set fruit
- Grow the fruit and beat the fruit fly
- Pick your limes
- Handle, cool and sell
16 step-by-step tasks in the app
Every task for lime — what to do, when to do it and why it matters — with the amounts worked out for your own field, reminders as each one falls due, and warnings before extreme weather.
Pests and diseases that attack lime
3 more threats tracked in the app
Divisi tells you which of these is a risk on your lime right now, when to walk the field looking for it, and what to do the moment you find it.
Frequently asked questions
What spacing should I use for lime?
Space lime rows about 550 cm apart, with roughly 550 cm between plants within the row.
What pests and diseases attack lime?
The ones covered in this guide are Citrus black spot, Citrus leafminer, Citrus mites. Each has its own page explaining how to identify, scout for and control it.
Grow lime with a plan, not a guess
Divisi turns this guide into a dated plan for your own field — what to do each week, reminders as tasks fall due, and warnings before extreme weather. Free for farmers, works offline.
Or check your field first