Aaron von Frank

We’d recommend buying young makrut lime plants from a reputable nursery rather than trying to grow from seed. Our favorite online citrus nursery is One Green World; they also have makrut trees for sale: https://onegreenworld.com/product/mukrat-thai-lime/.

Aaron von Frank

Thanks Kathy! Glad our information about makrut limes and general citrus care has been helpful for you. Kudos to you for growing so many interesting tropicals all the way up in Boston – that’s quite a challenge!

On the topic of citrus pest control during the cold months: you could get away with an application of neem oil every six weeks instead of every four. You might have to wait for a single warm-ish above freezing day during the allotted time window, then jump on the opportunity to temporarily move your makrut plant outdoors, apply neem oil, let it dry, then move the plant back inside. It’s not unsafe to apply inside, the smell is just intense and it’s quite sticky.

Another challenge with having citrus indoors in the winter is getting your plants adequate sunlight, which may also be a contributing factor to lack of fruit production for your makrut lime, which thrive in full sun. Modern, energy efficient windows block a lot of the light spectrum, so even a very sunny south-facing window might not be enough to keep your makrut tree making enough energy for reproduction. We recently got some tripod LED grow lights for tropicals we grow indoors year round (like Monstera deliciosa) and they’ve worked wonders. That might be something for you to consider as well. (Here’s the ones we purchased from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3OLEzzq – you can set them to automatically turn on and off at set intervals so no having to remember to turn them on or off).

Since you mentioned a few other plants we grow and have resource guides for that you might not have seen yet, you might enjoy our organic growing how-to guides on lemongrass (https://www.tyrantfarms.com/complete-guide-how-to-grow-lemongrass/) and ginger & turmeric – including baby ginger and unusual varieties (https://www.tyrantfarms.com/how-to-grow-organic-turmeric-and-ginger-anywhere/).

Reach out any time we can be of help and good luck with your tropical gardening adventures in Boston!

Aaron von Frank

Makrut lime oil does have a wonderful fragrance! Whenever we have fruit in season and guests over, we give them a makrut fruit and tell them to lightly squeeze then smell it. They’re also shocked by how aromatic it is. You could certainly rub that on your skin, but I’m not sure how long it would take for those compounds to volatilize to the point of being undetectable. It’s such an interesting citrus plant. We look forward to figuring out more ways to use it in the kitchen – if you find some more good uses, please check back in!