I have four citrus plants, a Meyer lemon, a lime, orange and calamondin, all inside. Last year both the lime and the lemon flowered and I ended up with fruit on both. I spent hours cross pollinating with a paint brush but someone said I don't need to do this? Can you someone shed light on this ? The calamondin has a single flower on it, so I have nothing to cross pollinate it with. Does this mean I won't get any fruit? My other question is, my lime plant (unknown variety) had a lime on it. I left it on the plant and it eventually turned into yellow. Is this what limes do or is it really a lemon plant? As you can see, I'm new to all this. Many thanks for your patience! Roz
These trees do not need to be pollinated, either with itself or with another variety. Fruit is often formed through parthenocarpy - without fertilization - resulting in seedless fruit. There's no harm though if you enjoy hand-pollinating. Limes will eventually turn yellow if left on the tree long enough. I recall reading that limes being sold green is a marketing decision made to avoid confusion with lemons by the consumer.
