Growing a Lime Tree

Question

I purchased a home that had a mature lime tree in the yard. The home had been vacant for more than 3 months and the tree did not get water or care. I deep watered it and it produced 3 limes, then winter came. When the tree did not leaf out like the other fruit trees did, I assumed it must be dead. But now it has started to sprout at the base of the tree. If I allow those sprouts to continue to grow, will it mature like a lime tree and how much of the dead tree should I cut off? Thank you.

Answer 1

The shoots around the bottom are suckers. They may be true to the tree or they may be from rootstock, it depends on how the tree was cultivated. If they are true to the tree, you can remove one from the tree (with some roots attached) and start the tree over again. If the suckers are of an inferior variety, you may not want the variety. But, if you would like to try, you can simply cut off all but one sucker and treat it as you would have the original tree.