I found a Lakeland limequat at my local nursery and I am looking for some opinions on the fruit. Does it taste similar to a true Key Lime? How cold hardy are they? I am in more of the northern edge of the citrus growing region and I am not willing to do much to protect the tree. I have a ton of tropicals to protect every winter and I am not up to putting more work into the citrus. Anyone have any opinions on which is better between the Lakeland and Eustis types?

Except for the shape, I can't hardly detect any significant flavor difference. One thing I like about limequats compared to key limes is that I can delightfully munch the rinds for a more refreshing citrus breath to mask that little bit of beer belches.

As for cooking, we haven't tried the limequats yet as it won't get that far yet. There's not enough left for cooking while we have buckets of Bearss and Key limes for such.

We have a very productive limequat and use it with drinks, for some cooking, but best of all in marmalade. It has the right amount of pectin and sets up nicely. We usually use about one half limequat with one half other fruit to make sure it sets up firm.

As Joe said, you can eat the peel of a ripe one, but I doubt you could eat the peel of a key lime no matter how ripe. The flavor is similar to key lime, but not exactly the same. They make great pies also.

I don't know for sure which variety I have, either Eustis or Lakeland - they seem to be pretty similar. Tavares has a much more elongated fruit. I have been looking for a plant of Tavares for years and have not been able to find one. I saw some at the SE Citrus Expo a few years ago, but we could not bring it back to Florida.

My main tree took a real hit with the January cold spells. Did the same thing last year but came back ok. Not sure how it will do this year. Two seedlings about a meter apart reacted completely differently to the cold - one looks dead, the other no visible damage.

Thanks for the info guys. I am in Ocala so I usually stay a degree or two warmer than Gainesville. Sounds like it should make it for me. Glad to hear the fruit is pretty similar to keylimes. I have a few 2 year old keylime seedlings going, but I am not sure if I will be up to moving them into the greenhouse once they get bigger. I know keylimes are very cold sensitive, but how low of temps can keylimes take?

I have a Limequat in the greenhouse, I occasionally pick one each time I walk by the tree to eat. I generally like the tree, although it is far from my favorite, I am glad I have it. As an aside, when Citrus Joe and I were visiting the Citrus Variety Collection at the University of California (UCR), the official (name omitted) that was taking us around the site, kept calling the tree the "USELESS LIMEQUAT". - Millet (1,064-)

I'm sure he or she was just trying to be funny because Eustis sounds like useless.

They can't be totally useless - I saw them being sold in stores this year.

In my opinion the flavor is very inferior to key lime, sour without much flavor. I agree with useless limequat. I have both eustis and lakeland.

I suppose there must be variations within the variety because I have a Lakeland, and a Eustis along with thorny and thornless Key limes and to me they're all largely the same other than some differences in shape.

As cold resistance goes I'd say the limequats are only marginally more hardy than a real Key lime.

.....Alan.

Well I picked up the tree today. Only $20 for a nice big tree so if I end up not liking it I can always top work it I guess. Tonight looks like the first test of hardiness. They are calling for anywhere from 29-33 depending on which site you believe.

Good luck, I hope you like the tree. All Citrus are worthy of growing, I want some that really are completely useless from a culinary standpoint, seems to me a Limequat has plenty of uses and value.