Mamoncillo also known as Guinep or Spanish lime is a tropical fruit most commonly known in the Mexico,Carribean and South America. The fruit has a green hard shell which you can easily break thru with your fingers to eat the delicious fruit found inside. Guinep's taste is unique and hard to describe but, to give you an idea. Think of the fruit as a sweet grape. This tree has specific growing requirements, especially here in our desert environment so make sure to read thru the "Growing tips".
 
  Spanish Lime Growing Tips 
 
Best time to plant: Anytime night temperatures are at least 50F and expected to rise in the next month or so. This is going to be mid to late spring for most people.
 
Sun: If you live in a tropical environment (Full sun). If you live in hot, dry areas like AZ. Shade this tree once temperatures reach 100F+. That's around 11 am here in the summer. The more humidity in the air, the more sun this plant will take until mature.
 
Winter: Cold sensitive (check out our cold sensitive protection video for more info).
 
Root system: Roots grow straight down several feet. Tap root. 
 
Growth structure: In tropical areas this is a large tree reaching a height of up to 80ft. Anywhere else non-tropical expect this tree to stay between 10-25ft. Slow growing tree, once fully rooted expect about a foot of growth per year.
 
Fruiting: This tree flowers in the spring and fruits ripen sometime late summer. Mamoncillo trees are dioecious. WHich means you need 2 separate trees with opposite sexes (males and female) to produce fruit. Trees grown from seed can take up to 10 years before they start flowering while grafted varities can take up to 5 years.
 
Watering: Shallow water first season in ground. As the tree gets older, deep water. Do let soil dry somewhat in between watering. 
 
Fertilization: In containers, any slow release fertilizer will work. In ground, compost and mulch is all you will ever need. No special fertilizers needed. Container Grown: Due to its root system, this plant doesn't grow well in a container long term. We recommend you to plant in the ground rather than growing it in a container.
 
Personal Growing Tip: Once you plant this tree in ground, no top growth is normal until the tree roots in ground. The rooting process can take 1 year+ depending on your local night temperatures. Hot=It Grows faster, Cold=It grows slower. Since you need a male and a female tree to produce fruit, my recommendation is to get a few trees and plant them in ground to increase your chances of having opposite sexes.