I have read many of the container grapefruit tree posts and viewed pictures. None of the pictures look like my tree. My tree has now grown to about five feet, but it is a single trunk. There are now off-shoots or branches. Is this normal?
If you mean do grapefruit trees develop branches off of the main trunk, the answer is yes. If your grapefruit tree has grown as a 5-foot stick that shot up without any branches, I would top the tree at about 2-3 feet so that side buds will develop and sprout and begain to grow. Most growers let 4 or 5 buds grow into branches that form the tree's strong frame work. The exact number and placement of these is not so essential as is deciduous fruit trees. The subsequent pruning of young trees, particularly the first seaon or two after planting, frequently puzzles the planter, especially if he is a novice in handling citrus trees. The usual disposition is to give them more attention than they really need, for they require very lettle pruning until at least a year after setting. In the early years of the young tree's life, sufficient attention should be given to make a well balanced shapely head. Sometimes it may be wise to take out a branch or to cut one back here and there, but orange and grapefruit trees have a way of balancing themselves, and it is a mistake to remove branches, seemingly out of proportion, when the next flush of growth will do the work of making a symmetrical head much better than the pruner could have accomplished it. Under normal growth conditions, citrus trees will develop shapely beautiful heads. It is their habit. It is extremely doubtful whether attempts at what might be called formal pruning of citrus trees are ever satisfactory. If good trees are planted and kept in healthy condition, they need very little attention on the part of the pruner, unless misfortune overcome them. - Millet
