In April, I posted a grapefruit success story; my from seed tree flowered for first time etc. Had an excellent comment post from Millet which gave me some answers I was looking for. Now at the end of JUne, we have some 40+ fruits on the tree; largest approx 3" dia. Q: There is extensive blemishing on the fruit caused by ? Citrus canker? Bird scratching? Insects? Two photos attached. How do commercial growers avoid such blemishing? Fruit that looked like this would not be marketable. Any comments from Mr. (or Ms.) Millet would be greatly appreciated.
I do not know about the picture on the left, but the second one appears to be scarring from contact with some of the thorns probably caused by movement during wind. The younger trees tend to have more thorns and the number and size will usually diminish with the age of the tree.
The picture on the left, I believe is canker. Grapefruit is very susceptible to canker. Citrus canker is a more serious disease that mimics scab. But citrus canker lesions have a yellow halo, the spots on leaves are visible on both sides of the leaf, and the leaves are not deformed. Grapefruit with canker are still very safe to eat. The picture on the right is wind scaring, causedexactly by what Skeet has posted. Citrus trees grown from seed tend to have more thorns than do grafted trees. Here is a good APS (American Phytopathological Society) web site about Citrus Canker on grapefruit. http://www.apsnet.org/online/feature/citruscanker/ - Millet
