hi I have a grapefruit tree(started from a seed from a red grapefruit)..it's about 5 and a half years old and about 6 feet tall.. I set it out last march just after the last cold spell(I live in central alabama).. my questions are 1 will it be ok throught the winter..it has REALLY grown over the summer..the trunk is about 2 1/2" through the middle and its really full now..2 when should it start to make flowers/fruit?.. it has been indoors all its life until last march..and 3 is there anything I can use to help it flower? Thanx
A review of threads containing the keywords [SEARCH]grapefruit "from seed" indoors flower[/SEARCH] will provide you with answers to questions 2 and 3.
The answer to #1 is that it will definitely need some help to survive the winter in your area. Auburn is in zone 7 (best I can tell on the plant hardiness map) with minimum temps in the 5 to 10 F range. You may be able to enhance the micro-climate around the plant to some extent (protect it from cold North winds-- add brick wall to help retain heat etc) but these will only help get through the nights that might cause frost damage if it were not covered. In case of freezes down around 10 it will need to be covered and a heat source provided (i.e. Christmas lights or heater). There are grapefruit trees in the Carolinas that are 20 -30 years old and have survived freezes in the single digits. One good thing about your tree is that it is on grapefruit roots--that means that if cold kills the top, but the roots survive, it will come back as a grapefruit. So one other thing you should do in the case of hard freezes is to bank the tree-- cover the base of the tree with soil or mulch as deep as you can (1-2 ft at least). Then in the spring the tree will grow back rapidly. Skeet
