The Grapefruit Tree

Discussion in 'Citrus' started by grapefruit, Apr 17, 2006.

  1. grapefruit

    grapefruit Member

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    Location:
    Saegertown, Pa. USA
    Hi, I'm Also New On This Site...i Have A Grapefruit Tree That Was Started From A Seed...it Was Given To Me So, I'm Not Sure How Old It Is...i Put It Outside From Spring To Fall And Then Bring It In The House...it's Kept In A Cool Room And I Water It Once A Week...this Year, More Leaves Have Fallen Off Than Ever Before...some Of The Branches Have Turned Brown And Some Are Still Green ...what's Happening??? Is The Tree Dying??? The Tree Thrives When Outside In The Summer Months...help !!!thank You
     
  2. lemon_dreams

    lemon_dreams Active Member

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    how cold of a room do you keep it in?? Citrus love the heat and tons of light and humidity. If it was too cold, maybe you should check the roots, make sure htat it didn't stay too wet.

    I'm really new to citrus myself... hopefully someone will give you the right answers. I'm pretty sure they'd want to know the temperature and how much light it got too... in order to give you the right answers. Pictures often are needed too
     
  3. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Lemon dreams, your correct. Putting citrus (especially grapefruit) in a cool room is not a good policy at all. It is REALLY NOT a good policy if the tree's foliage is setting directly in the sun's rays while the container is in a cool room. This is a asking for troubles. Even if the tree was very lucky, and has somehow survived with out a lot of damage, 1/2 year's growth has been lost. - Millet
     
  4. lemon_dreams

    lemon_dreams Active Member

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    I'm slowly learning. Unfortunatly I did make a big mistake and moved my citrus from a coolish greenhouse into my very heated and very humid room. lots of flower loss, bud loss... fruit loss. I guess thats better than leaf loss.

    Hopefully this person posts more about their cool room and such. Just to get the full story in order to help
     
  5. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    A citrus tree will only retain about 1 - 2 percent of the flowers (blooms) to ever become fruit, the rest will drop, and the portion of blooms that do produce small fruits, many of these fruits will also normally drop. If a citrus tree produced a mature fruit for every bloom that the tree produced, the tree would be crushed under it own weight. - Millet
     
  6. lemon_dreams

    lemon_dreams Active Member

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    its not my flowers dropping its the blooms... before they even flower. But I know I stressed it out. Not only did I repot it, but the temp change... and an 8 hour car trip... bouncing around and all that. so... I'm just happy to keep the leaves!
     
  7. grapefruit

    grapefruit Member

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    Thanks To You All That Gave Me Advice About My Grapefruit Tree...the Room It Was Kept In Has Many Windows, But Now I'm Guessing It Was Too Cold...not Lower Than High 40's In Winter...also The Light From Windows Was Not Directly On The Tree...next Year If It Lives, It Will Be Kept In The Main Part Of The House And I'll Have To Make Sure There Is Enough Humidity...it Never Had Buds Or Flowers...wishing It Had...grapefruit
     
  8. lemon_dreams

    lemon_dreams Active Member

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    grapefruits from seed take a very very very long time to fruit... if ever. 16+ years in some cases. I started a few from seed.... still just little babies but I know that my only option with them is to graft to a proper roostock if I want fruit before I'm in my 50's.

    Definatly check the rootball, make sure the roots are healthy and not rotting. If there is damage you may have to trim the roots.. but if you trim the rootsa you'll have to prune the top of the tree. between the two parts is a very delicate balance it seems.

    Also... if you have been pruning this tree at all, you are prolonging the time it takes for it to fruit, the tree needs to reach so many leaf nodes and if you were to cut them off, it has to start over again.

    I wish you the best luck and really do hope your tree survives!
     
  9. Kajun Vinca

    Kajun Vinca Member

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    I can relate to what Millet just said. I have a Rio Red Grapefruit tree that I bought three years ago. I planted on the south side of my property. I fertilized with granuler fertilizer every 4 months. I kept inquiring about when the tree would fruit. I think the tree is four years old and commented aboutcutting the tree down if it didn't flower this spring. Well to my surprize it flowered this spring, and boy it showered flowers and tiny fruit followed, 3 months later I have 41 half dollar size grape fruits and they are growing fast but still falling off the size of dimes. The ones that are falling off are the ones that were three to four on one branch So I believe Millet is very correct. because the branches on this young tree couldn't hold three jumbo fruit without crushing the tree. Thank You Millet
     

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