Hi, I am a newbie to the world of indoor citrus, and I am trying to figure out exactly what I have. I have a 10' plus indoor grapefruit, which has new growth all over, and I have read some posts that mention the "node" count which seems to determine age and maturity for blooming. Could anyone clarify this for me? I have attempted some online research and have only heard mention of this here. Thanks!
A node is where two branches meet. Consequently, small, immature trees have a low node count while large, mature trees have a high node count. Of course, trees do not go one producing new branches forever, so one measure of a tree's maturity is its node count. Sorry, but I do not know what the node count tends toward for a mature grapefruit tree.
Thank you all very much! This helps enormously in determining that my tree is actually quite mature. Now I just need to figure out some fertilizer!
As your are in Connecticut, your grapefruit tree must be growing in a container. Although it is theoretically possible to grow a containerized seedling grapefruit to maturity and fruit, I have never known anyone that has accomplished it. Further, I also do not know anyone else that has ever known of a containerized seedling grapefruit to ever reach maturity. Your grapefruit will be MUCH higher than your ceiling before the node would ever be reached (if ever reached). I've been in the citrus growing a long time. Unfortunately, grapefruit is the absolute worst possible choice of a citrus tree to grow in a container. But I guess never say never - just 99.9 percent never. - Millet (1,411-)
Perhaps I should clarify things a bit. The tree previously lived in the two story atrium (I think really 1 1/2 story) of our local library. More than 5 years ago a patron asked the head librarian if they could winter over the tree since they were doing work on their house. The owner then moved and never claimed the tree. The library posted signs this fall looking for a new home for the tree since it took up too much space. Our home has a thirty foot ceiling in the living room with a east facing wall of windows, and I thought the tree would thrive in those conditions. The tree lives in a three foot diameter clay pot which weighs a ton! I personally trimmed dead branches just to clean it up when it moved in, and there were some much older prune marks far down on the main trunk. I will attempt to upload some photos. Thanks again for your insight. I am an avid outdoor (New England) gardener and as my husband loves to say this is way beyond my pay grade.
If you ever hope to get the tree to reach maturity, you must NEVER prune the tree. Pruning a citrus tree, or course, reduces the node count, keeping the tree from reaching the required node number. Further, all citrus varieties, ONLY produce blooms/fruit on new growth, and pruning removes the new growth. Even with the better than normal conditions for an inside tree, the chance of your grapefruit ever producing fruit is still slim. Plant a Key Lime seed, and receive fruit production in 2 to 3 years, or a mandarin and pick fruit in 5 years. Good luck to this tree, it will need it. Take care & the best. - Millet (1,411-)
