Harvest time for grapefruits

Discussion in 'Citrus' started by Yellowcorrado, Jan 15, 2010.

  1. Yellowcorrado

    Yellowcorrado Member

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    Location:
    Gilbert, AZ, USA
    I'm also very new to all of this.
    We just bought a house in Gilbert, AZ. Thats the south east side of Phoenix. We were very happy to see that there was a grapefruit tree out in the back yard (north west side).
    It looks like nobody has cared for the thing in a very long while. dead branches everywhere and lots of starter branches that needed to be trimmed.
    I cut most of the dead branches off and all of the starter branches below a low point in the tree (like we did when we had apple trees at the other house). When we moved here in October we had green small grapefruits. Now we have big yellow grapefruit. I've watered the HECK out of that area and now we have clover have there.
    Last week a relitive came out from up north and picked a grapefruit. I cut it open about 5 days after she cut it and it was the sweetest grapefruit I ever tasted.
    My question is, when will it be harvest time? Should I do anything with the tree prior to picking? I don't want to hurt this tree. It looks like it was abused enough from the past.
    (Oh and it hasn't gotten below 38 here yet, I've watched closely).
    Thanks again.
    John
     
  2. Yellowcorrado

    Yellowcorrado Member

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    Location:
    Gilbert, AZ, USA
    I see,
    I decided to give a go at growing a tree from a seed. Put a wet folded paper towel in a ziplock bag and put some fresh seeds from one of the grapefruits in the bag (without letting the seeds get dry). about 4 weeks later (3 days ago) I have a tiny little plant growing. It's about 1/4 of an inch! Not sure when to take it out of the bag and plant it in a pot. With the warm weather coming I don't really want to put outside and run the risk of it burning up in the hot AZ sun.
    As far as the grapefruit tree, I've picked 2 or 3 grapefruits so far and they are getting sweetier and sweetier, but I'm not really ready to harvest yet. I'm waiting until just the right time. :)
    Thanks for your help so far and any suggestions anyone has would be appreciated.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 9, 2010

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