Noob planter

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by Crowe8689, Nov 24, 2012.

  1. Crowe8689

    Crowe8689 Member

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    Hi, I am new to forums and planting, so bear with me, please.
    My Ruby red grapefruit tree is two years old, give or take. The 1st year it beared fruit I was told to pick it and trash it which I did. This year I have three reach baseball size, but have been that size for 2 months?? I belive. how long should I leave them on the tree. I feel (with my very limited exp) they are at a pause in growth. please any ideas would be welcome, Thankx
     
  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Maybe it's the time of the year, the weather not being suitable. The idea behind picking the fruit during the early years would be to save energy for vegetative growth. You let the tree get to be what seems big enough to support good crops, then you let it crop, instead of it being slowed for years, wasting energy on a handful of fruits. This has been recommended for blueberries and apples, don't know how important it is with grafted citrus.

    For it to be effective you have to catch the fruit when it is tiny and take it off then. No point in removing any that are of some size, the energy has already been expended and you might as well get the use of the mature fruit.
     
  3. Crowe8689

    Crowe8689 Member

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    Ok makes sense, thanks for the input.
     

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