can you limit the size of grapefruit trees?

[prairiegarden]

Is it possible to limit the size of a grapefruit tree  by planting it in a smaller container, say a half gallon drum, or could the roots be pruned somehow, like a modified bonsai?  to keep the thing of a size that could be rolled in and out of a greenhouse? This time of year the grapefruit often have seeds that seem on the verge of sprouting and to have a couple of fruiting grapefruit trees would be highly satisfying. But they'd never cope with our winters.

The dwarf varieties that get advertised as houseplants all over the place in the US seem never to be on offer here..  I finally tracked down a Meyer Lemon a couple of years ago and they wanted $80 for it so that was that.

[richardw]

Ive got a 5 year old Meyer Lemon in a 20 liter pot that grows large fruit,i too take it inside my hothouse for the winter till its old enough to be planted into its permanent spot, i'm sure the fruit would be smaller if i cut back the water, but then if you did likewise with the grapefruit you may end up a drier internal fruit

[coppice]

Feb 15, 2016 10:01:37 GMT -5 prairiegarden said:

Is it possible to limit the size of a grapefruit tree  by planting it in a smaller container, say a half gallon drum, or could the roots be pruned somehow, like a modified bonsai?

I think if you want fruit, you'll grow it in a bigger than 1/2 gallon pot.

Yes you can root prune citrus. Yes citrus is trained as bonsai.

Any tree in a tray does best with large drains and very fast draining soil like, (like 1/2 bark mulch and 1/2 grani-grit).

Your going to both top and root prune your tree. I expect the leaves will remain too large to be ideal bonsai. But you can keep it to a size that will pass through a door.

[prairiegarden]

Sorry I meant a half 55 gallon drum, not a half gallon pot!!! was half asleep when I posted that. I don't really want a bonsai, I just wanted to keep it to a size that could be moved inside and yet still would produce fruit, thought perhaps that might be a technique that might work.  Guess if these things do sprout then I'm going to have to learn how to root prune...  Thanks for the tip re the type of growing medium.

[steev]

Grapefruit is a 15-month fruit and wants lots of heat, else it never sweetens. Pomelo is a bit less demanding, heat-wise.

[prairiegarden]

drat.  Thanks for the information.

[steev]

Drat, indeed; I had a huge grapefruit in Oakland; produced 400-500# annually; nobody ever ate more than one. Basic rule is: larger citrus wants more (maybe much more) heat. In the East Bay, there are occasionally decent oranges, but mostly not; Meyer lemons, Bearss limes, kumquats, and maybe Key limes (limones) are the best bets; luckily, they are all relatively small trees, so perhaps to your purpose.

The only upsides I've thought of for global climate change, so far, are that I may be able to get tomatoes before the July aestivation and citrus, on the farm.

Admittedly, I'd like a Meyer lemon tree, but I don't need the whole global climate screwed up just for me, so call it off, eh?

[blueadzuki]

Don't forget the Asian citruses. Yuzus have a grapefruit-ish quality (sort of a grapefruit/sour orange mix, flavor-wise, if you can get one that makes actual fruit inside) and will happily grow and fruit in a one foot diameter pot; a half gallon drum would prove no problem. Or if you live somewhere where the winter temps tend to stay above five below it can actually go in the ground itself.

[coppice]

A half-barrel will work fine.

[prairiegarden]

What season do you find Yuzus? I'd never even heard of them but when I googled them it didn't say when the season was for them. They won't show up around here but I'll be going to Edmonton in the next month or so and they have a HUGE Chinatown so would I find them there?  So many things  you have access to in the US that we can only think about up here.

[blueadzuki]

Actually, they're in season now, or at least, I bought some in the last few weeks. Whether you will find them in a month I don't know, I don't know how long the season actually lasts.

Hard to say if you'll find them in Chinatown. I never have. They're generally considered to be a Japanese specialty (though they do grow them in China and Korea too). So you probably would do best to look for any Japanese markets that are in that area.

Since its sound like you are planning to go the "find a fruit, plant the seeds route" (same as I try) here are a few other caveats

1. Make sure they are labled as yuzus. There are at least two other Japanese fruits that look more or less just like them (a yellow* more or less oblately spherical fruit) the Kabosu and the Sudachi. These both have their place in cooking too, but if you are after a grapefruit taste you will NOT want either of them (kabosu juice is so sour it can be used as a vinegar subsitute and sudachi juice is not only intensely sour but intensely bitter, like bitter oranges (you can use it in marinades, but that is about it).

2. Try and find the densest fruit you can. Not I say densest, not largest or heaviest. You'll need to run the rough equation in your head (dividing the weight by the size). As I was referencing in the earlier comment, "if it makes and actual fruit inside" a lot of yuzus are rather deficient when it comes to actual internal pulp. This doesn't affect their salability (it's the peel of a yuzu that is usually considered it valuable bit, what juice there is is a bonus, if present) but a fair number will have an inside that is pretty much all dry pith and seeds. In general; yuzus that are rounder and have smoother skins with fewer bumps on them will be jucier, but that is more of a guideline than a rule. and don't think bigger is better; there is a really tiny strain out there (more key lime sized than tangerine sized) that is actually far finer in flavor than the standard.

3. Yuzus are often rather expensive (around me they are about US$2.50 per fruit) so be prepared. To make matters worse the more pulp a yuzu has the fewer seeds; many of the best yuzus (like the tiny one I mentioned) are all but seedless (on the average, those will have one pit in every twentieth or so fruit) So you may need to buy a LOT to get what you want.

*they are sometimes also green (and just as edible then), but those generally turn yellow after some time.

[prairiegarden]

Of all things, while trying to track down where I might find the fruit, I found a source for both Yuzu and Meyer Lemon seedlings. Now just waiting to see how much they'd be to get here, the seedlings themselves seem quite reasonable considering everything. It seems likely that finding the fruit was going to be a serious challenge so this was a very nice surprise! It's amazing how many little family run nurseries show up when you're looking for weird things that never ever otherwise come up in a general search. I'd never have known to ask if you hadn't suggested them. Thank you.

[steev]

Never occurred to me that Meyer lemons weren't just an SF Bay Area sort of thing; good luck!

[keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.)]

I'd be interested in trying to grow and breed citrons. I don't know much about what would be possible to grow in containers or what "cold hardy" citrus can be selectively bred to have higher cold tolerances.

These species sound interesting:
Shangjuan
Citrus glauca

Citrus australasica
Moroccan citron

[mskrieger]

Never grown yuzu, but I gave my mother a Meyer lemon tree for her birthday two years ago (I had actually bought it for myself, but she saw it and coveted it.) I planted it in a glazed ceramic pot about 1/2 gal. size and my parents keep it on their West-facing front steps during the summer and a room with excellent eastern light in the winter, and that little tree has already pumped out 5 lemons, bloomed twice and has several baby fruit in the works. It does need a LOT of water to produce fruit, but other than that it's shockingly low maintenance. In another year or two it will definitely need root pruning or transplanting to a larger pot.

In terms of temperature, my parents live on the water so get lots of cooling breezes, but the asphalt driveway and Western exposure probably bring temperatures above 90F for at least part of the day for a month or so in the summer. Your mileage may vary.