Growing Grapefruit Trees

Pictures of grapefruit trees. Information about the planting and care of different grapefruit varieties. How grapefruit got--and kept--its name. You'll find Oroblanco trees for sale here.

Grapefruit is believed to have originated in the Caribbean. Wild trees were documented by botanists on the islands of Barbados and Jamaica in the mid 1700s.

The first grapefruit trees planted in the continental U.S. were planted near Tampa, Florida in the mid 1800s. At that time, the trees were thought to be purely ornamental. It took a while for people to realize that the fruit was not only edible but delicious. By 1880, a Eustis nursery had begun to ship grapefruit to New York and Philadelphia and an industry was born.

Florida still produces more grapefruit than any other state in the nation. Florida, California and Texas produce nearly 75% of the world's grapefruit.

From that 1st planting near Tampa, the trees spread across the state. Florida residents ate the fruit and planted the seeds in their yards.

After noticing that certain types of grapefruit bears its fruit in clusters, like grapes, folks started to call the fruit grapefruits.

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Botanists disagreed with this. Grapefruit and grapes are completely unrelated botanically. They tried to give the fruit a more "suitable" name.

The people would have none of this. They liked the name grapefruit and refused to call it anything else.

The name stuck.

Planting Grapefruit Trees

Grapefruit Trees, Brandenton
Jim Schwabel
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Like all citrus plants, the grapefruit needs soil that drains well. It is not otherwise picky about its soil.

Florida grapefruit is typically grown on the slightly acid, sandy soil we have here in the Sunshine State. California grapefruit grows best in desert areas where the soil is usually sweeter. The trees will also grow on clay soil as long as water does not stand around their feet for too long.

Plant the trees at the same level they are at in their nursery pots. When planting on clay soil, you can plant them a bit higher.

The flavor of grapefruit ranges from bitterly tart to nearly as sweet as an orange depending on climate and length of time on the tree.

It takes months of very hot weather to sweeten grapefruit. This is why most Florida grapefruit is grown in the Indian River area and most California grapefruit is grown in the desert.

Grapefruits will also sweeten more the longer they stay on the tree. You have to "test" the fruit to determine when to harvest the crop.

Once the fruit reaches full size, it will then begin to develop its characteristic color. Once it fully colors, I begin to sample a fruit every week or 2. When they reach an acceptable stage of sweetness, we start picking.

Our tree is about 15 feet tall so we use a long-handled fruit picker. We only pick as much as we think we will eat in a week and store the rest on the tree.

It is not a good idea to let grass grow right up to the trunk of a grapefruit tree. The lawn will need more water than is good for the tree. Also, citrus trees do not fare well against weed whackers.

Our last lawn maintenance guy killed a couple of our trees. Only after he casually mentioned to me that he hates citrus trees did I realize that the damage was intentional.

Surround the tree with a ring of mulch (not touching the trunk) or put it in a bed of flowers where lawn equipment will not venture anywhere near it.

Grapefruit is tender in the juvenile stage of its life cycle so a southern exposure is best. The trees become hardier as they mature. Grapefruit trees are typically hardy into zone 9a but the most cold hardy varieties may be grown as far north as zone 8b.

The tree will flower and fruit in part shade but all day sun will produce the sweetest fruit in the shortest time frame.