Grapefruit trees are great, straightforward trees to grow. Not only will you have an aesthetically pleasing addition to your space, but you’ll also get delicious citrus fruit after a few years. If you’ve been pondering growing a tree like this, you may be wondering what the process looks like. How long should you expect to wait before seeing fruit, and when during the year will you harvest?
It takes grapefruit trees 2-6 years to bear fruit, which is standard for many citrus trees. Planting this tree from a seed might result in fruit taking longer to be produced than if you plant from a sapling, so keep that in mind. A healthy grapefruit tree will grow about 12-24 inches (1-2 feet) per year, getting up to 15-25 feet high in most cases.
Okay, so… let’s dive in. We’ll discuss the timeline of a grapefruit tree, what it takes to maintain its growth and production, and what you can expect along the way. Stick with us for a while!
What Is A Grapefruit?
According to Purdue University, grapefruits are relative newcomers to the citrus category. What does this mean, though? Grapefruits are a relatively new hybrid, that evolved from the crossing of a pummelo (not to be confused with a pomelo) and a sweet orange. The fruit now tends to have an orange peel and pink or red interior, with few seeds.
These fruits are often found amongst other, related citrus trees in the kind of climate that best sustains their growth. So, let’s move on to where you can find a grapefruit growing.
Did you know that many citrus trees are actually evergreens? We’ve compiled a list of 9 common citrus trees that fall into this category for you.
Where Do Grapefruits Grow?
Grapefruit trees can be found in most citrus-growing countries, in areas where you’ll find trees growing lemons, limes, and other species of citrus fruit. In the United States, grapefruits actually make up the majority of the citrus industry and are ever-growing in their popularity.
Like many other trees, grapefruit trees need stable, direct, and constant sunlight in order to do their very best. You’ll see grapefruit trees growing in USDA hardiness zones 9-11. These zones represent the average minimum temperature that a tree can survive in during extreme winter weather. So, zones 9-11 indicate that a grapefruit tree can handle extreme lows of 20 degrees Fahrenheit to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grapefruit trees can be seen growing primarily in the U.S. states of Florida, California, and Texas. You can find these trees growing anywhere that fits into the right hardiness zone, though, like Arizona, New Mexico, and other states near the grapefruit growing hubs that are most commonly thought of.
How Quickly Does A Grapefruit Tree Grow?
Grapefruit trees begin producing fruit pretty early on in their lives, but it will take around 7-15 years for your tree to be at a stage where it is more completely mature. At this point, you can expect the best fruit to begin being produced. Going forward into the tree’s life, the fruit should maintain a similar quality and production rate. External factors, of course, can impact this.
A grapefruit tree will take 2-6 years to begin producing fruit. When it comes to timing, a sapling will allow you access to your fruit a bit sooner than if you opt to grow your tree from the seed. Fruit production will also increase over time, and better fruit will be produced once your tree does hit that mature stage of life.
Whether you buy a sapling from a nursery or propagate it from an existing tree, it takes less work to grow a sapling in the early stages. A tree planted from the seed will always need some more time to get established, whereas a sapling has already surpassed part of that period of struggle. It will be more established in its environment, in that case.
How Long Does It Take To Grow A Grapefruit Tree? Full Timeline
By now, you may have a better idea of how you prefer to establish your grapefruit tree if it seems like the right type of tree for you. Perhaps at this stage, you’re wondering about what exactly you should expect next. It’s one thing to know the general process of growing a tree, but another to set realistic expectations in an accurate timeline.
As long as your area is part of USDA growing zones 9-11, and has direct sunlight and well-drained soil, it should be an easy process to grow your own grapefruit tree. If you choose to grow indoors or start your tree in a container, these key factors can be mimicked with lamps, warm air, and the right type of soil.
These wonderful trees will do well when provided with the right ingredients for success. On that note, let’s dive into the steps that you can expect to follow along the way.
Day 1: Finding The Right Grapefruit Seed (Or Sapling)
Day 1 looks like this: You decide whether you want to grow your grapefruit tree from a seed or if a sapling seems like a better starting point. Your level of experience growing plants like this, as well as your environment, will play into your decision.
When you start from a seed, from the very beginning of the tree’s potential life, the process is pretty simple. You just need to remove the seeds from a grapefruit, even your breakfast will do, if you like that variety, and plant them in a pot with some soil.
Steps For Planting A Grapefruit Seed:
- Grab some seeds from a grapefruit of your choosing.
- Fill a pot with rich soil that drains well. The pot should be about 75% full
- Place your grapefruit seed into the center of the pot, about half an inch below the soil’s surface.
- Keep your soil moist and your pot loosely covered with some plastic, in order to create a sort of greenhouse effect.
- Maintain a temperature of about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, to best mimic the conditions your tree would experience in its natural environment.
Keep in mind that this is the beginning step because you’ll need to transplant your grapefruit tree. Whether that is into another, larger pot, or into the ground outdoors is up to you.
Day 1 – Day 90: Growing A Grapefruit Seedling
As your grapefruit seed gets established in its pot, leaves will sprout and you’ll officially have a seedling. You’ll want to watch and decide when to move it to a larger, more spacious pot, or determine if you want to place your young tree outdoors.
The controlled environment in the container will help it get established, but you’ll need to be prepared to constantly size up your pots or to find a good, well-lit space outdoors for your tree to really get growing.
Most grapefruit trees are actually cultivated through the propagation of a grapefruit tree cutting. This means that you’ll most often see a grapefruit tree planted as a sapling because it was cut from an already-existing tree and put in the ground. This will change your process a bit at the beginning and could save you quite a bit of time and effort as opposed to growing from a seed.
Where To Plant Your Grapefruit Seed
According to Clemson University, grapefruit trees are one of the most cold hardy citrus fruits. How exactly, though, do you determine which areas are suitable for growing and which aren’t?
If you are located in the United States and want to see if your area is right for growing grapefruit trees, you can refer to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map.
Grapefruit trees grow best in the USDA hardiness zones 9-11, made up of the hottest, most tropical regions of the United States.
USDA Plant Hardiness (Or Growing) Zones
The United States is a diverse space, with land that ranges across multiple different climates. The USDA created a map to help split up these different areas into growing zones, where given plants will do their very best. As a way to help people that aren’t plant professionals know where to grow, these zones represent the hardiness of each region or the average extreme minimum temperature an area will have.
As grapefruit trees fall into the higher growing zones, they require hotter, more tropical regions with less extreme cold in the winter. These growing zones are split up into ranges of 10 degrees Fahrenheit, which are then further broken down into 5-degree Fahrenheit groupings labeled by A and B. ‘A’ represents the lower 5 degrees of the range while ‘B’ signifies the higher 5 degrees. This helps to further specify which plants will do their best in an area.
Remember that a tree might physically survive in certain extreme conditions or low temperatures, but these growing zone numbers should never be thought of as the standard. They are the absolute most that a tree can go through and still survive, marking how cold hardy they are when need be. If it’s average temperatures you want to find out about, ask a professional or do some additional research.
The Early Months – Year 1: Watching your Grapefruit Tree Establish Itself
Early on in your grapefruit tree’s life, during the first year or so, it will be a bit more vulnerable than usual. You should keep an eye on any lulls in progress, or decline in health. Especially when you start with a seed, the risk of early issues may be present. If you decide to purchase a sapling, this part of the process can be avoided for the most part.
Regardless of how you kick off your tree’s life, the early stages always hold a certain level of risk. The tree will be establishing itself as a young, new member of its environment and sometimes things go wrong. Support it as it works to adjust to the weather, wildlife, and other external factors.
We recommend that you start your tree’s life in a pot indoors, but transplanting is necessary at a certain stage. This will give your tree the best chance of success while setting it up to eventually thrive in less controlled conditions. If you have a sapling, especially one that is large enough or established enough, it can go directly outdoors. That depends on your preference, though.
Year 1 – Year 2: Maintaining A Healthy Tree
This stage will see you focusing on your tree as a sapling, regardless of your starting point. Whether you began with a sapling or started with a single seed, by the first year or 2 your process will begin to get more and more similar. So, at this point, your sapling is going to be on its way to being a bit more mature, and you’ll want to maintain the health of the tree above all else.
You will see some changes in growth when you get ready to transplant your tree, though. Especially if you end up moving your sapling from an indoor container to an outdoor plot, the progress will shift. This is totally normal because changing conditions will impact the way that your young tree adapts.
Over time, your tree will get used to wherever you choose to grow it long-term.
Differences Between Indoor And Outdoor Growth
Growing a tree indoors will allow you to have more control over things like moisture, temperature, and other external factors. This kind of growth tends to be best for seedlings, or saplings that are particularly young or small. You can continue growing your tree indoors if you prefer, but many won’t survive for the entirety of their lifespan, nor will they produce the same quality or amount of fruit.
When you grow a grapefruit tree outdoors, there will certainly be more elements that are out of your control. You can still pick an area with your desired temperature, humidity, and sunlight, but that’s coming close to the extent of it. You may not always be able to control what comes next, but you can do things to help establish the tree at the beginning of its time outdoors.
Expect that it will take some time for your tree to get acclimated to the great outdoors, especially if it hasn’t been exposed to many of the elements that go along with being an outside fixture. Allow it some time, give it some space, but make sure to help support it along the way.
There are many fruit trees that you can easily grow indoors, which you can read more about in our piece on the 7 easiest fruit trees to grow indoors. We even go over where to put them!
How To Transplant your Grapefruit Tree Sapling
We finally come to the next step in establishing your tree in the spot where it will spend the duration of its life. While you may end up choosing to keep your plant indoors, we’ll mainly focus on transplanting your grapefruit tree to an outdoor space, because it is the most likely outcome:
- As you move your tree to its new location, dig a hole that is twice the size of the root ball, to ensure that there is enough space for the roots to breathe.
- Young citrus trees are easy to move, and you’ll only need a tarp to help you move a tree that is larger. If you are moving a small sapling, you should be able to take it out of the pot and place it directly in the hole in the ground.
- Fill the hole halfway with soil, water your tree, and then add more soil to fill the hole. This will help compact the soil while still keeping a level of aeration.
- Water your tree again, and then make sure to maintain constant watering practices.
There is a chance, of course, that you decide to keep your tree in a pot, and transplanting will look similar, but with some variations. The biggest change is that you will need to find a pot that continues to fit the entire root system of your tree while leaving space for air.
Year 2 – Year 6: Grapefruit Production Begins
Once your grapefruit tree begins its fruit production, things become straightforward enough. Now, it is going to be about prioritizing the health and well-being of your tree. This will begin during years 2-6 of your tree’s life, oftentimes.
In certain cases, though, the 2-6 year timeline might not be met. This is normal, too, but your grapefruit may not begin producing fruit for decades. It simply happens sometimes and is mostly due to natural inconsistencies.
When you started with a seed, it also may take longer than it would for a sapling to produce fruit. So, that may also be a reason that you aren’t seeing fruit production as early as you feel like you should be.
Year 7 – Year 150: A Mature Grapefruit Tree Produces Fruit
Grapefruit trees tend to live between 50 and 150 years once mature, though some trees will vary. As we mentioned before, trees that are kept in more confined spaces for the duration of their lives may live for a little less time. The exact lifespan will be defined by a combination of location, environmental factors, maintenance, and luck, to be honest.
There are so many things you can do to keep up with your tree and elongate its lifespan, but a little luck never hurt anything, either! One way that you can definitely support your tree? Use some fertilizer! We’ll talk specifics below, but this is one of the best maintenance practices you can implement for the long-term sustenance of your grapefruit tree.
As your tree ages, you age, too. If you are hoping to maintain a tree that will last for generations to come, taking care to support the aging process will make all the difference.
Does It Matter If You Grow A Grapefruit Tree From A Seedling Or From A Sapling?
Your decision about choosing how to get started with your tree is based on personal preference. Starting from the beginning will allow you to enjoy the entire process, but starting with a sapling is much more common and, frankly, easier.
If you can’t come to the decision on your own, we recommend consulting someone at your local nursery who will be able to give you some guidance based on the context of your specific location and situation.
How Long Does It Take For Grapefruits To Ripen?
Grapefruit trees bear fruit once per year, and harvesting typically takes place during the winter months of December or January.
It can take anywhere from 7 to 11 months for grapefruit to ripen each year and become ready for harvesting.
The longer that a grapefruit remains on the tree, the riper, larger, and more valuable it will become. If you can leave your grapefruit on the tree for as long as possible, until the skin is a deeper color, you’ll see that it tends to be juicier and have a less acidic taste.
Can Grapefruit Trees Be Grown Solely In Pots?
Yes, you can grow a grapefruit solely in a pot. Of course, you will need to size up pretty consistently until it reaches its final, mature size. You’ll also want to keep in mind that fruit-producing trees might not be able to provide as much when they are kept in a smaller space.
You may get fewer grapefruits, or their size or quality might vary. It’s quite possible to maintain a grapefruit tree indoors, as long as you give it the proper care, though.
Indoor grapefruit trees are also known to have a slightly shorter lifespan than some that are located outdoors. Still, the placement of your tree ultimately depends on you and your preferred maintenance style. Really, as long as you have the right expectations and are ready to care for a more domesticated tree, things should go smoothly enough!
Sustaining Your Grapefruit Tree
Like other citrus trees, grapefruit trees thrive in conditions with warm weather, well-draining soil, and lots of sunlight. The pH balance of the soil is best kept at 6.0-7.0, when possible, to make sure that your citrus tree stays healthy and well-maintained.
USDA hardiness zones 9-11 are perfect for this reason. Their status as the warmest regions of the United States makes them a great space for planting or transplanting your own grapefruit tree.
Keep in mind that direct sunlight is huge when it comes to the maintenance of trees like this, which means that the location in your space is just as important as a geographical region. If you’re unsure of what is best for your tree, utilize a professional that can help walk you through your specific situation.
Don’t Wait… Hydrate
Wow, so watering your tree really makes that much of a difference? Indeed, it does! Grapefruit seedlings and saplings will need the most water, as they work to get established in their environment. A little extra support never hurts!
As your tree matures, it will need to be watered less frequently. After a few years, you can let nature be the primary source of water, only adding extra water as needed. In years that become hotter or drier than usual, you’ll want to put an emphasis on watering more often again.
Many people find it difficult to balance the perfect frequency of watering, which could end with over or underwatering of the tree. If this is something that you find yourself concerned about, you should consider investing in an irrigation system like the CARPATHEN Drip Irrigation System. It is reliable, functional, and won’t break the bank!
Prune To Make Room
If sustaining a fuller appearance is your goal, pruning is the way to go! On the other hand, if you notice your tree seems to be growing less, you may want to prune some dying leaves or branches to free up space and energy for your grapefruit tree. Shears like the gonicc 8” Professional Premium Titanium Bypass Pruning Shears are a great go-to and will help ensure that you make even, sharp cuts.
Pruning is great for aesthetics, but also when it comes to supporting some key functions of your tree. Things like growth and fruit production can be kick-started by some quick, simple pruning practices when needed.
Overall, pruning is an important practice to implement and will help with the overall sustaining of your tree. You can also always enlist the help of a professional if you don’t feel like keeping up with this one yourself.
Fertilize For A Good Life
Citrus trees like grapefruit trees do not need as much phosphorus, but they do well with a balance of the other two main elements- nitrogen and potassium. In fact, when you look at fertilizer, you should expect to see an NPK value (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) that helps you identify the balance of these elements.
A product like Jack’s Classic Citrus FeED is a great place to start when it comes to supporting your grapefruit tree and getting it the key nutrients it so desires. You’ll see that its NPK value is 20-10-20, a ratio that is well-balanced and will help your tree in just the right way.
This one is great because it is water soluble and easy to spread. There are also many fertilizer products that come as ‘spikes’ that you can put into the ground around your tree if you prefer a bit of a different approach.
Wrapping Up
Alright, that’s our time for today. We hope that this helps to provide you with a clear timeline of expectations as you grow your grapefruit tree. You’ve got it!
As a reminder, the timeline of growth for your grapefruit tree should look a little something like this:
- Day 1
- Pick your grapefruit seed or sapling
- Year 1
- Plant your grapefruit tree and watch it establish itself
- Years 1-2
- Maintain and support the early growth of your grapefruit tree
- Years 2-6
- Grapefruit production begins and increases over time
- Years 7-150
- You have a mature, fruit-bearing grapefruit tree that is ready to be maintained
The process should be a fun one, overall. It is certainly worth it when you get your fresh fruit. Take it from me, a close friend of mine has a grapefruit tree and they are some of the best that I’ve ever eaten! So, I wish the same for you.
Cheers to embarking on a new tree journey, and thank you for choosing us to help guide you along the way.
See you soon, friends!
References
Cohen, A., & Goell, A. (1988). Fruit growth and dry matter accumulation in grapefruit during periods of water withholding and after reirrigation. Functional Plant Biology, 15(5), 633-639.
El-Otmani, M., Ait-Oubahou, A., & Zacarías, L. (2011). Citrus spp.: Orange, mandarin, tangerine, clementine, grapefruit, pomelo, lemon and lime. In Postharvest biology and technology of tropical and subtropical fruits (pp. 437-516e). Woodhead Publishing.
Berhow, M. A. (2000). Effects of early plant growth regulator treatments on flavonoid levels in grapefruit. Plant Growth Regulation, 30(3), 225-232.
