For some cold weather greenery that will brighten the house and last all winter, try filling a flat pan with rich dirt and thickly planting the container in grapefruit seeds buried one half inch deep. Keep the earth well-watered. The seeds will be slow to sprout but will be worth waiting for.
By Ron from Cortez, CO
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
SJ
Here is one way to do it:
Wrap seeds in a small amount of moist peat moss or a damp paper towel and tuck them into a sandwich bag. Place the bag in the refrigerator for about 3-4 weeks. Then plant the seeds in a small pot. Otherwise, just bypass the fridge idea, plant them directly in the pot, and see what happens. Either way, you are bound to get something to sprout eventually.
Once the seed germinates and the seedling starts to grow, wait until it develops it first true set of leaves (usually the second set of leaves that appear) before transplanting it to a bigger pot. The pot does not need to be too big to start with, just make sure the soil mixture you use provides plenty of drainage.
If you plant a seed from a grapefruit you buy at the supermarket, chances are the seed is from fruit that was produced by hybrid plants. On the one hand, this means that your tree could turn out to be sterile and never produce a single piece of fruit. On the other hand, you may get fruit, but if you do, it is unlikely to exhibit the same size and flavor characteristics as the original fruit you took the seed from. You going to have to be very patient, because it can take anywhere from 7-9 years before a grapefruit tree is mature enough to produce its first fruit. In any event, you will have a lovely tree to show for your efforts.
Ellen
I found this article after a search. Hope this helps:
www.accessmylibrary.com/
It is not that easy to start any Citrus from seed, I have started 1 but it had already sprouted in the grapefruit. The drawback
From starting any fruit from seed is they never come true, that means there never liked the original fruit, sometimes you will get something better, but usually it's not even worth eating.
I have a grapefruit that was started from seed, I do not know the variety. It is about 18 inches in height now and pretty healthy. The leaves are like a double leaf, in that there is a smaller section near the stem then a larger leaf beyond that. Currently it is in a 4-6 inch pot indoors, but it is exceeding it's home now. I can't just let it die so I would like to know how to care for it and help it live.
By Gale Sequeira from San Rafael, CA
I bought a house with a grapefruit tree that had never given fruit in 7 years. We did not get fruit until 3 years later. But now, 7 years after that, I usually fill at least 15 of those 30 gallon tubs each spring. I take the fruit to school to school for my students and parents to have. I play rock 'n roll all summer long in the back yard while I'm in the pool. I'm sure that's what makes it produce so much fruit.
Double leaves? That is a key feature of a very particular and exciting citrus tree: a kaffir lime! The leaves, with their distinct doubling feature, makes it identifiable.
How often do you water
