Perhaps issues with grapefruit tree?

[LemonBonsai]

Its been stunted ever since late summer and then when I brought it in I had trouble with my grow light being to intense and bleaching the leaves. It looks like it has a nutrient deficency but ive given it fertilizer. And now after all this one of the branches on the very crown of the tree now has TONS of flower buds forming. Is this a good sign? That the trees strong enough to grow? Or is this a sign that the tree is stressed and is putting out a bunch of flowers to survive?

I find it odd that its outting out flowers in winter

 

[Carol 83]

My Meyer Lemon tree has been flowering and it's fine. Not unusual for my citrus to flower in the winter. They get some southern sunlight, no grow lights.

 

[LittleDingus]

My key lime is budding out and should have open flowers any day now. It typically flowers this time of year for me.

I read a source once...been meaning to try and find it again...that claimed temps controlled the type of growth flush in citrus. Cooler temps give flowers...warmer temps give leaves. I'm not sure how true that is...

 

[LemonBonsai]

My key lime is budding out and should have open flowers any day now. It typically flowers this time of year for me.

I read a source once...been meaning to try and find it again...that claimed temps controlled the type of growth flush in citrus. Cooler temps give flowers...warmer temps give leaves. I'm not sure how true that is...

My Meyer Lemon tree has been flowering and it's fine. Not unusual for my citrus to flower in the winter. They get some southern sunlight, no grow lights.

Ah ok well that's comforting. I found it odd to be blooming in the middle of winter. I only use grow lights because I don't have a good window to put my plants in front of unfortunately!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

If you change growing conditions for citrus they can flower at strange times. I could get my grapefruit to flower mid-summer if I fertilized it heavily and pruned it.

Make sure you don't fertilize between flower and fruit set, or else they will drop their fruit.

 

[LittleDingus]

Ah ok well that's comforting. I found it odd to be blooming in the middle of winter. I only use grow lights because I don't have a good window to put my plants in front of unfortunately!

Us "northerners" (I used to live further north, but not "Canada north"...) need to think a little differently about these "southern" species. For those of us with winters, we're used to thinking of winter as a "dead time" where not much is going on. Plants and animals alike hibernate through the cold months.

As you move further south, survival strategies change. It's now possible to flower in the "winter" because "winter" is still 50F or warmer! Many plants in these regions flower in "winter" because it's more advantageous to do so. It might be too dry in the "summer" so they flower when the weather turns cooler and the rains return, for example.

When, exactly, a particular citrus blooms is, of course, species dependent. In general, the smaller the fruit, the more frequently the tree will try to set fruit. It is not uncommon for my key lime (small fruits) to flower 3 times a year. I wouldn't expect a grapefruit (typically a larger fruit) to bloom as often.

Here's my scraggly looking lime from this morning...maybe you can see that it's snowing outside.



This tree was quite lush and full during this past summer. It threw a hissy fit and dropped about 2/3 of it's foliage when I brought it in in the fall All that is left now is the last flush of foliar growth. I'm used to this behavior now, but it still makes me uneasy every winter!

 

[LittleDingus]

Make sure you don't fertilize between flower and fruit set, or else they will drop their fruit.

The first challenge indoors is getting fruit to set at all! There is little wind and no pollinators indoors. My winter crop is typically very sparse because of this. My spring crop generally sets while outdoors and the wind does wonders to help pollinate.

If you want fruit from an indoor tree...you might get a Q-Tip and learn how to pollinate by hand...

 

[LemonBonsai]

The first challenge indoors is getting fruit to set at all! There is little wind and no pollinators indoors. My winter crop is typically very sparse because of this. My spring crop generally sets while outdoors and the wind does wonders to help pollinate.

If you want fruit from an indoor tree...you might get a Q-Tip and learn how to pollinate by hand...

If you change growing conditions for citrus they can flower at strange times. I could get my grapefruit to flower mid-summer if I fertilized it heavily and pruned it.

Make sure you don't fertilize between flower and fruit set, or else they will drop their fruit.

Thanks! Mt grapefruit also threw a hissy fit when I brought it indoors. Although it only recently dropped id say 10-12 leaves and then it started new growth. I dont think I will grow grapefruits for their fruit just because they are so large. One day my lemons will nloom though and I want to try growing one for fruit! Ive also heard that once your trees flowering it helps to give it a little shake every once in a while.

Your leaves also look much healthier then mine. Might just be light issues but just looking forward to summer when I can repot in some fresh soil!

 

[LittleDingus]

Thanks! Mt grapefruit also threw a hissy fit when I brought it indoors. Although it only recently dropped id say 10-12 leaves and then it started new growth. I dont think I will grow grapefruits for their fruit just because they are so large. One day my lemons will nloom though and I want to try growing one for fruit! Ive also heard that once your trees flowering it helps to give it a little shake every once in a while.

Your leaves also look much healthier then mine. Might just be light issues but just looking forward to summer when I can repot in some fresh soil!

I'd be interested in @Bonsai Nut views on this...he has much more experience with citrus than I!

I currently have mixed opinions on removing the flowers to save the tree energy. One winter, I panicked because my lime dropped most of its leaves then started budding out. I reasoned that I didn't want the tree to waste energy on flowers and fruit. Plus, I had noticed that previous flowerings had led immediately into foliar growth after the buds opened. I've deflowered weaker plants to save them energy in the past with good success and I expected the tree to move on to foliage immediately given what I had observed before, so I deflowered it. Rather than saving energy and entering a foliar stage, the tree and I entered a non-stop battle of me plucking flower buds only for the tree to push more flower buds! This went on for 2 months! I finally gave up and let the tree have its way! Only like 5% of the flowers set fruit and then we were entering spring so I just left them. The next growth flush was all foliage and the tree is fine, but I was really nervous for a while since all I could get out of the tree were new flowers and not leaves

So, my question to @Bonsai Nut is this: is there a mechanism to reliably trigger foliage growth in citrus? I read somewhere once...though cannot find the source again ...that citrus flushes growth and the type of growth...foliage or flower...is determined by night temperatures. Is there any truth to that?

I was recently gifted a yuzu orange. That tree is very young and has started growing leaves instead of flowers, but I suspect it is too young to flower yet...I think it is only a year from seed.

 

[LemonBonsai]

Little update

 

[LittleDingus]

Little update
View attachment 349834

Enjoy them now! Here's a glimpse of your future:



...and I swept everything up just yesterday!

No fruit set though. My lime tends to flower this time of year every year, but doesn't set hardly any fruit in the house. It'll likely bloom again around April/May...it's back outside around then and that's when I usually get a better crop set.

If you want a fruit or two, you might cut a couple of those stamen and pollenate a few flowers yourself

 

[LemonBonsai]

Enjoy them now! Here's a glimpse of your future:

View attachment 349844

...and I swept everything up just yesterday!

No fruit set though. My lime tends to flower this time of year every year, but doesn't set hardly any fruit in the house. It'll likely bloom again around April/May...it's back outside around then and that's when I usually get a better crop set.

If you want a fruit or two, you might cut a couple of those stamen and pollenate a few flowers yourself

Yikes haha thats alot of flowers! If this were a lime I would try and see if I could get some fruit but I dont think this tree is old enough to support a couple grapefruits, neither do I want all that energy going to the fruits. Maybe in 5 to 10 years

 

[LittleDingus]

Yikes haha thats alot of flowers! If this were a lime I would try and see if I could get some fruit but I dont think this tree is old enough to support a couple grapefruits, neither do I want all that energy going to the fruits. Maybe in 5 to 10 years

Eventually you gotta do it just do you can say you did But, I here ya...let it grow!

Do you know the variety? How large of fruits can you expect?

 

[LemonBonsai]

Eventually you gotta do it just do you can say you did But, I here ya...let it grow!

Do you know the variety? How large of fruits can you expect?

Honestly no I dont I bought this as a nursery tree and they just said "grapefruit" on it lol so im in the dark