What are the care of potted grapefruit?

El pomelo, whose scientific name is citrus x paradise, it is an evergreen fruit tree that you can grow in a pot throughout its life. It has a rather slow growth rate, so it will be easy for you to control its development through pruning. And with a minimum of care, I can assure you that it will give you an interesting amount of fruit.

Now, What are your basic requirements? As it is very important to know them, I am going to explain to you what the care of potted grapefruit is so that nothing escapes you 🙂.

What weather do you need?

To be able to grow grapefruit successfully it is necessary that the climate is warm. Being a subtropical species, it does not tolerate strong frosts. It resists up to -5ºC, but it will be better if it does not drop below -3ºC. But this has its positive part, and that is that it does not require hours of cold to flower or, therefore, to bear fruit.

It is convenient to place it in full sun, since if it is located in semi-shade the production of flowers will be rather poor.

What substrate to use?

It grows in fresh, deep, sandy or sandy loam soils with a pH between 6 and 7. When grown in a pot, the following mixture can be used: 60% universal growing medium for plants + 30% perlite, washed river sand or similar + 10% organic fertilizer how can he be earthworm humus.

Every 2-3 years we will have to transplant it to a larger pot, during the spring.

How often to water and fertilize it?

Watering has to be frequent during the warmer months of the year. The substrate must be prevented from drying out completely, therefore, in general, It will be watered 3-4 times a week in summer and every 4-5 days the rest of the year. In the event that we have put a plate underneath, we will remove the water that has been left over ten minutes after having watered.

As for the subscriber, We must pay it from the beginning of spring to the beginning of autumn with liquid organic fertilizersand guano, following the indications specified on the product packaging.

When and how to prune it?

Grapefruit has a tendency to have a ball-shaped cup, so what you have to do is trim those branches that have been overdeveloped keeping you in shape. Now, this must be done after fruiting, since otherwise we will have a smaller harvest.

Likewise, it is necessary to eliminate the dry, diseased or weak branches, and those that intersect.

What pests and diseases can affect you?

Although it is quite resistant, it can be affected by:

• Pests:
  • Red spider: it is a red mite that measures about 0,5cm. It feeds on the cells of the leaves, causing discolored spots to appear.
    Can be removed with neem oil.
  • Ribbed mealybug: it is a parasite that we will find on green stems and leaves. It has a cottony appearance and measures about 0,5cm.
    If they are few, they can be removed by hand with a brush, but if there are many, I recommend using paraffin oil insecticide (it is natural).
  • Citrus miner: it is a micro-lepidopteran that feeds on the tender shoots of these fruit trees.
    It is removed with neem oil or with potassium soap.
• Management:
  • Phytophthora fungus. It causes rotting of the roots and the consequent death of the plant. Fortunately, it can be prevented by controlling watering and keeping grapefruit well cared for.
  • Viruses and viroids (sadness virus, exocortis and psoriasis): these are microorganisms that cause the appearance of mosaics on the leaves. They have no cure. The best thing to do to prevent them is to acquire healthy specimens.

When is grapefruit harvested?

The fruits of grapefruit are harvested between mid-autumn and early spring. Depending on the variety, it can be between October 1 and March 30, or between October 15 and March 30 (Northern Hemisphere).

I hope that with all this information you can enjoy your potted grapefruit 🙂.