Prune it fairly heavily and it will become a bit more shrubby...and you'll also be able to bring your grapefruit tree inside. Never be afraid to prune an oversized plant. New growth will result, but it will be further back along the stems.

I thought I read somewhere either on this forum or somewhere else that you shouldn't prune a citrus tree because it will affect fruit production. I remember the post specifically mentioned something about "topping" the tree to make it smaller to bring inside. They advised against topping.

KPK, since your grapefruit won't be fruiting for a few yrs yet, there's nothing to worry about as far as ruining chances of flower/fruit production.
Seed started citrus take 7-14 yrs before a fruit is spotted..though a couple ppl have said theirs bloomed at 5 yrs of age..If this happened it's quite rare.
Is you tree growing as a standard tree or bush?
Have you ever watched Victory Gardens? One show was about pruning citrus..what he did was removed 1/3rd of the roots then 1/3rd of the foliage. He placed the citrus back in its original pot.
I don't know if you're willing to do this or not, it's up to you..but if you want to save your tree and pruning is the only way it can be done, I'd go that route..better than losing the entire plant, (espcially since you're in NJ) plus it'd be much easier toting in and out. Good luck, Toni

Pruning is a much neglected art, and I think it is pretty essential for the health of all kinds of fruit bearing plants (and non-fruit bearing!). Commercial citrus growers prune their trees, usually on an annual basis. I think you'll be quite pleasantly surprised at what your tree does if you cut some of the tallest and leggiest limbs back to outward growing buds or branches.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a shapely grapefruit tree, rather than allowing it to be 'spindly'? I think so, anyway. ;-)

Rhizo and Toni, I have a small Meyer Lemon tree (3-year old plant) that I purchased from Four Winds last April. The potted plant is now outside and doing well but has lost a lot of interior leaves and is beginning to have a leggy apearance. How can I encourage my plant to add interior leaves without pruning exterior branches and leaves too drastically? If I pinch off new growth at the end of branches, will that encourage the plant to issue new interior leaves?

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Jerry

Jerry, are there bare stems with little or no leaves on interior parts of your Meyer? If so, are they alive? Can you bend the stems w/o breakage? In other words, are the stems flexible?
Or when you bend to they break off like dead wood..and once broken, is inside (under outter bark) green or brown?
If green, the branch is alive..Give it time and hopefully baby leaves will sprout..
If they're dead, cut back to base nearest soil line. Also, remove any debris such as dead leaves, etc.
BTW, have you ever fertilized your grapefruit? If so, what did you use? I'd suggest something high in Nitrogen (first number on fertilizer container) Nitrogen promotes leaf growth..
Hopefully, Rhizo has something to add that will be helpful..Toni

Toni, the stems of my Meyer Lemon tree have lush leaves at the end but have lost most of their interior leaves. This is the same tree that I fertilized yesterday using Rite Green Citrus fertilizer. Perhaps this is natural as I was reading somewhere that lemon trees have a tendency more than other citrus to lose interior leaves and look leggy. Still I am hoping for the re-leafing of the interior portions of the tree's branches.

Jerry

Jerry, I'm wondering if interior foliage drops because outter leaves shelter it from the sun? Just conjecture.
Hopefully, the fertilizer will help with new leaf growth..Are the leaves that fell in the center or center-side of the tree? Do you rotate citrus? It's good practice for all plants, this way all sides of get equal light..Once a wk should do it.
Oh, is your Meyer's tree shaped or bushy?
I've never heard lemons have more tendency to drop inner foliage than other citrus, but the author probably has a good reason for stating what he/she did..So, I'm not going to question his/her reasoning..lol..I wonder why that happens though..did they give a reason? Toni

Toni, when I got the tree from Four Winds it had lots of interior leaves. However, it had to spend the first month or so inside until the weather got warm; and it proceededd to lose interior leaves. Now the tree gets lots sun outside and I do rotate the tree. It is a nice tree-shaped plant. But the branches all seem very young to me with little hard wood there. Right now it is loaded with blossoms. Hopefully after the blossoms, new leaves will come too. I cannot place my finger on where I read the statement on lemons having a tendency to losing interior leaves and looking leggy, but I know I read that somewhere. However, that statement may not apply to Meyer lemons but other varieties of lemons. Not sure. Anyway, let's see what the new fertilizer will accomplish in the next month or so.

Jerry

Hi Jerry...I'm doing house cleaning and because of the computer, taking forever to finish..also repotting plants..lol
I prefer tree-shaped citrus to bushy..I'm hoping after the blossoms, you see fruit.
If it's lemon trees that lose interior foliage, it may not apply to Meyer's since Meyer's isn't a true lemon..I'm thinking your tree is lacking nitrogen..
Whenever we get a new plant, it usually suffers..we don't have the sun, humidity and fresh air they're accustomed to. Shipped from sunny, humid Fl to our hot, dry, stuffy homes takes a lot from them. And if we buy tropicals before we can set outside, it's really a struggle..
I try preparing for new plants like I would a pet..LOL..for instance, when buying fish, it's a good idea to set up the tank 24 hours before placing fish in tap water..ridding chlorine and adjusting temperature.
In a plants case, it's a good idea running a humidifer in winter, a fan on low to circulate air. Water kept in old milk containers so it's not given directly from tap, though this is impossible in my case due to number of plants..lol..but for ppl who own 20-30 plants, saving water is a simple task.
Keeping fertilizer, Superthrive, Epson Salts, etc so you don't have to run out or order the last minute. (like one would w/fish food)
See my reasoning? LOL..I really hope this fertilizer does the trick, too..Toni