No blooms on grapefruit tree

[electra225]

I had a bumper crop of grapefruits last season. I'm still taking fruit off the tree. Nice and juicy. I did not get that first bloom this year. I believe that extreme hot spell we had the last couple of weeks stressed the tree enough during "it's period" that it didn't bloom. We got new leaves, the old ones fell, just like normal. I am beginning to believe we won't get that first grapefruit this season. Grapefruit trees are like weeds out here. They tolerate heat and sun, in fact, they thrive on them. I've never even heard of a grapefruit tree not blooming.......

[William]

Weird, but I remember Dick saying that happened to his orange and lemon trees one year. I love grapefruit, it does not like me.

[TC Chris]

I love grapefruit but it's forbidden because it nullifies one of my meds, maybe the atorvastatin? When I got my stents I was warned I could not eat it. Sometimes I throw all caution to the winds and eat it anyway. I have all the accoutrements--grapefruit knife, grapefruit spoons.

Ibuprofen is also forbidden because it interferes with the BP meds. I have always assumed the ban means "except when something really hurts." Last Saturday something really bad happened in my back. I cannot walk standing erect--I have to bend over like I'm 90. Painful & inconvenient. I was violating the ibuprofen rule. I finally gave up and had a doctor look at it. The good news is he thinks it's musculoskeletal--which is to say, not neurological (no fiddling with my spine). He gave me a better anti-inflammatory, one that my brother prescribes all the time. The bad news is that, as my neighbor observed, "recovering takes a long time." I am not good at being disabled and want to be better NOW. The heating pad is my friend.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I hope you get over the miseries really soon, Chris. We need to remember that old age is not for sissies.....

[Conelrad]

We have Mandarin & Lemon trees here, our problem is the "deleted" wind keeps ripping blossoms off the limbs.

When they leave, fruit won't set.

[electra225]

My grapefruit tree was days away from blooming when the hot weather started. Is it possible the warm weather had something to do with no blooming? Sorry about the wind bothering your bloom. This may be a rough year for citrus.....

[electra225]

I was relaying my tale of woe to our landscaper the other day. He went right out to the tree and found a whole clump of "babies" about the size of a marble. We don't know yet how big our crop might be for this year, but we should have at least a few grapefruit, if something doesn't happen to what babies we have now. If the wind comes up strong for a few days in a row, that tends to knock them off to the ground. I sure didn't notice any blooms on the tree.

[MEZLAW]

I hope your grapefruit is more like California grapefruit. I don't care for the taste of Florida grapefruit, too sour!

[electra225]

Ours were really sweet and really juicy this season. We have an old-fashioned white seeded grapefruit tree. The neighbor to our south has a pink grapefruit tree, planted a year apart. Our white grapefruit is sweeter than his pink ones. I see exactly eight baby grapefruit on our tree. You never know how many you'll get until they start turning yellow.....