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Fruit trees

Grapefruit Growing Guide: Planting, Care & Harvest

A large evergreen citrus needing long warmth to ripen, grown in a sheltered spot or big pot and harvested in late winter.

Grapefruit

Citrus x paradisi

Growing calendar

Typical timing for central Japan (Kanto region). Shift it for your own climate, and record your actual dates.

GrowingHarvest

Guides

Common problems

Start from what you can see on the plant.

Pests and diseases (113)

Problems recorded for this plant, most serious first.

Powdery Mildew

Disease

White patches appear scattered on the upper leaf surface at first, then the whole leaf is coated in a white powder. Leaves later yellow, brown and die back, and reduced photosynthesis cuts growth and yield.

Late Blight

Disease

Dark green water-soaked lesions appear on the leaves and expand quickly into brown dead tissue. White mold forms on the underside and at the lesion edge, and dark brown lesions spread to stems and fruit.

Bacterial Canker

Disease

Leaf margins scorch and die back, and splitting the stem reveals browned vascular tissue. Scabby, bird's-eye lesions form on fruit and shoots.

Sclerotinia Rot

Disease

The crown, stem or head rots in a water-soaked way and is covered in white cottony mycelium. Black sclerotia later form inside and on the surface, and the plant wilts and dies.

Black Rot

Disease

V-shaped yellowing spreads inward from the leaf margins and the veins darken into a black network. As it advances the whole plant wilts and dies.

Black Spot

Disease

On roses, dark brown lesions with radiating edges form on the leaves, which yellow around them and drop. On pear, sooty black lesions appear on leaves, fruit and the calyx of young fruit, deforming the fruit.

Citrus Melanose

Disease

Tiny dark brown specks are scattered over fruit and leaves, sometimes clustering into tear-streaks or a sandpaper texture. Heavy infection makes the rind rough and badly cuts appearance value.

Crown Gall

Disease

Irregular galls form at the crown and on the roots, gradually enlarging and turning woody. They block the flow of water and nutrients, so the plant loses vigor and may die.

Southern Blight

Disease

The stem rots at soil level and white silky mycelium spreads over the crown and the surrounding soil surface. Brown sclerotia the size of rapeseed then form and the plant wilts and dies rapidly.

Sooty Mold

Disease

A thin black sooty mold spreads over the upper leaf surface, shoots and fruit. It does not invade the tissue itself, but it blocks photosynthesis and badly spoils appearance.

Anthracnose

Disease

Light brown to dark brown round lesions with sharp margins form on leaves and fruit, slightly sunken in the center. In wet weather salmon-pink slimy spore masses ooze out on the lesions.

Damping-off

Disease

The stem pinches in at soil level, turning water-soaked to brown and thin, and the seedling topples over. Infection before emergence makes the stand uneven with missing plants.

Root-lesion Nematode

Pest

Elongated blackish brown necrotic lesions form on the root surface and fine roots rot away. Above ground the stand is uneven and plants stay small with pale foliage.

Gray Mold

Disease

Water-soaked brown lesions form on flowers, fruit and leaves, densely covered by a fuzzy gray mold. Fruit rots and drops, and decay continues in storage after harvest.

Bacterial Spot

Disease

Small water-soaked spots appear on the leaves, later turning brown with yellowing around them. Fruit develops water-soaked or scabby spots from which rot spreads.

Crown GummosisStem PittingWart DiseaseSmudgeAspergillus RotScaly BarkArtist's Conk Heart RotBlack Leaf MoldFlyspeckScabFreckleWitches' BroomArmillaria Root RotFalse Yellow SpotWhisker MoldCalyx End RotBoron DeficiencyGummosis of FruitScale Skin DisorderViroid DiseaseExocortisPotassium DeficiencyHuanglongbingConcave GumGummosisStem PittingPsorosisDothiorella GummosisNatsudaidai DwarfNavel Orange Infectious MottlingFusarium WiltFusarium RotFusarium Stem-end RotVein EnationMagnesium DeficiencyManganese DeficiencyManganese ToxicityMosaic DiseaseMolybdenum DeficiencyZinc DeficiencyCircular Sooty SpotRound Leaf SpotAnomalous Growth DisorderSmall Black SpeckTrunk RotGraft Union DisorderSunscaldDark BlotchBlossom End Ripe RotBlossom End RotBlossom End BrowningTwig BlightBranch GummosisCitrus NematodeShoot BlightPlant-parasitic NematodesGummosisWatery RotSatsuma DwarfGray Felt FungusBacterial Fever BlightWhite MoldWhite Root RotWhite Felt FungusWhite Round Leaf SpotAlgal Leaf SpotStony Fruit DisorderPink RotViolet Root RotGreen MoldGreen Spot DisorderBacterial RotAnthina Root RotBrown Felt Sooty SpotPetiole DiseaseMesophyll CollapseTiger Stripe DisorderFruit CrackingBacterial Brown SpotBrown Spot Defoliation DisorderBrown Felt FungusBrown Root RotBrown RotElephant SkinRed Pustule DiseasePink DiseaseSilver SkinCopper DeficiencyBlue MoldBlue-green MoldYellowing and Leaf Drop DisorderYellow Leaf SpotYellow Mottle LeafBlack WartBlack MoldAlternaria Black SpotBlack Twig BlightBlack Ball Rot

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Keep a growing history for Grapefruit

Type the plant name, add the planting date, and take photos as it grows. Next season you will have your own dates for sowing, flowering, and harvest instead of a generic calendar.

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