How to Prune a Grapefruit Tree

Choose a 2- to 4-foot tall nursery sapling when establishing a grapefruit tree. Prune the top from 18 to 24 inches above the ground. Prune all but three or four evenly spaced branches growing upward at a 45-degree angle or greater. These will become the main, grapefruit-bearing scaffold branches growing out from the trunk.

Prune off all branches below the scaffold branches.

Prune grapefruit trees from their second year on in late winter through early spring after the risk of freeze has passed to give the tree time to grow leaves necessary to protect exposed limbs from hot summer sun. Pruning too early can stimulate a growth flush that can be damaged by a late spring frost.

Do not prune large sprouts or limbs in summer unless they have been damaged.

When pruning exposes a cut to direct sun, prevent sunburn by covering the cut with a mixture of 1 part white latex paint and 1 part water.

Sprouts, also called shoots, suckers or water sprouts, may grow from your grapefruit tree. They emerge from several parts of the tree:

• Below the bud union. This part of the trunk is usually near the soil and you'll see the trunk isn't quite straight or there's a bulge. This is the spot where the grapefruit cultivar, the scion, was grafted onto a rootstock. The bark on the rootstock will usually also have a different texture than the scion.
  
• From the trunk.
• From large branches.

Sprouts growing from rootstocks will likely be thorny and yield inedible fruit. Prune rootstock sprouts that grow from soil surrounding the tree or from the below the graft union.

Prune sprouts that grow almost straight up from large limbs. These sprouts often grow above the top of the canopy. They bend from the weight of grapefruits growing at their tips and are more likely to break in the wind.

• Prune both small and large branches if they crisscross, rub against grapefruits, or are damaged or dead.
• Remove limbs growing from the bottom of main branches. These often break, ripping off bark as they do.
• Remove lower branches that grow in the shade of branches above them. They won't yield grapefruits without sun.
  
• Do not prune the top branches.
  
• Do not prune all the interior branches. The main scaffold branches need them for robust growth.
  

You can snap off small sprouts with your hand. Use hand pruners to cut the sprouts flush with the tree. If you do that, do not leave a stub. Leave the collar, that swollen area at the base of a sprout or limb. There is no need to add a protective layer of white latex paint to cuts made to remove sprouts.

At least one a month, prune sprouts from the trunk of a small tree. Remove all sprouts from the bottom 10 to 12 inches of the trunk.

Prune sprouts growing up or down from scaffolding branches one at a time, beginning with the bottom branch.

Prune branches flush with the collar, not the trunk. This will help the wound heal and reduce the chances of sprouts growing where you made the cut.

Follow a different procedure to prune a branch more than 1 1/2 inch wide.