I forgot to add, the dark spots are dirt and I did water it after I took the pic..

Are you fertilizing your seedlings? If not, you might want to be sure to fertilize. Most container citrus folks here on this forum prefer to use Dyna Gro Foliage Pro. You can use it full strength each time you water. And of course, if temps allow, I would start acclimating your trees outside to full sun over about 3 to 4 weeks.

Patty S.

I live in NY, the lights are on 12+ hours a day plus she gets a few hours of sun in the afternoons. I water at least 1-2 times a week when the soil gets dry, I water thoroughly. I only use miracle grow plant food, I grew the pits on a bet with a friend who said they wouldnt grow, so now I have my work cut out for me if I intend to keep them growing. I dont have a ph tester so I dont know the answer to that, also as a renter I can only grow it in a container. Thank you for all your interest & advice. Christine

The best thing you can do is throw them in the garbage.

You don't say what kind of light but either way it will cost you far more to provide light to get it to size and fruiting than starting off with a properly grafted tree. I recommend four winds growers and a 3 year old plant. After shipping costs the 3 year olds are only a couple dollars more than a 1 year old due to the younger tree being shipped with heavy dirt.

Discussion now closed, Thanks

Comments like mine? You realize she thanked me right? It is a fact that she will spend a lot of time and money trying to get a seedling to fruit and quite possibly never will due to the size it would need to get to.

Pip, you did not offend me, it would take alot more than a comment to offend this New Yorka, I never intended to grow the grapefruit into anything but a little patio plant since my friend dared me that I couldnt do it. I thought it might be a quick fix with the leaves changing colors, so I will try the flushing & change the soil in spring when I separate them and give a couple to my friend. I do thank all of you for all your thoughts and advice, you are a wonderful bunch of people here and on GW. Thank you all so much again. Christine

Just wanted to show how my grapefruit is doing today, I know I'll never see fruit, she has given me thorns and lots of them. So here she is 2 yrs later...

It does look nice for such a young, potted plant. I'm sure it will be a good foliage tree.

Christine - Your grapefruit looks great. I'm also growing citrus (lemon and lime) from seed which I started on a lark. I hope mine look like yours next year.

Have you been using vinegar and how often are you feeding...They can even look much more of a rich green rapidly)

Just to let you know, I live in upstate NY (Syracuse) and I have a grapefruit tree grown from a seed that is 9 feet tall and 5 feet wide. In fact, so tall I had to trim it to get it back inside this year. Last fall, it bloomed for the first time.. It was after I brought it inside so I tried to pollinate it with a paintbrush. No fruit yet however. But whether it fruits or not, I love this tree and I have grown other tropical fruit up here. (A few pineapples and last year I got some passion fruits) So keep it alive! My tree has had it's share of issues - leaf drop, leaf curling, ants in the soil, root-bound in too small of a pot, yellowing leaves etc. If I can be of any further assistance, let me know. One thing that really helps citrus trees up here in the north is putting the pot on a seedling heat mat... When the soil is cooler than the top of the plant, it can cause leaf issues. Also, the more sunlight, the better. I don't even use plant lights. (Too expensive, don't last long and not bright enough imo) I use flourescent "natural light" light bulbs and natural light LED light tubes. A little fertilizer helps too, just go to Home Depot and make sure its for citrus trees.. And take it outside in the summer if you can. It will love you for it! It will also save you money on electricity and light bulbs!

Slice, how old is your tree? Can you post a picture of it?

It's outside and its dark but I will take a picture tomorrow. As far as the age, I'm not sure because it was given to me about 8 years ago by a neighbor and it was already 5 feet tall. I estimate it is 12 years old. I will post a picture tomorrow, but it just got through a period of leaf loss, probably due to going from light watering, no sun and constant temperatures inside to heavy watering, actual sun and fluctuating night temperatures outside. It suffered but it is starting to look happier - but I've seen it look fuller. Just keep that in mind... To be continued...

Here is the tree. It's recovering but I'm confident in a few weeks it will look better.

It's beautiful. My sister had one just as old but it sucummed to root rot. She didn't refresh the mix often enough. Good job