Walton's Plant Library

* This is a "special order" plant - contact store for details

Description:

Attractive foliage is displayed on this medium to large shrub, or small tree; fragrant flowers produce large, juicy, red fleshed grapefruit with fewer seeds; protect from frost; great container plant for the patio or indoors in colder climates

Edible Qualities

Ruby Red Grapefruit is a large shrub that is commonly grown for its edible qualities. It produces orange round fruit with a yellow blush and red flesh which are usually ready for picking from late fall to late winter. The fruits have a tangy taste.

The fruit are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Juice-Making

Features & Attributes

Ruby Red Grapefruit features showy clusters of fragrant white star-shaped flowers with buttery yellow eyes at the ends of the branches in early spring. It has attractive dark green evergreen foliage which emerges chartreuse in spring. The glossy oval leaves are highly ornamental and remain dark green throughout the winter. It features an abundance of magnificent orange berries with yellow blush from late fall to late winter.

This is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition. This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Ruby Red Grapefruit is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Hedges/Screening
• Orchard/Edible Landscaping
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Ruby Red Grapefruit will grow to be about 20 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 20 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 2 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more.

This plant is typically grown in a designated edibles garden. It does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It may require supplemental watering during periods of drought or extended heat. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Ruby Red Grapefruit is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Its large size and upright habit of growth lend it for use as a solitary accent, or in a composition surrounded by smaller plants around the base and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.

 

* This is a "special order" plant - contact store for details