Use Thuricide for caterpillars. Q. My grapefruit tree has exposed roots . You can cover the roots of the tree with extra soil from around the yard as long as you do not add too much. More than an inch or so can cause plants to decline as oxygen is cut off from the roots. We did not have a big crop from our grapefruit tree last year.
Neighborhood children climb the tree and swing from the branches.
A. Children swinging and climbing in the tree can certainly affect the crop. The shaking of the branches will affect pollination and will cause fruit to fall prematurely. We have a 12-foot thorny citrus that finally produced this bumpy fruit with little juice. Your fruit is rough lemon, which is used as an understock for the fancy citrus top. The understock can sucker around ground level, outgrow the fancy top and shade it out.