Anyone who lives in a northern part of the country has spent a considerable part of their winters fantasizing about moving away from the snow and wind, and living somewhere sunny and tropical.
A few souls get so fed up with the cold that they even start to look for ways that they can make money in a warmer climate.
One of the ways that some people seriously consider is growing the grapefruits that are used to make grapefruit juice.
In theory the idea of growing grapefruits is sound.
An increasing number of people are starting to drink grapefruit juice.
In addition to tasting good and being an excellent source of Vitamin C which helps boost the immune system.
In addition to that the juice also can help people lose weight, help prevent certain types of cancer, assists in digestion, and can help lower cholesterol.
The reality of growing the grapefruits needed to make the juice is vastly different.
The first thing the person needs is land.
Just because the place where you are living happens to be warm, does not mean that it is ideal for growing citrus.
Grapefruits require a very specific type of soil.
They do best when grown in soil that is.
The place where the grapefruit trees are planted needs to be an area that drains well.
Standing water can lead to all sorts of problems including root rot and other fungus's.
The biggest factor that needs to be consider when it comes to raising grapefruits is time.
Grapefruits are grown on trees, and it is going to take time before the tree reaches a fruit bearing age.
The length of time it takes a grapefruit tree to reach fruit producing maturity is usually seven years.
It would be nice if all that you needed to do was plant the trees and leave them alone until they are starting to produce grapefruit trees, but you are not going to be able to.
The trees require constant attention.
The trees need to be pruned each year and they also need regular applications of fertilizer.
The trees need to be examined on a weekly basis to make sure that they are not developing any health problems.
Growing the grapefruits is only part of the grapefruit juice making process.
Once the fruit is harvested, the grower is going to have to have some way to turn the fruit into juice.
This is usually done be a processing plant which pays the farmer for the fruit and then sells the juice for a profit.