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Originally Posted by RobG7aChattTN
I've heard that Poncirus trifoliata can form fruits in 4 years from seed and that some Grapefruits can take 12 years to fruit. I have some Poncirus trifoliata 'Flying Dragon' that did not fruit (or bloom) after maybe 6 years. I dug them up and then decided not to replant them so who knows when they would have formed fruit.
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Yes, you can get a few fruits from Flying Dragon (and other small citrus) in 3 years but it will take longer to get a handful and fruits with the characteristic taste of the plant. I'm surprised to hear of anyone growing Flying Dragon for the fruit. I've yet to hear of anyone who likes to eat them. But go ahead ... surprise me!
Tony (sunfish) makes the excellent point that Flying Dragon is almost exclusively cultivated as a root stock. Certainly if I had Flying Dragon seedlings I'd graft them over with something like Sweet Lemon or something else that benefits from a non-aggressive root stock.
In breeding programs, grapefruit and other large citrus have a 10 year cycle: this is from budset on the host plant to an offspring that is mature enough to produce regular crops and demonstrate the characteristics of interest in the breeding program.