I'm starting to see new growth flushes on some of my citrus. Is that common for this time of year?

All mine are flushing with good growth, and the Ponderosa lemon is in full bloom. The greenhouse smells great!

I was planning to prune or pinch off tips next spring to get a bushier growth and more branches. In light of these new growths, should I prune now or wait till next spring? Will these new growths have any negative effects on next years growth if I let them grow and wait to prune?

Hilltop, to answer you question concerning how normal it is for your citrus tree to be blooming, one would need to know what variety of citrus are you inquiring about, and as your tree is in the Los Angles area, whether your tree is growing outside, or is it growing indoors or in a greenhouse. There is a big difference at this time of year, concerning blooming between an outdoor tree, and an indoor or greenhouse tree - Millet (1,142-)

The tree I'm seeing the growth on is my fruit cocktail tree. Its composed of a Navel, Valencia, Tahiti Lime, Mineola Tangelo and W. Muricott Mandarin. I'm seeing the growth mainly on the Navel and to a lesser extent on the lime and tangelo. It is growing outside. I'm not seeing any flowers blooming. Just new buds starting to break with leaves already about 5mm. As for the temp, the highs have been in the low 70's and the lows in the high 40's to low 50's.

I want to maximize the branching and new growth flushes next spring and I want them to have as many branches as possible.

Also, I have four separate trees, Tarocco, Improved Meyer Lemon, Owari Satsuma and Oro Blanco Grapefruit. These are new and young trees and I want to maximize the branching and new flushes. Should I pinch off or prune the tips now before they start new flushes or wait until next spring? They are grown outside in CHC and peat moss.

It is not uncommon, but it will result in branches more sensitive to cold until the have had time to harden off.

As Skeet wrote, at the temperatures you state, new growth is not uncommon. However, they will not have developed any hardiness, but in fact the new growth will be very tender, therefore if a cold spell develops they need to be move to protection. My advice would be not to prune your tree at all. When left alone citrus trees naturally grow into a round globular form. - Millet (1,141-)