Suggestion for Extreme Heat/Sun Tree

12 years ago

As my user name implies, I recently moved out to Arizona this year. I'm in zone 9 (Phoenix) with about 350 chill hours.

I have a 4' x 4' area that I'd like to plant a fruit tree in. Unfortunately, it's near the west side of my house and gets lots of afternoon sun and due to its proximity to the house, lots of radiant heat.

Any suggestions on a fruit tree that might survive under these sort of extremem circumstances?

(I'm going to cross post this to the Arizona forum to solicit opinions there as well.

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Comments (6)

johnmerr
12 years ago
Maybe a Meyer Lemon or a grapefruit or Pomelo; they stand a lot of heat, as long as they have plenty of water. In Arizona sun, you have to be sure not to prune them up so that the sun hits the trunk; it can sunburn the trunk and kill the tree.
applenut_gw
12 years ago
Pink Lady apples are grown in Las Vegas and can take a great deal of heat; I imagine just about any fig can grow there also.

Applenut
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For tree suggestions try the University of Arizona, Maricopa County Cooperative Extension publications. You'll find recommendations for citrus and deciduous fruit (sorry no tropicals). Deciduous fruit (apples, nuts, figs, peaches, etc.) can be purchased bare root in December/January at reasonable prices. If you plant citrus before March, be prepared to protect them on chilly nights. Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: University of Arizona Horticulture Publications
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It depends on how long it was allowed to go without water and how much heat it might have been exposed to (referring more to the pot and the root system therein). JM's in containers need pretty much constant attention in summer as the likelihood of them drying out, even in mild heat, is very high and can happen in just a few hours or a day. That combined with hot soil as a container might generate could be deadly. But having said that, these trees can take more abuse than one would imagine :-) I recently experienced a near catastrophe in my own garden when the reconstruction and spray staining of a neighboring deck resulted in all the leaves of several containerized JM's being fully coated with deck stain!! While the plants were not at all happy and quickly produced dried and dropped leaves, they are responding with some new growth. I have also managed to overlook watering containerized maples from time to time and they eventually bounce back...........not always but very often :-) Just keep it well hydrated but not overwatered and keep your fingers crossed. And be sure to pay careful and daily attention to any JM's grown in containers!!
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bob_z6
12 years ago
You may want to look into Jujube. From what I've read they can take as much sun as you throw at them and are drought-tolerant, though you would probably want to water it some...

One downside is that it can send out underground roots for quite a distance and I'm not sure how close you would want it to the side of your house.
fabaceae_native
12 years ago
You have a whole lot to choose from: basically anything adapted to a Mediterranean or desert climate would take those conditions. Such as...
pomegranate
olive
citrus
jujube
almond
apricot
mulberry
fig
carob
date
carolync1
12 years ago
A 4 x 4 plot with reflected heat suggest to me a dwarf citrus (there are several varieties well-suited to Arizona - citrus varieties should be chosen by your growing region. I think pomegranate would also be a good choice. Jujube is easy to care for but sends out suckers and many varieties will want to grow quite large.

You might check on figs, too. Dates require you to hire someone to pollinate them when they get big, I believe. Mulberries can be messy, but if you can keep the tree small and netted against birds, it might be a good choice.
SWTransplant
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks all for your suggestions. I ended up getting a Macetera orange (similar to a Trovita, except even easier to peel apparently) and plan to let it grow like a big bush to minimize the sunburn component.

I thought about a fig and a jujube. I'm just not that comfortable with a fig being the close to the house, given their root problem, and I've also heard the endless jujube sucker problem as well.

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Suggestion for Extreme Heat/Sun Tree

Comments (6)

johnmerr

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Suggestion for Extreme Heat/Sun Tree

Comments (6)

johnmerr

applenut_gw

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