Best fruit trees and planting dates?
tracydr
13 years ago
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turtleman49
13 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Best time to plant fruit trees and Companions
Comments (1)I would plant your evergreens now and the deciduous fruit trees when dormant. Any new deciduous fruit trees I would buy bareroot in January. Select your trees carefully noting their chilling requirement and favored pollinizers. Growing fruit trees for eventual use as firewood is not cost effective. Al...See MoreBest Fruit Trees to Plant in Los Angeles?
Comments (33)"I was wondering what are the easiest, most fruit bearing trees to plant in Southern California. (I just put in a dwarf avocado and I also have two figs, a pomegranate, lemon, lime, and orange. Do you think its wise to try apples or peaches? The citrus trees seem to have a lot of different maladies, while the figs seem to be thriving on their own.)" "Sunset Zone 23 has always been Southern California's best zone for avocados"-Sunset. Natural, ideal fit for Suptropical So Cal - Avocados, Figs, Pomegranates, Persimmons Jujube Loquat Citrus (great evergreens, but recent disease issues) Low chill Apricot/Aprium, Low Chill Plum/Pluot, Low Chill Nectarine/hybrids Mangos, Bananas, Guavas & other tropicals (esp. if you have a hot, south-facing wall.) Fussier Trees - Peaches (climate), Cherimoya (hand pollination), low-chill cherry (Royal pair can take 7 years to sync up & produce fruit), apple of any chill rating (grow just fine, but one blight can wipe them out), pear (grow just fine, but one blight can wipe them out) Consider first: Sunset zone information - quite helful How "low chill" do you need? (Compare to Sunset maps) If you want fruit, you have to select varieties with chill requirements less than the number of chill hours you get in the majority of years. (If your chill range is 150-500, a tree rated 400 might give fruit prolifically one in every seven years.) I would set the Dave Wilson Nursery tool under your median chill hour to look for varieties. Not trees, but good perennial fruit: Kiwi, Grapes, Passionfruit, Low chill southern highbush blueberries, Low chill hybrid caneberries (boysen, olallie, rasp, black etc), Gogi, etc. --------------- One more link: Here is the VERY helpful Dave Wilson Chill Zone selection tool. It's a very long link, but I've adjusted the settings to get you started. Make sure you adjust these settings for just under your average chill hours per year (set here for 300) and your USDA zone (set here for 10). If you have FROST (most don't), then maybeadjust the harvest dates too.): http://www.davewilson.com/product-information/quick-screen/fruit-varieties-zone-chill-testing?field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=apple&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=apricot&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=cherry&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=fig&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=jujube&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=nectarine&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=peach&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=pear&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=persimmon&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=plum&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=interspecifics&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=domestica&field_product_zone_lowest_value_op=%3C%3D&field_product_zone_lowest_value%5Bvalue%5D=10&field_product_zone_lowest_value%5Bmin%5D=&field_product_zone_lowest_value%5Bmax%5D=&field_product_zone_highest_value_op=%3E%3D&field_product_zone_highest_value%5Bvalue%5D=10&field_product_zone_highest_value%5Bmin%5D=&field_product_zone_highest_value%5Bmax%5D=&field_product_chill_hours_value_op=%3C%3D&field_product_chill_hours_value%5Bvalue%5D=300&field_product_chill_hours_value%5Bmin%5D=&field_product_chill_hours_value%5Bmax%5D=&field_harvest_date_value%5Bmin%5D%5Byear%5D=2012&field_harvest_date_value%5Bmin%5D%5Bmonth%5D=1&field_harvest_date_value%5Bmin%5D%5Bday%5D=1&field_harvest_date_value%5Bmax%5D%5Byear%5D=2012&field_harvest_date_value%5Bmax%5D%5Bmonth%5D=12&field_harvest_date_value%5Bmax%5D%5Bday%5D=31...See Morewhen is the best tine to plant fruit tree?
Comments (2)Congrats on the new house. You're first step should be to get your soil tested to see what's already in it. You can contact your local county extension office listed in the govt pages of your phone book for instructions on how and what to send for testing. It's generally best to plant trees when they are dormant (mid to late fall or early spring) since you'll have to spread out the roots when you plant it. Doing this when the tree is dormant minimizes shock to the tree and speeds up the process of settling in and establishing a good root system. There's a lot of debate between bare root, B&B (ball & burlap) and bucket. Generally bucket is considered the least favorite since roots often get wound around inside the bucket. Unless your soil test comes back with major problems most feel that it's best to use your soil with very few additions or ammendments. Instead work your soil about an extra 12-18 inches larger than you need so it's not too compacted and doesn't form a "trap" for water around your new planting. For even more indepth information I recommend you post your questions in the fruit forum. It's a lot more active and has a lot more "experts". There's one forum particularly for grapes that can offer suggestions on the best grapes for home cultivation. Jellyman is one of the consistant posters in the fruit forums and has lots of experience growing fruit. happy growing!...See MoreFruit Trees; Best Planted in Rows?
Comments (2)One thing is that semidwarf trees in my yard all look like standards in other climates. They get big. One consideration is how you will take care of the ground under the trees, if you need room for mowing or whatever. I have ground cover Comfrey, Symphytum ibericum, planted under some fruit trees and it keeps out the weeds and is not too hard to find apples in. My trees are grouped in rows or in a double row for mowing purposes then I put smaller fruits like currants in between some of the larger trees in a row. Having them grouped makes it easier to put fencing around to keep deer out, too. A circle might make that easier. Another consideration is what other trees are around to cast shade on them or cause root interference. Fig trees in particular need as much full sun as possible....See Morethisisme
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