Where to get tropical fruit trees in Central CA?

13 years ago

Does anybody grow tropical fruit trees in Central CA (ie. SLO County?) I've already got all the citrus/avocados availiable at Home Depot, but I would like to find a local source for rarer things like carambolas, jaboticabas, COTRG, cherimoyas, papaya, passiflora edulis, etc.

I don't have much interesting to trade, but i would be glad to buy as long as it's not too pricey (i'm in high school and i only make $50 a week ... and i'm saving for a truck.)

Thanks

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Comments (7)

ashleysf
13 years ago
My local Lowes and HD get Papayas, Dragon Fruit and passion fruit plants (guavas too) from LaVerne nursery in the Spring and Summer. They are very reasonably priced.
As for the rest, you either need to head to LA/SD area to buy them or order online. Good luck!
steve_in_los_osos
13 years ago
I'm in SLO County (fairly new) and also on a budget. There are not really places to get anything other than avocados, citrus, and the occasional manila mango, passion fruit, and dragon fruit as ashleysf said, at HD or Lowes.

But...you can start from seeds and graft later for specific cultivars. I recommend the local CRFG chapter (http://www.crfg-central.org/) for information and potential sources of scion wood for things like cherimoyas, white sapotes, etc. There are some people in the organization who grow all kinds of exotic fruits and some have been very welcoming and generous to a beginner like me with their time and expertise.

I've got a number of grafted cherimoyas and white sapotes going now as well as a couple of manila mangoes (small)some seedling mangoes and a carambola for (hopefully) later grafting.

The organization also has occasional plant raffles. Anyway, it's a start.
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jacob13
13 years ago
Email me so that we can talk. I live in California too and can help me out.

jacob_andrade@yahoo.com
red_sea_me
13 years ago
Ordering seeds or trading is the best way to go, especially if you are just learning how to care for some of these plants. It is much less frustrating to kill a $3-$5 pack of seeds than an $80 grafted tree that you had shipped in. For seeds, as Steve mentions try the CRFG but also look at Trade Winds fruit. They have all kinds of seeds, most (not all) will sprout and for a few bucks have the potential for many different fruit trees.

good luck,
-Ethan

Here is a link that might be useful: Trade Winds
lovemypup
Original Author
13 years ago
thanks for all the help! i just bought some starfruit seeds and some annnona squamosa (i have a heated greenhouse) seeds too. I'll definitely try the CRFG chapter - thanks for the suggestion. steveinlososos- do you know who owns that small cherimoya grow on the way the morro bay on Morro Rd? I bet seedlings pop up like in the avocado groves and he/she would probably be happy to sell or even give them away if there are any.
steve_in_los_osos
13 years ago
Whoa--I have not seen that cherimoya on Morro Road. Can you be more specific for location? Somewhere along there Mike Cirone of See Canyon Orchards grows cherimoya, white sapote and mandarins. Could be his?

He comes to the Farmer's Market in LO as well as SLO and other places in the area. That's how I got my seeds (from his fruit) to start my seedlings that I have since grafted.

I hope your star fruit seeds are really fresh because they are said to lose viability within a few days of being removed from the fruit. I was worried about that but wanted to try a plant so I bought a small seedling on ebay and it's doing well in the greenhouse.

You can also easily start mango seeds from the manila-type mangoes in the supermarket which are polyembryonic and can produce seedlings true-to-type without grafting.

I hope to plant out my cherimoyas and sapotes in the spring. I always graft doubles because I don't trust my luck. But I got really lucky this time around. If you're interested in possible surplus (after I've offered them to neighbors and friends), email me:

steve_shops "at" sbcglobal.net

Oh, and by the way, the closest nursery that has anything tropical to speak of is the Green Arrow/Green Thumb in Ventura. Last time I was there they had a variety of cherimoya, sapote, mangoes, guavas, etc. Nothing *really* exotic but good basic stock. It's not "close" but it's a nice drive and it's not like going to San Diego or L.A.
jackslo
13 years ago
e-mail me at yonke123@yahoo.com. I'm in Nipomo, cofounded the local CRFG, and have some plants for you, no cost. I donate plants regularly to SLO CRFG so let me know. It's great to have young folks interested in this stuff.

Where to get tropical fruit trees in Central CA?

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Where to get tropical fruit trees in Central CA?

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ashleysf

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