Fruit Trees

[Valliam13]

I live in Central FL. Any ideas what kinds of trees would be good to plant? I'm thinking like edible trees that don't need any care and won't die the second I breathe on them like everything else does (brown thumb). I'm definitely thinking orange for sure because you can use the oranges to clean with as well What else do you think? I'd maybe only be able to plant 2-3 trees total.

[roach2654]

I would PM Southernmom, She has a green thumb!

[southernmom]

Figs, Mulberry (I have 4 and they produce dozens of gallons of fruit and grow fast) Loquats, Guavas (I have 2 and they are only a year and a half old and I got 2 dozen big fruits from one of the trees so they produce fast) persimmon, pear (particularly floridahome or sand pears but they do take a while to fruit) peach, papaya, avocado, virtually any citrus, bananas, (not those tiny cavendish-get a big one)there are one hundred thousand varieties of subtropical stuff that you could grow that are seldom heard of like cherry of the rio grande, carambola, mangoes etc. If you are nearby Howey in The Hills definitely go by this huge nursery out called 'a natural farm' http://www.anaturalfarm.com/ and take a gander at what he has out there. I buy most of my stuff from there. The man who owns it is named Luc and he knows just about anything on earth about growing in fl. He's French, btw and super nice.

For quick fruit I would suggest blueberry bushes (and mulch them with pine mulch-they love acidic soil. Out here some people just plant them in a pile of pine mulch).I would also get blackberries,(which have some medicinal use) mysore raspberry (a tropical black raspberry type that is fabulous and just keeps growing wherever the canes fall on the ground) I am sure as soon as I hit post I will remember a bunch others.
Think about tossing some onions and garlic in the ground as well. Get a softneck variety of garlic off ebay (california white or inchelium red) put them in a paper bag in the fridge til Nov and then plant.(they need chilling hours to bulb properly) Maybe get some multiplier onions in the ground as well like 'yellow potato onion' or white multiplier' they create bunching onions that you save a little from each year and replant.(you can plant those immediately, they don't need to be chilled)
Now is also the time to put some collards and mustards in the ground or in a pot.

Any questions just holler, but maybe check out that nursery in Howey. Good stuff.


Y

[southernmom]

See I knew I would forget to mention a tree. If you want a real survival food with a ton of nutrients grow Moringa. You can get the seeds fairly cheaply off ebay or get a tree from the howey in the hills nursery I mentioned. The tree can get very big or you can control growth by chopping the top off to a shrub sizeand harvesting and drying the leaves (or chop and drop mulch for compost). I have a couple trees growing and plan on sprouting a bunch more. This tree is a weed-you can't kill it unless you overwater it or let it freeze and even then the roots will probably sprout again. Seriously good survival stuff.

[Boston_Joe]

I have a couple of plum and peach trees that were on the property when we bought it. In the two summers I have been here I have yet to get a single harvestable fruit from any of them. It is either insects or some sort of fungus. I don't really want to spray but I think that I will have to next year.

[southernmom]

I have a couple of plum and peach trees that were on the property when we bought it. In the two summers I have been here I have yet to get a single harvestable fruit from any of them. It is either insects or some sort of fungus. I don't really want to spray but I think that I will have to next year.

I'm not very familiar with trees in SC-but one of several things could be going on. Do they bloom or fruit at all? It could be anything from no pollinators to excessive nitrogen to birds to bugs to a fungus to late frost...

[JJ Homestead]

I wanted to elaborate on a few things from Southernmom's great post.
Plant something your whole family will eat. Thinking along the lines of multipurpose is smart too, some fruit can be eaten fresh, baked into desserts, canned, in addition, made into jam. Consider which trees are prone to disease. If you're not planting hybrid trees, or grafted trees, you may have serious problems with insects, fungus/diseases. Plant varieties from local nurseries. I would discourage ordering online, unless you've done a lot of research and the company has some kind of guarantee, or a good friend gives you a trusty referral. When purchasing fruit trees, the chill hours are important to know. So, go online to your local extention office to find out how many hours your area gets, then compare it to the requirements of the fruit trees you're considering. Fruit will not set, or may not taste good if climate is wrong.
So far, I have FL apples, Turkey fig, Meyer Lemon, Moringa, and various berry bushes. I inadvertently tore most of the roots off the 4 ft. Moringa tree during transplantation when I dumped it out of its one gallon bucket. It wilted one day then took off like a weed, and it is a super food, said to be more nutritious than kale. Another fruit that is little known in the US, is the chayote squash, which will provide a plentiful crop throughout the summer, and can be eaten cold, similar to a cucumber or a jicama, or it can be cooked, sautéed like squash. It has a mild taste. It grows on a very large vine, and is perfect for a fence. If you utilize companion planting and put your onions and garlic close to the trunk at the base of fruit trees like, apple, peach, etc. it will protect the tree from some ailments. There are many options for non-poison bug control, do research. Best wishes!

[southernmom]

JJ Homestead-I haven't had chayote in years-my mom used to fry it and I loved it. Where do you get yours? Haven't seen any in the grocery in some time. I would love to plant some!

[Valliam13]

Do you want to just come and plant all this stuff for me? Maybe it will survive if I don't touch it.. LOL.

Figs, Mulberry (I have 4 and they produce dozens of gallons of fruit and grow fast) Loquats, Guavas (I have 2 and they are only a year and a half old and I got 2 dozen big fruits from one of the trees so they produce fast) persimmon, pear (particularly floridahome or sand pears but they do take a while to fruit) peach, papaya, avocado, virtually any citrus, bananas, (not those tiny cavendish-get a big one)there are one hundred thousand varieties of subtropical stuff that you could grow that are seldom heard of like cherry of the rio grande, carambola, mangoes etc. If you are nearby Howey in The Hills definitely go by this huge nursery out called 'a natural farm' http://www.anaturalfarm.com/ and take a gander at what he has out there. I buy most of my stuff from there. The man who owns it is named Luc and he knows just about anything on earth about growing in fl. He's French, btw and super nice.

For quick fruit I would suggest blueberry bushes (and mulch them with pine mulch-they love acidic soil. Out here some people just plant them in a pile of pine mulch).I would also get blackberries,(which have some medicinal use) mysore raspberry (a tropical black raspberry type that is fabulous and just keeps growing wherever the canes fall on the ground) I am sure as soon as I hit post I will remember a bunch others.
Think about tossing some onions and garlic in the ground as well. Get a softneck variety of garlic off ebay (california white or inchelium red) put them in a paper bag in the fridge til Nov and then plant.(they need chilling hours to bulb properly) Maybe get some multiplier onions in the ground as well like 'yellow potato onion' or white multiplier' they create bunching onions that you save a little from each year and replant.(you can plant those immediately, they don't need to be chilled)
Now is also the time to put some collards and mustards in the ground or in a pot.

Any questions just holler, but maybe check out that nursery in Howey. Good stuff.


Y

[JJ Homestead]

JJ Homestead-I haven't had chayote in years-my mom used to fry it and I loved it. Where do you get yours? Haven't seen any in the grocery in some time. I would love to plant some!

I purchased some from Publix last week. They are seasonal to summertime, so I only expect to see them this time of year. If I'm going to plant something, I usually like to get it from Asian or Mexican (any ethnic) grocers. Just put the whole fruit in a pot of dirt, but-crack side up. Sometimes they will sprout just sitting on the counter. Publix price was approx. $1/piece of fruit/veg. Grown your own, you will have about 50 piece/$1. I don't have a vine now, but I did grow it once.

[Boston_Joe]

I'm not very familiar with trees in SC-but one of several things could be going on. Do they bloom or fruit at all? It could be anything from no pollinators to excessive nitrogen to birds to bugs to a fungus to late frost...

Oh yeah. We get tones of blooms and fruit. It just goes bad overnight while on the tree. The plums get about as big as a golf ball then turn gray and shrivel. The peaches go bad at various stages. It starts with a blemish and soon the whole fruit is brown and mushy. We had a bunch that were baseball sized but hard as a rock. The next day or two and they were useless.

There is a woman nearby who sells fruit trees she may have some answers for me.

[southernmom]

Oh yeah. We get tones of blooms and fruit. It just goes bad overnight while on the tree. The plums get about as big as a golf ball then turn gray and shrivel. The peaches go bad at various stages. It starts with a blemish and soon the whole fruit is brown and mushy. We had a bunch that were baseball sized but hard as a rock. The next day or two and they were useless.

There is a woman nearby who sells fruit trees she may have some answers for me.

Sounds like a fungal type rot to me. Look into using a copper fungicide, maybe Or a hydrogen peroxide mix.