Anyone growing fruit trees?

Hi,

Is anyone growing fruit trees (besides citrus)? I'm interested in peaches and maybe apples. I wonder if anyone has had success with these?

Leslie

The problem is not enough winter chill.
You may find some helpful info at:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG368
and at:
http://floridaseed.net/horticulture/stonefruits.htm
and:
http://www.oasisdesign.net/landscaping/fruittrees.htm

good luck!

lamb, i think you can do plums and pears. we have a pear in the front yard that was looking pretty sickly when we moved in. naturally i ran around feeding everything in the yard. the pear got (i think) fireblight or something like it. i found that i shouldnt have used so much nitrogen. anyway, its alive and kicking and full of pears, despite the bad looking leaves. we trimmed a lot of mistletoe out of it too and lots of suckers. whoever trimmed it in the past butchered it. i have no idea what kind it it. i think you can grow persimmons too. you might try custard apple. my mind has gone blank on the real name. they grow all over the midwest, but i think here too. that would be a native here. good luck! o by the way, does your stromanthe close up its leaves at night? i ordered one and its doing ok. i think its interesting how the leaves move at night and morning. debi

Hi Debi,

Thanks for the info. Yes, my stromanthe does close it's leaves at night. It's fun all the way around.

Leslie

One of my Customers has some kind of white peach that does well

just checked in to 2 apples. anna and dorsett golden. both of these need very little chill time. anna is large, pale green blushed red, crisp, sweet, slightly tangy. produces at a young age, ripens early. dorsett is medium to large yellow or greenish yellow, sweet, good for eating or cooking, keeps well. this one pollenizes the other one. both rated for zone 9, coastal south, thats us! im not even wild about apples and they sound good! debi

im reading about peaches now. they sound alot trickier in maintainence terms. but there are a couple with low chill requirements. flordaprince only needs 150 hrs. thats the lowest i find and it says esp. good for central florida. sunraycer and southern belle are two more that sound good for here. good luck. if you want more info, just let me know. debi

Am trying my hand at pineapples and after tasting one home-grown...wow are they delicious. Much sweeter than what is store-bought. The bananas haven't given me a 'hand' yet. lol

The mango tree is the best. It is a no-pulp variety which means you can freeze it. We eat mangos from mid-June to mid-August and make lots of mango smoothies with yogurt and banana. It is THE summer drink for us. Now...when the bananas start bearing imagine the really fresh smoothies then!

Growing fresh fruit is so exciting. LOL Oh, I almost forgot the six papayas which I started from seed, thanks to DG. Haven't grown them in years but they are really tasty, too. They are 1-2' tall at present so have a lot of growing to do.

Would like to try apples here, too. Have heard of the anna and dorsett that you mentioned, trackinsand.

I have a small lychee tree and just got 2 carambola trees, 2 southern blueberries and a raspberry.

Thanks, budgielover, for reminding me of the loquat...only 12" tall...and holding! lol

What blueberry is that...'southern'?

I'll have to look at the tags when I get home. I just got them in a trade this week.

There are many peach tree varieties cultivated for Florida type climates such as the Floragrande, Flordaprince, Flordaking and Tropic Beauty.

I Have a Floragrande that has grown well and given use a few peaches. The tree is only 3 years old and we over pruned it last year causing a die back this spring. The tree has recovered well. Most the peach trees in Florida that I have seen have been relatively small 10 – 12 feet though they say they can grow larger. I have also been told by a few people that the trees only last 7 – 10 years in Florida but I do not how true this is.

A lot of different fruit variaties can be grown in Florida. I'm in Orlando, which doesn't get a whole lot of "chill hours" but still grown citrus, papayas, bananas, peaches, plums, and nectarines. Sunhome nectarines were developed by UF, and require less chilling dormant time.
MerryMary

I forgot I was watching this thread (forgot to tweak it)

I am moving in a couple weeks from zone 10b to 9 something and I'm really excited about growing some fruit trees. I am moving to my own 5 acres and plan to use the acre in the back for my fruit "groves/orchard".

Every tree I have was given to me by DG members. Isn't it wonderful? I have dwarf peach, papaya, guava, avocado, key lime, and does Sea Almond count? Oh yes, and bananas and I have 1 pineapple plant. I also have Lychee seeds I will be planting.

Being in a cooler zone I'm hoping to actually get some fruit eventually.

Jan, did I forget anything?
Molly
:^))

Molly,
It may get too cold for the lychees up there and you will have to send them here. LOL
Don't forget you owe me peach cobbler when those peach trees produce. They grew OK here but never thrived and would probably never produce. I knew someone who got regular peached to produce in Inverness so they should do great there.
Jan...

Cobbler it is, I'll get Jeremy to look up a recipe and learn how to cook it.........................

Molly
:^)))