Me and tha wife are thinking about trying to plant some fruit in tha yard this year, wondering what we should try ? I see a few neighbors with pears and citrus, neither one of us have very green thumbs and our yard has a lot of clay , any ideas on what would be a good choice ? Fruit trees , berry’s, ??
We’ve been growing Moro blood oranges, Ruby Red grapefruit, improved Meyer lemons and a couple of varieties of satsumas for years. All of those varieties have thrived in clay soil and not much special treatment. Root stock has been trifoliate orange, a native tree, or Carrizo orange.
Moro blood oranges here don’t tend to get quite as “bloody†as they do in California where store bought bloods come from. They do produce well here and are great for juice or cocktails.
It’s trickier to grow stone fruit and the other northern type fruit trees along the coast. Most need a minimum of chill hours to thrive. Can’t control the weather, so it’s likely chill hours won’t be sufficient right along the coast. More inland, things get better for fruit like peaches and pears. Look for varieties that have low chill hours.
Location makes a huge difference...SETX can cover multiple growing zones. I'm about 100 miles from the coast and what I can grow is considerably different from what I could grow on the coast.
Kinda depends on your zone. I am in zone 9, south of Houston, about 10 miles as the crow flies from the GOM. We also are plagued with gumbo soil.
I have "orange", "tangerine" and "lemon" trees bought from Lowes back before all the named varieties became popular. I also have Rio Red grapefruit, Seedless satsuma, Sweet lemon, kumquat and Meyer lemons and Calamondin orange. The oldest have been in the ground for about 15+ years and have survived drought and freezes into the 20's. No special planting processes done. Note, the calamondin make a very small and very sour fruit that most people don't like but it is good for seasoning various dishes.
I have experimented with peaches, plums, apples, persimmon and others I can't remember now, with mixed results. You do, as stated above, need to pay attention to needed chill hours but varieties of most have been developed for the higher winter temps we experience. You just need to do your research and find the right ones.
Buy from a reputable source. There is an man in Lake Jackson named Panzarella that has helped develop varieties of different fruit trees that are good for this area. I recommend him as a good source. He has been growing for a long time. You can just google "Panzarella lake jackson to find his web site.
Thank y’all , I live in tha winnie area so not to far from tha beach, we did plant blueberries in a raised bed last year that seem to be doing ok so far , any other type of berries that would do well in this area?
Blackberries do very well and require little care. The newer Indian varieties are the best IMO for SETX including Apache, Navajo, Natchez, and my personal favorite Ouachita which is thornless and trouble free.
I also grow the thornless berry. I like the quachita and the natchez. Not sure which one of the berries has runners but it produces a lot. I have 5 berries that has runners 6 to 8 feet long. I now let them run on cattle panels. Last year I made cages and let them spiral around inside the cage. Got a gallon of berries off of each one. Again not sure on the name but started 6 more from cutting a couple weeks back. Will eventually have nothing but these for blackberries. And I will always have my raspberries and blue berries.
Key to good blackberry production is pruning them right now. Branches(shoots) should be cut back to 18" and the canes around 48-60 max. Not more than 5-6 canes in a group.
Owari or Brown Select satsumas. Republic of Texas orange.
Acres Home and Southern Bartlett pears.
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