First time grower: fruit tree selection help

12 years ago

Hello knowledgable green-thumbs! I'm a first time grower/gardener who wants to start planting some fruit trees. I have always wanted to start a fruit/vegetable garden but I have been at university for the past few years and it never seemed to be worth putting out the money and time only to move to a new house in a year or two. I'm currently in southern california where I will stay for at least the next two years, hopefully longer. I've become really interested in fruit trees lately and I need some help selecting my best options.

I'm planning to plant in pots to allow me the ease and the option to transport them if necessary when I go to grad school. Because I have never had a garden of my own before, I've decided to start from pre-grown 1-3 year old trees versus seeds. I'm hoping to get some advice as to which fruits might be the best to start out with. (Relatively low maintenance but will still allow me to learn). I honestly have an obsession with ALL fruits. I spend a fortune at farmers markets every week buying a variety of items, so I'm not too set on a specific thing I want to plant. I will seriously be happy with anything!

I'm looking to start out with 2-5 fruit trees. But what I've found is that in addition to choosing which fruits I want, I have to decide on which variety (or is it species?) and it's rather overwhelming. At the moment I'm thinking about pomegranates and avocados (though I'm not sure which species of either) because I eat crazy amounts of both and their some of the most expensive items I purchase, so it will hopefully save me some money in the process. From there the options are endless: nectarines (probably my third fav), peaches, pears, bananas, oranges, apples, plums, tangerines, etc. The more I research the more I'm inclined to buy them all! YUM.

If anyone can provide advice as to which fruits, or especially fruit species, are a good option for my 9b area in southern california for a beginner, I would be forever grateful. I'm also weighing the odds of purchasing them online instead of at a local nursery which is a lot more expensive. Does anyone have recommendations for sites to take a look at or stay away from? I've recently found my way onto groworganic.com Does anyone have any experience with them?

Any additional gardening tips are also always welcome! I will likely be on here asking questions every step of the way in this process. I already have my eyes set on my next project-- a vegetable bed!

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Comments (5)

fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
12 years ago
Welcome! You have chosen a hobby that can that can feed body and soul for a lifetime!

Avocados sound like a difficult choice to me but I haven't tried myself. Have grown most of the others mentioned in pots. They all bear but don't expect enough to cut your food bill noticeably.

Groworganic is a good supplier. I bought 10 of their trees last yr. Price is right and all grew but they were minimally packed and kinda dry on arrival.

I'd suggest looking for bare root trees in January at big local nurseries. When I lived near Fresno they carried them at good prices and at the best planting time, mid winter.

My favorite low chill nectarines that should be widely available bare root are Arctic Star and Snow Queen.

Check out the San Diego chapter of California Rare Fruit Growers online or whatever chapter is nearby. They have long lists of best cultivars, scion exchanges, and regular meetings to learn and meet fellow growers.
Anthony Nguyen
11 years ago
Sorry to bump a 3 month old thread but

FruitNut, you've mentioned in a previous forum that you like Bay Laurel Nursery. I just moved and I'm looking to purchase about 8 dave wilson fruit trees.

Would you go with groworganic or bay laurel nursery for those trees. At 8 trees Bay Laurel starts to get quite more pricey but if its worth it then I'm willing to shell out more.
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fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
11 years ago
I bought my last order from groworganic. I think 10 trees shipped for about $200. Not packed the best but all grew well. I'd buy from them again if they had what I wanted.
alan haigh
11 years ago
Bay Laurel seems well organized and reliable. They do cut most of the roots before shipping which may not be a big issue with your long season. Still, if you can find a supplier that ships more root in larger boxes, those are higher value trees because they will likely give you maybe 50% more growth the first season.

I got a direct comparison last season with 4 trees from Bay Laurel compared to 10 similar diametered trees from ACN. Same soil, species and the rest, but more root got the ACN trees off to a more vigorous start.

I'm surprised Grow Organic doesn't have trees wrapped well enough to avoid dehydration. By now most nurseries I purchase from do a good job of surrounding trees with plastic and packing wet material around the roots. Maybe they are trying to cut down on their use of plastic, given their name.
Anthony Nguyen
11 years ago
Thanks for the tip guys. I went ahead and ordered from both sites since groworganic sells emerald beaut plum and BL doesn't. So i split my order 6 trees BL and 3 trees grow organic.

Sadly, I snooze I lose. I was hoping to get an Arctic Star nectarine on cit from BL but they were sold out of the semi dwarfs. So I ended up ordering an Arctic Star on Nema. I'm going to do a 2 in 1 hole planting with one of my other Peach trees I ordered on cit. I know its not advisable to put two different vigor rootstocks in 1 hole but I'll try my best to keep the Arctic Star summer pruned to match the size of the other Cit peach tree. Goal anyways is to keep all trees 6-8 feet max.