I live in Bakersfield, I'm trying to grow a variety of things including many from your list. As for what is thriving besides the figs, loquats, grapes, etc. Cold hardy bananas if you have the room, cherimoya, white sapote, various eugenia, guavas. In pots I have all kinds of craziness, some of them just keeping them alive is a sucess.

-Ethan

Forgot to add I also have 2 grape plants (lots of grapes, but damn squirrels ate 'em all), and the leaves got chewed up by the skeletonizer caterpillars, next year, I'll be ready for these bugs!!! I do have a few banana plants that are growing well, Australian cherimoya, jujube, fuji apples, apricot. I just talked to somebody at the UC Extension the other day, he told me that the soil in my area is known to be very basic, and I'd need to add sulfur to make it more acidic. Soil type is rocky, so some compost will help a lot as well. I'm on the east side of town, where are you? Did your fig leaves get sun burned due to the heat wave a couple weeks ago? Mine did.

Thanks,

I live downtown,
we do have to deal with alkali soil and water but for the most part it is not too bad. My house is older and thankfully has alot of organic matter in the soil because of it (plus I've added). No sunburn on the figs, they are in pots and get some relief from the heat. My dragon fruit on the other hand had to be moved, they were getting sunburned.

There is a 'local' chapter of California Rare Fruit Growers, the Sierra Chapter. We hold meetings once a month, they range from Visalia down to us. Nice group of people and some very inspirational yards to visit. In Oct and Nov we'll be holding meetings in Bako, the Nov one is at my house.

Always room for another plant lover,
-Ethan

Would be great to meet up with you and the group too. I just sent you an email.

Thanks,

I started Home Gardening. I have a few fruit trees. Fig, lemons, mangarin, orange, jujube, plum, Asian Pear, Pamagranate, & Avocados. I would like to join for advice and tips on how to care for my Trees. If it's possible.

You should have gotten a Lapins cherry tree. Not only because it happens to be one of the few varieties that don't require another pollinator, but also because you might actually have a chance of getting any cherries, as Lapins has a lower chill requirement than many other cherry varieties. If you don't get adequate winter chill, fruits won't form, even if there was pollination.

Where you live, the most important thing to do to ensure young fruit trees survive is to make sure the plants get consistently watered. The best time to plant is right after the summer is over, when plants will get a reprieve from the scorching heat. Either that or late February.

Lychee fruit is a lot better than longan, but they are also much more water thirsty, less hardy, much more stingy in fruit production. If you were thinking about giving lychee a try, Mauritius and Emperor may be the best varieties to consider, as they appear to have just a slight advantage over other varieties when it comes to drought tolerance. (Emperor has huge fruit size but is said by some to taste a bit bland) Out where you live I would try to make sure the lychee gets planted somewhere where it will be shaded from the hot afternoon sun.

You might also try pomelo, you certainly have the long summer heat needed to ripen it.

Never really looked into a cherry tree. I'll research that variety to mentioned. I'm from Wasco, Ca. Closer to Bakersfield. I have been looking into Mexican Papayas, Dragon Fruit, Ice Cream Banana Tree, Peach, & Guava Trees. I'll probably be buying one kind this next year bcuz this year I already bought enough trees. Not sure I'll have enough space for another tree after I plant all my container trees to the ground.

Reine Claude Doree plum may be interesting to look into too, superb flavor and it can still be productive up to zone 9b, less chill than many other plums.

Probably the reason many stone fruits are not that popular, people are not familiar with what specific varieties are going to be able to produce fruit in that climate. Someone with limited information may go to the store on a whim and buy a plum tree. It never produces, so no else living in the area sees or tastes any fresh plums growing. People tend to only plant the fruits they have tasted or seen growing nearby, what they are familiar with. Peaches tend to be lower chill, which is why you see them, but for other stone fruits most varieties will not do well in the area. And the big box stores like Home Depot are not good about carrying the less usual varieties that are going to be able to do better in particular areas. Chill hour ratings, a standardized metric that is simple and easy to understand, often do not give the best information either, as some fruit varieties appear to be more "adaptable" to lower chill conditions. I mean 500 hours may be optimal, but it will still produce satisfactorily at 150 hours too.

Also to add, pomegranates and pineapples should do well where you are.

Parker25mv, I didn't know Pineapples could grow well in my area. That would be awesome to be able to grow my own pineapples instead of buying them at the strore. I'm definitely looking into that one. Thank you!

Im also from Bakersfield and just purchased our first hass avocado tree. I need advice on what's the best way to care for it. It's a 5 gallon tree. I'm not sure if I should planted on the ground on maybe just buy a bigger pot and wait till it's bigger to go on the ground. I'm afraid it won't survive the winter. I'll appreciate any advice. Tia

Hi all I'm a beginner here I started this summer but most of my fruits couldn't take the heat and died the only ones hanging on by a thread now are my lemon and orange seeds, yes im doing it the hard way im growing everything from seeds. I having a hard time getting some to sprout like my lychee and cucamelon but I won't give up