Can you recommend good fruit tree for me?

[NewB_NewB]

Hi,

I live near Hacienda height, and I have orange, lemon, avocado, papaya tree in my back yard. 

I'm planning to plant one or two different kinds of fruit tree, and Atemoya, Cherimoya, Guava is in the list.

However when I googled Atemoya, it says that the tree have to be planted at least 25 to 30 ft away from other tree.

There is bamboo just 5-6 feet from the spot that I'm thinking to plant Atemoya.

And there is a queen palm just 7-8 feet form the spot 

And there is a large lemon tree just 15-20 feet from the spot, etc.

And there is a pool just 4 feet away from the spot. 

 

Please let me know if I can plant either Atemoya or Cherimoya in the spot.

And also please recommend me good fruit tree that you can recommend for me. 

 

Thank you.  

[amh]

I think you should be able to plant the trees closer as long as they are kept pruned, but 15 feet is probably safe. As far as I know the various Annona species can be shaped and enthusiastically pruned.

[Silas_Sancona]

13 hours ago, NewB_NewB said:

Hi,

I live near Hacienda height, and I have orange, lemon, avocado, papaya tree in my back yard. 

I'm planning to plant one or two different kinds of fruit tree, and Atemoya, Cherimoya, Guava is in the list.

However when I googled Atemoya, it says that the tree have to be planted at least 25 to 30 ft away from other tree.

There is bamboo just 5-6 feet from the spot that I'm thinking to plant Atemoya.

And there is a queen palm just 7-8 feet form the spot 

And there is a large lemon tree just 15-20 feet from the spot, etc.

And there is a pool just 4 feet away from the spot. 

 

Please let me know if I can plant either Atemoya or Cherimoya in the spot.

And also please recommend me good fruit tree that you can recommend for me. 

 

Thank you.  

Aside from the 3 choices on you're list, Where you're at, you have many choices, ..if you have the room..

Lychee, If i remember correctly, some varieties are better than others in S. Cal.

Longan. Easier/hardier than Lychee.

Jaboticaba, numerous varieties, some are faster/ fruit faster ( Blue, Red, White ) than others. Fruit is amazing ( red esp. ) Beautiful tree regardless and can be kept smaller -if desired.

Cherry of the Rio Grande, Suriname Cherry, ..several other sp. in the Genus Eugenia. Also can be kept smaller -if desired

Mango.  Some will be better choices than others/ stay  ..or can be kept at a smaller size/height.

Persimmon, if you enjoy them.

Some S. Cal rare fruit growers seem to be doing well with obscure types of Garcinia ( Mangosteen ).  Most common sp. however will be tough to grow w/ out a greenhouse though.

Dragon Fruit/ Pitaya

Coffee

Tamarind and Guamanchil.. though not really a fan of the 2nd.. Fruit really doesn't taste like much, at least to me. Same with Inga, Ice Cream Bean ( which should grow there also ). Tamarind may take it's time to reach flowering /fruiting size though.

Sapote.. Both the common types and Chocolate.

Couple more:

Allspice, Possibly Bay Rum/ Lemon Bay Rum ( Though i wouldn't consume the leaves of the last 2.. likely toxic. Smell fantastic though. )

True Cinnamon

Cardamom, Turmeric, other edible Gingers..

..I'm sure i'm forgetting others, lol..
 

Edited March 16, 2021 by Silas_Sancona
edit

[amh]

38 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Aside from the 3 choices on you're list, Where you're at, you have many choices, ..if you have the room..

Lychee, If i remember correctly, some varieties are better than others in S. Cal.

Longan. Easier/hardier than Lychee.

Jaboticaba, numerous varieties, some are faster/ fruit faster ( Blue, Red, White ) than others. Fruit is amazing ( red esp. ) Beautiful tree regardless and can be kept smaller -if desired.

Cherry of the Rio Grande, Suriname Cherry, ..several other sp. in the Genus Eugenia. Also can be kept smaller -if desired

Mango.  Some will be better choices than others/ stay  ..or can be kept at a smaller size/height.

Persimmon, if you enjoy them.

Some S. Cal rare fruit growers seem to be doing well with obscure types of Garcinia ( Mangosteen ).  Most common sp. however will be tough to grow w/ out a greenhouse though.

Dragon Fruit/ Pitaya

Coffee

Tamarind and Guamanchil.. though not really a fan of the 2nd.. Fruit really doesn't taste like much, at least to me. Same with Inga, Ice Cream Bean ( which should grow there also ). Tamarind may take it's time to reach flowering /fruiting size though.

Sapote.. Both the common types and Chocolate.

Couple more:

Allspice, Possibly Bay Rum/ Lemon Bay Rum ( Though i wouldn't consume the leaves of the last 2.. likely toxic. Smell fantastic though. )

True Cinnamon

Cardamom, Turmeric, other edible Gingers..

..I'm sure i'm forgetting others, lol..
 

Great list,

do you have any recommendations for container grown tropical fruit?

Must be able to handle low 30s and be maintained to 10 ft or less.

[Silas_Sancona]

1 minute ago, amh said:

Great list,

do you have any recommendations for container grown tropical fruit?

Must be able to handle low 30s and be maintained to 10 ft or less.

Jaboticaba and most other Eugenia can be container grown and have handled temps into at least the mid 30s well, at least has been my experiences w/ what i've grown..  There's a well respected Jabo. grower in Florida who grows a good amount of his personal collection in containers. ( Adam Shafran, Flying Fox Fruits ) Bought plants from him in the past, all were fantastic.

Allspice was another that seemed to do alright in containers and handled occasional cold well.. It's relatives, Bay Rum/ Lemon Bay Rum would likely do alright in pots, though both are more cold sensitive/ can't be consumed.  Coffee is pretty easy/ will fruit in containers if kept out of full sun, at least from what i have heard. Planning on trying a few later.

Tropical/ Strawberry/Lemon Guava would do fine in pots.

Think Bay Laurel would be another easy container-grown candidate. Would be the hardiest of the bunch as well. Supposedly hardy to zone 8.. A few sources say zone 7, but not sure they're that hardy.

Bigger things like Lychee, Longan, Mangoes, Tamarind, Sapote.. etc could possibly survive/fruit in containers, but imagine they'd require more space.  There's someone from Texas over on the International Tropical Fruit Forum that supposedly grows all sorts of things in containers there. Think he has a greenhouse though.

[amh]

6 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Jaboticaba and most other Eugenia can be container grown and have handled temps into at least the mid 30s well, at least has been my experiences w/ what i've grown..  There's a well respected Jabo. grower in Florida who grows a good amount of his personal collection in containers. ( Adam Shafran, Flying Fox Fruits ) Bought plants from him in the past, all were fantastic.

Allspice was another that seemed to do alright in containers and handled occasional cold well.. It's relatives, Bay Rum/ Lemon Bay Rum would likely do alright in pots, though both are more cold sensitive/ can't be consumed.  Coffee is pretty easy/ will fruit in containers if kept out of full sun, at least from what i have heard. Planning on trying a few later.

Tropical/ Strawberry/Lemon Guava would do fine in pots.

Think Bay Laurel would be another easy container-grown candidate. Would be the hardiest of the bunch as well. Supposedly hardy to zone 8.. A few sources say zone 7, but not sure they're that hardy.

Bigger things like Lychee, Longan, Mangoes, Tamarind, Sapote.. etc could possibly survive/fruit in containers, but imagine they'd require more space.  There's someone from Texas over on the International Tropical Fruit Forum that supposedly grows all sorts of things in containers there. Think he has a greenhouse though.

Do you know any sources for Jaboticaba, I dont see much for sale at flying fox.

Also, do you think Annona reticulata would tolerate being grown in containers?

[Silas_Sancona]

3 minutes ago, amh said:

Do you know any sources for Jaboticaba, I dont see much for sale at flying fox.

Also, do you think Annona reticulata would tolerate being grown in containers?

You might contact Adam and see what he's got going.. Looks like he updated the site recently ( see he can ship everywhere in the U.S. now < finally! > )  so maybe he doesn't have everything listed ( or everyone is buying up all his plants, lol )  Besides him, have seen small starter plants offered on ebay..  Would also check places like Plant- O - gram, nurseries that can ship from Florida.. As i'd mentioned, the Red fruited Jabos. will fruit faster than most of standard black/purple types ( 3-5 years from seed, vs. 7-10+ years for standard, black fruited varieties like Paulista/ Sabara ) White / Blue Jabos also fruit pretty quickly as well. Plants i bought from him were 3 gal. and darn near perfect when they arrived.

Not sure about that Annona in containers.  @Xenon, thoughts??

[NewB_NewB]

9 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Aside from the 3 choices on you're list, Where you're at, you have many choices, ..if you have the room..

Lychee, If i remember correctly, some varieties are better than others in S. Cal.

Longan. Easier/hardier than Lychee.

Jaboticaba, numerous varieties, some are faster/ fruit faster ( Blue, Red, White ) than others. Fruit is amazing ( red esp. ) Beautiful tree regardless and can be kept smaller -if desired.

Cherry of the Rio Grande, Suriname Cherry, ..several other sp. in the Genus Eugenia. Also can be kept smaller -if desired

Mango.  Some will be better choices than others/ stay  ..or can be kept at a smaller size/height.

Persimmon, if you enjoy them.

Some S. Cal rare fruit growers seem to be doing well with obscure types of Garcinia ( Mangosteen ).  Most common sp. however will be tough to grow w/ out a greenhouse though.

Dragon Fruit/ Pitaya

Coffee

Tamarind and Guamanchil.. though not really a fan of the 2nd.. Fruit really doesn't taste like much, at least to me. Same with Inga, Ice Cream Bean ( which should grow there also ). Tamarind may take it's time to reach flowering /fruiting size though.

Sapote.. Both the common types and Chocolate.

Couple more:

Allspice, Possibly Bay Rum/ Lemon Bay Rum ( Though i wouldn't consume the leaves of the last 2.. likely toxic. Smell fantastic though. )

True Cinnamon

Cardamom, Turmeric, other edible Gingers..

..I'm sure i'm forgetting others, lol..
 

Thank you for your comment! 

By the way,  Do birds eat Jabotica fruits? 

If birds eat jabotica, I think it is hard to protect fruit from birds. 

Edited March 17, 2021 by NewB_NewB

[Silas_Sancona]

3 minutes ago, NewB_NewB said:

Thank you for your comment! 

  I forgot to mention when recommending places to research/ check into.. If you're willing to make a trip to Vista, Exotica Rare fruits is a great place to check out. Have purchased from them a few times over the years.

Over on the International Fruit Forum, someone posted pictures from a visit to another nursery down there that sells Lychee, and has numerous large specimens on-site to look over ( ..and a bunch of other stuff as well ) Kind of pricey, unless you ( or anyone else )  is looking to start out with bigger specimens.   
                                                                                                                 
Title of the thread: https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=43185.0   for anyone who wants to take a look.  Plan on checking out this place myself once out there.

There are a couple other great tropical fruit nurseries down that way as well.

[rprimbs]

I would recommend cherimoya over atemoya -- from a taste standpoint.  You can grow trees closer than the recommended distances.  If the roots are limited than the tree may end up a little stunted, but that's not always a bad thing.  People will plant multiple trees in the same hole, because they want to stunt and maximize the number of trees.  I recommend pruning the cherimoyas back fairly hard.  But don't just cut off the branch at any old place.  Cut it at a bud or the base of a side branch.  Every time you cut a branch off you get dead wood the extends into the tree until it heals over.  That new wood comes from the "branch collar' at the base of a branch or bud.

There are semi-tropical fruit trees that tend to stay relatively small in our climate like sapadilla, star apple, litchi, longan, and even mango.

There was a crazy guy who tried to grow a durian in Encinitas.  It got to about six feet tall before it died.  But that was me.  I was covering it with pvc hoops and plastic, and I had a space heater underneath.  But I got a short and the space heater went out and it succumbed to the cold.

This year I am going to try growing everything (coconuts, durian, mangosteen, pulasan, etc.), in inland Escondido, with protection.

Without protection you can grow some of the more tropical stuff against a house, or under the canopy of other trees.  And the plants will always get through the cold more easily in the ground than in a pot.