need some fruit tree buying advice

[Zafra]

Hi everyone,
we're getting close to making some grafted fruit tree purchases - citrus, avocado, mango. In the citrus department, there's a choice between smaller plants which they say will start fruiting in a year/year and a half, or larger ones, much pricier of course, which are already fruiting. I have a LOT of different tropical fruit tree seedlings which won't start to produce for three years or much longer, so it's very tempting to get some instant gratification and buy at least a few of the larger trees. But I don't know if that's a good idea - is there a rule against buying already fruiting trees in a pot? I know with veggie seedlings (which I never buy, I've just read about it) that it's really not a good idea to buy something that's already flowering in a pot because it won't give you much of a harvest in the end and are usually less vigorous plants. But those are annuals, so I don't know if it's the same with trees. Should I control myself and buy only the smaller plants? Or if it's ok to buy a fruiting tree, are there some things I should check to make sure it's a good specimen that has a good chance of thriving when I plant it out? Any suggestions most appreciated.

[TropicalFruitHunters]

My two cents only here.  If you can afford the larger, more mature plants, that is what I would go with every time.  There is nothing wrong with instant gratification.   

[nullzero]

Just keep in mind its much easier to establish smaller plants with root systems that are non compacted. I prefer smaller plants, because I am using waterboxxes to establish the roots into the ground water table. The larger plants won't fit into the waterboxxes. Also the larger plants need more irrigation needs, depending on natural rain cycles its harder for larger plants that are trying to get established.

The irrigation needs are less of an issue if you have a smaller plot of land, however if you got a larger area of land that is not totally irrigated it may be an issue.

[mangomanic12]

Zafra.
Variety is the Spice of life.
Get both sizes , if you can afford at least 1 larger size plant , get it. Why not reward yourself with a quicker fruiting tree?
You are going to work hard maintaining them trees anyway. You deserve it .

[demingcr]

I have bought a mix of small and large trees. While it is true smaller ones grow/establish faster, there is nothing wrong with having a few mature trees mixed in to supplement the waiting game for the others to come of age.

The practice i'd recommend with larger plants is to avoid buying root bound ones or overly large trees in small pots, and to give the roots a nice un tangling and/or trimming right before you plant it.

[zands]

Definitely treat yourself to a few large size trees to get some  of your home grown fruit sooner. As said above...unbind the roots or avoid bound up large size plants. I started with one 7 gallon mango and five in 3 gallon pots. Later I got more in 7 gallon and a few in 15 gallon

[CGameProgrammer]

It's perfectly fine to buy trees that are already fruiting and of course it ensures you know what you're buying so little/no risk of mislabelling. A larger tree will spend most of its resources establishing the roots before growing out, and it might abort some of its fruit, but it'd still be way ahead of where a younger tree would be. Fruit and flowers do slow growth but that's true of all trees, not just recently-planted ones. Some people like to remove all flower buds the first few years to maximize growth of the plant, but that requires more patience than I have.