Shade tolerance, anyone? I have limited growing space and every square inch counts. I hope to plant a fruit tree at a spot shaded partly by a nearby large tree. Between fig, wax jambu, guava, or pomegranate, which one do you think has the largest likelihood of fruiting in part sun / part shade, zone 10a? Many thanks!!

By the way I'm impressed how my mulberry is able to pull off fruiting in even more shaded spot of my yard, where a persimmon tree was barely hanging on previously. My loquat tree seems to be relatively OK with shade too, but they are not yet at fruiting age.

Thank you very much!

I attempted to top and multi-graft my 3 yr old peach tree this spring, and all of the bark grafts failed while V grafts on a small side branch took. Right now the tree is putting all its energy toward those grafts, and the whole tree looks unbalanced. Is there anyway to induce new growth from the tree trunk? Thank you very much!

Hello all   I am trying to build a mini greenhouse for rooting the cuttings I recently received: figs, mulberry, and pomegranates. Well, the frame is done (4' x 3' x 2' from 3/4" pvc pipes plus 3-way elbows), but I am not sure if the plastic sheet I have on hand will work - not sure where they came from either, construction maybe?

My friend says it will burn the plants for sure because air will not circulate. I thought the idea of greenhouse is to lock in the humidity and maintain heat...? Ideas based on the photo? If it is not suitable, any recommendations for local selections? Many thanks!

The tree is in the ground. No it's not a dwarf variety.
It's an older fuerte that shoots for the star in every way possible.
Revenges hard when pruned.

When you trim the tree too much it won't fruit.
When you not trim the fruits are out of reach.

How do you train large variety avocado trees so they stay about 2 stories tall?
Yearly pruning? Weight? Talking to it nicely? Just let it go?

Thank you so much!

Hello all from 100F Southern Cal...   

I am hoping to top my 3 yrs old peach tree (nursery likely screwed it up and gave us a poor variety) and graft it coming spring. The trunk diameter is roughly 3 inches. When would you recommend topping it, so there will be fresh greenwoods ready for graft when scion exchanges come up in Jan / Feb 2016?

For a mature citrus tree ~1.5 stories tall, how much trimming is required before it will consider taking new grafts? Your thoughts are much much appreciated!!

Our jujube tree (not sure what cultivar, lang maybe?) has been a very reliable producer ever since planted 3 years ago. We always joked that if everything else fails, this tree will do great (relative to its small size).

Well, this year it had lots of new growth, bloomed beautifully, but only very few fruits are set. Scratching my head and wondering why? I admit I did not feed my trees during the fruiting season, just like the past 2 years...

Thank you very much!

I have a dragon fruit in 5 gallon pot and am thinking about transplanting it to ground. The only space available is right by a south facing brick wall. Would having a dragon fruit planted close to the wall cause damage to it in the long run? How aggressive is dragon fruit root system and how close is too close? Thank you very very much!

All of a sudden I have quite a few new grafts on hand: mostly avocado (in ground), one loquat (in ground) and *maybe* one guava (in pot). I am totally obsessed and checking them way too frequently... Considering it's end of May already, what precautions would I need to protect these newly-taken grafts from the elements and summer heat? Paper bag / shade cloth?  I read it's better to keep the parafilm and grafting tape on for about 2 more weeks to make sure the union is secure, as long as the tape does not girdle?

On the side note, the unsuccessful grafts rotted as rainwater got trapped inside the transparent tape. Is there anything to be done in my future attempts? Tips truly appreciated!!!



I bumped into the above photo from myavocadotrees.com and wished I used my "tree wound" on hand: somehow thought it's for bark grafting only!

Have searched the forum and realized we have not talked about favorite guava varieties for a while

I am looking for a pest free, good tasting guava for zone 10b, preferably with minimal/edible seeds. It will be container grown. Recommendations are truly appreciated!

What is your favorite guava?

I saved a full sun spot in the garden for my tiny, still-in-the-pot black pearl wax apple, have always believed it requires full sun. today I heard from a nursery employee that wax apple actually needs shade for summer to protect its fruits from popping open. when asked how many hours of sun is preferred, she said 1-2 hours (!!)

is it true for southern California? I know wax apple is delicate and needs protection from frost, but never thought about shading it from summer heat. ideas? suggestions? Thank you so much.

For those of you mighty gardeners who squeeze maximum amount of fruit trees into limited space... I am very curious what do you consider a reasonable minimum spacing for your tropical trees.

I know in Dave Wilson's Backyard Orchard Culture theory, trees could be spaced 3 feet apart in hedgerow planting, is it realistic when it comes to tropical trees? What distance do you use for your trees and what factors do you consider? (I am planning 4-5 feet distance for loquat, cherimoya, fig, wax apple, but my parents feel it's way to little. The yard space in question is only 5' deep though instead of 10' compared to the hedgerow diagram below.)



When it comes to pruning, I heard it involves topping the trees frequently, at least for some non-dwarf varieties (cough cough kohala longan). That is, I do not want large trees, but if heavy pruning makes them barely fruitful then it defeats the purpose of planting fruit trees. Any tips and tricks to minimize the negative impact on the tree's productivity? (To be very honest, I researched on "summer pruning" and still very clueless when is it in SoCal and how is it done?)

I maxed out of the full sun and even the part shade yard space, at least according to the opinion of my mom, the boss.
But my wish list is still long and ever increasing! For all of you who grow fruit trees in containers, what size and type of containers do you use?

My containers would sit on concrete, saucer advisable? Not planning to move them often after settled, once a year at most. May plant them in the ground later to replace other trees, so a nursery pot would be easier to transplant from? I cannot decide between 25 gal and 15 gal, the bigger the better but those pots are harder to handle / come by...

Trees I have in mind for containers: pakistan or white mulberry, pickering mango, dragon fruits, papaya, more loquat & avocado... Pierce cherimoya lucks out and will have a spot in the ground.