Would you buy an unnamed fruit tree?

[gnappi]

Yesterday I was in Lowes and they had an unusually nicely shaped guava (upward growth habit like a tree and not a bush) in a 5 gallon container at ~5' tall that had experienced and had fully recovered from a water deficiency but it had no cultivar or price stickers attached  to it.

Most of the other samples in stock were marked with price but not cultivar but were small in 1 gallon containers and $29. Since this one was the only fairly large one a manager priced it at $11 so I took it home. Sure it could be a dud like some of those I bought there marked "Mexican Cream" which were hard and bland but I figured I'd take a chance.

The question is, would any of you take a chance and buy a good sized and healthy fruit tree that is priced reasonably and not marked with the cultivar?







   

[Epicatt2]

If you push on the employee in Outside Garden they can (if they choose to) go look up the invoice that those guavas came in on and sometimes the invoice will show the type of guava it is even though there are no labels to that effect on or in the pots.

I have done this with some of the orchids that come in to HD but aren't labeled fully yet the whole name shows on the invoice (but not always).  Worth a try though with your guava question, IMO.

HTH

Paul M.
==

[K-Rimes]

I have found you can graft nearly any psidium species or cultivar onto guajava so I'd take it home for sure. 5' tall for $11 is really cheap.

Same story for almost anything else, honestly. I can correct it with grafting. If it's dummy cheap it's coming home.

[Coconut Cream]

Here in Florida I've only ever seen Ruby X Supreme guava at Lowe's. Maybe some other nursery suppliers are bringing in other varieties for them to sell, but at a big box store you are generally going to get the more universal options.

For 11 bucks, I would take a shot. Guava grows fast and fruits fast so I treat them like temporary trees anyway. They are dotted in between my bigger trees so I can get some fruit while I wait for my mangoes to grow. It also helps that I really like guava.

[gnappi]

Here in Florida I've only ever seen Ruby X Supreme guava at Lowe's. Maybe some other nursery suppliers are bringing in other varieties for them to sell, but at a big box store you are generally going to get the more universal options.

For 11 bucks, I would take a shot. Guava grows fast and fruits fast so I treat them like temporary trees anyway. They are dotted in between my bigger trees so I can get some fruit while I wait for my mangoes to grow. It also helps that I really like guava.

Are the trees between others getting a lot of sun or filtered light?

[Coconut Cream]

Are the trees between others getting a lot of sun or filtered light?

Lots of sun because everything is still young. My strategy was to overplant and let the trees compete. The more permanent anchor trees like Mango, Avocado, Mamey, Coconut & Sapodilla are spaced at 10 - 15 feet and will eventually predominate. The more disposable fast-fruiting trees packed in around them (banana, papaya, guava, pigeon pea, mulberry) can compete for the leftover resources and provide fruit over the 3-5 years it takes for the shade canopy to close up. Some of the secondary trees will remain productive in the marginal conditions and those that don't will be removed or relocated.

Once the shade canopy of the anchor trees is fully established then I will add culinary & ornamental gingers, tropical heliconias, vines & shade loving ground covers to fill out the landscape with color and texture. For now I am using Canna Lilies and pineapples in that role because they are fine in full sun.

I could also grow dreadlocks and refer to my garden as a "system" with succession planning of syntropic agroforestry but the truth is that I just want to make a lush, beautiful, delicious tropical paradise of plants / flowers / fruits. This video gave me a lot of inspiration, I love the dense, natural look so much more than an orchard style planting with rows of trees standing in isolation. If it costs me a few avocados per year to have butterfly ginger and perennial peanut under the tree then oh well 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daSb5or7Sc0

[Jaboticaba45]

Seems like you got a steal!
 I got a yellow plum from walmart for $5, and it's grown really well the last few years....
Now, if only I get the time and motivation to topwork it lol.

[gnappi]

Are the trees between others getting a lot of sun or filtered light?

Lots of sun because everything is still young. My strategy was to overplant and let the trees compete.>>SNIP<<

Good plan... I over planted also but in my case I was not sure what I'd like after they gave up fruit and overplanting left me the option to try more fruits and pull what did not make the grade.

[Gkight]

I for sure would have bought that tree, however now I don’t want to buy unnamed varieties. With that said I’d have easily bought the tree you describe, and graft some varieties to it if it doesn’t produce a fruit I like. I’m out of space and I can’t think of any fruit tree type that if I saw 5+ft tall and $11 that I wouldn’t be bringing home.

[Greater Good]

Yesterday I was in Lowes and they had an unusually nicely shaped guava (upward growth habit like a tree and not a bush) in a 5 gallon container at ~5' tall that had experienced and had fully recovered from a water deficiency but it had no cultivar or price stickers attached  to it.

Most of the other samples in stock were marked with price but not cultivar but were small in 1 gallon containers and $29. Since this one was the only fairly large one a manager priced it at $11 so I took it home. Sure it could be a dud like some of those I bought there marked "Mexican Cream" which were hard and bland but I figured I'd take a chance.

The question is, would any of you take a chance and buy a good sized and healthy fruit tree that is priced reasonably and not marked with the cultivar?

What does the roots look like?

[gnappi]

Dunno, I have not repotted it yet, but by the appearance of the  robust new growth that it's pushing I suspect they're in pretty good shape.