Fruit trees I gave up on

[gnappi]

This coming spring I plan on making room in my yard for as yet undetermined varieties. 

Slated for the axe are:

Excalibur Mamey. After 12 years of die back and no fruit, this one goes for sure.
White Sapote. After three years of performance like the Mamey I pulled it.
Peaches. Even though I have gotten fruit and the two I have are healthy, the crops after 9 and 11 years have not been large enough to justify the space.
The soursop was completely cleaned of foliage by this last cold snap, it's been (putting it mildly) a shy bearer and as of now its only use was adding leaf litter and shade to the yard :-)

I may once again try guava. I've had great luck with large number of fruit, but had serious fruit fly issues. This time I'll try bagging the fruits much earlier.


 

[roblack]

This is a cool thread idea. Much of my ventures into fruiting plants has been experimentation, and most I have never tried, much less know if they grow well in my microclimate.  So, there has been a bit of trial and error. I have learned to not trust the taste of the first fruits of many plants, and usually give a few years of fruiting to prove themselves.

But, if a plant does not thrive or grow well here, it instantly becomes a non-favorite. I like plants that grow well for me, here and now.  Willing to try different things to make them happy, but if it is too hard, "bye bye."

Gave up on a lot of citrus, but still working with kumquat, ponderosa lemon, finger limes, and Buddha's hand.

Gave up on giant grenadilla passion vine. Vine went crazy growing out of control, fruit flavor was okay, and animals attacked it incessantly. Moving away from some other passifloras, either due to taste or limited ornamental value/space.

Took out Alano sap. Tasty fruit, but poor production here. Silas Woods does better, and hopeful re Butterscotch.

Might chop guanabana tree. Thinking of replacing with yangmei and rare eugenias. I like the fruit, but a pain to clean and not sure I want to feed to my family.

Probably will chop noni, or pug it and keep around for leaves to cook with. 

Giant cado tree towered above house and driveway, large fruits, never tasted a single one. Too high up, squirells attacked, but my car's hood was able to get a taste here and there. It was also rotting, and was a hazard. Chopped.

Probably will get rid of most or all of my dragon fruit. I have some nice plants, but they don't flower and fruit much, and don't seem to like the excess rain and sprinkling. I do best with plants that like water. Sucks, as I like cacti, but desire to water often overrides need.

[johnb51]

Which white sapote variety was it, Gary?

[kittycatus]

As an indoor gardener, I had to toss away my fig tree cause it was causing my whole apartment to smell like cat pee. Chilean guava never fruited for me indoors. I think it might need cooler weather to trigger flowering or something.

[Flgarden]

Soursop will be gone. Any temps below 40f , it drops leaves and fruits. Trying mountain soursop instead.
Everbearing mulberry is gone. Too tiny and messy. Will keep thai and
austirkey.
Many unproductive figs are gone.
Kaffir lime tree will be gone. No use for it in my house.
Ana

[1rainman]

Florida peaches do well and are productive here in Charlotte county. I guess Miami is too far south.

[Orkine]

Soursop will be gone. Any temps below 40f , it drops leaves and fruits. Trying mountain soursop instead.
Everbearing mulberry is gone. Too tiny and messy. Will keep thai and
austirkey.
Many unproductive figs are gone.
Kaffir lime tree will be gone. No use for it in my house.
Ana

In case you really like Soursop, I have one that did not loose leaves each of the time I get 36 degree or less, while the others all turn brown and drop leaves.  I will be able to share scions in the future.  For now, I am waiting to see how the fruit tastes. 

[Draak]

Bananas! I’ve killed them 3 years in a row. My neighbor had the same experience. Other people somewhat near me seem to make it work, but it’s a bit of a money pit for me. It’s time to try something else.

Mangos. I have tried these quite a lot, and no success. I had 30 seedlings, and 29 have died. The one that is holding out may be good…but if it dies, so will all of my mango efforts.

Garcinia of any kind. I kill all of them. They die from too much sun, too much cold, or sometimes for almost no reason at all. I’m finished with garcinia.

Miracle berries. I had 20 seedlings, and 19 are dead. The last one alive is the one that I gave to my friend, and he found out that they only live if you give them expensive filtered water. Sorry berries, you’re not for me! Palm grass or whale grass works well here!

Yellow dragonfruit. I might be able to keep one alive in just the right spot, but wow they are much more sensitive than other dragon fruits.

Kadsura. I actually have 2 of them going, but I think I won’t enjoy the fruit.  . Let me know if anyone wants to trade locally!

Lychee. I almost tried these, and my local friend has a tree. I read too much about these being difficult to fruit (both amateur and professionally). I decided to give up before starting. Sticking with Kohala longan!

Bromeliads. I’ve killed too many. I’ve told myself that I can now only grow pineapples from the top of the fruit. I don’t lose any money if I kill them. If I can finally fruit one, I’ll try a white pineapple or their bromeliad.

[Squam256]

This coming spring I plan on making room in my yard for as yet undetermined varieties. 

Slated for the axe are:

Excalibur Mamey. After 12 years of die back and no fruit, this one goes for sure.

That’s too bad . Our Excalibur mamey has fruited and it’s outstanding, albeit a slow growing/compact tree (which I suppose is a benefit to some). Very bright red flesh too.

Are you growing other mamey varieties? I ask because some don’t self pollinate well.

[chrobrego]

Lemondrop mangosteen -- small fruit and often infested with small worms
Cattley guava -- Caribbean fruitfly magnet
Papaya -- smells like feet when good and usually infested with Papaya fruitfly maggots when not. Might try again and bag sooner.
Cherry of the Rio Grande -- small worms in dark fruit. Nope....
Peaches of all varieties -- had a small orchard of glorious Florida peaches for a couple of years before the Caribbean fruit fly found it.  Couldn't protect them and every peach infested with maggots.
Grumichama -- some infested with small worms
Passionfruit -- too hard to control
Dwarf everbearing mulberry -- fruit too small to be worth the effort
Citrus except for Sugar belle and Persian limes -- citrus greening killed the rest
White Sapote (Suebelle) -- if in fact a real Suebelle, this fruit had a real nasty aftertaste. Attracted fruit fly as well.
Jujube (Sugar Cane) -- Never fruited in Central Florida; was told it needed more chill hours by the nursery. It also had too many spiny suckers popping up.
Wax jambu -- small fruit, tasteless and attacked by fruit fly
Pitangatuba -- small bombs of pure acid; perhaps good mixed with a drink, but not fresh eating
Low chill pears -- nice tree but no fruit in six years in Central Florida
Feijoa -- small flowers but never any fruit in 7 years
Various Guava -- not once attacked by Caribbean fruit fly (amazingly), but not a fresh eating fruit for me
Rollinia -- die back and no fruit
June Plum -- fruit was hard to eat and seed had spikes
Ice cream bean -- need two to pollinate and die back every winter
Figs -- a few varieties were ok, but not worth the space and the constant battle with rust

[fliptop]

At this point . . .

I'm done with certain guavas (Ruby Supreme and Mexican Cream). Every tree started out great but then declined and died. I'm guessing nematodes. Cattley Guava is doing well, but no fruit yet.

Passionfruit. Out of hundreds of "fruit", only two had pulp. Grew out of control and it was the reason that part of my fencing was pushed over in Hurricane Ian. It took the hurricane to cut it off the power pole it was climbing.

I am trying to resist planting any tree or plant that doesn't do well in 10a. I have enough fun stressing about Mangos and Jackfruit in cold weather to not need to add to that.

I need to resist planting every seed I encounter.

[fruit nerd]

Green sapote. Over one year in the ground and has only grown about 10 cm! Mamey sapote are growing much faster and taste similar.

[Flgarden]

Soursop will be gone. Any temps below 40f , it drops leaves and fruits. Trying mountain soursop instead.
Everbearing mulberry is gone. Too tiny and messy. Will keep thai and
austirkey.
Many unproductive figs are gone.
Kaffir lime tree will be gone. No use for it in my house.
Ana

In case you really like Soursop, I have one that did not loose leaves each of the time I get 36 degree or less, while the others all turn brown and drop leaves.  I will be able to share scions in the future.  For now, I am waiting to see how the fruit tastes.

Interesting soursop you have!  Hopefully it taste good!

[johnb51]

I gave up on Day avocado.  Second attempt to grow this variety.  The first time it was in a windy spot.  This time it was in a super hot and sunny location with no breezes (where my Monroe tree is thriving).  It seems this variety is particular about where it will grow.  Also, I had a chance to taste the fruit and was underwhelmed--very buttery texture but no flavor, and it ripens unevenly.

[palmcity]

Lemondrop mangosteen -- small fruit and often infested with small worms
Cattley guava -- Caribbean fruitfly magnet
Papaya -- smells like feet when good and usually infested with Papaya fruitfly maggots when not. Might try again and bag sooner.
Cherry of the Rio Grande -- small worms in dark fruit. Nope....
Peaches of all varieties -- had a small orchard of glorious Florida peaches for a couple of years before the Caribbean fruit fly found it.  Couldn't protect them and every peach infested with maggots.
Grumichama -- some infested with small worms
Passionfruit -- too hard to control
Dwarf everbearing mulberry -- fruit too small to be worth the effort
Citrus except for Sugar belle and Persian limes -- citrus greening killed the rest
White Sapote (Suebelle) -- if in fact a real Suebelle, this fruit had a real nasty aftertaste. Attracted fruit fly as well.
Jujube (Sugar Cane) -- Never fruited in Central Florida; was told it needed more chill hours by the nursery. It also had too many spiny suckers popping up.
Wax jambu -- small fruit, tasteless and attacked by fruit fly
Pitangatuba -- small bombs of pure acid; perhaps good mixed with a drink, but not fresh eating
Low chill pears -- nice tree but no fruit in six years in Central Florida
Feijoa -- small flowers but never any fruit in 7 years
Various Guava -- not once attacked by Caribbean fruit fly (amazingly), but not a fresh eating fruit for me
Rollinia -- die back and no fruit
June Plum -- fruit was hard to eat and seed had spikes
Ice cream bean -- need two to pollinate and die back every winter
Figs -- a few varieties were ok, but not worth the space and the constant battle with rust

IMO I also had too many plants that the worms (fruit fly etc.) loved to enter... I'm trying my best to get the wife to allow me to cut that number down to hopefully have a few months with no fruit bearing that the fruit fly etc. would want to enter to at least decrease my yearly infestation to lower numbers.

The papaya has a few thicker skin varieties that seem to have little fly larva able to enter them... I believe that was red lady with the thicker skin but not sure... I now just plant the seeds of which ever crossed yard  variety I think has thick skin,  good taste, and thick trunks...

[CarolinaZone]

I'm a sucker I guess. One thing I know is container culture can get just about anything to work if you give it the right moisture and humidity. I'm getting rid of Surinam cherries because they are not prolific enough and don't taste that good to me. I'm focusing on stuff I like and have a unique enough flavor that I want it or it is super easy to grow. Zone 7

• guava if protected
• citrus if protected
• Banana if Protected
• Jujube in ground
• Che in ground

This winter will reveal if

• White sapote protected otherwise it's indoor
• Carambola protected
• Variegated wax jambu

[JR561]

This coming spring I plan on making room in my yard for as yet undetermined varieties. 

Slated for the axe are:

Excalibur Mamey. After 12 years of die back and no fruit, this one goes for sure.

That’s too bad . Our Excalibur mamey has fruited and it’s outstanding, albeit a slow growing/compact tree (which I suppose is a benefit to some). Very bright red flesh too.

Are you growing other mamey varieties? I ask because some don’t self pollinate well.

Planted one of these today and hope I have the experience with this mamey Alex had.

[Honest Abe]

NDM Mango - Year 5 and not one flower panicle yet. Will get decapitated by March if no blooms this year.

Keitt mango- after being told about its susceptibility to  MBBS, it has it pretty bad, also didn’t flower at all last year and I can’t do the whole alternate bearing thing, life is short, mangos are priority.

Pitangatuba- needed two for pollination or had to hand pollinate, my best bud also hated the fruits so I yanked it after many acidic/ sour  tasting reviews.

-Lucs Garcinia - it gave up on me and I gave up on it. Ungodly slow growing and either over watered or underwatered, after three years of a 12 inch seedling I gave up.

- Mexican Garcinia - could never figure it out it was always looking terrible.

“Pantin” Mamey Sapote after 4 years of tic-tac siZe fruits falling off and tons of foliar growth i decided something that needs  24 months on the tree to ripen is too risky for me and takes too much space and light.

[FMfruitforest]

Guavas, had to bag every fruit from fruit fly and then would still find larvae in bagged fruit, I love eating them so may try again with one tree not ten lol

[TnTrobbie]

Red or pink guavas for me. I've grown em most of whats available in FL and they are not as sweet as I'd like to be worth growing- plus I get that vomit vibes when eating it lol. I enjoy the asian white types wayyy more as they are firm when ripe and the fruit size is almost double. There is a white 'pear shaped' type that I really love but its production is sparse. Starwberry guava (Psidium cattleyanum) is where it's at. Beautiful lush ornamental tree, evergreen in my zone, with delicious bit sized fruits that are enjoyable at various stages of ripening.

[HI_Chris]

Fruit trees that I've already given up on include
Guava: fruit flies destroyed them before they ripened and it was very disheartening to have to pick and dispose of every single fruit.
Pineapple guava (feijoa): pineapple-like taste but too sour, even after fully ripe.  It didn't help that they ripened at the same time as my white pineapples, so they fared very poorly in comparison.
B-10 Starfruit: pretty fruit, but too sour.  I have a Kari starfruit that has much more palatable fruit and, really, who can use more than one starfruit tree.
Dwarf ladyfinger banana:  the taste was boring in comparison to the dwarf apple banana (brazilian) and blue java that I also have.
Jamaican passionfruit:  not a single fruit set, though many beautiful blossoms.  I have other passionfruit that are very productive, so I yanked this one.

Trees that are currently on probation include
Dwarf wi apple (spondias):  fairly tart for eating out of hand, and quite a bit of work to prepare enough fruit for making even a cup of relish.
Carob: they keep dying on me before they get even 1 foot tall.  Might be too wet where I am (150" / year).
Tamarillo: I'm on my second try to keep one alive.  It is not thriving.

I'm doing this for fun, so a tree that makes me unhappy does not stay.  It makes for easy decisions and I am left with trees that I like!

[skhan]

After 10yrs doing this in my current yard

Gave up on:
Mamey - Don't like the fruit enough
Canistel - Don't like the fruit enough
Olosapo - Don't like the fruit enough
Eugenias - Haven't really been impressed with the ease of growing or fruit. (Rain Forest plum and Araca are the exceptions)
Lychee - Unless I hear positive Erdon Lee reports when it makes it stateside
Sugar Apple - White fly magnet
Malay Apple - 8 years no fruit
Cherimoya

Scale back the amount:
Jackfruit
Avocado
Star apple
Starfruit
Soursop

Jury still out:
How many Jabos and Garcinias do I actually want/need (Whats worth planting considering local soil and weather)
White Sapote
Kwai Muk
Abiu

Love:
Mangos, Mammea Americana, Atemoya, Custard Apple, Coconuts, Mulberry, Persimmon

[seng]

White sapote: too sweet ; no one in the family eats it any more; leaves falling; fruits dropping; insects under the leaves.

Pomagranate: cracking; fruit flies; and no one in the family eats.

Kei apple: long thorns; roots are invasive; fruits drop; and no one in the family eats.

On probation list:

jujube: too many suckers; invasive roots.

Mango: mildew

[Gone tropo]

interesting thread, for sure the stand out tree im about to give up on is strawberry guava I have eaten exactly 1 fruit off this tree despite it making hundreds of fruits multiple times a year, every time they start out looking nice and green and as they get bigger they go a brown colour and go extremely hard and then they are done. No idea what causes this but the tree has 6months left to get past this or its gone.

My big Washington navel is also on notice, it flowered last year and made small fruits that all fell off, it had better perform this year or its also gone.  2 x sugar apple trees are also on notice for mimimal production, they had better ramp up numbers of fruit next crop significantly or they are gone.

2x soursop trees may also be gone due to toxicity in fruit. 

[SHV]

Get my axe!
Capulin cherry - In ground 6 years and finally started producing undersized fruit the past 2 years that are bitter and more seed than flesh.
Malaysian Guava - produces a ton of large fruit year after year that never fully ripen in the summer/fall and eventually succumb to mold over the winter. Damn shame as they are beautiful trees.
Dwarf Cavendish Bananas- I can’t get these stupid bananas to fruit. They produce a ton of pups but never any fruit.  It’s the only variety that I can’t get to fruit. 
Ancient Hass Avocados- my old, thick trunk avocado trees take far too much water to produce fruit.  Now they are dragon fruit scaffolds.