nut trees
hey all, I'll be building a house next year and want to put some nut trees, like almonds, walnuts, etc out in my yard. I read that you can plant 2-3 plants in the same hole and they pollenate each other and still grow like 1 tree. is this true? how long after planting do nut trees bear nuts? can you also do this with citrus fruit trees?
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thanrose
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I don't think you can do that with any nut tree, but there may be some I'd never considered. Definitely can't with citrus, though.
What you can do is graft different varieties of citrus onto one tree.
You do not want to grow citrus from market fruit seed if you want vigor and reliable fruit, though. Fun as an experiment.
Because of several diseases that afflict the citrus crop, you are better to buy from a nursery. The state would really like to know where every single tree is, but that's unrealistic since many have naturalized here over the centuries. You can also buy grafted trees that have several varieties growing on them, sometimes called fruit cocktail trees. These are novelties that are prone to all sorts of problems, though.
Hickory is one nut tree that crosses fairly easily, so maybe, just maybe, it would graft two seedlings together. Pecan is a type of hickory and is the most likely nut tree in that family that you'd find in a nursery, also quicker to give you nuts. Natural hickories can sometimes be 80 years old before they nut. The crossed hickory I planted from a nut 27 years ago has been giving small nuts for the last few years though. Carya aquatica x floridana as far as I can tell.
Go to a nursery that sells to the public and ask what varieties you'd have to plant for fruit or nut production. You may or may not buy from them, but they will know what will grow in your area, and would like to encourage your business by talking to you. Don't expect that sort of knowledge from the big box store.
What you can do is graft different varieties of citrus onto one tree.
You do not want to grow citrus from market fruit seed if you want vigor and reliable fruit, though. Fun as an experiment.
Because of several diseases that afflict the citrus crop, you are better to buy from a nursery. The state would really like to know where every single tree is, but that's unrealistic since many have naturalized here over the centuries. You can also buy grafted trees that have several varieties growing on them, sometimes called fruit cocktail trees. These are novelties that are prone to all sorts of problems, though.
Hickory is one nut tree that crosses fairly easily, so maybe, just maybe, it would graft two seedlings together. Pecan is a type of hickory and is the most likely nut tree in that family that you'd find in a nursery, also quicker to give you nuts. Natural hickories can sometimes be 80 years old before they nut. The crossed hickory I planted from a nut 27 years ago has been giving small nuts for the last few years though. Carya aquatica x floridana as far as I can tell.
Go to a nursery that sells to the public and ask what varieties you'd have to plant for fruit or nut production. You may or may not buy from them, but they will know what will grow in your area, and would like to encourage your business by talking to you. Don't expect that sort of knowledge from the big box store.
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thanrose
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After I posted my reply, I was tooling around with google and found a site from Australia that mentions planting two or three different varieties in the same hole... So I'm wrong and people actually can do that. I was actually looking for the multi-grafted fruit trees and what kind of names they go by. That would be a marketing name, not a botanical one... Anyhow, that Aussie gardening site had references to "fruit basket" and "fruit salad" trees.
They referred to the two or three varieties planted in the same hole as "duos" and "trios" IIRC.
I'd be really concerned with which variety or species would predominate.
Also I understand that some folk are trying to grow chestnuts in orchards in northern Florida, and I gather hazelnut will also grow there.
They referred to the two or three varieties planted in the same hole as "duos" and "trios" IIRC.
I'd be really concerned with which variety or species would predominate.
Also I understand that some folk are trying to grow chestnuts in orchards in northern Florida, and I gather hazelnut will also grow there.
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thanrose
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Ya know, I'm actually very big on native plants, found and foraged items, and adapting to the local environment with local flora, yet I keep telling you to go with a nursery.
I can find all sorts of opportunistic orchards or groves throughout Florida on my hikes. I just seldom find palatable fruit. Oh, figs, guavas, kumquats, blackberries, I've found in pleasant tasting spots, and I'll eat the wilder stuff like pawpaws, Chickasaw plums, dewberries etc, but I think most people will really prefer a peach that tastes like a peach, or a plum that's bigger than a cocktail olive.
If you like mulberries, try and find some right now that taste good to you, and see if the owner will let you take some cuttings. Same thing with blackberry season coming up. Blueberries of any type will be hard to transplant though.
I can find all sorts of opportunistic orchards or groves throughout Florida on my hikes. I just seldom find palatable fruit. Oh, figs, guavas, kumquats, blackberries, I've found in pleasant tasting spots, and I'll eat the wilder stuff like pawpaws, Chickasaw plums, dewberries etc, but I think most people will really prefer a peach that tastes like a peach, or a plum that's bigger than a cocktail olive.
If you like mulberries, try and find some right now that taste good to you, and see if the owner will let you take some cuttings. Same thing with blackberry season coming up. Blueberries of any type will be hard to transplant though.
