luigonz
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Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2010 4:50 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO (Zone 6)

ARID ORCHARD

I was wondering about what trees work well in semi-arid climates.

again I'm thinking of the San Antonio Texas.

I ve heard of peaches apples pears etc.

but are these really arid trees?

I was thinking more along the lines of fig, olive, pomegranate, jujube, citrus, mesquite .

also, would a grafted tree loose its natural growth pattern? taking a page from ONE straw revo. if I planted grafted sapling would they become all twisted? I don't want to prune to be open cone or open top shapes.

I want for these trees to thrive wil limited irrigation if none, judging from this years drought, there isnt enough water for everyone !

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Tilde
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Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 1:56 pm
Location: Hurry-Cane, Florida USDA10/SZ25

Are you in MO or San Antonio?

My main worry in texas besides available water (the larger farms I toured had irrigation rights) would be fire blight. Nasty.

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/pear/pear.html

Might think about nuts - almond, walnut, pistachioes - though those may take longer to be bearing.

Lots of good info can be found here, I've reviewed a lot of it with folks who live there and their experiences. https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/

luigonz
Senior Member
Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2010 4:50 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO (Zone 6)

AH HA!!

well I'm in MO for the time being.

But my Family and hopes for a lil plot of land lie in texas!

and I'm an aggie!! woo ok I ll talk to em.

I guess becasue of my past experiences with them, never thought to ask about permaculture. Even trying to get organic in was tricky. but enough of that. They are more a monsanto type of institution. :(
There is a lil organic resurgence in a few open minded students!!!
but enough of that.

thanks for the help

DoubleDogFarm
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Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:43 pm

Tilde wrote:Are you in MO or San Antonio?

My main worry in texas besides available water (the larger farms I toured had irrigation rights) would be fire blight. Nasty.

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/pear/pear.html

Might think about nuts - almond, walnut, pistachioes - though those may take longer to be bearing.

Lots of good info can be found here, I've reviewed a lot of it with folks who live there and their experiences. https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/
I'm a little confused, is this not the Permaculture forum?

Eric

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lorax
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Location: Ecuador, USDA Zone 13, at 10,000' of altitude

For arid areas, citrus is not the best of choices - it's actually fairly water-intensive to grow properly, both guilded and as monoculture. The various pests of citrus are also a major PITA and some require nasty chems to defeat. You'd do better to look at stonefruit and apples, which are less water-thirsty. However, you've also got to take fireblight into consideration.

If it's a very arid situation, I'd be looking at Pitahaya (Dragonfruit), Tuna (Prickly Pear), and other cactus fruits; Hazelnuts (which are fast-bearing) are also a good choice, as are Almonds (fairly fast-bearing.) Depending on the zone, you can also try Carambola and Persimmons, both of which are adapted to drier conditions.

Almonds are also subject to fireblight, since they're the same family as apples and pears. Boo-urns.

If your folks want to plant for you and your kids to see the harvest, then consider Olives, Walnuts, and Pistachio.

If you have irrigation rights, consider bananas. There are several edible cultivars that are adapted for drier conditions (TX Star, Orinoco, and Iholena come to mind) and if you've got a semireliable water supply they're a great crop with an excellent return, requiring very little by way of chems beyond good fertilizer, which can be done organically. If you go with bananas, you can perm in coffee and babaco or chamburo (the latter two being hardier cousins of the Papaya) - the three in combination planting mean that there's almost zero disease for any of them.

Good luck!

luigonz
Senior Member
Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2010 4:50 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO (Zone 6)

we have native texas persimmons (Diospyros texana)

but I'm not sure if they are for eating, perhaps dying and such. grow really slow!

I worked on a perma farm in tucson (dragon fruit galore) they propagate soo easily from cuttings.

Thanks again!



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