DFW's, what can you recommend for me? I have a tiny yard so i'd like something less then 10'. I was thinking blueberry, blackberry, rasberry, bardabos cherry, satsuma mandarin..... A co-worker says she gave up on fruit. She tried blackberries and blueberries but they never set fruit. The droughts we have had the past 2 years and the high temps have been too much for her. Have you had any luck and what do you recommend? I have sandy soil with a tan clay subsoil. I believe I am in the Post Oak/Cross Timbers region, not the blackland prairie. That should qualify me as slightly acidic I think.
DFW fruit suggestions
Wild woodland strawberry grows really well (almost too well) for me in part shade (70% shade). It's a ground cover and has the ability to "take over" I grow mine in a contained,raised planting bed. The fruit production is modest (not really going to bake a strawberry pie with the small strawberries this plant produces).
From what I've read, strawberries of all kinds do quite well in Texas see link to texasgardner.com http://www.texasgardener.com/pastissues/sepoct00/strawberries.html
Strawberries benefit from slightly acidic soil, so you've got that going for you. Because most strawberries naturally prefer partial shade, they won't get fried in the Texas summer sun. I have a small yard also, and they work prefectly in a contained raised bed.
I have friends in Dallas that grow really nice pomegranates. Here is a link about dwarf pomegranates (about 3-4 feet tall)
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55136/index.html
This message was edited Jan 29, 2007 4:11 PM
This message was edited Jan 29, 2007 4:12 PM
OK... here goes... I grow blackberry, peach, pear, lemon, fig, and plums. I can give you loads of information on these..
blueberry - heat kills them,,, tried and failed too many times, blackberry - go with brazos, apache, or Waco, rasberry I have not done these yet but I am going to try the Everbearing red this year. , bardabos cherry - did not take well.. never really took off, satsuma mandarin - I would love to try but I have not found a place to get them -- yet.
Peach I have several most do really ok
Pear - Orient pears do good for me..
Lemon - grown from a normal seed... made it for three years now but no flowers yet
Fig - I have three, no fruit yet but they are not the size I would let them fruit yet.
Plums - You cannot go wrong with plums here... I have 7 and they are all doing great.
Adding Stawberries, I have tried and failed every year for the good fruiting ones, even the guy across the road from me (80 some years old) said dont try them they dont like living here in the Dallas area.
Mitch, your barbados cherry, was it in a pot or in the ground? I was really hoping those would work since they have tons of Vitamin C. They do not like cold weather at all so I thought of keeping it in a pot. I am considering a large Mexican plum, they do really really well here and I love the taste. Tart is fine with me. I may have a source for Satsuma from Magnolia, TX waiting for her to emails me back. I tried a strawberry from Calloways and it wilted within a month. I have no shade.
So it sounds like blackberry and wild strawberry might be good choices. Keep them coming.
t
This message was edited Jan 29, 2007 5:20 PM
Bar cherry... in the ground, no pots here. I ahve very little shade too...
If she comes through Damil me her info too... would love to have them here... just too perfect.
I gave up on growing fruit for myself, because of the birds. Now I grow the fruits for them and we are all happy.
The figs and plums work well here, although the fig trees can be killed to the ground in extreme winters.
Peaches do well too, but I don't have those now.
Josephine.
Toby, call your county extension office, they'll have lists of the best varieties that will grow in your area.
The rabbiteye blueberries are supposed to do well in our area, I haven't tried them. You would probably have more success in a planter or raised beds with them. You could probably grow Jujubes, persimmons or figs, I've never tried a jujube, I always thought they were just the candy you buy at the theatre.
I am thinking about growing a Satsuma Mandarin in a large container.
http://texassuperstar.com/plants.html (you have to click on the Satsuma Mandarin link to the left)
Anyone have any advice?
I have a fig that is bearly more than a stick. My mex plum died :(
Siggy,
I have several citrus tree growing in 24" and 30" pots. I wouldn't use a smaller pot or you will have to repot every year or so. Larger pots will allow you to forgo that chore for about 5 years. After repotting one of those beauties you look like you have been in a fight.
Use citrus fertilier and you won't have a problem. Some citrus are very sensitive to certain types of impurities in urea (sourse of N in fertilizer) and will develop Biuret's toxicity which destroys the chlorophyll. I have that problem with one of my potted grapefruit trees. I have been unable to find a cure, but am reluctant to throw the tree out since it is no longer available.
Use a humus rich well draining potting mix. While citrus roots prefer moist soil, they don't handle wet feet well and will rot. Put mulch over the potting mix, but stay away from the trunk. There is a fungal desease call fungal rot that develops on the trunk if things are piled up against the trunk.
Citrus need full sun to produce sweet juicy fruit. Here in Texas that also means that the pots get very hot, thus damaging the roots. That has been my biggest problem — keeping the roots cool. This past fall I bougnt some bamboo fencing on sale. When my pots leave the greenhouse this spring, I plan to cut the fencing down and place the fence on the south and west side of the pots hoping that will solve my problem.
Citrus roots grow close to the surface so avoid working the soil. While an underplanting of small plants and trailers looks great, they compete with the citrus for food and water. All the citrus books I have recommend not adding any plants. If you like the look, there are some hooks available that are used to hang pots from fences, use those and hang smaller pots around the outside of the citrus pot. Some of the foliage will eventually hang down into the pot giving you the look you desire.
These are two sources of citrus trees:
http://www.thompsoncitrus.com/
http://www.acornsprings.com/index.php?
Dwarf citrus adapt much better to growing in pots as they usually remains under 10'. Standard citrus in the ground can get up to 35' tall. That translates into a lot of root and top purning to keep the plant in bounds. I have purchased from Acorn Spring. They seem to be the only ones that sell dwarf citrus in Texas. The small plants are expensive, but not necessarily out of line with other sellers of dwarf citrus. This last November, I visited several nurseries while in California. Dwarf citrus in 5 gallon containers were selling for $69.00 - $89.00 each. If you live near Acorn Spring Nursery, it would be worthwhile buying them in person. You might find larger trees.
Bettydee, Thanks so much for all the great info! I heard someone from A&M on the radio suggesting the Mandarin "Mr. Mac". Have you ever heard of it.
Also for your Potting mix do you mix your own or is their a specific brand you suggest?
If I could find the individual components, I would mix my own, but I live out in the middle of nowhere and have a choice between Wally World and Home Depot. I used some potting soil sold by a local organic nursery, but ended up having to repot all the plants. The mix had perlite and over time it all migrated to the top. Everything else settled down to the bottom of the pot. It was so find that it retained too much moisture. So I recommend that you stay away from mixes that use large amounts of perlite. I have been using Miracle Gro Potting Mix. So far, I haven't had a problem. I am tempted to try ProMix.
If you are interested in mixing your own, here's a link with a bunch of potting mix recipes:
http://www.backyardgardener.com/soil.html
Toby, I haven't forgot you! We are really busy right now & I am trying to find out what is not going out to the sales like Ft Bend, Galv Cty, Prec 2 in Harris Cty.
We have many different Satsumas, all good but each a little different. Far as that goes we have oudals of citrus of all kinds.
I have 2 Barbados cherries @ home in 10g pots & one standard outside of my office that is taller than the roof.
I agree with Flygirl. Your best info for your area will come fr your extention agent. We work with all of them around here. What we buy for Galveston Cty, we don't sell to Montgomery Cty. There is really that much difference in 75-80 miles down here.
You said that the CSRU is too far but it is a lot closer to you than Ft Bend, just so you know.
Bare with me & I will do my best to get your info the first of the wk.
And by the way, welcome to Dave's! We all love our home here!
Plus, most ext offices have demonstration gardens and testing beds that test various cultivars to see how well they do in our climate. Much of our plants are tested before they are put up for sale at the annual fruit/nut sale, spring and fall sale. If you buy from the ext sales you can be confident that plant will likely survive in your area. Definitely worth a call and those Master Gardeners LOVE to help :)
OK who knows our local ext numbers.. is there an easy web page we could link for all of Texas somewhere...
Here's one:
http://county-tx.tamu.edu/District-TX.html
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/cemap/hardiness.html
a map I can use - perfect link thank you.. I knew it had to be somewhere..
Thanks for all the help:-) When it warms a bit I shall buy either a Seto or Miho Mandarin. From my research (thanks to all the helpful links you all provided) These seem to be best for cold tolerance and flavor.
Any leads on where you are going to get them at??
I have some links from this thread. http://thompsoncitrus.com/order.asp
http://www.acornsprings.com/index.php?mod=category&id_ctg=75