What's your fav. fruit tree for USDA zone 9a?

Well, I want some advice, I have a 1/2 arce backyard to fill with trees :)

so far 4 orange type of trees, 2 grapefruit, 2 types of sapote, assorted lime trees, one avacoldo, three mangos....

I am going to buy one or two starfruit tress, which will need my subtropical part.

I am planning on getting other trees that i do not have to worry about winter (once every 5 years there is always a semi-hard freeze).

I am thinking pecan trees, maybe a plum, maybe a pawpaw, what do you think?

I know very little about your tropical climate as far as fruit trees are concerned, but from experience, things like plumbs etc and larger stoned fruit require a good deal of watering when the fruit starts to swell out, but maybe someone like Ecrane will be able to help you out better than me, she is really good with the different zones etc, she may pick up on this thread and help you out. good luck though. WeeNel.

I'm not too much of an expert on fruit trees unfortunately, and even though I'm also in zone 9 my climate is not that much like TX, so things that do well here may not do well there and vice versa.

I do know that some fruits need a certain number of chill hours in order to produce fruit, and since you're in zone 9 you may not have enough chill hours for some of them. Here's a map with approximate chill hours and a list of how much chilling is required for some types of fruit: http://www.raintreenursery.com/chill_hours.htm

And some fruits need a second cultivar for pollination or else they won't bear fruit--this website has a good listing of what's good at pollinating what for a couple different types of fruit http://www.raintreenursery.com/pollin_home.html

Thanks Ecrane, I was hoping you would be around this thread to offer some more help than I could in the kind of zones that I can only dream about. WeeNel.

If you like them ... persimmon trees! they are fantastic,no pests drop their very pretty leaves in the Autumn and my hubby adores them, (similar conditions to yours)

Someone referred me to the Texas Cooperative Extension in my county, so i am going to give them a call. Well, today is sunday, so maybe tomorrow.

low chill hour apples and plums are my guess.

my parents have a persimmon tree. They live in another part of texas, but the tree grows well.

I never ate a persimmon fruit. How do they taste? or is it one of the fruits to make a jelly out of?

Every year we have serveral cold fronts that drop the temp to low 40s, I wonder if that can qualify as chill houtrs, hmmm.

I think it counts as chill hours if it goes below 45.

Persimmons make great jelly and jam. They will make you "pucker" otherwise. Many of the cherries, apples, peaches fruit trees all require a chill factor, but your extension agent should be able to help you with that.

I have just moved from a zone 9a climate in California where I had a large plant, tree sale for the high school I worked for. I'm not sure how it will do in Brownsville, but before CA I lived near Huntsville, TX. I know that peach, plum, nectarines and my fovorite, Bing cherry will do rather well in 9a. I know that near your neck of the woods, there is an orange tree that produces ugly oranges, but are the best tasting! Back in CA 9a it is in a temperate climate and we were able to grow apples. The best were Fuji and Gala. Have you considered growing a strawberry patch? Persimmons to me taste like a bland peach. I know my aunt makes cookies out of them, but Im not sure about jam. I do think that the best advice would be to contact your local Extension service. You never know, maybe they will be able to point you to new varieties of fruit trees.

Persimmons can be purchased in "non puckering" form no tannin.Those are seedless and can be eaten like apples though better soft, they are seedless. Not my thing though people pay a bomb for the fruit ...the trees are so pretty that I grow them for the beauty as much as for hubby to raid. Kind of like an overipe very soft sweet peach to my taste. At 3.00 a fruit someone loves them besides him :)
chrissy

I just ordered 2 pecan trees (Caddo and Kanza)

Two Apples (anna and Dorett gold - semi drawf root stock).

I figure that will make a nice look in my backyard


oh yeah and 5 Kiowa blackberry plants :)

Are your Kiowas thornless? I have several thornless Navahos and they put out LOTS of huge sweet berries. They are sooo good! And they are relatively easy to care for. Figs are another option. Easy to grow and they love our hot weather. Of course, you have to plant extra so you will have enough to share with the birds.

I hadn't seen this thread before - regarding persimmons:

I love eating them! But, you have to know which kind you want, and they have to be really ripe. There are 2 main kinds, both of which are growing nicely in my parents' yard in Southern California.

1. Hachiya persimmons - these are pointy and are unbelievably tart until they are completely ripe. By that, I mean that they have to sit out on your counter and get so mushy they feel like a total water balloon. You might even think that meant they were rotton...but at that point, they are right to eat and extremely sweet inside.

2. Fuyu persimmons are smaller, flatter, and harder, and do not get soft. They are squat and look like they have four lobes. The texture is closer to that of an apple -they are mildly sweet but can be kind of bland. Sounds like that is what people are talking about above.

One other thing about them is that they seem to often have 'on' years and 'off' years alternating, in terms of how much fruit you get.