suggest me a fruit bearing tree in my backyard (Houston: trees, snow)

[Brom]

How big can an Apple tree get the variety we have in houston

[Hawk11ns]

Originally Posted by Brom

so what fruit bearing tree do you suggest here in houston?

i suppose apple is out of the question..

I had a lemon tree right outside one of my apartments back in 2003. The lemons were the size of softballs and supremely fresh!

I would like to have an Avocado tree. Those take a couple of years to produce fruit though from what I hear.

So if I were you, I would get either a Lemon, Lime, or Avocado tree.

[Huckleberry3911948]

dwarf lemon put it in a great big pot so u can take it in when it freezes. put it on wheels.(dolly)

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by Hawk11ns

I had a lemon tree right outside one of my apartments back in 2003. The lemons were the size of softballs and supremely fresh!

I would like to have an Avocado tree. Those take a couple of years to produce fruit though from what I hear.

So if I were you, I would get either a Lemon, Lime, or Avocado tree.

They are also really sensitive for the first few years. Until they develop bark over the trunk and main beams they are very susceptible to sunburn. They either need to be planted where they will be shaded by another tree that will be removed later (have an old redbud or crapemyrtle that you're tired of?) or the green stems and trunk need to be mudded.

[nehag]

I have had great citrus harvest for the last 2 years!!! Definitely citrus tree!

[deckhanddavy]

I just picked up a orange and Meyer lemon tree from Lowes over the weekend. Both are around 3 ft tall. I've potted them in decent sized pots and placed one in the front and in the back. Both should be getting direct sunlight at half day intervals. One will be receiving direst sun from the east, and the other from the west. I used cow manure and compost for the soil, and some citrus fertilizer. After potting them, I immediately watered them.

My questions are, do I need to fertilize them every 6 weeks as recommended? How often do I water them given our Houston weather. Also, how long can I keep them indoors during the winter?

[CanTex]

Originally Posted by deckhanddavy

I just picked up a orange and Meyer lemon tree from Lowes over the weekend. Both are around 3 ft tall. I've potted them in decent sized pots and placed one in the front and in the back. Both should be getting direct sunlight at half day intervals. One will be receiving direst sun from the east, and the other from the west. I used cow manure and compost for the soil, and some citrus fertilizer. After potting them, I immediately watered them.

My questions are, do I need to fertilize them every 6 weeks as recommended? How often do I water them given our Houston weather. Also, how long can I keep them indoors during the winter?

I keep my potted citrus trees outside all winter, and just move them into the garage on the couple of nights where we had a threat of frost this past winter. They kept growing (albeit slower) through the winter and they started blooming this last month. Once we get to the hot summer months, you'll likely have to water daily, otherwise just watch the surface of the soil and water when you see it starting to get dry. Don't overwater!

[CanTex]

P.S. - This site has excellent information about growing fruit trees in Houston:

Urban Harvest Gardening Advice - Fruit Trees and Plants

[deckhanddavy]

Originally Posted by CanTex

P.S. - This site has excellent information about growing fruit trees in Houston:

Urban Harvest Gardening Advice - Fruit Trees and Plants

Excellent! Thank you so much for the great info!

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by deckhanddavy

I just picked up a orange and Meyer lemon tree from Lowes over the weekend. Both are around 3 ft tall. I've potted them in decent sized pots and placed one in the front and in the back. Both should be getting direct sunlight at half day intervals. One will be receiving direst sun from the east, and the other from the west. I used cow manure and compost for the soil, and some citrus fertilizer. After potting them, I immediately watered them.

My questions are, do I need to fertilize them every 6 weeks as recommended? How often do I water them given our Houston weather. Also, how long can I keep them indoors during the winter?

If you're going the petrochem route, pick up a 10-10-10 fertilizer and hit 'em hard right now. Let that work its way into the soil for a while, then hit 'em again in mid April and again at the end of May. If this summer is as bad as last summer, don't feed after that. If you're going the organic route, I highly recommend the MicroLife citrus food. You will feed a little more often, but you're not going to burn the tree with it either.

About water, here's a good article from the University of Arizona. http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/crops/az1151.pdf

Also, if you put one of your trees in all-day direct sun and the other in half-day direct sun, it will not be long before you can see a significant difference in their respective developments. They really do best with as much sun as possible.