[Netherrealmer]

My house is surrounded by 200 trees so I know a lot of things about tree planting. Having fruit trees can be a great annual source of extra income after all though it is not as profitable as ducks since they only bear fruits during season. Your backyard wont have trees in one day. So here are some things you need to keep in mind so your tree planting and tree maintenance experience will be easier.

1. Do not plant from seed if you planting a perennial fruit tree. There are 2 types of fruit trees, the annual ones and the perennial ones. The annual ones bears fruits faster as in you will be harvesting in one year like a Papaya but the tree is dead after the harvest. Then there are the perennial trees that will provide you fruits for a lifetime like the citrus fruits (orange,lime,calamondin,Pomelo,grapefruit) and Stone fruits ( Avocado, cherry,plum,peach,and apricot). The fruits I mentioned will have an average of 10 to 15 years before they produce fruits, if you planted them as seeds. So if you are 8 years old and you have a lot of years to wait, go ahead plant from seeds but if you don't want to wait for a decade, purchase a propagated cutting of an old tree instead. An avocado cutting can give you fruits in few months but an Avocado seed is planted, you will wait for 10 to 15 years. If you don't have that patience like me, Buy cuttings because they can give you fruits faster.

2. A week before planting a tree, Herbicide the place. Kill all the possible invasive weeds that may steal nutrients from your tree. I remember how my apricot tree almost died because it was surrounded by some invasive vine which I believe is a wild cucumber. Pulling out weeds is not a fun process when it gets severe so poison the place a week before planting. The place will be safe to be planted again after a week.

3. Prune the tree so it won't grow tall. Pruning a tree is a process where at least once in few days you will cut some branches of the growing tree so it won't grow tall. Unless you have the athleticism and ability to climb trees, you don't want the tree to grow super tall so you will prune it so it will stay humble.

Harvesting in a 5 feet tall tree is more fun than trying to harvest fruits from a 20 feet tall tree.Fruit trees also tends to get more fruits because its easier for a shorter tree to get more nutrients from the soil and fertilizer.
Here is a footage of how to prune a tree so it wont turn into an overwhelming tower.


4. Put your seedling inside a cage on before it grows bark-


This will protect your aspiring tree from your pets, livestock , rats, heck even human children. I had experienced my ducks eating my lemon cutting, My dog digging my young peach tree seedling, my nephew pulling out my papaya seedling. Seedlings and young cuttings are very vulnerable when they are not yet taller than pets and children The cages are great protection.

[ptrikha21]

Wow so many tips! It is great to know that you have so many trees!
Any tips for growing tomatoes at home?

[Netherrealmer]

Wow so many tips! It is great to know that you have so many trees!
Any tips for growing tomatoes at home?

You can plant tomatoes in flower pots and buckets. You don't need to buy seeds, just use the seeds from the commercial tomatoes you use.

[bestwriter]

Great tips for those eager souls who want to harvest fruits. I have this experience as our property has all those types that you have described - perennial seasonal and one time. The perennial are the sapotas and guavas, seasonal are jack fruits and mangoes and the one time sometimes the same tree does yield more than once are the papayas. We have many more.

You are a winner here with such detailed lay out . Congratulations

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[anilmr]

You are very fortunate to stay amongst so many trees. I am sure your lungs must be very healthy, since you are lucky to breath in such oxygen enriched air. The additional income coming from trees is another bonus.

[Ddiya]

Hey Great soul!
Thinking of planting a tree itself is a great thing. We should nourish our saplings when it is young and I prefer natural manure to enrich our nature to have a balanced ecosystem.

[Netherrealmer]

I prefer cuttings instead of saplings because saplings take decades before they bear fruits.

[ptrikha21]

Wow so many tips! It is great to know that you have so many trees!
Any tips for growing tomatoes at home?

You can plant tomatoes in flower pots and buckets. You don't need to buy seeds, just use the seeds from the commercial tomatoes you use.

I will try this out- a new bucket is not a very costly investment!!

[arunima]

Some really useful tips there in your article. You are fortunate to have so many fruit trees around. I love apricot. We do not get fresh apricots here. I get those dried ones. My mother has orchards of mangoes, lychees, jackfruit, and gauva. She harvests them for commercial purposes other than personal consumption.

[cmoneyspinner]

I am sort of afraid pf herbicides because every time I turn around there is a law firm on television advertising that people suffered health problems from using certain herbicides. Do you use a natural or organic herbicide? (If there is such a thing.)

[Netherrealmer]

I am sort of afraid pf herbicides because every time I turn around there is a law firm on television advertising that people suffered health problems from using certain herbicides. Do you use a natural or organic herbicide? (If there is such a thing.)

I just use chemicals, It usually died down after a week. You can make it 2 weeks if you want to be safe from the poison.

[Mika]

If you live in a city and if you do not have land to plant trees, choose a dwarf variety of trees and plant them in large containers and place them on the patio, balcony, or lobby.

[cmoneyspinner]

If you live in a city and if you do not have land to plant trees, choose a dwarf variety of trees and plant them in large containers and place them on the patio, balcony, or lobby.

We live in apartments and that's what my neighbors do.

[Jem Smith]

1. With respect, I think you are using the wrong terms here. Annuals and perennials is usually applied to other types of plants, not trees- annual means it flowers and fruits and then dies after the temperature gets too cold (so usually within a year, from 'anno' meaning year) eg. flowers like marigolds and sunflowers. Perennials are plants that can live for years. I guess you mean trees that live a long time vs. trees that live a shorter time.

I was confused by what you said about if Papaya because I had a Papaya tree in my yard that was at least 5 years old when it died, and it produced fruit every year. I read that they can die off sooner if conditions aren't good, but they don't necessarily.
They are a shorter lived tree than something like citrus. Panama berries are another short lived one. I love them because the berries taste really good, but you only get maybe 5 years of fruit out of them.

Seedlings do take longer to grow and produce fruit than cuttings, that's true. I have a mixture of both. Some trees grown from seed also won't produce the fruit you expect- like they might be a different variety.


I agree, planting trees is great for having an ongoing food source. I have quite a few, including limes, lemons, custard apples, peach and guavas.

2. Personally I don't do the herbicide part though, and haven't had any problem with not doing so. I dig out any other roots before I plant the tree and pull out any weeds that come up near the trunk until it's a good size and can take care of itself. I don't like to use herbicides at all. I don't want them in the groundwater and streams.

3. Yes, pruning makes things a lot easier. One of our citrus trees was here when we moved in and it's huge. I can't reach the fruit at the top so I just whack the tree with a stick so the ripe fruit will fall, but I always miss some.

-- 13 Jul 2024, 11:05 --

I prefer cuttings instead of saplings because saplings take decades before they bear fruits.

seedlings. A seedling is grown from seed. A sapling is just any young tree.

-- 13 Jul 2024, 11:06 --

I am sort of afraid pf herbicides because every time I turn around there is a law firm on television advertising that people suffered health problems from using certain herbicides. Do you use a natural or organic herbicide? (If there is such a thing.)

Bear in mind that natural doesn't necessarily mean safer. Nicotine is a natural pesticide and it's nasty.

-- 13 Jul 2024, 11:07 --

Wow so many tips! It is great to know that you have so many trees!
Any tips for growing tomatoes at home?

You can plant tomatoes in flower pots and buckets. You don't need to buy seeds, just use the seeds from the commercial tomatoes you use.

great idea

[cmoneyspinner]

If you live in a city and if you do not have land to plant trees, choose a dwarf variety of trees and plant them in large containers and place them on the patio, balcony, or lobby.

I see several people in my apartment complex with plants and trees on the balcony. But it just so happened that the apartment I live in has a huge tree in front of it.

[Netherrealmer]

Taking care of onions and garlic is like taking care of a pregnant woman with post natal care. It takes 9 to 12 months. Shelf life is only 2 to 3 months. So I just harvest base on need.

[mrki444]

How big is your property? 200 trees can't fit in small place.

[Netherrealmer]

1500 acres

[mrki444]

How to clean grass between trees? Do you have roads for firefighters? Do you clean it regulary?

[arunima]

I planted a guava tree few years back in a big pot on my terrace garden. It has not grown too big or is yielding good produce. I know that it would have done much better in land. But I am happy to get few fruits each season, 3_4 to be precisely that actually ripe and we consume. They are too tasty. That's one success with planting fruits in a pot.