Best care free fruits to grow in your state

General Fruit Growing
#1

I’ve done many test crops of fruits as many of you are aware in Kansas. Drought, wind resistance, heat, cold, insects tolerance is all needed at my location. The soil clay/lome is a problem as well. Sometimes we get to much rain.

What grape does best under these conditions at my house you might ask and it is seedless concord or regular concord. Nothing out produces these and they do both have seeds in Kansas. Concord has a better flavor and more uniform grape ripening but is slightly less hardy than the seedless variety which is slightly less sweet and grapes ripen at all different times and double crop in Kansas most years.

Reliance peach has done best out of all peaches at my location.

European Pears such as harrow delight do very well here on callery rootstock

My small seedling crabapple will do well here quickly for cider in the fall /winter which @39thparallel grows for those exact reasons. He is looking for the ideal rootstock but 111 is doing ok for a tree that will last 20- 40 years. It can get fireblight etc but typically doesnt

Prime ark 45 is the best everbearing blackberry so far. My family heirloom blackberry is very good for production in a single crop. These are very disease resistant.

Carmine jewell has been the best sour cherry.

The asian pear Drippin Honey has done overall better than any other so far.

Viking aronia have done the best of any overall

This is still a work in progress but this information here is worth gold in my area. I have considered production, flavor etc. When compiling this list.

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#2

In moist, erratic NJ, excluding the occasional watering or fertilizing:

  • Persimmon (except for the occasional winter kill, more experienced gardeners warn me)
  • Blueberries (no SWD here yet…whimper)
  • Blight resistant pears (squirrels will reduce yield but I’ve gone many years no spray)
  • Elderberries
  • The little native runnering strawberries, especially white varieties
  • Brambles to some degree (though raspberries tend to wander and yield can be reduced by diseases and blue jays)
  • Honeyberries and gooseberries if you can get the right variety in the right spot
  • Mulberries
  • Pawpaw, though it has taken me many repurchases to get trees through their fragile early years.
  • In theory Hardy kiwi but I don’t like it enough to try.

Peaches and apples need spraying, cherries are hit and miss because of rot and knot. Figs generally need shelter. I’ve been afraid to even try plum and apricot and nectarine and grape. And I have an aronia but have yet to find anything enjoyable to do with it.

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#3

we have completely different climate/ rainfall but a lot of what you mention flourishes here as well. maybe its the ability of these plants to adapt to extremes of our weather that makes them so hardy. my hats of to the breeders of these plants. they did a excellent job!

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