The price of fruit trees is too expensive

[BobVance]

@fruitnut

They were better than the local ones and mid way in size. But don’t come close to a well grown sweet cherry.

I’d be surprised if they did, though I prefer an excellent jujube to an so-so cherry. But, jujube have effectively destroyed apples for me. I still have the trees, but am barely interested in them. Good jujube are basically apples with 1.5-2X the brix. It’s like pluots to Asian plums. Yes, fruit size is smaller, but Honey Jar and above size is enough for me, as that is enough to chew at one time (and spit the pit).

@SoCalGardenNut

Cherries are definitely the best. I eat so many of them, that it makes no sense to grow them.

I don’t grow them because I have so many problems (cracking, rot, insects, birds, disease, etc) and the ones from the grocery store are better anyway.

@elivings1

I hear unripe they are like a apple and ripe they are like a prune but are not better than either.

You are both right and wrong. Unripe (green) they are like an apple. And if you let it dry like a prune (more like a larger version of a raisin IMO). In between those two states is when they are great. You want to pick them when they are brown, but not yet losing moisture. I’m fine with eating them as soon as some brown appears over the green/yellow (colorblind, so not sure which it is). The more brown, the better, so how many I’ve already picked drives what the threshold is (if I already have 5 lbs, there isn’t a need to pick mostly ripe ones…).

@elivings1

A good Comice or Warren pear will be more addicting than a cherry and be more filling with better storage capability and easier to grow.

I’m finally getting a decent amount of pears (lots of Harrow Sweet right now, in the 16-18 brix area) and am barely interested in them, compared to my anticipation of the coming jujubes (likely another week…). What I’d really like more of is peaches, nectarines, Euro plums, and pluots, but I lost most of the peach/necs/EPlums in a late frost and pluots to birds and YJ. I’m still not sure how the pluots survived better than the other stone-fruit…

@clarkinks

When im craving them nothing else will do but thats once or twice a year. Like a pawpaw or persimmon if im in the mood they are great.

I know what you mean about pawpaw and astringent persimmons. But, I think I can eat quite a few crunchy non-astringent persimmons and I know I like to eat a lot of jujubes. At the start of last season I got 2 bulk shipments of jujubes from places which start harvesting before me (over 30 lbs tot). Then, got another few dozen pounds from the trees. Over about a 2 month period, I got almost enough jujubes (was never tired of them). But, my wife mentioned she would have liked more, as it seems I ate a lot while picking…So, I’m not the only one in the family who wants a pound or more per day. Probably too much sugar for me.

[murky]

What variety did you get in your bulk shipment?

[BobVance]

Yazoo Li from Taylor Yowell and I suspect it was mostly Li from JustJujubes. From an email, Alisha said they grow Li, Shan Xi Li, GA 866, Sherwood, Sugar Cane, Honey jar.

[fruitnut]

@BobVance

I’m not the only one in the family who wants a pound or more per day. Probably too much sugar for me.

Bob: Any chance that jujube is one of the few fruits that get sweet enough for you in a brix challenged climate? Maybe if you had really sweet stone fruit or figs you’d eat less jujube.

I haven’t found jujube with a flavor that interests me. But if you like them that’s great…!!

[elivings1]

I agree that being able to grow high brix fruit kind of spoils you. Our apricots in the back are small at only golf ball size and give you some dry mouth but the pink ones are about as sweet as a cherry or sweeter even and have a nice tang too. A lot of fruit here is super sweet due to low water and low humidity. I used to not like my state of CO because it was so hot and dry during the months of May to September you don’t wear a blanket and still need a fan to sleep at night and even September and October is hot anymore then it snows from November to mid May. I have since realized though our climate is great for fruit production on perennial trees. Our production of annuals sucks compared to what they take but our perennials are amazing as long as there is drought resistance. Others that are more rainy either cannot grow some of the plants I grow because of too much disease with the rain (Parkrose Permaculture in Oregon has stated she cannot grow apricots because it is too rainy there) and rain of course dilutes the fruit. Many fruit bob mentioned would be like sugar cubes here (euro plums, pluots, peaches and nectarines are all very sweet). I have not been too impressed by a nectarine so far though I must admit. I always would rather have a peach than a nectarine. I prefer the tang of a peach. I need to figure out how to judge a good pluot. I have had pluot that seem to taste as good if not better than a cherry but was wrinkled and I have had ones that looked typical and tasted like water.

[maineorchard]

I’ve been looking on-line…wow. It’s bad…expensive and a lot of stuff already sold out.

[clarkinks]

Think of the thousands of dollars our current orchards are now worth. A nearby grape orchard that has a stylish building sold for around $700,000.00 with 5 or 6 acres. Real estate prices may be falling but not if they have land with them.

[disc4tw]

Fruit trees in general when at production size are traditionally valued fairly high, right?

[elivings1]

Some places are sold out because they are still not selling yet like One Green World where they will not open doors until October or November. Others are not as well posted like Bay Laurel. Bay Laurel is the other seller on the 4 in 1 sweet pluot trees and is actually likely selling it at a cheaper price but with higher shipping. Not sure of any nursery other than Bay Laurel and Raintree selling the 4 in 1 sweet pluot.

[SoCalGardenNut]

Apricot is best grown from home. My apricots are so sweet, and this is before I discovered wrapping them in tulle.
The store bought ones are just bland. I just skip them.

[BobVance]

@fruitnut

Bob: Any chance that jujube is one of the few fruits that get sweet enough for you in a brix challenged climate? Maybe if you had really sweet stone fruit or figs you’d eat less jujube.

@BobVance

What I’d really like more of is peaches, nectarines, Euro plums, and pluots, but I lost most of the peach/necs/EPlums in a late frost and pluots to birds and YJ.

I do want more stone-fruit as well. Jujubes just replaces pome-fruit

The brix is likely part of it, but I find that I can much more easily eat jujubes than apples and pears without getting digestive issues (bloating that sometimes makes it hard to take a full breath). It helps a lot if I peel the apples, but that is more work than I like and I still need to be measured in my consumption. I’ll still enjoy some Golden Russets, a high brix apple I’ve always been fond of. And maybe a few Sweet Sixteens, an earlier one which has interesting flavor (only decent brix 15-16 vs Golden Russet’s 20-22). But am feeling less enthusiastic about the rest, even when they are moderately high brix 18+.

I’ve had high brix figs and the really sweet ones are good, but I’m not thrilled to battle the yellow jackets for them. And they need to be dead ripe for me to really like them. For some reason my wife and daughter like them even when they aren’t that ripe. It’s be much nicer in a greenhouse, where you can let them get soft-ripe. Though it occurs to me that you could get fruit flies (SWD) in the greenhouse- are they able to get in through the exhaust system?

@elivings1

Our apricots in the back are small at only golf ball size and give you some dry mouth but the pink ones are about as sweet as a cherry

I should have added apricots to my list. They get high brix earlier in the season than anything else. I got a couple good apricots at home and one very nice one at a rental on a 2nd year Ilona tree. But, they keep dying in year 2-4 at my house, which is why I’m trying them in other locations.

Ilona, 6/30/22:

@elivings1

I have not been too impressed by a nectarine so far though I must admit. I always would rather have a peach than a nectarine. I prefer the tang of a peach.

Sounds like you need to find a nectarine which isn’t one of the subacid (mild) varieties which have been getting more popular in recent years. I also like a 20-25 brix yellow nectarine with plenty of acid. I don’t mind the subacid fruit though, as long as it’s brix is 18+ (20+ would be better). Lower brix and subacid is boring. I’d actually prefer a 14 brix acid one to a 14 brix sub-acid, as at least there is some kick to it.

[elivings1]

Can’t say I have gone out of my way to try nectarines either. From what I read most nectarines grow in California and are transported. Peaches sold here are grown local. Thought I must say I prefer a apricot over a peach I suppose. I have a variety of apples and pears due to their storage. Fuji varieties are sweet and will store for a year and pears will store for 3 months. I would actually say that is true for most fruit I grow now. I have looked for fruit I can store either by hang time, cold storage or canning. Peaches can typically be canned well, pears and apples cold storage, persimmon long hang time, pluots also long hang time, nuts store well until cracked. Only fruit I have that does not have long storage is strawberry, brambles, cherries donut peach, cox orange pippin and raspberries. I have just learned over time with the amount of fruit some of us have and the variety we have on this website as fruit growers you simply need ways to store it all. Storage can be as important if not more important than brix. Jujube in prune form I hear stores well too. I have also learned to use some multi purpose stuff with my fruit. A example is with the apricots I am getting now are sweet pit apricot so you get a nut and the fruit. In regards to apricots they really thrive in low rain/low watering places. This is my first year with a fig tree. It has established pretty well and put on a few inches. The question I will have for my fig is how well will it overwinter in my garage during winter time. I am going to try to overwinter both my Pakistan mulberry and my fig in the winter time. The garage opens to let us out and when we shovel so it will be interesting to see how they fair. I know modus Nigra survived the winter that way but will be interesting for those two.

[SoCalGardenNut]

I don’t can anything, I prefer a bit of fruit spread out over the season. So far this year I seem to be eating non stop from my garden.
It pays to be a plant hoarder I guess, lol.
I’m now eating Long An and had my last Desert King today.

[fruitnut]

@elivings1

Can’t say I have gone out of my way to try nectarines either.

Most people haven’t had a really good nectarine. Occasionally there’s a good one in the store. But mostly they’re junk. It takes very good conditions or a lot of effort to grow a really good nectarine.

Nectarines don’t even appear on most people’s top ten fruits list. They’re number one on my list but it took me 40 years and a big greenhouse to get it right. In a greenhouse in CO you could grow great nectarines.

I just bought a few plums from the store. They were absolute junk, hard and tasteless. I guess the commercial growers figure they’re ready to pick the day they turn color.

[SoCalGardenNut]

I agree plum is absolutely junk from the store. I’m so glad mine is finally producing.
But I’m very pleased with my nectarine, it’s kind of edible landscaping, it produces pretty flowers, and the sweet fruit in abundance. This is a picture of Red Atomic nectarine, I’m glad I have 2 in my garden, because the prices have gone up.

[Lukeott]

Who are these companies that sell trees at the price you mention?

[elivings1]

Big box stores sell super cheap trees but are more likely going to be mislabeled. Costco has trees for 20 dollars in the spring but only for a week or two. Home Depot and such are still pretty cheap. Above I saw blueberry mention 36 dollars was forgotten. 2 years ago you could get trees for 28 dollars plus shipping. I think two years ago I could buy a tree from Raintree for 28 dollars and pay 10 or 15 dollar shipping. I looked at Bay Laurel’s prices and the price I paid for the 4 in 1 pluot from Raintree. They are the same price now on both sites. Unless you are getting the fruit trees for cheap at big box stores you are paying big prices now. It is sad but it is the reality we live in. It is either like stated above where you graft trees yourself and get things at a decent price, buy things at a affordable price from the remaining nursery or don’t buy at all. Burnt Ridge still has affordable prices with around 28 dollars for most fruit trees. Burnt Ridge and One Green World seem to be the ones holding out with prices. Maybe Trees Of Antiquity is slightly holding out on prices.

[SoCalGardenNut]

4x1 pluot is $110 at Raintree and $70 at Baylaurel, not the same. Raintree is sold out also. Interesting I chopped down this 4x1, cuz after 6-7 years it produced nothing. It was a big tree too.
Sweet Treat Plueberry is twice the price from Raintree vs Bay Laurel. Outrageous. I had 2 trees died from Raintree already, what I’m nervous is to pay for high prices and the trees die. It’s a lot less painful with cheaper trees.

[elivings1]

I paid 64.99 for my pluot trees at Raintree at the start of the season. At the start of the season they were cheaper than Bay Laurel’s by a dollar. I have had good luck and bad luck from Raintree. The ones where Raintree is the sole seller of like my cascade pears both have died. My Warren, Comice, black gold standard cherry and brambles I have gotten there all are doing amazing. I have bought from many places. Even places like Stark Bros that state a 110% warranty make it very hard to get the warranty for one and I have had mixed results. Honestly I think the overall quality of trees has just gone down over the last two years. The nurseries are overloaded and overwhelmed, the sellers to the nurseries are likely overloaded on how many trees are being ordered and if the delivery companies are anything like my office at USPS they are feeling overwhelmed too. This is the first holiday I have gotten off in almost a year, I work 6 days a week for at least 8 hours a day and often more at least a few days a week. I am sure it is the same thing with these nurseries. Whenever I call Raintree it is always one of the same two people talking. Same with Bay Laurel. I am not surprised that the trees were big that were pluot trees. Raintree states they reach a maximum size of 10 feet on citation but Bay Laurel claims they can reach 18 feet. Citation is 8-10 feet on peaches and nectarines but can reach 18 feet on apricots and plums according to Bay Laurel Nursery. I always say plan for the biggest size possible and go from there. The 4 in 1 pluots have 4 varieties so it should have all the pollination it needs. Besides I bought 2 zee sweet 4 in 1 pluot and 2 regular 4 in 1 pluot. I am not concerned about pollination. What I am concerned about is the trees not being hardy enough. I called Dave Wilson before ordering and they said they would survive every year in zone 5 but some varieties on there may lack fruit some years. That seems to be lining up with what you said and is likely why Raintree rates them to zone 6 and up. Even though they survive winter killed them off. For you being in zone 10 California I wonder if you did not have sufficient chill hours being the opposite problem.

[SoCalGardenNut]

Chill hours is confusing to me. All those pluots listed are less than 500 hours, going by memory, but I did have a White Heaven nectarine fruiting this year with 650 listed for chill hours.
I think I did have one or two fruit the first year with Dapple Dandy, but after that lots of blooms but no fruit on 2 varieties. So I’m done with multiple varieties in one tree, I thought with my limited space, that’s a good idea, not really, now I get single variety and wait to see which one will do well here.