Fruit & nut trees for Baytown TX

margali

margali

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I am trying to figure out fruit or nut trees that will grow in Baytown, TX zone 9a, approx 400 chill hours. I keep finding trees listed as zone compatible but needing 600+ chill hours. How important is the chill hours matching?

Confused... Family likes apples and pears.
 
It might be very important.

We need @Ridgerunner and @baymule and @henless and ... we have some deep South gardeners ... @Sam BigDeer ?

I once lived in a subdivision that previously had been a Bartlett pear orchard; there were trees in almost every yard. That was in Oregon. I now live not all that far from the largest apple growing region in the US, but apple trees are common on the northern tier and southern Canada.

I would like to have a fig tree but that Oregon location is about as far north as one can grow them without special attention. Japanese persimmons ..?

Dad grew up in southern New Mexico. It is the most important US pecan region.

Steve
 
I believe @RUNuts lives in Houston. That's pretty close. Baytown is semi-tropical, not full tropical. You can get frost but usually not a lot and usually not a hard freeze. Being on the water moderates the temperature more than in Houston.

My first thought was fig or citrus. Figs should do really well. I'd get dwarf or at most semi-dwarf citrus so you can cover them in case of a predicted frost. I got several queen and kind-sized flat sheets at a thrift store at a really good price. Some berries should grow really well for you.

Chill hours can be the difference in them bearing or not. They may live OK but they just won't set fruit. In Arkansas and Tennessee I noticed apple trees bore a lot better after a hard cold winter than after a mild one. I would not hold out much hope of an apple tree bearing well for you though you may occasionally get one or two fruits. I would expect you to be able to grow peach or pear if you get the right cultivars. Do you have a lot of deer? I'd consider semi-dwarf or full-sized peach or pear so some are out of their reach. I don't know if deer eat citrus.

Funny you mentioned pecans Steve. That should be the most popular nut for that area. The trees can get huge and they will probably take 10 years before they start producing but if you have room and want a nut tree I'd go that route. Plan for the future though, they will get big and provide a lot of shade. They take room.

I suggest you contact your county extension office and chat with them about growing fruit in Baytown. They should be able to tell you what varieties of fruits or berries can be grown but even more important than that they should be able to tell you what cultivars do better. I can tell you citrus but maybe lemons are better than limes. Mandarin Oranges may be better than Navel. They should be able to tell you which cultivars of pear or peach will manage your chill hours best.

Some fruit trees require a pollinator, some don't. Many that do not absolutely need a pollinator bear better with one. If your neighbors have your type of fruit trees you may not need one but you may need to get two peach trees for example to get pollination. The way I remember it some cultivars of peach or pear trees require pollinators, some don't. Another box to check when looking at fruit trees.

Good luck!
 
I just saw your other post. If you are growing in containers probably dwarf for everything. Look a which cultivars handle containers better, like maybe mandarin oranges instead of full sized fruit.
 
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There was an almond tree at the corner of the elementary school playground when I was a kid in Oregon. I was just talking about that tree on TEG a week or so ago. It would bloom but not set seeds. I knew it was an almond, I guess, because we had family in California. Plenty of almonds there.

If pecans are too large, maybe almonds ... but, I wish more people would go for hazelnuts here. The walnuts across the road from my home are useless but, I know, hazelnuts mature properly.

Perennials, trees have geographical needs. I have a garden with a Klamath plum on one side. I have been there nearly 15 years. The tree is quite large for that type. It flowers profusely every spring. I bet that I wouldn't have been able to fill a 5-gallon bucket half full if I would have collected ALL the plums off that tree from every year that I have been there. There are, maybe, 12 plums each summer!

Our European plums do well here. What gives? The tree is named for Klamath in southeastern Oregon. That's about 500 miles south, as the crow flies. It's a high elevation, gets plenty cold there and probably about like here. There is a local story in that part of the world that bear tracks are deeper when the plums are ripe. I think I figured it out ...

The blooming season is triggered by the hours of sunlight and darkness. The flowers show up too early and frosts damage them, year after year. That tree is too far north! Plums are deep within the branches and very few.

Steve
 
Here is my "go to" site for varieties of fruit & nut trees that work well in Texas.

Texas A&M Fruit & Nut Resources

Click on what type of fruit your looking for and it will list several varieties for each zone.

I'm still looking for peach trees to plant in my small orchard. I'm in the upper edge of the 550-850 chill zone.
 
Hi! I lived in Baytown when I was in my early 20's. I lived on Bob Smith Road and did a lot of fishing in Cotton Lake, the bayous, and Trinity Bay. You will be able to grow a lot of stuff in the mild climate.

Here is a nursery that you might give a call and talk to them. They are located close to Nacogdoches.

http://leggcreekfarm.com/

Have you considered Jujubes?

https://www.texasgardener.com/pastissues/janfeb08/Jujube.html
 
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