Planning the home fruit garden requires a bit more future-thinking than the vegetable garden. Most vegetables are annuals or biennials and spend just one or two seasons in the garden. Most fruits are trees or shrubs and live for 10 to 50 years or more. The first consideration in planning an edible garden—either fruit or…
Fruits
Fruit Tree Chill Hours
Chill hours are the number of cold hours or days that a deciduous fruit tree (or nut tree) requires for flowering and fruit production each year. Every fruit tree variety has its own number of hours of chill needed for fruit production. Some fruit trees need as few as 100 chill hours, others need as…
How to Grow Elderberry
Elderberry grows in home gardens. Elderberry is a large shrub or small tree that bears large clusters of small white or cream-colored flowers in late spring; these are followed by clusters of small, smooth, round black or blue-black berries in late summer. There are 200 species of elderberry growing around the world; some are edible…
How to Grow Cranberries
Cranberries are not hard to grow. They do require cool temperatures, acidic soil, and plenty of water. The cranberry is a low, creeping, evergreen shrub, almost a vine. It has a woody stem that runs along the ground. Stems can grow 6 or 8 feet long. Upright shoots grow from the stems. Berries form at…
How to Grow Pineapple
Grow pineapples in tropical or near-tropical gardens. Pineapples can grow indoors if it is warm and there is plenty of light. The pineapple plant is short and stout. It grows 2 ½ to 5 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide at maturity. It has strap-like leaves that are serrated with needle tips. The…
How to Grow Bananas
Bananas can grow and fruit where conditions are right. Fruiting banana plants require temperatures that average about 80°F during the day and about 70°F at night. Constant humidity of about 50 percent and daylight around twelve hours each day are ideal. Bananas will fruit in less than ideal conditions but the quality of the fruit…
How to Grow Guava
Grow guava in your garden. Guava is a tropical and subtropical plant. Guava is native to Southern Mexico. In the United States, it is grown mostly in Florida, Hawaii, Southern California, and parts of Texas. With protection, it can be grown in USDA Zones 8b and 9. Guava is round to pear-shaped fruit commonly 2…
How to Grow Mango
Mango trees can grow in the home garden. The mango is native to southern Asia and eastern India. Mangoes are among the most widely cultivated fruits in the tropics. There are more than 500 hundred cultivars of mango. Some can grow more than 100 feet tall and more than 30 feet wide. Smaller dwarf cultivars…
How to Grow Papaya
Grow papaya in tropical and subtropical regions. Papaya is an evergreen tree that grows 8 to 30 feet tall depending on the variety. Papayas are native to Mexico and northern South America. In the United States, they are grown in Florida, Texas, Southern California and Hawaii. There are two types of papaya: Hawaiian or “yellow…
How to Grow Cherimoya
Cherimoya is a heart-shaped fruit grown on a mostly evergreen tree native to Ecuador and Peru. Cherimoya fruit range in weight from about ¼ to 2½ pounds. The fruit has a dull green skin with thumbprint-like indentations edged in brown. Inside is a creamy, custard-like pulp with a flavor reminiscent of banana, pineapple, and pear….
