Fruit Tree Farming in Phoenix, Arizona
In this article I talk about which fruit trees grow well in Arizona.
The first thing I’m going to do is crush your dreams of growing tropical trees. I’ve seen it done, but the effort far outweighs the reward. If you want a mango or avocado tree in your garden, I recommend moving to Hawaii, because that’s not the kind of climate we live in. Those who have any success growing tropical fruit trees in the Phoenix area have to go to great lengths to combat frost. They have to cover the trees at night and put lights under them to help them survive the winter. They also have to make similar efforts to beat the heat. I say forget it and grow something that wants to be here unless tropical trees are simply a passion of yours.
Although Phoenix has a lot of cold weather, it’s not cold enough for many stone fruits. Most stone fruits require a certain number of chill hours to set fruit. It could bore you with a long explanation of chill hours or just tell you not to buy anything that requires more than 400 chill hours. This rules out cold-loving plants like cherries and many apples.
The apples that grow well here are more of what I consider “kitchen grade” apples. Some people claim success with Fuji apples, but it all depends on having a cold year. Growing apples in the Phoenix desert isn’t much different from the tropics as far as I’m concerned: not worth it except for hobbyists.
Let’s now focus on the trees that thrive in Arizona:
Pecans grow amazingly well here and I would say it is one of the best trees to plant as it can provide good food and shade and good firewood for cooking. It is a tree that gives a lot and only needs water and some occasional pruning to bring the wind to the branches. A good tree grower does a much better job of thinning out a nut than the wind.
Blackberries are prolific in Phoenix and highly undervalued. The most widely planted variety rarely bears good fruit, so the reputation of the mulberry tree is not so good. Personally, I am a big fan of the Oscar and Pakistani mulberry varieties with a wink of delight heading slightly towards the Oscar. These trees also grow fast and apart from water consumption I can’t think of anything I don’t like about them.
There are several varieties of peaches that do well in Phoenix and I have never met a peach that I didn’t like. I would recommend planting several different types together. For the sake of garden space, you can prune them to keep the trees small (I’ll show you how). With the various types of peaches naturally ripening at slightly different times, you’ll have a longer peach season than in a single-variety orchard. This will surely prolong their life, as everyone knows that a long peach season equals a long life.
I’ve seen a lot of success here with plum trees, although I’m not sure which varieties are best to choose. The plums I planted myself haven’t done as well, but there are definitely some plum varieties that seem to do very well here. I would plant several and keep the ones that produce and taste the best.
There is a fruit tree that is not technically a tree, but it does produce a fruit that in some countries is considered the ultimate delicacy: it is the date palm. Dates are the opposite of pecans in that it takes a lot of work to produce a good crop of dates. They grow well in Phoenix but need plenty of water to thrive. If you imagine an oasis in the desert, that is where the dates would be found. Commercial date growers will climb their palms 6 times or more each year to pollinate, thin, and ultimately harvest the dates. If you’re serious about having date crops, you can, but it’s definitely a labor of love. One thing to remember is that dates only “truly” reproduce if they are planted from a sucker of a recognized fruit-producing variety. You can plant a date seed and get a date palm, but it will not normally produce edible fruit. That said, the famous Black Sphinx variety of dates came from a seedling planted in Phoenix many years ago.
So now for something really cool: the medlar. This rare fruit tree is indigenous to southern China, which apparently has a climate similar to that of Phoenix. These trees thrive here and produce amazing fruit. It’s such a peculiar fruit and foreign to the average person, so I’m not sure how to describe it. You just have to take my word for it that these trees are worth a try. It can take about five years for the tree to produce fruit, but after that you should have plenty.
The pomegranate tree is doing very well in Phoenix. Sometimes it can be difficult to get the fruit to fully ripen, complete with the beautiful ruby red we expect. This can often be resolved by placing a clear plastic drop cloth over the plant during the day during the hotter months. This causes a large difference in temperature between night and day and can trigger the ripening process. Pomegranates also tend to spread rapidly from sucker growth and need constant pruning to keep them confined to their original space.
All kinds of citrus grow here and I’ll leave out a few names that I think are often overlooked but shouldn’t be: kumquats, oroblanco grapefruit, mandarin oranges and yellow limes. These are all pretty rare, but they taste amazing and I wish more people knew about them.
The best advice I can offer is to buy small trees, buy lots and remember to be patient. Before you know it you will have so much fruit that you won’t know what to do with it. If you are looking for more information, I would recommend visiting the Rare Fruit Growers Club of Arizona and the various Permaculture sites dedicated to growing in the Phoenix area.
Good luck.
