Fruit Trees (figs and lemon) (Austin, Georgetown: house, neighborhood, live in)

[LI2Texas]

Hello! Does anyone have any varietals of fruit trees, mainly figs and/or lemon that does particularly well in Austin's growing conditions. There is so much conflicting information out there... I would love to grow them in my yard. TIA!

[cBach]

I'm curious as well. I know fig trees do very well in Louisiana but not sure about Austin.

[riaelise]

I have a brown turkey fig that isn't doing that well at all. I live East of 35, so the soil is clay muck. My friend in Central Austin however has had success. Fruit trees can be hit or misses and require the patience of Job to get fruit. Waiting for my pom to finally give us something !

[centralaustinite]

There are fig trees and orange trees at many places in East Austin. Boggy Creek farms (central East Austin) has fig trees on the property. I know many people who have success with lemons in a large pot (on wheels to bring inside for hard freezes).



I'd contact Travis County Agricultural Extension office for the best info.

https://travis-tx.tamu.edu/?s=fruit+trees

[ATX Wahine]

I'm in far west Oak Hill. We had a fig that produced well until a couple years ago - it just sort of crapped out and died. We think a wet season left it's roots too wet, as the tree lied right in the path of a flowing spring in our yard.

I'm struggling with my potted Meyer lemon this season. It produces great lemons, but this spring began to get curled leaves that fall off. It gets consistent love - don't know what happened. It's full of fruit and getting by, but not thriving.

Growing fruit successfully takes a lot of work (and luck!) here, it seems.

[cBach]

On the other hand my peach tree does really well here!

I harvested the peaches in April. Yummy yummy yummy!

[LI2Texas]

I seem to have terrible luck with plants. Maybe I should try both in containers since that seems to be he best bet for lemon’s cold tolerance and my understanding is figs do well in pots. A house in my neighborhood (Bouldin) has a fig tree in their front yard, must be near 100 figs on it now. Maybe I should ask them what varietal if I ever catch them outside. All good advice here, thanks.

[leorah]

We are in Georgetown. We know several people that have fig trees planted in sheltered areas of their yards that are doing well. Lemons are iffy; we have a Meyer lemon in a large pot tha5 has done well for years. It stays outside unless the temp drops below 30 for more than a few hours, when we bring it into the garage. It sits on the east side of the house in dappled sun. It didn’t like the hot Texas sun all day, but as soon as we moved it to it’s current location it bears dozens of lemons every year.

[RunninJT]

I planted a 3 foot black fig tree in my back yard about 3 years ago. I just looked outside and it is currently approx 9 feet tall, 15 feet across and covered in figs. They can grow just fine here.

Septic system might help a bit.

[goacom]

I have Celeste fig trees. They key is lots of light and a lot of water, assuming a well drained soil. I live in the Great Hills area. Mine have been productive within 3 years. It can take the cold with no problem.

Citrus are iffy as they can suffer during a freeze spell. I would not do it again.

I also have Fuyu Persimmon. Five years in, I get a lot of fruit, but it all drops before ripening. I've been told it takes 7 years before it yields fruit. The plant is very hardy.

Jujube is another very good and hardy plant, cold, heat - it can take it all. Good yield within the 2nd year. Again good sun and watering is key.

I also have pomegranates of the "Wonderful" variety. Plants are very hardy, but no fruit yet after 5 years. I'm told that 7 years is the magical number.

Peaches and apples are other commonly grown plants in central Texas. I've seen neighbors with these plants. My philosophy was to focus on the rarer, higher value fruit - hence figs, persimmons, pomegranates and jujubes.

One big challenge with most fruit is that critters often get to them before you do!

Best of luck.