If you have a compound large enough to take a large plant or more, it would be both interesting and rewarding to cultivate fruit trees. In addition to the satisfaction of harvesting your own fruits, these trees confer their characteristic smell on the environment. They purify the air thereby creating an ambience that nature lovers would love to identify themselves with.
Trees propagate through various means. Some trees tend to take a longer time before they produce fruits when propagated via seeds. Their fruits are not true to seed which means that they may not have the same taste or size as the parent plants. Trees can also grow asexually by methods such as grafting in which budding stems/branches attach to root stocks. This method is preferred because the trees take a shorter period to produce fruits, the fruits are more resistant to diseases, and the characteristic of the fruits (sweetness, size, etc.) is determined, unlike planting via seeds.
Mango, cashew, guava, the tropical almond (aka fruit tree), avocado, sour sop, pear, and citrus trees have the benefit of propagation via grafting. Grafting process involves bringing together two different parts from different trees –the upper budding branch known as the scion and the lower part known as the root stock. The Scion has the genes and determines the variety of the plant. Hence, plants which carry desired properties in the fruits, flowers, leaves, and stem are selected. The root stock determines how well the tree can adapt to soil and climatic conditions. You can buy these plants from a nursery and transplant them to your garden. This would reduce the process. Trees bought from a reputable nursery will do well and begin to fruit at their given time, some hybrids taking as short as 1 to 2 years if they are properly taken care of.
On the other hand, fruit trees like pawpaw and coconut cannot be planted by grafting. The pawpaw is planted by seeds. In contrast to trees listed above, which take 6 to 10 years before they start fruiting. Pawpaw starts producing fruits from 6 to 10 months when planted via seeds. However, the trees do not live long and are cut down after about 2 to 3 years by which time they have become weak. The coconut is grown by planting the fruit inclusive of the husk. They sprout in about 9 months and take 6 to 10 years before they start to bear fruits.
Other fruits like bananas and pineapples are not formed on trees. Cultivating them might be more labour intensive and would need year-round care. Unlike when you have a tree and can choose to take a back seat while you wait to enjoy its fruit. Notwithstanding, they are fun to try if you have the time and labour.
In all, creating your own fruit garden solely for benefits or as a favourite pastime is well worth the time.
