How to Water & Maintain Fruit Frees in Zones 9 and 10

We're talking about a popular topic: fruit trees! How to take care of them, why you might want to include them in your garden, and how they can contribute to your garden or homestead:
0:19 Intro & history of our garden
1:15 Watering tips
5:17 Maintenance
When we first moved to this property several years ago, the property had both fruit trees as well as shade trees. There were about five or six fruit trees at that time, and we've grown that to more than 30 trees now. We're officially addicted, and for good reason. It's such a blessing to have fresh fruit in our own yard, including many varieties that aren't easy to buy. As great as fruit trees are, it's a whole different animal than a veggie garden.
For starters, it's a much more permanent fixture than a seasonal crop. It can take anywhere between one to five years to actually get fruit (depending on the tree, the growing method, etc.), but it's generally much easier to maintain than a garden. Aside from water and fertilizer, most fruit trees just need attention a couple of times throughout the year if they're healthy.
If you're in San Diego like us or if you're in other areas of zones 9 or 10 that don't get a lot of rainfall, one of the first things you need to do is set up irrigation. Fruit trees need regular deep watering, and an irrigation system ensures it is consistent and controlled.
We use a drip system, and we supplement that with rainwater from our rain capture system. That fresh, natural water is much better than relying on just city water. We like to do a simple loop since it's easy to move around or adjust the flow rate.
Another key component to our system is encouraging the trees to grow deep and wide roots. By watering deeply, the roots will chase water and spread out. You don't want to just water the top layer of soil around the base of the tree because then your trees won't be as healthy or prepared to withstand hot and dry periods. Our goal is to trap water deep in the ground that the trees can access over time.
In the fall, most of our maintenance in the orchard involves weeding. We also like to mulch heavily during this time, and we keep adding layers every year. If you know me, you know I love mulch. It helps retain moisture, promotes a healthy environment for the microorganisms in the soil, and it suppresses weeds. Fall is also a good time of year to prune, such as trimming off dead or diseased branches. When the weather gets cool, we take time for our preventative measures. We spray horticultural oil on our deciduous tree trees which protects them from harmful insects. When you prune or spray organic treatments will depend on the type of trees you have. For example, your schedule for a citrus tree is going to be different than a peach tree because of the growth & fruiting cycle of the tree.
Other than that, fruit trees are fairly straightforward, and the amount of produce that you get for the hours you put in is great. They're a great way to supplement your vegetable garden, and they're all about the long game. It's a game of patience, but it's so well worth it.
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[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

Got fruit tree questions? Let us know!

[@geriannroth449]

Do you ship fruit tree seeds internationally to Barbados West Indies? Plus what varieties of fruit tree seeds do you have can rhey grow in a tropical climate?

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

@@geriannroth449 we do not:/

[@kaleidoscopehome-culture2415]

Lol...yes addicting!! All gardening is addicting! Thank you from Escondido!

[@lmichelle6244]

It's funny bc I actually take care of my neighbors fruit trees. They'r growing along the fence line and hang over to my property. I water and fertilize them, we enjoy them immensely 😊❤

[@rd4660]

I’d love to hear a discussion of pest management for fruit trees. The new growth on my ten citrus in Ocean Beach are murdered by leaf miners every year.

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

Great question! We'll do a video on that in the next few weeks.

[@elenaruelas4726]

I love all the information you shared in your video. I just bought a home that has 2 fruit trees in my backyard. A peach tree and a plum tree. I'm trying to learn as much to keep these trees growing good fruits.

[@davidlatif7829]

I just subscribed to your channel. I’m impressed with the fact you are willing to share your knowledge and experiences. I’m always wanting to learn the Do’s and the Don’ts. Keep up the great work.

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

Glad to have you here!

[@theb.u.g.lifefarm]

Great info. New subs, We appreciate you for imparting your wisdom upon us! We are sending peace & positive vibes your way✌️🏿!

[@jendell9035]

How long do you run your drip? I'm in zone 10 and don't know how long and how frequently I should be running my drip. I have four 1.5 year old citrus and they haven't grown very much. I'm looking at a few more trees I'd like to put in this winter and want to take better care of them.

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

That’s a very hard question to answer because it depends on your soil and so many other factors. We run ours for 45 minutes. We came to that conclusion after running it for a period of time and then using a probe to take a soil sample and see how far down the moisture got. You want it to get down 8-12 inches .

[@rrest11]

How about a list of fruit trees that grow well in zones 9 & 10. I live in south orange county near the ocean. Enjoy your videos as they are always so informative

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

Great question! We'll do a video about that soon :)

[@paulk7169]

I always enjoy your videos. I was just wondering about what I think they call a cargo tote that was in the background. Would that be practical for rain water. I see Hometown Acres use them for firewood. Thanks Paul.

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

Hey Paul! Yes, we use that for rain water capture. The orchard is lower than the ground floor of the house, so we let gravity do all the work.

[@haventli]

Thanks for all this information! How do you decide what fruit trees to plant for your area? And/or, what are your favorite varieties for your area specifically?

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

We chose all our stone fruit trees based on what will fruit with out minimal chill hours. Nectiplum is out favorite 🤩

[@caesar90291]

Last summer a bbq fire burned 90% of a lemon tree. Then this year possums and other wild animals eat 90% of the bark. There is may 5 or 6 branches that have a little bit of green at the tips. Question is; is the tree repairable or is it time to take it out?

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

Hard to say! Unlikely😢

[@Itried20takennames]

The bark loss is probably the worse damage, but some trees come back from significant damage. I had a medium sized Pear tree in the yard that broke and blew over in a storm, with just a bare stump left, and it grew back incredibly quickly, to the point that 2 years later….it grew back completely.

[@joeyjojojunior1794]

How do I finally eradicate scale? I have a 15-20 foot grapefruit tree and some of my fruits are nearly 30% covered in dead scale. Ants were harvesting sap a couple of summers ago. I used the tree bark tape with the sticky sap/paste to stop the ants and it helped.

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

You have to control ants and then spray for scale. You can use a very spring powered water jet spray to “clean” they plant. Then you may have to use another pesticide if it’s really bad. Regardless, you have to get ants under control first. We use KM ant pro and tanglefoot.

[@joeyjojojunior1794]

@@SanDiegoSeedCompany thank you!

[@joeyjojojunior1794]

Do pocket gophers eat lemon tree and grapefruit roots? Years ago I had a Satsuma orange tree that died, possibly from them. Half the roots were missing and i pushed the tree over.

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

Yes they do.

[@anoopbhandari5487]

I’m in San Diego about 4 miles from the beach, my citrus trees get direct sunlight, how long and how often should I run my drip line?

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

It's recommended to water them deeply about every week or two and let them dry out in between watering

[@anoopbhandari5487]

Hmmmm let them dry out. Interesting, I’ll def give that a try. So they definitely don’t need to be watered every other day or anything? What about avacado trees? I have two of those and they have foliage but no fruits.

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

​@@anoopbhandari5487 All fruit trees and avos in particular take years to fruit. They also like to dry out, but how much for any tree will depend on the age. The amount of water can also fluctuate based on the time of year (if the tree is trying to grow fruit or not).

[@anoopbhandari5487]

@@SanDiegoSeedCompany nice! Thank you for so responsive!!

[@clivemossmoon3611]

What do you mean "push water down?" You mean the water will go deeper because the drip line stays in the same place? :)

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

Great question! By running the drop system for a longer amount of time, we give the water a chance to seep deep down into the soil. If we only ran it for a few minutes, a lot of that would just evaporate. Instead, we do a deep soak and allow the soil below the surface to soak up the water where our trees' roots can access the water when they need it.

[@clivemossmoon3611]

@@SanDiegoSeedCompany Thank you for this. 👍

[@scottaloha8543]

I have an old tangerine tree. It is growing foliage well but no fruits for over a year...any suggestions?

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

You can do a soil test to see if it's getting enough nutrients. Does it get consistent water? And enough? How are your pollinators?

[@thevikingfarmerhd4039]

Why would you have heavy amounts of salt build up in your soil around your fruit trees? Unless your not using living soil and your using synthetic nutrients/fertilizers.

[@SanDiegoSeedCompany]

The salt is from the city water

[@thevikingfarmerhd4039]

@@SanDiegoSeedCompany Is there a reason why you don't use a filtrations system to water you garden with clean filtered water. Or even a boogie that hooks up to the garden hose would work too.