what fruits do you grow at home?

[Anonymous]

What fruits do you grow at home (in the dc area)? Any tips would be much appreciated. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Strawberries, rasberries, blackberries, blueberries (birds eat them mostly). Dig a hole, plant, fertilize, water, let them grow - takes a few years to get them going

[Anonymous]

Figs, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.
We are planting peach trees this year. I also had strawberries which grew well, but they took up too much space.

[Anonymous]

Tips:

Blueberry plants need moist, acidic soil and for this reason often do best in a large pot where you can control their environment, they will take a few years to produce.

Strawberries are short lived perennials -- usually good for 2 or 3 season, they put out "daughter" plants each year so you'll always have more. Plant them NOW in a full sun location. The first year you are supposed to pinch the blossoms, but I always let a few go to fruit. Make sure to get bird netting, these are the most popular fruit in the garden -- everyone form squirrels to slugs to bird love them. June bearing only fruit in June but are better tasting and easier to grow than Everbearing,

Raspberries -- IMO the easiest to grow of the fruits -- not many diseases or pests and birds don't seem to attack them -- the thorns maybe? Downside, they need space , are ugly and unruly. You will need a trellis system. I use two metal posts and then corral the canes with twine. Plant them now! They like full sun but can take a little shade. Best bets: Heritage and Caroline. Even though these fruit twice, I cut them down in the spring to have a monster fruiting in the fall.

Finally I suggest growing alpine strawberries, aka fraises du bois, which are very very easy to grow from seed. If you start them now you may have a crop this year. They are very pretty perennials and make a great border or ground covering.

If you grow blackberries, which I don't due to space issues, don't plant them near raspberries due to disease issues.

Figs are a whole other story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tips:

Blueberry plants need moist, acidic soil and for this reason often do best in a large pot where you can control their environment, they will take a few years to produce.

Strawberries are short lived perennials -- usually good for 2 or 3 season, they put out "daughter" plants each year so you'll always have more. Plant them NOW in a full sun location. The first year you are supposed to pinch the blossoms, but I always let a few go to fruit. Make sure to get bird netting, these are the most popular fruit in the garden -- everyone form squirrels to slugs to bird love them. June bearing only fruit in June but are better tasting and easier to grow than Everbearing,

Raspberries -- IMO the easiest to grow of the fruits -- not many diseases or pests and birds don't seem to attack them -- the thorns maybe? Downside, they need space , are ugly and unruly. You will need a trellis system. I use two metal posts and then corral the canes with twine. Plant them now! They like full sun but can take a little shade. Best bets: Heritage and Caroline. Even though these fruit twice, I cut them down in the spring to have a monster fruiting in the fall.

Finally I suggest growing alpine strawberries, aka fraises du bois, which are very very easy to grow from seed. If you start them now you may have a crop this year. They are very pretty perennials and make a great border or ground covering.

If you grow blackberries, which I don't due to space issues, don't plant them near raspberries due to disease issues.

Figs are a whole other story.

I love you. You just inspired me to garden.

[Anonymous]

I grow blueberries in the ground. I amended the soil with peat moss at planting, and add some every year. I also throw in coffee grounds. No special care otherwise.
They fruit their heads off.

[Anonymous]

tomatoes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:tomatoes

+1. And strawberries. I tried last year to grow blackberries/blueberries, and failed dismally. I'll try again this year. Thanks to the PP that posted that summary about how to grow them. I planted them in the shade. Maybe that was the problem. Will try full sun this year.

[Anonymous]

Strawberries and tomatoes!

Also, mulberries do well in this area.

[Anonymous]

It's a veggie, but we had great luck with cucumbers last year.

[Anonymous]

Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, apples, figs, grapes, and currants. Birds always get my blueberries, and the apples always have worms because I don't spray. But we get and eat LOTS of strawberries and raspberries. The cold almost killed my fig last year, and I assume its taken a beating again this year, so I doubt I'll see figs this year. My grapes and currants are mostly for jelly, and I get lots and lots of fruit. And this is all in a 1/5 acre city yard. You can pack a lot of fruit into a small garden!

[Anonymous]

Currants and gooseberries grow well too. I have some elderberries planted for the birds. We have a giant mulberry tree that grew from a volunteer. The birds attack that and leave the blueberries alone.

[Anonymous]

Any of these that can grow in the shade?

[Anonymous]

Tart cherries. They are awesome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any of these that can grow in the shade?

Currants, gooseberries ans strawberries will grow in part shade, but need at least 3-4 hours of direct sun.