Fruit Trees That Are Easy to Grow in Hot Climates

So you want to grow a fruit tree in a hot climate, but don’t have a green thumb yet?　 In my desert gardening experience, I’ve found a few fruit trees that are easy to grow in hot climates like the desert.  They require very little care and will start producing fruit quickly.　 These trees do grow fairly rapidly and can get quite large, so plan appropriately with planting location.　 Pruning can help keep your fruit trees at a manageable size, but isn’t necessary for these fruit tree varieties.

Here are a few fruit trees that you can basically dig a hole, plop them in, and watch them produce fruit. The below trees can be planted in full desert sun, are fairly drought tolerant when established, and have minimal fertilizer needs.

A jujube can produce a heavy crop of ping pong ball sized fruit that have a similar taste and texture to an apple.

Some varieties can be left longer on the tree to dry out and then become more date like.

They tend to produce a couple crops once in the summer and then again in the fall.

The fall crop is the better quality fruits.

Look for varieties like Li, Shanxi Li, Sugarcane, Honey Jar, and Sherwood.

 A fresh fig is a wonderful fruit that’s even better than a Fig Newton.

 Figs produce a couple crops throughout the year and tend to start producing figs right away.

There are tons of different varieties of figs, but mainly there are types that have more of white flesh and others red fleshed.

The red fleshed have more berry taste and the white more honey like.

Some common varieties are Black Mission, Brown Turkey, Tiger Panache, Kadota, and Peter’s Honey.

Pomegranates are probably the most drought tolerant of all the fruit trees listed.

An established pomegranate can go a few weeks without water in the summer months, if deeply watered properly.

They start producing a decent crop in 3 years or so.

The most common variety that is found is Wonderful, but there are many more exotic varieties worth trying.

I grow Parfianka, which is a great variety.

The fruit bearing mulberry trees are female and do not cause the harmful allergens that the male mulberry tree produce.

The male mulberries are banned many areas, but one male tree can pollinate a female from miles away.

Mulberries produce an abundant amount of berries similar to blackberries.

Some varieties for the desert are Shangri La or Pakistani Mulberry.