Cultivar selection is one of the most important steps in successful fruit growing. A cultivar may perform very well in one area of Texas yet be a complete failure in another area. For this reason, the Texas Agricultural Extension Service has prepared this list (based on 800-900 hours of chilling) to identify those cultivars which have demonstrated outstanding performance in this area of the state for several years.

It is a good idea, if space allows, to include at least two cultivars of each crop in the home fruit planting as one may do better than another in certain years. In other words, put your eggs into more than one basket as one cultivar may survive a late freeze better than another, etc.

Remember, fruit trees do not grow "true" from seed. Instead, the desired fruit-bearing cultivar is budded or grafted onto a particular rootstock which is well adapted to the soils of our area. Example: buds of the peach cultivar known as 'Ranger', an outstanding fruit producer, should, if planting in an acid sandy soil, be purchased already grafted onto a 'Nemaguard' rootstock which has built-in resistance to certain nematodes. The correct rootstock is just as important as the recommended fruit-bearing cultivar.

Although fruit trees are traditionally planted during their dormant season, healthy, well-rooted trees (except figs) grown in containers can be planted all year.

APPLES (Malus pumila):
Cultivars: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Gala, Holland, Jerseymac, Mollie's Delicious, Fuji, Granny Smith

Rootstocks: mature tree size of any of the above cultivars can be regulated by grafting onto one of the following: