What is a Fruit Salad Tree and where can I get one?

Have you ever thought about getting multiple kinds of plants from the same tree? It's not a very widely accepted practice even in modern agriculture, but these kinds of plants are out there. They're called fruit salad trees, and they’re generally available from a variety of vendors.

It's possible to get various types of trees growing up to six different kinds of plants on the same tree. You can get ‘stone fruit salads’ with things like peaches, plums and apricots. You can get citrus salad trees with oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits and other citrus fruits. Multi-apple trees can produce various apple varieties.

It's also possible to cultivate one of these in a hydroponic garden. But why would you want to? Well, first of all, it's kind of an impressive experiment. And secondly, you can get more different kinds of fruit in a smaller space.

The Success of Grafting

No, it's not magic, and people didn't cross-breed trees to produce multiple kinds of fruit.

In fact, fruit salad trees come from the age-old practice of grafting -- where growers artificially join a branch to the the stem of some other tree or plant. By matching up something called the vascular cambia, growers are able to fuse the two parts together and make sure that they will connect practically.

The Scarring Process

As the plants pieces fuse together, you'll see scar tissue form around graft. Eventually, the plants perform something called a “callus bridge.” By effectively joining the interior tissues to move cellular material through the plant, the two grafted parts become a single piece.

Hybrid Fruit Salad

In addition to traditional fruits, hybrids can also be included in a fruit salad tree. That means you can grow things like peaches and plums along with things like pomelos and plucots. This adds even more diversity to harvest, which is great for hydroponic plant cycle.

A number of legitimate vendors sell fruit salad trees over the Internet. Pick one that's responsive and presents a good product, and you can have something that will give you many different kinds of fruit for years to come.

For more on hydroponics and how to grow nearly anything in water, check out Dealzer’s website. Get connected to a retailer offering the best equipment for successful long-term grow cycles.