Rare fruit trees thrive amid California drought
The California Rare Fruit Growers is hosting the 2015 Festival of Fruit and the focus is drought-tolerant fruit.
Have you ever heard of pitaya or loquat? These are types of rare fruits flourishing in San Diego County that require almost no water.
"We feel that the best use of water in the landscape is to grow beautiful and delicious fruit that can survive drought conditions or even thrive on natural rainfall once the plants are established in the landscape," said Tom De Hotal, CRFG member and festival organizer.
Nan Sterman, host of KPBS series "A Growing Passion," will be speaking about drought-tolerant fruits at the festival.
"An established citrus tree needs to be watered once a week or once every two weeks," Sterman said. "Some of the plants we're talking about, once they're established, you don't have to water them at all."
Other drought-tolerant fruits include figs, pomegranates, olives, grapes, lingaro and persimmons.
Sterman said drought-tolerant fruit trees and shrubs grow best in full-sun with enough room to prune and don't require fertilizers.
Maddie Wichman, co-chair for the festival, said the event will have 16 speakers with workshops for both novice and expert gardeners.
The Festival of Fruit starts Friday at the Jacobs Center in San Diego. It runs through Sunday.
Source: kpbs.org