Organic vs Non organic fruit trees

I am going to be planting roughly 30 fruit trees in my yard this spring and I want to buy all organic trees but theyre price is substantially more than non organic.

Once the trees are sprayed with pesticides are they scared for life?

Will they still produce nutrient dense fruit?

Thank You

IF you are not running a certified organic farm, or planning to seek certification, buying fruit trees raised conventionally will be OK. It is hard to find all the various types organically, and yes, organic producers demand a high price. I have purchased some stock from conventional sources, and they have turned out OK. Your trees will not flower and fruit for 2 or 3 years. By then, anything the nursery used on their site will be long gone.

Is it worth the extra cost in your opinion?

Hi Constantinos, it's very hard to answer your second question about if it's worth the extra cost.  It all depends on how big a deal it is to you, if you're seeking organic certification and how much money you have.  

I buy conventional plants but purchase them from smaller, more permaculture oriented nurseries.  That way I figure they won't be excessively sprayed and they might even be toxin free.

Not worth the price - any pesticides used on regular trees will eventually wash off/phase out (like Myrth said)- it's now just as organic as the expensive one; save your money.

I agree with what Mike said. Organic certification is not nearly as stringent as people think, now that it is a federal program.

There are some really great small nurseries that have great products. I order from the big boys if there is something I just can't seem to find, but there are some gems. I've had much better success with them than Jungs or Starks. Plants clearly grown in vibrant soil.

Check out the supplier Wiki.

I have some favorites, and others have given input as well.

One supplier I have had some luck with is https://fedcoseeds.com/. They do not always have what I want. But when they do they are my first pick. This coop has never let me down in many, many years. I don’t get anything for promoting them other than knowing I should do my part to keep a great coop going. 💚

Myrth Montana wrote:One supplier I have had some luck with is https://fedcoseeds.com/. They do not always have what I want. But when they do they are my first pick. This coop has never let me down in many, many years. I don’t get anything for promoting them other than knowing I should do my part to keep a great coop going. 💚

Thanks for the recommendation, I had never heard of them.

Has anyone ordered from the Arbor Day Foundation?

Myrth Montana wrote:One supplier I have had some luck with is https://fedcoseeds.com/.

Hi Myrth, have you seen the Official Permies Seed and Plant Source Review Grid?  I just looked through and Fedco isn't on there.  If you'd like to do a review of them I can get it added to the grid.  There's a tutorial at the bottom of the grid.  No pressure, I just always mention it whenever I see someone mentioning experience with a seed/plant supplier...

Constantinos Avgeris wrote:

Has anyone ordered from the Arbor Day Foundation?

My lowest possible recommendation. I ordered thornless honey locust and they had massive tire poppers. Other species were incorrect. Poor rooting. Cannot say enough to not recommend them.

Are they on the wiki? They should be... I'll try to do something if they aren't.

I would contribute nutrient density to the variety and soil.conditions . Not whether the tree is organic or not. A tree bred for large fruits (my opinion) has more water to inflate the size. Think of a small peach and a large peach both having the same amount of nutrients. The difference in the size is water. If that sounds reasonable, then you can conclude that the flavor is watered down also.

If your concerned about the trees you plant, i would encourage you to take half the allotment and plant seeds vs trees. The big issue is having that big taproot that only comes from planting the seed. Assume it takes 1 extra year to get fruit. You will have trees that reach further into the ground and suffering less from water shortages.

Where can I get fruit tree seeds to grow? I just did a quick search and didnt find any seeds.

Constantinos Avgeris wrote:Where can I get fruit tree seeds to grow? I just did a quick search and didnt find any seeds.

Fruit tree seeds are not something you’ll get from a nursery, as they won’t grow true to type. You’ll get a random fruit - the apple may be tiny and pithy rather than tasty - and it will take many more years to reach fruiting. Also, it will be a very large, standard sized tree, as it won’t be grafted onto a dwarfing (or semi-dwarfing) root stock.

However some people who have plenty of land for experiments simply buy apples, eat them, and plant the seeds, rear them in pots for a year or so (or just play Johnny Appleseed and plant the seeds out in nature and see what comes up). You can do that for any fruit. If you do, I would suggest buying local fruits at a farmers market so that the parent stock is hardy to your climate.

Tj Jefferson wrote:

Constantinos Avgeris wrote:

Has anyone ordered from the Arbor Day Foundation?

My lowest possible recommendation. I ordered thornless honey locust and they had massive tire poppers. Other species were incorrect. Poor rooting. Cannot say enough to not recommend them.

Are they on the wiki? They should be... I'll try to do something if they aren't.

I can't edit this I'm on my phone. HTML is not something I can edit on here feel free to delete

I second Tj’s negative vote on Arbor Day Foundation. When we ordered from them the plants arrived in poor condition and most did not survive, although we did everything we could to save them. I have managed to move and transplant trees and shrubs even in July, but these were beyond saving. While they are cheaper than many nurseries, the quality and survival rate is poor, and thus you don’t get your money’s worth. So, Constantinos, I would recommend you try another source - almost any other source. Buy good stock, even if it means splitting up your purchases over 2 or 3 years. It will save you having to replant all or most of them the following year.

Constantinos Avgeris wrote:Where can I get fruit tree seeds to grow? I just did a quick search and didnt find any seeds.

https://oikostreecrops.com/products/seeds-ecos/

Here is one source I've bought from.

Mostly I just save seeds from fruit, especially homegrown fruit.

Constantinos Avgeris wrote:I am going to be planting roughly 30 fruit trees in my yard this spring and I want to buy all organic trees but theyre price is substantially more than non organic.

Once the trees are sprayed with pesticides are they scared for life?

Will they still produce nutrient dense fruit?

Thank You

The pesticides will be long gone by the time your fruit trees actually produce fruit. Being usda certified organic requires a 36 month transition period so you can start with conventionally raised fruit trees and still become certified organic. No real reason to pay the added cost of starting with organic fruit trees.