Most people pay rent on dirt that grows nothing.

A fruit tree is the one plant that pays you back. Not in vibes. In actual oranges.

I've watched homeowners around Ambotqy kill a perfectly healthy sapling in 8 months. Not because the tree was weak. Because they planted it like a houseplant.

Three rules if you want fruit, not a stick in the ground:

1. Graft bump above the soil. Bury it and the tree rots from the inside.

2. Deep soak, then let it dry. Daily sips train roots to the surface. First heat wave cooks them.

3. Full sun. Pretty shade = leaves, zero fruit.

We grow the trees in this climate so they already know the weather. You just have to get the hole right.

If you've got a backyard and no fruit on it, that's the whole problem.

People blame the sapling. Nine times out of ten it's the hole.

I've watched homeowners in and around Ambotqy lose a perfectly healthy fruit tree in 8 months because they did three things:

1. Planted it too deep. The graft union (the bump on the trunk) has to sit above the soil line. Bury it and the tree slowly rots from the inside.

2. Watered like a potted plant. Daily sips. Fruit trees want a deep soak, then a dry stretch. Shallow watering trains roots to stay at the surface, then the first hot week cooks them.

3. Picked shade because "it looks cooler." Citrus wants sun. A pretty corner with 3 hours of light will give you leaves and no fruit.

If you're planting this season: full sun, hole twice as wide as the bag, graft above soil, water deep twice a week for the first month. That's the whole method.

We grow the trees here so they already know this climate. The rest is the hole.