Name the defect before you buy a famous cultivar

Orchards live with a decision for years. Buying a cultivar because a neighbour swears by the name, or because a nursery has it in stock, skips the only question that matters: what fails on this farm? Disease cost, trees too tall to harvest, irregular bearing, fruit that dies on the lorry, or roots that cannot take the soil — each needs a different line.

Write the defect, the buyer spec, and the site limit before you spend. A famous mango that anthracnoses in your rain, or a compact coffee with a cup the channel will not pay for, is not an improvement.

If last season's loss had a name (split fruit, wilt, unpaid grade), buy against that name, not against a reputation.

In this series

• Name the defect before you buy a famous cultivar
• Do not plant one clone as the whole orchard
• Fruit quality and root survival are two jobs
• Clone the winner and retest — the best tree may be the best soil
• Rank trees over years, not one heavy crop
• A trial is only as honest as the labels on the plants