How do you know male/female fruit trees?

The female tree gets a headache once in awhile! (Sorry, couldn't help myself!)

So many GOOD questions and I hope this site will answer them all for you!

Good luck! http://www.ehow.com/facts_7566450_there-male-female-fruit-trees.html

The nursery can tell you if you need two for cross pollinaton. Most bearing trees do need another of its kind, but usually a different variety for pollination.

That depends on what fruit tree you are referring to

Some trees have a single "gender" but many do not. The way to tell is to see if the male (pollen) parts are present on separate flowers on different trees from the "female" (ovary - ie, infant fruit) parts. Also, you should be aware that issues with pollination may not always be related to needing both "male" and "female" trees around - sometimes a tree has what is called a "perfect" flower (with both male and female parts) but because the pollen from the male portion does not ripen at the same time or is in some other way incompatible with the female portion, it may require others of its kind around with different pollination times in order to set fruit. Apples are that way, sometimes, as are hazelnuts. This is why you often see recommended pollinators listed for certain apple varieties.

Bushes are the same way - some have only one gender as well. So do some fruiting vines, like Kiwi, which for the most part require one male kiwi for every 8 females. There is at least one self-fruitful variety - Issai. But even those fruiting plants that are self-fruitful will often be even more productive with additional pollinators.

Seems l like every plant is different. I have a cherry tree that does not need another tree to produce fruit. Most cherries do. You will need to find out before you buy since some plants take a couple of years before they bare fruit. It would be disappointing to wait three years only to find you need another tree.