[1] Zaiger developed varieties such as the pluot, and has been called "the most prolific stone fruit breeder in the modern era.
[3] Zaiger earned a degree in plant pathology and agricultural education in 1952 from the University of California, Davis.
[5] In 1954, Zaiger and wife Betty purchased a 2.5 acre nursery and began breeding heat-tolerant azaleas as a hobby.
[4] In 1956 and 1957, he apprenticed with breeder Fred Anderson, a protege of Luther Burbank and developer of the nectarine.
[6] The family-owned company Zaiger Genetics cross-pollinates by hand, rather than gene-splicing or DNA manipulation, to develop new hybrids.