Hello everyone!
My name is Jen. I've been an orchid grower for about the past ten years (usually cramming a couple hundred plants in and outside of the few apartments I've lived in, which was quite a challenge, but given that I had no other option I made it work!) . I tend to grow mostly species like dendrobiums, laelias, cattleyas, a few bulbous, but also many others!
Earlier this year I moved into a house which (wonder of wonders!) has a front and back yard! After I almost immediately built a shade room for my orchids I realized the full potential of the space I had and started to explore the possibilities of finally growing some of the tropical fruit that I've always absolutely loved.
For many years I've searched out as many kinds of interesting fruit as I can possibly find. My favorites have to be (in no real order) mangosteens, cherimoyas, longans, lychees, papaya, mangos, and pineapple. Being that only so many things are available in markets around San Diego, I have a LONG way to go when it comes to tasting even a small fraction of the things out there, but I'm actively trying!
Recently I've begun to grow some fruit trees (jaboticaba, fuyu persimmon, Pickering mango, nazemetz strawberry guava, miracle berry) and have been starting seeds or cuttings of others (lychee, rambutan, mamey sapote, random yellow mango, longan, figs, cherimoya, papaya, fuyu and chocolate persimmon, pineapple). I'm having better luck with some than others but I'm the type of person who will keep trying until I succeed or exhaust myself! There are still many things I'd like to grow and am planning on getting a strawberry tree (muntingia calburia) in a couple of weeks to add to my collection. I'm just so excited to finally have the space to garden and grow everything I've always wanted to, even if they have to potentially stay in containers since this is a rental house (though we may be buying it in the future- I'd rather be safe than sorry. Wouldn't want to have to leave any of my beloved trees or plants behind!).
I've been mostly growing in containers, but if I come across something I must have and it must be grown in the ground I'm willing to go for it, however the yard isn't huge and is largely taken up with orchids, various epiphytes, and my garden, so size, deliciousness, and time until fruiting are the most important factors in what I'll be choosing.
Other than that, I'm just excited to be growing, and I feel really fortunate to live in such a perfect climate for so many types of fruit! I'm looking forward to taking with you all!
Cheers!