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Messages - Doug

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Squirrel battle
« on: April 08, 2021, 11:46:07 AM »

But, what about the electronic repellers? Anybody have success with them? I lost a lot of my fruit last year to squirrels. I was told that trapping them wouldn't help because other squiirrels just move in to take their place. I  bought some elctronic devices but haven't had to use them yet.

2
I am heading towards limon now I am planning to visit la isla and take a tour with Peter!
I was at incredible secrete garden yesterday and tried some GARCINIA and Maprang and many other delicious fruits! Thank you for responding guys

Where is "secrete garden"?? You were fortunate to find such fruits here this time of year. Peter's farm is amazing . . . as is his knowledge!

3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Any banana experts out there for an ID?
« on: November 13, 2020, 05:32:29 PM »
The bananos in your photos most likely are called Lehitimos, a good fruit very widely grown here in CR. Criollos are relatively small fruit. . . very delicious CR bananas . . . a favorite of mine. For me, both types are very productive and easy to grow.

4
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Protecting fruit from the critters . . .
« on: October 26, 2020, 10:08:11 AM »

One big problem with growing fruit in the jungle is the great population of wild life to contend with. Recently I lost my ENTIRE crop of Rambutan (8 trees) . . . sigh. Earlier it was all the Pulisan fruit and then a bunch of the abiu, the citrus, etc.. In spite of all my efforts to repel at least some of the critters, it was a constant buffet for them. The problem is the size of the trees. I put big inflatable snakes and owls and balls of different colors all over the trees, but all the frightening eyes and scowls were completely ignored. Anyway, I was wondering if there are any other ideas (other than netting, which would be very difficult). How about ultra-sound devices? Do they work? I love the animals, and I don't begrudge their delight in finding my fruit "paradise" in the middle of THEIR jungle home . . . but PLEASE!

5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Will abius ripen off the tree?
« on: August 06, 2020, 01:14:29 PM »

I don't mind sharing fruit with my animal neighbors, but I want some, too. I was wondering if you can pick abiu fruit early to let them ripen? The plastic bags and fake snakes or owls work sometimes but most of the fruit here in my jungle end up in animal tummies.

6
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Jaboticaba question . . .
« on: June 09, 2020, 09:30:01 PM »
What kind is it?

My red jabos fruit 6+ times a year. I have a grafted white that started fruiting
last year before Winter. This Spring It hasn't stopped It started to fruit in the
beginning of February and we were 40F 3 nights in a row and the flowers fizzled and since
then it has fruited 3 times and this past time it has more flowers already and the last batch
of fruit is not ripe yet. I guess it's happy. If you don't have red I would really urge you to get
3-4 going. They take far less time to fruit and to my limited experience they are the best.
I have eaten so many of them the past couple years. I really like the thin skin.

I have no idea what kind it is. I got the seedlings from the ag research center here in Turrialba (CATIE). Here in Costa Rica we are not blessed with the wide variety of cultivars of many specific types of fruits that are so wonderfully available in the States. Sigh. But, my variety has deep purple fruit and super sweet. Luckily. I couldn't be more pleased.

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Jaboticaba question . . .
« on: June 09, 2020, 07:39:41 PM »

One of my jabos is blooming (planted 7 years ago). I was wondering, do jabos continually bloom? So far in the past several months this is the third flush of blooms. BTW, this is one remarkable type of fruit tree. I wish I had planted more! The fruit is amazing! I almost didn't plant them because of my age and I was told they would take maybe 15 years to produce.

8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Is breadfruit worth growing?
« on: June 02, 2020, 07:07:03 PM »

You guys are going to think this is really crazy, but I have what is called Trypophobia, which is a psychological aversion to the sight of clusters of holes. I love breadfruit. It's wonderful food, especially fried. BUT, I find it impossible to prepare myself because of the scores of creepy small holes that spread from the center of the fruit. (We're a weird species! LOL.) Anyway, breadfruit trees along with it's cousin --- Castana (or bread nut trees) are absolutely my favorite tropical trees . . . . gorgeous large deep green leaves from its spreading branches. I have them growing all over my farm. And, the breadnuts are wonderful boiled. Reminds me of Southern boiled peanuts.

9
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Is my Abiu plant ok?
« on: May 20, 2020, 08:45:27 AM »

I was wondering if your trees are getting too much sun. I have a number of abiu trees on my farm, raised from seed. The ones growing in partial shade produce plenty of fruit, but the ones getting lots of sun don't. Also, they fruited between two and three years old. Good luck. It's one of my very favorite fruits!

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Happy Earth Day!!!
« on: April 22, 2020, 07:20:24 PM »

Man may be causing himself a lot of discomfort; and, who knows, perhaps he will ultimately do himself in with his own behavior. I really don't know what to believe, because the evidence is so diverse on every side of these environmental issues. Bur, a very wise friend of mine once commented: "Human Beings are like a bunch of fleas on the back of a VERY big dog." Doesn't cause much damage, but it does cause a lot of itching and scratching. My guess is the planet will afterall come out of all this just fine.

11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Weevil Problem
« on: April 21, 2020, 08:25:23 AM »
Chickens!!

12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Acerola in So. Flo.
« on: April 06, 2020, 03:22:37 PM »

My daughter in St. Pete got her Barbados Cherry bushes at Home Depot. Nice plants!

13
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Male or female flower on borojo?
« on: March 15, 2020, 04:38:04 PM »

One of my four three year old borojo trees is flowering (the only one so far). I don't know if it's a male or female. Can anyone here describe borojo flowers as to sex? BTW, all are growing quite well in very near full shade with no care whatsoever.

14

This is very interesting. I haven't heard of candlenut trees before. I'll have to ask around here to see if anyone knows of the variety from Costa Rica that you mentioned. Maybe forum member Peter at Finca la Isla is aware of it. He grows damn near everything!

15
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Africanized bees in Costa Rica
« on: August 03, 2019, 05:58:38 PM »
Maybe I just haven't paid attention to the issue, but for what it's worth, I've lived here for 20 years and have never heard of any problem whatsoever with so-called "killer" bees, or any other type of bee for that matter. I have inadvertently disturbed a wasp nest or two and suffered for my carelessness. If the bee thing were to have been a problem of any size I think I would have heard about it because I do follow the news fairly closely.

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Manzana de agua is in trouble . . .
« on: July 27, 2019, 04:40:23 PM »
 Anyone have any idea why one of my large manzana de agua trees (water apple, Malay apple) would suddenly lose almost all of its leaves? It just finished it's second fruiting of the year and was beginning to flower again.

17
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Simmonds Avocado
« on: July 19, 2019, 04:16:26 PM »
WOW . . . I didn't know they got that big. To my knowledge I've never had one. I have a tree planted but it's far from production . . . if ever, where I live. I'd like to know what your opinion is when you eat it.

18
Today in the "ferria" (farmers' market) where I live, besides the usual piles of year-round fruits like pineapples, papayas, citrus, bananas, etc., I saw some nice sapotes Columbiano, japlums, nice selection of W. Indian type avocados (cheap!), still lots of mangoes, jocotes, mamon Chinos, guanabana. Next week there'll be others I'm sure. If you're going to Jaco you'll probably pass through Orotina which is the avocado and mango center of the country. Zill's Nursery in in that area.

19
Not sure on the cherries, but I hear you on the idea of moving to Costa Rica, can we start a new thread on how and where to buy land in CR? :) :)

Rex, how to buy land here is very simple (if you find a good lawyer) . . . for anyone. It's a buyers' market! And, the Ticos REALLY want your money! LOL. Where to buy is a very complicated question. There are a million mini-climates here, and there are many different areas with differing (more or less) cultural characteristics. Everyone has their own desires and lifestyle demands. I was very specific about what I wanted to buy. I rented for years and and really enjoyed exploring the country before I found my "paradise" with pretty near everything I had on my list.

Having said that, it's a great little country (nearly everywhere except maybe San Jose) . . . VERY unique compared to other Central American countries, very US friendly, great climate, amazing diversity of flora and fauna, and still VERY affordable if you keep it relatively simple. Why don't you start the thread and see what happens?

Doug


20

I understand Rio Grande Cherry plants are slow starters. But, my little plants are almost a year old, and some of them are still only eight to ten inches tall. They look very healthy, but is there something I can do to help them speed up a bit? Is there an optimum pH? Types of fertilizers? Whatever? Sigh. At 75, one of the very few regrets I have in my life is that I didn't move to CR much sooner and start this great hobby. LOL

21

Abiu is a the very top of my favorite fruit list. Great plants and easy to grow. I'm happy to know you can grow them in St. Pete. I assume you have to protect it from cold snaps? My abiu trees have lots of fruit on them now ... AND they are flowing already again. I wonder if  they will respond that prolifically in the St. Pete climate. I'm going to take some abiu seeds to my daughter in St. Pete when I visit next time for sure. Congrats!

22
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Costa Rica mango cultivar question
« on: July 12, 2019, 01:03:57 PM »
Hi guys,
i am reviving this topic as i could not find a mango topic relating to Costa Rica.
anyone here could help me in this? I am trying to buy a small piece of land around 5-6 acres in CR and have no preference to any particular area except that i want to grow mangoes, avocados, annonas and soursops. I have been told that CR has many different climate types. What part of CR is more suitable to growing these fruits especially mangoes. Do i need to be close to ocean or can i be on mountain at altitude around 1000-1500 ft? I visited the Pacific coast side this March and it looked dry and saw many mango trees but did not see much flowering or fruit setting. Is it because the cold temps are mild and don't encourage flowering? will it help to go up to mountains of the Pacific side where temps drop lower?
I am not talking about growing for commercial production but for hobby like i do here in South Florida and for the taste of mangoes and avocados that i enjoy here in South Florida. Please help.

I'd look at the Pacific side of the country. Dryer there for avocados and mangoes. Of course, that depends on what mini-climate you find property in on that side. I live on the Caribbean side where there's more rain ( a lot's more), and it's great for many types of fruits. I have over 70 fruit varieties. Peter at Finca la Isla on the Caribbean coast I believe has several hundred varieties, at least. But, I only have two varieties of mango (Tommy and Mora) that maybe (maybe!!) can stand the humidity and disease pressure here. And, I recently re-re-re-re-planted avocados, all on meter-high mounds . . . eternally hopeful but somewhat doubtful. In spite of that, I much prefer the climate on our side. Cooler! Good luck!

23

I've been having a problem with my guanabana trees for some time, and a friend told me to give them a dose of sea salt. So I did it yesterday, and I'm looking forward to the results. As lousy as my trees have been growing I've got nothing to lose really. Anyway, that reminded me of a man I met many years ago in Leesburg, FL, who had a large citrus orchard based on "organic" farming principles. I was amazed at the quality, health and production of his trees. He had quite a large compost program which I'm certain was at the base of his success, but he  told me his "secret" was giving the trees a dose of sea salt. The only trees I have been using sea salt on every month are my coconut palms . . . and of course they love it! It got me to wondering what other varieties of fruit trees, if any, would possibly appreciate a does of salt. Any experience here? I couldn't find any info in my search.

24
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« on: July 03, 2019, 12:20:30 PM »

Hang old computer disks or music CD's perpendicular to the ground around your tree. Scars bats!

25
I don't know how you folks stand living in FL in the summertime. I was raised in Sanford back when about the only places with air conditioning were the banks and the church on Sunday morning. When I got out of high school I spent a few years checking out climate options, then I beat it up to the NC mountains to live where the weather was relatively tolerable. But THEN . . . ahhhhhhhh . . . to the mountains of Costa Rica! Paradise!!

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