Author Topic: Introduce Yourself  (Read 620980 times)

TropicalFruitHunters

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1384
    • USA, Columbus, OH, xxxxx Zone 5b
    • View Profile
    • Tropical Fruit Hunters
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #50 on: January 23, 2012, 06:55:36 AM »
Oscar...you've heard of people chaining themselves to trees to stop them from being cut down?  Gerry is the only guy we know who chains himself to lychee trees in order to not be dragged away!  I believe he supports a few Chinese merchant's families by his lychee purchases in China Town.   I'm not 100% sure about this...but it is rumored that he is no longer welcome in Florida during the season!

lycheeluva

  • Brooklyn, NY
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 631
  • obsessed with fruit growing, especially lychees
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #51 on: January 23, 2012, 07:53:13 AM »
oscar, I wrote 5 weeks not 5 months!
oh, that they would be available for 5 months of the year.!
I did try and find  someone who would mail me lychees from england as they are in season over there now (imported from madagascar)  but alas, no luck as of yet!
by the way oscar,  I naybe the only person to have fruited a lychee in NY but there is someone who does a great job fruiting lychees and mangoes in his living room in PA. ( I must email him to come join this new forum).

natsgarden123

  • Guest
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #52 on: January 23, 2012, 02:10:50 PM »
Thanks PJ for directing me to this site!  I am an amateur gardener. I have grown vegetables, citrus, berries, fruits..you name it. I enjoy the exercise, the satisfaction, the food and I have gotten to know my neighbors well: I have delivered fruit and veggies to everyone.

I just moved into my new house ( 1+acre), in West Palm Beach,  and I am currently building my current collection of trees. The acre has quite a few slash pines, palms and cypress: Its considered a protected area so my trees are planted in between.   It actually beautiful. I feel like we live in a forest. There is usually a nice wind and the smell of pine.

My children have all started college ( yeah!) so there is a lot more time to enjoy my garden. During the day, I am a physician, an Obstetrician Gynecologist.

I am currently growing:
Mangoes: Valencia Pride, Carrie, Mallika, Lemon Zest, Baileys Marvel, Fairchild and Harvest Moon. Ill probably add some more. ( Much to the dismay of my husband : ), who is not a tree lover)
Mulberry- everbearing
Sapodilla- alano, looking to add another
Peach- ( trying it-my last one didn't make it)
Jackfruit, MAI1 seedling
Pineapples- a whole lot of them-for whatever reason, Mine went crazy- i gave all of the neighbors plants- I harvested about 30 for us last year
Fig- Magnolia

I will be planting an Atemoya and a Longan. Maybe a Lychee and or an avocado.

There has been a lot of Canker in this area so Citrus is out for now ( although I love grapefruit and pommelo, and the lemons smell so good) . If things improve then Ill add those trees.

I am also growing Eggplant, 2 kinds of tomatoes and herbs. I'm building some more raised beds. 


I am not an expert, hence reading the forum. Besides, its very interesting to read about other plant junkies gardens. It is also great to see the back and forth: which is the best mango?   I am looking forward to more interesting discussion. 








lycheeluva

  • Brooklyn, NY
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 631
  • obsessed with fruit growing, especially lychees
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #53 on: January 23, 2012, 03:32:36 PM »

I will be planting an Atemoya and a Longan. Maybe a Lychee and or an avocado.


"maybe a lychee"
 woe unto  the young generation and the disdain they have for the holiest of holies, the lychee

behlgarden

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2353
    • CA, Zone 10 B
    • View Profile
    • LED Bulbs for Landscape Lighting
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #54 on: January 23, 2012, 05:04:46 PM »
Behlgarden here! Lycheeluva mentioned this forum to me and I look forward to learning and contributing.  I am a construction professional by trade but passionate about gardening and cooking.  Bought my first home last year in Riverside County and it has a great 0.3 acre flat lot in cul-de-sec overlooking into 270 degrees of city light view and mountains. Love it there.

In house I purchased, the old asian lady who owned it for investment did plant tropical fruits for me LOL, I inherited:
1. Asian guava - 6 trees
2. Asian Apple
3. Longan
4. Cherimoya - 3
5. Atemoya
6. White seedless grapes.
7. Asian Pear

I palnted after I moved into the home:
1. Sweetheart Lychee
2. Alphonso Mango - now flowering
3. Sapodilla (prolific)
4. 4 in 1 grafted cherries (no hope due to chilling)
5. Nam-Doc Mai Mango
6. Logaut
7. Appricot
8. 4 in 1 apple.
9. Plums
10. Black Grapes


Still looking to add to my collection all the time. I water my big area so why not grow some fruit and offset expensive So. Cal Water?

amrkhalido

  • Zone 10, Egypt
  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 94
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #55 on: January 23, 2012, 07:28:47 PM »
Hey Everyone,

What a great forum, i would like to thank all who managed to create such a wonderful website. And Especially Sheehan for inviting me to it.

My name is Amr, i live in Egypt. And as all i share the hoppy of planting tropical fruit trees.

Looking forward to the discussions,

Amr

fruitlovers

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15883
  • www.fruitlovers.com
    • USA, Big Island, East Hawaii, Zone 13a
    • View Profile
    • Fruit Lover's Nursery
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #56 on: January 24, 2012, 12:41:56 AM »
Lycheeluva, ohhhhh! Only 5 weeks? Darned i thought it was 5 months of lychees. Must have been wishful thinking.  :'(
Here we get about 4 solid months of lychees due to different seasons of different varieties. If i recall correctly, the brewsters come on first (early May), then kaimanas, then groff, and latest is Kwai Mi Pink (B-3) all the way to end of August. But peak of season is early June, when a lot of varieties overlap.
Oscar
Oscar

lycheeluva

  • Brooklyn, NY
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 631
  • obsessed with fruit growing, especially lychees
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #57 on: January 24, 2012, 06:50:56 AM »
wow, 4 months? a good reaon to move to Hawaii. interesting that brewster is the first to ripen, as in FL, brewster is the last of the commercially grown lychees to ripen

jlondon

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 13
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #58 on: January 24, 2012, 01:56:34 PM »
Hi all! My name is Jessica and I have a black thumb...hopefully you all can help me make things grow  ;D

MarcoIslandMango

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 33
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #59 on: January 24, 2012, 02:19:50 PM »
Hi everyone, I'm Brett.  I came over from GW and am glad to see the new functionality here...especially the map.  I see Im the only member from SW FL so far.  Hoping to find some others on my side of the state (and jealous of all you east coasters).  I'm fairly new to growing trees, and have lost a few to the learning curve (over fertilization, under watering, disease).  Here is what I have currently:

Mango: Pickering, Valencia Pride, Glenn, Lancetilla, Nam Doc Mai, Tebow Young
Citrus: Kumquat, Tangelo, Grapefruit, Lemon, Lime
Avocado: Monroe and Brogdon

I'd really like to sample some new fruits to see if I'd like to grow them (Canistel, Sapodilla, ...). 
« Last Edit: May 28, 2012, 08:43:02 PM by murahilin »
-Brett

BENDERSGROVE

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1447
  • BENDER'S TROPICAL GROVE
    • USA, Davie, FL 33331, Zone 10b
    • View Profile
    • BENDERSGROVE
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #60 on: January 24, 2012, 07:28:30 PM »
Hi everybody! My name is Mike Bender. I am the owner of Bender's Tropical Grove, we specialize in all kinds of tropical fruit trees. Like most of you, I love growing tropical fruits. We opened our nursery in 2008 and have been growing ever since. I think this forum is exceptional and hats off to those who came up with the idea! Some of you on here have been customers of ours and we want to thank you for your support. We are happy to contribute and help this forum and hobby grow in any way we possibly can and hope to meet many of you in the future. Our nursery is open to the public every Wednesday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm. We are a registered Florida nursery and hope to share our love of growing tropical fruit with all our friends and customers! We are located in Davie Fl. So if there is anything we can help with please feel free to call us or visit our website at http://www.bendersgrove.com  954-471-0763 Glad to join and happy growing!

North_Tree_Man

  • Downingtown, PA - 6b
  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 21
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #61 on: January 25, 2012, 01:51:17 PM »
 Hello everyone. My name is Jeremy, and I have been growing sub-tropicals/tropicals for about 6 years now. I always loved lychees from a young age, and read up on them one day, years ago, and decided that they would be ideal for growing in a greenhouse type setting here in the north. Thus the love affair was born. Years later my collection has grown to four lychees, one longan, three mangoes, one pineapple, one cinnamon, a trio of citrus (orange, tangerine, lemon), and some pitiful looking pulasan seedlings. I have successfully fruited lychees for years now, but the trees are finally coming into their prime fruiting age, so good things are expected from this time onward. Further additions to the collection are on hold until we can build a much needed greenhouse onto the back of the house (or buy a completely new/bigger plot.) Of course, I keep buying temperate fruit trees in the hopes the yard will magically expand to accommodate them.

mangomandan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1107
  • When a man is tired of mangos, he is tired of life
    • USA, Lake Worth, Florida, 33461, 10a
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #62 on: January 25, 2012, 02:10:14 PM »
Hello everyone. My name is Jeremy, and I have been growing sub-tropicals/tropicals for about 6 years now.  I have successfully fruited lychees for years now, but the trees are finally coming into their prime fruiting age, so good things are expected from this time onward.

Fruiting lychees in Pennsylvania  is just way cool.  Congrats.

REB1136

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 17
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #63 on: January 25, 2012, 02:11:30 PM »
Hey Everyone,

My name is Ray. I have chatted with a few of you guys and gals from the other forum. I thought I would jump ship and come on over,since some many of y'all have so much knowledge and have helped anserw questions for me in the past. I currently have the following plants
Glenn Mango
TR Hovey Papaya
2 Barbados Cherries
Dragon Fruit(yellow,pink delight,american beauty,dark star,& physical graffiti)
Banana's(manazo,ice cream,& dwarf cavendish)
Mai 1 Jakfruit(12 seedlings)
Lisbon Lemon
2 Limes(key and persian)
Moro Blood Orange
Tangerine(cant remember which variety)
Pineapple(from a store bought top)
Guava(not sure what variety the tag is wrong)

Well I think that is about it, I probally forgot something. I also hope to add a lot more tropicals this spring.

happyisland

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 189
  • all mangoes, all the time!
    • Aruba, Mon Plaisir, Zone 14a
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #64 on: January 25, 2012, 03:04:40 PM »
My wife and I moved to Aruba about 9 years ago, and since we bought a house 3 years back I have gone absolutely fruit-tree crazy with our small yard. I've lurked on the GW forums and have enjoyed many of the expert posts and discussions over there. You guys are bad influences though! Here's what I have planted so far in a small front, back, and side yard:

Mangoes:
Pho Pyu Kalay
Nam Doc Mai
Glenn
Alphonso
Edward
Valencia Pride
Florigon
Lancetilla (potted)
Carrie (potted)

Citrus:
Moro blood orange
Valencia orange
Temple orange (dying)

Non-fruiting:
A buttonwood tree, a huge ficus, a huge almond, and 4 or 5 lignum-vitae trees.

I can't wait to learn more from these forums, while hopefully resisting the urge to supplement my collection of mango trees. Thanks to the people who set this up!

-Dave

PS: forgot to add that I have 3 productive papayas, an elderly barbados cherry and a carambola planted in the side yard. They're so easy to grow I forget they're there!
« Last Edit: January 25, 2012, 03:12:29 PM by happyisland »

stuartdave

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 7
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #65 on: January 25, 2012, 05:19:54 PM »
My name is Dave and I live in Stuart Florida on 2/3 of an acre.My wife and I moved here 15 yrs ago from Plantation Florida . I read the post of the administrator from West Palm Beach who wanders thru his yard frequently and my wife said I have an identical twin. I am a retired state probation officer so have a lot of time to wander. In our area we live on the northern boundary of coconut palms, royal palms and poicianas. The coldest my yard has been in 15 years was last year at 29.4. At present I have 4 soursops , all seedlings about 3 yrs old, mangoes-NDM,Beverly,Glenn,Rosiegold and a big seedling,a couple Jackfruit- one a Bangkok Lemon 4 yrs old that fruited last year, 4 varieties of white sapote -3 grafted, one flowering and one grafted vernon 6 yrs old that has never flowered- no fruit from any so far, 3 grafted avacadoes,1 macadamia tree, 2 grafted starfruit 10 years old never cold damaged, barbadoes cherry, kohala longan,2 grafted indian jujube that are growing slowly,key limes-4 all seedlings and 2 fruiting about 8 yrs old , an alano sapadillo, many bananas and pineapples.I purchase many of my trees from Ex calibur.

simon_grow

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6729
  • USA, San Diego, CA, Zone 10a
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #66 on: January 25, 2012, 09:21:09 PM »
Hello everyone, my name is Simon and I do research in San Diego.  I'm into tropical and subtropical fruit that are on the sweet side or have medicinal/health benefits.  I am currently growing:
Avocado, Blueberries, strawberries, Tazziberries(Chilean Guava), peaches, pears, plums, papaya, cherimoya, mango, lychee, longan, lemons, limes, blood oranges, dragonfruit, mangosteen, Mexican Mangosteen, Brasilian Mangosteen, Maprang, Jaboticaba, miraclefruit, asian pears, figs, pomegranate, tangerines, and probably a few others I forgot ;D
Simon

fruitlovers

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15883
  • www.fruitlovers.com
    • USA, Big Island, East Hawaii, Zone 13a
    • View Profile
    • Fruit Lover's Nursery
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #67 on: January 25, 2012, 10:20:45 PM »
Hi Simon, how are the tazziberries (chilean guavas) tasting?
Oscar
Oscar

WhitH

  • Vero Beach, Florida 10a
  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 65
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #68 on: January 26, 2012, 10:49:49 AM »
Hi. My name is Whit and I have a few young mango trees, etc. growing in ground in my yard in Vero Beach, FL. I plan to share photos on the forum of all this soon.
I love to hang out in my yard, looking at the leaves, noticing small changes. Love being outdoors... it's therapeutic, right?

I lived on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica for 9 months, and have traveled to a number of areas in Central America. My parents have a house in The Bahamas where they are growing some fruit too. My first real exposure to tropical fruits was as a child when I lived in Kenya (spent over 2 years in Kenya). There was a small mango we used to eat green, out of hand, and it was sort of like eating a resinous, sour apple, but we loved it as kids. We would sometimes even eat the skin. I also loved the tree tomato, passion fruit, and pineapples we had there.

My avatar is a water apple in Costa Rica having just shed its incredible hot pink blooms.

I recently found the tropical fruit forum on GardenWeb, so I am familiar with some of the regular posters there, but that forum was hard to use/post pictures to, so I wasn't a contributor there. Glad that this forum is up and running!
« Last Edit: January 26, 2012, 10:55:35 AM by WhitH »

simon_grow

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6729
  • USA, San Diego, CA, Zone 10a
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #69 on: January 26, 2012, 02:21:02 PM »
Hey Oscar, the Tazziberries(Chilean Guava) are extremely, I mean absolutely delicious!  No kidding, they smell and taste kind of like cotton candy mixed with berry.  Unfortunately, mine were very small, smaller than a blueberry and my specific variety didn't turn completely red, mine were very light pink with some green on it.  If they were bigger and more red, they would be even more amazing.
Simon

ericalynne

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 250
    • United States of America, Florida, Venus, 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #70 on: January 26, 2012, 09:06:36 PM »
Hello everyone. Ed tipped me off to this forum. I know some of you from yahoo groups. I am mostly glad to have these introductions so I can now show my husband how very reasonable my plant collection is compared to others on the list.  ;)

I started growing tropical fruit when I moved to Naples, FL. When I moved to Venus three years ago, I left behind fruiting mangoes (Carrie, Edward, Julie, Ice Cream, Cogshall and Kent) a fruiting jaboticaba that was producing fruit two-three times a year, key lime, meyer lemon, two lychees, imbe, several bananas, grumichama and others I can't remember.

In Venus (9b) I have started a lot, but nothing has fruited yet: Angie and Jean Ellen mangoes (Fairchild), Loquat, key lime, jaboticaba, two seedling jaks (from Warren), three seedling kwai muk, imbe seedlings (Fruit and Spice Park), three banana varieties that are supposed to do well in zone 9, (Going Bananas), pineapples, charichuela (Whitman) (in pot, has flowered but no fruit), 4 garciania gardineria (sp? Whitman), moringa oleifera (sp?? the Kampong.) Ed is in the process of sending me some mulberries and hardy avocados. I have ordered Sunshine Blue blueberry plants and a couple other blueberry varieties to try.

I was very interested to see some posts on low chill northern fruits, because I want to try them, now that I can't grow much of the tropicals. I have a small greenhouse for the cold nights.

When I am not working on the fruit trees, I have more orchids than you can shake a stick at, even after giving away half of them, bamboo, and a vegetable garden.

Erica

fruitlovers

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15883
  • www.fruitlovers.com
    • USA, Big Island, East Hawaii, Zone 13a
    • View Profile
    • Fruit Lover's Nursery
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #71 on: January 27, 2012, 05:30:48 AM »
Hey Oscar, the Tazziberries(Chilean Guava) are extremely, I mean absolutely delicious!  No kidding, they smell and taste kind of like cotton candy mixed with berry.  Unfortunately, mine were very small, smaller than a blueberry and my specific variety didn't turn completely red, mine were very light pink with some green on it.  If they were bigger and more red, they would be even more amazing.
Simon

Sounds good Whit! Now where to get seeds or starts?
Oscar
Oscar

mangomandan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1107
  • When a man is tired of mangos, he is tired of life
    • USA, Lake Worth, Florida, 33461, 10a
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #72 on: January 27, 2012, 10:40:16 AM »


In Venus (9b) I have started a lot, but nothing has fruited yet: Angie and Jean Ellen mangoes (Fairchild), Loquat, key lime, jaboticaba, two seedling jaks (from Warren), three seedling kwai muk, imbe seedlings (Fruit and Spice Park), three banana varieties that are supposed to do well in zone 9, (Going Bananas), pineapples, charichuela (Whitman) (in pot, has flowered but no fruit), 4 garciania gardineria (sp? Whitman), moringa oleifera (sp?? the Kampong.) Ed is in the process of sending me some mulberries and hardy avocados. I have ordered Sunshine Blue blueberry plants and a couple other blueberry varieties to try.

I was very interested to see some posts on low chill northern fruits, because I want to try them, now that I can't grow much of the tropicals. I have a small greenhouse for the cold nights.

When I am not working on the fruit trees, I have more orchids than you can shake a stick at, even after giving away half of them, bamboo, and a vegetable garden.

Erica
I'm in Venus too, but weekends only. I wish I had a greenhouse, as I've lost every citrus tree, a "cold-hardy" Winter Mexican avocado, and other items to the hard freezes.
One mulberry has done well for me, another gave up the ghost the winter that we had 3 hard freezes separated by really warm intervals.
Anyway, the next time you drive by a mobile home with goats and sheep in the front yard, stop in and say Hi.

nullzero

  • Zone 10a
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3768
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #73 on: January 27, 2012, 12:38:59 PM »
Hey Oscar, the Tazziberries(Chilean Guava) are extremely, I mean absolutely delicious!  No kidding, they smell and taste kind of like cotton candy mixed with berry.  Unfortunately, mine were very small, smaller than a blueberry and my specific variety didn't turn completely red, mine were very light pink with some green on it.  If they were bigger and more red, they would be even more amazing.
Simon

Sounds good Whit! Now where to get seeds or starts?
Oscar

Sacred Succulents has seeds and small starter plants. Being that your in Hawaii you may want to go the seed route. http://sacredsucculents.com/rare-beneficial-plants-from-chile/

Ebay also has some listings for it. Be warned though the plant does not like intense sun and temps much over 80 degrees.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

ericalynne

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 250
    • United States of America, Florida, Venus, 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Introduce Yourself
« Reply #74 on: January 28, 2012, 06:46:08 PM »
Hi Mangomandan...I have seen a few pastures with goats and sheep driving around. Maybe by the Venus small animal auction?

Last winter was really horrible cold/freeze-wise. Were your mulberries really young? Because mulberries grow way up north and survive through real winters. I will try to post some pics of the greenhouse, etc. if I ever figure out all this digital camera stuff.

Erica