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Topics - chad6159

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Guava ID help

« on: July 20, 2019, 09:01:22 PM »

I bought this guava tree last year and it was just to me as a pink guava from a lady I found online that was running her own little nursery. I have no idea what kind this actually is. Can someone help me?

It is literally the beat guava I have eaten. I had another pink guava tree a few years ago and it produced good fruit but the skin was a lot thicker, had what seemed to be a million seeds in the inside and seeds were hard as rocks. This guava has thin skin, not that many seeds and what seeds it does have are easily crushable, some are even soft, and not hard as rocks. They are also a lot bigger than the ones I grew previously. Any ideas?

* The guava in my hand is not the one I cut up..

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Newly grafted mango tree question on pruning/tipping

« on: July 11, 2019, 09:08:11 AM »

I just recently had 4 successful sweet tart grafts. Currently they are done with their first flush and starting to turn green. My question is when is the earliest I can tip them to make them branch? After the first flush hardens or should I was until after the second flush hardens, or should you wait even longer?

Tropical Fruit Discussion / PPK mango tree not growing.

« on: June 08, 2019, 09:50:16 PM »

So I bought a 3 gallon ppk/lemon meringue mango tree sometime in Feb, I put it in the ground and it has yet to put on any new growth. The tree overall looks healthy but I am puzzled as to why the thing has not grown at all in the past 5 months or so. I have been giving it water since we have not been getting any but I also tried not watering it for a couple weeks to see if that would make it start growing, nothing happened. What do you guys think? All of my other mango trees are putting on new growth like crazy, they are however mature trees.

I am thinking about giving it until july/august and then it is getting replaced with another ppk.

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Help me pick my next mango variety

« on: April 02, 2019, 04:44:31 PM »

A little background. I have a pretty good sized mango tree in my yard, probably around 25 feet high and 10 to 15 feet wide. This will be the second time it has flowered in the past 5 years, which I think only happened because I pruned it very heavily the prior year(this will be the second year if it holds onto its fruit) Last year the fruit was not very good tasting and they all had jelly seed throughout the whole fruit. This tree also gets anthracnose really bad which seems to be impossible to get rid of on this tree. My haden mango that is right next to it never has these problems. This year it flowered probably only on 1/8 to 1/6 of the tree. Most of the little mangos have anthracnose on them and are falling off so we will see if I get any mangos from it this year.

So my thought is if it does not give good mangos or does not give any mangos at all I will be getting out the chainsaw and cutting this thing down to somewhere around waist to chest high and grafting something better onto it next year/later this year if possible.

I am trying to figure out which variety I want and with all of them out there it is a hard choice. I would like to get one that is earlier in the season if possible since I have two other trees that are mid season varieties. But from what I have seen there are not too many great tasting early mangos. So being early is optional.

The two main criteria are highly disease resistant and a heavy/good producer. One that I have been looking into is Rosigold for an early variety but I cant seem to find much about taste, other than it is better than other early varieties. Currently I have a Haden (already in place when I bought the house) a PPK and this unknown mystery mango which is the topic of this conversation.

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Ghost ants on peach tree

« on: March 26, 2019, 10:54:22 AM »

My Peach seems to always have ghost ants on it, it is my only tree that I have ever seen ghost ants on. Usually when I think of ants in general I think of them as a bad thing, bringing aphids, scale and other unwanted pests onto the tree and feeding off of them(I had this issue with a mango tree). Now I don't know if ghost ants specifically do that or not but would like to know what your experience has been with ghost ants. Should I get rid of them or should I let them do their thing?

I have never noticed any aphids, scale or anything else on my peach tree, but once I saw the ants I usually get rid of them. But if ghost ants don't do any harm to the tree and are beneficial in some way I would rather not get rid of them.

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Black banded disease on mango?

« on: March 18, 2019, 06:54:11 PM »

This just popped up a week ago and has gotten a lot worse lately. From my research it seems like it is black banded disease? I have never seen this before? Any insite on what it could be and a way of dealing with it?

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Guava pruning so you still get fruit that upcoming season

« on: March 08, 2019, 07:59:45 AM »

I have been researching when I should prune my guava tree. I would like to prune it a bit but also would want to get fruit this season. I know they grow on new growth so would it be okay to prune now? or would that make me not get fruit until next year?

I am getting mixed answers to this question when I look it up. Some say winter, some say spring and that doing it in winter could be bad for it, some say do it whenever. The main thing is I want to prune it and still get fruit this season. Or if it is too late I at least want to know when to prune it this year so I still get fruit next year.

The tree is about 7 or so feet tall but would like to prune it so it branches out more.

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Mystery plant growing in compost bin

« on: February 28, 2019, 12:40:07 PM »

I have a compost bin that has been neglected and was not mixed around for a month or so. I opened it up today to mix it around and check the moisture level and I see a bunch of these plants growing in it.

I tossed in muscadine grape seeds along with many different types of vegetables. Anybody know what this could be? I was thinking grape at first when it was really small but not so much now.

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Green Leaf Bug(Katydid) eating peach tree leaves

« on: February 25, 2019, 07:57:11 AM »

I have at least one green leaf bug that is always on my peach tree eating away at the leaves like crazy. I have tried to look up online if they are good or bad but I cannot find anything on them, besides that they like to eat leaves. I have never seen it on any of my other trees, just my peach tree.

Do any of you guys know whether they eat other garden pests such as aphids, scale and so on? Trying to figure out whether or not I should get rid of it and look for others. He has torn up pretty much all of my peach tree leaves. Well at least what is left of them after going semi dormant.

What would you guys do?

Picture from google attached for reference.

Tropical Fruit Discussion / What fruit is ripe this time of year in SW Florida?

« on: February 06, 2019, 01:02:29 PM »

Would like to get a few fruit trees that have fruit ripe on them right now, or close to now.

The only fruit that I know of that is ripe right now are citrus and starfruit. What else is there? Having no fruit ripe from august until now is killing me!

Also, what do you guys consider to be the best starfruit variety, I like the ones that are purely sweet, I don't like the tart and sweet ones.

Tropical Fruit Discussion / When to start fertilizing my mango trees?

« on: January 22, 2019, 10:55:16 AM »

My mango tree is starting to push out a lot of new growth, all over the tree. I have never really fertilized my mango trees before since they are bigger and seemed to do fine without it. But I would like to start doing it since I have seen how much it helps all of my other trees.

Is it too early to start fertilizing? It seems like it would be too early to me. But all of my fruit trees are starting to push out a lot of new growth, not just my mangos.

It is going to get up to 80 tomorrow but then it is supposed to drop back down to the high 60s/low 70s for a week or so.

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Best time of year to start air layering a mango tree?

« on: December 10, 2018, 04:05:17 PM »

Hey guys I have tried searching on this and I would think this would be a pretty easy thing to find but I cannot find the info anywhere.

What is the best time of the year to start an air layer on a mango tree?

I started two at the beginning of October and just checked today and there is basically no root growth on one (starting to bulge so probably will pop a few roots out sometime soon) and the other one had probably 6 roots but they were only a half inch to an inch long.

From what I have heard and seen most people let it go a month and a half to two months. Is that too short? Also I am completely new at air layering, this is my first try at it, so I am just happy that it seems like roots are forming!

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Insect identification!

« on: November 15, 2018, 01:12:37 PM »

Hey guys, have been seeing a couple of insects around lately on the ground and in my fruit tree (mainly guava). Just wondering if these guys are good or bad.

Here is the first one. I have only seen this guy on my guava tree. He does seem to be munching on the leaves a bit which doesn’t bother me. Do these guys eat mites and other bad insects? Or are they themselves bad?

Here is the second, which I’m sure is a pretty common bug since they are everywhere in my yard and I am assuming they are harmless and beneficial but I want to make sure. They seem to be everywhere in my backyard. Especially where I have thrown prunings of my mango trees. I am assuming they are eating the leaves which is beneficial. It seems like every time I go near there I get one crawling up my leg haha!

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Mulberry support?

« on: October 16, 2018, 08:39:41 AM »

My mulberry has been growing a lot and in the beginning I had the main branches supported with bamboo poles(they would fall over if I didnt, plus I was training them to go a certain way). now instead of having just 4 main branches I have 10-15 probably, those for the most part are growing out and up as I want. But the ones that were supported are now way taller than the supports (which were 6 foot bamboo poles). So they are growing mainly vertically for 4 to 6 foot and then after the support they are growing completely horizontal. If I let it go will it eventually upright its self or is there something that I should do? I want to grow it as a bush by the way.

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Anyone growing Figo Preto or Black Madeira Figs in Florida? - Or any fig

« on: September 26, 2018, 04:13:17 PM »

Just doing some research on figs so when the time comes I pick a good variety. I keep seeing that the Figo Preto and the Black Maderia are the best two figs. But I have also seen where they supposedly do not like really humid climates. So I am wondering what kind of figs you grow (and what is your favorite) in South or South West Florida and does anyone have a Figo Preto or a Black Maderia.

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Mulberry tree leaves hard and some turning yellow - Cause?

« on: September 19, 2018, 07:15:31 PM »

Hey guys my mulberry tree leaves are pretty hard (crispy) and some are turning yellow and falling off. Some of the leaves that are green are kind of splotchy and not solid green. Now to me usually that means it needs more water. But it was been raining here almost every day and it has 4-6 inches of mulch on it. I just dug back to the dirt under the mulch and it is wet. not crazy wet but for sure not dry.

It is putting off new growth like crazy right now, but the old leaves seem to be dying?

Any ideas what could be going on?

New growth:

Yellow and splotchy leaves:

Click on this next one to enlarge and see the "splotchy-ness"

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Peach tree update + pruning tips?

« on: September 06, 2018, 04:33:13 PM »

My peach tree went from basically dying (all the leaves were turning yellow and falling off, and new leaves would turn yellow and get holes after a few days) to now full of leaves and green! Fertilized the crap out of it which was recommended here and that seems to have done the trick.

My question is how should I prune this? Should I prune it now or should I wait until it goes dormant? also at this height how many branches should I keep?

The tree is really oddly shaped right now because Irma knocked it over and half the the tree completely died, so now it is all lopsided.

I am just afraid to prune it because it is finally growing! But I know, just like all of my other trees, if you prune it, it will grow faster.

What do you guys recommend for pruning peach trees?

Attached are some before and after pics

Before:

After:

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Mango Identification?

« on: June 30, 2018, 07:40:42 PM »

This tree was at my house when I bought it and I am trying to figure out what variety it is. Can any of you help?

This is the first time it has fruited (after I pruned it last year) so I have not tasted any mangos on it yet. Although a couple mangos should be ready in the next few days!

Tropical Fruit Discussion / How to get rid of peach tree leaf spot?

« on: June 20, 2018, 02:59:59 PM »

My peach tree has leaf spot really bad. I have tried spraying organic copper on it which seems to work for a couple days but then it just comes right back. I have also heard that copper should not be used on peach trees..which I just learned.

So my question is what do you guys recommend for leaf spot on a peach tree. Organic options would be awesome.

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Avocado tree getting too much water??

« on: June 14, 2018, 03:02:01 PM »

Below are a couple pics of my avocado tree. I have had it for only a few months and it was doing great, even flowered and was holding a bunch of avocados. Until the rain started coming almost every day. All of the fruit eventually dropped off. From my research the leaves will wilt if it is getting too much or not enough water. I would assume it would be getting too much because it has been raining almost everyday. I had mulch around the tree but since I thought it was too much water I removed the mulch in hopes of it not holding as much water.

Does this look like too much water to you guys? If so what can I do about it?

Tropical Fruit Discussion / Mango Tree Problems. Please help!

« on: March 17, 2018, 10:21:23 AM »

Ill start out by saying I am new here and this is my first post!

One of my mango trees always flowers like crazy but once the flowers are on there for a while they all turn brown pretty fast (in a day or so) and I never get any mangos. Recently I have been noticing a lot of black spots on the leaves and also big patches of black. Along with just a lot of pieces of leaves missing. Any idea what this is or what is causing all of my flowers to die every year. I have been in this house for 3 years and I have never gotten mangos from this tree. I do have another mango tree on the other side of my yard that has always given me mangos.

The first two years this happened I thought it was because on the other side of my fence there are a bunch of pine trees and I thought that was making the soil to dry. But I am new to this so I am probably wrong. I have been spraying neem oil on it the past few weeks also, but does not seem to be helping as of yet.

The tree is really patchy and I was thinking about pruning it WAY back anyway. Is that a good idea or no? If this is a fungus/disease will pruning it back just to the branches and trunk get rid of it?

Also, does anyone know what is going on with the trunk? is the tree dying? I have never seen a tree trunk with this going on before.