The Tropical Fruit Forum

I did testing during the first flowering this year using only male appearing flowers from a 12 year old tree which is female. I was not able to pollinate itself or another female using male flowers. I hand pollinated over at least 7 days of the flowering period. No set on one tree and only a handful on the source tree. The test source tree is next to another female that I was pollinating from a grafted male.  I think the handful of fruit that set were probably from bees that carried pollen from the grafted male.

 

With maturity, trees appear to exhibit more diversity in flower types. When young, you may get stuck with a male or female for a while.

My trees are all flowering.  However,  my 3 sweet heart's flowers are almost all male this year.  Mauritius are looking like they are going to have a decent crop. I have a kaimana that seems to be settling fruit but it seems more susceptible to erinose mite.  Emperors are flowering but are earlier in the cycle. Hak ip looks like low set.

My guess is that the pollinators are picking sides. When I hand pollinated my small tree, it would set fruit everywhere.

Pic 1 might be a fruit. The texture is correct with the tiny raised bumps. The little light colored bits protruding from the green bumps are the stigma. Males are smoother. The overall shape is usually fatter at the collar. 

Pic 2 is too blurry to tell.

Sometimes flowers are both male and female but I have never seen these mature into anything edible. Once, I found a flower nearly half and half, female by the stem. I attempted a reassignment surgery, removing the male half, but the flower still rotted like the males do.

I grew one that was around 3 inchs. The skin is paper thin so that one fruit had more edible flesh than the largest mangosteen I have ever had. I have never eaten more than 2 in a sitting so I  am not sure if I would have had latex lock jaw after a dozen. Maybe shipping increased the latex effect.

Sleepdoc has some awesome garcinia trees!

My achachairu tree is fruiting for the second time this year. The first year I got six fruit but this year I had hundreds. The tree has had fruit since June and still has some.   The fruit are very good and get better later in the year.

I read a study comparing grafting results of mangosteen to itself vs other species.  To itself the success rate was over 80%. To other species the success rate was 12%, if I am remembering correctly. 

I grew suitable mangosteen rootstock in 2 years in south Florida and got scions from my Puerto Rico vacation last week.

I agree with Peter on all his points.  I've witnessed first hand grafted trees versus seedling trees and there is just no contest.  These trees were at Ian Crown's farm in PR.  Same age or older grafted trees were much much smaller than seedling trees.  They also fall way short on production versus seedlings.  Grafted trees much older than some of the seedlings still cannot compete.  Don't get me wrong...they were all lovely trees.  Their shapes were very nice, very short, round, compact, and I don't believe ever have been pruned...a perfect option for a backyard or greenhouse.  I just don't think they are a winner for a farm.

As for grafting, here in the Asian countries, it looks like they only graft onto mangosteen.  Probably don't figure it worth the risk of any delayed compatibility issues.  The goal is to get fruit on the tree as soon as possible.  This is what gets people excited and makes the sale...even though the tree might only put out 1-3 fruit for several years.  I'm sure it also is plays a role in why the tree is normally so stunted.  Would I have purchased one if available when I had the greenhouse?  Damn right I would!  If someone made these available to people in the states, at a reasonable price, they'd make a killing.  For those doing their own grafting, if you can get the scions, graft away on any garcinia you can.  You might come up with a winner...but hedge yer bets and have some nice mangosteen seedlings available too.

I think 9b is going to be tough. When you get a tree to 25 gals and 8ft tall, it sucks putting it inside and getting it through a doorway, even a garage. I have to do it once or twice a year in 10b. In 9b, you will be doing it significantly more often, whenever temps go below 50. They have poor root systems so that adds to the experience.  You need to grow 5 plants to limit your chances of getting only male or females and some of them may die before they reach maturity. It took me 7 years, and I started with 18 inch trees and only because I got lucky with my first being male and second female. From seed, add another 2-3 years.  If you find plants, I would consider building a small, heated greenhouse.

My small orange sherbet tree fell over yesterday due to fruiting heavily only on one side.  I was able to remove some fruit and right it with a come-a-long and prop it up with a 2x4 along with tying a rope to my peach cobbler.  Every panicle had 2 - 5 fruits so I thinned to one.

Sequestrene 138 Fe is a brand of 6% fully chelated EDDHA iron

I put one of my large potted mangosteen in the ground a few months ago and it has been dropping a concerning number of leaves. I put up a shade cloth to shelter it on three sides but is still getting burned up top.

Copper sulfate is used as an algicide and root killer. When using it as a fungicide, it is important to neutralize its acidity (3 to 4) with lime or other plant friendly pH raising agent to a pH of 7. Low pH increases absorption by plants to possibly toxic levels. I believe copper sulfate has been replaced with other copper molecules because it is inefficient and leads to excessive copper accumulation in soil, which at high toxic levels is harmful to roots, blocks iron absorption and disrupts photosynthesis. Copper soaps (Cueva) and copper oxide (Nordox) work similarly as a fungicide with less copper and less worries about pH and toxicity.

No, some garcinias are mostly dioicous with exceptions that are self-fertile. Male trees seem more likely to produce female flowers and fruit based on my limited observations. It really sucks when you raise a seedling for 7+ years only to find that you only have half of the equation. I have 5+ female flowering lucs. I waited 3 years hoping they would mature into fruiting and they even produce flowers that appear male. At 10+ years, they still do not set fruit naturally. I grafted some males 2 years ago. I waiting for them to mature and flower, which will probably take a couple more years for heavy flowering. I had a few male flowers this year and was able to hand pollinate and set some fruit. Mangosteen and achachairu produce clones so those you do not need to worry about and there are probably others.  G. intermedia and brasiliensis are two that seem to be self-fertile. Charechuela might also fit this class. Large leaf madruno seems to be a mixed bag and my flowering tree does not set fruit. 

I have an achachairu planted which is actually 2 individuals maybe under 15 cm apart and both are growing well, just under 2 meters.  I do not have any long-term experience. They are intertwined and seem ok with close proximity and do not seem to be growing apart as closely planted jakfruit seem to do.