The Tropical Fruit Forum

They fix soggy soils.  Problems with freestanding water?  Plant bananas.  They'll drink it all up.

We have fun killing our fire ants.

Just find two mounds using two people.  Each of you scoop up a shovel of ants at same time and run them to the opposite mound at same time.

You will have officially declared war between the two colonies.

Now, once they kill off their intruders, they will both send off their warriors to attack the queen of the opposing colony.  At the same time--meaning neither mound has defense.

Both offenses will succeed and both groups of workers will either return home to dead queens or battle in the middle on the way back.

Sugar ants will pollinate flowers and will later come back and bore into the fruit.   Let them pollinate, but then protect the fruits once they've set and begin to mature.

Planted one 10 years ago.

Now, have more than 100.

NOTHING save a nuclear disaster kills it, and I bet even that won't.  Want to propagate it?  No problem.  Cut off a branch and throw it on the ground somewhere.  You'll have a new tree in no time.

If you have birds, they will gladly distribute the berries over your entire property and ensure you have dozens more sprouting right away next to your american beauty berries.

At least if you cut them, you can have the pleasure of watching them bleed.  At least until the milky sap sours and attracts fruit flies.

I hear the berry has health benefits.

Keep in a pot, and BURN all prunings.

Very simple support.



Melons spaced evenly, and sprouts competing for dominance.


Peas, beans and cucumbers with their setup as well.


Squash growing with the cucumbers.  Zucchini grows with the melons.


Beds are custom made with a natural look using 16"+ planks of cypress.

Quote from: Viking Guy on March 25, 2015, 10:17:14 PM

Small mesh wire cages are it, really. 

Although, don't see why you can't do trellis.  It is how I solved my exact dilemma.  An outdoor cat helps.

I don't do cats viking. Every human being who is like a cat is either in jail, an asylum for the criminally insane, or is otherwise working on wall street.

Any chance you could post some pics of your trellis? How do you manage to have them bear weight without snapping off the vine while elevated?

Well, first step is growing smaller, sweeter varieties that won't snap.  lol.

Ok, well, that isn't the best of advice, but helpful.

The vine will, in most cases, thicken enough to hold its fruit without breaking as long as you prune the new growth after fruit set.  I'm using 6' vertical trellis (nothing overhanging like the pros), and it works fine--but I dont let any one vine make more than 3 fruit except my cucumbers.

On my heavier pumpkins and watermelons, I simply place burlap folded under the bottom and wrap 4 ropes and tie to the trellis to support the weight.  The wooden cedar trellises I use are strong.  They are $20 each at Home Depot.  I tapped them straight into the middle of my raised garden beds, and they are only supported by crossing bamboo or small wooden stakes.

I can take a picture of the setup, but it won't do much justice yet since the melons are only just germinating.

Remember, pruning is key.  Remove all growth within 18" of the base and prune new growth after 1-3 fruit are set per vine.  Fewer fruit than growing on the ground or in sky trellis, but the difference is you can grow more plants in a compact manner to make up for it.

I use to grow them off mounds in open fields and it took up a lot of space.  A lot would produce, but vines and fruit would die often to the moth and animals.

Raised on a vertical trellis, success is virtually controlled.  Mine are only spaced 18" apart, and I stagger the melons in a zigzag pattern.  I've discovered higher pollination success when flowers are off the ground.

Small mesh wire cages are it, really. 

Although, don't see why you can't do trellis.  It is how I solved my exact dilemma.  An outdoor cat helps.

Quote from: bsbullie on March 25, 2015, 06:55:44 AM

Quote from: Viking Guy on March 25, 2015, 03:11:01 AM

I'm not yet sure I'm sold.

We dipped to about 25 last winter for around 12 hours, and due to the location in proximity to the building, the BM and Irwin didn't even suffer a leaf burn.  My NDM, however, in a pot, had some leaves touching the window and they all burned off.  Glad we didn't leave it outside, lol.

You have mangoes planted in the ground and they survived 25 degrees for 12 hours with no damage?

very suspect

Yes, but that's not the point.

The point is, because of their location, the temperature may have "registered" 25f for the city, but they were not actually exposed to that temperature.  I would dare say that part of the yard didn't even go below 32f.  Whereas the NDM touching a window actually felt a blunt chill from wind hitting the glass.  I took pictures and posted them in another thread.  Imagine my own surprise, seeing I protected them with nothing but a trunk cover and a cut pot at the base filled with styro beans.

That said, with these cold mango trials, the only sure way to test cold resistance is in a fixed control climate environment.  Outdoor temperatures are unpredictable.

Last year, we had a late frost after I plant my bell peppers.  4 of them burned to the ground.  The others around them received 0 damage.  How, exactly, can that be explained?  Variances.

We need to subject varieties in a freezer and see their true damage and resistances to get a proper report.  Then add humidity and dryness as factors, and possibly winds to add more variables.

I don't believe it is overthinking, so much as trying to find what works in each environment.  Mangos aren't really fussy and grow in just about anything in my experience, but we are hot/humid/rainy here and leave pots outdoors for the most part--so mix ingredients based moreso on the needs of the weather.  I find the concoction we are using to be lightweight for mobility and drains fast enough to not wash out during our rains.  We lock our pots down so they don't blow over in our constant winds.

The soil conditioner we are using is basically small pine bark bits mixed with forest elements.  Has a really nice texture.  I use it also as a top layer in the pots to stop perlite from surfacing during rain.  I've seen different brands available at walmart for around $4 a bag.

Every spring while mine are dormant, I just take a sharp shooter spade and plunge the soil in a circle 24" from the vines base and only once had a shoot pop up (at the fence line).

I grow mine along a fence and keep them controlled.  They are in ground for years and no issues.

If you do pots, they'll die back anyhow, so same concept--just nip the trunk and take inside and put it back out the following year or put in ground.

One thing you can do (I did this also) is harden the dirt underground.  After digging the hole, make smooth, clean cuts on the circle and pat them down.  Roots will tend to bend back inside.  Makes a nearly natural inground "pot."

That said, there is a nursery nearby that is growing one the way you'd grow a Dragonfruit in their greenhouse.  They let it reach the top and go to weeping.  Then trim the vines once they hit the ground.  It looks awesome and I am planning to try it this year.

That's Fairhope.  We are in a small protected hotspot in central Foley--only hotspot in Alabama.  I'm growing mangos in ground here, lol.

While Fairhope was getting snow flurries, we got a cold chill drop just under freezing half a day. 

I'm pretty content with it.  Although I still think I want to move into a 10+ zone one day.

For now, conditions are just right where I can grow between temperate and tropical (to an extent).  Playing smart, I put my sensitive plants just south of dense northern woods which are heated by an active hospital, as well as just SE of the house behind some established trees--because even short dips under freeze can cause damage.

It has worked well, as my tropicals in these spots don't even drop leaves, yet a key lime I placed by the unprotected open road at another property of mine not even 10 miles from here was wiped off the map.

Quote from: Viking Guy on March 20, 2015, 11:33:13 AM

Then the question is, how do we go about labeling it as an heirloom variety and fixing it as such?

See, I have no desire to patent it for profit. I just assumed that is the only way to make a name for it.  If I can create a name/variety for it as heirloom or other, then that is precisely what we are wanting to accomplish.  Although, US patent law does clearly state that creation of a new species can be the result of growing from a seed, but you must propagate the plant successfully at least once.

Why not?

If you can, do.

Well, I can't really argue with that, Lol.

Quote from: Viking Guy on March 20, 2015, 11:35:53 PM

Don't see why anyone would be banned for that.  The person wasn't exactly greeted with the most welcoming of advice.  The sarcasm was quite obvious, and seems to be common when someone new comes along.

So the person gives a little back and gets the ban stick?  Sorry, I don't agree with it.  I see others get much more worked up over things and say things a great deal more offensive.  Just saying.

Either way, I've got some holes to dig.  Time to get my hands dirty.  *rubs palms*

Newbie wrote "I already got my answer Karen, please take a pill.",
but it would be much better "Sorry Karen. Many thanks!"

Unfortunately sometimes intelligent discussion ends throwing utensils to the heads. 

Yeah, well, look at the context.  She had just finished calling him a jerk and a self-described newbie, etc.  Which was not warranted either, and just baiting.  No, I'm not taking sides, but two wrongs don't make right in this situation on a written forum where emotion cannot be interpreted.  Most people that debate here would probably enjoy each other's company in person and be none the wiser.

Then the question is, how do we go about labeling it as an heirloom variety and fixing it as such?

See, I have no desire to patent it for profit.  I just assumed that is the only way to make a name for it.  If I can create a name/variety for it as heirloom or other, then that is precisely what we are wanting to accomplish.  Although, US patent law does clearly state that creation of a new species can be the result of growing from a seed, but you must propagate the plant successfully at least once.