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Messages - tabbydan

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Looking for Borneo tips in June
« on: May 11, 2013, 01:01:06 PM »
I'm planning to head to Malaysian Borneo in June.

Do people have tips on Borneo?  I'm looking for tips on:
 Fruit:
    -what's in season in June
    -local fruit names
    -good markets (name & location)
    -gardens (private / public) for seeing & trying fruits
    -guide trips for finding wild fruits in National Parks or elsewhere

 General:
    -recommended transport options and ones to avoid
    -general opinions on cultural attractions (what to see, what to skip)
    -ideas on how long to spend at various locations.  For instance, my wife wants to spend a night in a longhouse (however, seeing longhouses in Sumatra, I'd like to visit them but not spend overnight there).

My wife is suggesting an itinerary where most of the time we spend in Sarawak: Kuchin, Muru National Park (about 5 days in each); Sabah Kota Kinabalu (3-4 days).  She is less interested in Sabah because of the turmoil closing parts of it.  However, Red Durian has mentioned parts of it (like Tenom Horticultural Park) which sound nice

I sent PM's to a few people on this but maybe it fits for a general discussion (though it is not completely fruit oriented), also I don't see the PM's I sent in my outbox :(
   

2
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Abiu in Taiwan
« on: January 21, 2013, 09:32:08 PM »
Quote from: BMc on January 21, 2013, 06:24:54 PM
Taiwan is great and has an ideal climate for growing a number of tropical fruit trees. a good part of the country is south of the Tropic of Cancer, though it is quite mountainous, but the coastal areas would be prime growing land. They seem to have excellent fruit development/improvement programs and seem to be more open to new fruit than on the mainland. I'm hoping to go in a few years so my son can meet his grandma, and we might accidentally get lost near an atemoya farm or two...

The north can be a bit chilly for ultra-tropicals, but the southern part of the country seems to keep warm all year.

They seem to grow some fruits and import others.  When I was there last they were importing durian and even though it isn't far from Thailand the durian were in very sad shape by the time they got to the stores.

They also have some interesting native plants that they don't seem to develop.  Garcinia subeliptica is a common landscape plant but not at all used for its fruits, they also have an interesting cashew / mango relative native to the island that isn't developed

3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Diospyros decandra
« on: January 21, 2013, 09:24:20 PM »
Not that it will help too much but:

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=3374.msg47391;topicseen#msg47391

I hope to bump into this fruit, but have not encountered it yet....

4
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Naranjilla when is it ripe?
« on: January 21, 2013, 05:37:03 PM »
Quote from: TriangleJohn on January 21, 2013, 09:23:45 AM
I only harvest mine when the fuzz on the fruit wipes off easily. Someone once told me that was when they are ready to eat so that is what I have always done. I have eaten some that didn't have much flavor and some that tasted really good.

The one I have is "ultra spiny" and the hairs don't come off the fruits period.

I never saw the plants in Costa Rica (just bought the fruits) but they were much bigger, had smaller hairs that wiped off w/o too much difficulty.

5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Ambarella extremely poor seed germination
« on: January 21, 2013, 05:34:51 PM »
Quote from: luc on January 21, 2013, 01:09:08 PM
So far I only managed to get one from seed , any tips ???

You're not alone.  I had low germination rates (2/15), and sometimes they took forever (~10 months).

Good luck.

6
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Naranjilla when is it ripe?
« on: January 20, 2013, 10:17:35 PM »
Quote from: fruitlovers on January 20, 2013, 10:00:00 PM
Ripe when they turn fully organge and soften up a little bit. You can continue ripening process indoors. Good ones can be really good. Taste kind of reminds me of a kiwi. In Peru usually made into a drink called Lulo.

Yeah, when I was in Costa Rica and had them the flavor was quite similar to green kiwi.
The one I had today wasn't (but then it's been hanging on the plant for months after turning completely orange).

I can't figure out if this is just a "decorative" variety or it is simply the growing conditions- the seed/pulp ratio on these ones is pretty bad.  Granted they are a seedy fruit in general but this one always seems to have a much larger volume of seeds than pulp.

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Dialium indicum
« on: January 20, 2013, 06:49:46 PM »
Some of these Dialiums are real nice, powdery flesh that melts in the mouth and has a nice sweet sour flavor (somewhat like tamarind).

Sadly I've heard one of the methods of harvest is to cut the whole tree down :(

The wood is very tough and I think it has silica spicules in it that reduces termite problems.

8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Are these the right size for a jujube?
« on: January 20, 2013, 05:55:51 PM »
In Burma (when I was there in Dec) they were selling Jujubes that were that size.
It is big (many sold are smaller) but some varieties do get that size.
I ate the one I got green... I guess that's why it didn't have a lot of flavor :(
Chinese ones I've eaten at all stages (green, yellow, dried out red brown) and they always seem to have nice flavor (but it changes).

9
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: making underground wateringsystem
« on: January 20, 2013, 05:49:26 PM »
Quote from: Saltcayman on January 20, 2013, 11:15:47 AM
Hi Dan, my goal is to stretch 20 inches of rain that falls over a seven month period to last  12 months and to get productivity from thin fast draining soil with very low organic matter.  There is no piped water although I can a times run  300 ft hose to buy r/o water.  Last year I am striving to create a self sustaining system that improves the soil, creates organic matter for mulch and does not require more water than I can collect/store or reuse.   Dave

Cistern systems aren't terribly uncommon.  I'd suggest setting up one at your house / buildings.  The only thing that might harm it is your roofing material.  In the US it is common to have a layer of asphalt shingles that are treated with anti-moss anti-algae chemicals... those and other things that can leech off aren't so nice for plants.

And trying the draining scheme I talked about, along with soil amendments, will also stretch your water.

I aggressively save water (though I'm not in an arid area and water is cheap here).  I basically use no city water for the toilets (I use grey water instead), and ~25% or less city water for washing clothes.  I also use no city water for my plants (but I only have 0.25 acre and a small collection of plants).  My goal is to reduce storm runoff, reduce the demand on rivers (to make city water)... basically improve the local river water quality.  My wife and I use about 12 gallons per person per day versus the average in my county of 70 gallons per person per day.  We get a good deal of rain here but we seem to be moving towards a pseudo-monsoonal pattern where we get lots at once and very little in between (quite bad for the local plants and animals).

Good luck.

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Black Beauty Surinam Cherry Cultivar
« on: January 20, 2013, 05:34:31 PM »
Quote from: ASaffron on January 20, 2013, 01:26:39 PM
Luc,

thanks very much for the info.

I'm happy you are the one reporting back, because I trust your judgment 100%.  Other people are happy to eat any fruit at all, and show no discrimination.

You talkin' 'bout me? :)

11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Naranjilla when is it ripe?
« on: January 20, 2013, 05:31:48 PM »
I got some naranjilla plants from a local garden that was going to compost them.

Gardens around here like naranjilla, typically they plant the spiny & hairy ones.  The fruits turn orange near the end of August.

I've tried them in Aug & Sept when the fruits are orange and typically they are dry and flavorless.

I figured it was either the variety (which probably isn't the standard one grown for production but just some "landscape" one) or the growing conditions (short outdoor season here).

Today I was watering them and a few of the orange fruits fell off.  It oozed out seeds and I tried it finding it tasted quite nice (still too many seeds, too little flesh vs. the commercial ones I had in Costa Rica, but for a freebie it was great).

Do people typically wait for the fruits to fall off?  I'd always thought the color change would indicate ripeness.  Maybe with the comparatively short & cool season around here they need some extra time.  How does one tell if the fruits are ready?

12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Small lot import permit
« on: January 19, 2013, 11:42:50 PM »
Quote from: fruitlovers on January 19, 2013, 11:32:51 PM
Quote from: tabbydan on January 17, 2013, 04:59:39 PM
Quote from: fruitlovers on January 17, 2013, 03:21:03 AM
Yes the small seed lot permit is a lot more useful than most people interpret it. Another confusion was that you could bring maximum 50 seeds of each type of fruit. The real meaning is that you should have 50 maximum in each bag. For example if you want to bring 500 mangosteen seeds you can do it. You just need to have 10 bags of 50 mangosteen seeds in each bag. The purpose of this rule is not to limit the amount but to make it very easy for the inspectors to visually inspect the bags through the bag without having to open each bag out and dump them out onto a table.

Just like the weight limit... I always read it that way and assumed 50 seeds max per species.  Its a lot more useful being 1 species per bag with 50 seeds or 10 grams per bag (whichever is greater).
When I had the cert. I never mixed taxa in bags.

Also even if they allow some clean types of media... I figured it was easier on them (inspection-wise) if I packed the seeds with no media.  You can have media on a trip- then wash it out just before heading home that way you make it easier for them (and if they are in a bad mood and likely to quibble about your media, better for you)

If you eat the fruits right before boarding your plane, then what you say is possible. And in fact having no medium inhibits the seeds from germinating. Which is also good because germinated seeds are no longer allowed using small seed lot permit. For germinated seeds now they require a phyto.
But if you eat the fruits let's say one week before you board the plane, hen it would be better to have them in medium. Many types of tropical fruit seeds if they dry out are kaput. So it is a fine line decision between having the seeds still viable and not having them germinate on you.
If you are going to hold seeds for two weeks before boarding it might be best to either hold them inside the fruit, or holding them dry for a few days and them putting them in a moist medium.
There is really no problem with having them inside medium for entering USA if it is vermilculite, sphagnum moss, peat moss, wood shavings, or moistned paper or cloth. It is more of a problem if you are entering Canada, NZ, or Australia. Those countries are a lot more picky then USA. Those 3 countries don't consider sphagnum moss or peat moss to be sterile medium, and so do not allow it.
The only medium you should totally avoid is moistened soil or moistened coconut. All coconut parts are prohibited into USA.

In the post you quoted I was saying discard the media just before heading home.

That being said, I've actually had good results on some things with no media for a prolonged time (1 week, 2 weeks,...).  If you put the seeds in a ziplock bag, keep them clean... you can actually slow germination of things like durian and mangosteen.  I like that because if they germinate the radicals can get bumped, break off and then you have a dead seed.  When I do medialess storage I wash off the seeds typically more than once to get rid of any pulp, and try to pack them w/o extra water (pat dry).  Other things are less happy with medialess packing like Bunchosa which tends to rot.

13
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Cherapu or Garcinia Prainiana
« on: January 19, 2013, 03:35:16 PM »
Cool post.

What are the times of year you can find this?  What are the local name(s)?  Do you have some tips on markets to look for it?

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Small lot import permit
« on: January 19, 2013, 02:37:51 PM »
Quote from: davidgarcia899 on January 17, 2013, 10:22:37 PM
I need to share this. So I literally 30 minutes ago flew home to Miami from Costa Rica. I'm brought home 14 packets of seeds and really stressed about packing them and making sure everything was right. I declared them on my customs slip, but at no point did I have to show my permit, open my bag, or inspect my seeds. They literally x-rayed my bag and let walk out with my seeds without a single custom official opening my bag. Just another reason why I think 90% of federal employees should be fired

I agree the completely whole thing is insane... but I wouldn't necessarily blame the employees as a group for that.  Also, I don't really see how the private sector is any more sane.  I've seen about an equal amount of completely whacked out things there too (such as a fortune 50 company having a design meeting where they argued that there were "too few buttons" on a cellphone).

I had a similar encounter in transit in France on the way back from Burma.  A French security person asked me to unzip all the pouches in my backpack but then didn't look in any of them.  Part of me wanted to say "Come on, inspect the pouches." but I NEVER criticize security when I'm in the security zone (I don't want a free prostate exam).

On the bright side: you got to keep everything and nothing went to a ag. station and lost viability while waiting for inspection... :)

15
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pouteria torta subsp. gallifructa
« on: January 19, 2013, 02:11:33 PM »
!?!!!!

That looks like a pourteria that thinks it is a nephelium!  What does it taste like, an annona :)

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: making underground wateringsystem
« on: January 19, 2013, 02:09:36 PM »
Not sure what the goals are here (save water to reduce stress on the environment; save money on water bill, save time on watering, or water the plants better to encourage growth).  There are a lot of good ideas presented so far.

If either of the first two are goals you might also consider doing this irrigation system in tandem with some other water saving ideas.  You could alter your terrain and grow plants that like drier conditions (prickly pear, most other cacti, jujube...) on mounds of more loose, fast draining soil, and have those drain towards plants that want more water.  Likewise you could have some drainage paths (say around buildings) lead to cisterns for water collection.  With the monsoonal rains of Thailand you could collect water during the wet season and use it during the dry season.

17
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Small lot import permit
« on: January 17, 2013, 04:59:39 PM »
Quote from: fruitlovers on January 17, 2013, 03:21:03 AM
Yes the small seed lot permit is a lot more useful than most people interpret it. Another confusion was that you could bring maximum 50 seeds of each type of fruit. The real meaning is that you should have 50 maximum in each bag. For example if you want to bring 500 mangosteen seeds you can do it. You just need to have 10 bags of 50 mangosteen seeds in each bag. The purpose of this rule is not to limit the amount but to make it very easy for the inspectors to visually inspect the bags through the bag without having to open each bag out and dump them out onto a table.

Just like the weight limit... I always read it that way and assumed 50 seeds max per species.  Its a lot more useful being 1 species per bag with 50 seeds or 10 grams per bag (whichever is greater).
When I had the cert. I never mixed taxa in bags.

Also even if they allow some clean types of media... I figured it was easier on them (inspection-wise) if I packed the seeds with no media.  You can have media on a trip- then wash it out just before heading home that way you make it easier for them (and if they are in a bad mood and likely to quibble about your media, better for you)

18
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Has anyone heard of this "pinneaple" atemoya?
« on: January 17, 2013, 01:42:54 PM »
Quote from: fyliu on January 17, 2013, 12:39:16 PM
sugar apple are called head of buddha
atemoya are called pineapple head of buddha
There's no cultivar designation in the consumer market, just these common names.

"Head of Buddha" is a Taiwanese developed cultivar of Sweetsop (developed to have bigger fruit than just a run of the mill sweetsop).  Just like "Black Diamond" and "Black Pearl" are Taiwanese developed cultivars of Wax Jambu.

It's true that you don't see a great plurality of annona cultivars in Taiwan, so the cultivar name might have been appropriated for general use (just like how Kleenex is actually a tradename, but is commonly used as a generic name for any brand facial tissue).

19
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: STOLEN TREES./
« on: January 17, 2013, 12:28:59 PM »
Quote from: ASaffron on January 17, 2013, 11:56:39 AM
Whoever stole your stuff is going to get Trees-n-more alright...put some bael fruit in a sock, and serve it to them cold.

I'm going to pay extra attention to the news tonight....

"police have arrested a man in Florida they are calling 'a fruit vigilante' the man apparently tracked down theives and then beat them with bael, coconut, and durian fruits until they agreed to 'turn over a new leaf'"

let me know if you need bail

20
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Adam (ASaffron) Speaks at Treasure Coast Rare Fruit Meeting Jan 17, 7:30PM
« on: January 17, 2013, 10:56:59 AM »
Quote from: red durian on January 17, 2013, 06:05:45 AM
Quote from: emegar on January 17, 2013, 01:24:51 AM
I'll second huertasurbanas.  Adam + Eugenias + Youtube = a winning combination!
Yes, indeed, please film and share on youtube.

ditto ditto ditto....

I also have a Eugenia fettish.  I've never quite figured out why, maybe because they have some small growing species with tasty fruits.  I had one mystery one in Bali that had fruits about the size of a dried peppercorn and nice flavor... sadly the seeds of those didn't make it.

21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: A good day at the Fruit & Spice Park...
« on: January 17, 2013, 09:11:51 AM »
Quote from: jez251 on January 17, 2013, 09:08:21 AM
A few pics from an event this last weekend at the Fruit & Spice park! Enjoy...

Ah, nothing like unopened ackee to end the day!
Otherwise... nice spread there.

22
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Has anyone heard of this "pinneaple" atemoya?
« on: January 17, 2013, 08:51:27 AM »
It's been sold in Taiwan for several years now.

I always heard it called "Pineapple head of Buddha", but that might not be its real name.

Taiwan for a long time only had sweetsop available commercially and they called a variety they developed "Head of Buddha"

My wife had it, I've never eaten it though.

23
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Small lot import permit
« on: January 16, 2013, 05:48:39 PM »
Quote from: fruitlovers on January 15, 2013, 07:24:33 AM
Quote from: davidgarcia899 on January 14, 2013, 11:23:01 AM
The permit says 50 seeds or 10 grams, so does that mean I can bring 50 seeds of one taxa per packet even if it weighs over 10 grams? Because the way I read it I understood it to mean that each packet could only have 50 seeds or 10 grams which ever came first.

No, that is not correct. Each packet can have 50 seeds maximum. The weight limit is only for very tiny seeds. Those would be very hard to count. So for the tiny seeds only they use a weight limit of 10 grams. Most fruits have large seeds so you don't have to worry about weight limit. Obviously if you put 10 durian seeds or 10 mamey sapote seeds in one packet you are going to have lot more than 10 grams! Even just one of those seeds weighs more than 10 grams.

Is that new, or has that always been the case?
I ask because back when I had an existing permit I remembered reading something similar and having the same reaction that David had.  I though "well this is no good for cacao, durian, mamey (either sapote or americana)..."

If 10 grams is only for tiny stuff then the small seed permit is a lot more useful than I thought it was.

24
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Researching how to improve my soil- a qoute about gypsum....
« on: January 16, 2013, 05:35:59 PM »
Quote from: Mike T on January 15, 2013, 04:29:42 PM
Gypsum is bad news for a number of reasons including that it doesn't work in breaking up clay as claimed.Over application cause deficiencies in a number of antagonistic nutrients.

Gypsum will only "help" soils that meet given criteria.  If you have a heavy clay soil, and that soil is poor in calcium and rich in small monovalent cations (like sodium)... then gypsum will make the soil more friable.

Naturally, it won't necessarily improve the soil ecosystem (beneficial fungi like mycorrhizae, helpful bacteria, helpful creatures like earthworms) and over application would probably hurt all of those.  Plus, if you add a ton of a few cations and anions... the net effect is to decrease the availability of other "similar" ones (and plants need an assortment of cations...).

Adding bulk organic material is better, but it takes more work, and more material.  If what you are adding hasn't been broken down then (during the process of it breaking down) the net available nitrogen in the soil will decrease.  If it has already been broken down it can only increase the available nitrogen.  If you tilled in wood chips or bark (for example) the nitrogen would go down as they were chemically decomposed.  But if you added coffee grounds (which are already chemically "broken down") the nitrogen would go significantly up (because they have a lot on N).

25
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Could this be Longkong? (Lansium domesticum)
« on: January 15, 2013, 08:11:26 PM »



Friendly neighborhood duku dealer.  Just outside coffee shop that sells kopi luwak (as well as sensible brews).  For those who are repulsed by Bael fruit... if you're not familiar with kopi luwak you probably won't be able to drink coffee again after you find how its made.

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