A look inside a commercial Starfruit farm in Florida

[pineislander]

Close to my property on Pine Island, Lee County, Florida near Fort Myers, Brooks Tropical Fruit company has a 10 acre farm enclosed on the sides with windbreak cloth. The fruit is harvested regularly and shipped nationally. This is one of four fields located here. Today I took some photos inside. There are three rows on each raised section with shallow drainage ditches between each section. The trees are pruned every year to about six feet. The pruning is done section by section one section at a time in a sequence to stagger flowering and harvest across the field. At this time some trees have already been picked, some are ready to harvest and some are beginning to bud.

[shaneatwell]

Cool. Thanks!

[Ulfr]

Really cool to see thanks.

What are the spacings they use?

[pineislander]

Really cool to see thanks.

What are the spacings they use?

I'm not sure didn't have a measure but I'll check. Between rows is wide enough for tractors to carry fruit and they frequently use an industrial mist blower something like this:
http://www.atespar.com.tr/product_detail.aspx?id=57&ktg=46&agr=4&AgriculturalMachinery=Mistblower-Trailed

[pineislander]

Here are some updated photos showing fruit on the trees. I spotted the pruning machine on the road last week but didn't get pictures.
It is a hydraulic sickle bar hedge trimmer mounted on the front of the tractor with an articulated arm.

So their management leaves all fruit on smaller flowering branches loaded with fruit down low under a dense canopy of whippy branches up high with no fruit.

[tallman]

looks like 10-12ft spacing

[Guanabanus]

Interesting pruning observations.  Thank you.

Un-pruned Carambolas can get 50 or more feet tall and plaster the ground dailly with smashed fruits.

[pineislander]

I passed by the farm today and was shocked to find literally tons of fruit on the ground. Workers told me they had been instructed to remove all ripe colored fruit, anything with defects like dark edges or any with surface defects of any kind. They ship these and they must be pristine and unripe to survive the trip or else the box gets spoiled. Probably 90% of the crop was removed.

Yes, it looks like and actually is a terrible waste but remember they have four other farms exactly like this and have no plan for dealing with the 'over-ripe' fruit. Really, though, the fruit is actually just ripe but nevertheless gets rejected for their purposes. This is also a reason why the fruit doesn't become popular, very few who buy these ever get to taste a ripe one. Most Carambola/Star fruit that makes it to market is really just a tasteless semi-ripe curious shaped fruit and nothing more.

[ben mango]

Same in Hawaii no one really grows it commercially because it bruises so easily.

[shaneatwell]

I passed by the farm today and was shocked to find literally tons of fruit on the ground. Workers told me they had been instructed to remove all ripe colored fruit, anything with defects like dark edges or any with surface defects of any kind. They ship these and they must be pristine and unripe to survive the trip or else the box gets spoiled. Probably 90% of the crop was removed.

Yes, it looks like and actually is a terrible waste but remember they have four other farms exactly like this and have no plan for dealing with the 'over-ripe' fruit. Really, though, the fruit is actually just ripe but nevertheless gets rejected for their purposes. This is also a reason why the fruit doesn't become popular, very few who buy these ever get to taste a ripe one. Most Carambola/Star fruit that makes it to market is really just a tasteless semi-ripe curious shaped fruit and nothing more.

those are the things you normally have to find out the hard way. thanks

[pineislander]

This is the same farm they have started annual pruning. I think they stagger the pruning dates to help stagger the harvest date.
The prunings are dropped between the trees and shredded in place later using a Flail mower which can handle fairly large material and holds it inside to reduce it down in size.

[Jungle Yard]

very interesting report. Thank you!

[gnappi]

Based on the horrid green ones I see in my supermarket those are all due to be shipped last week :-)

[sahai1]

such a beautiful orchard, that is at least before they butchered them in those last pics.  Their starfruit is really growing.. sadly my starfruit tree always has fruit flies, Several fruit fly bottle traps right on the tree, somehow they still get in.

Also I chop the leading branch, and then a year later, I got 1 new leader, no crown, not even threes.  I'll keep at it, but the growth sure has been slow.

[pineislander]

such a beautiful orchard, that is at least before they butchered them in those last pics.  Their starfruit is really growing.. sadly my starfruit tree always has fruit flies, Several fruit fly bottle traps right on the tree, somehow they still get in.

Also I chop the leading branch, and then a year later, I got 1 new leader, no crown, not even threes.  I'll keep at it, but the growth sure has been slow.

It is not butchering it is pruning. They irrigate and fertilize the trees very well including fogging with foliar feeding. The heavy pruning stimulates vegetative growth so you might want to try it because clearly it works.

I may have a solution for you. First, is the tree getting enough sun? Under low light conditions a tree will exhibit apical dominance trying to reach light. If light levels are good there may be a solution. Have another look at the pruned trees in the picture. You will see some branches which bend down sharply then head back up. Probably that happened naturally from heavy fruit load drooping the branch downwards. When that happens it breaks the apical dominance and stilulates branching. The long branches of starfruit are very supple, so you may try bending the leader down over time with a weight or string attached to a stake, also trim the tip of the branch. This will probably result in fruiting followed by branching along the curved leader.

Actually there is a trick to make starfruit bloom. Just take the branches and bend them. You will hear an slightly audible 'cracking' sound just before the branch breaks. Do this along the length of the branch and you will find it will begin to curve. Trim the tip of the branch. This "torture" will stimulate flowering.

here is a demonstration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXc-kIkNcAA

[sahai1]

about 9 years now, topped twice already.

Issue is not enough sun, the farthest reach of the branches always dry and die off.  Also flowering and pollination has never been an issue with this tree, just fruit flies and stunted growth.

My last pruning has somewhat consolidated the growth.

I recently dug a 5x6' pit near this tree and my cashew tree and burned a good amount of grass and wood, mixed in manure, leaves, chopped banana, I figure issue with stunted growth for both trees has been drainage, so the pit provides drainage and a huge amount of fertilizer if both trees can get their roots that far.

[FruitFreak]

This is the same farm they have started annual pruning. I think they stagger the pruning dates to help stagger the harvest date.
The prunings are dropped between the trees and shredded in place later using a Flail mower which can handle fairly large material and holds it inside to reduce it down in size.

That is some nice looking pruning!! wow.

Are you familiar with their use of herbicides to manage weed growth within the rows?

[pineislander]

Another update 2 months after heavy pruning the trees have flushed new growth, flowers, and some small fruit.

[TropicalFruitHunters]

Nice write-up with some great pics.  Very informative.

[pineislander]

Are you familiar with their use of herbicides to manage weed growth within the rows?

They probably do but right now I don't see any signs of it. The grove has been there quite a few years and once the trees grow light level is low, but I do see some annual grasses right now. They use a flail type mower to grind the prunings in between the trees and it does produce mulch. The windbreak around the grove probably does keep out windblown seeds.