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Topics - Daintree

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1
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / SOLD Babaco cuttings for sale!!
« on: March 06, 2024, 02:14:43 PM »
These are all now SOLD.

I have some fresh babaco papaya cuttings for sale!
US only
$5 each plus postage

Carefully packaged with bubble wrap, all cuttings are marked as to which direction is "up"

Shipping depends on length of cutting and how many I can fit in a box, as listed below.  Will ONLY send Priority.
Priority shipping for up to six 8 1/2 inch cuttings is $10.40
Priority shipping for up to ten 12 inch cuttings is $18.40

PM me if interested

Thanks!
Carolyn

2
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Belize chocolate!
« on: February 29, 2024, 05:24:35 PM »
Well, my kids are back from their farm in Belize, and the grandkids have been returned to them, happy and in one piece.
Before they left I had gotten a permit for some cacao pods, most of which are destined for the Oregon Chocolate Festival in Ashland where my son does a presentation and lets everyone taste the cacao pulp and seeds.

Here is the really nice Mayan farmer who gave him some ripe pods, and his trees. His name is Filipetech, and he wanted to make sure he got on Facebook! On his farm, they don't make the distinction between criollo, forestero, etc. It is all just a mish-mash.  They also make an interesting local chocolate out of UNfermented roasted cacao beans, sugar and allspice that they cream together with a mortar and pestle.  The result is very soft, sort of grainy, with a very deep, primitive chocolate spice flavor.


And my portion of his treasure. After all, it WAS my USDA permit that got them in. I am going to use it again on our cruise next month and try to bring back more.





3
Hi All,
My son just sent me these picks from their farm in Belize. Any idea what this is and whether it is edible, poisonous, or an innocent vine of no harm. They are growing up some of their cashew trees.
He said they smell slightly of sweet corn.
No ID from the local yet either.

Thanks! Carolyn








4
So I bought a fresh Sweet Thai jackfruit at a local Asian market. It is now ripe, but my tree pots won't be here until Friday. How long can I hold the seeds, and how? Wet paper towels?

Thanks!
Carolyn

5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Cuttings - an ethical question
« on: January 26, 2024, 10:09:47 AM »
Ok, here is a weird question involving ethics, I guess.  Or maybe I am just over-thinking it.
A couple of years ago, I brought some olive seeds back from Jerusalem from olives I picked up off the ground at a location that has great meaning in Jewish culture.

Of a couple dozen seeds, three sprouted and grew.  One had a setback and is tiny, but two others are 18 inches tall now.  I pruned them and rooted the cuttings.  They took very well.

I want to give one of the cutting plants to a friend because it would have incredible importance to her, coming from Jerusalem.

QUESTION TO ANSWER - Being a cutting of the one I grew from seed collected in the Holy Land, can I truthfully say "this tree came from Jerusalem"?

She knows it is a cutting from the original, but I am writing up a little "baby book" for it, with pictures of me cleaning the seeds on the cruise ship, the mother tree as a sprout, the cutting, etc.

I guess I am selfish and don't want to part with one of the originals, but they are doing really well, and there is a fair chance that the one I give her will die.

I know, weird question.  Thoughts????

Carolyn

6
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Tips for finding a "Greenhouse sitter"????
« on: October 31, 2023, 06:15:24 PM »
So, you would think with all my connections with local nurseries, being a Master Gardener, and belonging to two garden clubs, I could find a greenhouse sitter for when we are on vacation!

But, aaarrrggghhhh!

Lights are on automatic, ventilation is automatic, foggers/misters and watering, other than 10 minutes a day to hit small pots etc, is automatic. You DO have to hook up the drip once a week and manually turn the water on. Heat is mostly automatic but needs to be monitored twice daily in the winter.

But really, no matter what I do, the place is like a toddler, and needs constant aupervision. The drip system has helped, but isn't a total solution.

People I have had so far either are not reliable/can't follow instructions, or cost too much (the pet sitting service did a great job but they charge $50 per day!!!).

My ONLY sitter right now is my sister. She adores the birds, is free and super reliable, but has the worlds brownest thumb and can't tell when things are in trouble. Plus, we can't go anywhere together!

If we have to be gone for more than a week, it is a crapshoot as to what will die while I am gone.

Where do y'all get your greenhouse sitters and what do you pay (takes 30 minutes twice a day)?

Carolyn

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / olive tree seedlings chill hours?
« on: October 27, 2023, 03:33:05 PM »
I have read that to produce fruit, olive trees need chill hours. Mine are seedlings, and 4-18 inches tall. Do they need chill hours, or can I leave them in my greenhouse all winter? Minimum temp in here is 50 f.

Thanks!
Carolyn

8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / why are my bananas small?
« on: October 15, 2023, 10:56:56 AM »
So, I have been growing bananas for years in my greenhouse in a 25 gallon pot. I am on my tenth generation, I think. I get fruit every year, and save one or two pups each time.
The original corm was purchsed from Going Bananas as a Double Mahoi. Forget the double part. NEVER done that.
My plants gets heaps of water, fertilizer and sun. Has about 100 bananas set on now (that always all ripen at once! Argh!)
But the bananas are always small. About half sized. They taste heavenly.
Now, I don't mind the small size because we have grandkids and neighbor kids who like little bananas.

But I am wondering what causes the small size?
Not enough fertilizer or water? They get Miracle Grow at twice the label amount, frequent water, well-draining soil.
Pot too small?
Not really Double Mahoi?

Any ideas?

Carolyn

I also notice that these are perfectly ripe when only half yellow. I they turn totally yellow the fruit is brown and mushy.




9
Hi Guys,
Ok, I am counting on all you South Florida folks to help me with this! When we were in the keys, I came across a very small plant, 18" high, that has leaves and flowers like bird of paradise, but the colors!!! Never seen this before! I have been trying to locate some, but none match these colors!
Please someone, what is this called? And where can I get it?
Thanks!
Carolyn





10
I am on vacation and just went to Kew Gardens. Loved the palm house, and am toying with getting rid of the pots in my greenhouse,
Because of massive maple tree roots under the greenhouse, I can't even dig down a few inches. But I'm thinking of very large raised beds, maybe 15" high, and letting the trees in the greenhouse dig down into native soil and wiggle trhough the maple roots.
Any ideas for thin, sturdy raised bed walls? 4" wide cinderblocks and anchor them? Wood that won't rot or poison my plants? Thin poured concrete walls?
Hmmm...

Carolyn

11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Aframomum (grains of paradise) doesn't bloom
« on: August 19, 2023, 09:53:18 AM »
I have several healthy aframomum plants that have never bloomed. Any idea how to make them bloom?
They are in pots in the shade, in my greenhouse.

Carolyn

12
Fresh (unrooted) vanilla planifolia cuttings from very large plant. Cuttings are thick and robust.

$10 for 1 ft cuttings, $20 for 2 ft cuttings, plus $17.10 priority mail.

Can get several cuttings in one box.

Thanks!

13
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / SOLD!!! Babaco cuttings for sale
« on: April 05, 2023, 09:48:49 AM »

These are now ALL  SOLD.
I have some fresh babaco papaya cuttings for sale!
US only
$5 each plus postage
Carefully packaged with bubble wrap, all cuttings are marked as to which direction is "up"
Priority shipping for up to six 8-9 inch cuttings is $10.20
Priority shipping for up to ten 12 inch cuttings is $17.10

PM me if interested

Thanks!
Carolyn

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Buying fruit trees in Belize?
« on: March 31, 2023, 09:36:08 AM »
Well, my kids have up and bought a farm in Belize!
It's going to be a cacao farm/B&B (my son is a chocolatier by trade...). 
Right now it is planted with mango, coconut, cashew and pineapple. His pictures also showed a variety of frangipani and some wild type (guessing not very tasty) type of dragon fruit. Plenty of mahogany for building things.
Anybody on the forum familiar with Belize and know of any good places to buy fruit trees there?
They are near Belmopan, and have located one nursery so far...

Can hardly wait to visit!! I have my USDA permit and seed collecting kit all ready!

Carolyn

15
Tropical Fruit Discussion / How big do loroco vines get?
« on: February 15, 2023, 11:00:56 AM »
I have some loroco (fernaldia pandurata) seeds that have germinated and am looking at potting them up shortly.
Anybody familiar with these? How big do they get? I can't find much info on the size. I was thinking of putting a few in a single 16" pot with a trellis, and then growing a couple up the greenhouse porch post as annuals.

Thanks, Carolyn

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / How to get double stalk from Double Mahoi
« on: February 11, 2023, 09:47:07 AM »
I have been growing Double Mahoi for years and never gotten a double bunch.

The Logees's catalogue states this happens during "the second cycle of fruiting". Was I supposed to keep the plant after blooming and use the same corm or something?  I have just been theowing the old corm away, replanting the pups and getting bananas from those.

What do I do to get multiple bunches of bananas?

Thanks!
Carolyn

17
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Would GOOD sugar apple seeds float??
« on: February 02, 2023, 07:29:58 PM »
Can someone please answer this for me???

I just got some seeds that I ordered. When putting them in to soak today prior to planting, I noticed that ALL the sugar apple seeds floated. Does this mean they are no good? Or will they sink in a day or so? Or could they still be fertile, even if they float?

Thanks!
Carolyn

18
So, in some of the latest discussions with Plantinyum and Tropicaltoba, it made me wonder how many folks have tropical gardens under glass, or even in their houses.

I know TropicalFruitHunters is in Ohio (still have my shirt!), we just picked up someone in Virgina, there are people in Tennessee, and I think more than one in Canada. Plantinyum is in Bulgaris. And let's not forget Iceland!!!

So let's hear it if you are a greenhouse or indoor gardener, your zone, and a little about what you grow.
If someone knows how to use YouTube (which is not me, that's for sure!) I thought maybe it would be fun if we could have virtual tours of our setups...

Cheers,
Carolyn -
Boise Idaho, 700 s.f. greenhouse, zone 6,
I grow any tropical and sub-tropical edible that I can get my hands on!


19
Tropical Fruit Discussion / are Bael seeds recalcitrant?
« on: May 08, 2022, 06:21:41 PM »
Just got some bael tree seeds from a fallen fruit at the fruit and spice park.  We still have a week left of our vacation. Can thes dry out or should I store them wet until I get home to Idaho?

Thanks!
Carolyn

20
We are visiting Florida in early May, and plan to go to Homestead to buy some orchids.  Of course, I want to hit some tropical fruit places also! Where is the best place in the Homestead area to get fruit and seeds? 

Cheers,
Carolyn

21
So, I tend to get periodic outbreaks of mealy bugs in my greenhouse, and it seems like they bounce back pretty quick after treatment.  This made me wonder, are these NEW bugs, or are they old bugs that have "recovered"?

So I set up an experiment - 4 mealy bugs in 4 little plastic containers.  Each one got a "dose" of a drop of one of four things applied directly to their squishy little bodies- "all season" horticultural oil, alcohol, pyrethrin+sticker, and just because I had some handy, Physan.
I killed the first few by accidentally squashing them, until I started giving them their "dose" while observing through my USB microscope.

The verdict - NOTHING killed them in the first three days.  By day four, only the horticultural oil recipient was dead.  The alcohol bug is very revved up, doing laps in his little container.  Following closely in energy is the Physan bug.  The py+sticker dude is moving weakly, occasionally falling onto his back and waving his little legs, then righting himself again.

They all appeared to lose their waxy coating at first, but once dry, they all gained it back again.
By the time he died, the "Hort Oil Bug" was only about 50% covered with his wax.

Makes me go Hmmm...



Mr. Alcoholic Mealy Bug

22
I manage a community garden for local refugees.  We have a problem with night time veggie theft (humans) and I want to get a trail camera to try and ID the culprits.
Can anyone recommend a good trail cam with good night vision ability?

Thanks!
Carolyn

23
Tropical Fruit Discussion / What to do when the power is out...
« on: February 14, 2021, 12:53:29 AM »
So we had a winter storm last night with lots of heavy, wet snow.  Neighbors lost power overnight, so this morning I decided that now would be a good time to finally buy that backup generator we have been talking about for the greenhouse.  The furnaces are gas, but unless the fans are on, the heat piles up in the ceiling, doing the plants little good.

Literally as I was Googling generators, our power went down (just came back on after 14 hours).

Harbor Freight, here we come! Along with half the city...
Got the very last generator (a lady even tried to buy it off of us in the parking lot as we were putting it our car!!!), and had the greenhouse hooked up lickety split. 

Hubby and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner out there in our little seating area, basking in the warmth of the furnace, with a nice glass of wine, the parrots chatting to us and the quail laughing, beneath the only lights in the neighborhood!  Quite fun for Valentine's weekend! 

Cheers,
Carolyn

24
Hubby and I are almost fully vaccinated, so are heading to Vegas next month.  We hate to gamble, but I am going to jump off the Stratosphere Tower for my 60th birthday.
Does anybody know of any good nurseries in the Las Vegas area?????

Cheers,
Carolyn

25
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Refrigerated jackfruit seeds
« on: January 29, 2021, 11:59:28 PM »
So, I have great luck sprouting jackfruit seeds, but poor luck keeping seedlings alive. I wanted to try again (being a glutton for punishment), and went the cheap route by buying a slice of jackfruit at our local grocery store.  It had been packaged a week earlier and was in the refrigerated section.  From a $2 slice, I got four seeds, and they all came up!
I thought that was pretty interesting.
Now, if I can just keep them alive!

Carolyn

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