The Tropical Fruit Forum

edit:  this was meant to be a joke 

Unfortunately, linking to that page improves its ranking with the search engines. 

. . . . By grafting this seedling scion onto a mature tree, the hormones from the mature tree transfers to the seedling scion making it bloom and fruit. In other words, the immature scion becomes a mature scion. . . .

Does the 'maturity' really transfer from rootstock to scion?  Can we top-work a mature mango tree with a seedling scion and get fruit within a few years? 

I would expect the scion to grow faster due to more sap flow, but didn't know that the genetically-determined maturity can be passed on from rootstock to scion.  Is there a book or website that describes this?

John

Very nice.  Thanks for sharing.

Good advice.  The chance for success is improved if the scion is slightly fatter than the rootstock, unlike the scion pictured.

With same-size scion and rootstocks, the same same perfect match between cambian layers can be achieved by making the cut in the rootstock slightly off-center.   This often happens even when I don't try!

I'm not an expert in mango grafting, but had a couple of knowledgable folks from my Agriculture Department come to my farm to give me a private lesson.  The three most important success factors, they told me, are:

1) Choose scion wood that has swelling buds.   These are buds that already started their growth but have not broken out yet, as in the photo below.  Dormant buds are not often successful.


2) Get good contact of the cambian layers between scion and rootstock.  Any knife that will cut straight is fine.   Tape tightly to ensure good contact.  The cut in the photo below is excellent, but the scion will be shifted just a bit before taping.


3)  Wrap the scion to reduce evaporative loss during the healing process, and prevent water entry into the graft.  Kitchen wrap works great on the scion.  I use Parafilm on the graft.


My environment may be different that yours and influence what is successful, but the above works in Fiji.  Often the buds won't break through the plastic wrap until after a few weeks of healing.

John

Definitely not camansi, leaves of which looks very similar to breadfruit.

I'll compare again, but the juvenile leaves shown on page 7 of the pdf file linked in my prior note appear somewhat similar to mine. I'll take a closer look.

How many pitaya plants share one vertical support?   When I Googled "pitaya farm" images, some of the photos showed between 3 and 6 vertical stems going up a single post.  Are these all from one plant, or separate plants?

http://www.google.com.fj/search?q=pitaya+farm&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isz:lt,islt:qsvga&tbm=isch&source=lnt&sa=X&ei=egDdT4mxH6WX6AHlvJyqCw&ved=0CCoQpwUoBA&biw=1366&bih=599&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&wrapid=tlif133988401258511

John

I think Oscar IDed it right.  Brosimum, Mayan Breadnut.

Next week I intend to visit the tree nursery that grew it, and will ask them more questions then and hopefully take some close-ups of the leaf structure and growing tips.  Mine is an overall poor specimen.

Right now my shadehouse is filled to capacity with germinating seeds, rootstocks and young trees waiting to be planted out.  It's a good time!  I'm only doing limited out-planting now due to the watering commitment.  Most planting will be November-January, in the early part of our rainy season.

John

Here's a better photo of the "Indian Breadfruit" seedling I received.  It's leaf is so different from the regular south pacific breadfruit that I doubt it's related.  I'm hoping someone can ID it so I know more about it's growing requirements.



John

I was fortunate enough today to add some traditional Fijian fruit trees to my farm.  I picked up 9 fruit trees and two sandalwood trees at no cost, as part of a reforestation program.  An organization called Conservation International has funding from Fiji Water to reforest so the water company can claim to be "carbon emission negative" in our global ecology.  Here's what I 'think' I have: 

Wi  (Spondias dulcis)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spondias_dulcis


Ivi (Inocarpus fagifer)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inocarpus_fagifer


Tarawau (Dracontomelon vitiense)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracontomelon
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?ref=archive&id=66569


Dawa (Fijian longan; Pometia pinnata)
http://www.montosogardens.com/pometia_pinnata.htm


My mystery fruit tree is one the farm hand called "Indian Breadfruit".  The leaves are clearly not breadfruit and a quick internet search did not help me identify it.  Does anyone know what this might be?


Some of these I have already re-bagged and will keep in my shadehouse for another 5 months or so, until the beginning of the rainy seasion.    Just had to share this today.

John

Hi John,
You should try next time to get deep black nursery pots, atleast 30cm deep. Avocados tap root grows very fast and if your location is prone to strong winds. will help the trees to establish much faster and be less prone to uprooting in high winds.

I have looked for deep platic bags, or 'sleeves', to plant avocado and mango, but they are not available in Fiji.  In fact, I could not even find inexpensive plastic sleeves of this size on the internet.  If anyone knows a source of plastic sleeves that are 12-16 inches deep (300-400 mm) but only 5 or 6 inches wide (15-150 mm), please let me know.

John so far as guatemalans go the ones that would go ok in your climate are the same types I grow.In order of success in a warm climate are shepard,reed,hazzard and wurtz with even sharwill struggling.Seedlings of reed seem to have good fruit on some of the progeny and keep their spherical shape.Hass cannot be grown on the coast here but on the adjacent tablelands where there is frost tonight hass is the second most popular commercial variety.Grafted trees would be so much better but getting them from overseas would not be easy.

Australia has the Sheppard and Reed varieties you suggest, so I may be able to get seeds from there next season.  Getting a seedling plant  into Fiji legally would be nearly impossible with our biosecurity department.   The Fiji Department of Agriculture does nothing with avocado so I'll be looking for an overseas source.  Thanks for the insight.

John, check out the drawing on this page: http://jhered.oxfordjournals.org/content/35/7/209.extract Seems like your seed looks more like drawing A than drawing B due to the multiple tap roots.

My seedling does look more like 'A', the poly drawing, but as Tim pointed out, there is no apparent splitting of the seed into sections like we see in mango.

My intention is to graft Hass (which I have now) and next year hopefully some more appropriate varieties from Australia, onto the local avocado rootstock (large green type) that is well-suited to my soil and climate.

John

Thanks, all.  I just replanted it with the lighter colored hilum down.

In general, planting elongated seeds flat on the ground seems to make more sense than one end down, as that is how nature would plant them.

John