Author Topic: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA  (Read 16226 times)

LEOOEL

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #50 on: September 01, 2018, 08:56:35 PM »


This is the largest Rambutan that I’ve seen up to date. The eating quality was superb. With regards to Quality: Lychees beat Rambutans, but not by much. The seeds of Rambutans do not have that smooth and shiny texture as the seeds of Lychees. And, the Rambutan flesh can often cling to, say, about one-twelves of the seed surface. This is where one’s perception of whether the ‘Cup is half empty or half full’ comes in. I personally find it ‘kinda’ fun that every now & then, I find myself doing non-strenuous chewing gimnastics, in order to separate the delicious flesh from the seed.
'Virtue' should be taught, learned and propagated, in order to save others and oneself.

LEOOEL

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #51 on: September 01, 2018, 10:27:19 PM »
...So far i think only 2 people have fruited rambutan in Florida, Bill Whitman and Adolf Grimel? It is extremely rare that a fruit will go from total obscurity in being grown in an area to being grown commercially.
The rambutan is a well accepted commercial fruit. It is widely liked. So it's good to try to grow it out of it's normal range. But getting to commercial stage, if it is possible at all, would take decades of development...

Thank You. So it’s already been done before - Rambutan fruit trees that bear fruit in South Florida - Wow! What an accomplishment! And, it’s been accomplished not by just one person but by two people - Bill Whitman & Adolf Grimel! What a great accomplishment! Now I admire them even more.

Finding a Rambutan seedling that is well adapted to South Florida - I’m sure that it can be challenging. And, the approach of simplifying the process may expedite the desired results; i.e. plant as many seeds as you can in virgin South Florida soil- one seed per plastic cup, with 4-6 holes perforated at the base, and filled with South Florida virgin soil - place them in a location with partial shade and Sun, and DON’T WATER THEM AT ALL. This approach could quickly yield a negative answer of 100 percent failure in less than two years. Or, this approach could quickly lead to finding that Super Hero ‘Trophy’ Seedling that is so desired in less than two years.

Yes, the reality is that there are more than just the two factors of Soil-pH and Climate, you also have the factors of Genetics, the Environment, and I’m sure there are more. Say that after following the above, someone finds the desired ‘Trophy’ Seedling: There is then the possibility that Nematodes (a type of soil worm) in the soil Environment of South Florida will kill the newly found ‘Trophy’ Seedling. This is why in such a scenario, I would immediately transfer the Rambutan Seedling to a generously sized pot, filled with quality potting soil, in order to let the Seedling establish and strengthen itself, and give it a fighting chance at keeping the Nematodes at bay, just like other fruit trees do. So, basically, it’s 3 Main Factors: Soil (pH...), Climate (Cold...), and Environment (Nematodes...), to contend with, IMO.
'Virtue' should be taught, learned and propagated, in order to save others and oneself.

bsbullie

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #52 on: September 01, 2018, 11:06:49 PM »
With every post, the sillyness increases...
- Rob

fruitlovers

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #53 on: September 02, 2018, 05:31:23 AM »
Another thing to consider is that Florida is already getting rambutans from other countries in Central America, perhaps also Thailand and Vietnam. So in order for a commercial operation to be competitive with this competition the trees would not just have to produce, but they would need to be super productive and of comparable or preferably better quality,. That also does not happen in 2 years.
Oscar

Mike T

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #54 on: September 02, 2018, 06:06:36 AM »
From my understanding there are only slight differences in cold hardiness between varieties and soil characteristics required are the same for all. One of the main rambutan areas here around Tully/Mission Beach had a cooler than usual winter with minimum temps below about 5c around 10x but it never got to 4c and daytime max temps were around 22c on cooler days. Rambutan trees handled this fine and could certainly go cooler.
Around 50 varieties have been tested here for fruit quality like fruit size, flesh clinging to the seed, flesh yield and texture, productivity. flavour etc. The varieties that consistently come out on top with trials include the classic red R134,R9,R167,R162 and yellow R156. Rongrien. milwana, jit lee, bin jai and a few others get honorable mentions or are vey good with 'divergent characteristics." If you could only trial two varieties I would choose R134 first and the yellow form of R156 second.
Soil is a big issue and maybe there is nowhere suitable in the warmest parts of Florida.

Reafs

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #55 on: September 02, 2018, 12:16:28 PM »
Here is my Rambutan, 2nd year in the ground.

The tree is about 3 ft tall. All the leaves at the bottom dropped during/after winter.


Top view of the tree:


The tree still put out new flush, but the bottom leaves drop as fast as the new flush can grow.


Not sure what's going on, the leave just turn brown on the edge and eventually die.


I kind of ignore this tree as I don't have high hope that it will survive pass this coming winter. Rob was right and I checked, we did get dip to 42F around mid December of 2017.

My Durian tree pictures will be posted in the Durian post.

PS: Just found this about rambutan leaves turn brown, wouldn't hurt to water more I guess:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AnUdMFNs5c
From experiences, what causes the brown on the leaves are the lack of potassium
Yohann

sunny

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #56 on: September 02, 2018, 04:44:03 PM »
Yohann my rambutan in Thailand look the same, always leaves like that and extra potassium does not help for me. Do you give much potassium? I use potassiumsulfate but not to much.

Guanabanus

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #57 on: September 02, 2018, 08:44:05 PM »
Applying Potassium Sulfate will help to keep fresh new growth healthy;  it will not fix the leaves that are already damaged--- dead tissue cannot be resurrected.
Har

sunny

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #58 on: September 03, 2018, 07:55:03 AM »
Applying Potassium Sulfate will help to keep fresh new growth healthy;  it will not fix the leaves that are already damaged--- dead tissue cannot be resurrected.

Yes sometimes new leaves all look good, but weeks later they get brown at edges...should i give potassium all the time?


Guanabanus

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #59 on: September 03, 2018, 04:36:31 PM »
Slow-release Potassium for steady feeding.  Coated.
Har

Coach62

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #60 on: September 03, 2018, 09:04:16 PM »
With every post, the sillyness increases...

Like I said, lychees and Longans  aren’t a bad substitute. Just go with what works. I’ve had them all and think they’re pretty close in taste and quality.

But I’m not one to talk I guess, I still want to try and approach graft a mangosteen.
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Stop New Yorking my Florida!

Bruce

fruitlovers

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #61 on: September 03, 2018, 11:25:45 PM »
Slow-release Potassium for steady feeding.  Coated.
What kind of slow release pelleted potassium do you use?
Oscar

DurianLover

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #62 on: September 03, 2018, 11:49:03 PM »
Applying Potassium Sulfate will help to keep fresh new growth healthy;  it will not fix the leaves that are already damaged--- dead tissue cannot be resurrected.

Yes sometimes new leaves all look good, but weeks later they get brown at edges...should i give potassium all the time?

Your tree is not producing I guess, therefore I don't think it uses that much potassium. This could mimic other deficiencies. Generally rambutan is pretty resilient tree, not that much demanding nutritionally. Fruit itself is very low in potassium compared to other more common fruits in Asia.

Guanabanus

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #63 on: September 04, 2018, 08:19:57 AM »
In mixes, not a stand-alone product.
Har

kc_moses

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #64 on: September 04, 2018, 10:40:43 AM »
In mixes, not a stand-alone product.

I think I'm going to get Potassium Sulfate (Potash) from Amazon, is this the right product to use?

Mike T

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #65 on: September 04, 2018, 04:01:38 PM »
Burnt edges can mean salt as well and potash is relatively benign. It shouldn't adversely affect foliage unless heavily over-applied.

fruitlovers

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #66 on: September 04, 2018, 05:39:07 PM »
There was a presentation here many years ago by a rambutan crop specialist. She told us that the burnt edges is caused by either a) potassium deficiency (which is supported in the literature), or b) a type of virus that affects rambutan trees. Unfortunately the two problems have very similar effects on the trees and are hard to distinguish without a leaf tissue test. But she also said the probem is usually potassium deficiency and that the virus problem occured a lot less freguently.
Oscar

LEOOEL

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #67 on: September 11, 2018, 10:33:24 PM »
From my understanding there are only slight differences in cold hardiness between varieties and soil characteristics required are the same for all. One of the main rambutan areas here around Tully/Mission Beach had a cooler than usual winter with minimum temps below about 5c around 10x but it never got to 4c and daytime max temps were around 22c on cooler days. Rambutan trees handled this fine and could certainly go cooler.
Around 50 varieties have been tested here for fruit quality like fruit size, flesh clinging to the seed, flesh yield and texture, productivity. flavour etc. The varieties that consistently come out on top with trials include the classic red R134,R9,R167,R162 and yellow R156. Rongrien. milwana, jit lee, bin jai and a few others get honorable mentions or are vey good with 'divergent characteristics." If you could only trial two varieties I would choose R134 first and the yellow form of R156 second.
Soil is a big issue and maybe there is nowhere suitable in the warmest parts of Florida.

That’s over 9 varieties! Sure wish that they were all available for trial in South Florida; seedlings appear to be the best way forward here.

As Oscar mentioned, S. Florida imports Rambutan from Central and South America. I’ve personally experienced this distribution this year by making inquiries during subsequent Rambutan purchases. So, there’s already an Import Commercial Industry here. I’ve been told that Rambutan is being imported specifically from these South American countries: Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Although I’ve been fortunate, this year, to enjoy Rambutan from more than one of the above countries, there’s been one constant: there’s an occasional but persistent tendency for the flesh to cling to the seed. If a quality Rambutan seedling could be found that’s well adapted to S. Florida and with a free-seed/nut, this could potentially be a Rambutan Commercial Industry game changer.
'Virtue' should be taught, learned and propagated, in order to save others and oneself.

LEOOEL

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #68 on: October 22, 2018, 07:19:15 PM »
The Rambutan seeds I’ve accumulated add up to several hundred.

The seeds have been obtained from multiple vendors  selling Rambutan originating in 4, 5 or more countries in Central and South America. Even though I got a few more Rambutan fruit today, I think we may be at the end of the Season. It appears that Rambutan stores very well inside a bag that’s inside a box, that’ Inside a bag, that’s in an Ice Bath.

I’ve been keeping the seeds together in paper cups (and nothing else) in a corner of the residence that is away from the nearest window. And, to my surprise, I noticed that one of the seeds did this:







'Virtue' should be taught, learned and propagated, in order to save others and oneself.

sunny

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Re: Rambutan Fever in South Florida, USA
« Reply #69 on: October 22, 2018, 11:10:55 PM »
The Rambutan seeds I’ve accumulated add up to several hundred.

The seeds have been obtained from multiple vendors  selling Rambutan originating in 4, 5 or more countries in Central and South America. Even though I got a few more Rambutan fruit today, I think we may be at the end of the Season. It appears that Rambutan stores very well inside a bag that’s inside a box, that’ Inside a bag, that’s in an Ice Bath.

I’ve been keeping the seeds together in paper cups (and nothing else) in a corner of the residence that is away from the nearest window. And, to my surprise, I noticed that one of the seeds did this:








You can make a tree with many rootstocks grafted to 1....that will grow better..