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Messages - Triloba Tracker

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951
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Root pruning pots for figs?
« on: May 26, 2015, 12:50:24 PM »
Yeah, I would still like to hear of anyone who has tried planting in a root-pruning pot and could compare the performance to a standard pot.

I am a little concerned about my fig this year. It's happy enough and has several baby figs, but it has not branched out nearly as much as it did last year. I just don't see any more room for it to set fruit at this point, which would be a disappointment.

The difference between this year and last is that I drastically pruned the roots last year, and did not prune nearly as much this time (though still pruned at least 20%).

Maybe it will still do some vegetative growth and set more fruit but if it doesn't, I guess I've learned my lesson.

952
Interesting.  As a Canistel lover, I wonder if it would strike me as vastly superior. Would love to try it, and grow it.

Ditto- love canistel but have limited experience. This one sounds amazing. Best of luck propagating it

953
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Guava mango
« on: May 21, 2015, 06:46:29 PM »
Guava mango
Pineapple mango
Coconut mango
What is next?
Mango mango? Nah, i guess that would be too boring.  ;)
More seriously, how come only mangoes can impersonate other fruits? I've yet to hear of:
Mango guava
Mango pineapple
Mango coconut

Ah, but you are omitting the Mango Pawpaw  ;D

954
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Maypop Thread
« on: May 19, 2015, 11:33:32 AM »
Well, the top half of my purple maypop in the ground did not survive the rabbit attack. It started pushing new growth below the cut, so I just cut the top part off.
The most vigorous regrowth is from pretty low on the stem, so kind of annoying that it'll take that much longer to reach my trellis.
I guess I could nip that lower new growth in hopes the upper growth will accelerate, but I lack the confidence to take that gamble (should I?)

On the white maypop front, I did get the plant from Logee's last Tuesday. The good news is it's much bigger than the first white one I received. The bad news is it looked pretty unhappy from shipping:



Hard to tell in the picture but leaves kind of curled under and the entire plant rather limp. I watered it with a little KLN solution and it perked up slightly. A week later it does finally seem to be shaking the funk and growing. Hardening it off now and hope to have it in the ground in a week or so.

955
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Asimina Trilobas in the wild
« on: May 19, 2015, 11:27:44 AM »
Extrapolating from experience with Annonas, I'd say your supposition about drought is a good bet.

Other possibilities:

Inadequate pollination [not enough viable seeds to merit fruit retention];

Mineral deficiency [Calcium, Boron, Zinc....].

Thanks, Har!

I will of course keep checking on the trees, but my expectations have been lowered significantly. Will have to check other patches I know of which are unfortunately farther away.

956
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Asimina Trilobas in the wild
« on: May 18, 2015, 12:52:56 PM »
I checked-in on my pawpaw patch yesterday and came away a bit crestfallen.

I only spotted about 5 fruits among scores of trees.

I could swear that the last time I was there, before everything fully leafed-out, there were several clusters of baby fruits on the trees.
So either they all dropped or I just couldn't see them (it is hard to spot pawpaw fruit in the canopy thanks to their green coloration).
We did have literally 3 weeks with no rain recently. Perhaps this induced a drop?

957
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Asimina hybrid flowering
« on: May 18, 2015, 12:50:20 PM »
Wow!  Ignorance shining through here: has this been done before? What are your expectations?

958
Those indeed look to be high quality. Better than any Ive seen in markets here.
I think I spotted "irradiated" on the box in the first picture.

These fruits ARE NOT irradiated...see box photo



DOH! hhahahaha that's what I get for viewing the page on my iPhone!

959
Those indeed look to be high quality. Better than any Ive seen in markets here.
I think I spotted "irradiated" on the box in the first picture.

960
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Preparations in Thailand
« on: May 17, 2015, 08:42:37 AM »
I think the only people really affected by the military take over are those no longer able to profit from their corrupt dealings.  Don't get me wrong, corruption will still be rampant, but sounds like they are trying to stamp some of it out.  That is the impression that I get and I could be way off base.  I doubt that the average shop owner, street vendor, or farmer could give a shit who is running the show as long as they can feed their families.  At the very least, sounds like they have cracked down on the riots.

The folks live in a suburb outside of Bangkok.  Not a large yard by any stretch but should allow me to plant several things.

Good to hear and kind of what I was assuming (from my vast ignorance of the situation :))....the pictures you posted show what appears to be a very nice area. Looks charming and inviting. Again, mazel tov!

961
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Preparations in Thailand
« on: May 16, 2015, 07:00:53 PM »
Will retire there so my wife can have more time with her family.  Besides...won't have to try and recreate a climate any longer!  Got at least 5 years before we head over so I'm not quite done yet trying to make some things work out here.

Lots of Americans in Thailand now, especially retirees. And very few of them going there with any interest in growing fruits.

How is the political/governmental climate over there now? I am not up on the latest - the last I read it was still under military rule. The US media reporting makes it seem like it's an unstable and somewhat unsafe place to be, but I don't put much stock in the US media....

962
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Preparations in Thailand
« on: May 16, 2015, 10:35:17 AM »
This is amazing Jay - I wish you sincere and hearty good luck with all of your plans. I would love to follow in your footsteps someday.

I've done one trip to Asia and yeah, the plane ride is not fun but tolerable. I was annoyed and surprised on my flights that they kept the lights off the entire trip, even though it was daytime in the destination country. I was trying to force myself to stay awake to match my destination time zone and felt like a zombie the whole time - seems it would've been easier if the lights were on. I got up and walked the aisles a LOT. I couldn't believe the majority of the people who didn't get up at all...wow.

963
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Maypop Thread
« on: May 12, 2015, 03:14:29 PM »
I have seen some good producing incarnatas in the brush in Rutherford county but that was years ago. Don shadow has some at Shadow nursery , in Winchester, that are quite prolific. He has a bunch planted right at the entrance, very beautiful flowers.
I'm from Winchester...I need to get down and pay ol' Don a visit!

964
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Maypop Thread
« on: May 12, 2015, 08:50:10 AM »
Interesting that you're growing edulis! I'm not sure I have enough room in the house to overwinter any more plants, so I plan to stick with incarnata for now.

Here is the link to the plants I ordered from Logees. Should be the right thing
http://www.logees.com/maypop-passion-flower-passiflora-incarnata.html

I have found very quickly that rabbits love these things. I knew I should've done it sooner but i just now put a chicken wire cylinder around the vine. Rabbits nearly sheared the thing in half. I put a splint made from toothpicks on the stem to see if it will grow back together. So far it appears that it may be working.

My replacement white maypop is scheduled to arrive today.

Now my concern is protecting ripe fruit from possums, of which I have plenty. I may have to build a cage around the entire thing.

TriangleJohn - how do you protect your passionfruits from varmints?

I also plan to look for wild vines to potentially transplant. Friend told me he successfully did so as a kid. I actually haven't seen many of these in the wild but haven't looked too hard either. One vine in our church parking lot actually set 3-4 fruit last summer but didn't get to taste them. They may not have ripened properly either.

965
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Asiminaholics Anonymous
« on: May 08, 2015, 06:11:52 PM »
Yes pawpaws are very easy to chip bud. I just prefer using the whip or cleft graft.

I recommend you plant them in their permanent location and put wire cages around them wrapped in shade cloth. About 2 to 3 feet tall cages and let them grow out of the shaded environment on their own . Also with the cage you can temporarily place a piece of fabric over the top till they adjust to their new environment.

Thanks! Stupid question, but is all shade cloth created equal? I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for.

Also not sure if I want to hold off and attempt to graft some of them. They are only maybe 4 mm thick at the thickest point of the base and maybe 10 inches tall max. Doesn't seem like they're ready to graft yet.

966
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Maypop (Passiflora incarnata) Thread
« on: May 08, 2015, 06:08:38 PM »
Well, since becoming totally smitten by passionfruit while in Taiwan last October, I became dead-set on growing Passiflora incarnata.

It also helps that it's the official wildflower of my home state, Tennessee.

So I ordered 2 plants from Logee's - one white variety and one purple, so that I could save on shipping costs versus trying to get 2 genetically different plants from 2 different nurseries.

The white maypop arrived about half the height of the purple, and it had 2 main shoots versus 1 on the purple. The purple tripled in height over the course of a few weeks, but the white one barely grew a couple inches (in the same conditions).

Logee's is subsequently sending me a replacement - not holding my breath. My backup plan is to dig up a wild plant as soon as I can find one.

I constructed a trellis based on recommendations in my post "Passionfruit Trellis Ideas." It consists of 2 metal posts about 6-7 feet apart and galvanized wires running across, one at about 2 feet from the ground, and the second at about 4 feet.

I did not want the vines to spread all over my yard, so I dug 2 holes about 12 inches in diameter and 10-12 inches deep. I got 2 plastic straight-sided grower pots, cut the bottoms out, and put them in the holes with hopes that it would contain the runners.

I tried to just backfill with native soil, but it was difficult to work with - pretty heavy clay. So I found a decomposed tree that had disintegrated into peat moss-like loose compost, mixed with actual compost of my own, and maybe some other junk, and planted the vines in that.

Within a day or 2, something had nibbled the topmost leaves off the white maypop. And just this morning I discovered that something had rooted around quite aggressively and essentially destroyed the white vine. So good thing Logee's is sending me a replacement anyway!

My next step is to decide the best way to protect the plants. Thinking of hardware cloth or chicken wire on the ground around them to prevent digging, and/or a chicken wire fence around the entire area.

I've trapped 3 possums in a week so far...thinking they will be having a field day on any fruit I am able to get.

Any and all advice is welcome!









967
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Asiminaholics Anonymous
« on: May 08, 2015, 05:23:58 PM »
Kentucky State advocates chip budding for pawpaw...I have never grafted anything in my life so not sure how much that's worth.

Ed - question for you....what kind of conditions do you keep your < 2 year-old seedlings in? I am particularly interested in how to shade them properly.
Last summer I kept my new seedlings under just some black cotton fabric and in a location that only received 1-2 hours direct sun on top of that. They seemed happy I guess.
I overwintered them in the house and they have of course leafed-out now, but they don't seem to be super-duper happy. They are in a bedroom that receives a decent amount of filtered afternoon sunlight, but these seedlings are only exposed to whats reflecting off the walls.

What do you suggest as the optimal shade material, etc?

968
Recipes / Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« on: April 25, 2015, 11:15:12 PM »
Agree with Marsbars - the vast majority of commercial bottled kombucha is engineered and does not contain the full spectrum of bacteria and yeasts needed to form a healthy SCOBY and continuous culture.

Order a culture from Cultures for Health . com or KombuchaKamp.com....or check for a local Weston A. Price chapter and contact someone there to see if they know anyone making kombucha.

I made it for a long time and really adore this beverage. I finally gave it up, though, because unless you let it ferment substantially (to the point where it would be extremely acidic), there is more residual sugar than I care to consume (I have dramatically reduced my sugar intake lately).

I found best success in bottling in "Grolsch" style bottles, which are bottles with attached lids that clamp down to form an airtight seal. Add some FRESH pureed or squished fruit and juice, and you will have a very bubbly brew after a week or 2.

My favorite fruits to use are Jackfruit, muscat grapes, muscadines, pomegranate, pineapple, guanabana, watermelon. ...


969
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Pawpaws starting to flower
« on: April 17, 2015, 10:54:10 PM »
Well most of the flowers made it and most of them were fertilized. These trees like to grow fruit in clusters, sometimes as many as 6 pawpaws per stem which keeps the fruit small. Does anyone know of the technique for fruit pruning? At what point do I start snipping? Some of them fall off before they get too big but I would like to encourage large fruit. The few flowers that developed single fruits gave me nice large fruit.


Interesting that you asked about thinning because I was asking about it in the Wild Pawpaw thread. I was considering thinning some of the wild trees I've pollinated.
So I did a little googling. Here's some info from a paper published by kentucky state university:
"Trees were thinned on June 8, 2006 and June 6, 2008, prior to June drop, and when a majority of the fruit on the trees were approximately
1.5 cm in length. . . Fruit in a cluster were gently pinched or broken off . . . " by hand.
I think you just reach up there and pinch 'em off. Folks suggest, of course, pinching the smallest fruits.

Another document from Ohio Pawpaw Growers suggests thinning "early, for the benefit of the crop."

The trees will naturally drop excess fruit in May and/or June. KYSU studied thinning clusters to only 1 fruit, and reported apparently great success in doing so. Seems a little extreme but, I dunno.

This motivates me to do some thinning in the wild trees i've found, for sure.

970
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Bird Netting
« on: April 17, 2015, 03:51:18 PM »
I used something very similar to what puglvr shared, bought at lowes in a smaller size.
Used it on my potted fig and worked fine, except for where I didn't secure the bottom of the netting and a few figs were pinched by birds coming up under it.

I've already lost one spring fig so i have to get mine set back up. That, or try one of the scare tactics like SocalKoop mentioned. I have read others doing that too.

971
No, no combos for me.  I am a purist.  Watermelon is delicious...try it, you'll like it.

I can vouch for Harry's dried watermelon and mango! mmmmmmmm

972
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Mulberry Thread.
« on: April 17, 2015, 03:17:36 PM »
Glad we have a Mulberry Thread. I was just thinking about these today - there are a few wild trees in walking distance to me that bear tasty fruits.
I agree that for the average person, at least in Tennessee, mulberries are not on their radar screen.

I really want to try to propagate these wild trees. I tried a couple years ago when I was even more ignorant than I am now, and they didn't root.
Any tips are welcome but I don't want to hijack this thread.
Are you trying to propagate for particular attributes or just to get a plant of wild progeny?
Cauz they seed themselves like crazy and have fruit in like under 24months!

Another idea dig up seedlings that should be near wild trees and graft if there's bigger sweeter one you have your eye on.

Honestly, I was just wanting a free mulberry tree! Never occurred to me to grow one from seed. Any special process?

973
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Asimina Trilobas in the wild
« on: April 16, 2015, 09:41:42 PM »
Those are pawpaws forming in the last pic. Glad to hear you found some more trees close by.

Thanks!
Would there be any benefit to thinning any of the small fruits?
As you can see, I am just using this patch to kind of experiment and learn hands-on. The only fruit I've had experience growing is Fig, and we all know there's not much to that!

974
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Asimina Trilobas in the wild
« on: April 16, 2015, 08:58:51 PM »
Good luck! I have been hand pollinating pawpaw flowers for several years and I always look for the bright green interior and slightly opened flowers. Once the petals flare out and the interior color is dim I don't consider that flower receptive to pollen. Just my experience.

 Ed
Sounds great, Ed!
I went back to my patch today to do some more pollinating. I wanted to pay closer attention to the flowers to look for ones similar to your top photo in the A.A. thread.
I definitely found some flowers that more closely or exactly resembled the flower in that picture. I will say that they weren't as abundant as later-stage flowers. I do think I missed the biggest window of opportunity by a few days (I knew I needed to get out there but was too busy.)
I think most of the flowers I pollinated the first time were probably past the ideal stage.
Today I definitely noticed flowers with the "glistening" stigmas that you described. I just wish there were more of them!
It seems to me now, based on my extremely limited experience, that the receptive stage likely doesn't last too long.  :o
***
As for my visit today: I went further up the hill and was thrilled to find several more trees sporting decent amounts of flowers. I also took some pictures that I wanted to post for feedback:


Assuming this is the remains of an un-pollinated flower?


This appears to be a successfully pollinated flower that's winding-down and preparing to drop its petals, etc. True?


Are these teeny-tiny pawpaw fruits? I sure hope so - there were lots of these around.

975
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Asimina Trilobas in the wild
« on: April 15, 2015, 02:32:00 PM »
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=14323.msg182328#msg182328

Thanks, Ed! I had read your comment there a while ago but didn't get to review it prior to hitting the field.
What you say there pretty well seals it up - for me the key about receptive stage is that the petals are tighter and smaller. Unfortunately most of the flowers I pollinated were more fully open and dark like those in the pictures I posted. There were a few that looked more exactly like the picture in your post.
The perfectionist in me wants to know exactly when the flowers are no longer receptive but that's probably unknowable in an absolute sense :)
Thanks!!

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