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Messages - joehewitt

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Plinia clausa (Anihuayo)
« on: May 14, 2021, 07:25:37 PM »
I never really bought the claim that Plinia clausa was dioecious. That idea came from a story that Bill Whitman had a single Plinia clausa tree which grew for years and years, never bore fruit, and was believed to be a male tree (no idea why).

I have growing evidence that Plinia clausa is self-fertile like all other Plinias in cultivation: one of my three year old trees just flowered for the first time and appears to be holding fruit.



2
Many Jaboticaba collectors can barely tell the various species apart so there is no way the NZ authorities will be able to distinguish them. Just write Plinia cauliflora on the label.

3
If you order seeds from Africa I highly recommend using DHL. I’ve had seeds from Cameroon get to Hawaii in 7 days using DHL, including APHIS inspection. It’s a bit more expensive but totally worth it to protect your investment.

4
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Jaboticabaholics Anonymous
« on: August 12, 2020, 08:31:43 PM »
Today I was shocked to find the first flowers on my Sapucaia and Rosa de Pescoço trees. These seedlings are only three years old. I am not aware of anyone who has fruiting trees of these varieties outside of Brazil. I can’t wait to taste them! My grafted ESALQ has also begun flowering but that variety has been fruiting in Florida for some time. It seems that Plinia phitrantha is a fast fruiting species. Doesn’t get much faster than 3 years from seed!

Sapucaia:




Rosa de Pescoço:



5
I don't know anyone who has a fruiting tree. I have some seedlings and I'm sure many other people do also since seeds have been frequently available in recent years.

6
I'd be happy to help once my little trees are big enough to cut. It will be a while.

7
In case you didn't know, that one's been going by "Watermelon" also. Seedlings have been sold on eBay over the last 6 months. I'm sure grafted trees will pop up in a year or so once people's trees have grown out a bit. It was just introduced to the US last year.

8
On one hand, I would love for all the fruit discussion to leave Facebook and move to a public forum like this one, mainly so it can be indexed by search engines. On the other hand, Facebook is so much more active than any other fruit forum I have been a part of.

9
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Durian Theft in Hilo Hawaii
« on: February 20, 2020, 01:32:08 AM »
Agricultural theft is a big problem in Hawaii and many small farms are robbed on a regular basis. It has been a struggle to get law enforcement to do anything about this problem, and you certainly never hear about it in the national media. So why is this incident receiving so much attention? Well, the folks who were robbed have a little sway over the media, they are the federal government. This was a USDA research station which was robbed. For whatever reason they don’t want to mention this in the media coverage.  They grow a lot of other fruit there and as far as I know it all rots on the ground. I guess the durian trees are one thing the employees actually take the time to harvest and sell.  When I was there on a tour last year they said their avocado grove is also a target of thieves and has security cameras all round it. I do not wish to make light of this offense but it’s a bit annoying to have so much agricultural theft ignored by the police and the media, except when USDA is the target.

10
Aha, good catch Oscar!

11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Making my cherimoya flower!
« on: May 19, 2019, 04:08:27 AM »
I had a friend in California with many fruiting cherimoyas but she struggled to get Selma to produce. Perhaps this variety is just shy relative to others. Jeff, do you have any other Cherimoyas growing to compare?

12
"Não existe" says Marcos Sobral. Eugenia leitonii is a name that was written in a herbarium label and never published. The species in question is Eugenia pseudomalacantha.

Interesting, then, that Harri Lorenzi would put Eugenia leitonii in his book and not even mention Eugenia pseudomalacantha as a synonym. (See attached page from the recent english ebook edition)



14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Myrica rubra
« on: April 07, 2019, 07:50:02 PM »
I'm so excited about this fruit. I got to taste some California-grown Yangmei a couple years ago and loved it immensely.

15
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Small lot seed permit protocol
« on: April 07, 2019, 03:16:11 PM »
Despite all the previous discussion about this, I don't blame anyone for being confused even after reading it all. Much bad advice in previous threads. I just ordered seeds from someone who supposedly was experienced with the APHIS protocol and still they put the labels inside the box!

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Carambola in San Jose/Nor Cal
« on: December 20, 2018, 07:50:50 PM »
My Hart tree defoliates every year. Seems not to be a serious event.

17
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Carambola in San Jose/Nor Cal
« on: December 18, 2018, 06:39:29 PM »
I have the Hart variety from TopTropicals. It has survived 2 winters (lows of 28F) and just began to flower for the first time.  I'd recommend it.

18
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: SF Bay Area Tropical Fruit Experiment
« on: December 11, 2018, 01:28:22 AM »
A drier winter would certainly have helped. I see more and more black spots and other fungal issues as winter goes on. These plants just don't have the defenses for this combination of cold and dampness. As far as microclimates, I did plant some trees in the canopy of oaks (green sapote, babaco, tamarillo) and observed significantly less damage to them on frosty nights. The canopy is good for at least 5F difference and little frost forms there. No doubt, if you can provide cover for your trees the odds are in your favor.

19
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: SF Bay Area Tropical Fruit Experiment
« on: December 08, 2018, 10:40:50 PM »
Hey guys. I am way overdue for an update video. If I could sum it up, the subtropicals have done ok but nowhere near their best. I don’t think it’s worth growing trees that putter along and struggle to produce any fruit. If I were going to stay in the Bay Area I would probably keep the cherimoyas and jaboticabas and replace the rest with figs, white sapote and other proven plants. Anyway, the conclusion of the “experiment” is that I’m moving to the Big Island of Hawaii so I can grow tropical fruit for real.

20
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Anona season approaches
« on: September 23, 2018, 04:30:30 PM »
I have to ask, is there a reason you’re spelling it Anona instead of Annona?

21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Tree ID... ¿Blepharocalyx salicifolius?
« on: August 27, 2018, 03:56:16 AM »
I also have Blepharocalyx salicifolius from Vitor but mine looks very different. Like Solko, mine has small fragrant leaves. I think your seeds got mixed up.

22
600 gallons every 5 days for a fifth year tree??? I don’t give my trees anywhere near that up here in the north and haven’t seen a reason to increase their water yet.

23
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: White Sapote, should I uproot it?
« on: June 18, 2018, 03:58:15 PM »
4 million and one??  Really?  I've said at least a million times that it never pays to exaggerate!

That's where you're wrong, my friend. I was paid handsomely by the Sapote Growers Union for this exaggeration. Remember, a sapote a day keep the doctor away.

24
This is Sir Prize.  More I research this variety the more excited I am about it.

Sir Prize is a good early season avocado, covering the gap in spring before Hass arrives. I was buying them at the local farmers market a while back and grew quite fond of them, but they are a second tier avo for me because fat content is not their strong point. What I liked as the unusual golden color of the flesh and the fact that it would not oxidize no matter how long I left it on the counter.

25
I've noticed this with my Tamarillos too, but that's nothing compared to the fly trapping powers of their Solanaceous cousins Tobacco. I have a bunch of ornamental Nicotianas around the yard. They are sticky as hell and covered in bugs. Best thing is they volunteer readily all over the place. I sometimes wonder if they are too effective and I might be killing a lot of good guy insects.

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