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Messages - stressbaby

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1
I don't know the answer about the shipping, but do you have a buyer? *hint*

Robert

2
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Black sapote leaf drop/disease
« on: December 30, 2016, 09:09:45 AM »
My thanks as well.

3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Black sapote leaf drop/disease
« on: December 26, 2016, 08:09:50 PM »
Thanks Saltcayman, I hope you are right.

4
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Black sapote leaf drop/disease
« on: December 26, 2016, 12:47:31 PM »
Hi,

Several years ago @Ethan gave me a small black sapote. I live in Missouri. The tree is potted and spends the winters in the greenhouse, summers outside. The tree is now 5-6' in height. It started flowering 2 years ago and has borne fruit. Per usual, the tree came inside the greenhouse this past fall. It has a sunny spot and is evenly watered.

Generally for me this tree holds the leaves through the winter and drops leaves the next spring or summer. In the past week, this tree has demonstrated dramatic leaf drop. The leaves are perfectly green, not yellow or brown. On closer inspection, there appears to me to be some dieback. Some lower branches are completely black, and some smaller secondary branches have also turned black and died.

The roots look OK.  I spray with Neem every couple of weeks in the winter. I hit it with a fungicide today. This is not normal based on my experience with the tree.  Thoughts? 







5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Potted Mango in KS
« on: July 23, 2016, 06:47:03 AM »
I've had a Cogshall in Missouri for about 10 years.  It's about 3' tall, barely produces anything, and the stems die back here and there.  Not impressed with Cogshall.

6
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Picked my first jackfruits today!
« on: August 31, 2014, 09:55:52 PM »
Tres cool!

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 2014 Puerto Rico fruit hunting trip
« on: August 26, 2014, 10:53:55 PM »
Nice thread.  I was thinking of you guys last week when I was in Charleston...hoping you weren't getting rained out!
Now it is time to take a look at the blog...

8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Caramboa uses
« on: August 13, 2014, 07:21:10 AM »
gnappi,
PM me if you decide to go for homemade wine.  I've made a few batches and there is a learning curve.

9
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: First G uniflora blooms
« on: August 10, 2014, 08:13:36 PM »
I don't have a distinct memory of the fruit either.  Possibly it was at Felipe's, but I can't be sure.  I can say that I've been anal compulsive about keeping the 6-8 Garcinias that I did get from the trip labeled correctly, at least based on what we were told when we sampled the fruit.

10
Very nice, Noel.
You might be interested in this pic of a seedling of your Big Red.  This is from the trip 4 years ago.  The tree is in container and about 3' tall and set fruit for first time this year.  It is a not-so-big Big Red   ;)



11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Some of my fruit
« on: August 10, 2014, 08:05:10 PM »
Well I wish you guys could look forward to more fruit but in a way I'm hoping that the island saves it until next year (or whenever I have the chance to make the trip again)!

12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / First G uniflora blooms
« on: August 10, 2014, 08:02:41 PM »
This is a little tree I have labeled as Garcinia uniflora.  I thought Jay had given me this tree, but now he reminds me he gave me the G edulis (G intermedia?) instead.  That means this little guy was a seedling from the PR trip 4 years ago.

Does this look right for G uniflora?  What are the odds of fruit set in a Missouri greenhouse?


13
Actually that is 50% aluminet shade cloth.  It is necessary to prevent overheating inside in the summer, because we get to 100F in the summer.  Ventilation, shade, and misting are needed to keep temps down.

If that is important, what I could do is leave the shade cloth down until about first of June.

I appreciate all of the replies.

14
OK, thanks Simon.
2014 will be the year of the girdling experiment.
Prune mid July
Girdling around Oct 1.
Chill hours first 3 weeks of November.
I'll report back!

15
I thought about girdling, but my problem is not flower production, it is fruit set (too little) and/or fruit drop (too much).
Here are pics.  If you look closely, you can still see the barren flower spikes.





In the second picture alone you can see what's left of a dozen blooms. 

Thanks for the longan suggestion, but the longans I've tried, while nice, didn't taste too much like lychees to me...more like a cantelope.

16
Hmm...maybe I should just get a Mauritius...

17
Thanks Simon!
I prune the tree once a year in mid-July.  It is not in a container, but rather in a raised bed.  I fertilize it at about half the rate of other plants, but it would be easy to cut back some.  There is some ginger underneath, and I could pull that out just to reduce competition, but it is dormant half the year so hard to think it is taking up too much of the water.
I will get a pic today and post it.

18
Hi all,

I have a Sweetheart Lychee growing in my greenhouse in Missouri.  By following the advice (from Lycheesonline I believe) of pruning mid July, then dipping the GH temp for a few weeks around November, I have reliably gotten this tree to bloom. 

I have had one fair yield from this tree about 6-7 years ago, the first year it bloomed for me.  It must have been beginner's luck.  I've had virtually nothing since then.  Of course, this tree must be hand pollinated.  I've tried various techniques over the years, finally settling on Q-tips used like a fine tipped paint brush.  What I do is gently tap the blooms with male flowers over a black flat surface.  If I see pollen dust in the air or yellow pollen on the black surface, I'll use that pollen.  Brush a little on the Q-tip from the pollen gathered on the black surface, touch several open females, repeat.

This year I was determined to get a big yield.  The tree put out huge great blooms.  Tons of pollen from the male flowers.  I used the Q-tip technique and I'm 100% sure I had pollen on those females, because in many instances I could actually see the yellow color on the female flowers.  Work constraints require this be done early morning, but I spent 30-45 min most mornings hand pollinating.

Well, you guessed, I got nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  I must have pollinated a few hundred females.  I got a couple of dozen where the fruit started to form (I think it is the ovary that starts to swell?  Can't remember the anatomy but you know what I mean).  Half a dozen grew to pea size.  Eventually every fruit dropped. 

This tree grows very well; I have to prune it pretty aggressively in July to keep it in bounds.    I should also mention that I also have a Brewster, much smaller, somewhat of a frail little guy which is probably 8-10 years old and which has never grown well like this Sweetheart.  It's a very shy bloomer and was not blooming at the time the Sweetheart was in bloom this year.

Any ideas what I can do?  Do I need a another tree?  This is really exasperating. 

19
Jay,
Why can't you use rain/snow water in the winter?  That is what I do.

20
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: How do you get rid of scale on Lychee?
« on: October 25, 2013, 08:21:12 AM »
I have cleared scale on my lychees but it actually took a combination of hort oil and neem applications.
You can't apply the hort oil as frequently as the neem.  So I would do hort oil about once every 3 months with a neem application every couple of weeks as needed in between.

21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Paw Paw
« on: September 09, 2013, 09:49:28 PM »
Jay,
Have you tasted a naturally grown paw paw?  I have a couple of times and I think that while they may not be as good as a cherimoya, they are not that far off.
I planted 5 seedlings this year and despite a severe drought, they are doing great.
I would give them a couple more years to see if they don't get better in a couple of years. 

22
Harry, that would be awesome!
Thanks very much.

23
Yes, thanks nullzero.
I planted elderberries and jostaberries this year.  Jostaberries are actually a disease-resistant hybrid of currant and gooseberry.
No crop this year obviously.

24
Thanks for the replies.

@treesnmore: Most winemakers, including me, try to stay away from store-bought fruit.  The fruit is picked early and usually isn't so sweet.  Generally, frozen fruit is much better for wine.

@CT: I have sampled several of Schnebly's wines and in fact have a couple of bottles in the basement.  The thing is, I enjoy making it and drinking it more than buying it and drinking it.  *hiccup*

@Harry: I have not made mango wine but have tried some (Schnebly's and others I believe) and it can be really good.  But my little Cogshall is a shy producer for reasons unclear to me so I haven't gotten enough mangoes to make any wine.  Bignay, very interesting...looks like it holds promise.  Thanks for checking, I appreciate it!

25
Hi all,

I'm still still poking along in MO with my little greenhouse and producing small amounts of fruit.
No PR or other tropical trips for me this year unfortunately.   :-\
However, as some of you know, I have gotten into winemaking and that requires far more fruit than I can grow here.  I have gotten nice tropical wines from guava, starfruit, OhioJay's lemongrass, various citrus; loquat is in the primary now.

What I'm interested in is if anyone is willing to ship fruit, fresh or frozen, it doesn't matter, to Missouri.
I'm willing to experiment, so anything from passionfruit to jackfruit, to abiu might work.
I will pay of course for the shipping and the trouble, and a deal for some wine down the road is also on the table.

Thanks folks.

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