The Tropical Fruit Forum

Hi everyone, these last seeds sold but I just got some new durians in, and the seeds are available again!

Hi everyone,

It's Durian season here in Hawai'i, which means I have seeds for sale. This is a nameless variety with nice orange flesh, mid-firmness and creamy, deep complex flavor. Full lobes, around 4-5lb fruit. I'll have seeds intermittently for the next month or so as they come in (and as I eat them). These will be $3/seed plus $4 shipping assuming your package is under 1lb. I can take Paypal or Venmo. Please send me a PM.

For folks who were interested in trying to get fresh fruits from me on the mainland, this first batch was already pretty ripe when they arrived to me, and probably wouldn't have done well with more shipping. So for the time being, I'm only offering seeds. If subsequent batches are more shippable, I'll reach out to folks who showed interest.

Yea, BI, Unfortunately, it's a big hassle to get stuff inspected and shipped. I barely convinced him to mail it to me interisland, which I'm super grateful for because I love them and he doesn't really need to go through the trouble since he'd be able to sell most of them on island. But if he's going to mail them to me, I might as well spread the love if there's anyone as willing to risk it.

Big island durian? 

The only issue I think is you may be losing crucial time having it sent from neighbor island then to you on Oahu and the resend it.  If anything maybe help your farmer friend send direct to the mainland guys.

Hi folks,

Putting some feelers out there for interest.

I live in Honolulu (Oahu) and ordered some durians from an acquaintance with a few trees. They would fall off the tree and he'd ship them overnight to me from a neighboring island. They were absolutely stellar, creamy orange flesh with a deep sweet nutty flavor profile. Not a particular variety, just a delicious cultivar. The season this year will likely be November/December.

I'm going to put in an order with him again this year, and was wondering if anyone was interested. I would charge $11/lb to cover costs, overnight shipping to me, and trouble of getting them inspected. This would be a service, because if I lived on the mainland, I'd love this opportunity. Just as a point of reference, here in Oahu, venders in Chinatown sell them at about $12/lb without any guarantee about the quality of the fruit (there are a lot of junk durian trees here with crappy fruit). The closest that I've found online for fresh durian is $177/monthong durian from Miami Fruit, and I don't think that includes shipping. Plus, these are better than Monthongs. Fruits tend to be in the 3-6lb range. I don't have much control over their size, but final cost would be based on weight. Durians are able to be shipped to the mainland after inspection. Shipping is extra. A few caveats:

- With the current situation regarding the post office, I can ship singles out with flat rate priority at about $22 shipping cost, but that would only fit 1 fruit/box. However, I'm a bit nervous with how long it might actually take. More than happy to go this route if you bear the full risk of receiving over-ripe fruit if it takes too long. I think this might be a safer option for people on the West Coast. If you want more than one, I'd have to find a box big enough and it wouldn't be flat rate any more.

- I would probably recommend express for people in other parts of the country, but that can get expensive. Worth it for the right people wanting fresh durian, or more than one, and a bit more guarantee of its arrival condition.

Let me know if you're interested and pretty sure you're willing to drop the $$$ for this, I can see if this will be feasible. Know that much of the shipping times are outside of my control (unless you pay for express), so you accept all risk of receiving over-ripe durian if it takes more than 2-3 days. Just as an example, estimated cost for a 5lb durian shipped priority would be $77. One possible way that I might do this would be to take pre-orders via Paypal friends and family or Venmo, and refund any overage based on final weight of the fruit. If for some reason the season is a crappy one or I can't fill your order, of course I'd fully refund.

Chuck

Hi everyone,

It’s Lychee season here right now, so if anyone wants some Lychee seeds, let me know. These are the large sweet local Kaimana variety that is grown here, never refrigerated. I can pack them in wet paper towels in bags, fresh from the fruit. $10 for 10 seeds shipped first class, or $14 for Priority. I accept Paypal or Venmo.

I also have limited numbers of White Pirie Mango seeds. These will be shipped in paper towels with OUT of the husk and ready to plant. I have to ship it this way because with any flesh left on the seed husk, it risks being stopped by the post office fruit sniffing dogs (yes, we have those here...). Currently, I can do a set of 2 for $10, and a set of 3 for $15 shipped first class, add $4 for priority.

Please PM me if you're interested!

I have a small number of durian seeds for sale. This is a 3-4lb smaller fruit variety, rich deep flavor, dense flesh. It is freshly fallen and never refrigerated. A very nice durian. Prices are $3/seed, shipped via priority mail which is $7.90, or first class which is $3.50 in the U.S. Send me a message to confirm availability.

I do have to ship by tomorrow (Friday) as I will be traveling for thansgiving afterwards.

Everyone has their passion projects... if it was about pure economics, sure. But to grow your own cados, mangos, lychees, and durian in zone 6? That's something special. This would just be a small part of a larger working homestead.

I've been reading Mark's thread on Rootmaker pots. I'm thinking of doing 18" above ground, pots lined with something like wire paneling to give structure to maybe electric heating. Then, as the roots grow larger and I expand to bigger rootmaker sizes, I can leave the current wire in and just add another one on the outside, and keep on expanding as needed, with the assumption that the ones buried inside will still continue to function.

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=7511.150

Thoughts? This way, the root system is closer to air temperature, I can expand as needed, and not have to dig down to try and install something...

Thanks for your thoughts! I see that you're on the Big Island... I currently fly out there once a week for work. Maybe, if you're up for it, let's one day connect and head down to the farm where I'm hoping to get some Durian in Pahoa .

If/when I get my geothermal greenhouse up and running, I will be attempting at 41.8 in Chicago. At that latitude, I suspect I’ll need some lights. Going for the record...

Hi everyone,

It’s Lychee season here right now, so if anyone wants some Lychee seeds, let me know. Most likely the large sweet local Kaimana variety that is grown here. I can pack them in wet paper towels in bags, fresh from the fruit. $10 for 10 seeds shipped first class, or $14 for Priority. I accept Paypal or Venmo. Feel free to send me a message.

Also, curious whether there is any interest in viable Durian seeds from here in Hawai'i, shipped priority mail to anywhere in the U.S. I suspect the viability from these seeds will be much better than someone shipping from China and Southeast Asia. There won't be large quantity.. basically only what I eat during the season (September-October) to help offset the cost of purchasing the fruit, and to share some love. There are some interesting varieties here, but not sure whether there are any that are 100% pure... just tasty.

If so, I'll keep it in mind.

Best,
Chuck

Hi everyone, my name is Chuck and I love tropical fruit .

At the moment, I live in a condo in Honolulu, so I don't have any room to grow anything, but am very appreciative of being able to live here. However, I've had a lot of experience gardening back on the mainland.

My loves are primarily Durian, Mango, and Lychee. I do plan on moving back to the mainland at some point in the future, and have been spending a lot of time doing research on potential geothermal greenhouses that would allow me to grow these in a zone 5. If successful, I suspect I may be the first to pull off a Durian in Zone 5. I'm hopeful, given some of what I've seen with Japanese greenhouses growing mangos, and recently, a greenhouse grown Durian.

To help keep the dream alive, I present to you, a *potted* greenhouse grown durian in Okinawa: https://www.atpress.ne.jp/news/163015