The Tropical Fruit Forum

Thanks for the good info everyone, I really appreciate it.

I will be contacting all the suggested vendors soon!

Jeff,

My first box arrived today and they are perfect, no shipping damage whatsoever! If anyone is one the edge I would highly recommend!

Thanks

1% = 10,000ppm

So 1g/iL would give you 0.1% or 1,000ppm

0.5g/1L would give 0.05% or 500ppm, etc.

GAA is not super soluble. The best was to dissolve is by adding enough 1N sodium hydroxide solution (caution corrosive!) to dissolve the GAA, this should only be a few ml at most. Then top the rest up with water.

Hi all, i have heard / read a lot on this however how do you know if what you buy is even alive i bought a bag of  "Mykos pure Mycorrhizal inoculant "in the spring and used it in my raised beds and some potted plants i also used it in my potting mix for my seedlings,the thing is when i dig in to these i see no signs of any growth , so 3 weeks ago i took 2 cups of very moist Alfalfa pellets along with 2 heaping tablespoons of inoculant  and i put it in a coffee can with a lid and a couple holes in it, i see NO GROWTH YET.so my question is how do you test this stuff when you buy it to know if it is alive or not ??         Regards       Patrick

Endomycorrhizal fungi are not visible to the naked eye, you need a microscope. Also the spores germinate in the presence of root exudates, no just one there own. They need to be in contact with living roots of a host species

I have never tried growing loquat. However, all the loquat trees I have seen in the valley are in the older parts of phx with good established microclimates. I have never seen one in xeriscaped parts of the valley, only ones with nice lawns and big trees etc.

I have been gardening in Phoenix for ten years.  Five of them growing mangos.  Your observations about '6 months ok, then necrosis' is spot on.  Happens even in pots.  Alkaline water and wind borne spores, along with over 110 temps seems to do most of them in.  Some varieties adapt well (lemon zest, kesar, fruit punch). Others do not (I've killed 4 coco cream).  Shade is key, and just the right amount of drainage makes a huge difference.  Ideally, start in shade, grow into sun...and do whatever you can to get them thru that first summer.   I think we get a temp induced 'dormancy' that stresses the trees and only vigorously growing plants make it thru that first summer.  I am also starting to wonder if there isn't a fungal or bacterial infection in many fl grown trees that doesnt affect trees until our summer temps hit....I now hit all newly purchased trees with copper for a month or so after I acquire them.  Saved a fruit punch that was going that direction with this approach.
On Jake and others associated with him..say what you want, but he has gotten more good info out there than bad, and he has popularized the hobby here in AZ.  Always consider the experience of anyone giving advice.  Although the self love can be off putting, there is a ton of good info there, and there is clearly no intent to deceive...maybe a little more confidence in opinions and observations than is warranted, but an honest effort to educate.  Additionally, the clique that disses he and his associated crew seem aligned with another vendor of trees in town.  Bottom line, there are VERY few people around with much experience growing tropicals under AZ conditions.  There's lots of blowhards and kids with two mangos in pots for a year who will claim they know what they are doing, but the newness of the hobby in this area really demands critical thinking skills, lots of reading, and a skeptical outlook. 
Use good soil.  Water appropriately.  Fertilize modestly.  Use mulch.  Provide shade when plants are young.  Keep trying and experimenting.  Those are the fundamentals.

I think you are on to something with the disease problem. I have head healthy mangos pushing new growth wither and die in less than three days. My suspicion is it is likely a combination of factors. I speculate that diseases that are not super virulent in an ideal climate, say south florida. However, when the tree is put in the brutal AZ sun with super alkaline soil and water, then the combination of these factors may allow for normally non-fatal diseases to destroy the tree. What is weird though, is there are apparently some people in the valley with thriving mango trees. One thing I have noticed is leaf hoppers love my mangos, and they are a known disease vector. I wonder if in other parts of the valley they don't have as many as I do.

I will keep trying, eventually one will work.I'll kill a dozen more mangos if I have to!

Was your PSM a seedling? Did it ever fruit? The leaves on these seedlings just look paddle like to me and without the prominent veining present in other, elongated mango leaves (like my Nam Doc Mai seedlings). Thanks!

It was a grafted 15 gallon tree.  It put on two small fruits in mid July. They were excellent, and had a wonderful pineapple like taste. Unfortunately it went from a healthy tree pushing new growth to dead in 4 days. I have a problem with mangos dying here. They start healthy and grow well, then after about 6 months of growing they quickly die.  Oh well I'm going to keep planting until one lives!

I live in Scottsdale, AZ.  I have a fair amount of tropicals, such tropicals.  But, really trying to get a definitive graspecial on what tropical/subtropical trees/shrubs wI'll grow out here long term.
It is obvious that citrus are no brainers, along with pomegranate.
But, I would really is get all of your expert opinions on what to grow out here.
Of course, it is rarely easy enough for things to be a yes it will, no it won't.   So I would like to categorize fruit plants as following.
1. Plant in ground, will grow well.
2. Plant in ground, will need protection from afternoon sun.
3. Plant in ground, but, needs to be planted in a warm microclimate or covered in a frost cloth.
4. Potted plant only, needs to be brought inside for winter.
5. Don't grow.  Cannot survive longterm in pot and cannot take 9b winter conditions.

Thoughts on my list?  Anything add, subtract, combine?
Really asking anyone on here to contribute.  Even breaking down varieties that might do better.
If you read online, very hard to get truth vs sale pitch.  Also, fair amount of people out here making claims they cannot support for sales.  Would be nice to have a reference for people looking to buy and grow out here, and have the confidence they are not waiting their money.

Hi,

I am in the same are as you. I have only been into the more tropical plants since about two years ago, but i'll share what I have gathered so far.

Guavas for me are almost bullet-proof. All mine are in full sun and grow like crazy as long as they have well draining soil and water. I have 4 different varieties and all are loaded with fruit. The only bummer is they defoliate under frosty conditions, but they bounce-back around may-jun.

Passiflora edulis is in the same boat as guavas, they love sun, heat, water, and something  to climb on. They seem slightly more frost tolerant than guava.

I have been having trouble with mangos here, I believe it is due to a combo of pests and some disease issues. All the mangos I plant do well for about 6-8 months then suddenly and quickly desiccate and die. The death starts as a black necrosis that quickly kills the tree. I think whatever this is kills the tree because of our crappy alkaline soil which causes nutrient deficiencies.  IDK though, I have some other mangos planted in mounds under shade that seem to be doing well, we will see. Im currently growing some seedlings as well, hoping for especially vigorous trees.

I have two avocados that are doing well, they need lots of shade here (all the time) and humidity. Mine are planted in the canopy of a massive naval orange tree.

Annona reticulata for me is pretty tough, it seems ok to about 110. Then it needs shade/ wind protection.

Annona squammosa is the same, except it seems less heat tolerant.

Green sapote. This one is doing way better than I thought, it is in full shade and survived a 123 degree day with no problem.

Im going to be expanding my garden this fall, I hope to address the soil pH issues with a boat load of sulfur and leonardite.

One more thing. I have a bunch of potted tropicals. I always thought a good moisture retaining soil would be ideal for hot AZ, but boy have I been wrong. Pretty much any store bought potting soil causes root rot in my potted plants. The surface dries up super quickly, but the bottom of the pot stays muggy and damp leading to rot. I recommend making your own potting soil with 50% course sand ( ideally basalt) 25% peat or coir, and 25% of something chunky like bark. Just make sure you feed often because this mix has basically no nutrients. But the massive amount of sand means you can literally water every day without overwatering.

This has been my experience so far, but like I said I have only been doing it for about two years. I think most of the tropical fruit growing is newer to AZ, which is kind of cool.