The Tropical Fruit Forum

nice read, havn't tried the Musang King yet, but I'm sure Thai growers will catch up soon and price will drop.  Mostly stick to Chanee now, not a fan of Mongthong, but will eat any kind really!

Hey, had a white sapote for the first time, giant sized fruit larger than a softball, picked up for $3 at Kualoa Ranch on Oahu, I am about pretty sure it was from there, because of the cheap price.

They had it refrigerated, I bought and tabled it for about 4 days until it became a bit springy like an ripe avocado.  Peeled and washed it, found it was much riper than the exterior let on.  So I can see the extra care needed to watch the ripeness on these (like an avocado) .  Once opened the softness was much like peach (thick skin was holding it together mostly), so you could also say it it will ripen like a peach.

The first exterior slices off were very sweet and darkened much like the sweeter parts of a pear.  Into the interior I just ate in my hands and it became milkier (sappier)  nearer the seeds and a touch of bitterness.  Total of 4-5 large seeds in center.

Seeing as my first time, I think the fruit was good.   And the the best parts of it tasted like a good pear, however that type of sugary sweetness is not really my thing, and the center portion was not as good

I will do some more research about this tree, I read it produces heavily, so maybe that benefit is worth planting alone.

Just wondering if there is much variety in this tree, and if people would describe it differently, preference for smaller fruit, less or more ripeness, negative effects from refrigeration, etc.  And a recommendation to plant or not.

thank you!

Quote from: sahai1 on June 28, 2019, 12:35:10 PM

is there more to that article for jstor subscribers?

I'm wondering about the taste, like is it worth collecting seeds and planting.

Not worth much of anything, IMO. It grows wild in Malaysia. Extremely sour when green and unripe; extremely sour, juicy, and fibrous when ripened. The unripe fruits are usually harvested and included in salads (mostly "rujak") with other fruits. They're also commonly pickled. Also called "mempelam" by locals.

the same wiki entry in Thai is expanded, translated some interesting parts

มะม่วงจิ้งหรีดเป็นไม้ยืนต้น (cricket mango) เปลือกต้นสีเทา มีน้ำยางทำให้ระคายเคือง ใบเหนียวคล้ายหนัง โคนก้านใบโป่งพอง ดอกช่อ ดอกย่อยสีออกเหลืองอมชมพูอ่อน ผลแบบเมล็ดเดียวแข็ง เนื้อหนา สีเขียวหรือเขียวอมเหลือง ผลของมะม่วงจิ้งหรีดเมื่อสุกเป็นสีส้มอ่อน รสหวาน ออกดอกตลอดปี (flowers year round) เนื้อผลสีเหลืองอมส้ม แน่น มีเส้นใย (large fibers) รสหวานอมเปรี้ยว (sweet and sour) ฉ่ำน้ำ มีกลิ่นฉุนและกลิ่นขี้ไต้

เป็นพืชที่พบตามธรรมชาติน้อย (not naturally occurring) มักพบเป็นพืชปลูก คาดว่าเป็นลูกผสมระหว่างมะม่วงกับส้มมุด (likely a cross between indica and foetida)  ผลสุกรับประทานได้ ผลดิบใช้ดองเกลือหรือตำน้ำพริก (green can be pickled or made into chili paste) ในชวานำเมล็ดไปผลิตเป็นแป้ง (seeds are made into flour in Java) เปลือกลำต้นใช้แก้โรคลมบ้าหมู (bark of trunk can be used to treat epilepsy) ยางของผลดิบมีพิษ (sap is poisonous) ต้นผลิตเรซินที่มีกลิ่น ดอกกลิ่นแรง

just for perspective, you may have not seen, but mangoes can grow up to 100' tall, way beyond reach of boom truck, actually cut down 3 trees like this before and it was scary as $%^&

It does depend on the tree but nature itself does quite a bit of pruning and topping. For example during hurricanes which are a typical feature of many tropical locations. Ice storms and forest fires do their part in temperate climates. Some of our fruiting trees are pioneers, short occupants with short lives, some live longer lives, and some live very long lives. So, depending on which tree you are talking about pruning should be done with that in mind and to get a reasonably easy harvest as mentioned.
Also by choosing dwarf varieties, dwarfing rootstocks, etc. less pruning can be done.

Today I had the chance to work on a lychee farm using a man-lift/ cherry picker. The basket was large enough for three of us and two 25 gallon bins for the fruit. One operator maneuvered the machine and two of us picked 200 lbs per hour, one large tree yielded nearly 500lbs fruit. They also use that machine to pick large mango and other trees. It has allowed the farm to let lychee grow very large and yield far more yet still be harvestable in a safe and efficient way so with the right tactics tree size can actually be a benefit.

awesome tip, maybe an organic treatment of diatomaceous earth all around the tree would help.

I think when we plant saplings that loose earth gives them a good breeding ground.

I tried the bucket and funnel, but had poor results with all beetles, I think to make that work you need to identify the type of beetles and get the right hormone attractant, similar to to white fly baiting. 

They do the exact same thing to my juvenile Mamey tree. I have found how to prevent it.  They come from the ground at night, so you only need to sprinkle a ring of lawn insect killer around the tree such as the one in the below link. I do this once every other month and there hasn't been a sign of a beetle since.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Spectracide-20-lbs-Triazicide-Lawn-Insect-Killer-Granules-HG-83961-4/202056480

They type I had on my property were seasonal, they would come and be gone within a month, they would target 1 tree at a time, so they were like a swarm.  Moving the tree helped, not sunlight!

I moved my seedlings from quite heavy shade to light shade and this has really helped. So far only one beatle found and only one leaf damaged. Both seedlings are putting out a nice flush.

So maybe more sunshine results in a more resistance flush of young leaves?

guavas are really hardy to run off, I even have several grafted guavas not just surviving but growing well in a water run off field, so wet there even bananas nearby rotted out.

I planted my biribas in 'premium' real estate (drainage, perhaps temp. flooding or saturated soil <1 week per year), with lots of sun, The annonas respond well to full sun in my area

might be unsightly but a great way of planting in locations like this is a raised mound supported by bricks or a no bottom planter.  I used these concrete cylinders in several concave areas which collect rainwater.  Just remember not above water, but also above saturated soil, so that can be up to 2 feet above, hard to do without reinforcement or by creating a huge berm or mound.

I have Malabar Spinach and can identify easily by the red stems, there is a green stem variety too?  I missed mine going to seed, but if the seed is dispersed by these berries I can see why it has expanded in it's area so much.  I also had longevity spinach and Okinawa spinach as similar ground cover, but the Malabar has come back itself by seed after tilling, and tastes better.

This is Basella alba or malabar spinach. The leaves are edible and as good as spinach. It does climb and needs some support to do so. Enjoy it.

likely maggots, I see those boring holes.  In the picture before you cut you can see a small black bruised spot, which was the entry point.

diesel must be kind of sweet and spicy then!

There was a bitter sour ripe mango I once tried in Hawaii, that was absolutely horrible!  No wonder why the fruits were rotting everywhere.

found someone with seeds, costed me about $8 for 600 seeds.

Try my hand on these chocolate papayas.