The Tropical Fruit Forum

Looking for suggestions on mango trees that are vigorous growers but that can still be kept to a reasonable size.

I planted some citrus trees along my fence line 3 years ago, with another row further away. All were planted on mounds about 8-12 inches above the soil line. The row that is further away has done fine but the ones about 7 feet away from the fence line have really struggled and barely grown. I wasn't sure what was going on with them, so I decided to dig one up. Apparently, the cedar trees on my neighbor's property have sent out roots into my property, under the soil and up into each mound for the trees that are close to the fence line! The mounds are so full of cedar roots, it is no wonder my citrus trees did not grow. I have been hacking away at the cedar roots and trying to follow them all the way back to the fence line and chopping them off there but it is a total pain in the @ss.

I don't want to waste all that space with no trees. So, I thought planting some vigorous mango trees might work. My thought is, after the tree are bigger, I won't have to water and fertilize them like the citrus, so hopefully the cedar trees will decide to not send so many roots my way. I could be way off here!

I already have the following mango varieties, Pickering. Maha Chanok, Orange Sherbet, Mallika, Kesar, Edward, Guava, Valencia Pride, Carrie (2), Coconut Cream (2), Cac (2).

The Cac's are still in pots and I am considering planting one of them along the fence line.

Suggestions and advice are welcome. If you can think of any other kind of fruit trees that might work in those spots please let me know. Only requirement is that they are not too scraggly or messy looking. These trees are going in my front yard, so I would like to try to keep things looking a little neat.

Thanks!

I have an 'Oliver' loquat and want to add another variety. Did not like the 'Champagne' or 'Sherry' that I tasted. I have read that 'Novak' and 'Pupello'  loquats are good varieties. Just fruits and Exotics have these varieties for sale, so I thought of asking for some informed opinions before hitting the buy button.

I bought the Phet Pak Chong and Geffner last year and planted them in the ground in September/October.  They seemed to be doing okay but did not come back very well this year. I did not prune any of the branches in the hopes that they were just off to a slow start but it is already August and they barely have any leaves. You can see the branch 'skeletons' from last year. What can I do to help them along? These are planted on the west side of the house and get sun from around 11am to sunset. Too hot, maybe?


Phet Pak Chong


Phet Pak Chong (different angle)


Geffner

I got this Annona from someone. Not sure what kind it is. It had branches on what would be the left side of the photo. Unfortunately, someone from a tree trimming crew who was working in my back yard was dragging a huge branch to the front yard and got it ensnared with this plant and broke all the branches on that side of the tree. This tree is planted on the east side of my house and only gets morning and early afternoon sun. Need pruning advice so I can get it to branch again.

Mystery annona

Have some sugar apple seeds I want to plant, does anyone know if the 'Big Red' variety comes true from seed. Or is this one, I am better of getting as a grafted tree?

I am trying to figure out which/how many trees to plant in the front right corner of my lot. The front faces south and the right side faces west.  It is a 60' by 60' area from the south (front) fence to the edge of oak tree canopy and the driveway to the west side fence. The picture was taken facing west.



These are the trees I would like to put in this location.

Jackfruit - Excalibur Red,  Amber

Mango - Pickering, Carrie, Coconut Cream, Mahachanok, Edward, Mallika, Orange Sherbet. I plan on getting a Cac, so would like to keep a spot open for it.

Lychee - Sweetheart, Mauritius, Brewster.

Longan - Biew Kiew, Sri Chompoo.

1)  I know I cannot fit all of the trees in that small area but would like to fit as many as I can ( I plan to keep the trees small) and need help figuring out spacing and which ones to plant towards the front and which towards the back.

2)  I would also like to plant these trees on a mound. Should I use just plain sand or can I amend it with top soil and compost.

3)  Most of the mangoes were bought mid-July'18 as my house was supposed to be ready by the end of that month. Some major issues cropped up and I only moved in recently. So, these trees are still in their original 3 gallon pots. They still look healthy but I have no idea how root bound/messed up the roots are by now. Is there anything I should do before/after? I put them in the ground to ensure survival/success?

Any and all help/suggestions are appreciated. TIA.

I bought 3 gallon Carrie mango, Coconut cream mango, Sweetheart lychee and Excalibur Red Jackfruit from Excalibur in February. I repotted them into 7 gallon grow bags. The Lychee and Jackfruit sent out a flush of new growth more than a month ago and are continuing to do well.

The Carrie looks fine (to me) but has not sent out even one new leaf. Neither has the Coconut Cream. Plus, the CC does not look good. What am I doing wrong?
One mistake, I did make with the CC is that I forgot to check the bottom of the pot for roots before I bought it. It was a little root bound and tap root was sticking out the bottom. The tap root got a little damaged during the repot.

I was planning to stop by Excalibur this weekend to buy a few more mango trees but might hold off until I know where I am going wrong. I have never grown mango trees before. Any help/suggestions appreciated.

Coconut Cream - in April.




Coconut Cream - a week ago





Carrie

I am in the process of buying a new home. The builder will be putting in sod and an irrigation system. Does it make sense to go this route if I plan to plant quite a few fruit trees? I feel like it is pointless if all I will be doing is digging holes in all the newly laid sod to plant my trees. Any opinions?

Also, is an irrigation system set up differently for a lawn as opposed to what would mostly be trees? If so, then would it make more sense for me to plant my trees and then put in an irrigation system?

Any and all advice is appreciated.

I have called some of the bigger nurseries but no one seems to have it.

Anyone know where I can buy one?

I bought a very small sugar apple tree from an Asian lady at a farmers market last year. She had no idea what variety it was, only that it was green not red. The tree flowered and set fruit this year. I hand pollinated 8 flowers hoping for two fruits, but got 7. I got rid of one when it was very small because it was deformed and left the others. I realize I probably should have got rid of most of the fruit since the tree is very small/young but I just could not. It is my very first fruit tree to fruit!

One fruit was ready to pick last week but the others are still quite small and do not seem to be growing anymore. Do you think I should get rid of them or wait a little while longer? How long is the sugar apple season in FL?
The ripe sugar apple I picked was very sweet and had a ton of seeds (60!). Any guesses on the variety?
Also, I am thinking of planting the seeds for a few more trees. Do sugar apples come true from seed? Or, do they need to be grafted like Atemoyas?
Speaking of Atemoyas, anyone know where I can buy a Phet Packhong (sp?) Atemoya and also a Big Red sugar apple?

Thanks!

My first fruit!


Smaller sugar apples not growing anymore.

For those of you that grow Rajapuri bananas...I just read that the Rajapuri banana trees have all green leaves but the one I recently bought has reddish-brown markings on the leaves. Did I end up with a mismarked tree?

Thanks for your help!