Author Topic: Marcotting/Air layering Abiu  (Read 1699 times)

Fruit Monster

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Marcotting/Air layering Abiu
« on: August 20, 2018, 02:06:29 AM »
Hi Fruiters

Are there any Abiu experts out there?

I was wondering if anyone knows how Abiu trees perform when propagated by marcot/air layer?

Are they worth doing or is  it better just to get a grafted tree?

Cheers


vitiga

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Re: Marcotting/Air layering Abiu
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2018, 04:23:03 AM »
Main problem with abiu is that they don't resist very well to the wind. Trees I have grown from seeds years ago keep breaking and uprooting easily as soon as  winds get above 120km/h although I have large and tall pinus windbreaks( local variery called "bois de fer" or "iron pinus" in english ) .

As a result my abiu orchard is always a mess even with heavy pruning before cyclons season. The ones that are grafted are even more fragile to breakings. I don't think I have any airlayered ones ( can't remember lol ), but I reckon that uprooting risk/problem will be worse than with a taproot unless they are planted in a windy protected spot.

Another point is that they fruit pretty quickly and there is not much difference between a grafted tree and a seedling in terms of fruiting time ( about 3 years for both grafted ones and seedlings ). The only difference is the flowering. Grafted trees tend to flower very quickly ( first year sometimes ), but they do not fruit. So still have to wait the third year to get a first fruit production.  As a result, I cannot see much advantage airlayering an abiu.

For your info, I have planted about 150 abiu trees ( small abiu orchard ) with only about a third grafted ( australian Z4 & Philippino Dr Coronel ). I have also acquired in the past abiu seeds from many differents localities /suppliers ( hawaii, peru, french guyana, tahiti, brazil, australia, etc... ) and got really nice/different fruits at different times of the year which is quite interesting. I am going to start selecting the best varieties I have grown from seeds in the coming year.

I really like that fruit and I am convinced it deserves more work and interest. Great commercial potential value I think.
Le Jardin aux Mille Fruits
La Coulée, New Caledonia

miked

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Re: Marcotting/Air layering Abiu
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2018, 09:04:06 AM »
Abiu is a fruit that deserves more recognition! Normally I am not a huge fan of pouteria but these are delicious.

If they are susceptible to wind damage it would make more sense maybe to grow them from seed so they will have a more well established taproot.

Finca La Isla

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Re: Marcotting/Air layering Abiu
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2018, 09:54:20 AM »
The comments about being vulnerable to wind damage refer to winds of 120kmh. That’s a wind over 75mph. Abiu is not the only tree that would have a problem with that kind of wind.  Most of us aren’t dealing with hurricane force winds.

Fruit Monster

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Re: Marcotting/Air layering Abiu
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2018, 01:17:07 AM »
Thanks for your responses guys.

The wind issue is something to consider. A taproot can be an advantage in this regard. Luckily I'm not in a cyclone belt but freak storms still occur every now and then.

Anyone actually grown an Abiu from Air layer? If so did it perform very well? Fruit wise.




Fruit Monster

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Re: Marcotting/Air layering Abiu
« Reply #5 on: August 22, 2018, 01:26:31 AM »


For your info, I have planted about 150 abiu trees ( small abiu orchard ) with only about a third grafted ( australian Z4 & Philippino Dr Coronel ). I have also acquired in the past abiu seeds from many differents localities /suppliers ( hawaii, peru, french guyana, tahiti, brazil, australia, etc... ) and got really nice/different fruits at different times of the year which is quite interesting. I am going to start selecting the best varieties I have grown from seeds in the coming year.

I really like that fruit and I am convinced it deserves more work and interest. Great commercial potential value I think.
That's a very impressive collection of Abiu.
The best I've heard of. Most people seem to just grow one or two types.