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Messages - mbmango

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1
I've tried only a dozen seedlings of my own possum purple vine and of a brazilian yellow and the variance in fruit is noticeable. I haven't had any luck on finding even an equal tasting variety, but they grow so fast anyways, so it's a fun experiment to see what comes up.

2
I just recently had to wait for an order.  I don't think his contact form on the site works, or maybe he doesn't check that, but he did respond to a DM from the forum, and took care of it quickly after that.

3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Grafting Tape
« on: March 09, 2024, 12:16:06 AM »
I use rubber bands. I wrap with buddy tape or parafilm first, then rubber band, then a cover of flagging tape. I had the cheap tape, so it isn't strong enough on its own, but it keeps the uv off the rubber, makes the graft more visible, and I can temp tag it easier with a sharpie. I'll try the better stuff when I run out of either the tape or the rubber bands.

4
I've grafted only a few mandarin varieties, but they've all flowered the next season on reasonably mature rootstocks. I remove any sets until the union looks strong enough.  I have some 1 year backup seedling grafts of the same varieties that haven't flowered, but those are tiny still.

5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Blumat gravity flow irrigation
« on: January 29, 2024, 05:36:47 PM »
I used them on a bunch of indoor pots when we went on a long winter vacation a couple years ago. It works, but can be very finicky to setup. Need good contact of the cone to the soil, so very gritty mixes don't conduct enough water to the cone. I had to pack extra peat around the cones to help with that. Might need some thought on inserting them into smaller or already dense pots. Doesn't need much head height on the reservoir. I think a foot or so was enough. The valves can be a little sticky, but the tension eventually operates them. Be prepared to make some mistake during setup and have 1 valve stick open and drain the whole reservoir overnight. That said, I'd still use them again, if I had to. Otherwise, easier to just move everything outside with some timed sprayers.

6
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Passion Fruit germination tips?
« on: January 25, 2024, 05:28:39 PM »
Definitely patience. I soak for a day or 2 or until I remember to plant them. The shortest I've seen is edulis sprouting within 2 weeks from the fruit. On the other hand, I had some batches of ligularis and laurifolia (moist packed from Maui Seeds) take over 6 months to sprout.  After potting the seedlings, I recycled the peat/perlite. I had several more ligularis from those batches come up in another 2 months so they might have been sitting too shallow and dry initially, or maybe I just needed more paitence?  I also found a few others that had ended up buried too far down and didn't emerge before running out of energy.

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Hand Pollination - passiflora decaisneana
« on: December 06, 2023, 03:08:52 PM »
Finally got to try some. I wasn't sure when to pick, but once the rodents start going for them, I figure they must be ready. Interestingly, the first fruit to be stolen was almost entirely gone, but subsequent meals only involved eating the rinds and leaving the pulp, which turns out to be fine for us.


I've tried to protect other fruits from the rodents, but they will squeeze through chicken wire and chew through plastic clamshells (both used simultaneously) so I have to just pick earlier, which seems to work out for these fruits anyways.


For the ones that we sampled, the rind was like a softer sweeter watermelon rind, but nothing spectacular, plus the effort to prep (peel outside and inner skin), so I'll be composting them mostly. We really enjoyed the pulp though. Great description from Rob. I like sweet, and I rarely eat any of our Possums or Fredericks. But I was surprised since my wife, for whom I grow the purples, also prefers these. So, I'll be converting more trellis space to these.





They didn't get as large as I thought they would, but I'll be putting in a little more effort hopefully for next season.


8
Are the source trees grafted?  If they're on their own roots, root cuttings are easy.  I haven't tried stem cuttings.

9
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Hand Pollination - passiflora decaisneana
« on: October 20, 2023, 11:40:00 PM »
My vines are still throwing out flowers.  The vines aren't very large, so after the initial max fruits were set, they did pause flowering, presumably until the roots gained enough extra capacity to push more flowers.  I haven't counted, but guessing only around 10 fruits are hanging.  I don't know about the cross-pollination compatibility. Ricardos is at thhe 91 & 710 https://www.ricardosnursery.com/. I've only been there once, and they didn't mention wholesale only.

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Lychee Thread
« on: October 20, 2023, 11:33:21 PM »
Wow! What size was it when you planted it?  I just planted a twig earlier this year, and it's pushing it's second flush.

11
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Picking my first Xie Shans
« on: September 13, 2023, 11:22:35 PM »
Can off-season fruit ever develop properly?  I just picked my last off-season Shiranui from a late bloom last year, but it was pretty awful.  I haven't had any luck with any off-season fruits so far.  Next time, I'm just going to remove them at the close of the season, since it does seem to needlessly drain energy from those branches.

12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Hand Pollination - passiflora decaisneana
« on: September 13, 2023, 11:08:13 PM »
So my grafted vine has a number of fruit continuing to grow, but has started aborting some of the later sets, so looks like I've reached the current capacity of the graft.  My original vine, on its own roots, is planted 10 feet to the east, and it had started another round of flowering, but I haven't been able to get any sets to stick.

13
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Hand Pollination - passiflora decaisneana
« on: September 05, 2023, 02:27:37 PM »
Thanks to this reminder, actually seeing some sets. The graft was from last October, so not sure if the union will support many fruit, or if it will even ripen before winter, but still hopeful.


14
Put me down for one, if still available!

15
That's great news!  Looks like I just missed my original vine, which appears done for the current flush, but a graft I have on flavicarpa seems to be just starting, so there is hope.  The graft is way more robust than the original on its own roots anyways, so I'll have more chances there.

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: "Passiflora-quadrangularis Challenge"
« on: July 23, 2023, 11:54:20 PM »
Only got 1 to root, but waiting to transplant till it's a bit bigger.


17
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pineapple growing vertically?
« on: July 23, 2023, 11:51:00 PM »
Those are beautiful specimens! On the opposite end of the spectrum, here is my neglected thicket in a half barrel. This was bought from Wellspring as Kona Sugarloaf.  It does produce white, soft-cored fruit, similar in taste to the Kauai Sugarloafs we've had, but it isn't smooth-leaved.


18
I had a Sugarloaf graft (Alex 2020) on an in-ground Ataulfo seedling rootstock and it was much less vigorous than M4 and Seacrest on the same roots.  This winter was apparently too much for it though, and the whole branch died back past the graft.  No other dieback on the other 2 varieties.

I have 1 remaining graft on a backup potted seedling, which hasn't grown much either since 2020.  I've tried to baby that thing by  bringing it in my office over the first winter and putting it in a cold frame the next, but it only gives 1 or 2 weak pushes a year.


19
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Sumo seedling
« on: May 22, 2023, 01:50:45 AM »
Sumo seedling (from store-bought) flowering for the first time, after 5 years

I had given up on the original dream, due to space constraints as well, especially since I already had the CCPP wood on other trees.  So, I was going to graft the known wood onto this and add it to my new Sumo hedge.  I pruned it down to a stub so that I could graft low onto a new water shoot. I neglected to prune back the new growth to try to force the original graft, or even fertilize it properly. You can see all the thorny juvenile growth, but it has multiple flowers.  Wonder if it'll hold any?

As far as what might have triggered the flowering... Cold winter, neglect (water or nutrient stress) from last year, grafting of mature wood onto it?

20
Lakers still!

21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Show Your Loquat Fruits - 2023
« on: May 22, 2023, 01:29:52 AM »
Part of it is the presentation, and also the particular ones picked then.  I tried to make it more consistent this time.





Left to right, top to bottom:
Peluche, Argelino, Tori, Vista White
Peluche (source #2, probably not?), Big Jim, Harvest, Mogi
Wolfe, Aiden, Gold Nugget, Avri

So, Argelino seems to have the best ratio this year so far.  Peluche & Vista White are pretty close though.  I only had 2 Tori's at all, so they were pretty large given they were the only fruits on their respective branches.  Not sure what they normally look like.  Gold Nugget has had the worst ratio overall.  Wolfe & Aiden were also pretty bad, but they were on an outlying branch that hasn't been the most vigorous, so I'm not sure if they are typically so small.  The rest are pretty similar.  Not pictured here are Champagne & Sunset


22
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Passionfruit container plant
« on: May 22, 2023, 01:24:24 AM »
It looks great!  I'm hoping to get a couple pots going similarly, but am concerned about watering them.  They are super vigorous, and I have had trouble keeping some vines in the ground hydrated.  What media are you using?

23
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Inducing flowering in pomegranate
« on: May 22, 2023, 01:16:48 AM »
Poms seem to respond to a lot of water, especially if water-stressed.  One year, I didn't notice the emitter heads had clogged, so the trees were being underwatered.  After clearing them mid-summer, the rehydration triggered an off-bloom.

24
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Show Your Loquat Fruits - 2023
« on: May 19, 2023, 12:23:51 AM »
First year tasting from grafts from the last 2 years, so just enjoying some of the possibilities. 


Clockwise from left: a solo Peluche, Argelino, Gold Nugget, Mogi, Harvest, Tori, Vista White


Clockwise from top left: Gold Nugget (30g), Mogi (34g), Argelino (67g), Peluche (116g), Tori (55g), Vista White (50g)

25
I got a small yard, so can't grow much, but am trying a couple things.  I try to squeeze everything in there, so they end up shading each other.  The marine layer mitigates the sun exposure most days anyways.  I'm not close enough to the water to worry about salt spray.

So far, pineapples, blueberries, strawberries, smaller citrus (lemon, calamondin), sweet potato are working out in half barrels.  Peppers, green onions, other veggies in smaller containers.  Jaboticabas are just starting out but should be fine.

Things I have in-ground, but am going to try to grow in containers instead include pomegranates and passion fruit.

Loquats, guava, most mangos will want big containers.  I have a 45g mango, and I'm not sure what to do when it comes time to root prune or up-pot it.  I have a recently grafted Pickering, so will see how it does in its container.

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