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Topics - franciscu

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / ultra high density mango plantation technique
« on: February 24, 2015, 03:35:52 PM »
My wife and I went to Excalibur this morning and picked up a Lemon Zest and a Sweet Tart mango (3 gal.). I've been searching for ideas on tree spacing and came across this interesting video on ultra high density tree culture.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uYIclJPs4ME

Looks like it could be an answer for those who would like more trees but don't have any more space. I'm going to do this with my new mangoes. It seems especially attractive for a home gardener to be able to grow smaller quantities of MANY things than large quantities of FEWER things. I am going to try and apply the same approach with my avocado trees.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / which fruits are the most 'nutrient dense'?
« on: September 15, 2014, 05:34:00 PM »
http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2014/13_0390.htm#table2_down

I just came across this article on measuring and ranking foods by 'nutrient density'. The table of Powerhouse Fruits and Vegetables towards the end is very surprising to me - watercress?!?!!!

How would we rank the nutritional value of fruits - fruits in general, and tropical fruits in particular? Which of our favorite fruits is the champ?

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Black sapote and jujube
« on: March 12, 2014, 11:51:42 PM »
We bought a black sapote from a landscaper several years ago. The tree is growing like gangbusters. It has little flowers every year. But no fruit has ever set. Now I'm hearing that some black sapotes are exclusively 'male' and can never bear. We're going to carefully check the flowers this year and ascertain whether 'exclusive maleness' is the problem with out tree.

If that turns out to be the case what can we do. Black sapotes are BIG trees and we don't have room for another female one. Should we just give up and take the tree out? Or would it be possible to cut it back and try to graft some female buds onto it. I've never actually tasted one, in fact. So I'm leaning toward just cutting my losses, taking the tree out, and using that space for something better.

I think we have the same problem with our jujube tree. It's a wild scraggly and intrusive thing with thorns and very sparse fruiting.
-- Frank

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / avocados year around
« on: March 11, 2014, 11:01:18 AM »
Avocados have become a staple in our diet. They are a plant-based source of healthy fat. Their taste is subtle, but they add so much to other food -- cubed onto salads, spread on sandwiches, with lemon or lime as a garnish, with meat, in smoothies as a thickener and emulsifier.  We have a 35-year-old Day variety which bears from late July thru September.  For the rest of the year we have to rely on buying from the store (mostly Haas). We'd like to plant maybe three more avocado trees with different fruiting seasons so as to cover more of the year. I'm considering a Doni for bearing in May-June, (the Day now bearing in July-Sept), maybe a Bacon or Choquette for Oct-Nov, and a Rio Negro for Nov-Jan.

Smaller trees are more practical for us -- so either dwarfish types or prune-backable types would be preferable.

Any suggestions?
-- Frank

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