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Messages - Caesar

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Must-have eugenias (based on flavor)
« on: February 10, 2024, 06:34:12 AM »
Some ones that have stood out among his listings for taste are pisiformis, cereja, burkartiana, pulcherrima, delicata, etc.

What’s the pulp ratio on these? I ignored a few well-recommended types like E. pitanga and E. itaguahiensis ‘cause they looked to me like they had a poor pulp ratio.

I’m intrigued by the purported 21 varieties of Eugenia Pyriformis AKA uvaia. And it’s hybrids…

Based on this article below, E.Pyriformis is diploid (2n=33). Does that mean it can be hybridized with any other diploid Eugenia, such as khlotschiana and dysenterica? There are some diploid varieties of e.pitanga, hyemalis, punicifolia also.

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=076f42dd5592f3501e16c51f4b6a8e26661d70cc

Now that’s the kind of info I like to see! Is there any ploidic info available for the more common species?

Are there any other proven crosses other than with lutescens? My Eugenia journey has been a long and winding road filled with disappointment. Very few seem to be able to accurately describe fruit flavours and quality and of the dozens of species I have grown or sampled few live up to their promise and reputation.

I noticed early on that not all of them lived up to the hype. Odd flavors and poor pulp ratios abound. But I feel like it’s all worth it to find the few diamonds among the roughs.

As for the hybrids, I think Adam managed to successfully cross Pitomba with Pitangatuba. He calls it Pitombatuba: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ucTLoF7Bfew&pp=ygULUGl0b21iYXR1YmE%3D

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Must-have eugenias (based on flavor)
« on: February 09, 2024, 02:22:42 PM »
I forgot they were called that, tbh.  ::)

I called them Pitangas for most of my post, but there’s an actual E. pitanga, so perhaps I just confused things further.

I’ve had Surinam Cherries from a Lolita seedling, and while I can enjoy them, I did find the resinous factor a bit too funky for my palate. My options for resin-free cherries were to get a grafted Zill Dark or Black Star, or seeds of dasyblasta... I prefer growing from seed in this case, so I went with the dasyblastas, and currently have 6 plants in 1 gallon pots.

3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Must-have eugenias (based on flavor)
« on: February 09, 2024, 01:42:03 PM »
Mike- I know I am reviving an old thread but would love your input and/or list here, given your experience you may have tasted to most on here

It makes more sense to me to revive old threads rather than making new redundant topics. Not sure if there’s a forum policy about it though.

I’ve started collecting myrtles again, particularly Eugenias, after a several year pause. I’ve only tasted two so far: E. selloi (Moderately sour – decent out of hand – with a complex tropical flavor and a faint aftertaste resembling pitanga), and one of Miguel’s E. florida (decent flavor but scant flesh, poor pulp to seed ratio).

Others that haven’t borne for me yet are Red Grumichama, Orange “CORG”, Dasyblasta Pitanga, Candolleana, Sweet Uvaia and Cedar Bay Cherry (this last one bore one fruit, but I left it an extra day to ripen properly and it was promptly stolen, seemingly by a bird). I had an E. patrisii from Vitor that bore a tiny, good tasting fruit, but I killed it by neglect years ago... regrets... I haven’t seen any activity from Vitor in a long time, perhaps due to tightening restrictions from Brazil. These days, most of the exotic stock I’ve been seeing is coming in through Bellamy Trees.

I just answered another thread asking almost the same and said,  "The best unifloras, yellow/orange grumis, dysentaria, candolleana, pyriformis x lutesens pitomba, lutescens, multicostata, sweet form of patrisii are some near the front of the quality line."
Some of the new ones Sallami is distributing might make the grade and CORG forms like good calycina are pretty good.
Pyriformis, selloi, cedar bay cherries are examples of species that should not be on anyones list.

I’ve been afraid to try E. dysenterica because of potential laxative effects. I’m surprised to see E. pyriformis among your rejects... is it the pulp ratio? The sour variant? I see you have its cross with E. lutescens, as well as E. lutescens itself. Where does the Sweet Uvaia fit into your scheme? With the coveted hybrid & species or with the rejected species?

I had recently thought to reject Pitomba entirely due to repeated reports of a ham-like aftertaste (big no-no for my palate), but I’ve also seen reports of excellent, aftertaste-free flavor, so I’m wondering if it would be worth it. Could it be, like Nelita E. calycina, there are clones with good taste and clones with poor taste? How would one track down seed from the best clones?

Any particular reason for rejecting selloi? Do you prefer sweet fruit? I prefer sweets, but I found it tolerably sour and interesting enough to warrant inclusion into the list of must-haves. I also didn’t notice any weird flavor, so I’d lump it in with the sour types more than with the acquired-taste oddballs (like the garlicky E. anomala or the hammy types of Pitomba).

What about Cedar Bay Cherry? I used to think it was a must-have from all the reports, but it recently occurred to me that it’s not the same to say “One of the better Australian fruits” as “One of the better Eugenias”. I’ve seen the former statement, but not the latter. My biggest fear is that it’ll have a poor pulp-to-seed ratio like E. florida.



Crafting a list without direct experience is a struggle, but I trust the judgment of those who’ve tasted them, and generally go by consensus. I focus on the better-known species, and usually ignore the über rare types by default (although some may catch my interest aside from the act of listing the “must-haves”). Also, anything that has a poor pulp-to-seed ratio gets rejected by default, no matter how rave the reviews. The way I figure, the only way scant pulp could be justified in a Eugenia is if the seed is easily crunched without ill flavor... I’d treat it like a berry in that case, and eat it whole. Otherwise, they’re not worth giving prime space to.

With that in mind, my “Gotta catch ‘em all” list is as follows: Pitanga (resin-free types like dasyblasta), Cherry of Rio Grande (CORG), Grumichama, Candolleana, Pitangatuba, Sweet Uvaia, Arazá (for the sourness), and maybe Cedar Bay Cherry.

Among the rare species that have caught my attention are E. cribrata and E. beaurepaireana. Both are reportedly good-flavored, and both seem to have decent size and pulp ratio. The latter seems to me, though, like it might be redundant with the sweet uvaia. I also wonder what might have been with my E. patrisii...

What rare types catch y’all’s attention?

I know this is a duplicate from another message... but it seemed relevant...

My Garnet CORG/Calycina trees have been producing large yellow fleshed fruit with a very juicy Peachy/Apricot flavor with a hint of Pineapple... and no off-tase at all.

Kevin



Do you sell seeds/seedlings of Garnet?

4
always worth a try but would take quite a while to see the outcomes as you would need a fair bit of space to plant out all the seedlings and grow them to fruiting size.

on another note i saw a photo of soursop hybrid recently. cant remember where i saw it but i think it was a sugar apple/soursop hybrid. it was pretty cool.

I’m still working on getting some land, but this feels like one of the projects I wanna start with when I get it.

It’d be wonderful if we could get soursop into the equation, since it has a wonderful perfumed flavor, but it seems like getting it to cross with the other three is a bit of a challenge... not sure if a four-part cross would be worse, challenge-wise. Do you know who’s growing that hybrid? I’d love to buy some scions, if it takes well to grafting.

As a Floridian, who can’t easily fruit  Cherimoya here in our summer heat, I’d welcome more diversity in cherimoya-adjacent Annonas. I read that the Cherimoya variety called White (Dr White?) is the most heat tolerant, according to this report: https://slosson.ucdavis.edu/newsletters/Ellstrand_198629140.pdf

Regardless If you expand beyond the “big three” to the “big 5”… the qualities of Illama and Rollinia seem more sought after than Custard Apples. The former have a significant fan base, but i don’t think I’ve heard anyone say custard apple is their favorite fruit or even beats out with other annonas. As you alluded to.But getting those others to hybridize is a challenge or impossibility.

Dr. White is my top pick for that reason, though I read on another post that Cumbe was being grown by someone in the Dominican Republic lowlands. Even with these two clones (or their seedlings for that matter), I’d like to trial seeds from other varieties as well, just to see how they do for me. I wonder, would growing them like Pawpaw as an understory plant be a workable solution to getting them to fruit in warmer places? I imagine, with the decades of research behind Cherimoya growing, almost every possible solution to that dilemma would’ve been exhausted.

Those two were considered (along with some rarer species), but I’m not finding much info on their use in Annona breeding programs. Ilama in particular seems like it might be close enough to the other three to be crossable. Has anyone made any Ilama hybrids, or are they still theoretical? As for Rollinia, I’m aware of one fruitful hybrid with Soursop, and apparently the fruit resembled Rollinia in particular:
https://www.actahort.org/books/575/575_41.htm

Custard Apple is my Mama’s favorite fruit by far, beating out even Sugar Apple in her opinion... but again, we’ve never had Cherimoya nor Atemoya, nor Rollinia & Ilama for that matter.

I find this to be a very interesting project as someone who at one time was very into Annona collecting.

I would say in terms of flavor it ranks as
1. Cherimoya
then a very distant 2 and 3
2. Sugar Apple
3. Custard Apple(never had one)

There is another component besides flavor that is rarely talked before but much more now is the texture.  This is extremely important depending on your palate.  It is firmness/chewy vs creamy.  Most western palate will prefer a more creamy texture and most asian palate will prefer firm chewy texture.  I feel likes its almost as a do you eat peaches soft and melting or firm and crispy as an analogy.  I will list from most firm as 1.
1. Sugar Apple
2. Cherimoya
3. Custard Apple

In addition, in Asia the sugar apple is broken down into another 2 groups. One is considered the firm chewy Sugar Apple, usually very easy to peel, and the flesh holds together tightly. The other is sometimes referred to as a grain or rice Sugar Apple since the flesh around carpels break apart easily like grains. These tend to be more creamy if u really let the fruit ripen but also is chewy for the flesh around the seed. I believe most of the old florida varieties of sugar apple fall into this category. And most of the old Atemoya crosses used this strain of sugar apple. Depending on what texture u r breeding one will benefit more than the other.  For cherimoyas, i think varieties that has a more subacid balance is better so ones like Booth or El Bumpo vs say a Dr. White. For the old school Atemoyas, i think Geffner has more Cherimoya qualities than say an African Pride.

My perfect Annona would have the flavor of a cherimoya, the texture of a Chewy Sugar Apple, and the skin and flesh color of a deep red reticulata.  For others texture may prefer the cherimoya or reticulata.  I'll stop here as i could probably write about tastes and texture all day long on fhis topic ahaha.  Hope to see some amazing hybrids from people in the future. Painter's cherilata is new and there may some interesting seedings out if it in the future here in California due to our availibity of cherimoya and atemoya varieties.

That’s how I remember Sugar Apple! Kinda creamy on the edges, firmer in the arils. It’s been a while since my last sample.

How would Cumbe stack up in the acidity balance? Are there any named Sugar and Custard Apples that would particularly shine in a potential hybrid?

@achetadomestica has a Sugarlata that sounds like an amazing fruit combining some of the aforementioned desirable qualities. I wonder if they know the exact parentage?

I got some seeds from him, both Sugarlata and Cherilata. I’m debating whether to grow them out to fruiting or use them as rootstock. I’m actually quite curious as to how the fruits will turn out, so maybe rootstock isn’t the best choice. I also got Red Thai Sugar Apple seeds from him. If he’s growing them in proximity to each other, I wonder what the chances are that some of the seeds are already hybrid? Hmm...

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 10b - berries for cereal
« on: January 26, 2024, 04:36:36 PM »
Prime Ark Freedom blackberry has solidified its spot as my family’s favorite, very productive. I also grow mulberries, but haven’t figured out the trick to get them to bear consistently. Low chill blueberries also do great, I’ve been fruiting Sunshine Blue, still waiting to see how Pink Lemonade does. I’ve also fruited Caroline, Joan J., and Double Gold raspberries, and am trialing Niwot and Ohio’s Treasure. I’m also growing Domestic, Alpine and Vescana strawberry varieties.

The trick to temperate berries in the tropics is low chill (200 hours and under), and for caneberries in particular, primocane types (they fruit on current year’s growth, which has no chill requirement). For strawberries, Day-neutral types are more likely to fruit consistently.
I’m trying Alpine strawberries here in central FL after reading this article: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1326

This past few years we’ve gone blueberry picking at farms near Orlando and we LOVED the Krystal variety. 

There are also various Eugenia that create vaguely cherry-like fruits of various sizes. Cherry of the rio grande, pitangatuba, pitomba, sweet uvaia, etc.

I grew Reine des Vallees a few years back, and currently have an Attila plant growing, along with a a few plants of a tetraploid Mignonette clone. Alpines are some of the toughest strawberries I’ve grown, even under tropical, searing summer sun. They handled worse neglect than any of my common hybrid strawberries. Unfortunately, I’ve been having trouble germinating them lately, never mind getting them past the delicate seedling stage.

I’m collecting what seem to be the best Eugenias according to popular perception. I have a Grumichama and Pitangatuba in the ground (and one of the latter in a pot), a Cedar Bay Cherry (from Kevin Jones), in a pot, as well as several potted members each of Dasyblasta Pitanga, Orange CORG and Candolleana (all from AchetaDomestica). Also sprouting some Sweet Uvaia seeds I got from HuertasUrbanas.

My Strawberry Guava hasn’t borne yet, but I’ve been harvesting some Red Hybrid Jaboticaba for a few years now, and it’s practically an honorary berry as far as I’m concerned... Slightly tart (not tannic) skin, relatively soft chewable seeds and sweet pulp. Pop ‘em whole and enjoy. I only spit out the seeds if I’m propagating it, otherwise they don’t bother me. My dad prefers not to chew the seeds though, so your mileage may vary.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Annona Trio – Rating and crossing the big 3
« on: January 25, 2024, 04:40:37 PM »
I’m talking here about the three major species of Annona (barring Soursop): Sugar Apple (A. squamosa), Custard Apple (A. reticulata), and Cherimoya (A. cherimola). They are the most widely grown of their genus, and closely related to each other. *(Soursop is a little too distant to allow crossing or grafting with the other three, and is most commonly eaten as an ingredient – like in shakes or ice pops – whereas the other three are usually eaten out of hand.)

As far as I can tell from my time on this forum, most folks seem to rate seedling trees of the big 3 as follows: 1. Cherimoya (best), 2. Sugar Apple (good but seedy), 3. Custard Apple (least, perhaps due to grittiness). That’s for seedling trees... For elite clones and grafted trees of the 3 species (and their hybrids), I still don’t know how folks rate them compared to each other (I only know that Cherimoya and Atemoya are some of the most prized Annonas). I’d like to hear some opinions from people who’ve tasted these Annonas (not necessarily all of them), what they think about them, and how the flavors compare. As for myself, I like Sugar Apple, I don’t remember the taste of Custard Apple (it’s been a long time), and I’ve never tasted Cherimoya or Atemoya.

As for the query that inspired this post, I’m interested in crossbreeding them. Folks have been crossing Cherimoya and Sugar Apples for years, named selections abound for Atemoya. (Side note: ¿Are all named Atemoyas F1 hybrids, or are there F2s & backcrosses among them?). I recently learned that Sugarlatas and Cherilatas are a thing, which account for the other combinations among the 3. But my endgame is the Trybrid... apparently Temoylatas weren’t well-received at the start, but have since found fans among the few people who’ve managed to grow the grafts to fruiting.

Being a tripartite hybrid, any hybrid that manages to include all 3 species in their parent stock is gonna be an uneven hybrid by nature. 25+25+50 in percentages. Which get me thinking... Is there a particular “trybrid” combination that would yield better results than the others? So far we’ve seen the Temoylata (25% each Cherimoya & Sugar Apple, 50% Custard Apple). What about crossing the Cherilata with the Sugar Apple? If the initial rating scheme I mentioned for the seedlings holds true with the hybrids, then we would want the best species to account for the 50% in the “trybrid”: crossing the Cherimoya with the Sugarlata.

These are the types of thoughts that wind me down to sleep at night. I’d like to hear (¿read?) from the rest of you folks. Is it a project worth pursuing?

I have a young reticulata tree in my yard, and am sprouting some squamosas. All I’d need is to get one of the more heat-tolerant cherimola, maybe some hybrid scions, and I’d be on my way to trying it out.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 10b - berries for cereal
« on: January 25, 2024, 02:25:54 PM »
How many chill hours do you reliably get at your location? According to agroclimnate.org, I got about 4 chill hours last season.

I live in the lowlands of Puerto Rico, so as far as I’m aware, we get 0 chill hours in my yard. It turns balmy in the winter, but that’s about it.

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I think I got scammed. I received a pm from a “user” that apparently doesn’t have an account (listed as “guest” under the username, which I didn’t notice at the time). Told me about another user that apparently had the giant moss available, with an email address.

I messaged him, then purchased from him a couple of weeks ago. He seemed a bit rushed to get me to complete the purchase (and show screenshots of payment), even reduced the price from $35 to $20. I had to pay via PayPal’s “friends and family” setting for immediacy. Said he’d email me the shipping details. Haven’t heard from him since, despite emailing back a couple of times.

:-[

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 10b - berries for cereal
« on: January 11, 2024, 12:19:24 PM »
How's the flavour on the Double Gold raspberries?

I finally tried ‘em! They’re great, slightly peachy.




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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 10b - berries for cereal
« on: December 02, 2023, 11:52:01 AM »
I’ve had mixed results with Goji Berries. They’re decently-flavored and worth growing, but Crimson Star doesn’t seem to like my neck of the woods at all. I got a big cluster of plants that slowly dwindled. I have about four left, seemingly dormant, and I don’t think they’ll recover. Same thing happened with Stardust, went dormant then rotted away.

Phoenix Tears actually grew well for me while I had it in a pot, and fruited for me too. Then I stuck it in the ground (heavy clay), and it dwindled and died as well. That was my first Goji, and if I were to try again, that’s the variety I’d go with.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 10b - berries for cereal
« on: December 02, 2023, 07:33:14 AM »
How's the flavour on the Double Gold raspberries?

Haven’t tried ‘em. So far it only fruited one small branch (it’s a small potted plant), and the berries up and disappeared. If the birds got ‘em I’ll consider it ironic, since they don’t bother any of my other berries (though I did lose a blueberry once). I’ve had the red raspberries reach over-ripeness and they were untouched by the birds.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 10b - berries for cereal
« on: December 01, 2023, 12:21:31 PM »
Prime Ark Freedom blackberry has solidified its spot as my family’s favorite, very productive. I also grow mulberries, but haven’t figured out the trick to get them to bear consistently. Low chill blueberries also do great, I’ve been fruiting Sunshine Blue, still waiting to see how Pink Lemonade does. I’ve also fruited Caroline, Joan J., and Double Gold raspberries, and am trialing Niwot and Ohio’s Treasure. I’m also growing Domestic, Alpine and Vescana strawberry varieties.

The trick to temperate berries in the tropics is low chill (200 hours and under), and for caneberries in particular, primocane types (they fruit on current year’s growth, which has no chill requirement). For strawberries, Day-neutral types are more likely to fruit consistently.

13
Can I trouble you for some spores? Or a live dry sample? Or both? I have a cool patch in my side yard where I hope they might thrive.

14
Found in Australia, New Guinea, Malaysia and New Zealand. It’s literally moss... but it grows to two feet tall! (I know it’s not a fruit, but it’s not a vegetable either, so I posted here for visibility). Is there anybody here on the forum living or traveling near its distribution range? I’d like to get my hands on some spores.

15
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Pinus maximartinezii
« on: November 30, 2023, 10:02:53 PM »
I get five of nine seeds sprouted from Pinus maximartinezi from Rare Palm Seeds! 21 cotyledons in two first, agrees with the description.


Keep a good balance on the moisture... I overdid it on the dryness and lost a few more. I moved them to the roof, and lost some more (not sure if too much or too little moisture, there were days of rain and days of clear skies). I’m down to two, I’ve settled on the same watering regimen as my other plants, and so far they seem to be doing well.

16
I got some Norris cuttings from achetadomestica, now sprouting in a pot. I’m curious to see if I can get it to fruit in chill-free Puerto Rico; I’ve had success with a couple of chill fruit.

The thread on Che in the other forum gives the impression that it’s not a good fruit, though it’s hardly a consensus. Predominantly the texture, apparently. As stated there, I got my Che for a breeding experiment... one of my two Maclura cochinchinensis finally flowered this year, and it turned out to be male. It should make for an interesting hybrid. For now I have the Che cuttings in a pot; I’m gonna try to grow them potted for a while, and then take a cutting and graft it on the Cockspur Thorn. The Spur didn’t develop suckers, but I did take cuttings from both trees and they sprouted.

⁂Edit: Pics!

Che cuttings:


Cockspur Thorn:


17
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Pinus maximartinezii
« on: May 12, 2023, 01:31:35 PM »
I managed to get 5 or 6 seedlings to survive (not all sprouted, and some rotted after sprouting). I counted 23 cotyledons on one seedling, so they’re legitimate! I’ve been keeping them on my front porch over concerns of rain. I water them very sparingly (and they’re in a blend of pro mix and cactus soil), and they seem to be doing great. Now I’m wondering when I should separate them.




18
The pulp can be cut off pataxte and cupuasu with scissors.  The seeds can be further cleaned by rubbing with sand.  However, to dry so that you can aprovechar the seeds as nuts they don’t have to be so clean.  The fruit pulp will mostly dry away and you will need to peel the skin off of the seed anyway once it is dry.
Peter

My tree died spontaneously not long after my last post, so I didn’t get to try this method. I could see it getting sick and it bore one last fruit – which I intended to use for propagation –, but it disappeared under ambiguous circumstances, so I didn’t get to propagate it.

I still want to taste the seeds, so I’m gonna see if I can acquire some seeds or plants in the coming weeks. I also started keeping some isopod bins and a roach bin (Halloween Hissers), so I’m thinking they could help me clean up the seeds. I actually mentioned this in a YouTube comment, ‘cause Weird Explorer made a video on Mocambo ( https://youtu.be/avSLiLvi63E , he was far more generous in his assessment of fruit flavor than I was), and one person who makes chocolate out of it states that it would be difficult to commercialize due to the problem of removing the pulp.

While we’re on the subject of Theobromas, my lone Mocambo tree had no problem bearing fruit, but my Cupuaçú tree has been flowering for a couple of years without a single fruit set. I guess Cupuaçú needs a pollinator to bear fruit.

19
Someone mentioned Kei Apple, but those fruits are really delicious and the shrubs, while thorny, are very compact. The San Diego Zoo has a bunch spread around and I pick some of the fruits when they're ripe and they're great. They're also very easy to eat, unlike the vast majority of specialty fruits, because you just eat it whole. No pit.

Can you detail the flavor profile? Kei Apple was always off my radar because I had thought it was a sour fruit. I don’t mind some tartness in my fruits, but I’m definitely biased towards sweetness, and I end up using most of the sour stuff in juices. For some perspective, I like eating oranges and pineapple out of hand, but lemons and passion fruit end up juiced with a big dose of sugar. Meanwhile, I eat my pitangatuba out of hand (if only due to size; I feel like juiced would be better). I had a Ketembilla years ago that I would enjoy out of hand despite the tartness, but I ultimately cut it down ‘cause it was too inconvenient to peel the fruit, and the skin had a minor bitter element that I did not care for (even the jelly we tried to make had that bitterness).

I’m not fond of thorns, but I have no trouble overlooking them for the sake of a good fruit. So how’s the Kei Apple?

20
I am underwhelmed by jaboticabas, too.  The flesh is good but the clingy seed and thick skin makes it hard to eat them.  They are so nice looking I will definitely keep one, but I see no reason to collect more.

Goji berry is bland, I had two types from cuttings and threw them all away after a year or two

I have the Red Hybrid Jaboticaba, and it broke all the expectations I had based off the Sabara’s description. Neither the skin nor the seed were tough or tannic. I eat ‘em whole unless I’m saving the seed for planting. The skin has a pleasant, mild tartness, and I find the seed tender enough to be unobjectionable (as easy to eat as a peanut, with a tad less crunch). Definitely one of my best keepers, but my fruit collection is quite small.

Different gojis have different tastes. L. chinense supposedly tastes bad, like a weird pepper. I found L. barbarum Crimson Star to be decent (not spectacular, but worth growing), but it failed to thrive for me. I’ve read that Yellow Gojis are the best for juicing, and L. ruthenicum Black Goji has a metallic, medicinal taste. There’s a purple-fruited hybrid of Yellow × Black called Stardust that apparently has good grape-like flavor, but it died on me after spontaneously entering dormancy. I didn’t get to taste it.

All of the "foodie" citrus I think are overrated.  Meyer lemon, key lime, rangpur lime, sudachi, italian lemons.  I grew them all and prefer grocery store type lemons and limes

Key Lime is considered King here in Puerto Rico. Tahiti limes are common enough in the markets, and frequently used, but ask any local which one is considered the best, and they’ll almost universally declare the Key Lime.

Pitangatuba for me.  I have only gotten a few fruit so far but they are very stringy.

This is a fruit that is apparently rather variable in flavor. Mine is standard sour, but I haven’t had any stringy ones.

I didn't like Muntingia calabura too either.  It tasted good the first couple of times but never grew on me.

I like the pulp well enough as a trail nibble, but the skin has an aftertaste that I find objectionable, and while tender enough to be readily chewed, it’s thickness makes it almost tough in comparison to the pulp.

21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Eugenia anthropophaga taste report
« on: May 04, 2023, 09:18:33 PM »
Thanks for the report! How long did it take to flower? The fruit looks similar to Pitangatuba, which is apparently variable in sweetness (but almost always sour).

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Bump! How is the blueberry tree doing?

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Jaboticabaholics Anonymous
« on: May 02, 2023, 01:51:35 PM »
My glazioviana has been flowering for a couple of years now, but it refuses to set fruit. Any idea why? Does it need a mate? It’s right next to a fruiting vexator, so clearly hybrids aren’t happening.

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Has the problem continued for everyone else? I still don’t get any emails from this forum, and I check my junk/spam folder every time I check my inbox.

25
I’ve grown Alpines from seed here in Puerto Rico. No fuss. I’m starting them again and have a few seedlings growing. Once they get past the seedling stage, they are very tough plants, handling heat waves and full-day burning sun like champs. They seem to bear fine under care, but production grows sparse when overly neglected (my neglect grew to the point of eventually killing my prior plants, but they survived under that neglect for several consecutive years). Despite their name and origins, they are very much not fussy about high temps and air humidity variations. Soil & watering might be the biggest concerns, but they’re also the most easily-handled concerns.

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