The Tropical Fruit Forum

I have two in my greenhouse, in containers though.   Will be a while before I expect fruit.

I have an air layered lychee that has been pretty stagnant, and I just started some rambutan seedlings for fun.  I also suspect soil issues for those, though.  Yet another remind to start collecting rainwater

Thank you, TomekK.  The only syzygium I have is a malay apple, that seemed perfectly healthy its first summer then randomly died back 75% over the winter in the greenhouse.  It seems to be coming back but I am not sure what happened with it.

My cherimoya, atemoya, and sapotes seem perfectly happy in the greenhouse.  I know people are growing them in southern CA which is dry.

Citrus grows in arizona, texas, so I'm sure no issues there.  Mine are doing fantastic.

My dragon fruit grew so fast I had to get rid of it, it was too big and thorny for me.  Never tried passion vines.

My jabo also had brown tips last year, I assumed it was salt buildup or something.  I don't know much about them, mine is ~2yr also in a container.

I have some durian seedlings that keep growing but they got pretty yellow over the winter.  I was happy to see them even survive.

If only cacao and mangosteen are the outliers, that is good news to me.  I can manage heateasily but constantly humidity is harder.  I really need to get rainwater collection going as my municipal water is too hard to be spraying constantly.  Mark in TX seems to use it as his primary cooling, which also a huge boost to humidity. 

Interesting that they are planning to use the same root pruning pots that many of us are using.  I am surprised that container growing is expected to be more productive than in-ground, though.  My in-ground in-greenhouse trees are FAR more productive than they were in containers.  However, it may simply be that I was over or underwatering them and setting them back, where a professional operation would be more consistent. 

I have one red jaboticaba growing in a container that looks quite healthy but has been slow growing.  I have a whole bunch of garcinias but they aren't really thriving, which led me to start wondering about humidity.  Plus I just got a theobroma on a whim and I always hear about they need high humidity.  I sprouted a ton of tropical seeds of all types recently and I'm not sure how many will take to greenhouse life. 

I have an abiu that seems the be thriving, though.  And jackfruit, cherimoya, guavas.  Surely they can't be as moisture sensitive as theobroma and mangosteen?

Since I've now realized my greenhouse midday humidity is far lower than I thought, I am thinking about trying to create a humid section for the plants that require it.  Long term I want to build another greenhouse for high-humidty, high minimum-temp plants. 

Can you tell me what tropical plants *require* high humidity?  So far I'm only aware of mangosteen and theobroma cacao (cocao).  What about other garcinias?  Eugenias?  Jabo?  Guava? 

I assume citrus, mango, and annonas are better off dry. 

That's a fine looking tree!  Now I want to see somebody in the arctic circle showing off their mango

No, but the foundation is insulated around the perimeter of the down to 2ft below grade.  The soil never drops much below 50f even in the middle of winter.

My heater is set to 55F.  I understand I could probably set it much lower but I am lucky to have cheap natural gas

I have a mango in-ground in my greenhouse.  I've never seen powdery mildew and I do not apply any anti-fungals.  I occasionally have some minor leaf necrosis I can't quite explain, but overall my mango looks very healthy.  It is loaded with pea sized fruitlets right now, I hope they hold.  Last year the few fruits dropped at walnut size.

Yorgos, as Millet mentioned the box-type container opens up for root pruning.  But even the cone planter you could probably tip over gently and wiggle the plant out.  I think if a homeowner was determined they could manage one on their own.  And don't forget having to haul it outside in the spring and inside in winter!

Longwood Gardens has announced a 250 Million dollar renovation, including a massive greenhouse expansion.  I am very happy to have them nearby, I hope they add more fruit trees. 

https://www.pennlive.com/gardening/2021/02/longwood-gardens-planning-massive-revamp-of-its-conservatory-complex.html