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Messages - Tropicdude

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51
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Why won’t my miracle berry produce fruit?
« on: September 07, 2018, 03:25:10 AM »
Yes just sulfur, 

52
Shade shade and more shade,   heat is not the problem,   my tree I have tried many times to get it accustomed to a little sunlight,  any leaf that even sees the sun for more than an hour gets fried like those in your picture.   

lots of water and zero direct sunlight.

53
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Why won’t my miracle berry produce fruit?
« on: September 05, 2018, 10:59:35 PM »
My potted tree, has done very well this year,  lost count how many times it put out flowers and fruit.  so many berries most just dropped to the ground and were swept into the trash. 

no special treatment,  I just water them on occasion,  and once in a while fertilize when I see the leaves yellowing,   probably the easiest plant I have to take care of.  mine gets full mid day sun, for about 4-5 hours direct sunlight.  but   shade in the afternoon, and early morning due to wall and house.

Mine took a few years to do anything,  I started lowering ph,  to see if it would flower, and just weeks after , it started flowing,  and producing fruit multiple times every year since then.

54
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Kasturi mango ?
« on: September 03, 2018, 11:28:56 PM »
Has there ever been a hybrid cross with indica ?  that sure would open up a lot of possibilities.

55
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Are Forgotten Crops the Future of Food?
« on: August 28, 2018, 12:38:04 PM »
Well, this over-reaction to eating ANY "carbs" today is weird! 
what may seem weird to you is likely just misunderstanding.
Many believe this quote, "If we ate, worked, and exercised like our great grandparents we would be healthier and live longer". Do you???
Let's see the truth::: Data Life Expectancy in the U.S. 1900 to 1998: http://www.demog.berkeley.edu/~andrew/1918/figure2.html
1918 Male 36.6 years Female 42.2 years   Vs. Ex.1998 M=73.8 years F=79.5 years

Percentage of adults with diagnosed diabetes by age group
https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/adults-with-diabetes-by-age/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D
Ex. Florida 18-44year olds = 2.3%   @age 65-74 = 22.6%

Congratulations, as total U.S. population has aged and now sure enough, Diabetes, Heart Disease, etc. is on the rise. 
Studies are often flawed by leaving out increased life expectancy tables... If we live long enough, it's a better chance we will die of a disease... I personally prefer longer life expectancy at average 73.8 years vs 36.6 years...

It is a good idea to let the mind govern the body and make changes when necessary in intake and output of energy (exercise etc.) when needed. Some let their body desires govern supreme in making intake/output decisions and suffer with increased odds of disease.

8.27.18 update::: Looking for a Devils Advocate... Oh well... Here's one...
It is really impossible to go back & forward in time and prove or disprove the question: Many believe this quote, "If we ate, worked, and exercised like our great grandparents we would be healthier and live longer". Do you???
Why? Too many variables + new healthcare discoveries. Here's some that have allowed increased life expectancy: https://www.historyofvaccines.org/timeline    http://time.com/4250235/penicillin-1942-history/

Is good healthcare the reason why the healthcare system is said by some to be failing? All will die eventually, before 44 maybe disease/cancer free.... Over 80 and ... Maybe not ... expect more money for healthcare costs as life expectancy rises... But, I prefer higher life expectancy.

Life expectancy , takes into account all causes of deaths,  so think of how common for women to die from child birth,  the millions that died from infections,  disease that is easily treatable today.    for example,  I should be dead,  I had appendicitis at 5 years old.  I would have contributed to that short life expectancy if i was born in the 20's    not only death from disease and sickness,  but accidents on the job.   work was hard and strenuous, and safety was not always priority to employees.

then we had things like asbestos , lead in paint.  and who knows what else that made people sick back then that we do not use today.   its difficult to really access what killed people back then, because most back country doctors, probably miss diagnosed the cause of death,  and many diseases were lumped together.  most people did not have access to sophisticated diagnostic equipment,   a child gets sick, dies,  doctor assumes its the flu, and that's it.  but as far as we know could have been an infection, a toxin , or sever allergy.

56
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Registration of New Variety of Mango
« on: August 27, 2018, 02:15:57 AM »
I have always wondered if people make money by patenting,  if someone breeds a variety that is mostly used by back yard growers,  how many trees of some new variety is really sold?  few hundred?   I guess if you have them distributed like Home Depot,  and you make 5 bucks , then selling thousands might be wel worth it, but that's a lot os "ifs".

Now commercial varieties is a different story,    here in the DR, some local dude, brought back Avocado scions from Brazil,  of the "Margarida" and got it patented,  under another name.  "Carla" ,  which is being planted commercially. 

Another Avocado variety,  "Maluma"  I believe charges 1 dollar per tree royalty.  but when you take into account that large plantations plant tens of thousands of trees.
it's might be profitable.

Something that might help with getting patent owners their money,   is the fact that import countries are starting to requires that farms in export countries have their trees certified,  in other words that , if I have Maluma trees,  that all my root stock came from a certified  supplier, and the grafting also from certified source.  this way products are more uniform.  and have better quality control.    but this means that every grafted tree that is certified is counted.   so there is the possibility of profit.   but again as others have mentioned,   you need to have a winner,  something better than what already is out there.  and it takes a lot of money to promote.  or you will spend decades.    take a look at Kiett mango,  its only now in the last decade or so, becoming very popular commercial variety,   but how long has it been around?

57
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Are Forgotten Crops the Future of Food?
« on: August 26, 2018, 12:10:50 AM »
Moringa is nutritious and all,  but not really a replacement for flour,  I think of it more as a supplemental food, something you can add to another that lacks nutrition.

There are so many other root crops, that can be used for this purpose for example arrowroot .    lets not forget legumes,  hundreds of varieties of beans,  ancient grains like Amaranth and Buckwheat. 

Even Sorghum flour. 

Then we have nuts,  most nuts can be made into flours. 

58
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Indian Spice Mangos
« on: August 24, 2018, 12:43:40 AM »
Getting back to original question,  have you tried ST Maui ?  the ones I tried had that spiciness, to them but not overwhelming.  firm flesh, 


regarding fiber in mangoes,  I have noticed lots of variation due to cultural practices in some varieties,  such as Keitt.  have had some that were virtually fiberless, and others that have had moderate fiber.    I suspect Nitrogen being a factor.

59
I planted my MC into the ground last year,  and is the nicest looking tree in the bunch,  supposedly a slow grower, but it really took off.   I hope it will flower and put out fruit next season.

I have not tried some of the newer Zill creations, even though I did get a couple trees, ( Cotton candy, and Edgar ) But I remember how much I loved that MC I tried years ago, and it was very complex to me at least.   

Anyway,  I wonder how mine will taste grown in our climate.

60
Sid, my understanding is that "Manila" is commonly used as root stock in California, so you can either buy seedlings already started or just buy some locally grown Manila fruit, and plant the seeds.   Florida root stock ( generally Turpentine )  does very poorly here in the DR.  and have read it does not do well there in California,  couple years ago or so, I planted a Manila seed,  and I have never seen any other local variety grow so fast.   I intend to use that tree as a source of fruit for seeds,  the fruit is not bad also. 

It's so much easier to just go out and buy/order a Alphonso tree,  but I understand many want to start from scratch and do it themselves.  it is exciting to start your own seedling and graft onto it.   you still need access to Alphonso scions though.   

61
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Orchard Crime Wave in New Zealand
« on: August 15, 2018, 12:47:30 AM »
This is kind of funny,   just a couple days ago, me and my wife were talking about different countries and played around with,  if we could live anywhere, where would we want to go.   New Zealand came up,  and I asked, ok, what could I do there to make a living there,  I knew the north part is sub-tropical,  so I joked maybe I could grow mangoes, and produce manuka honey, or grow avocados.

now I know.   ;D

62
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Seeking info on M-4 mango
« on: August 13, 2018, 02:30:26 AM »
From the pictures I am seeing posted,  does the m-4 ripen with greenish skin like that, or are people posting green mangoes next to ones that are ripe?  I wouldn't mind a green ripening variety in Florida,  to deter two legged thieves. 

63
Folks,

Are these kesar mangoes? I got these from the local Carrefour in the GCC region. It looks yellow, but it's still hard like hell. It's a small mango-3" in size. Thanks.


I do not think these are Kesar,  shape seems to be a bit off (wider ) coloration ,  also noticed a few with a crease/indentation, which I have not seen on any Kesar over here.    the beak is a bit more pointy on the Kesar I am familiar with.  these ones in this picture seem smoother.

Here is a jumbo Kesar,  notice some regular Kesar on the table

64
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Stolen fruit grrrr
« on: August 08, 2018, 03:16:44 AM »
We lost our big Valencia Pride last year in the Hurricane,  the only tree that had mangoes this year was our Pickering,  had about 12 mangoes on it.    one day, they were all gone.  so no home grown fruit in Hollywood this year. 

what gets me is this tree is not in front or in back of the house,  its located along side,  so they had to cross the front lawn,  cross a small gate,  to get these. 

65
Why not "Mary Ann"   in honor of Gillagans Island Mary Ann, and her coconut cream pie.   plus the "M" fits too.  :)

66
The papaya will be whatever you graft onto it,   so if you graft a male,  that's what you get.

although stressing a male papaya might get it to push a few female flowers,  from what I have read,  these fruit are not the best in the world and production will be very low.

You are better off , just planting seeds,   only about 18 months from seed to fruit.    plant   4 plants in a square about 6-8" apart,  as soon as they push flowers,   keep the healthiest hermaphrodite and cut the other 3.     you can do this for every spot  you intend to have a tree.    if by an off chance, all 4 plants are females, just keep the healthiest one.   you do not need the males,  the hermies will pollinate the females.

67
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: looking for a sweet mango
« on: July 27, 2018, 03:07:05 AM »
Which reminds me of another benefit of NDM,  it has a poly seed, so even if you cannot find a nursery with trees close to you,  you could always plant some seeds from the fruit. 

68
I bet you could make a Tommy Atkins super sweet also, if you only allowed 1-2 fruit per tree,  and pampered them like babies.  administering  nutrients constantly,  etc.

also these farms,  grade fruit,  so not all make the cut as extremely expensive "gift" fruit.  the "rejects" are sold for much less. 

69
I have kesar, chaunsa, langra, sindhri, anwar ratol and alampur baneshan.  All of them seem to be growing just fine here in Miami.  Kesar bloomed and fruited well last year, but it was still too small so I removed them all.  The rest will need another year or two before I let them fruit.

Wondering if your Chaunsa and/or Sindhri  fruited this year.    and could give me some feedback on taste,

I am almost certain  but not 100% so,  that I tried a Sindhri,   I picked a few mangoes from the experimental station in this country,  I know that have Sindhri and Chaunsa,  planted but not sure  which trees since they are not marked.    since I know what they do have planted,  by elimination  I concluded the fruit I had was a Sindhri,    although Chaunsa seems to look very similar,  those trees were only added last year,  so do not believe this fruit was from that variety.

Anyway,  the fruit I tried,  were extremely sweet,   and although I enjoyed eating them,  they left this aftertaste,  as if I had eaten raw sugar.  I never thought a mango could be too sweet.   

70
At the end of that video,  Chris wrote that , that mango was picked too soon.

71
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: looking for a sweet mango
« on: July 23, 2018, 11:37:30 PM »
Yes NDM seems perfect for what he is looking for,   no acid,  no piney,  no resin,  just very sweet,  with not much complexity.   the ones I had last year were very good,   not my favorite though,  since I prefer something a bit more complex. 

I have to disagree that people only seek out NDM because they believe they should like it.     everyone has their own taste.   personally I prefer the Maha which is also available in AU. but that one does have some unique flavors, ( some say it has turnip or carrot overtones,  not detected by me ) and not as high in brix, but one of my favorites.

72
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Maluma : New avocado variety
« on: June 29, 2018, 02:06:44 AM »
I was at an Agricultural expo today,   and one of the speakers from Peru ,  gave a presentation,   one of the varieties they are planting commercially now, is the Maluma.

It seems someone patented this variety,  for commercial use,  ( was told it was US$1.50 per tree )   this is what I know,  it is much larger than the Hass,  has thicker skin,  very productive,  but most important,  it grows well in low lands,  they planted their trees in the desert,  in what is basically sand.  ( fertigation ).   

his presentation was more focused on quality control and certifying all parts of the production and planting process.  but highly recommended this variety.   he also mentioned it has some salt tolerance and could handle alkaline soils. 

I recorded the presentation and will have it up sometime in the next week or so. 

So just wondering if anyone experimented with this in Florida.
http://www.avocadosource.com/WAC8/Section_02/ErnstAA2015.pdf

http://www.agroforum.pe/agro-noticias/palta-maluma-busca-ganar-terreno-peru-y-espana-11503/

73
I have some fresh Mahachanok scions sitting in the fridge.  Can someone give me a taste profile?   Have a friend who says they taste like a carrot.

Maha is a very pretty & attractive slim rainbow colored mango.  Shape is somewhat like NDM and the flavor is similar in that it's rather "one note" and uninteresting.  Not a fan of NDM or Maha and think they are both over rated.  I have shared Maha's with friends who weren't impresssed either.  Myself & friends gave Maha only a 7 at best.    I will say that people who love NDM will probably also like Maha's.  Just my experience with them - your mileage may vary.

I can understand NDM considered "one note"  yes its sweet, and has the honey/floral flavor,  and that's about it.  not a bad mango,  but not complex.

Mahachanok is all the opposite,  the flavor for me is very complex, I have never tasted anything just like it.   not super high in brix department compared to NDM and some other varieties,  but it's pure joy to consume.   taste is subjective of course,  but I would not consider MC overrated when it still makes top ten lists in some of the taste tests and among some of the mango snobs. :)


74
Tree has very attractive foliage,  In the only place I know it grows here, people seek it for medicinal properties,  I know they bathe with it somehow,  never got the details.  online it says its good for some skin conditions so I must assume its used for that purpose.

75
I think it is not good, I vaguely remember reading an article about that,  the saw dust,  actually takes up nitrogen,   also it retains water and can cause rot.

If you compost it with other organic matter it should be ok.  hopefully someone else can confirm this.

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