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Messages - Kona400

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About the fruit

Finger limes will hybridize and cross readily. If you have a high presence of pollinating insects, and have a number of finger limes in close vicinity to one another such as I do, expect to get varying colored fruit--a lot. If you want to keep your fruit true, you'll have to do what the song says--keep em' separated. It is for this reason also that you shouldn't keep a variety you consider to to be sub-par, or not to your liking, around. This is true of all varieties of Australian native citrus. The CSIRO has released two varieties of hybridized native lime. These are the red centre lime (also known as blood lime, which a mandarin fingerlime x) and the Australian sunrise Lime (this is a calomondin fingerlime x). Neither are particularly good by my estimations, others will disagree.The CSIRO has also developed a cultivated variety of the desert lime (Citrus glauca). In reality, finger limes could be crossed with any citrus.

For the cross-polination, I thought he results of cross-pollination only showed up in the fruit from a tree grown from a cross-pollinated seed.  Do finger lime fruit on the same tree vary in color based on the pollinator or am I reading this wrong?  I like the thought of different color fruit on the same tree, unfortunately, I don't know what type of fingerlimes are available in Hawaii or if there are any.  I did ask a nursery to order me a couple if they could.

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Citrus General Discussion / Re: Kishu Mandarin
« on: April 23, 2014, 01:14:51 AM »
Here is my tree, only small fruit right now.  It's on dwarf rootstock, not sure which one.





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Citrus General Discussion / Re: Kishu Mandarin
« on: April 19, 2014, 01:14:11 AM »
What is the growth habits of your  tree, is it spreading or upright growth. My Kishu is almost semi dwarf looking even though it is on Swingle rootstock. It is wider than it is tall. Compared to other trees the same age it is small but very productive. Fruit are small somewhat concave top and bottom.

My tree is a dwarf and it is shaped like a ball, it was very productive one year but I had to move it so it suffered this past year.  Fruit are small with a little bit of a neck, I don't think it has ever been in optimal conditions so these next few years will be interesting since it is in a good place now.

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Citrus General Discussion / Re: Kishu Mandarin
« on: April 18, 2014, 01:37:54 AM »
Thank you to everyone for your replies.  Now the next question would be what mandarin has the same look as a Kishu but is not seedless.  The one I have is small with a little bit of a neck, similar to most of the pictures online.  The one I have is from Plant it Hawaii and they also sell Clementine, Dancy, Honey, Satsuma, and Fremont.  They have been known to make a few mistakes since they graft enough to supply most of Hawaii but they are reliable for the most part.  I did call them to ask if the Kishu was supposed to be seedless and they said yes but there may be a pollination issue.  Since this is one of the newer varieties, they weren't sure why mine was seeded.

If it is something different and not a bud mutation or something odd than I would think it is most likely a Clementine.  Not a big deal either way, they taste good and are juicy so I'll just juice them if the tree turns out to be productive enough to keep it's spot in the yard.

Thanks again for the replies,
Jason

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Citrus General Discussion / Kishu Mandarin
« on: April 17, 2014, 01:34:45 AM »
Are Kishu Mandarins always seedless or only seedless when grown in the absence of other citrus pollinators?  I have a young tree that had fruit full of seeds the first two years.  The taste is good and the fruit is smaller than other mandarins but I bought it because it was supposed to be seedless.  The tree is still young but I didn't think that seed production varied with age.  My honey tangerine and pixie tangerine seem to be better tasting and more productive.  I also have two small gold nuggets, a small tango, and a large fremont so I won't be sad to see the Kishu go, I just read that so many people think it is the best Mandarin.

As possible pollinators besides the mandarins and tangerines, I have tahitian lime, meyer lemon, calamondin, fisher navel orange, cara cara orange, sweet lime, chandler pomelo, yuzu, and valencia orange.

Any comments would be appreciated.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Off-season Mango Taste
« on: January 16, 2014, 12:28:18 AM »
I use BioFlora Dry Crumbles 6-5-5 and topdress with compost.  I only use organic fert and don't spray.  I'm also planning on using some langbeinite which is OMRI listed and similar to K-Mag.  I've only used it when planting so far, not as a fertilizer.  I try to fertilize every three months and definately a heavier dose after the last fruit is picked.  I have rock fill and no soil except for what I bring in for planting.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Off-season Mango Taste
« on: January 15, 2014, 12:15:14 AM »
I'll keep that in mind if it happens again.  I fertilize regularly so it's most likely not that but I agree that it may be too young.  The size is about be same as nomal season fruit but I like the idea of thinning and seeing if they get even bigger.  My normal season fruit may be a little small, most are a little over a pound, some pushing two pounds.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Off-season Mango Taste
« on: January 14, 2014, 11:46:03 AM »
The tree is still young, about four years old, in the ground for a couple of years.  It's about seven feet tall and it lost a couple of branches that snapped last summer under the weight of the fruit.  Rapoza is our favorite mango so we didn't think of anything but eating it fresh but the green ones may be good for pickled mango once the tree gets bigger.  That is, assuming that this happens again.  Right now, we use Keitt for making pickled mango.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Off-season Mango Taste
« on: January 14, 2014, 03:10:07 AM »
I have an in-ground Rapoza mango tree that produces really good mangoes during the normal summer season.  This year it also bloomed before the last mangoes were picked and there are about a dozed off-season winter mangoes that are just starting to get ripe. The first three looked the same as the summer mangoes but they were bland and did not ripen evenly.  Not even close to tasting like a Rapoza mango.  I think the taste difference is due to the shorter days and less sunlight.  I live where it does not rain much all year so there isn't a discernable dry/wet season.  The tree is irrigated and fertilized at the same rate all year.  I have a Manzanillo mango that did the same thing a couple of years ago and the winter mangoes were also bland.  Has anyone else had the same experience?  If the rest of the off-season mangoes have the same bland taste, I'll be removing any future off-season mangoes.  If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Does refrigeration kill mango seeds?
« on: May 15, 2013, 02:13:09 AM »
Has anyone sprouted mango seeds after refrigerating them?  I like to eat mango cold but I also want to sprout the seed for rootstock.  I didn't really pay attention last year but some seeds did not sprout and some were weak.  I would expect variability from any type of seed so I do not know if they were bad seeds or if they were harmed some other way.  Any info would be appreciated.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Anyone use langbeinite to fertilize
« on: March 22, 2013, 04:58:55 AM »
Does anyone use langbeinite to fertilize their fruit trees?  If so, what application rate do you use?  The bag I have does not have an application rate.  I would like to use it on mango, citrus, avocado, jaboticaba, and bananas.  Any help would be appreciated.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Star Fruit Can Kill
« on: September 19, 2012, 04:58:06 PM »
Got this in an email, don't know if it is true or not.  Star Fruit in this case is Carambola.

"FYI in case you or your neighbor has a star fruit tree.  I checked Snopes and it is true that there is danger for those with kidney problems.   

Star Fruit Can Kill
 
This fruit can end your life! This is not an April Fool Joke. But a stern reminder to all my readers.
We were advised to have a few servings of fruits a day in order to reap the benefits of fruits, right?
But obviously this is one big no-no fruit to be excluded from your fruity feast!

In Shenzhen, more than 10 people who consumed the star fruit had died.
And now a 66-year-old, Malaysian who has been suffering from kidney ailment fell into coma after eating the star fruits.
Yes, all it takes is one fruit or 100ml of its juice and the ordinarily harmless star fruit transforms poison in a matter of hours for kidney patients.
So does this mean, people without kidney problems should be fine with star fruit!
My take: Not at all! Prevention is better, right?

UniversityMalaya Medical Center consultant neurologist said that star fruits contain a neurotoxin which is not present in other fruits. It affects the brain and nerves.
In healthy persons, the kidneys filter it out. But for those with kidney problems, this potent toxin cannot be removed and will worsen the consumers' conditions.
The symptoms of start fruit poisoning include: ~ Hiccups ~ Numbness and weakness ~


 Feeling confused ~ Agitation ~ Epileptic fist The risk of death is high if you are having kidney ailments!
But healthy individuals should beware of this fruit's potential toxin too.
It could also cripple your vitality if you are not lucky.
So don't take it for granted.
It's better to avoid them.
Please pass this news to others.
So be warned. If you have kidney impairment, DO NOT consume Starfruit or Starfruit juicy. "

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: tree labeling
« on: September 14, 2012, 08:25:18 PM »

KONA, my dog tags are not as readable as yours.  What size "punch" do you use?  Also, what do you use as a backing when you punch the tags? 

Thanks.

I think the letters are about 1/8" or 5/32".  I used concrete as a backing to punch it on, I tried wood and it did not come out.  There was a few marks left on the concrete so use something that you do not mind damaging. 

Thanks,
Jason

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Some pictures of my trees
« on: August 17, 2012, 10:30:55 PM »
Very nice, lucky you have ohelo on your property.  We used to pick the wild ones a long time ago but we leave them for the nene now.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: tree labeling
« on: August 09, 2012, 10:57:57 PM »
I got these stainless steel dog tags from Amazon and punched the names in them with a metal letter punch.  Hopefully they last a long time, I'll be attaching them with stainless or coated wire.



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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Introduce Yourself
« on: July 28, 2012, 10:32:18 PM »
Hello all, my name is Jason and I live on the west side of the Big Island of Hawaii.  Kailua-Kona to be exact.  I live at an elevation of about 400' with very little rain.  I am growing mangos, citrus, bananas, and an avocado in the ground and much more in pots.  My interest is in mango right now.  I planted citrus in the ground because that is what I grew up with and I thought mango would be too big for our 1/4 acre lot with the HOA rules.  Now that I know better, I think about replacing the citrus but can't bring myself to kill perfectly good trees that produce good fruit.  I'm learning from making mistakes and reading up on anything that interests me on the web.  Hopefully when I get a bigger lot, I'll have a better idea on how to plant and grow a variety of fruits.  Looking forward to learning and sharing what I can.  A big thank you to the people who set up this site.

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