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Messages - cfinley

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1
It might be too late if you've already planted them, but one thing you can do is plant 2 or 3 pollen compatible trees in 1 big hole, trunks 18-24" apart. It takes a little extra pruning to keep the center clear and prevent any one from dominating and shading out the others, but if you dont mind keeping them small and managable its a good way to plant more varieties when working with limited space.

2
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Strawberry Protection Society
« on: May 25, 2017, 11:03:09 AM »
The Topsy Turvy Strawberry tower holds 15 plants, they come out the sides as opposed to the bottom like the tomato one. Yeah, shaded side wasnt very productive, although I was able to overcome that somewhat by rotating them a little every day or two. Anything touching the ground isnt going to stop ants, snails, etc.

3
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: My cherries are blooming in sync!
« on: May 22, 2017, 06:59:19 AM »
Last year, Bing and Rainier (not low-chill varieties, don't ask me what I'm doing with them) blossomed just a week after Royal Minnie, and the bloom times did overlap!

There's a CRFG member in Carlsbad, about 1 mile from the ocean, who told us he gets Royal Rainier & Lapins just fine despite getting way fewer chill hours than the stated requirement. I'm hoping to test this for myself next year.

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Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Strawberry Protection Society
« on: May 22, 2017, 06:48:17 AM »
If you have the means to grow them off the ground, that helps a lot. I did the topsy turvy hanging growers for strawberries, peppers & tomatoes, and the only bug problem I had was some aphids on the pepper trunks. Birds weren't really a problem since the strawberries grew out the sides, and there wasnt really anything sturdy they could land on close enough to eat the berries. The problem with those topsy turvy containers is they need frequent watering or they dry out in the summer breeze, and the plastic fabric they're made from only lasts about a year in the sun before it crumbles away.

5
I got mine from Logees. I'm going to try airlayering a couple of the lower branches - if they take and you still need one, we could do a trade.

6
Do Mamey Sapotes generally come up true to parent type, or are they one of those fruits where you want to graft a known variety because seedlings might suck? The local mexican grocery stores have been advertising mameys, and I've been thinking of buying a bunch to harvest seeds

7
Theres actually 2 CRFG groups in SD, you are kind of in the middle. South SD meets at Balboa Park every 4th Wed, and North SD meets at Mira Costa College in Oceanside every 3rd friday (except Dec holiday party and July picnic). Besides the fun social interaction and information, the raffles are a great way to cheaply pick up some new varieties, as are the January scion exchanges where members trade cuttings of stone fruits, figs, grapes, persimmon, annona, etc.

8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Garcinia Magnifolia Leaf Tip Dying?
« on: September 30, 2016, 06:25:08 AM »
I seem to be having an issue with my Garcinia Magnifolia seedling, and was hoping someone might know what's going on. My G. Magnifolia put out it's first 2 leaves and was happy, but then about a week ago it started to push the 2nd set and the leaf tips turned black and never fully developed. Then today it also just dropped one of the original leaves despite it still looking green and healthy.

I'm using a coir/perlite mix and water is treated with Bacillus Thuringiensis var. Israelensis to head off any soil gnat problems, so far all clear. I try not to directly water the leaves and only spray the base of the pots. I'm using two 24" fluorescent full spectrum bulbs about a foot above, so I would think the light shouldn't be too intense. I
m also using a seed heating mat so keep them warm.

There's a similar aged G. Hombroniana and G. Livingstonei right next to it under the greenhouse dome, totally lush and happy, so I'm not sure why this little guy isn't doing so hot. The seedling shown below is about 2 months old.




9
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Key Lime Not Producing in SW FLA 9B??
« on: September 15, 2016, 03:47:33 AM »
Any idea if its grafted? If not, maybe could just he just stuck out in the genetics lottery of starting from seed?

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: I need an Eugenia fix ...
« on: September 13, 2016, 10:47:03 PM »
I didn't mean to imply that because they can fruit in 2-3 years that they should be compatible, only that if I could hybridize 2 fast fruiting parents, hopefully I wouldn't have to wait a decade to find out if the offspring was any good. Maybe pitomba might be a better parent than pitangatuba? Crossing 2 cherry types like Rio Grande and Cedar Bay doesn't really strike me as something that would likely vary that much from either parent to be something unique given how similar they taste.

I'll try to find that chart, that definitely sounds helpful. I will definitely post details if I can get anything to cross pollenate.

11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: I need an Eugenia fix ...
« on: September 13, 2016, 08:11:09 PM »
Interesting, how can you tell they won't be compatible? Given that my cedar bay, rio grande and pitangatuba have all flowered for me in only 2-3 years and at around the same time perios, I was thinking of trying to cross them next season...

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: I need an Eugenia fix ...
« on: September 13, 2016, 11:14:58 AM »
Luc, have you ever tried cross breeding Eugenias? With such a variety, surely there has to be some overlap in flower times between some of the species.. maybe one of the cherry types with a pintangtuba or pitomba? Could wind up with a tasty new  E. Vleerackeii :)

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Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: WTB Triphasia trifolia
« on: September 11, 2016, 08:42:49 PM »
I know the feeling, one day I have bushes loaded with halfway ripe raspberries... next afternoon I go to water and the canes were stripped bare. I need to attract another stray cat for the garden, we adopted the last one and brought her inside, now she's too fat and happy to care about hunting lol

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Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: garcinia dulcis seeds
« on: September 10, 2016, 07:53:26 AM »
If you get more seeds this year, I would like to buy some

15
The guy from Kuffle Creek came to speak at a CRFG meeting last year (or maybe 2014?) about his program setting up Apple Orchards in Uganda. One of the things I remember he said was that you can trick apple trees into hibernation by tearing off all the leaves in Autumn when they might naturally drop in colder climates. They will leaf out and bloom again in spring.

He also said that while many cold climate varieties will grow in warmer climates, they might develop a totally different taste, which isn't always that great.

16
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: WTB Triphasia trifolia
« on: September 09, 2016, 07:39:25 AM »
Triphasia Trifolia is the "Limeberry", "Orangeberry" is Glycomis Trifoliata or Glycosmis Pentaphylla. Are yours a solid blood red color, or translucent pink?

17
Did you try asking Adam at Flying Fox?

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Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: WTB Triphasia trifolia
« on: September 08, 2016, 06:33:38 PM »
Did you ever find any seeds? I'm looking for these as well

19
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: yellow muntingia calabura
« on: September 08, 2016, 10:45:56 AM »
Even if they tasted the same, yellow or white would probably stand a better chance against the birds... they seem to leave my golden rasp and yellow alpine strawberries alone, guessing because they don't look ripe

20
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: How long are Passiflora seeds viable?
« on: September 07, 2016, 09:16:35 PM »
I brought a bunch of yellow lilikoi seeds back from Maui end of Sept 2015, and I just started a tray of passiflora seeds in July. About 80% of my lilikoi seeds germinated within 5 days, which is more than I can say for the "just in" seeds of Laurifolia,  Maliformis and Quadrangularis I bought "fresh" from tradewinds in April 2016. I will say that lightly sanding the seed coats before soaking has given me better germination then the last tray, but thats still only 2-3 (of 36) each for Laurifolia and Quadrangularis. One Malformis sprouted but died before it could fully split the seed hull and unfurl its first leaves.

21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Wanted. Maqui. Berry PLant.
« on: September 07, 2016, 08:55:04 PM »
Can't speak on alkaline soil, mine are all in pots. But our tap water is somewhat alkaline, so far its been fine on hose water. I will say be mindful about pruning yours into a desirable tree shape, I let mine grow wild and its all over the place, branching up, down and sideways

22
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Wanted. Maqui. Berry PLant.
« on: September 07, 2016, 07:15:22 AM »
Humidity might be a factor, but temp wise you should be fine. I bought one from Forest Farm in March 2015 and it shot up like a weed, fruited this June/July although the berries were kinda dry and small even for their size. Could be because its young, it doesnt like living in a pot, or maybe I dont water or fertilize enough... either way it survived a mediterranean 10a climate with summer highs of 100+ and winter lows in the mid 30s.

23
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: yellow muntingia calabura
« on: September 07, 2016, 06:09:10 AM »
I've cloned from semi-hardwood cutting. It was about pencil thick, 16" long with a few small side branches forming near the tip. I just let the cut end soak in a cup of water for a while (maybe a day?) then re-cut the end at a sharp angle, lightly scraped the bottom 6" of bark with a serrated steak knife, rubbed clonex all over the tip and scratched bark, and stuck it in a gallon pot of soil. It dropped a few leaves and looked really sad , I thought it was going to dry out and die until one day it started pushing out new leaves. I think I started the cuttings in June and by mid August it had resumed growing steadily enough I felt confident it was strong enough to give it to a friend. He said it did quite well after they put it in the ground, until their gardener came and pulled it because thought it was a weed  >:(

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Wanted. Maqui. Berry PLant.
« on: September 05, 2016, 05:36:31 PM »
If you want a live plant, Cistus nursery in Oregon sells them. ForestFarm nursery also sells them sometimes but I don't see them currently listed.

25
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: yellow muntingia calabura
« on: September 05, 2016, 02:15:06 AM »
Yet another variety I didn't know existed but now I need to have lol

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