Luc's Mexican Garcinia growing experiences around the world

[BrizzyFizzy]

I'm out in Mt Crosby.  How big is yours currently?  How long has it been in the ground?  All 4 of my Luc's are currently in 35L grow bags (same with some other Garcinias).  All my other trees I dig in compost then mound up.  For my Lamb-Hass Avo spot I ran into rock at 60cm so I dug into the mountain slope with a jack hammer to create a giant 3.5x3.5.x1.5 hole with an underground drainage trench then back-filled with good soil.  Just trying to figure out if I need to do the same thing for my Luc-babies.  I may terrace them up the hill with good soil this time.  Don't think my neighbours appreciated 10 days of suburban mining.

where are you Brizzy? Perhaps not too far from me (Greenbank). I grow one here that has full sun for about half the day. I protected it completely for the first few months and have slowly reduced it. Extra sun hasn’t seemed to impact it at all. I mounded to get it above my compacted rubbish.

[Ulfr]

Mines only small and came from RG (his is further along and so can give you better info). It’s about 40cm tall and wide and was planted in March last year. It has only flushed once since then and looks about ready to go again. I plant everything high and let them grow into the native soil. If I dug big holes here the drainage ditches would need to be perfect or I would just make ponds.

[Chad]

I'm growing one in a 35L bonsai bag. I let nature throw whatever it wants at it. New leaves did get partially burned two days ago when it was 41C.
I received it from Daley's in Feb 2016, situated at Lake Illawarra, NSW.

[sunny]

Mine grew exact 5 cm in 15 months...2 tiny yellow leaves and 2 normal sized yellow leaves....so happy with it.

[knlim000]

I bought the seeds  from Raul last year.  There are 3 of them in this picture in my front porch without any protection other than a big palm tree over it.  Please excuse the dog poop. My dog has been lazy and has been pooping inside the house due to the cold outdoor.  I'm using it as fertilizer.


There are 4 plants inside the greenhouse that are double the size of these outdoor.   so so so slow growth. It's like watching turtle  moving around.

[shpaz]

I'm growing one in a 35L bonsai bag. I let nature throw whatever it wants at it. New leaves did get partially burned two days ago when it was 41C.
I received it from Daley's in Feb 2016, situated at Lake Illawarra, NSW.

Damn, burnt at 41C! that doesn't bode well for me and our 50C (122F) summers   

I have been growing mine (Got seeds from Oscar) since August 2018 indoors. They are still very small but with large leaves that are so pretty.

[sunny]

I'm growing one in a 35L bonsai bag. I let nature throw whatever it wants at it. New leaves did get partially burned two days ago when it was 41C.
I received it from Daley's in Feb 2016, situated at Lake Illawarra, NSW.

Damn, burnt at 41C! that doesn't bode well for me and our 50C (122F) summers   

I have been growing mine (Got seeds from Oscar) since August 2018 indoors. They are still very small but with large leaves that are so pretty.

I had one in full sun all day in 41 and it didn't burn. It also won't grow while the temp is  25-35 celcius continue.

[Chad]

Mine has been putting out new growth all summer. I could have brought it inside but I'm lazy.

[shpaz]

I had one in full sun all day in 41 and it didn't burn. It also won't grow while the temp is  25-35 celcius continue.

Then what temperatures does it need to grow?

[sunny]

I had one in full sun all day in 41 and it didn't burn. It also won't grow while the temp is  25-35 celcius continue.

Then what temperatures does it need to grow?

I have no idea, my tree gets everything the best but just won't grow and looks bad.

[Frog Valley Farm]

We planted 200 seeds sourced from Luc in June of 2017.  I have been able to find around 100 of them but there are probably more that I have not found.  Slow and steady nothing seems to kill them except fermented foliar sprays like bokashi leachate or fermented milk, when young, it doesn’t bother larger Garcinias.  They even like our high ph calcium carbonate water that other acid loving plants dislike.  With our improved soil health and wet weather we have completely stopped watering.  Hopefully this will continue.

[sunny]

We planted 200 seeds sourced from Luc in June of 2017.  I have been able to find around 100 of them but there are probably more that I have not found.  Slow and steady nothing seems to kill them except fermented foliar sprays like bokashi leachate or fermented milk, when young, it doesn’t bother larger Garcinias.  They even like our high ph calcium carbonate water that other acid loving plants dislike.  With our improved soil health and wet weather we have completely stopped watering.  Hopefully this will continue.

Yours is the same size as mine which is 4 years old now...

I remember Luc stating that they can fruit in 5 years....mine will be 25 cm tall next year (1 feet)...i hope.

[roblack]

Picked up this nice Luc's from forum friend, Wonderfruit. THANK YOU! Going in ground soon, although I'm thinking this old bucket has worked wonders.

[Orkine]

Just a guess but I'd say the tap root has taken one or two trips around the bottom of that bucket.
Do share what you find when you put in the ground.

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=8707.msg347982#msg347982

By the way, I up potted one more time and had to remove roots again.  I put it in the ground shortly after that and it has started to push new growth but not on my grafted branch.  I intend to get some more scions and give it a go again.

[Cookie Monster]

Had really good flower production on mine this fall.

[roblack]

Wow Jeff, nice bloom action!

Here's that taproot Orkine. Roots were wrapped around a coconut.


A place to grow


In the foreground is another Luc's that has struggled since transplant. Hoping for a comeback!

[cbss_daviefl]

Jeff,

It seems to me these trees either produce mostly male or mostly female flowers. I didn't look at every flower in your pics but I did not see any females. Were your previous blooms mostly male? I have 3 flowering trees and, so far, all the blooms have been female. Last bloom, I finally got a few male flowers along with 95% female on one tree and that tree is holding a few fruit.

 

Had really good flower production on mine this fall.

[Cookie Monster]

Seems to vary. That flowering gave me around 30 fruits, didn't pay attention to male vs female blooms. But I have noted occasions where male flowers dominated.

I used to have a lot of fruit drop, but the issue appears to have been boron deficiency.

Jeff,

It seems to me these trees either produce mostly male or mostly female flowers. I didn't look at every flower in your pics but I did not see any females. Were your previous blooms mostly male? I have 3 flowering trees and, so far, all the blooms have been female. Last bloom, I finally got a few male flowers along with 95% female on one tree and that tree is holding a few fruit.

 

Had really good flower production on mine this fall.

[Faldon]

Dear Jeff
is it seedling or grafting?

Seems to vary. That flowering gave me around 30 fruits, didn't pay attention to male vs female blooms. But I have noted occasions where male flowers dominated.

I used to have a lot of fruit drop, but the issue appears to have been boron deficiency.

Jeff,

It seems to me these trees either produce mostly male or mostly female flowers. I didn't look at every flower in your pics but I did not see any females. Were your previous blooms mostly male? I have 3 flowering trees and, so far, all the blooms have been female. Last bloom, I finally got a few male flowers along with 95% female on one tree and that tree is holding a few fruit.

 

Had really good flower production on mine this fall.

[TnTrobbie]

Wow. I'm years away from that- if I'm lucky  . Impressive. And congrats.

[Cookie Monster]

Seedling, somewhere north of 10 years old at this point.

Dear Jeff
is it seedling or grafting?

Seems to vary. That flowering gave me around 30 fruits, didn't pay attention to male vs female blooms. But I have noted occasions where male flowers dominated.

I used to have a lot of fruit drop, but the issue appears to have been boron deficiency.

Jeff,

It seems to me these trees either produce mostly male or mostly female flowers. I didn't look at every flower in your pics but I did not see any females. Were your previous blooms mostly male? I have 3 flowering trees and, so far, all the blooms have been female. Last bloom, I finally got a few male flowers along with 95% female on one tree and that tree is holding a few fruit.

 

Had really good flower production on mine this fall.

[BR]

Any opinions on full sun/part shade/full shade? Also do these grow more wide than tall like Achachairu?

I'm too scared to put any in the ground as I don't want to lose them!

[Cookie Monster]

Mine thrives in full sun. I have some smaller ones that do quite well in shade. They are pretty hardy. Growth habit is pretty typical of the garcianias.

Any opinions on full sun/part shade/full shade? Also do these grow more wide than tall like Achachairu?

I'm too scared to put any in the ground as I don't want to lose them!

[fruitlovers]

Any opinions on full sun/part shade/full shade? Also do these grow more wide than tall like Achachairu?

I'm too scared to put any in the ground as I don't want to lose them!

Doesn't get wide like achachairu. Tree is shaped like pine tree.

[BR]

Thanks for the info guys. I think I'll go ahead and plant my largest one (~2.5ft) now. Full sun, irrigated, flood prone in rainy season. I'll be devastated if it dies. Can't wait to try this fruit!