Author Topic: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12  (Read 12628 times)

nullzero

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Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« on: January 17, 2012, 02:28:00 PM »
I took some pictures of my garden the last 2 weeks. Unfortunately, I am container bound for now. I am envious of the pictures of other posters  :P. I keep all my plants outside year round.

'Julie' Mango


'Mauritius' Lychee


'Mai 3' Jakfruit seedling, Thanks Rob (Bsbullie)


Sunshine Blue' Blueberry


I believe this is a volunteer Avocado seedling.


Para Dwarf Acai, growing this one indoors.


'Elixir' Cherimoya, Shedding some leaves for brief dormancy.


Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) seedling, planted in the ground at nearby wilderness area. Planted a total of 3 with a friend. Intend to plant another 3 or so this year.


Chilean Mequite (Propsopis chilensis), planted nearby the Marula trees. Nitrogen fixing with edible tasty pods.


Inga edulis, putting out new growth and leaves. Thanks Jacob!


'Ewais' Mango, in super root container. Purchased this mango with minor leaf tip burn, should recover nicely in the upcoming months.


'Dwarf Orinoco' Bananas, harvest from a container plant growing in 30 gal.
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lycheeluva

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2012, 02:36:20 PM »
nice bananas. any update when the yumberrys are supposed to hit town?

nullzero

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2012, 02:43:44 PM »
Actually got updated the other day, estimated date around Valentines Day! I kind of wish I ordered more tree, I will be very happy when the trees come in.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2012, 03:09:52 PM by nullzero »
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TropicalFruitHunters

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #3 on: January 18, 2012, 07:12:58 AM »
Thanks for sharing the pics.  Plants look great.  How long have you had your blueberry?  Any good?

murahilin

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2012, 10:03:07 AM »
Jay,
I've also grown the sunshine blue and its a pretty good blueberry. The southern highbushes do really well here in South Florida and I assume just as well in CA. I currently have about 7 different blueberry varieties but I plan on digging them out of the ground and giving them away soon.

TropicalFruitHunters

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2012, 10:37:08 AM »
Why are you digging them up?

nullzero

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2012, 12:03:57 PM »
Sunshine blueberry is 3 years old from getting it, I would say its age is 4 years. I highly recommend Sunshine blueberry, it produces a good crop every year. The good qualities of Sunshine Blue; Tolerant of high PH (this is a big issue for me, my water runs about 8.2-8.4), productive, good for containers, low chill, good tasting berries.

I have tried growing Sharp Blue, South Moon, and O'neal, all of these blueberries have died eventually from the battle over PH.
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murahilin

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2012, 01:10:13 PM »
Why are you digging them up?

They are at my moms house and I am trying to only leave trees there that are easy to maintain such as mangos and sapodilla. The blueberries required me to hand weed because they were grown in a giant 9 x 9 bed. Too much for me to try and maintain while no longer living there.

Ethan

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2012, 03:05:54 PM »
Great job N/Z, it is nice to know what can be done in a container, that is the eventual fate of many of my plants.  Ewais mango?  Good to see you can fruit a banana in a pot, one gent suggested it needed to be 100gal+ to have it happen.  I might get some D. Jamaican red fruit someday after all.

-Ethan

nullzero

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2012, 04:10:19 PM »
Great job N/Z, it is nice to know what can be done in a container, that is the eventual fate of many of my plants.  Ewais mango?  Good to see you can fruit a banana in a pot, one gent suggested it needed to be 100gal+ to have it happen.  I might get some D. Jamaican red fruit someday after all.

-Ethan

I have been growing 2 types of bananas in containers, Dwarf Orinoco and Dwarf Cavendish. So far no progress in the Dwarf Cavendish. I highly recommend Dwarf Orinoco, it produces consistently in a 30 gal container (I have repeat the same methods and got it to flower and fruit 2 times). I am now going to work with tweaking the fertilizer schedule and inputs, to see if production can be increased in a container environment. 15 bananas were produced with small/medium size.

My goal eventually is to test and trial what will produce decently in containers and focus on keeping them happy and producing. A fantasy would be having a collection of large trunk diameter partially bonsai fruiting trees, producing well in containers ranging from 12-30 gal.  I recently ordered a Silas Woods Sapodilla and Naranjilla (Solanum pseudolulo) from Logees. I am hoping they come in soon, both should preform well in containers.

Ewais mango is an Egyptian mango, that is reportedly has a high production of good quality mangoes. Its a very popular Egyptian orchard production tree, from what I have heard. I got mine from Roger Meyer, I am hoping it produces well in the California sun and low humidity. I found a PDF study on Egyptian Mango production, Ewais got very good production numbers in the study.
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CoPlantNut

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #10 on: January 19, 2012, 01:25:13 PM »
My goal eventually is to test and trial what will produce decently in containers and focus on keeping them happy and producing. A fantasy would be having a collection of large trunk diameter partially bonsai fruiting trees, producing well in containers ranging from 12-30 gal.  I recently ordered a Silas Woods Sapodilla and Naranjilla (Solanum pseudolulo) from Logees. I am hoping they come in soon, both should preform well in containers.

Ahh, yes- the dream of a productive tropical fruit plant in a small container is one I've been pursuing for 30 years...  With occasional success.  I got the Naranjilla offering from Logee's last February (different species-- Solanum quitoense) and it has been happy and blooming in a 7 gallon container.  If I'd had my act together in the fall when it needed to come back inside, I'd probably have ripe fruit by now.

I've had great success using the fabric "Smart Pots" for containers- they seem to encourage a much bushier and more resilient root system for plants you want to keep for years, and seem to grow a larger, healthier plant than an identical-size plastic or clay pot, at least in my trials.  Counter-intuitively, the breathable fabric pots seem to keep my tropicals happier when they are outdoors for the summer, even during highly-desiccating dry, hot wind.  The fabric pots also don't seem to blow over in high wind like plastic and clay pots will.

    Kevin

nullzero

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #11 on: January 19, 2012, 03:57:42 PM »
CoPlantnut,

I have been phasing some of the plastic containers out for fabric containers. So far I have about 10 trees (mostly pomegranates, citrus, and jujubes) in mostly 20 gal fabric containers. I also bought a superoot 12 gal, testing the air pruning container with a mango.

Some trees are producing pretty well already like the apples and citrus.
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CoPlantNut

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #12 on: January 19, 2012, 11:08:35 PM »
The Jamaica Cherry (Muntingia calabura) is perhaps the most ideal containerized tropical fruit I've grown, except that I wasn't impressed with the taste of the fruit.  But for precociousness, ease of culture, the ability to fruit almost non-stop throughout the year (at least when given constant lighting and warmth conditions), as well as being a fairly attractive plant and being able to easily keep it small, it seems like a very impressive container plant.   Sapodilla is a close second for all the same reasons, but again I wasn't impressed with the taste of the fruit- sweet, but unremarkable.

If I had an acre in Florida, I'd plant several of each.   I only have room for a few plants, so they've been given away-- my plant-growing addiction forces me to try new things and something has to go.  I think a Garcinia might be next on the list to try, but still debating on which-- not sure I'm willing to wait for a mangostana to mature, but it is the only one I've tasted (and am sure I need more of) so far.

Miracle fruit are my current favorite tropical fruit for containerized growing.  True, they don't taste like much- but their effect is incredible.  They are a little more challenging to grow ideally, requiring acidic, ultra-tropical conditions to thrive -- but so far they have been attractive, easily-dwarfed, almost continuously bearing, relatively pest free (had a minor issue with scale when not treating the plants well...), and they are very fragrant when in bloom, almost like a citrus tree.  I tortured my original plant through 5 years of low humidity from a seedling, and it still managed to bloom and bear fruit eventually, while still in an 8-inch pot.  Miracle fruit are also completely unavailable in stores or farmers markets where I live, even in some pitiful, unripe form.  And although freeze-dried tablets can be obtained, the effect is nothing like a fresh fruit.

  Kevin

nullzero

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #13 on: January 19, 2012, 11:14:21 PM »
Kevin,

Which variety of Sapodilla are you growing? I found sapodilla to be very good fresh fully ripe with a squeeze of lime juice on the slices.
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CoPlantNut

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #14 on: January 19, 2012, 11:29:07 PM »
I had some fresh Sapodilla in Hawaii (unknown variety), and brought back seeds which eventually bore fruit seemingly as good as I remember the parent fruit being.  I've never tried it with lime juice, and that probably would have made it more appealing to my tastes.  Sapodilla are occasionally available in markets here, and they seem to be almost as good as what I was able to grow, so I gave my plant away a few years ago.

I've slowly restricted myself to growing only fruits (and vegetables) which I can't get, or can't get a decent form of, in local stores.  Only the more exotic things (at least for Colorado) have survived the axe.  I still have too many plants, and want even more.  :)

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #15 on: January 20, 2012, 10:28:18 PM »
This is great news!  I have a Dwarf Orinoco in a pot, maybe 15-20 gallon.  I had given up on getting any fruit, I just kept it around for putting out by the back porch in the summer.  In fact, a couple of time I cut back the main pseudostem!  Stupid!  Now we'll have to find a bigger container and try to get some fruit!

nullzero

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #16 on: January 20, 2012, 10:37:55 PM »
This is great news!  I have a Dwarf Orinoco in a pot, maybe 15-20 gallon.  I had given up on getting any fruit, I just kept it around for putting out by the back porch in the summer.  In fact, a couple of time I cut back the main pseudostem!  Stupid!  Now we'll have to find a bigger container and try to get some fruit!

Stick in there, you will get bananas soon. Mine started to fruit after they moved up into a 30 gal. I now have to work on a fertilizer schedule that helps promote rapid growth and more bananas development.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Greg1029

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #17 on: January 21, 2012, 09:54:44 PM »
How high is your graft on the Ewais?  I was thinking about getting one from Roger Meyer.

Greg

nullzero

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #18 on: January 22, 2012, 02:58:28 PM »
How high is your graft on the Ewais?  I was thinking about getting one from Roger Meyer.

Greg

Its a pretty high graft 2.5ft or so up the tree. I wish the graft was lower, but its hard to find any good sized unique mango in SoCal.
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fruitlovers

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #19 on: January 22, 2012, 05:02:17 PM »
Sapodilla is very good when mixed with other fruits, like in a fruit salad. Otherwise i find them too sweet to eat on their own. In India sapodilla, there they call it chiku, is often made into chiku lassi, a sort of milk shake, but using curd, which is similar to our yoghurt. Very tasty!
Oscar
Oscar

nullzero

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #20 on: January 22, 2012, 05:27:43 PM »
Fruitlovers,

Totally agree its a great fruit mixer, fresh in a fruit salad. I would eat mine with lime or lemon juice every time if I had the choice, the taste and balance is improved greatly for me doing this. Btw, are you the same person who runs fruitlovers nursery, if so great place! Was  very happy with the Acai seed order last year, waiting on available hybrid jaboticaba seeds now.

Adam,

Great guide, loved all the pictures. Amazing setup you have going on, very cool. The presentation is great for beginners to tropical container culture.

Maybe in a future guide or addition more advance topics such as; container irrigation, fertilization schedules for certain plants, soil mix recipes, introduction to aquaponics, and other topics. This forum has great potential to sticky members guides and videos that show these topics.
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fruitlovers

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #21 on: January 22, 2012, 05:35:23 PM »
Yup, that's me: fruitlovers.com  I gave a little introduction in the introductions section of this forum. Glad you are happy with the seeds. Amazing how you can grow Acai in Colorado!
Oscar
Oscar

fruitlovers

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #22 on: January 22, 2012, 05:39:22 PM »
Oh, sorry i see now you're in Southern Cal, not Colorado. But still amazing!  8)
Oscar
Oscar

nullzero

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Re: Some pictures from the container garden1/14/12
« Reply #23 on: January 27, 2012, 11:49:12 PM »
Just got some new additions.

'Silas Woods' Sapodilla


Solanum pseudolulo
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.