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Messages - cen

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1
Temperate Fruit Buy, Sell, & Trade / Re: ISO Taggiasca Olive trees
« on: November 22, 2021, 01:32:55 AM »
Taggiasca at Peaceful Valley this year (probably available in December:

https://www.groworganic.com/products/taggiasca-olive-tree-standard-potted

Note: Cannot ship to the following states: FL, TX, AZ, OR, VA, AK, HI, PR, VI, GU

Also, I checked at Bay Flora for the first time in months, and it still is out of stock there.

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Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Possible for me to get avocadoes?
« on: April 15, 2021, 11:36:14 PM »
The best advice might come from a local grower.  Here is the link to the blog:

http://www.epicenteravocados.com/blog/

Epicenter does not seem to be selling many avocado trees this year, though.  Their more popular trees sell fast and they recommend putting in a reservation after the first of the year. I did so on 2 January, and next time I looked, the trees were out of stock for 2021.

P.S. Most of the avocado discussions can be found in the Tropical Fruit Discussion.

3
Temperate Fruit Buy, Sell, & Trade / Re: ISO Taggiasca Olive trees
« on: April 02, 2021, 11:12:51 PM »
If this is a long term project, it looks like Peaceful Valley (a local, online nursery, www.groworganic.com) might sell olive trees grown by the Santa Cruz Olive Tree Nursery. They did not offer the Taggiasca variety this year, but maybe we could ask if they could order it next year. It looks like the new stock at Peaceful Valley arrives in December/January.

4
Temperate Fruit Buy, Sell, & Trade / Re: ISO Taggiasca Olive trees
« on: March 29, 2021, 07:46:41 PM »
No new olive trees at Bay Flora yet; however, I noticed that the Japanese Pepper Tree pair just had the "out of stock" removed, as well as local nurseries getting avocado and olive trees in, so maybe the Taggiasca olives will be available soon. Sometimes at Bay Flora, they go back "out of stock" a day or couple of days later, so just giving notice now that if I see them in stock, it may not last for long.

5
Temperate Fruit Buy, Sell, & Trade / Re: ISO Taggiasca Olive trees
« on: March 17, 2021, 09:10:48 PM »
We must have caught it at the wrong time. When I go to the main page for olive trees, it now says this variety is out of stock.  Other varieties still show up in the cart.

I go to this site occasionally, and sometimes when things are out of stock, they have trees ready and then they go in stock for a very short time, then go out of stock again.  If I notice that this olive variety is available, I'll update this thread.

P.S., I mean, when I looked at it after seeing the first post, the trees were still in stock, but just went out of stock in the past couple of days.

P.P.S. Santa Cruz Olive Tree Nursery lists your variety, but there is a 20 tree minimum.
http://www.santacruzolive.com/index.php

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Temperate Fruit Buy, Sell, & Trade / Re: ISO Taggiasca Olive trees
« on: March 15, 2021, 03:18:08 PM »
Bay Flora, but shipping is 45% and they recommend 2nd day FedEx at a greater cost to the East Coast during cold weather (or hot weather) conditions.

http://bayflora.com/tag.html

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pineapple from seed?
« on: February 22, 2021, 02:47:31 AM »
I didn't try feeding on this particular plant, but in general, I fertilized all my seedlings (mostly non-tropical) using a foliar spray with micronutrients and general purpose liquid fertilizer (likely kelp/fish based). Even though we're past the point of night time freezing temperatures, I probably have all my plants out too early. The tomato seedling growth slowed noticeably, and the plumerias definitely prefer being inside rather than being outside under a humidity dome.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pineapple from seed?
« on: February 19, 2021, 09:27:48 PM »
This is my PinkGlow seedling. I think I remember we were posting about PinkGlow seeds at the same time, so this one was probably started within a couple of weeks of yours.



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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pineapple from seed?
« on: February 17, 2021, 09:59:24 PM »
I haven't noticed that feeding them helps.  Your seedling should form a tiny rosette next.

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Avocado thread
« on: February 17, 2021, 04:42:42 AM »
Last year I purchased a Shawl (at least I hope, since it was not labelled) through ETSY from a Southern California dealer. It arrived in two days, but one of the branches was shriveled and black. The dealer asked me to wait for two weeks, but at the end of one week, the rest of the branches  had turned black (except for a branch on the root side of the graft, which I cut off.  This is not the point, since the dealer issued me a full refund.

 After I had the bare trunk, I removed it from the nursery soil and dipped it in fungicide. I did not bother cutting away any roots because few remained intact. I replanted the plant in a mixture of sandy loam and lava rock, and gave it a few treatments of hydrogen peroxide.  About three months later, in the middle of the California winter, it started forming leaf buds, and it now has leaves.

My question is this: if the plant recovered, is it safe to plant in my garden of should I be aware that I may be introducing the fungus to my soil?  Originally, this was meant to be planted in a compact arrangement, with two trees about 18" apart on a mound (based on the method described by R. Frost in "Planting an avocado tree or two"), but that has changed since the tree was received in poor condition and also I found an Epicenter blog post that Shawil is not a preferred variety for Northern California. So, it will probably be planted on a different property on a mound by itself. Or, should I just keep it separated in a pot? Or, even though it looks like it recovered, should I discard it? Or, I guess the safest thing would be to attempt to graft it to a healthy tree?

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pineapple from seed?
« on: February 15, 2021, 12:47:47 AM »
These are Hawaiian Gold pineapple seedlings. They are probably almost a year old. The soil blocks are about 2" x 2".



12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pineapple from seed?
« on: February 14, 2021, 04:53:39 PM »
I got six seeds. All sprouted, but I lost track of them among all my other faster growing seedlings (peppers, tomatoes, brassicas). Same germination with Sugarloaf. I found four seeds, and all sprouted. With a store bought Hawaiian Gold, I found about 30 seeds, and probably 25 sprouted.

13
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pineapple from seed?
« on: February 14, 2021, 01:54:10 AM »
I'll try to have pictures tomorrow. My most active plants from seed resemble the growth of those pups rather than the tissue culture starts.

I moved my germinated Sugarloaf seeds to soil today. I dropped one, searched for it, found it, and tried to pick it up with tweezers this time. That didn't work at all and I lost it for good! I moved the Pink Glow a couple of days ago, and I might be seeing things, but it looks noticeably bigger.

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pineapple from seed?
« on: February 12, 2021, 10:50:58 PM »
Thanks for the information! No, I didn't remove the peat plug.  No wonder I've never had much luck with tissue culture plants.

15
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pineapple from seed?
« on: February 12, 2021, 09:21:35 PM »
I know what you mean about losing them. They grow so slowly on a heat mat. I had six Pink Glow seeds sprout, and then I put them on 1/2" soil blocks. I forgot about them, and then planted some other seeds in the soil blocks. Fortunately, one grew enough for me to notice along side one of my pepper seedlings, so now it is on its own soil block.

I grew about 25 Hawaiian Gold seeds last year, and for the most part, the plants are still small. There are two plants that are much larger than the rest. In my experience, they look fuller than tissue culture plants I have received. My plants spent the winter on a heat mat and under a humidity dome, and I just put them outside. I had them in trays next to my seedlings, so they have been getting around 16 hours under LEDs There is also a tissue culture plant I received in the same time frame nearby (inside), and it is still about the same size as when I got it, but one of the seed plants has caught up to it.  I don't have a greenhouse, so all this has been in the main house, where the winter temperatures have been in the low 60s most of the time.

I have a few Kauai Sugarloaf seeds that are a little smaller than yours that I sprouted on a paper towel in a plastic bag on a heat mat. I haven't tried sprouting them in coir, although I have some cinnamon seeds in a coir/sphagnum mix right next to them, just to say that I've been trying different seed sprouting methods, and haven't noticed much difference.

Edit: I just checked my sprouts, and yes, that is the top, but the plant will start rooting right at the base of that top opposite where it is pointing up, rather than anything more emerging from the seed husk. I plan to transfer them to the seed blocks now, so the roots don't grow into the paper towel.

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Tree spacing question
« on: February 02, 2021, 04:08:01 PM »

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Tree spacing question
« on: February 02, 2021, 01:56:26 PM »
You might have missed this since it has fallen off the first page, but the video is filmed in Miami and is applicable to your questions.

Click this link for a TFF post with video illustrating high density planting

18
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: TFF page not found in the web?
« on: January 28, 2021, 03:20:28 AM »
My browser gives me the option of 5 search engines. As noted, Google, Bing, and Yahoo give the 404 error. DuckDuckGo and Ecosia links go to Tropical Fruit Forum. When I tested this, the DuckDuckGo link and Ecosia link went to pages I have never visited, so in their cases it does not seem to have been successful because of the browser history.

19
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Just out of curiosity
« on: January 17, 2021, 09:17:39 PM »
Check on Craigslist. You don't even have to select Hawaii, just search Santa Clara or Santa Cruz counties because there are listings from Hawaii, Nevada, Montana, and other places.

I just looked, and what I saw isn't on there right now. It was something like 3 acres with a one bedroom/bath for $200,000 or less (I don't remember the price, it seemed unbelievably low compared to California prices) in Volcano something. Not sure what island. It was on the southeast side near the coast.

https://www.landandfarm.com/search/HI/Volcano-land-for-sale/

20
I buy my labels at the Paw Paw Everlast Label Company
(but I don't use labels with tie wires, so I haven't compared prices).

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Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Wanted cinnamomum seeds
« on: January 06, 2021, 08:40:13 PM »
I have had good luck with seeds from eBay. Once I ordered some, and by the time I received them, most of them had germinated.

22
Cen your idea may have merit but is hard to visualize without pictures.



I don't know how to do the heat transfer calculations right now, so I guess
1. Build a greenhouse
2. Price and report projected parts list
3. Build ventilation assist
4. Take temperature measurements and report

23
I don't have a greenhouse, although I want one.  I'm going to try to describe an idea, based on post #3. Actual construction details will vary, and the order given is just to describe the unit.
1. Assuming the frame of the greenhouse is in place, but no covering, run a large diameter plastic pipe to a height higher than the roof of the greenhouse. Near the top, several large holes are drilled in the sides, perhaps from near the top down to roof level.
2. Drape a large plastic sheet, large enough to reach at least to the roof of the greenhouse. Secure the plastic to the top using a black, plastic, angled sewer pipe connector. The opening should be on the south side of the greenhouse (assuming . northern hemisphere). Cut a hole in the plastic on the inside of the pipe. Extend the pipe vertically about a foot, Install some sort of chimney rain cap.
3. Build a box on the south side with at least one open side. Paint it black. Run a black sewer pipe from the top of the box to the pipe connector.
4. Finish covering the greenhouse.

The plan is for hot air to rise and accumulate at the peak. The holes allow the air to enter the pipe and exhaust out the top. Air in the black box will heat faster than air in the greenhouse and vent out the top pipe. This warmer air will entrain the air already rising from inside the greenhouse and pull it out the top of the chimney.

Variation: Built the black box and run large diameter black pipe straight up several feet higher than the roof. The top of the black pipe has a reducer. Attach a smaller diameter pipe with an angled connector facing down.The smaller pipe is capped with a large pipe adapter, and then topped with a short length of larger diameter pipe and a rain cap. The top of the greenhouse chimney has a 45° connector and runs pipe over to the black pipe chimney. The purpose of this is to create a venturi to better entrain the air from the greenhouse. Maybe in this case the black chimney is made with ventilation pipe rather than plastic pipe. Maybe the box does not have to be on the south side, but can be at one of the greenhouse ends to avoid blocking light to the greenhouse.

This is just an initial idea, so perhaps people could suggest improvements. After writing this, I imagine someone has done this and described it on the internet or made a YouTube video, but I have not searched for either.

Edit: Maybe with the large diameter black chimney, we can dispense with the peaked greenhouse chimney and just use a top mounted or side mounted exhaust box. Part of the reason for the peaked greenhouse chimney was to provide support.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pineapple thread
« on: December 22, 2020, 07:29:52 PM »
Some PinkGlow seeds harvested on 5 November have begun to sprout.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pineapple thread
« on: December 07, 2020, 01:15:51 AM »
Yay genetically engineered fruit!

I'd still grow it...

Whats left of the crown in their pic would probably still grow.  Ive had several drilled crowns grow new shoots from the side even though the central growth is gone.

(Regarding PinkGlow pineapple) So far, the seeds have been fermented and have been on a wet paper towel in a plastic bag on a heat mat, but have not sprouted. It has only been a couple of weeks. I've had no luck with the crown, though.

(Regarding Kaua'i Sugarloaf pineapple) I get these about once a year for special occasions. This year, they have been warning of a three to eight week lead time due to the harvest, and I wasn't able to time it correctly for either Thanksgiving or Christmas. But the reason I mention this is that I cut into one today and found four seeds. They all came from the same flower site. Three are well formed and one is more flat. Hawaii isn't supposed to have any pollinators, so perhaps this was just a lucky accident. Of course, I'm going to try to grow these seeds. I don't have a greenhouse or an indoor space, so I don't get fruit here, but if they sprout, I'd probably give one away to someone who does get fruit.

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