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Topics - Slopfog

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I’m trying to take better care of my trees after completely neglecting them for some time.  I’ve realized that I am just a dooryard grower with a complicated life and I need to distill stuff down to “better is the enemy of good enough.”    So in that spirit, can anyone suggest an easy to do, easy to obtain fertilizer regimen for mango trees in inland St. Lucie/Martin county area of Florida?  It doesn’t have to be the best care, just some care.  Thanks so much.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Leaf notcher weevil solutions
« on: July 04, 2015, 09:30:49 PM »
I know the UFAS pamphlets say that leaf notcher damage (from the little white weevils) doesn't hurt much. Well it isn't true. I have a  smallish lychee and an Edward mango that are being eaten alive. Literally hundreds hiding everywhere. All leaves look like they've been shredded. Probably 20% of the leaf surface that should exist remains on my lychee.  I have tried picking by hand, especially at night, and although I kill scores every time I look it does not appear to help.

I can not find any information on the success of beneficial nematodes to control them?  I am at the point where I am two seconds from spraying these trees with Sevin. And then repeating as many times as necessary until all the larvae have becomes adults so the lifecycle will be broken. I don't know what else to do.

Has anyone else been successful in controlling severe infestations?

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I've recently gotten a new hobby which is taking up all my time. So I am getting rid of the following potted trees. I'm just tired of watering them and I am not caring for them properly.

- grumichama, in a 20 or 25 gallon pot. 4 or 5 years old, maybe 4' tall.
- Kari star fruit. May be grafted. In a 30 gallon pot, about 3 or 4 years old. 6' tall.
- Celeste fig, in a 20 gallon pot. Not in good shape but alive.
- pineapple guava. In a 8 gallon container that I want to keep for herbs. Not in great shape either but alive.

Located in Port St Lucie.  Please be able to come get them today.  Please be able to load them yourself (you can use my hand truck to load them). Call Brian at 321-794- five ate nyne six. 

They need a better home than I am giving them.

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I have a three year old Edward mango with scale problems.  I tried paraffin oil and couldn't ever get rid of them, so I then went to systemic at the recommended dosage which did nothing.  Two weeks later I did a second treatment which also did nothing. (The tree hadn't been allowed to produce fruit yet.) Lately I've been spraying neem oil with nothing to show for it either.  So now I'm at the point of increasing the oil  concentration until it's barely burning the leaves (spraying in the late evening) and they still aren't being eliminated by it.  I get a few that turn darker and fall off easily but I still have fresh waxy ones showing up on previously unaffected leaves.

What's the nuc!ear option?  I feel like if I don't completely eliminate them I am always going to be fighting this battle.  I'm tired of going on a business trip for a week and coming back to infestation explosion.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Best method of topworking a mango
« on: August 05, 2013, 12:25:07 PM »
The mystery tree in the backyard, which I was wishfully thinking was Kent, is not. Based on looks, taste, anthracnose susceptibility, and fiber, I'm pretty sure it's Haden.  And I hate Haden.

Which is a better topworking strategy for someone who has never after before?  Should I cut the thing down to a stump and then veneer graft?  Or should I put back to scaffold branches and then cleft graft the new shoots? (I wouldn't mind making a cocktail tree.)

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Tiny, sterile mangos?
« on: July 21, 2013, 08:34:34 PM »
I picked up a little Baggie full of tiny Haden mangoes from a roadside stand.  They're about the size of a golf ball with a thin pit, and the lady told me they were sterile "nubbins." I gotta say, they taste fantastic.

How common is this behavior in mango trees?  I've never seen it before but they are good!

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Beneficial nematodes for weevils?
« on: July 21, 2013, 12:19:58 PM »
So for years I've seen a product advertised that claims its beneficial nematodes that will kill the larvae of diaprepes root weevils, Sri Lankan weevils, and little leaf notchers.  I need this product BADLY as my lychee tree in particular is ate up bad with them. The problem is that nobody seems to have reported whether or not this product worked for them.  It's always "I'll let you know how it works out!" and no follow up...

So before I drop some serious coin (at least for a garden chemical) on doing my whole property, can anyone give a real report on if this stuff actually works?  Thanks!

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When reading about the anthracnose susceptibility of different cultivars of mango, I noticed that one article recommended that an additive be used to help the copper stick to the waxy surfaces of the plant better. And come to think of it, when I do apply copper I notice that most of it beads up and rolls right off.

Who uses an additive and what exactly is it?  Seems like a horticultural oil would maybe work?

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Sugar apple help - fungal disease!
« on: July 12, 2013, 11:51:46 AM »
I have been spraying copper (ammonium complex)  at 4 tsp/gal every two weeks. I feel this is excessive.  But I still have leaves on my sugar apple that get a brown stain on them and then turn yellow and fall off.  It sure looks like a fungal disease to me.  Has anybody else experienced this?

There are also little dark specks on my baby fruit, even though I spray the fruit as well.  I'm worried it'll cause me to abort some of my fruits.  I grew this tree from seed and this is the first year I've gotten fruit from it so I am extra protective!

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Improving fruit set on Miracle Fruit
« on: July 10, 2013, 11:06:41 PM »
I have a bush the size of a large basketball. It often gets the little brown nodules where the flowers form, but they quickly turn black after blooming and fall off. So far only one has set fruit.

Is there a way to improve fruit set?  I thought maybe it was anthracnose but there's no signs of fungal disease on any other part of the plant.

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This unknown mango tree was here when I bought my house last year. It suffered extreme cold damage in the freezes a couple winters back. It's now finally growing well again.  After it finishes the three fruits on it, I need to prune it severely.  I can't take the tall, skinny shape it's getting.

Should I pug this tree all the way back to the crotch, or back to the widest point of the scaffold branches?   Or should I just cut out the center branches (its too dense in there) and then cut the top third off the remaining ones?

Thanks!

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