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« on: August 03, 2013, 01:23:56 PM »
A conversation with Kevin (CoPlantNut), inspired me to make a topic about garcinia (and rheedia). The conversation was very informing, and will help newbies (like myself) learn a little bit about garcinia, so I included it here.
Me:
“I am interested in the garcinia hombroniana (seashore mangosteen). I have a G. Xanthochus (just sprouted, am going to use as mangosteen rootstock), so I just want one G. Hombroniana.”
CoPlantNut:
“The G. xanthochymus are now 16 months old and almost large enough to use for rootstocks (or, you could approach-graft the xanthochymus together and have a multi-rootstock base for your mangosteen). If you're looking just for mangosteen rootstock, I would suggest grafting the 2 G. xanthochymus together, grafting the mangosteen onto the resulting one, and then grafting the G. hombroniana onto it. I've had fairly good luck so far approach-grafting both hombroniana and xanthochymus as extra rootstocks on my mangosteen, and it really seems to have made them grow faster so far. If you have extra G. xanthochymus seedlings you can always add them as extra rootstocks to the mangosteen later. My fastest-growing, happiest mangosteen now has 3 G. xanthochymus and 2 G. hombroniana rootstocks (6 total rootstocks, including its own). In my experience (with only 20 seeds of each so far) the G. xanthochymus grows about twice as fast as G. hombroniana.”
Me:
“Thanks, that is very good advice! I think maybe I will try G intermedia as a double rootstock, since it is genetically similar and grows rather quickly. Or so I've heard. I have been growing tropical fruit for just over a year now, so the Internet answers all my questions. I will also try mycorrhizal fungi on them, because I have seen nightmarish pictures of the mangosteen outgrowing the rootstock, or dying from lack of nutrients, which I do not think will happen with a triple graft, but there is always a risk. I have to grow it in a container, so that will be useful for many problems. I want to grow the seashore mangosteen for it's fruit. If it's flowers are just male or just female, I will breed it with intermedia.”
CoPlantNut
“I got my G. hombroniana seeds last year from Montoso Gardens in Puerto Rico and highly recommend them. Incidentally, I believe G. intermedia is not graft-compatible with mangosteen according to what I've read and the 2 times I've tried it. I believe only hombroniana, xanthochymus, lateriflora and venulosa are graft-compatible with mangosteen.”
This topic is about the entire garcinia genus (and rheedia), so feel free to post pics of your garcinia plants, grafts, fruit, and seeds, and troubleshoot and discuss anything garcinia (and rheedia)!