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Topics - Doug

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Protecting fruit from the critters . . .
« on: October 26, 2020, 10:08:11 AM »

One big problem with growing fruit in the jungle is the great population of wild life to contend with. Recently I lost my ENTIRE crop of Rambutan (8 trees) . . . sigh. Earlier it was all the Pulisan fruit and then a bunch of the abiu, the citrus, etc.. In spite of all my efforts to repel at least some of the critters, it was a constant buffet for them. The problem is the size of the trees. I put big inflatable snakes and owls and balls of different colors all over the trees, but all the frightening eyes and scowls were completely ignored. Anyway, I was wondering if there are any other ideas (other than netting, which would be very difficult). How about ultra-sound devices? Do they work? I love the animals, and I don't begrudge their delight in finding my fruit "paradise" in the middle of THEIR jungle home . . . but PLEASE!

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Will abius ripen off the tree?
« on: August 06, 2020, 01:14:29 PM »

I don't mind sharing fruit with my animal neighbors, but I want some, too. I was wondering if you can pick abiu fruit early to let them ripen? The plastic bags and fake snakes or owls work sometimes but most of the fruit here in my jungle end up in animal tummies.

3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Jaboticaba question . . .
« on: June 09, 2020, 07:39:41 PM »

One of my jabos is blooming (planted 7 years ago). I was wondering, do jabos continually bloom? So far in the past several months this is the third flush of blooms. BTW, this is one remarkable type of fruit tree. I wish I had planted more! The fruit is amazing! I almost didn't plant them because of my age and I was told they would take maybe 15 years to produce.

4
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Male or female flower on borojo?
« on: March 15, 2020, 04:38:04 PM »

One of my four three year old borojo trees is flowering (the only one so far). I don't know if it's a male or female. Can anyone here describe borojo flowers as to sex? BTW, all are growing quite well in very near full shade with no care whatsoever.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Manzana de agua is in trouble . . .
« on: July 27, 2019, 04:40:23 PM »
 Anyone have any idea why one of my large manzana de agua trees (water apple, Malay apple) would suddenly lose almost all of its leaves? It just finished it's second fruiting of the year and was beginning to flower again.

6

I understand Rio Grande Cherry plants are slow starters. But, my little plants are almost a year old, and some of them are still only eight to ten inches tall. They look very healthy, but is there something I can do to help them speed up a bit? Is there an optimum pH? Types of fertilizers? Whatever? Sigh. At 75, one of the very few regrets I have in my life is that I didn't move to CR much sooner and start this great hobby. LOL

7

I've been having a problem with my guanabana trees for some time, and a friend told me to give them a dose of sea salt. So I did it yesterday, and I'm looking forward to the results. As lousy as my trees have been growing I've got nothing to lose really. Anyway, that reminded me of a man I met many years ago in Leesburg, FL, who had a large citrus orchard based on "organic" farming principles. I was amazed at the quality, health and production of his trees. He had quite a large compost program which I'm certain was at the base of his success, but he  told me his "secret" was giving the trees a dose of sea salt. The only trees I have been using sea salt on every month are my coconut palms . . . and of course they love it! It got me to wondering what other varieties of fruit trees, if any, would possibly appreciate a does of salt. Any experience here? I couldn't find any info in my search.

8

I've tried for ten years now to grow avocados here with no success. Grafted trees only make it to year two or three and then bite the dust. I have a bunch of trees that I have grown from seed, but they are in terrible shape. There are some older fruiting trees in the area, but nobody knows what varieties they are --  except one which is said to be Catalina. They all produce great fruit, and I have tried grafting scion wood . . . didn't work for me. I suppose here it's too wet and the disease pressure is pretty high. Anyway, I decided to give it a try one more time, but I'm not going to drive all the way over to the other side of the country (that's where avocados are grown commercially in CR) to get my plants this time. In my location (Carribean side, 1000 meters) only a few grafted varieties are available right now: Simmons, Simpson, Hass, Kahaluu, Fuerte and Catalina. The sellers, of course, swear that all these are good for our area. This time I've worked my ass off preparing some large meter-high mounds, heavily mulched and composted, with dolomite and charcoal and other minerals. Any advice would be appreciated on the choice of varieties and growing ideas. Pray for me!

9
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Topping mangosteen trees . . .
« on: January 27, 2019, 08:34:24 AM »
I was thinking that I want to top several of my mangosteens to create shorter trees, but I can't find much info about it. One post on this board tells about topping seedlings but doing it slowly and not more than 20%. I'm not sure what they are meaning with that advice. The trees I want to top are about eight feel tall. Any thoughts? Thanks.

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Pulasan trees flowering . . .
« on: January 06, 2019, 10:12:02 AM »

I was surprised this weekend to see that five of my seven pulasan trees are heavily flowering. I'm surprised because the trees have been grown from seed and have only been in the ground for five years. I sort of was expecting my GRAFTED rambutan trees to flower before the pulasan trees because they are a year older. Perhaps rambutans flower later? I hope (please, God!) one of the pulasans is a male. Anyway, it was a nice surprise! BTW, I planted two pulasans close together in one hole. The trunks are fused now and the "tree" is the largest of the lot. It's a beautiful healthy tree.

11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Propagating Grumachama plants from cuttings?
« on: September 25, 2018, 01:12:45 PM »

Some internet sites say you can't propagate grumachamas from cuttings. Other say you can. I have one grumachama plant that has very superior large fruit, many without seeds. Any advice on propagating grumachamas from cuttings?

12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Mulberry plants and sun . . .
« on: September 23, 2018, 10:54:20 AM »
I have a number of mulberry bushes, and I really like them and their fruit. Just push a stick in the ground and in a year or so they're fruiting. Some are planted in full sun and others in partial shade, and I can't tell any difference in any them as far as growth and amount of fruit. But, I'm curious. All of my bushes grow away from the sun...some severely. I wonder why? Do some varieties (perhaps like my variety) prefer a lot of shade? I have tried to train them to grow like little trees but they quickly bend away from the sun. Weird!

13

I'd like to find four seedling Cherry of the Rio Grande plants. . . I mean small ones in little pots that can be mailed to me in St. Pete, FL. Anybody out there sell these plants or know of somebody who does?

Doug

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Growing Carambola tree in a pot?
« on: August 23, 2018, 06:10:11 PM »

It seems we have way too much rain here for growing Carambolas. I know they can be grown in large planters, but what does it do to the tree? Smaller tree? Fruit quality? Etc.

15
Citrus General Discussion / Disease resistance citrus?
« on: June 06, 2018, 06:21:19 PM »
I am growing a number of varieties of citrus here in this very wet climate, and I'm noticing that different types have different resistance to fungus. With the oranges the worst by far is Washington Navel. Valencia is next along with Malaguena. Pina and Temple seem to be somewhat better. Dancy and Clementine Tangerines are pretty good, but Orlando Tangelo seems to have problem. The grapefruits seem to take care of themselves.

The best citrus trees I have are the Ortantique. There is very little evidence of fungal problems, or, for that matter, is there a problem with the black bees which do a number on the orange trees.

I don't like to spray, even with soap and H2O2 (I'm a lazy retiree, gacias adios). I would be interested in others' experiences here.

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Anybody here growing Mimosa hostilis?
« on: June 03, 2018, 07:45:58 AM »

I have successfully sprouted five seeds to about and inch tall. Just curious for opinions of the best way to handle them going forward.

17
Somebody here told me they planted an avocado seed and got fruit in five years. Is that a possibility? I have several cado trees I planted from seeds that are over 7 years old now. Very large trees now but no fruit yet. I've always understood it can take 10 to 15 years.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Video tour of Peter's CR farm .....
« on: April 13, 2018, 12:49:38 PM »
Yesterday I found on youtube.com a really interesting recent video tour of Peter Kring's remarkable farm in Puerto Viejo Costa Rica. It's titled "30 year old food forest". Peter of course is a frequent expert poster here on TRF. In case anyone's interested, the people doing the video also did several other tours of farms here.

19
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Kandi fruit tree?
« on: April 13, 2018, 12:40:19 PM »

Again I've been gifted with a type of garcinia that I can't seem to find any info on in the internet. It's called "Kandi" and looks like a mangosteen seedling except the beautiful glossy leaves are much longer. Any info would be appreciated. (Don't ask for a photo....you're dealing with a tech-challenged person here.)

20
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Sex and the Salaks . . .
« on: March 24, 2018, 11:20:09 AM »
Maybe this question is for Peter in here in Costa Rica. I have three Salak Palm trees which are now four years old. One has flowered and is male. The other two haven't flowered as yet so I don't know if I have any females. My question is if there is any way to distinguish the plants by sex before they flower. The two which haven't flowered are somewhat smaller in size than the male but are the same age, planted at the same time in the same area. Thanks!

21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Manzana Taiwaneze...Taiwan Apple?
« on: March 09, 2018, 06:36:34 PM »
Have any of you heard of this variety of fruit? I can't find any info on it anywhere, and the person who gave me the trees doesn't know much about it as well. I wonder if it's a type of wax apple?

22
A couple of weeks ago I finally visited with fellow forum member Peter at his truly amazing fruit farm in Puerto Viejo on the beautiful southern Caribbean coast. Living somewhat in the same neck of the jungle, it's stupid of me that I hadn't gone over there to visit before now. Actually though, my first visit with him was shortly after I moved here 18 years ago. During that visit he gave me my first mangosteen to eat. WOW! But, I only got bitten by the tropical fruit growing bug seven years ago after I finally decided to settle down and buy a farm here on the Caribbean slope. Anyway, Peter's place is simply remarkable...along with his equally remarkable knowledge gained by many, many years of growing tropical plants. Finca La Isla is billed as a botanical garden, but it's not like other prim and proper manicured botanical gardens here and elsewhere. It's a true "fruit forest"...or I should say, "fruit jungle". Perfectly natural! In fact you need a guide or I'm sure you'd get very lost. As we rambled and talked along the many rough paths, Peter pointed out each fruit tree along with details about the particular variety, and I was able to see what my plants hopefully will eventually look like. Growing here and there across the large jungle farm were scores of varieties of fruits that Peter raises for market. Visitors can sample whatever is in season. I got to taste a durian....which was the first durian that I ever tried that didn't immediately prompt the gag reflex. It was sweet and "somewhat" edible....so now I can understand how some people can develop a liking for the fruit. (Never me though!) Great place to visit....as is Puerto Viejo which is arguably the most eclectic and unusual town in the country. BTW,  I came away with a nice seedling zapote variety that I hadn't been able to find elsewhere. I plan to go back soon to find some more rarer varieties. That place is a Costa Rican jewel for sure! (Not a paid commercial review...LOL)

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Different forms of calcium . . .
« on: August 12, 2017, 08:37:02 AM »
I went to the agro for a bag of calcium for my bananas and citrus but they didn't have my usual brand. So, I bought another brand. When I got home I realized I'd bought calcium hydroxide instead of the usual calcium carbonate. I know organic farmers won't usually use cal hydroxide. What is the objection? I'm not a scientist but it seems ultimately calcium is calcium. Have any of you had problems with the hydroxide form?

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Types of Key Limes . . .
« on: July 07, 2017, 01:30:06 PM »

Here key limes are called limon criollos, and they are quite good. But, even though they look the same, they don't quite have the same taste (to me at least) as those key limes we had in Florida. I like Florida ones much better. So, a
re there different types of key limes?

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Longon really slow grower....
« on: May 03, 2017, 07:19:13 PM »
I started some longon seeds six or seven months ago. They all sprouted fine and grew up to six inches or so very quickly. But, that's where they stayed. I saw some longon seedlings started from the same trees at about the same time at the CATIE nursery the other day, and they all seemed to be stuck too. Any ideas?

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