I spent all winter researching plants to buy come spring for Florida 9B and feel like I settled on a good set of plants. I bought them this weekend.
They include:
2 avocados (lula and brogdon)
Pickering Mango
Cherry of Rio Grande
Loquat
Dwarf Everbearing Mulberry
I am now realizing that I put way more effort into selecting my plants than I did planning on how to plant them and I am a bit overwhelmed with the huge variety of advices given and wanted to run my thoughts by you all since you've been such a big help so far.
Please critique my plans at will. My first big question is, how long can I keep them in their nursery pots before they are in trouble? Some of them are decently big. Loquat is ~3/4" stem with a 1.5 gallon pot.
Avocados- I will plant them in ground in native soil(sand). I have heard building mounds is beneficial, but I do not have a good source of more native soil nearby or a truck. I figure if the trees have trouble I can replant them on mounds later.
Mango- I will repot the mango into a 15" pot until it gets older. I am having trouble finding much information on a good potting soil. Nobody sells Fafard 3B near me. Does a mixture of 1 parts each perlite, vermiculite, peat moss, and sand sound good? I saw someone else say a 1:1 good quality potting soil(example anyone?) and perlite is a good mix as well.
Mulberry, loquat, cherry: These guys are supposed to be pretty forgiving. I'll put them straight in the ground.
As for watering, I am pretty stumped. I don't have an irrigation system. Should I plan on setting up 6 soaker hoses and using each for 30 minutes once or twice a week?
I bought a few bags of shredded fir for mulch.
I realize there is a good amount of information already on the forums but I keep seeing conflicting accounts and am in analysis paralysis at this point. Thanks much.