Grafted Durian Cultivars in Florida

[Vernmented]

Has anyone seen grafted durian in Florida. I remember seeing a few collectors on here but I am guessing the plants are still small. I know this is a long shot but I would like to get some budwood or trees in Spring for a project I am working on. I have seedlings from three different sources, one of which is a different species but it would be nice to have legit cultivars since I am putting in so much effort. I also have a client contemplating putting in a large greenhouse.

It seems the only legal way to get material in is with a phyto certificate and a two year quarantine process unless I can get something shipped from Hawaii. It seems like they are struggling to get a decent germplasm there and they are even in zone.

I believe the trees in the Whitman Pavillion are seedlings but I am not certain.

Any ideas or experience? I am sure plenty of people have killed durian in Florida but I am guessing almost all were seedlings.

[noochka1]

What size grafting material are you talking about?  I have 2 x 2 year old D. zibethinus and several smaller D. kutejensis.  If they make it through this winter I'd be happy to give you some grafting material or plants. 

I don't know if you've experienced this in Sarasota, but phytopthora just ravages durian trees down here in Miami, so these last remaining plants may not survive - even with weekly phosphonic acid applications.  Durian doesn't seem to mind the temperature or the soil here so much, but the phytopthora is nearly impossible to control and in my experience it's nearly always fatal once they are infected. 

I love me some durian, but I'm nearly to the point at which I give up on them.  Phytopthora has me beat.

Scott

[Jsvand5]

You’re not going to find any named varieties in Fl. In Puerto Rico there are grafted trees but finding out which variety they are is pretty impossible. Especially after the hurricane, who knows how many even still exist. Budwood from Hawaii is pretty much a waste of time and money. By the time it arrives to Florida it is trash even with express mail.

I bought a named variety from Frankie’s in Hawaii a couple years ago. Paid an insane price and it was sickly and almost dead on arrival. Died within a couple weeks. I have a nice healthy grafted tree from PR but it is not a named variety and still very small. Hawaii is basically the only source in the US for a true named variety.Best bet would be to find a forum member in Hawaii and pay them to buy one and ship it. The other issue though is finding them grown in a medium that can be shipped without being bare rooted. Frankie’s actually shipped in the pot but the tree was crap.  2 days in the mail bare root and your tree that cost a few hundred dollars only has a small chance of recovering. I have bare rooted a couple that survived but that was only when immediately repotting them.

Good luck. If you do manage to find a source I’d be interested in splitting shipping cost with you to grab another grafted one.

[Finca La Isla]

We have named varieties in Costa Rica.  It's closer than Hawaii but maybe more complicated.  I'm not really interested in trying to prepare a shipment at all but if someone were to come they could buy budwood or trees to bareroot pretty cheaply.
Peter

[fruitlovers]

In very marginal growing areas you are better off anyway trying from seed. Seedling plants are more vigorous and develop better taproot. Seeds from good cultivars will produce quality fruit. I know that from experience since i have planted and fruiting both grafted and seedling trees. Some of my seedling trees have better tasting fruit than known clutivars. I can supply seeds of Chanee, Monthong, and sometimes have D. kutejensis and D. oxleyanus.
BTW, Frankies nursery has stopped shipping plants.

[FrankDrebinOfFruits]

Whatever you do, do not bareroot a small grafted durian tree. Lost 3 expensive trees this year. I won't make that mistake again.

[Vernmented]

This is all great information. It looks like seeds are the way to go unless I can get out to Hawaii and buy a grafted tree from a permitted nursery that I can fly home with.

What size grafting material are you talking about?  I have 2 x 2 year old D. zibethinus and several smaller D. kutejensis.  If they make it through this winter I'd be happy to give you some grafting material or plants. 

I don't know if you've experienced this in Sarasota, but phytopthora just ravages durian trees down here in Miami, so these last remaining plants may not survive - even with weekly phosphonic acid applications.  Durian doesn't seem to mind the temperature or the soil here so much, but the phytopthora is nearly impossible to control and in my experience it's nearly always fatal once they are infected. 

I love me some durian, but I'm nearly to the point at which I give up on them.  Phytopthora has me beat.

Scott

Are these in pots or in ground? Did you do any soil prep or anything to aerate the soil? That phosphonic acid seems to be the right thing to use for it. That is what Peter Salleras said he uses. I may be checking in on you for some kutejensis budwood later on if you still have them going.

I planned on just multigrafting with the seedling material I have so there is a better chance of getting something good. I have Monthong and another unlabeled zibethinus seedlings going. These plants seem to be tougher than most people think. Someone in Florida should be able to fruit this in the next decade with a little TLC.

[noochka1]

This is all great information. It looks like seeds are the way to go unless I can get out to Hawaii and buy a grafted tree from a permitted nursery that I can fly home with.

What size grafting material are you talking about?  I have 2 x 2 year old D. zibethinus and several smaller D. kutejensis.  If they make it through this winter I'd be happy to give you some grafting material or plants. 

I don't know if you've experienced this in Sarasota, but phytopthora just ravages durian trees down here in Miami, so these last remaining plants may not survive - even with weekly phosphonic acid applications.  Durian doesn't seem to mind the temperature or the soil here so much, but the phytopthora is nearly impossible to control and in my experience it's nearly always fatal once they are infected. 

I love me some durian, but I'm nearly to the point at which I give up on them.  Phytopthora has me beat.

Scott

Are these in pots or in ground? Did you do any soil prep or anything to aerate the soil? That phosphonic acid seems to be the right thing to use for it. That is what Peter Salleras said he uses. I may be checking in on you for some kutejensis budwood later on if you still have them going.

I planned on just multigrafting with the seedling material I have so there is a better chance of getting something good. I have Monthong and another unlabeled zibethinus seedlings going. These plants seem to be tougher than most people think. Someone in Florida should be able to fruit this in the next decade with a little TLC.

Hi, my 2 largest trees are in the ground and are Pokulani (sp?) from Hawaii.  I've intentionally not given them any additional soil amendment since I'm testing the them specifically for adaptability to typical Florida conditions.  I do have them heavily mulched, and I do foliar feed them regularly - and of course douse them with phosphonic acid.  But that's it.

Kutejensis has been a nightmare, frankly.  I've killed more of them than I can shake a stick at.  They have been extremely finicky for me, and very susceptible to phytopthora - even indoors.  I don't foresee them ever being a viable crop here in Florida, which is unfortunate.  I don't recommend them at all, but you'e welcome to try :-)

[Vernmented]

I am going the opposite route here. Extremely modified acidic mountain with heavy mulch piled against two 500 gallon water tanks. I am building the mound today. I just stepped in for lunch. I will be putting pelletized sulfur in the the mound but also drenching the layer of "dirt" with mildly diluted sulfuric acid to hopefully bring it into the 5s.

I am really out of zone here but I am willing to put in the effort to protect it on the few yearly cold snaps. It is a very sheltered spot with southern exposure about 8' from my house. I have my first coconuts setting their first fruit here east of I75 so that is a good omen.

Have you tried grafting a kutejensis branch onto your in ground zibethinus?

[noochka1]

I am going the opposite route here. Extremely modified acidic mountain with heavy mulch piled against two 500 gallon water tanks. I am building the mound today. I just stepped in for lunch. I will be putting pelletized sulfur in the the mound but also drenching the layer of "dirt" with mildly diluted sulfuric acid to hopefully bring it into the 5s.

I am really out of zone here but I am willing to put in the effort to protect it on the few yearly cold snaps. It is a very sheltered spot with southern exposure about 8' from my house. I have my first coconuts setting their first fruit here east of I75 so that is a good omen.

Have you tried grafting a kutejensis branch onto your in ground zibethinus?

I wish you the best of luck.  You're certainly putting in the work!  I haven't tried grafting anything at this point.  Just keeping the plants alive has been a struggle and, honestly, I'm just kinda over it.

[Finca La Isla]

I don't know that I would want to 'bring into the 5’s' the soil for durian.  We get a very good result with ph of 6.
While the seedling durians could grow more vigorously than the grafted and the quality of the eventual fruit should be good there is a major issue.  In good conditions the grafted tree could begin production in 4-6 years.  The seedling can easily take twice as long.
Peter

[Vernmented]

I wish I could get material here. I figured the mulching, earthworms and whatnot would gradually bring the pH back up. I would certainly be happy with a pH of 6 as well. If I manage to get something I'll just graft it on down the road. I thought I read somewhere that the native durian soils were in the 5s but I could be very wrong. I will honestly be happy just seeing this thing grow and get a chance at some pruning.