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Messages - poofystuff

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Oro Negro vs. Sir Prize Avocado
« on: April 04, 2022, 09:37:31 PM »
Here's my 2 cents: I had bought an Oro Negro at least 15 years ago from Pine Island Nursery at our annual (Melbourne) Tropical Fruit Club sale. The tree has done great, BUT, I have gotten a total of 3 avocados to date. For years now, the tree has set a lot of fruit, but it almost never makes it to maturity. I have since heard that it's not a productive variety. I tried topworking it last summer (my first attempt at grafting) without success. I spoke to Alex at Tropical Acres Farm and learned that mid summer wasn't the time to attempt that, so I'll try again this fall/winter. Right now, I have a lot of tiny fruit on the tree, but I know how this story goes...
So my advice would be neither of the above choices. Someone with more experience would have to suggest a variety.

Agreed. Right down the road from you in Melbourne, never any luck with my ON. My super haas, Brogdon, Nishikawa, and even my Sharwil have had success. Got rid of the ON to make room for a peach tree.

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I have tasted both and have both in my collection of trees. Both taste very similar to me, although I am definitely not an avocado aficionado to determine subtle differences in flavor. Neither tree has fruited for me but I have only had them for a year and were transplanted from a 3 gal pot. Both have grown like absolute weeds with the Nishikawa growing very upright and the Super Hass having more lateral branches with decent upright growth. The Nishikawa grew more overall, definitely very vigorous. Where I am, I would go with Nishikawa as its a little more proven here (I know others that grow it with success here) and don't have too much local knowledge on Super Hass.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: How do you train and prune avocado?
« on: November 08, 2019, 10:29:40 AM »
I see many references to pyramid and cone shapes but most trees I see growing in the tropical orchards pinch young and train to multiple leaders. This is one of mine, a Brogdon just pruned heavy to remove top growth. This is an example of what I am seeing recommended down south of the border. The pramid form may just be an old tradition or have something to do with California vs more tropical climate and varieties. I am wondering what others experience has been.




That looks good to me. I prune in a similar fashion for most species that flower on new growth just avocados tend to be more weedy and whippy so they get a heavier prune. This is also how Richard Campbell taught me. I think the mexican varieties are more tame and especially in the cooler climates so they probably have more options. I tend to do a slight "stadium" prune that lets light in through the entire canopy since the south side of the tree will be dominant anyway.

I just pruned a Brogdon as well. It has a Wilson Seedless graft on the front that I tied up and trained after pruning. I pruned out an area to let the weaker grafts up front push some dominance. They were drooping towards the ground to begin with.



Brogdon before









Brogdon After









Wilson Seedless graft training







This is on an Oro Negro but these are types of growth that you can replace older scaffolding branches with to cycle out the larger wood in the tree similar for mango size control.






I use Silky handsaws for everything. Smooth like Kerrygold butter.

Man, great job! You need to come train my trees.

4
I had a Meyer Lemon in a 17-20 gallon pot (one of the plastic ones you get from the big box store so I don't know the actual size) and I had it for 5 years. It worked well for me, nice good quality lemon and produced reasonable well. Gave it to the neighbors when I moved.
I just read this morning that Meyer has a natural resistance to Citrus Greening, a plus these days. I had discounted Meyer since I mostly cook with lemons, really looking for a "lemony" lemon :)

I never used Impracloid (spelling?) on my Meyer and I never saw signs of the disease where as I had a grapefruit get the disease when I did use it and sprayed it regularly.

5
I had a Meyer Lemon in a 17-20 gallon pot (one of the plastic ones you get from the big box store so I don't know the actual size) and I had it for 5 years. It worked well for me, nice good quality lemon and produced reasonable well. Gave it to the neighbors when I moved.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Geodesic dome greenhouse build
« on: October 16, 2019, 11:28:57 AM »
It looks great!

Has it rained yet?  My experience is that where the screws puncture the plastic some small amount of water gets in, and it may collect at the low points of each triangle.  You may need to allow drainage at the low edges.

Looks like the foil backed tape covers the screws, so he should be fine there.

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Pick 2: Stewart, Pinkerton, Reed, Nishikawa?
« on: September 26, 2019, 02:37:52 PM »
Hi All, I have some space for 2 more Avocado trees. Which two of the above would you select? I am in 9b in Florida, hate Florida avocados minus a variety or two that I have trees already planted so I want to add some of the more "hass-like" avocados to see if any of them will do well here. I had a young Reed planted that died due to a freak accident. These are the varieties I am most interested in. I am mostly just interested in taste, creamier is better. There really isn't a whole lot of or really any information that shows which of these varieties will perform best in my location so I this will also be a test to see how they perform.   I have only ever tasted the Nishikawa which I enjoy. I already have my own opinion, just want to see if anyone can convince me either way. I am not worried about not liking them as I can just top work them later if I think they suck.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Dorian.....
« on: September 05, 2019, 10:24:32 AM »
Live in Brevard near the coast and glad to report only a loss of a few Barbados cherries, not a single orange, sugar apple or guava fell off (only fruit on trees now) nor a single branch, I was worried about the possible last new flushes just now pushing out I was getting on my mangos, advacados ect being damaged just before they go dormant in a month or2.😃😃😃😃😃

Melbourne here and a whole lot of nothing for us thankfully. Didn't lose any avocados.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Insane ,,pest,, control
« on: August 14, 2019, 01:52:40 PM »
Is this thread just meant to be a troll?

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Out of Topic - new house owner
« on: August 05, 2019, 01:18:10 PM »
Domino makes keypad garage door openers. I have never seen that actual product but I am guessing it has something to do with the garage door. Maybe it is an old opener that they never took down?

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Maybe that is what they like? I could grow lots of tropical fruit that is commonly talked about on this board, but I have tried many of them and did not care for a lot of them. I like most types of apples, so if I could I would much rather grow them even though I can get them at the store. No point in growing items that I don't care to eat.

Other thoughts are that they are ignorant to them existing. Up until last year, I had no idea what a jackfruit, lychee, soursop, etc. were.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Avocado 24/7 Thread
« on: June 18, 2019, 10:22:40 AM »
Choquette and Lula aren't even in the same league.
I'm sure you're right, Mark.  All they're saying is it wasn't successful commercially due to low production, and Lula and Choquette were used instead, not that they're equal.  (Lula is better than Choquette, but less flesh.)  But I'd still be curious if anyone has grown it outside of Homestead.  Would be worth a try in zone 10a or 9b.

I would think zone 9 would be a great match for ya'll.

Found a cluster of 5 Reed babies yesterday.  Lots of fruit set on this tree.  How and why it set fruit is beyond me.  It was the only one blooming in the greenhouse and was 3 months late.  Last of the flowers just fell off.



I have a Reed in a 7 gallon pot in 9B, a few hours north of Miami. Will plant it soon and see how it performs here in the next few years.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: To Mulch or Not to Mulch (Fruit Trees)
« on: April 17, 2019, 02:48:25 PM »
Every time I see a commercial fruit tree farm I have never seen mulch, besides whatever leaves the tree drops naturally. Makes you think there is a reason why they don't mulch.  ???

Cost

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: To Mulch or Not to Mulch (Fruit Trees)
« on: April 12, 2019, 10:59:59 AM »
I have a variety of grafted fruit trees that I have had for years and have mulched with various types (wood chip, leaves, grass, straw/hay, whatever I can get my hands on for free). All are still standing and doing well.

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Sunscald will turn the green trunk/branches to a brownish color. I have one in my yard now with a branch that has it... if I get a chance I will take a picture to show you.
If you prune and shape your trees properly, you won't have to worry about it long term. You should have leaves that create a nice canopy to shield the trunk and branches. The biggest risk is for young trees. It can lead to fungal issues and branches to die. IV organics has a 3 in 1 with a green, brown, or white color that is an alternative to the white paint. It also is supposed to help stop rodents from gnawing the bark (if thats a potential problem for you). Its a bit pricey though (~$30 for a pint I believe). There is another thread here that is talking other options, you may want to read through it.

Defoliation is normal as trees grow. I'd just give it some time and you should probably see some new growth soon, assuming they are correctly watered, fed, and the weather is cooperating.

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Citrus General Discussion / Re: Does my citrus have HLB?
« on: March 20, 2019, 10:07:51 AM »
The mottling/blotching sure looks like it since its so random and non symmetrical across the leaves.

 Its hard to tell without knowing the history of the tree, pesticide use, fertilizer, watering, soil, etc.

Seen any bugs on it? Fertilizing it with micronutrients?

I have had a few trees with HLB and they looked very similar to that, albeit the leaves weren't as yellow and there were other symptoms too.

The disease can only be spread from tree to tree by the psyllid.  From what I have read, HLB doesn't seem to be in Hawaii yet (maybe the articles are old?). However you can probably contact your local ag extension or something like this: http://agrosecurityhawaii.com/new-page if you are worried. You can send them samples or they can come out and take a look. This might be the best course of action to help potentially prevent the spread of disease across Hawaii.

http://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/care/pests-and-diseases/diseases/citrus-greening-faq.html :

"HLB is caused by a bacterium which is transmitted from tree to tree by the Asian citrus psyllid. Psyllids become infected with the HLB bacterium by feeding on an infected tree. When the psyllid moves on to feed on an uninfected tree, the HLB bacterium is transmitted to the uninfected tree. There have also been documented cases of HLB transmitted by grafting, although this form of transmission is far less common.

The movement of infected trees also contributes to the spread of HLB. While the Asian citrus psyllid is the only way the bacterium can be transmitted from tree to tree, moving an infected tree can bring the bacteria into an area where it did not previously exist. From there, the Asian citrus psyllid will be able to spread the disease further."

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Nice looking trees. Amazing how citrus can look and how easy they are with just a little bit of time each week.

I live up the road in Melbourne. Have grown a few citrus trees in containers and lost 2 of them so far to HLB. Use systematics around May/June, thats usually when I see the psyllids on my trees. After I have started using the systematics on my remaining tree- it seems to still be healthy with no sign of the disease yet. Fingers crossed.

Yes I'm concerned about the greening also, could you explain
systematics a little more for me or point me in the direction
where I can learn more about it?
Thanks!

You can find it at the big box stores. https://www.bioadvanced.com/products/insects-pests/fruit-citrus-vegetable-insect-control
Its poured at the base of the tree and absorbed by the roots, so its basically pesticide that is inside the tree. Whenever a bug eats the leaves, it ingests the pesticide and dies. It lasts for about 3-4 months. 1 Application a year, so do it right after flowering (as to not kill bees/butterflies/etc) during spring.
Its definitely not organic but its really the only way to truly protect against the disease unless you can be vigilant and spray your organic pesticides every few days and make sure to fully drench the tree leaves, which can be difficult as the tree gets bigger. The first year I did this with my last remaining grapefruit tree. I sprayed pyrethins on it every few days when I saw the bugs and then after it got established and a decent size canopy after the first 1/1.5 years, I am now using the systematics. So far, I see no signs of the disease and psyllid activity has been low.

18
Nice looking trees. Amazing how citrus can look and how easy they are with just a little bit of time each week.

I live up the road in Melbourne. Have grown a few citrus trees in containers and lost 2 of them so far to HLB. Use systematics around May/June, thats usually when I see the psyllids on my trees. After I have started using the systematics on my remaining tree- it seems to still be healthy with no sign of the disease yet. Fingers crossed.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Parentage of Kathy (K-3)
« on: March 08, 2019, 11:30:36 AM »
What is the parentage of Kathy (K-3)?

From: https://tropicalacresfarms.com/mango-descriptions-j-s

"Kathy was selected from Gary Zill’s breeding program in Boynton Beach, FL (planting # K-3), and was a seedling of the Zill Indochinese (Zinc), making it a sibling of ‘Venus’ and ‘Sweet Tart’. "

Hope this helps.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Recommended Avocados- Florida
« on: February 25, 2019, 11:26:21 AM »
Hi All,

First time poster here- been lurking for a few months.

I have just bought a new house with about a 5 acre lot in Melbourne, FL.  I am going to fence off some for the dogs and the rest is basically open space so I want to fill it with some fruit trees and a garden.

I wanted to get a list of avocados anyone enjoys that can be reliably grown here. I currently have a Brogdon and Catalina and am looking for about 3 more varieties.

Thanks for your help!

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