The Tropical Fruit Forum

Well
this happened to me 3 years ago.
the weather report last week said we would get temps in the mid to upper 30s this weekend.
Then, yesterday, they revised it to 31.

OK, 31 stil isnt terrible, especially, since most of my plants have some kind of micro-climate
lots of mulch, and , also the fact that the sun should come out today
and warm things up right away, should be of comfort.

add to that, some matters keeping me quite busy
and that it rained continuously the last 2 days straight
i did little to nothing to protect my plants.

Last night i got another "revised" weather update to 29F for a low.
it was getting dark, and i had only time to bring in 2 plants and my seedlings

i just checked the weather service, saying it is CURRENTLY 27F.
which means it may well have been 25 or so a couple of hours ago.

jeexxx...
i just looked, and all my papaya leaves are frozen SOLID...
crinkle, crackle...
im used to that, all but the smaller seedlings should grow back.

cherimoya, guava, mango do not look affected, but, its early to tell.
last year we had just the very slightest frost, and my jackfruit lost leaves
but, it looked perfectly fine for a week before they dropped.

Mamey looks like it will probably lose its leaves
which isnt the end of the world, its happened before.

what im worried about is an eggfruit in a raised bed.
its been raining so much , everything is soaked.
im hoping the raised bed didnt expose the root-ball so that it froze ?

also a few guava and mango container seedlings
 that are  from 6 inches to 4ft...   hoping the roots didnt freeze

glad i harvested the naners anyway...


Black Sapote and Dragonfruit
Black sapote will likely loose all its leaves. hopefully, not the tree.
Dragonfruit looks like some of the new growth was affected
but most, especially, the sections on the wall, seem OK...


Eugenia Florida and some fig cuttings
E. Florida may have had the roots freeze... i hope not
i have 3 from seed like this.


White Guava and Ice Cream Bean
Guava seems OK, may not even loose all the leaves.
ICB looks like a few leaves were frost bit. but, doesnt appear to be major damage.


Mango's and Naranjilla
I think all my Mango are OK. 1 had some leaf damage
Hard to tell about the Naranjilla ? Not sure if these leaves will come back
or if the fruit was damaged... still havent tasted them, and they are not far from being ripe...



Papaya... probably leaf loss, maybe fruit loss and new growth.


Poha /Cape Gooseberry  and Starfruit
Poha leaves froze... had fruit on it, but hadnt ripened yet
damn, i wanted to taste them too...
Starfruit looks real shabby... probably will loose its leaves
and come back in Spring.


Surinam Cherry and Tomato
the cherry had just put out new growth and lost of flowers too.
the leaves dont appear badly damaged ??
Tomato... LOL... just the idea of growing tomato in New Orleans in January
well, i actually think the plant itself will come back, even if i loose some fruit and leaves.



subir gif

So i planted out a Jabo several months ago
due to the heat i was piling lots of mulch on it.
Even though i tried to keep the base/trunk free, in time leaves and debris fell in
and now its about 2 inches deep.

I know certain plants dont have a problem with planting them several inches deeper
than the root-crown.
Fig is usually OK with it from what i understand
and tomato and some other herbs dont mind either.

So i am wondering if this is really an issue or not ?
i actually already dug up and corrected/re-planted the Jabo in question
but i am curious all the same

can you plant the Jabo too deep ?

i just noticed this guy had popped up.
i have no idea what it is
i plant seeds as often as i pee,
so, it could be anything from 6 months
or even a year ago...

eeggfruit maybe ?
does it look like this as a seedling ?






also...
i know i had some nitrogen fixing type trees i had planted recently.
the leaf structure is wrong for honey locust, and for guamachil/Pithecellobium dulce
right ?
but, maybe a regular tamarind ?

I bought some DTPA %11 iron
and it made several of my plants pop with green leaves !

Some of them didnt appear to be sick, or unhealthy
they just look greener and more healthy than before.

I guess i was iron deficient, at least to some extent.
my house is built on old swamp land
and they trucked in lots of river sand from the Mississippi
(its a fine sand with some silt)
so, the top couple of feet of soil, is river sand, with some clayish loam beneath
but the water table is very high, especially when we get a lot of rain.
in the last 3 weeks, i think we had 3 days of no-rain.

i am wondering if the high rainfall washes iron out of the soil ?
and if it washes any other minerals out either ?

actually, i think its the container plants that saw the most benefit though.
my jackfruit had hardly put on any leaves since it lost them over winter.
a few, but they were chlorotic.

the black sapote was healthy, but, just looks greener !

They had Eggfruit on sale at Toptrops
i had got it delivered and my contractor was out of town
it sat in the shipping bag for a week before i was able to plant it.
it seems no worse for wear. its been planted now for a week
and looks pretty happy.

the dog chases lizards
often knocking down plants and fruit in the process
i gotta live with it, shes too cute.
she eats fallen fruit too




Now, i am not sure what to put in those front planters  ??
there is another one on the other side of the driveway

i am thinking ...

 Jambul/Java Plum
 neem
 Ice Cream Bean
 carob

i wouldn't mind putting in mango, but its pretty exposed,
no plants close by for protection.
The Java plum is already pretty big, im just worried it will
become a huge tree in just a few years, i hear they grow fast.

neem



Jambul/Java Plum


Ice Cream Bean


carob



heres my nana with its first fruit

-


red jaboticaba, blood orange, guava, mulberry, autumn olive




and backyard

starfruit, jujube, Feijoa, acerola, lemon guava, passioflower



FIG !

Can anyone help me ID these ?

they could be just about anything
i have about 200 seed packs
and re-use soil all the time.

PLANT #1


PLANT #2


PLANT #2 -same plant as pic above


PLANT #3 - different plant, but, i suspect the same species as plant #2


PLANT #4 - also a different plant, but, i suspect the same species as plant #2
i have seen the red coloring come and go from these plants.

picked these up at the mexican store.
the PLU code is 4959
i found a site that said its either Tommy, Haden, or Kent

the yellow one looks like  Ataulfo, but, its larger than any  Ataulfo ive seen.
if it is the same one i bought a couple of months ago, it was absolutely delicious.
it had just a tiny bit of fiber near the skin, yellow flsh and sweet.
it was very ripe, but firm, not mushy.

i have 2 seeds and think i will plant them to go with my collection

a couple of years ago, we had 1 month where it seemed to ain every day.
i remember we had 22 inches of rain that month.

it has rained the last 6 days in a row.
its about to pour down now.
and the next few days do not look promising.
worst of all, i have an order to receive 2 yards of soil
its been on hold for days now.

are cacti and drought tolerant species going to explode ?

-----------------

With an average annual rainfall of 64 inches and an average of 56 rainy days a year, New Orleans ranked third among U.S. locations, the website said. Baton Rouge, which also got hit by thunderstorms Tuesday, comes in fifth on the list, with 62 inches of rain a year and 56 rainy days.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/04/new_orleans_ranks.html

 Top-10-Rainiest-Cities
http://www.climate.com/assets/LandingPageDocs/Top-10-Rainiest-Cities-Summary.pdf

I have 2 jackfruit i grew from seed
neither did very well last winter, and it was a mild one.
ive been doing pretty good with Jabo, mango, and a host of other fruit trees
but the jacks loose all thier leaves, and take forever to grow new ones in the spring.
the first year one froze to the ground level, i was amazed it came back.

Anyway, what is a better option ?
Is thee a cold-hardy Jackfruit variety ?

i seem to remember hearing Lakoocha
and 1 or 2 other Artocarpus were more cold hardy than Jackfruit ?
Cempedak or Kwai Muk ?

a small sampling of plants in the yard.

---

Carob


mini corn


Cherimoya and Black Sapote


Jujube


Sysgium cummini /jambolan /java plum


Psidium Angulatum (pretty sure LOL)


stephania (Japonica ?)


Valarian


White sapote (thanks Adam !) after i broke a large limb by accident
it re-spouted from the base, and really took off !

i had added used coffee grounds (aged) and a handful of compost worms in the container.
i move the mulch back, and they are having a party
i have loads of compost worms in there, and its growing really fast.

found these from the Latino store nearby.
the real small ones were not great.
lots of fiber, not a lot of flavor or sweetness
but i only tried one so far, and it may not have been completely ripe.

The bright orange one was fantastic !
i have had some really good ataulfo mango before
some very flavorful, some very sweet...
THis was not overpowering at all, and not overly sweet
but hit the mark on being absolutely smooth, buttery, creamy etc...
it seemed to fall apart as soon as my tongue hit it.
i could eat these all day.

i dont know if this is ataulfo or not ? the taste and texture seemed like it
but, the fruit was larger than any ataulfo ive seen in the past
and they are all like that...
it had a lot of meat on it, and a really good ratio
even though the seed was a little thicker than most ataulfo seed ive seen.

i hadnt tried the large one. i only bought one. hope its good.

and does anyone know what this other thing is ??
in Louisiana, we dont get much Annona in these parts...

i have a large satsuma tree that ripens starting in early Jan and goes through early March.
i just bought a blood orange. i have no idea when it ripens
but i really would like some citrus in late spring and summer ?
I like my satsuma, its sweet and tart, but i really prefer a sweet orange taste

in New Orleans - 9a / 9b border