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Messages - Zafra

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451
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: so what's the deal with FL and avocados?
« on: January 21, 2016, 03:19:38 PM »
THANK you!  :D I'll try looking those varieties up to see what I can find about them.

452
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: so what's the deal with FL and avocados?
« on: January 21, 2016, 01:54:19 PM »
But I'm trying to get something that is DIFFERENT from the locally available varieties! I already have one of those, and it's great and I love it. I'm looking to EXTEND my growing season and VARY the avocado experience. If I was looking for what was already tried and proven here in Venezuela, I wouldn't be asking on this forum. And I'm aware of the risk of varieties that perform well in one climate and not in another, which is exactly why I came here where there are people who are very experienced with different characteristics of avocados I know nothing about who might be able to say, X variety has a high oil content/great flavor/whatever but seems to tolerate more rain than some others, and might be a good bet for you, or something like that, to try to reduce the risk somewhat. 1000m, nights temps down to the 60s (low 60s or rarely high 50s Nov-Feb), wet-dry tropics currently more dry than wet because of El Niño, but other times more wet than dry. Tropical red clay "soil" which we mulch like crazy. I don't feel like I'm asking for advice that's particularly outside the realm of this forum - isn't experimentation what it's all about?

453
Tropical Fruit Discussion / what's going on with my guanábana?
« on: January 21, 2016, 01:24:08 PM »
Hi all - can anyone tell me what my guanábana is suffering from? It's had some white wax scales that I've been removing by hand, but they haven't seemed like the cause of this amount of leaf discoloration. Or are they? Any ideas?





454
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: so what's the deal with FL and avocados?
« on: January 21, 2016, 12:25:06 PM »
Wow, I've never seen this group so reluctant to recommend varieties - usually you all can't hold back your opinions.
As I said, I do speak Spanish.

455
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: so what's the deal with FL and avocados?
« on: January 20, 2016, 08:14:52 PM »
Believe me I live here I know first hand what's going on with the economy, but that's not the issue at hand. I speak Spanish, I've lived here for almost 7 years and we've had our land for 5. I've gone to many, many markets and have campesino friends and friends of friends both in our state and others. I know a lot of people who have backyard trees. As I've said, I'm sure there exist varieties worth grafting here but to find and gain access to them would take a dedicated search for which I don't have the necessary resources.

456
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: so what's the deal with FL and avocados?
« on: January 20, 2016, 07:40:29 PM »
Sadly, Venezuela is really nothing like El Salvador in this respect. I could go into a totally off-topic rumination on the more complex whys and wherefores but it really does boil down to being a nation that has only developed and entirely depended on its oil extraction to the complete and utter neglect of every other kind of production, with an accompanying paralyzing alienation from its once glorious agricultural roots. (We effing import black beans here! They only just started trying to remedy that now that oil prices have dropped so low someone noticed and said hey, beans ain't wheat whytf aren't we growing them?) So searching out local varieties worth grafting would take dedication of time (money) and energy I just don't have. At least if I get some imported varieties that work, maybe I can start to diversify the Venezuelan avocado world a bit. And if I get to eat yummy avocados while I'm at it, well, it's a dirty job but somebody's got to do it! :)

457
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: so what's the deal with FL and avocados?
« on: January 20, 2016, 05:32:01 PM »
I actually already brought down a little grafted Pickering and I'm super excited to see it flowering now, although I'd be even more excited if it wasn't too soon to let it fruit! I plan on doing something similar with another variety or two down the road, when I've saved up some dough. That will be a whole other post when I start asking for mango suggestions! But for now, I'm thinking avocados, and yes I really like Choquette a lot as I've mentioned. I have one purchased Choquette and I'm determined to graft another one or two. But I'd really like some avocado variety and I'd really like to extend the season because I can eat avocado every damn day, and yeah, maybe I will be the person with good avocado budwood in Venezuela one day! Our project is a food forest with diversity, both species and varieties, being key, so I'd like to eventually have 3 different avocados if I can swing it...

458
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: so what's the deal with FL and avocados?
« on: January 20, 2016, 04:38:17 PM »
Yeah I've been looking around and there's really nothing here unless I want to spend years on a great seedling avocado quest. Backyard growers get the same 2 grafted varieties I've already mentioned, and the commercial growers aren't doing any experiments since they already have a go-to variety that produces and sells well - no reason to take the risk. (Same deal here with mango. This should be a mango paradise - there are seedling mango trees on every corner along every street and freeway, you go out, look around, you'll see a mango tree. They're all healthy and at the moment they're all full of flowers. I fantasize about going from tree to tree looking for a decent fruit one season. But in a place where mango literally grows like a weed, where we could be up to our necks in amazing mango varieties, there's one grafted tree available. And it's beyond mediocre. I'm not sure which it is, but it's large to huge fruit, pretty yellow-orange-red skin when ripe, smells fantastic, and then inside it's full of fiber and jelly seed, and sometimes very bland, though I admit sometimes the flavor is as nice as the scent, if it wasn't for all that fiber! SUCH a disappointment. Other than that there are the small yellow ones, some of which are ok, I think they're all seedlings. But anyway that's mango and we're talking avocados here.)
I'm really inclined to try to bring down some scions in the not too distant future, and I'd still be interested to know what you experts think would be the safest bet for our climate and a good contrast to Choquette, hopefully different fruiting time too.

459
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: so what's the deal with FL and avocados?
« on: January 19, 2016, 07:30:10 PM »
Ah if only. The problem with Venezuela is that when it became a petrol-state it left its agriculture behind, turning a phenomenally diverse and productive place into a wasteland of monocultures. I've had to buy seeds of plants that are native here from places like Trade Winds. There are two varieties that are grafted here. One is Choquette and the other I don't know - I can't remember the name and I've never seen it in a store. I doubt it's a Hass type. You go to the nurseries and ask about avocado varieties and they tell you those two, one for hot climates and one for cooler - I forget which is which - period. The rest are seedlings. I'm sure there are many amazing seedlings around but they're probably Choquette seedlings. And maybe some individuals scattered around the country have unusual grafted specimens, but I don't know them. So I'm looking at importing scions one day if I can ever get a graft to take, or maybe if I win the lottery bringing down a small grafted tree.
It's very frustrating. In a place that should be a horticultural wonderland sometimes I feel like I'm shopping at Safeway :(. Ah well - this is why we grow our own! :)

460
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: so what's the deal with FL and avocados?
« on: January 19, 2016, 06:48:17 PM »
Aja so the key is indeed too humid, too wet, too hot? Hmm. I'd be interested in trying a Mx/G type here, because as I said we have lower humidity here than in S. FL and we're at almost 1000m, so not super high alt but not sea level either. Does anyone want to hazard a variety recommendation for me? Maybe something that sort of straddles the two worlds?

461
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: so what's the deal with FL and avocados?
« on: January 19, 2016, 05:20:49 PM »
So true about tastes and especially regional/cultural preferences. As I saw discussed in an old thread, Latin Americans don't necessarily see "guacamolebility" as the defining trait of a good avocado, as they tend to eat them sliced in salad, in arepas, or as a side. I was genuinely baffled by Choquette's reputation as watery, since to me it was like eating avocado butter, until I tried mashing it up with some lime juice. Then for the first time I saw how one could make that judgement, although I still enjoyed my guacamole very much!
But the issue remains, tastes aside, that the higher oil content varieties don't do well in Florida for some reason. Why is that? Humidity is the obvious difference between the two climates FL-CA, but maybe cooler temps, rainfall, diseases... ? Where we have our land the humidity is much lower than in S Florida, and we are at almost 1000m so our nights tend to cool off. But the fact remains that Choquette is the grafted variety of choice, so is that just a result of lack of interest on the part of producers to expand their horizons, or is there a climate-based reason? That's the info I'm after.

462
Tropical Fruit Discussion / so what's the deal with FL and avocados?
« on: January 19, 2016, 04:03:27 PM »
I've been reading years' worth of commentary here about the sad Florida avocado, discussed as a given fact. I have yet to find out WHY Florida does not produce the same great avocados as California. I'm interested because here in Venezuela the most common grafted avocado is Choquette, (which, hilariously, I was eating and loving for quite a while before I discovered that it was one of the widely scorned watery Florida types, even more hilarious because I'm from California). I'm happy to grow and eat Choquette, but I'd like to expand to at least one if not two other varieties in the future. But I don't know if the more beloved California grown types will suffer the same fate here that they do in Florida, because I don't know what the problem is in Florida. If someone can explain the factors to me that'd be great, also any variety advice will be much appreciated. Thanks!

463
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Citrus Bloom Time Is Comming
« on: January 17, 2016, 09:51:30 PM »
Thanks Millet, you had to tell me this about letting young trees fruit once before but I swear I've got it down now :). That's great to know about flowering more than once a year in our climate - I guess I have that to look forward to when the trees are old enough to really produce - yay!

464
Great I'm just going to chalk it up to young plant blues and give it some water. It's so strange to me that many "authorities" don't really mention the need for companion plants. None of the sellers of this seed mention it that I've seen, and even Hort Purdue leaves it out in their write-up. This is why I thought I could get away with just one. Here we are absolutely teeming with many different pollinators - even vanilla sets fruit on its own - so maybe I'll get lucky and get a fruit or two when it starts holding its flowers. In the meantime I be on the lookout for a suitable companion plant - anyone have any seeds they want to share? ;) Thanks guys!

465
I do have only one plant, and that was going to be a follow up question. But these flowers never even opened to not be pollinated, so I don't think that's the problem. Had they opened and then dropped and there was no fruit set, obviously lack of a companion would be the issue.
But speaking of that, can different Passiflora species pollinate each other or does it have to be another quadrangularis?

466
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Passiflora quadrangularis aborting flowers
« on: January 16, 2016, 06:30:17 PM »
Hi all. I have an enormous parcha real, as it's called here, Passiflora quadrangularis  that finally had flower buds on it a couple of weeks ago. Then plant looks amazing and I was so excited to see the flowers. Two weeks later, one flower looks like it tried to open and didn't make it all the way, and the other buds appear to have just dried up. What gives? The only thing I can think of is that the plant hasn't been getting watered at all - because it hasn't shown the slightest drought stress so I didn't think it necessary. But is it possible that it doesn't need water for leaves but does need it to flower? Like I said, it looks perfect in every respect except for the aborted blooms. Any ideas/suggestions?

467
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Citrus Bloom Time Is Comming
« on: January 16, 2016, 06:24:01 PM »
I'm totally new to citrus growing and have a couple of questions related to this post. First, I just put my grafted Valencia and California oranges, lime and mandarin in the ground a few months ago. At the time the Valencia was COVERED in blooms, but it's a very small tree, rounded but only a couple of feet tall so I (thanks to advice I got here) didn't let it hold any fruit. One fruit did get to golf ball size before I noticed it and pulled it off, and that was only a month ago. All of the trees suffered some unfortunate and unavoidable drought stress for several weeks, lost some new growth and just looked generally under the weather, but for the last month they've been getting regular water and tlc and are looking good. In fact, that little Valencia is flushing like crazy and, I just noticed today, flower buds. Then I checked the others - flower buds on the mandarin and the lime.
Questions - 1) I see now is the normal time for flowers on citrus, ok, but then why did the Valencia just finish flowering and trying to fruit a few months ago? Shouldn't there be some down time? 2) I suppose the Valencia is still too small to hold fruit, but what about the others, which are all over four feet tall? Let them hold one? Or should I make myself be patient and skip this year?
Thanks in advance for your help!

468
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: The humble pumpkin
« on: January 15, 2016, 08:09:51 PM »
check out Baker Creek Heirloom seeds for a really nice selection of varieties, and pretty pictures!
http://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/squash/winter-squash/
look at the watermelon, melon, and eggplant sections for more mind-boggling variety porn ;)

469
Hi! Title pretty much says it all - does anthracnose infect the avocado seed or am I ok to plant it for root stock? Thanks!

470
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: id mystery disease
« on: December 03, 2015, 12:14:57 PM »
No, we don't have winter temps here and like I said the soil was hydrated but not too wet, and the roots looked normal when I pulled up the plants. I think it must be some kind of fungal infection - it reminds me of damping off because it's so sudden and complete, but the plants are much older than damping off age, or so I thought. Can plants damp-off later in life?

471
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: id mystery disease
« on: December 03, 2015, 10:53:36 AM »
giving this a bump just in case someone who can help me might've missed it - such an active forum this is! :)

472
Tropical Fruit Discussion / id mystery disease
« on: December 02, 2015, 08:07:27 PM »
Hi folks. I've had 2 different plants - sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis) and curuba (Passiflora mollissima) die a sudden death of what appears to be the same disease. The plants have all been perfectly healthy appearing, several months old, well but not over-hydrated. Then one day all their leaves wilt while still green. Then they're dead. When I give the base of the stem a squeeze a few have been hollow, while others are very hard and brown/woody. When I pull out the plant, the roots look normal. I've only had this happen to these 2 species. At first I thought it was transplant shock because the first couple times it happened it was a few days after a transplant. But now it has happened to plants that have been happily growing along in the same bag for quite some time. So I'm at a loss. Since these aren't your usual garden plants, it's not easy to find info on possible culprits. Has anyone had this experience or does anyone recognize the symptoms? It's very frustrating. Thanks!

473
no problem - I'll email you.

474
hey Adam that's pretty tempting. can you give me any more info about the variety? (especially fruit color/size/flavor, and how dwarf is a dwarf mulberry?) also, if I pay a bit extra for shipping could it get to the Miami address by this Thursday? That would be ideal. Final question, it would be in transit another week after it got to Miami - would they survive that long partially bare-rooted? I'd be able to get them out into soil and fresh air either next Wednesday or Thursday.
Thanks for the offer!

475
Hi all. Does anyone have a great black mulberry they'd be willing to air-layer or root for me and mail to an address in Miami? I've had terrible luck with cuttings and I can't afford to keep trying and failing - better to just spring to ship a small plant or two down here. Obviously I'll pay for the plant and the shipping. Help please!!

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