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Messages - sultry_jasmine_nights

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Raja Purri cold Hardiness
« on: January 19, 2015, 05:25:30 PM »
I am in zone 9a and it got down to 22F and my Raja Puri look ratty but are definitely still alive. I've had them in the ground for 3 years. They fruit but it seems like they like to fruit in the fall so of course, the hands freeze or are not large enough to pick by the time we get freezing weather (usually late November to mid December).
I had half size bananas ripen in time on a Dwarf Namwah this year. They start their flowering earlier here. They have been in the ground for 3 yrs as well. I bought them as Ice Cream bananas from wellspring gardens but someone on the banana forum said most of the American bananas that are sold as Ice Cream are really dwarf Namwah. So I dunno for sure what they are lol.
~SJN

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: BK Lemon Jack Seedling Germination.
« on: January 19, 2015, 05:18:24 PM »
I got 2 jackfruit seeds the summer before last, at a farmer's market when the guy was giving out samples of the fruit. I wrapped them in wet paper towel and put them in the fridge in a ziplock and forgot about them for 2 weeks lol.  I planted them in miracle grow in pots outside and they both sprouted. So yes they can stay viable in the fridge for awhile. Probably not the freezer though.
Right now, I have a bunch of rambutan fruit in the fridge. Hopefully they will be okay to plant the seeds lol.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best way to start jackfruit seeds?
« on: November 13, 2013, 06:50:23 PM »
Thanks for all the replies.
That is a beautiful photo! My seedlings are a few feet tall now. They would probably be bigger if I had potted them into larger pots sooner :-\
How large of a pot should they be in now?
 I am going to overwinter them in the greenhouse. What is the coldest they can get without damage? I am trying to figure out at what temp. F, I should plan to run the propane heater...We don't get a lot of nights below freezing. Last winter I didn't even have to run the heater but last winter was not at all typical for us (much warmer).
Will I be able to keep these at a shorter height like around 10-12 ft at the most? They are going to have to stay in pots until I move further south lol.

4
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Greenhouse Plastic Recommendations Please?
« on: November 13, 2013, 05:43:25 PM »
I don't know about UV stabilized plastic. I am in a zone 9a NE FL. We get a few nights a year below freezing and a several freezing nights per year. I use the 6 mil clear plastic from Home Depo that is painters plastic. I buy it on a 100 ft roll. I think it is 20ft tall x 100 ft wide. It is @ 99.00 per roll last time I bought it.  Anyhow, I double the plastic making it 12 mil. I use a couple 10 x20 carport frames that come with the white poly plastic roofing and sides. I wrap the whole "gh" around the inside with the doubled painters plastic.  I use a propane heater inside on nights that go under 32F  otherwise it stays warm enough. I have longan and cacao and other ornamental tropical stuff and it has worked thus far.

I call them my ghetto greenhouses because they are cheap. I sink the metal poles about 18 inches in the ground so the wind doesn't blow it over. I usually take these down in March and put them back up in Dec. The plastic lasts about 3 years of more depending before I have to replace it.

5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Way off season longan bloom...2013
« on: November 13, 2013, 05:15:32 PM »
This is the first year I have gotten a decent amount of fruit from our small Longan tree. I keep it in the gh in the winter. I just harvested some fruit from it a few weeks ago there are still a few on there. It was the first time we had a longan fruit. They were really good!
 I don't know what variety it is or if this is the normal time for fruit to be ripening. I don't have any blooms right now though. I am in NE FL so I am sure it is probably on a funky schedule anyhow lol.

Your tree is amazing! I wish I could grow mine outdoors all year around and plant it in the ground.

6
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best way to start jackfruit seeds?
« on: July 17, 2013, 11:07:13 AM »
That does make sense, Droshi. I have my set in a non-working fountain that has some standing rain water in it. I had to find somewhere up high to put my smaller pots so the free ranging chickens couldn't get into it and scratch out the seeds lol. The roots grew right out the bottom of the pot towards the water really fast.  I bet it is pretty neat to see the seed actually sprout in  a clear glass of water. I will have to try that if I ever get any more jackfruit seeds.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Bird Nest In My Tree
« on: July 17, 2013, 10:52:49 AM »
fruitboxhero, How cool to have a friendly bluejay~I wonder if he was hand raised?  We used to have some really tame hummingbirds that stayed year around in AZ. They would fly into the garage and chirp at dh to let him know their feeder was empty lol.   Now we have a bunch of fairly tame cardinals that eat the chicken feed and don't even bother to fly up from the dish when I go into the pens. They won't let me touch them though lol.

8
What an amazing comeback! I am glad it turned around for you.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« on: July 17, 2013, 10:45:45 AM »
Dangermouse01, I like the trellises at the end of the driveway, very stylish, good job.

X2 !! Very nice.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best way to start jackfruit seeds?
« on: July 17, 2013, 10:32:30 AM »
Thanks for all your help planting my seeds! They both sprouted and are about 7 inches tall now. The rain water washed the seeds around in the pot and so they are right up next to each other lol. They have roots coming out of the bottom of the pot now so I guess it is time to separated them. I hope I don't put them into shock trying to pull them apart now lol.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Best way to start jackfruit seeds?
« on: May 18, 2013, 02:12:26 PM »
Hi a nice couple at our local farmer's market gave me a few jackfruit seeds fresh out of the fruit.  What is the best way to start them? How big of a pot should I use..are they picky about transplanting? Any other tidbits of info or tips would be great too. Thanks!

12
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Oranges Color and Taste Comparison
« on: April 05, 2012, 08:38:16 AM »
I love blood oranges but definitely more of a berry taste to it than regular orange. Our little tree has many little fruits developing this year.
Here is some Blood Orange Marmalade and some Blood Orange Habanero Chili Marmalade that we made this year. Great for cooking and grilling.

13
Wow I've never seen so many passiflora blooms/buds on one vine. Maybe I should put mine in the ground instead of keeping them in pots :D

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Trouble with indoor cacao
« on: April 05, 2012, 08:16:04 AM »
I have 60 cacao (small yellow and medium red types) seedlings now out on the back screened in patio. The seem to be getting kinda tall lately and the leaves paler. I am wondering if they are not getting enough sun? They get some slanted morning sun then shade the rest of the day.

15
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Success from Seed
« on: March 29, 2012, 11:24:38 AM »
I am growing a lot of stuff from seed. I just potted up over 50 cacao seedlings the other day. It was more work than I thought it was going to be lol.  There is a farmers market near us with some good Asian sellers there that I can sometimes find tropical fruits from.  Last year they had lychee,  rambutan, guavas and some different vegetables.   I think it is fun to try stuff from seed even though it might not be practical or the best way lol.
I have 3 little African Sausage Trees/Kigelia (ornamentals) that I grew from seed that are going on their 3rd year.  I dig them up and severely prune their roots and even tops every winter then over winter dry in the greenhouse. They completely defoliate and loose their leaf petioles as well but then leaf right back out in the spring.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Butia ssp
« on: March 29, 2012, 11:14:44 AM »
Butia capitata are pretty common where I am in NE FL. A lot of people make jelly with the fruit due to its tartness.  It is a little bit cold hardier than some palms. I've seen it all over Louisiana as well when we used to live there. It is nicknamed the Jelly Palm

17
I have Celeste, black Mission, and LSU Purple. My favorite is the LSU Purple. Has kind of a berry like undertone taste. I get a regular crop and a breba crop with the LSU fig.

18
Recipes / Re: Kiwano & Pineapple salsa
« on: March 27, 2012, 11:16:28 AM »
Sounds really good. What kind of melon could I substitute if I didn't have the kiwano? I haven't tasted one so not sure what would be similar lol.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« on: March 27, 2012, 10:17:24 AM »
I too have a hard time telling them apart without the tags or I just write on the stems with sharpie but have to keep going over it because it fades in the sun. I can't have tags that go into the ground or pots because the chickens favorite thing to do is pull out those tags!
 Some like Costa Rican Sunset, I can tell which it is because the spines are very thick. Some varieties of dragonfruit are more wavy and some straighter. Some have slimmer stems and some are thicker. I guess you get just used to how they look after awhile then you can tell lol.

20
I am in NE FL. Our soil is better than some parts of FL but still very sandy, especially on some parts of the property (almost 4 acres).  We started composting our chicken manure from the coops. I keep pine shavings on the floors of my coops and in the nest boxes and then just add it all to the compost bin once a week. The pine chips break down very quickly into a rich black soil and the earthworms love it. We also add some of our chickens eggshells into the compost for added calcium as well as all the yard clippings, coffee grounds, etc.
You can go to Starbucks and they will give you coffee grounds in huge trash bags for free which you can also add to the compost pile. 

Last year, we built some vermicompost bins underneath our rabbit hutches (even if you can't have chickens, you are likely to be able to have rabbits).  We get a lot of nice worm compost from those bins which can be added to the garden or to your pots.  Rabbit manure can go straight into the garden without even being composted...it doesn't burn the plants even when it is fresh. You can also make worm compost tea with it. If you have your own rabbits they are cheap to raise and make awesome cheap worm compost.   It can be quite expensive in the stores.
Craigslist is a good place to get free horse, cow, or goat manure.  Some zoos will also let you have it.

21
Cacao  will grow in shade or dappled sunlight. I am not sure about them getting full on sun unless it is only morning sun.  Some people grow them under a grapefruit tree or other type of tree that provides shade.  I had several seedlings that were doing really well in slanted morning sun and dappled afternoon shade.  They got a few feet tall before I had put them in the greenhouse in the winter of 2009 when it got really cold in FL.  I had a tree fall on the back end of the greenhouse that winter which ended the little trees. Most stuff survived but not them they are really cold sensitive but you may be able to grow them without winter protection. I am in the Jax area (9a ish) so they definitely need protection on the colder nights here.

Here are some pics of my little cacao trees before I potted them up and they were a little larger before they went into the greenhouse that year. I am hoping to get some more pods and try again.
They are in the bottom left hand side of the pic (in front of the Hawaiian wood rose vine)




22
DH and I are planning to go this year. Missed it last year so want to be sure to make it this time!

23
Uggg I see that it is actually gonna hit 21 here tomorrow morning. It has barely froze all winter then this (NW FL Jax area). This is why I am reluctant to put my dragonfruit in the ground here. It would definitely be toast on nights like this. We had to haul everything back into the greenhouse today. The best tool I ever got my dh was that hand truck LOL! I use it all the time in the winter :)

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: What's The Best Tasting Carambola?
« on: February 09, 2012, 03:16:44 PM »
I have fruit on my Kari now. It tastes sweet but is sweetest when very ripe. I havent tried any others except the supermarket ones and they dont seem as sweet.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Australian Finger Lime
« on: February 09, 2012, 03:12:31 PM »
I love the looks of that fingerlime BMc!!  Does it have the berry like undertones in taste like the blood oranges do?  Oh how I wish we had the red ones here. I expect we will get those the 5th of never in the US lol.  Thsnks for sharing your photos :)

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