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Messages - ramv

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This is one of my favorite loquats and I have over 30 varieties. This one came from Mark Albert -- the famous feijoa breeder from Northern CA.
The story is he tasted an outstanding loquat in Italy and brought back a few seeds and raised them. I am aware of Seedling #1, #2 and #3. Unfortunately I only have #1. Unfortunately Mark is no longer with us and I have no idea as to what happened to his trees.

Now my seedling #1 tree was recently girdled by rabbits and I want to spread it around the community before it dies. I will of course keep a few cuttings for myself.

Cuttings are $6 each. Nicely lignified cuttings.  They will be shipped priority mail for $10.

Please contact me by PM for paypal information (F&F only please)



2
Loquats are only now finishing ripening here in the PNW -- northernmost part of continental US.  Seattle area.
While they are super late here, they might be as tasty as anywhere else in the country or world.

My loquats are just now maturing into large trees (about 6 years old). And the flavor has been improving each year.

So far Shambala and Kanko have ripened here this season. Most other varieties dropped off their fruit -- maybe they are not tolerant of our occasional really cold weather. I'm still waiting for Golden Orb and Bullock #1 to ripen up.

Shambala is extremely good and tasty. First year for fruit. -- Brix between 18 and 22. Much sweeter than any plum, peach or nectarine I can buy locally. Sweeter than most cherries with extremely good flavor.
Kanko is a common variety and it started out the season with lower brix -- around 16. Now they are coming in at 22 or so. I'm just picking them ripe, not wrinkly or anything. With a sub-acid flavor. Extremely delicious loquat aroma.
At this stage, it maybe among the best fruit I've ever grown.

3
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Chilean Nut trees - Gevuina Avellana
« on: June 03, 2023, 02:00:18 PM »
I recently purchased a few seedlings of this tree as they are reputed to do well in my area and can survive 10F or even lower! But I've heard that they are very hard to keep alive in the early stages of their life.

Anyone else with experience -- can you give me some advice please? I grow LOTS of different stuff with very good success but these have lots of challenges I've never heard of for anything else I grow -- They will die if there is phosphorus in the soil, they will die if roots are disturbed, they will die if given too much nitrogen, slugs will kill them, their roots can be killed by phytophtera fungi etc.

My soil is somewhat acidic, lots of organic matter, leaf mold etc. But the seedlings are in pots. I would like to move them to a larger pot. What sort of growing medium should I use? How much sun?

4
Cold Hardy Citrus / Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« on: October 04, 2019, 02:17:49 PM »
The Bullocks brothers permaculture orchard in Orcas Island, WA state is growing a few Yuzu citrus in ground. They are completely unprotected and are producing a lot of fruit.

They also grow many loquat trees from seed. A couple produce good quality fruit.

Bob Duncan in Victoria, BC, Canada grows Meyer Lemon in ground with just a bit of overhead protection and minimal extra protection (Reemay fabric and christmas lights when we get those arctic blasts).
His trees are always loaded with hundreds of fruit and appear to be as fruitful as any I've seen in California.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Loquats with longest bloom period
« on: April 12, 2019, 12:17:48 AM »
Thanks. That's a good suggestion! I have one multi-grafted tree and some trees with single grafts (on quince) that I will probably plant in the same hole.

We get winter frosts between Jan and Feb and pretty much all blooms at that time are going to get destroyed some years.


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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Loquats with longest bloom period
« on: April 11, 2019, 01:41:23 PM »
Hi,
I am trying to identify loquat varieties that bloom for a long time or bloom multiple times. The idea being that such varieties will always have some period where their blooms or fruit will escape frosty weather.

I've heard of Novak having a long bloom period.  What is the blooming pattern of a few other favorite varieties in this forum such as: Avri, Aiden or Peluche?
Any others that are high quality and have an especially long blooming period?

7
Cold Hardy Citrus / Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« on: March 25, 2019, 04:52:07 PM »
Excellent explanation and a great post!

A lot of the weather in the PNW depends on which way the wind is blowing.

Most commonly the wind comes from the West.
This is because of the Westerlies, due to the Coriolis effect diverting North moving winds towards the West. Since Earth is spinning towards the East and since the regions closer towards the poles are moving at a slower speed than the equator, that means winds moving from closer near the equator towards further towards the poles will be deflected apparently geographically East. This has everything to do with the curvature of the Earth, since the distance between longitude is less as one moves higher in latitude.
When the wind is blowing from the West it brings moist cool air from over the ocean. This often means overcast skies.
 In the Summer it helps bring cool air. (And this cooling effect does not change between day and night)
In the Winter this cool air happens to still be warmer relative to what the temperatures would otherwise be, so it helps prevent the temperatures from going below freezing. All the moisture brought in by the air originating from the ocean also condenses into rain, mostly drizzle, helping to release more heat (since water vapor releases heat as it condenses into liquid). The overcast skies from all the cloud cover reflects back thermal radiation from the ground, acting as a sort of thermal blanket at night. All these effects help prevent the temperatures in Winter from dropping too low.

If the winds are blowing in from the Northeast during Winter, it can get very cold and there can be snow.

If the winds are blowing from the East during the Summer, it can get very hot, and there will be clear skies regardless of the season.



This is why most of the trees in this area are evergreen. Cool air coming in from the ocean means most of the rain is going to come when the temperature on land is colder than the cool air in the ocean, so that mostly means the Winter half of the year. During the Summer the needle-like leaves allow the cooler air to pass over them so they do not heat up too much in the sun which would cause excessive water losses to evaporation. Since the air is cooler and moving into a warmer area, it will not release any rain.

8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Giant loquat tree in Seattle
« on: March 19, 2019, 02:43:48 PM »
I found this giant loquat tree that is estimated well over 75 years. It is over 40 feet tall and nearly 4 feet across at the base.
I am sure you have giants of this size in the South but a tropical tree this large this far North is a wonder.
The tree has survived temperatures of 6F in the winter. It definitely survived our super cold polar vortex winter this year where temperatures went down to 14F and stayed there for a bit.

It flowers and fruits every year even though the quality and quantity might vary from year to year. It was still in bloom when I went there this weekend.
I will go back in June/July to see how the fruit tastes.














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Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Loquat scions for sale
« on: March 19, 2019, 02:42:44 PM »
pm sent.

10
So I ordered 2 grafting tools to try out. Both makes clean cuts easily, and inexpensive. I found bigger tool on the right has sharper blade. Probably adequate for me since I have a small backyard and limited number of fruit trees (~40). Planning to try grafting stone fruits end of January or whenever night temp goes over 60 F.

Happy new year and happy planting!




The tool on the right is modeled on a professional tool called "FieldCraft Topgrafter" which is widely used in the kiwi, grape and nut grafting industry. For professionals time is money and skilled labor that can use a grafting knife properly is expensive.  Grafting tools such as this one can cut better than most people who aren't expert grafters. You made a right decision.

11
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Looking for loquat scionwood in Spring
« on: January 03, 2019, 02:45:49 AM »
Just checking to see if there are going to be sellers of scionwood in the Spring timeframe for the following varieties:

Avri, Vista White, Eds Delight, Novak, Pupello, Italiano I.


12
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Best Persimmon tree to buy
« on: December 31, 2018, 12:04:24 AM »
About 10-15 feet tall and across. They can be smaller with pruning.

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Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Is there a tall Ficus Carica variety?
« on: December 30, 2018, 03:08:03 PM »
Celeste can grow to 30 feet tall in the South.

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Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Best Persimmon tree to buy
« on: December 30, 2018, 03:07:02 PM »
Rojo Brillante is astringent. And widely regarded as one of the best.
And available here in the US. Just Fruits and Exotics carries them in the fall.

If you dont have Saijo yet, it is a MUST HAVE. Also astringent and exceptionally flavored. Another one to have is Nikita's gift: which has a rich flavor and also very sweet.

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Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Best tasting fig?
« on: May 15, 2018, 01:56:13 AM »
You have lots of great figs out in Portugal especially in the South/Algarve.

I am growing  Lampeira Preta, Lampa Branca, Violeta, Sofeno Preto, Tres Ao Prato, Cotio Verdeal, Motoso Preto. These are just my Portuguese varieties and they are among the best out there.

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Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Best tasting fig?
« on: May 08, 2018, 04:39:41 PM »
All varieties will do fine in pots. You will need to settle on a good size 10-15 gallons if possible and root prune every 2 years or so. Also keep the tree pruned to be under 5 feet and not get too large. Since they bear on new wood for the most part, this is easy to do.

That said, some varieties are particularly slow growing and will do better in pots than others. Pastiliere, Little red ruby(a new introduction) and Petite Negri are good varieties for pot growing. Petit Negri is especially productive in potted culture.

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Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Best tasting fig?
« on: May 08, 2018, 01:32:48 AM »
Celeste is a great fig. Somehow it doesnt seem to do all that well in the west coast, i.e. drops figs.

Improved Celeste is earlier and doesn't drop figs. It might be worth growing. But the earlier mentioned varieties are tastier IMO.

18
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Very large Hasya sapodilla fruit
« on: May 03, 2018, 01:33:53 PM »
Wow! Thats a large fruit. How sweet is it compared with the smaller sized varieties?


19
Very cool to see you growing tropicals in the bay area. I have family that lives in Cupertino. Maybe I should convince them to plant a mango or jackfruit tree.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Indian Mango season 2018
« on: May 02, 2018, 12:05:20 AM »
I am currently in Bangalore India. I picked up Banganapalli, Raspuri, Imam Pasand, Badami (a strain of Alfonso), Malgova and Mallika.

Malgova is excellent and consistently good. This IMO is the top pick for this area each year. . Raspuri is wonderful as well but a bit tart. Imam Pasand is outstanding, the best fruits beat everything else.  but quite inconsistent. Banganapalli is also excellent but even more inconsistent.

Alfonso is not very consistent at all. Mallika is good but it is still too early in the season.

Kesar is not here yet.

It is peak season for Sapota (Sapodilla). I tasted some of the sweetest fruits this season.



21
Will root pruning these automatically not keep them small?
I am currently visiting family in the tropics (South India, Zone 13) where I have a small plot of land. I just planted a breadfruit here. It is such an attractive tree that I want to try growing it at home in a pot in the Pacific Northwest.


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There are numerous people on the ourfigs forum who are successfully growing figs in Zones 4,5 and 6. The ones in cooler zones usually grow them in pots and take them indoors in winter. Figs go dormant and can easily take temperatures of 10f during dormancy.  In zone 6 you can protect with pipe insulation outdoors.

In addition some varieties are very cold tolerant. Hardy Chicago and various strains of English  Brown Turkey are especially hardy. Some can take temperatures of around 0 f.

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Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Best tasting fig?
« on: April 30, 2018, 01:10:09 PM »
I am growing over a 100 different varieties and have tasted around 50 total.  Zephian lives in an excellent climate for figs and can grow the absolute best ones without difficulty.

That said, VdB is a fantastic tasting variety. one of the very best.  It is also very easily available. Strawberry Verte is great too.

My top 10 list of relatively easily available and tasty figs for your climate in no particular order:

1. Black Madeira/Figo Preto
2. Smith
3. Italian 258
4. Genovese Nero (AF) not Rob's Genovese Nero
5. Strawberry Verte/ Adriatic JH/ Green Ischia
6. Desert King
7. Panache
8. Bourjassotte Grise
9. Grise de St Jean
10. Violette de Bourdeaux/Negronnne

 I am not impressed with Ronde de Bourdeaux, not tasty unless completely ripe. And it is a fig for cooler climates.



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Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Best tasting fig?
« on: April 29, 2018, 08:22:10 AM »
There are lots of great tasting figs. The best one I've tasted is Black Madeira out of almost 50 varieties.
But it is tough to grow, splits easily and ripens late in the season. Also the tree itself is somewhat slow growing and sensitive to cold.
You will have zero issues in zone 9B though.

In your area, I also recommend Bourjassotte Grise: another easy to grow but spectacular tasting fig. If you are upto it, you should try to make a trip to San Jose Prusch Park in fig season. You will be able to taste multiple fig varieties directly off the trees and make your decision that way.

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