Lakeland Florida project

[C24mccain]

Hello this is really my first post other than the one I did in the intro thread. Thought I would start a thread sharing progress videos of our project here in Lakeland Florida. The project is officially one year old now although fruit tree planting didn't begin until end of March, early April, in 2016. We just did our latest update videos today February 26 in two parts which I will post first then I will put last years August video and November update video up.

part 1:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj3GB6lnolU&t=40s

Part 2:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIePOFxQ7N8&t=748s

November 2016 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvDdGuJ1cx0&t=258s

August video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMl50NQYd9Q&t=1071s

[shot]

The papaya should get much better with the coming heat
cool project!

[C24mccain]

That's good... We will see what we get this summer.. We tried it again after doing the video. I think my reaction was a little off and its not as bad as I made it seem. I was hoping for sweetness and when I didn't get it I was let down. It didn't taste horrible, just not sweet. Thanks for the info.

[C24mccain]

For those who don't like watching long videos I will write out a list of what we are growing:

South end of pond:

4 Red Lady Papaya's
Sweetheart lychee
Mauritius lychee
Kari starfruit
Altaufo mango seedling
Valencia pride mango
Coconut cream mango
Glenn Mango
Kent Mango
Keitt Mango
unknown mango seedling
Kohola Longan
Mexicola Avocado
Bacon Avocado
Redland's White Sapote
Purple Passion fruit
Flordahome pear
Hood pear
Muntingia (Jamacian cherry, Strawberry tree)
Tropic snow peach
Florida prince peach
unknown Mulberry
Black everbearing Mulberry
around 10 Moringa seedlings just sprouted
yellow longneck fig
White marseilles fig
Texas Everbearing Fig
20 pineapples

North side of pond:

Ice cream bananas
dwarf cavendish bananas
williams banana
2 unknown seedling Papayas
Meyer Lemon
unknown pink guava
unknown white fleshed dragon fruit
unknown red fleshed dragon fruit
Condor dragon fruit (purple)
Saijo Persimmon
Fuyu Persimmon
Navel Orange
Pineapple orange
2 brown Turkey Figs
Tropic Beauty peach
unknown Macadamia nut
Alano sapodilla
unknown Green Sapote
barbados cherry
Kari Starfruit
Jackfruit seedling just sprouted
2 unknown mango seedlings that came in compost pile
Bradenton Loquat (looking for Avri and novak Loquat)

Other things to mention that are getting started: pigeon peas,longevity spinach, egyptian spinach, cranberry hibiscus, Katuk, tree collards traditional raised garden beds, seminole pumpkins, strawberry patch (about to end), and I'm sure I forgot something as well as there will be new additions soon.

Any Ideas on what to add?

[TheDom]

I'd add a whole bunch of atemoya and jaboticaba.

[C24mccain]

I have pondered jaboticaba and have passed it up so far because of hearing how slow it is growing and fruiting. However that all the more reason I should have planted it to begin with . Don't know much about atemoya so I will look into it... Thanks

[C24mccain]

Below is the update video to our project. Here is a list of what we planted since the February update:

3 Natchez Blackberry plants
1 Southern Home Grape vine
1 black (purple) Jaboticaba
1 red Jaboticaba
1 Pakistan Mulberry
1 Champagne Loquat
1 Makok Sapodilla
1 Hasya Sapodilla
1 Dream Atemoya
1 Goldfinger Banana
2 Dwarf Namwah Banana
1 Thai giant Jujube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGqf83oxD94&t=1s

[GrowInFlorida]

i planted jaboticaba in my zen garden so until it starts producing it's just a pretty companion to my pagoda

[GrowInFlorida]

Corey, where are you buying all the different perennial spinaches/tree collard etc? I cannot find them here in Florida...

[AlwaysHotinFL]

Hello Lakeland brother! Quite the collection you've got there! That seems like a huge amount to maintain. I haven't had the chance to watch the videos yet, so you might have covered it, but how do you keep up with watering with that volume of trees? Obviously we just had a great rain and alot more to come, but just curious.

Also, heard Sun and Fun intruding on one of your videos, it's cool to see all the planes around though!

[C24mccain]

Corey, where are you buying all the different perennial spinaches/tree collard etc? I cannot find them here in Florida...

I got the tree collards online but I can't remember where. If you want some cuttings let me know and I'll send you some, just cover the shipping or stop by and get them. The perennial spinach plants I got at ECHO in FT. Myers.

[C24mccain]

Hello Lakeland brother! Quite the collection you've got there! That seems like a huge amount to maintain. I haven't had the chance to watch the videos yet, so you might have covered it, but how do you keep up with watering with that volume of trees? Obviously we just had a great rain and alot more to come, but just curious.

Also, heard Sun and Fun intruding on one of your videos, it's cool to see all the planes around though!

Haha, we live very close to the airport so yes we have a clear view of the airshow. My full time job is taking care of the project so I have time. As for watering, the topsoil we had to bring in to build the land up is not normal Florida sugar sand, its a very dark black soil (originally from a swamp I was told) that holds moisture very well plus I'm mulching heavily. Also we have a pond which makes water access very easy. We also have well water and the hoses are long enough to reach any spot on the property. Since your nearby your always welcome to stop by and see if you would like.

[C24mccain]

i planted jaboticaba in my zen garden so until it starts producing it's just a pretty companion to my pagoda

Yea I put off Jaboticaba because of the slow growth issue but at this point I have so much to take care of I really am not worried that it will be slow. Something is always growing and happening so its not like I will be anxious...

[AlwaysHotinFL]

Hello Lakeland brother! Quite the collection you've got there! That seems like a huge amount to maintain. I haven't had the chance to watch the videos yet, so you might have covered it, but how do you keep up with watering with that volume of trees? Obviously we just had a great rain and alot more to come, but just curious.

Also, heard Sun and Fun intruding on one of your videos, it's cool to see all the planes around though!

Haha, we live very close to the airport so yes we have a clear view of the airshow. My full time job is taking care of the project so I have time. As for watering, the topsoil we had to bring in to build the land up is not normal Florida sugar sand, its a very dark black soil (originally from a swamp I was told) that holds moisture very well plus I'm mulching heavily. Also we have a pond which makes water access very easy. We also have well water and the hoses are long enough to reach any spot on the property. Since your nearby your always welcome to stop by and see if you would like.

Ah, gotcha, it's great to be able to control the soil you plant in-definitely makes it much easier to have success with your plantings. I was wondering how you would have the time to manage so much, but full time definitely makes it much easier. Might have to take you up on your offer to come have a look one of these days!

Of all the things you've planted- have a favorite or one you're most looking forward to?

[C24mccain]

AlwaysHotinFL: I'm not sure. When we originally started we only planned on doing about 15-20 trees and at that time mangos were definitely my favorite. However much of what we have planted I have never tried. I kept learning and kept adding to the project. Right now I really like Sapodilla. We're about to try our first pink guava any day now, maybe today, not sure yet and I've never had a guava. Doubt it will become a favorite but I just enjoy the new experience with every thing. Ice cream banana flower is coming out and that will be a first when that's ready. Always something new when you have this much stuff to take care of. I'm here most everyday during the week working outside so just let me know ahead of time and you can stop by. What you working on?

[AlwaysHotinFL]

AlwaysHotinFL: I'm not sure. When we originally started we only planned on doing about 15-20 trees and at that time mangos were definitely my favorite. However much of what we have planted I have never tried. I kept learning and kept adding to the project. Right now I really like Sapodilla. We're about to try our first pink guava any day now, maybe today, not sure yet and I've never had a guava. Doubt it will become a favorite but I just enjoy the new experience with every thing. Ice cream banana flower is coming out and that will be a first when that's ready. Always something new when you have this much stuff to take care of. I'm here most everyday during the week working outside so just let me know ahead of time and you can stop by. What you working on?

Sweet! Mangoes are amazing, and I've never had sapodilla or most of the varieties you've planted either, but they sound good. Guavas are interesting, I think I would like them more without all those hard seeds.

As for me, working on dragonfruit! Forgive me but I'm going to copy/paste from my intro post:

I have 7 different dragonfruit cuttings I'm currently rooting and hoping to establish into plants:
Makisupa
Delight
Bien Hoa Red
Valdivia Roja
Orejona
Physical graffiti
And an unknown red I got from Hawkins Corner nursery (AMAZING guy that Mr Skinner)

In addition I have several unknown (forgotten!) fruit trees:
Pear
Honeybell/Tangelo (fruiting this year!)
Mexican (small) Avocado (also fruiting!)
Large Avocado grown from seed

AND a square foot garden which takes up most of my gardening/landscaping time.

Closer to God in the garden as the saying goes. He gives the increase.

[C24mccain]

AlwayHotinFL: I got the same unknown red dragon fruit from Richard at Hawkins Corner. I go visit him once or twice a month when I need a break from all the work. He had some Jaboticaba fruits on his two trees a couple of weeks ago but they were not ripe. I went back a week later and and animal had eaten everyone of them. I have bought a few other trees from him as well.

We tried our first guava the other day and it was ok but I believe I pulled it a little to early. It surprisingly tasted better when I ate the skin with the slightly pink flesh. Letting the rest of the fruit stay on longer. My Condor dragon fruit cuttings have just put out their first buds and started growing. I had stuck them in the ground back in February so it appears it took about 6-7 weeks to start forming buds. Most of the varieties that you have listed I have not heard of before (only physical graffiti).

Our first year of gardening has been a flop and if you watched our latest video you saw that we had filled our raised beds with a compost/topsoil mix from a company in Plant City. Well the compost was very immature and the nitrogen is totally locked up so nothing will grow in it currently. Thus our garden troubles continue but I hope to have it fixed by fall. I much prefer growing fruit trees . God Bless!

[AlwaysHotinFL]

Yeah I saw the video with the garden output. Stinks, but maybe that cover crop will help out. Individual fruit trees certainly require less maintenance, that's for sure! But tropicals and the volume you have is definitely a major project.

When I created my square foot garden (SFG) it called for 5 different kinds of compost, I got mostly different bagged stuff however I did pick up some from BS Ranch and Farm right by the parkway on the south side. Pretty good stuff and at a comparable price to what you got before in PC by the truckload. They gave it to me gratis because I only picked up like 4 5gallon buckets worth, which would have cost me a dollar otherwise if I do remember correctly. They just said come back with a bigger load next time, haha 

Let me know if you get some, I need some more but don't want to bother them with my $1 bill again, plus it'll give me a chance to see all that hard work you guys are doing!

God bless!

http://www.bsranchandfarm.com/#2839

[C24mccain]

Yeah I saw the video with the garden output. Stinks, but maybe that cover crop will help out. Individual fruit trees certainly require less maintenance, that's for sure! But tropicals and the volume you have is definitely a major project.

When I created my square foot garden (SFG) it called for 5 different kinds of compost, I got mostly different bagged stuff however I did pick up some from BS Ranch and Farm right by the parkway on the south side. Pretty good stuff and at a comparable price to what you got before in PC by the truckload. They gave it to me gratis because I only picked up like 4 5gallon buckets worth, which would have cost me a dollar otherwise if I do remember correctly. They just said come back with a bigger load next time, haha 

Let me know if you get some, I need some more but don't want to bother them with my $1 bill again, plus it'll give me a chance to see all that hard work you guys are doing!

God bless!

http://www.bsranchandfarm.com/#2839

I get compost from B&S Farms all the time. I have a 3 yard trailer that I fill. I've gone through at least 20 loads so far and have a half trailer here right now. I'm not using any at the moment so if you want some come get what you need as I won't be using any for the foreseeable future. I sent the stuff in for a lab test a year ago so if you want to see the test results let me know. I wouldn't grow directly in it but it is a good addition to the topsoil. Very rich (way to high in Potassium) but the PH is typically around 8 so thats why I wouldn't use it as a base.  The cost of the stuff is $26 per ton which is about 13$ per yard so I have found it to be a good deal. You can have some of mine for free. Happy gardening .

[PM239]

Here not far away in Gibsonton with almost 300 varieties.
I'm new, but you have a nice collection.

[gnappi]

I have pondered jaboticaba and have passed it up so far because of hearing how slow it is growing and fruiting. However that all the more reason I should have planted it to begin with .

Yeah, I just planted my Jabo and sort of forgot about them. I just water and feed them and wait. No expectations, no hurry. When my first one bloomed I was like a 5 year old at a candy or toy shop :-)

The old saying... "The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago, the next best time is today" is never going to be out of date.

[Balaman]

The Bananas will love having their roots near water and the pond should help to increase the humidity around the plants. Any chance of you sharing some of your plant photos with iplantz.com?

[C24mccain]

Here not far away in Gibsonton with almost 300 varieties.
I'm new, but you have a nice collection.

I'm new to Florida so I hadn't heard of that city but I looked it up and yes your close by. You have the advantage and being near the water. You have have photos or videos?

[C24mccain]

The below picture is what happens to a mango tree when you apply to much urine to it. I knew they were sensitive to nitrogen but I didn't think I would end up doing this. This was my Valencia pride. I have since pugged it to see if there is any life remaining. We will see what happens in a few weeks. I killed this tree with 1 liter of urine mixed with if I remember correctly 5 gallons of water but I may have threw a second 5 gallons of water on it as well but I don't remember. I just know a couple days after when I was in the area I noticed every leaf was burnt crisp.

Other updates: Just moving mulch and watering trees as the drought continues. The rains that came through last night (5/4) and this morning (5/5) barely touched our area. All is well though. We have ice cream bananas forming. We had a quite a few pink guavas we harvested, only the last few had worm issues. Other than that things are growing and I've learned to keep the urine away from my mangos . 

[AlwaysHotinFL]

This is great project. I've personally been to Corey's place and can vouch for his great setup. I look forward to seeing more of the fruit come in! Been inspired to get a mango of my own- Pickering. Gonna be good. Just gotta wait until my Dragon fruit project is complete and in the ground, then I can mango it up!

Other forum members use urine for fertilizer?

[C24mccain]

We did our latest update video on our project here in Lakeland Florida today (July 30). It's in two parts posted below. We don't have much in new plantings but a lot of mulching has been accomplished and the bananas love being planted next to the pond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqGXUJYdtko&t   (part 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stEeXV-0O3s&t    (part 2)

[C24mccain]

Emily has dumped a lot of rain here. Pic of our neighbors yard. We are not nearly as bad on our property. However unless we have a drier August and September there will soon be no place for the water to go.

[AlwaysHotinFL]

That's a ton of water.

Glad you finally have some Dragon fruit after all those failed flowers!

[C24mccain]

Well now we will wait and see if they (dragon fruit) continue to hold..

[C24mccain]

Hurricane Irma update...  Papayas are lost as well as some bananas  but all the trees should be ok. Here is a quick video I did this morning of the damage. The audio became unsynced with the video part way through so I apologize for that. I already have the damage fixed and will do an update video on that soon after we clean up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYhVPMb6as8

[C24mccain]

Here is our latest update video to our project. This ends the second growing season for some of our trees and the end of the first for others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OaRi0OyCgo&t=

[Tropical Farmer]

Everything is looking great. Great work!

[C24mccain]

Everything is looking great. Great work!

Thanks

[C24mccain]

Here is a short video of me doing some freeze protection. It's been a tough winter this year and some things are certainly beat up but overall it's not as bad as I thought. The shocker for me right now is I had a Hasya Sapodilla that was unprotected on Wednesday nights freeze down to 25 degrees and as of today which is Sunday there is no sign of damage. The starfruit trees were also unprotected and they took a beating. Everything I protected turned out well.

https://youtu.be/EJ6-mF9z73Y

[C24mccain]

Here is my latest update video showing the extent of the January freeze damage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJgvzYGTNkg&feature=youtu.be

[Dylan SB]

Does it normally get into the mid 20's in winter for you?  You have quite a few trees there that need protection for that kind of cold.  It is nice to see some new growth so soon after seeing all the damage.

[C24mccain]

In my search of the historical data for Lakeland it appears 24-26 degrees happens  about 2-3 times over a ten year period. 28 is a little more common happening every few years and under 32 happens usually once a year on avg. The all time record low is 19*. The last two years 33 degrees was the low. It's fairly common to get no freeze in a given year. Thus my decision to plant some trees I knew would need protection was one I made because a few nights a year of hard work to protect things wasn't a big deal, at least at the time I planned all of this. However I did plant to much so I will be cutting back. I also did not take into consideration being in prison at my home during the winter. Any plans to go out of town are hard to make way ahead of time out of freeze concerns. It's fun to push the limits a bit but I'm certain over the coming years more changes will take place but so long as the trees survive I'll give it a chance. I will just be focusing on things in the future that will be less worrisome.

[C24mccain]

Here is our latest update video done today June 21 2018. Some trees died from the freezes but they have been replaced. Things are growing well right now. We just need it to stop raining. Our pond is at flood stage already and that shouldn't happen until end of September. May was an incredible amount of rain in our area. Some of the Papayas are not to happy about it. Been getting some figs the last few weeks that are really good. Trees added since last update: Day avocado, winter mexican avocado, giombo persimmon, tropic beauty peach, florida grande peach. My Avri Loquat that I grafted onto an inground seedling has done well and should be out of the woods.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFT7h2vylvY&t=

[C24mccain]

Here are the videos to our latest update on our food forest in Lakeland Fl.

Zone 1: Jackfruit, green sapote, loquat, sapodilla, persimmon, barbados cherry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO3n4EXNXdU

zone 2: peach, orange, persimmon, guava, figs, bananas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWwHBTJ_19Q

Zone 3: coconut cream mango, kent mango, keitt mango, glen mango, lychee, avocados, peach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjyFqYipNlg

Zone 4: sapodilla, dream atemoya, white sapote, passion fruit, avri loquat, peach, indian jujube,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erDI7zNbWnU

Zone 5: red lady papaya, moringa, pakistani mulberry, jaboticaba, red jaboticaba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBr9YfOBPYc

[C24mccain]

Update video on our food forest. Full tour.

https://youtu.be/_J4ZGkLB25U

[johnb51]

Thanks for the tour.  I really enjoyed seeing the variety of trees.  If we stay in Florida, I'd like to move somewhere in the center of the state between Lakeland and Lake Placid (Lake Wales Ridge).  No more coasts (hurricanes, flood potential, eventual sea level rise), heading for high ground.  You mentioned problematic low-lying areas.  What's your soil like?  It doesn't drain well?

[C24mccain]

Thanks for the tour.  I really enjoyed seeing the variety of trees.  If we stay in Florida, I'd like to move somewhere in the center of the state between Lakeland and Lake Placid (Lake Wales Ridge).  No more coasts (hurricanes, flood potential, eventual sea level rise), heading for high ground.  You mentioned problematic low-lying areas.  What's your soil like?  It doesn't drain well?

The soil drains fine but the problem is high water table especially towards end of summer. The ground at times becomes completely saturated. This is why all of my trees are on mounds. I think if you get east of Lakeland you will find higher ground, on the west side where I am everything is low lying and has flood potential. The soil in my are seems more fertile than most areas I have seen in Florida. I bought a lot of topsoil to build my mounds that was originally from a swamp so it black and rich, not typical sugar sand.

[TSmith]

The last video you did was good. I grew up right around the corner from where you are located. Hope you get lots of fruit on those trees! If you have trouble eating all the bananas let me know and I will send someone by to pickup some to help out!!

[C24mccain]

The last video you did was good. I grew up right around the corner from where you are located. Hope you get lots of fruit on those trees! If you have trouble eating all the bananas let me know and I will send someone by to pickup some to help out!!

I usually give some to co-workers, friends and family. We usually don't have a bunch of racks ready at once but if we did you can have some.