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Messages - zephian

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302
Once it's established don't forget to prune it every year. I didn't get around to it this year and the fruitset has broken many large branches. (My trees are also 20+ft tall though)

303
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Which Avocado next:
« on: August 28, 2018, 02:33:34 PM »
I was just kidding around...  Stewart and holiday are good trees they both kind of small and slow growing. 

I have a bunch of rootstocks in small pots I wanted to graft up to sell to forum members.  The problem is they dont get large in thr smaller containers so I may have to scratch that idea.

If you want to graft some trees just start saving the seeds and put them in 5gal pots.  In a few months you can graft them up and make new trees.
I may try that.Thanks for the advice! Any recommendations on a root stock I should try? I mainly see Hass but whole foods carries reed occasionally but man they are pricey.

304
Tropical Fruit Online Library / Re: What is benefit of potatoes
« on: August 28, 2018, 02:31:04 PM »
Fries make me happy! Does that count?

305
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Which Avocado next:
« on: August 28, 2018, 12:55:29 PM »
Why not just buy them all?
My lot is under 1/4 acre, or I would happily buy them all and more! My wife eats avocados like candy.
I'm not against returning these trees if a better option presents itself to me.
I haven't been able to find a reed nearby. If someone had one already grafted I'd be happy to purchase, but I'm not quite ready to attempt grafting yet. I believe stewart is very cold hardy, maybe some day I'll be comfortable enough to graft something else on to it? I'm going to attempt some grafting on some mango seedlings once they are large enough (I have about 15 in 1 gallon pots) I hope to someday be able to afford 5+ acres but a bit out of my price range currently. For now I'm happy enough to own a house at 26 :)

The holiday and stewart I picked up weren't all that impressive and hopefully they come through. Home depot only has a 90 day return policy where as my local nursery will accept them for a whole year.

306
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Which Avocado next:
« on: August 26, 2018, 09:38:02 PM »
How does one source the “yeah this”?
I looked for one today and couldn't find 'yeah this' variety. Instead I picked up a holiday and stewart. Hooray, I repotted them to more permanent pots and better drainage and... root rot. Yeah! Northern California nursery's water everything....everyday....

307
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Which Avocado next:
« on: August 26, 2018, 06:14:26 PM »
The Atemoya? I'm going to be growing some...soon

308
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Which Avocado next:
« on: August 26, 2018, 03:38:34 PM »
Which avocado should I get next? I have room for two trees. They will stay in pot until next season as I am going to start prepping the corner of my yard with wood chips.
I need a tree that can stay fairly small, and is fairly cold tolerant. I'm in 9b.
I currently have a hass. My local home depot has Bacon, holiday, lamb hass, mexicola, stewart. This is the largest selection I've seen in my area, should I try and order a grafted plant from a forum member or go forward with one of these?

When is the best season to plant them? Should I plant after night time temps are 40ish after last frost in the spring to give them time to mature before next winter?

Thanks,

309
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Passionfruit
« on: August 25, 2018, 09:51:29 PM »
my high this weekend is around 93 and 50s at nice... such a nice relief from the 110 degree weather. I was just in anaheim two weeks ago and it was still stupid hot.. lol

310
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Avocado thread
« on: August 25, 2018, 09:14:20 PM »
My Avocado death count as of today: 2. Lamb-Hass and Holiday. My third tree is doing great with exactly same treatment as these two? (Hass) Luckily my local nursery has credited me for both trees and a 4-in-1 cherry tree that a graft had died on.

Does anyone, or will you have any avocados (grafted) for sale? I can get pretty much any variety at my local home depot right now. (Bacon, Holiday, Stewart, Hass, Little Cado, Lamb-Hass, Mexicola) 5 gallon for $30  (Grafted)

Is there any variety I should look in to for my area? (9b, northern CA)
I like the timing of the holiday, and may grab another but I'd be interested in any recommendations on better replacements for the lamb-hass. I had my eyes set on a GEM avocado but short of driving to SD and paying quite a bit I was unable to locate one.

Any input appreciated.

311
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Where to Buy MangoSeeds in US?
« on: August 25, 2018, 09:01:27 PM »
Never seen any stores that sell seeds.  You are in California,  just find some Manilla fruit and plant away.  When sized up enough, graft the variety you want (I dont recommend Alphonso for your area).

By Manila fruit do you mean Manila Mangoes? Thanks.
Yes, correct.

Also, are Manila mangoes the same as Phillipine mangoes or Carabao mangoes?
"The most common variety of mango in the Philippines is what Americans refer to as champagne mango. It’s been called Manila mango, Ataulfo mango (named after its Mexican grower) and Honey mango.  Filipinos call it manggang kalabaw (carabao mango) while the Philippine government refers to it as ‘Manila Super Mango"

Sounds like you're talking about the same mango, just different mangos. My wifes family is from the philipines and they all love these mangos. I believe you're the one who emailed me earlier. I'll check the farmers market next weekend for fruits but they're usually at KP market. I'm growing several currently for experimenting with grafting in the future.

312
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Passionfruit
« on: August 25, 2018, 08:55:23 PM »
Hey Brad, I had 5 or 6 flowers open up today but there's no pollen? Any idea what that's about?

I don't know, I never really look closely at the flowers or mess with the pollen.  The bees are doing it and they are very active on the flowers.  They roll around inside the flowers.  Maybe you need more water or its too hot for proper pollinization at your location.  You may get better results when the vine gets more mature as well.
I checked just now and there was pollen? Maybe it wasn't quite open all the way yet. Bees aren't visiting my vine and I just had 7 bloom today...
They prefer my tomatoes and peppers right now..
Hand pollinated 2 yesterday and they closed up, hope these 7 take today.Hopefully the plants mature enough to hold fruit!

313
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Passionfruit
« on: August 25, 2018, 03:47:54 PM »
Hey Brad, I had 5 or 6 flowers open up today but there's no pollen? Any idea what that's about?

314
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Where to Buy MangoSeeds in US?
« on: August 24, 2018, 11:26:42 AM »
I bought two cases of Manilla mangoes at an Asian market near Sacramento here. Grew several and they're doing great. I see them at farmers markets and Asian markets all over.

315
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: What's going on with my avocado?
« on: August 23, 2018, 11:57:48 AM »
Mine were the same, over watering looked like it was thirsty! Good luck!

316
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: What's going on with my avocado?
« on: August 23, 2018, 10:28:08 AM »
Sounds like the same mistake I made with some avocados in pots. Too much water! I lost two trees (Holiday, Lamb-Hass) but one made a recovery. I recommend pulling back any mulch and letting it dry, weather permitting.

317
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Passionfruit
« on: August 20, 2018, 10:56:34 AM »
Passion fruit goes for 5-6$ ea up here. And they're older than dirt by the time we get them at the store :(
Hopefully mine blooms again and sets fruit this time. Its put on a good 10-12ft of growth since the last time it bloomed. If you still have some when that lilikoi cutting is ready I may be interested in a couple!

318
Tropical Fruit Discussion / My plants (New to tropicals)
« on: August 18, 2018, 05:50:25 PM »
Just wanted to post a few pictures of my newest addiction. Mostly fueled by Mike's low price seeds! (Thanks Mike)
Had a bit of a learning curve with some seeds so far, and not all are doing well, but it's a work in progress.



Zills black suriname in the middle, rest are sapodillas. (Silas, Makok, hasya)

My only avocado tree that bounced back after over watering (Hass)


4-in-1 cherry. struggling a bit. Lost all green foliage on a graft recently.


Dead-ish avocados. some suckers from root ball. Will see how these do before tearing them out. (Lamb-Hass and holiday)


Y. Grumichama, pitomba, pitangatuba and peanut butter fruit (and my last sapodilla still emerging)


Same as last but also some muntingia calabura. I had alot of tip burn and  started using water that's been sitting out for a while instead of straight from the tap, appears to be helping.


Manilla Mango


And pruning advice on this? I lopped about 1 ft off when I got it and it's growing weird now. [Same Manilla]


Baby mangos from seed. Manilla, Nam Dac Mai, tommy atkins? (From the grocery store)


Goji Berry. Not sure I like these too much. Reminds me too much of a tomato.


Passion fruit (Red) Finally taking off and growing. Should be flowering soon but not expecting fruit (first year)

Constructive criticism welcome. Like I said, I'm new to this so will take any advice.
I lost alot of seeds (Including all my cherries of the rio:( ) but I now have them on a heat mat and in upside down plastic totes. Humidity is now kept around 70% and I'm noticing much better growth on some seedlings, though my camera doesn't show alot of it!

319
Not to hijack your thread but congrats on the recovery! I recently had 2/3 of my avocados suffer from over watering. I stumped two of them and I think my Holiday is a total loss, but I just got back from a short vacation in so-cal and my Lamb-hass sent out a sucker from the base! Hopefully this is a good sign! I cut it back to about a foot above the graft.. hopefully mine recovers as well as yours.

320
I purchased seeds from Nimfa as well. USPS lost the package for a while (took almost a month to get this package) and it was poorly packaged for international travel but seeds were viable (Nam Doc Mai) all have germinated and appear to be the correct seed. It's my understanding that any international shipping is going to be a gamble, but I would buy from her again if there was a seed I really desired. Though not my first choice.
(My two cents)

321
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Lemon zest on CA rootstocks
« on: August 06, 2018, 10:59:59 PM »
When planting these trees, plant in a square shaped hole, not round. Loosen the soil to the same depth as the pot, you can loosen the soil deeper but the plant will settle more and may sink a bit over the years if you don’t compensate by planting higher.

If you have good to decent soil, there is no need to amend the soil, backfill with 100% native soil. If you want to give it a little extra love, you can add some organic tropical Fruit tree fertilizer and some beneficial soil microbes/mycorrhizal fungi. I also like to give my trees frequent dilute feedings of kelp emulsion during the establishment period.

You can top dress with a good compost and definitely mulch the tree with at least 3-4 inches of mulch. Mulch decomposes fast and needs to be replenished every 3-6 months.

If your soil is heavy clay, you should plant on a small to medium mound to allow for adequate drainage. Many new Mango growers make the mistake of adding too much organic amendments to the soil but this is a big mistake because the organic matter holds too much water and it will decompose so your tree will sink after a few years.

Think about it this way, if you add 30% organic amendments to your planting hole, the tree will likely sink by approximately 30% when that organic matter decomposes. In real life, the tree won’t sink exactly that much because the roots will grow out and anchor it a bit but it will sink a lot and can be extremely detrimental to your trees health.

I have heavy clay soil at my place and I plant on small mounds and backfill with about 50% native soil, 40% Pumice and about ten percent organic matter to get the tree going. To compensate for the loosening of the soil and for the incorporated organic matter, I plant my tree about 10% higher. It’s already on a mound but remember that the soil will settle.

For more detailed information, see this thread.

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=23124.0

Some of my suggestions may have changed over the years as new information comes in. I have to go through the entire thread to make sure I have updated with the latest techniques that work best for growers in SoCal.
Simon

This couldn't come at better time for me, I am glad you revived some of the old posts. I see you are also from SD, I have zero experience with Mangoes, in fact I just got few seeds of Nam Doc Mai germinated and I could not be happier with how healthy they look. What is your experience with this variety? my guess it will probably be happy until winter although where I live typically does not drop below 40F in winter.

 CA rootstock sounds like the way froward, I was wondering if anyone have suggestions on what would be best varieties for my area to graft on to CA rootstock in future. As space is limited and mainly taken up by other trees I would probably be able to handle 1-2 mango trees; with that in mind what are the absolute must have. I am not not a fan of the fibrous types and generally prefer sweet + sour fruits (not overally sweet) always on the look out for rare fruits!

Very helpful information Simon, thanks. I have some seedlings I'll be planting in this next year or two and this will be a big help.
ManVFruit did you get your seeds for nam doc Mai from nimfa/seedpirates? I did and they're doing very well considering USPS lost them for about two weeks... I have some manilla and tommy atkins doing fantastic too (Though I am on the other side of the state surrounded by fires currently. :( )

Yes that's right, sorry to hear about the fires. Hope they have it under control?
one near me just hit 2nd largest in california history... not looking good but far enough away from me all I get is the ash rain. I need to get some pictures of all my plants soon, we should compare! I'd love to see how they're growing vs similar plants from a few hundred miles south.

322
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Lemon zest on CA rootstocks
« on: August 06, 2018, 09:03:29 PM »
When planting these trees, plant in a square shaped hole, not round. Loosen the soil to the same depth as the pot, you can loosen the soil deeper but the plant will settle more and may sink a bit over the years if you don’t compensate by planting higher.

If you have good to decent soil, there is no need to amend the soil, backfill with 100% native soil. If you want to give it a little extra love, you can add some organic tropical Fruit tree fertilizer and some beneficial soil microbes/mycorrhizal fungi. I also like to give my trees frequent dilute feedings of kelp emulsion during the establishment period.

You can top dress with a good compost and definitely mulch the tree with at least 3-4 inches of mulch. Mulch decomposes fast and needs to be replenished every 3-6 months.

If your soil is heavy clay, you should plant on a small to medium mound to allow for adequate drainage. Many new Mango growers make the mistake of adding too much organic amendments to the soil but this is a big mistake because the organic matter holds too much water and it will decompose so your tree will sink after a few years.

Think about it this way, if you add 30% organic amendments to your planting hole, the tree will likely sink by approximately 30% when that organic matter decomposes. In real life, the tree won’t sink exactly that much because the roots will grow out and anchor it a bit but it will sink a lot and can be extremely detrimental to your trees health.

I have heavy clay soil at my place and I plant on small mounds and backfill with about 50% native soil, 40% Pumice and about ten percent organic matter to get the tree going. To compensate for the loosening of the soil and for the incorporated organic matter, I plant my tree about 10% higher. It’s already on a mound but remember that the soil will settle.

For more detailed information, see this thread.

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=23124.0

Some of my suggestions may have changed over the years as new information comes in. I have to go through the entire thread to make sure I have updated with the latest techniques that work best for growers in SoCal.
Simon

This couldn't come at better time for me, I am glad you revived some of the old posts. I see you are also from SD, I have zero experience with Mangoes, in fact I just got few seeds of Nam Doc Mai germinated and I could not be happier with how healthy they look. What is your experience with this variety? my guess it will probably be happy until winter although where I live typically does not drop below 40F in winter.

 CA rootstock sounds like the way froward, I was wondering if anyone have suggestions on what would be best varieties for my area to graft on to CA rootstock in future. As space is limited and mainly taken up by other trees I would probably be able to handle 1-2 mango trees; with that in mind what are the absolute must have. I am not not a fan of the fibrous types and generally prefer sweet + sour fruits (not overally sweet) always on the look out for rare fruits!

Very helpful information Simon, thanks. I have some seedlings I'll be planting in this next year or two and this will be a big help.
ManVFruit did you get your seeds for nam doc Mai from nimfa/seedpirates? I did and they're doing very well considering USPS lost them for about two weeks... I have some manilla and tommy atkins doing fantastic too (Though I am on the other side of the state surrounded by fires currently. :( )

323
Any updates on this project? I'd love to see more pictures of local avocados!

324
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Brutal heatwave 7/06/18 in Socal
« on: July 30, 2018, 11:52:42 AM »
I moved my cherry tree (4 in 1) inside for a bit and in the last couple days it's seem tremendous recovery. New growth all over the branches. I was worried the heat had fried the ranier graft but it's making a comeback! I think the smoke from the carr fire up here is helping too... unfortunate as it is. The shade's helping alot of my plants that have been struggling with the 110 degree  weather and sun.

325
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Avocado thread
« on: July 30, 2018, 11:51:05 AM »
My Hass has made a great recovery.. unfortunately I've cut the lamb-hass down to about 1 ft tall with one green group of leaves. everything else died off. Holiday has green tips but not looking to good still.
Remember to not OVER water :(

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