The Tropical Fruit Forum

Hi guys! Today I received the cuttings of a Selenicereus megalanthus from a member of the Grapebush forum. I always rooted the dragon fruit in the sand, but this time I want to try to do it in perlite. Who has positive perlite rooting results? Is this a good idea or is it better to use sand?

Perlite is better than sand.

I prefer Perlite on the bottom and a little good draining potting soil on top.

I apologize if it’s not OK to ask but does anyone know if Matt’s landscaping is closed? I spoke with him on 7/27/19 and placed a small order which he said he’d fill the next weekend. That was the last I heard about the order. I’ve called a few times but the recording says the mailbox is full. I haven’t been charged so am not out anything. It seems like I need to give up on my order and look elsewhere.
Just curious about my experience though.
Thanks.

You might try Spicy Exotics.
https://www.spicyexotics.com
They have filled the gap left from Pine Island Nursery and Mattslandscape Dragon Fruit plant sales.

Can't you just post the List so we do not have to Join Facebook Group?

I have to climb up a ladder and balance myself on rotting wood, it’s shady and I wouldn’t recommend it for those that are prone to falling
I don’t hand pollinate any of my DF because I’m too lazy. The bees do all the work for me.
Simon

Easy said when you have compatible or self fertile varieties flowering at the same time.

Lesson learned for newbies with only one or two not self fertile varieties.

Rockwood variety

Is there a good write up or guide for starting mango seeds?

YouTube

What is the name of the Annona tree pictured at 14:45 minutes in the video?

I got some dragon fruit cuttings for 2 weeks in potting soil but they didn't show any roots so far.
At the top of the cutting aerial roots came thru. Should I cut them?

It is not uncommon for it to take months to see roots.

I would think that if they grew, shipped, and warehoused well, had a good meat to seed ratio, they would be grown in place of Hass.

Thin skin and different appearance... probably not going to replace Hass.

Genetic Diversity of Mexican Avocado in Nuevo Leon, Mexico

https://www.intechopen.com/books/molecular-approaches-to-genetic-diversity/genetic-diversity-of-mexican-avocado-in-nuevo-leon-mexico

It's funny that my Mexicola here has way more flesh than seeds. Maybe you got the wrong type of Mexicola, or maybe my Mexicola was mislabeled. But whatever, the one I have has smooth skin, you can eat the dark skin, and it is cold hardy, and the leaves has the distinctive Anise aroma. I grafted mine, by taking it from a very mature Mexicola tree of our friend nearby city.

Funny that you asked about the Hass. Just one arctic blast in our area, it could kill the Hass back to the ground.

And in one of those Arctic Blasts, about a decade ago, a friend of ours have the Hass avocado died back to the ground, so they cut it, but not below the graft line. Then it resprouted, above the graft line that year, and grew without any winter damages thereafter. For the past 4-5 years, it has been producing more and more fruits each year. I called it Lynn's Cold Hardy Hass and has grafted it to my collection of Cold Hardy Avocados. So far the grafts took and it showed the characteristically very large Hass leaves similar to during it's juvenile stage as I took the wood from a juvenile branch so I can have more vigorous growth during the first year to catch up with the rest of the cultivars grafted together.

Anyway, I have the pictures of the fruits from my friend's tree and have been giving away scionwood to fellow CRFG members that are interested in order to validate it's cold hardiness.  The taste of the fruit is similar to Hass, it has rough skin like the Hass, only that the skin doesn't develop a really dark skin color like the Hass when ripe. It's dark green with hue of purple, but more towards the green color. The flavor is similar to Hass. Holler if you want to try it there too. I am spreading it around for evaluation.

Here's what I posted in Facebook:
"Lynn Sharman’s cold hardy avocado in West Sacramento. It’s originally a Hass avocado that died down one cold winter, and was cut to a stump above its graft line and resprouted back from the stump cold hardy. It grew and bore fruits for the last 5 years and never bothered again by frosts or freezes thereafter. The tree seems to be self-fertile (has type A & B flowers on different parts of the tree) as it bore a lot of fruits even though there are no other avocados nearby. It’s fruits are delicious with smooth buttery texture similar to Hass and no fibers. Unlike Hass, it’s tough thick skin don’t turn dark when ripe. It has good shelf life and doesn’t bruise easily even when dropped. Thanks to Lynn for the fruits as I will try their seeds as rootstocks. I took as much scionwood for grafting as her house would be up for sale, along with the avocado "

It sounds very possible that neither of the above are true Mexicola or Hass varieties.

All the avocados that I got from the big box stores has already died and I am suspecting that the rootstocks used aren't really suited to our area. The trees that are sold don't have the name of the rootstock used.

If the grower was La Verne Nursery, I think he told us on the last CRFG LA Chapter nursery tour they use Fuerte seedlings.