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Messages - Jct

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 6
1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Leo Manuel's Mango Notes
« on: August 11, 2022, 02:29:20 PM »
I live in that neighborhood!  I didn't realize he lived so close.

2
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Fig leaf
« on: December 15, 2020, 12:15:47 AM »
The brown spots could be rust.  Collect and destroy any leaves that fall to the ground with this discoloration. 

3
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Caprified Figs
« on: August 28, 2020, 12:58:36 PM »
There are some wasp colonies reported south of SF, near San Jose.  It does sound like you had a couple of caprified figs!  Congrats!  OurFigs.com is a good forum to read up about figs.

4
Thanks for the write-up on these nurseries!  I've been wanting to hit the San Diego ones, but haven't had a chance yet.

5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: space for Passiflora roots
« on: May 31, 2020, 12:45:46 PM »
My P. Edulis is in the ground and it produces more than we can eat.  I give away boat-loads every year.

In how many years did it reach the size to produce so much?
Sorry for the delay... It took about a year for it to begin to produce in moderate amounts. I bought it from home depot and it was already a good size, about 4' tall.  My local pollinators tend to ignore the flowers the first part of the year, I guess there are plenty of other flowers that they like better.  So if I want fruit, I have to hand pollinate.  Yesterday I did almost 30!

6
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: space for Passiflora roots
« on: May 27, 2020, 01:38:42 PM »
My P. Edulis is in the ground and it produces more than we can eat.  I give away boat-loads every year.

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Tropical fruit plant seller?
« on: May 19, 2020, 04:34:35 PM »
Ong nursery is another good one.  he's a bit expensive, but he sells really nice trees.

8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best tasting fig for SoCal?
« on: May 01, 2020, 11:26:34 AM »
One of the best places for information on figs is ourfigs.com, it's a really good forum with some very helpful people.  There are a good number of us here in SD growing figs and like mentioned above, CRFG is a good place to increase your collection. 

The only time you might need a rootstock is for some slower growing varieties, such as Black Madeira, but are not needed otherwise.  Most figs grow well on their own roots.

You have some good varieties, Black Madeira being one of the top varietals. Fig Preto is widely considered to be a synonym for BM. Another really good and relatively easily acquired is Smiths.  Unk Pastiliere is supposed to be very good as well, but I believe it requires the fig wasp.  @FruitFool mentioned some really good varieties (I'm sorry I missed Richard's gathering!)

We do have the wasp in San Diego, but only in a few neighborhoods.  Mission Valley, around SDSU, has a colony.  I believe Encinitas may have a small colony as well as a spot in Fallbrook east of I15.  Where ever you find a bunch of feral figs, it's usually a good indication that there is a near-by colony of wasps.  Birds will eat pollinated fig seeds and deposit them.  If the deposit lands in a hospitable location, a tree may grow.  Usually these are caprifigs and require pollination to produce edible fruit, but sometimes you will get a common fig. Occasionally these new common figs will produce something special.  I have 3 feral figs in my neighborhood, two in the Vons shopping center off Black Mtn Road (they're sprouting out of the landscaping and one is definitely a caprifig - it has a lot of mamme figs on it right now).  I was lucky enough to have one sprout up in my backyard back in 2016.  Last summer I tasted the first fig off of it and it was rather interesting.  So it looks like it's a common fig!  Hoping to get a lot more soon.

In any case, I rooted a lot of figs this winter and will have some extra.

9
Tropical Fruit Discussion / CRFG San Diego Fruit Tree Sale
« on: October 05, 2019, 06:23:28 PM »
The San Diego chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers is holding its annual fruit tree sale tomorrow, 6 October at the Bancroft Center for Sustainability from 10am to 1pm at 3845 Spring Dr, Spring Valley, CA 91977.

https://californiararefruitgrowerssandiegochapter.wildapricot.org/event-3561009

I just finished helping set up and they have a ton of interesting fruit trees. Figs, longans, mangos, Garcinia livingstonei, katuk (star gooseberry), jabuticaba, jack fruit, grapes, bananas, sugar cane, pineapple, pomegranate, dragonfruit, apples, etc etc. There are usually more than one variety available.  I know that not all the above are rare or tropical, but some of the varieties are rare.

If you are looking for something interesting and are in the area, come on down!

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: No pollen on passionfruit flowers
« on: September 28, 2019, 03:26:37 PM »
I do not know the reason for this, but I saw the same thing a couple of weeks ago on my vine.  It was hotter than normal for a couple of weeks, so perhaps our heat had something to do with it.  I didn't do as much supplemental watering either.

I'm in Southern California.

11
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Ficus Carica ID by Fruting Habit
« on: July 30, 2019, 02:48:18 PM »
With the challenges the tree is facing, you may want to dig it up and put it in a pot.  Let it recover in a pot, then you can see about putting it back into the ground inside a gopher cage.

12
Try Walter Andersen nursery, they have locations in Poway and the Old Town/Point Loma area (near SPAWAR).

13
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Thompson seedless grape vine
« on: May 24, 2019, 12:04:14 AM »
I'd leave it in the pot to avoid transplant shock.  Definitely put it in the ground after it goes dormant in the winter.

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Ripe figs in Germany in May
« on: May 23, 2019, 11:59:53 PM »
In areas with short growing seasons, it's best to focus on the breba crops.  They'll get enough sun to ripen and develop a lot of sugars while the main crop, pushing into the late Fall/Winter months will not get enough sun to ripen properly. 

15
Those trees look super.  I had one for a few years but managed to kill it last summer.  Not sure what it was, perhaps overwatered.  I had it in a pot, only used rainwater and fertilized with the acidic type miracle grow.  I had to bring it in the house every winter. I'm looking for a replacement, but don't want to spend the big bucks on a nice sized one.

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Passionfruit crosspollination
« on: March 22, 2019, 08:15:26 PM »
Cross pollination shouldn't affect the fruit.  If you plant out the resultant seeds you might get something interesting.

17
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Best tasting fig?
« on: March 07, 2019, 04:18:42 PM »
You really cannot go wrong with a VdB!

Quote
Thanks! I'm a novice fig grower - would it be expected for a potted fig that's planted out in the spring to abort its fruit that first year?
What's done is done, but just curious.

I have a first year Deanna fig tree that produced a couple of figs for me.  It would have produced more but I pinched them off so that the tree would spend more energy growing.  I've heard that other growers have gotten pretty decent crops off of first year trees.  A lot is variety dependent, but also dependent on the local conditions, soil, watering, etc.

18
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: How to plant seeds
« on: January 28, 2019, 05:52:28 PM »
For the dragon fruit seeds, clean them and spread them on the soil.  Depending on your climate, I'd do it in a pot or two first.  Then barely cover the seeds with the growing media (dirt).  They should sprout from there. I think I once used saran wrap to cover and provide a humidty dome, probably not really necessary, just keep the soil moist (not wet).  I had a lot of success with the DF sprouting. 

19
Winter is the dry season in their natural environment.  Try not to get water on the leaves to avoid anthracnose, which is probably the brown spots on your leaves.  You can spray to treat it if necessary.  I just try to be careful when I water the tree to avoid wetting the leaves in the late afternoon, you want them to dry off quickly.

20
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Where can I buy meiwa kumquat in Socal?
« on: November 15, 2018, 12:12:55 PM »
I've seen them at various nurseries around San Diego.  However, they usually aren't available until mid-Spring.

Clausen Nursery actually propagates them on-site:  http://clausennursery.com/citrus-trees/kumquat-trees

I've also seen examples at Anderson's and Armstrong nurseries.

21
Just because 'some guy' says so isn't a real reason to do anything.
Check the data for LA compost yourself:
https://www.lacitysan.org/san/faces/home/portal/s-lsh-wwd/s-lsh-wwd-s/s-lsh-wwd-s-gw/s-lsh-wwd-s-gw-sta;jsessionid=gKClzcD1tR_tjv7w78SrUzg30q9XWsy_E78tNqKqmJb6rsa7mc4U!1511500448!727084434?_afrLoop=10738200133044499&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=lanacion.com.ar;apw_exc_fcf=1540350000.0.1.n_2184390.gDoedE9_kIVq213Mwi32nOWX_n4q7kYjw3XObKzO3yM;apw_aac_0=1542937916.34.1.KG5fMjE4NDM5MCwxNTQyOTM3OTE2KQ.sCJLmRAQUbXZJ7qHtZNSmBQzWwdxlmt7WyT8FDNcx-8&_adf.ctrl-state=10kapfr3g9_1#!%40%40%3F_afrWindowId%3Dlanacion.com.ar%253Bapw_exc_fcf%253D1540350000.0.1.n_2184390.gDoedE9_kIVq213Mwi32nOWX_n4q7kYjw3XObKzO3yM%253Bapw_aac_0%253D1542937916.34.1.KG5fMjE4NDM5MCwxNTQyOTM3OTE2KQ.sCJLmRAQUbXZJ7qHtZNSmBQzWwdxlmt7WyT8FDNcx-8%26_afrLoop%3D10738200133044499%26_afrWindowMode%3D0%26_adf.ctrl-state%3D10kapfr3g9_5

The mushroom compost uses horse stable manure which has medications and cottonseed meal most of which is GMO and roundup ready. However, I figure composting takes care of most issues.
If you live in LA or most any city you've already accepted a highly polluted environmental legacy in soil and present in air.
Sorry, forgot to mention that he worked at the Miramar land fill....

22
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Is there a tall Ficus Carica variety?
« on: October 25, 2018, 12:11:14 PM »
Alright so pruning will help it form into a tree?
Yes.  A lot of fig varieties tend to produce a lot of suckers.  Just prune them away - or airlayer them and turn them into additional plants. 

You will have to protect the tree to keep it from freezing and dying.  I have seen a 20+ foot tree in the Tigard, OR area that goes completely unprotected.  Last Thanksgiving I was eating figs from branches that hung over into my parent's yard.

23
I wouldn't use any soil from the city for edible plants, you never know what gets dumped into it.  I don't put a lot of chemicals onto my lawn - thus the raging weeds, etc - but a lot of people do.  That ends up in teh green recycle bins which goes into the city compost heaps.  I met a guy at a neighborhood party about a year ago and the subject came up, he would not use the city compost for edibles.  The composting cycle is not always completed before it's distributed.  Find a mushroom farm that gives away used soil like this one in San Diego:

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Free-Mushroom-Mulch-Growing-San-Diego-Fans-153848945.html

24
I believe that passionfruit vines do not like wet feet.  Near the place were I wanted to plant mine tended to collect water, so after excavating a hole, I backfilled the hole with soil amendments to raise a mound and then planted the vine.  Seems to have worked as I have several dozens of fruit ripening right now (after getting a couple of dozen earlier this year) on a one year vine.  Under decent conditions they really like to grow, so you will need some sort of trellis.

25
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Re: Is there a tall Ficus Carica variety?
« on: October 22, 2018, 04:32:46 PM »
Yes, but it may depend on your definition of tall.  I've seen them top 20-30+ feet, but they typically do not get that large unless conditions are perfect.  Many fig varieties will try to take a bushy form, you would have to select the main trunk and prune it to the form desired.  Thankfully you can prune a fig at just about any time of the year.

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