The Tropical Fruit Forum

Definitely frost damage.
Mine look the same way, but they're actually vigorous growers.

Just cover it during frost advisories, protect the main branch.
It'll be fine as far as recovery, I've had mine for several years and it happens every year.
Come spring to fall, it grows to the size of 30x30 from the size of 2x2'

Use 1 part neem oil, 1 part orange oil and 4 parts water.
Put it in a sprayer and spray down the tree and give it a good coat.

Avoid using it in the sun as the oil tends to burn the leaves
I do this for all my new trees as a quarantine for 1-2 weeks before I put them in the greenhouse with the other trees.

Orange oil is an organic pesticide, neem oil is also organic.
I do not use any chemicals in my garden.

Do note that, when you use the orange oil, it will repel a lot of insects for a while.
I would advise to use this during a quarantine and not inside a greenhouse.

I don't know how big is your yard but, you can certainly create your own micro climate by building a pond (increase the humidity) and planting some cold hardy trees to protect your trees from cold wind. Don't expect to grow cocoa plants outside, but your chances of successfully growing sub-tropical will be much higher.

Watch this
http://youtu.be/4p5JJFWs1y0

Funny you mentioned this, I actually built a carbon fiber pond with koi (75gal) to accompany the greenhouse.
The humidity levels go from 50%-80%, rarely 100. That's when my louvers automatically open to circulate the air.

Been really cold here lately, high 20's to low 30's for several days on end.
Everything seems to be surviving but not flourishing since they're dormant.

I do keep my White and Yellow Sapote outside dancing in the rain, frost and wind.
Some die back on the new growth flush and it's growing flowers out of control.
I've been trimming but they seem to do it constantly.

Also a massive collection of Australian Finger Limes, 16+ varieties, some were barely grafted a year ago.
They're all doing well, just dropped leaves but a new growth flush revealed itself this weekend. I think I'm in love <3 <3 <3

Also have Hawaiian sugar cane, they're doing fantastic, no issues.

Wow that really sucks ! Your plants were doing really well too. If your going to continue growing cold sensitive fruit trees you might want to invest in a greenhouse. Hope that many of your plants recover . I have too much money invested in grafted trees to gamble with cold temps. My stuff is in a unheated greenhouse with two layers of 6 mil plastic. This has done the trick so far. Best of luck to you in the future.

 William

Exactly this, Zone 9 isn't a joke during winters. They're long, harsh and sometimes no sunlight for days.
I have my investment in a heated greenhouse and 2x 6Mil poly. You can pick one up from the greenhouse website.
Do not buy the ones from the big box store, it's not meant for anything beyond a days use.
Goodluck with your current situation, hopefully a good amount will bounce back.

Quote from: echinopora on January 11, 2017, 12:49:46 PM

I planted a few seeds of this one, they took a little longer to germinate than papaya usually does but they grew fast. 6 feet tall and flowering at about a year from seed going in the ground. I've been told fruit quality is variable in seedlings.

Where did you obtain your seeds?
Where do we get these seeds?

Fixed v

Just learned that Trade Winds Fruits is in Sonoma which is pretty close to me. Go figure.

That's awesome, so ground is overnight shipping

Yes, please update!

I've heard these trees setting fruit but do not fully mature past the size of a golf ball.
Can you verify this to what size your fruits are if they set fruit at all?

I have a set of air layered Purple and Green Caimito myself.
Doing very well here in Zone 9B, considering the frost we had lately, it's starting to throw out new new leaves and growth flush.

Thanks!

That's amazing, bite size papaya skin an all.
Got a picture of it cut open. seeds specifically

Been freezing all week here in SJ.
Low - 28F
High - 48F

My heated greenhouse is keeping at 55-60F.
Still very cold, lots of frost.
Freezing rain every other day in next weeks forecast.

I use poly film 6mm, have had it for the past 4 years and it hasn't need a replacement in SJ extreme weather.
(30-40MPH Wind, heat 100+F, Cold, Rain, Frost)

It's used in conjunction with wiggle wire and the brackets that go with it.
I had panels but they were such a pain to deal with, also more expensive.

I religiously remove the polyfilm from the roof and the sides to allow bees to pollinate my trees during spring.
With panels it takes forever, poly film, done in 10 mins and easily reattached.
Insulation isn't the best, so you may want to double up the sheets while you're covering.

It was actually quite cold these past few days.
Luckily I have my mangos in a 20'x20" greenhouse.
I have a control panel that controls the temps.

I emailed you, let me know if you got it.

Cheers.