The Tropical Fruit Forum

Since plane tickets are so cheap now, I'm thinking about taking a trip to Puerto Rico soon. I would love to have fresh mangosteens, but I'm having a hard time finding information on when the season is in Puerto Rico; I've seen some places say it starts in October, and others saying it's from June to August.

Anyone think I could find any there in November? What would be the best place to look? Any other fruits (like maybe pulsan) that would be ripe around then?

Thanks!

With how expensive mangosteens are, I want to use as much of them as I can. I read on Wikipedia that you can make a drink with them by cooking the rinds of the mangosteens. Anyone have a recipe to share?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garcinia_indica

I'm planning on setting up an orchard in Puerto Rico in the next few years, and hopefully turn it into my main source of income eventually.

Right now, I'm looking into possible locations for the orchard. I don't have a spot nailed down, but I do know where I want to avoid: The southwest, (because of earthquakes) the highest parts, (because of difficulty getting equipment around on steep ground plus making hurricane damage worse) and the coast (because of hurricanes and high prices).

Mayaguez looks promising. I know it's a historical agricultural area, so there will probably be a lot of people and resources there to help (especially the USDA facility). It's also a flatter area with a good elevation. It will probably be a place I check out when I go to Puerto Rico for a trip next year. However, before I go there, I'd like to look at classifieds to see what's available so I don't waste a lot of time driving around looking for "Se vende" signs.

Where is the best place to find land for sale in Puerto Rico? I tried Zillow and similar sites, but I couldn't find many entries on them for properties with a  large amount of land. I'm looking to buy around 20-50 acres (or more, if I can find a really good deal).

If anyone has any other advice, I'd be glad to hear that, too. I'm already brushing up on my Spanish, and I'm prepared to not have reliable utilities. I'm planning on drilling a well and installing solar panels. I don't have that much money set away yet (about $30,000) but I'm planning on taking it all a step at a time. I'm also looking into getting a job that will let me work remotely to give me extra money while I get my farm established.

Looking forward to hearing what you all have to say!

I have a couple passionfruit vines that have been growing great all winter. Today, I came out and saw practically all the foliage on both vines was eaten by these caterpillars. https://postimg.cc/gallery/9MsqtQg

Last summer, I had a bit of a problem with these guys; probably half of the foliage of one plant (back when I only had one) was eaten. Back then, I put some some insecticide on it that seemed to help. However, the directions on it said to wait until after the plant flowered to apply it--I assume because it inhibits flowering. What can I do? I don't want to have to keep on applying the insecticide and keeping me from getting any flowers and fruit off them, but if I don't apply it, the plants still can't flower because they don't have any leaves.

TL;DR, How do you guys in Florida deal with pest caterpillars on your passion vines? Thanks.

My Pumelo tree is infected with HLB. I have heard that it's still possible to have a healthy tree and get good fruit if the tree is fertilized regularly, though I haven't found a place that lists specifically how much that should be.

I know I should fertilize less than what the citrus fertilizer I have calls for—just do it more frequently, but I'm not sure how much less or how more frequently, or if I should still fertilize when it's producing fruit (normally you wouldn't, but if the tree needs constant fertilization to stay healthy...).

Also, what's everyone's thoughts on using a root growth simulator to help the tree? I know HLB attacks the vascular system above the roots and makes it harder to get nutrients to and from the roots, so I thought encouraging root growth would help, like more root volume equals higher pressure to break through the strangling. Has anyone had any success from doing this, or is it waste of money or harmful to the tree?

I welcome everyone's input, I'd love to hear your success stories with HLB/Greening infected trees.

I've never really used insecticides before, but it looks like I need them.

Bugs love my passion fruit vine; I regularly see big holes chewed out of leaves. Bugs like new leaves the best--sometimes, when I can see the plant is going through a growth spurt, it will mainly be a vine extension that grows because I can see most of the new leaves got eaten. I never actually see anything eating it though.

Today, my pumelo tree was crawling with bugs, most of which were the citrus psyllid. The tree already has greening, but with regular fertilizer and root growth hormone application it's starting to come back. But I doubt it can put up with all the bugs on top of greening.

I think insecticide is the best way to deal with the problem. Right now, I'm looking at this one. I don't want one that harms bees, and I'm unsure of the proper time to apply fertilizer. I haven't applied insecticide before; can anyone help? Thanks.

I have a Hirado Butan Pomelo that I want to plant. There aren't many areas in my yard with enough sun for a fruit tree; one of the areas that gets the most sun has pavement on two side. I thought I'd plant it about two feet away from the pavement so that the roots have time to grow down and don't damage the pavement. But since the roots probably won't get much water from the area right under the pavement—which would be where half of the roots are—will the tree thrive there? The tree does have greening, so it needs all the help it can get. Thanks!

I've been trying to get a monstrea for awhile now, and I finally found one at a neighbor's plant sale. He said he planted the original years ago. It was climbing up a tree and finally got fruit near the top. A couple other neighbors have this plant under their trees, but I didn't see any fruit on them. That got me thinking: Even though it tolerates low light, it probably needs more to fruit.

What does everyone else think? Does monstrea require more light to fruit? Is there a danger of too much light killing it? Would it fruit if kept in a gallon pot? Would limited growth help it fruit? I don't want it to get giant and still not fruit like all the other ones I see.
Thanks.

I noticed today that my ackee tree doesn't look so good:



What do you think is the problem? Is is just too big for the pot?

Many of the mango trees in my area seem to be flowering:



Is that normal for this time of year in Florida? I understand mango season begins in June. Does it just take 5 months from flowering for fruit to ripen? Is it just a little early this year because of our mild winter?

I want to get more fruiting plants, but most of my yard is in the shade, and most of the shade can't be helped (neighbors' trees, houses, etc). I know most plants that flower and fruit basically require full sun—or more than my yard gets, anyway.

Are there any plants that would produce a decent amount of fruit in mostly shade in zone 10a?

My neighbor has what I'm pretty sure is a Peruvian apple cactus. Here's a fruit from it:


The fruit got overripe and split while it was still on the cactus.


Is it still edible, since it never touched the ground? Do I just scrape away that part? Can the fruit be eaten just like a dragonfruit—separate the pulp from the peel and you're good to go? Or is it more like a prickly pear that has tons of inedible seeds in it?

I have an opportunity to get Garcinia cambogia seeds, but I want to make sure the trees will do well here before I bother. I know it's related to mangosteen, which is very tropical. Would this tolerate zone 9a-10a? Is there any variety of mangosteen that would? Thanks.