The Tropical Fruit Forum

What’s the going rate in Florida ?

Serendib has them for $7.50/lb

Another reminder for June 3rd meet-up. Looks like it'll be mostly mulberries here, but I'll swoop up a bunch of stuff at the Farmer's market to make sure we got some options.

@Epiphyte

I thnk the issue is not the cold, as in the tree's ability to survive but to get it to fruit well.
So not sure if thats achievable with grafting

Not even sure there are varieties that bloom in spring, allegedly there are but it smells fishy if I really look into it, almost as if it was anecdotal lol

It doesn't matter what you graft it to, the scion and beyond will remain cold sensitive and die back to the graft union. It's cool to see loquat on such weird stuff though. I ponder the long term survivability. Often you can get a push just from the scion itself.

There are definitely *later* blooming varieties, but the difference is weeks not months. This can still put you in the frost danger zone. I mean hell, I can get frost in late April in my 9b climate. A standard loquat flowers and starts to set fruit around December here, a late one may start flowering in January or early Feb.

After I moved them close to each other.  I am getting some fruits now.  Thanks K-Rimes...

Wonderful news!!!! My flowers are just opening up now, I am looking forward to the season!

There are later flowering varieties already, like kanko and a few others. Being here in 9b, it's kinda hit or miss if we get fruit. If there is a late frost ciao fruit sets and flowers! Even if you have a late variety, you're still at risk for this.

How cold did you get?

It wasn't as stabbingly cold as previous years, but we had weeks on weeks on weeks of weather in the low 30s with rain every time it was cold. The plant was already declining from being outdoors down to 26f (briefly). It was just a test honestly to see if they could survive uncovered in 9b. The answer is a big NOPE!

Are they actually honey bees? Or yellow jackets or wasps?

Yellow jackets / wasps usually have underground or paper nests and don't swarm like honeybees.

This sounds like a classic honeybee swarm which is how they reproduce. When a hive outgrows its space it creates queen cups which the queen lays eggs in and the workers tend to them as the current queen thins up and eventually flys off with 30-70% of the hive. They land somewhere (like this bbq) and start setting up a new hive. The old hive will hatch the new queens and they will battle to the death with the winner going off to mate with drones. She then returns to the old hive (as a new queen) and the process starts all over again.

A beekeeper will scoop up this swarm in the bbq and dump it into a hive and voila, new colony, more honey!

Campomanesia lineatifolia, is it self pollinating?

Several sources state that it is a guava relative and most guava trees tend to self pollinate...

Don’t want to have to buy 10+ plants if 1 will suffice to produce fruits!🤣

My campo guazumifolia is self fruitful, my campo hirsuta seems not to be. I'd get two to be safe.

It’s filling in nicely now.

Quote from: Bush2Beach on May 10, 2023, 04:20:41 AM

I have a 25 Gallon Restinga for sale in the Bay Area. 5-6 feet tall.
Some other varieties that are fruiting right now for sale as well.

25 gal in bay area? that's a rare one then!

Jonah is a jabOG

Talking to Adam at FFF he said there are basically two types of calycina tasting notes: one is metallic and gross, the other is pretty pleasant balance of sweet/sour. I feel like the one I have is the sweet/sour. It never really gets pure sweet and definitely isn't as outstanding in flavor as CORG which is kind of papaya flavor when they're a good cultivar.

I have Nelita seedlings from Miguel that will flower this year, and have several other seedlings, along with grafts from Wildlands Nursery and Achetadomestica. I hope to find a real winner from this bunch.

This particular fruit shown here is much fatter than other calycinas I've seen and I am curious if it's a hybrid between CORG and Calcyina which I believe happens a LOT. I know for sure mine are cross pollinated by my CORG which only a few feet away.

Calycina and CORG definitely need more selected and named varieties.

Interestingly the cold and rainy winter really worked for me. I usually have issues with pitanga leafing and flowering too early and getting destroyed by frost or rain. They are not so happy but are coming back. My big vermillion lived in greenhouse as did the Regina. You can probably tell which those are.

Mine are in pots, so, a bit different than in ground. I water them daily on hot days, but I will restrict water for 2-3 days after flowering and seem to notice an improvement in fruit set.