The Tropical Fruit Forum

I brought back some seeds from my Vietnam trip in Jan/Feb, finally getting around to sowing them.   I have a handful left to give away if anyone within the US is interested.  Annona seeds are viable for up to a year with good storage, works even better if you treat/soak them.  Chrysophyllum seeds I don't have enough personal experience but according to some online info, they remain viable for months, hopefully it's more than 7.

120 sugar apple seeds - Annona squamosa "chewy Vietnamese type"
18 starapple seeds - Chrysophyllum cainito var. Lò Rèn

Please post here if you're interested.  (around $2 shipping within the US)

I have a bunch of Myrciaria spirito-santensis seeds to swap for one or all of the following:

Myrciaria Trunciflora
Myrciaria Aureana
Myrciaria Cauliflora X HYBRID red

Please let me know if we can arrange something, thanks.

Vietnamese grown "australian mango" - R ...... our Aussie members should know this

Contest Period & Winner selection:
1. Entries can be submitted starting today until Nov 17, 2012 (11:59 p.m.).
2. On-line voting will take place Nov 19 to Nov 24, 2012.
3. Prize will be shipped Nov 26, 2012.
4. One entry per member
5. The photo with the most votes wins. In the event of a tie, the winners can choose who gets the grafted scion and who gets the rootstock - because I only have one prize

Who can enter:
1. Registered members of Tropical Fruit Forum
2. States or Countries without specific restriction on parcels shipped from CA.

How to enter:
1. Post an original photograph taken by YOU (please DO NOT use/steal pictures from the web)
2. Picture must include a tropical/sub-tropical fruit... amongst other things.

Prize:
1-gallon Timotayo mango, side veneer graft by yours truly


Here's a sample picture:  *** not at all related to tropical fruits ***


The following entries, in order of submission, are eligible for voting...except Ohiojay's - doesn't qualify but still funny!!!
All Votes are FINAL and One vote per person.  Good luck everyone.


Tomas's Garcinia Madrono Reflection


Luak's Persimmon Melon


Nullzero's Wild Opuntia


Asaffron's 48-26 Atemoya


JF's Lopsided Lisa


Jackfruitwhisperer69's Harvest


Ohiojay's Three Nuts   (this one technically doesn't qualify but still a good shot!)


Felipe's Black Sapotes


lkailburn lost his jackfruit virginity


DurianLover's 300+ fruits


Dirty Coconuts's Mulberries


JC's Tortoise vs. Papaya


Mango Fang's Prolific Papaya


jb_fla's Lemons


TnTrobbie's Papaya


NewGen's Sapote


kh0110's Pomegranates


Californiatropicals's Dwarf Brazilian


Xeno's Pepino Pineapple


Siafu's Acerola


LarryG's J31 Jakfruits


Tabbydan's Syzygizium

Allow me to simply apologize for the barrage of pictures

A big Thank You to Leo for generously hosting us in his amazingly compact backyard, thank you Simon (simon_grow) for putting this meeting together and making everything possible, it truly was an enjoyable day.  The casts included Leo Manuel himself, Simon, two other forum members we met for the first time known as Gary (mangofang) & Joe (JF), Eunice Messner chauffeured by Joe, Jim Neitzel & Frank (can't seem to recall but I think Jim mentioned Abbott)... and myself.

Simon will provide more details on the Q&A by members here at a later time.

Leo's marked Todo Santos wedge graft  -  multi-grafted tree


Todo Santos mangoes - we were told it's a Mexican cultivar




Moringa - not having much success in front yard


Longan - forgot to ask which cultivar


Passiflora coccinea?


Big jaboticaba tree right in his front porch - doesn't get nearly as much sun (in between properties)


Kensington Pride seedling tree & fruits





Leo's mislabeled "Carrie" seedling tree, I suspect it to be VP seedling - Jim also confirms my VP suspicion


Thomson T-1 mango - according to Leo, Paul Thomson preferred this mango many times over his other commercialized cultivar, Thomson mango.


"Florida sourced" Maha Chanok, multi-grafted onto the same rootstock as the T-1.  That's his dilemma for not cutting the tree back to let Maha Chanok thrive



seedling mango tree


A massive seedling mango that Leo doesn't remember from which cultivar



another seedling selection that's multi-grafted onto the same tree as above


Multi-grafted seedling selections with Simon looking on


Nam Doc Mai bush





dwarf Keitt mango - this tree was allowed to fruit at a young age, doesn't seem to bounce back at all, it's now putting out even more humongous fruits ... poor tree




Jim, mangofang & Eunice admiring the multi-grafted Peggy mango tree ... Jim calls this Peggy tree "the always reliable"






grafted onto the same rootstock as Peggy, forgot which variety this is (U.P.)?  This exposed to the element fruit doesn't seem to fare well


Brewster Lychee - only remaining handful of fruits are on the neighbor's side of the yard


One of the many seedling trees, though this one has not been grafted on yet.  Bottom right hand corner in white grafting tape is a newly grafted Lemon Zest.


Kensington Pride mangoes, the actual KP mango -not KP seedling like his other trees






Leo in the midst of  his backyard jungle


seedling tree's new growth - the colors are absolutely amazing in person


McDill white sapote, fruits in the cluster of 4 in the second picture are bigger than a large navel orange ... unreal



seedling rose apple from one of his other known cultivar, new growth on SoCAL sky backdrop


big macadamia seedling tree, planted just outside of his property line



Pink Panther dragon fruit - He told us but I forgot the actual crosses


Yellow Dragon - even though it hasn't fully filled out, still pretty big fruits for a yellow dragon


Leo's signature hybrid DRAGON TOMATO


San Ignacio (red) - this fruit is massive, the thumb scale doesn't do it justice


huge cherimoya tree's new growth after "severe" pruning - humongous leaves


mangofang, JF & Leo ... you can't really tell but I managed to get in under the low canopy of this Peggy mango to snap this picture - annoying paparazzi skills


Jim discussing plant matters with Eunice


small view of Leo's backyard jungle, left of the cherimoya tree is his Annona hybrid (Atemoya x Cherimoya)


fruits from seedling tree "seedling 3" & fruit of another seedling selection



Eunice's box of mangoes - Edwards, Thomsons & Carnivals


Kent mango knocked off the tree by accident, rock hard & still very green (outside the box)


Leo's favorite fruits


Leo's sampler basket - clockwise from top right:  Peggy, Rose Giant, Rose Giant, seedling 11, Early Gold, Rose Giant (center)


Eunice & Frank in conversation with Jim(not in picture), JF staring at mangofang.  Behind Frank is a multi-grafted Surinam tree


mangofang showing JF & Simon how big a hoop his long arms make, Simon's not impressed


Jim conversing with Eunice & Frank, with JF replacing mangofang in hoop making


Leo finally resting his legs after multiple tours.  Simon, Frank & I arrived earlier...


Jim discussing poly mango seed with JF, mangofang & Simon



Pioneers of SoCAL tropicals - from left to right:  Leo, Eunice, Frank & Jim


Group picture, seated:  Leo, Eunice, Jim.  Back row:  Me, Frank, Gary (mangofang) & Joe (JF)


Group picture, seated:  Leo, Eunice, Jim.  Back row:  Simon, Me, Frank & Gary (mangofang).   Who's the better photographer?  Simon or JF?


Leo giving our group a tour of his back yard


Jim showing Eunice & myself a seedling loquat, 1 of 4 seeds Maurice Kong sent to Leo & Jim.


lone fruit from seedling selection grafted onto turpentine rootstock.  Leo uses turpentine as opposed to manila rootstocks, I forgot what his explanation to JF was.


top worked tree with Kensington Pride seedling.  Notice the graft right above the rope tie?  Branched out from the scion and fruited immediately.  Fuyu persimmon in background


Fuyu persimmon


Jim showing Eunice a multi-grafted apricot tree


Leo's dragon fruit collection, there are WAY MORE pots than my camera can pan out at that distance.  Can't take pictures from too far because they'd be covered by other trees



Gary questioning legitimacy of this PEGGY mango dropping on its own without my helping


Peggy mango with its unique and characteristic protuberance


Leo's generous gift

Sorry to go off topic here but if Sri Kembangan star fruit originated from Seri Kembangan, Malaysia ... why is it called Sri Kembangan?  Does anyone know the history behind this?

Does anyone have experience with growing common fig (ficus carica) in the tropics or know if anyone or tree(s) successfully grown in tropical location(s).  I'm aware and familiar with Ficus racemosa grown in Vietnam, but was wondering if I was to give my father-in-law a Ficus carica, how well will it fare?  Will it go through dormancy or skip due to tropical condition and how does it affect fruiting/quality?

Has anyone experimented with post harvest scion storage & viability at grafting?  Mangoes, Annonas, etc....

Steven's noted his avocado scions remain 100% viable for nearly half a year stored in the fridge.  Epicotyl Grafting thread.

I've read Cherimoya scions can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.  Does anyone know if Atemoya scions can survive just as long refrigerated?  What about in transit wrapped in damp paper towels & sealed in zip lock bag?

San Diego grown jabos are finally ready and I couldn't be happier    sorry for the glare but that's a quarter amongst the jabos.

We have also been on a steady Lychee diet, my little girls absolutely love them and couldn't get enough, picked up another 4lbs at Costco ($3.50/lb) ... and some CA grown Hass ...

Does anyone here on the forum own a fruiting tree or know of a source for these fruits?  I'm looking to get some fruits for medicinal use.  Thanks everyone in advance.

Picked up some carambolas at a local Farmers Market, they're locally grown by Ben & Mary Poirer in Vista.  I always make a beeline right to their tent, chat it up a bit, get what I need and head right back to my car to munch  .  Not the sweetest I've had but pretty good overall eating quality, small too.

Brought back memories of our lousy tree from way back when.  It was a fairly big tree that either branched out or grafted about 4-5 ft above soil level.  It was from this tree that I developed fear for height - I got pushed off the tree (by my younger brother) trying to pick some fruits.  Anyways, no one knew for sure if it was grafted but as far as I can remember them, fruits from the left branch were all extremely sour while fruits from the right branch were slightly less sour.  We used to climb that tree looking for misshaped fruits or find the ones with most developed ridges, I think the most we found were 7-8 on a single fruit but can't be too sure.

Here are some of the cherimoyas I'm lucky enough to eat while in season.  Unfortunately, I can only identify less than a handful and not all of identified cultivars are pictured.  Can others familiar with annonas, especially Cherimoyas, help put a name on these unknowns?  I consider fruit taste description on hints, notes, under & over tones of anything other than the fruit itself to be an art on top of very well developed palettes.  Unfortunately I don't think I have either but will try my best to describe how these taste so bear with me.


#1 - not too sweet, compared to others here I'd say it's bland and washed out taste.  (35 seeds collected)



#2 - sweet, slightly acidic but not as rich and creamy as #5.  Light, refreshing, good eat.   (25 seeds collected)




#3 - thin downy skin, very sweet, firm chewy flesh is light pink in color.  Very good cherimoya but short shelf life, must not allow overripe or the flesh near the skin turns a darker shade of pink, hardens up, loses flavor and becomes unenjoyable.  Sadly, I always seem to let several of these sit longer than needed, much of the outer flesh had to be removed and thrown away.  Originally I thought this was Selma from several online pictures of the flesh, but none of which are close to half the size of the ones I got, and much more seeds than mine as well.  (26 seeds collected -only half the seeds were collected, will have more soon)




#4 - Yet to be eaten...



#5 - if you like tart fruits and like cherimoya, this is it for you - thick skin that could be peeled like a mango, lots of acidity, sweet, rich & creamy, very complex in flavor.  I believe this variety is Chaffey.  (59 seeds collected)




#6 - Yet to be eaten... both of these came from the same tree but may have been multi-grafted, hence the slight difference in appearances.  Also one of the #6's (fruit on the right) turned out to be a dud because it didn't have the citrus & pineapple undertones I noticed from previous tasting.  We'll see how the fruit on the left turns out.



#7 - larger fruit on the right.  As it turns out, both fruits in the picture are of the same kind.  Very good eat, though I let them sit too long.  I don't have a scale to weigh it, I'm also terrible at guestimating weight so we'll never know how heavy.  But for size, it's sitting on a normal sheet of 8.5'x11' paper.

#8 - not quite as large on the left.  Sweet, little acidity & juicy.  Skin so thin, you could peel it like a peach though thinner and even more delicate.  Does not have an intense or complex cherimoya flavor but very pleasant & easy eating.  My 1.5yr old ate 1/4 of this fruit for dinner last night. (40 seeds collected)

#7 cut open

#8 cut open



#9 - Yet to be eaten -



Whaley - a very light subacid, very sweet cherimoya that's complex in flavor.  Flesh firmer than most other varieties as you can probably tell from the opened fruit.  These two fruits were picked from the same branch of the same tree, yet one looking much smoother than the other.  Could this be a result of cross pollination?  Either way, they tasted exactly the same, EXCELLENT.  The fruits were eaten 1.5 month ago so all seeds got misplaced somewhere somehow...





Misc - all the runts in a miscellaneous pile, they're all pretty darn good, bite size too  (20 something seeds so far)



I will update #4, 6, 7 & 9 as they come along.  All seeds are available FREE-for-Postage, first come first serve.  "Future" is actually first in line but there should be enough for many.