I have no fewer than 4 papaya growing in my yard within a few feet (no doubt from fallen fruit) of two that I took down more than two years ago. What's up with that? I'm hesitant to let them get more than 1 or 2 batches of fruit because the "parents" were like sequoia trees. One was 15"+ (in diameter) at the base of the tree and over 20 feet high when I took it down.

I guess I'm perplexed on the seeds staying dormant for so long and suddenly coming alive and fruiting, has anyone else experienced such delayed germination from Paps?

PS. There are no papaya trees in my area, and if there were, I'd suspect their seeds would be located / dropped by animals in spots other than the near exact locations of my 2 long gone trees.

My GF and I found a large supply of red (colored) hot cherry peppers and we tried pickling them with mixed results. There are so many recipes out there with wildly variable ingredients and processes I thought I'd ask if any of you have a decent recipe for pickling hot cherry peppers. Nearby barrel pickle places sell them for  about 9.50 a quart, and the peppers are softish, and have all of the seeds still intact on the attached stem. These are the types we are trying to duplicate.

Here's what we tried with mixed results:

For 2 lbs of red cherry peppers(I don't care for green ones)

1 whole small to medium garlic peeled and diced
3/4 teaspoon Peppercorns
4 cups White wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
3 tsp of sugar
3 bay leaves
2-3 tsp of salt
3/4 tsp powdered mustard seed

We cleaned and speared the peppers to allow the brine in, and cooked the whole peppers in the brine until the peppers started to soften, then put them in canning jars.

Online some recipes call for NO cooking the peppers in the brine, using 100% vinegar (no water), bayleaf, or sugar and I don't know what to add or leave in.

I'd say compared to the barrel pickle places we're about 80% of the way there, but ours were VERY hot (A good thing) and a bit firmer, but not as flavorful as the barrel guys.

I have been pressure cleaning my roof and I am not using any chemicals to get the roof mold / fungus off. When its done I am thinking of using a light mist of coppercide in the pressure  cleaner to kill the last of the stubborn hold out and wondered.

Since there are copper strips sold to inhibit roof growth, how an annual spray of coppercide might help keep the roof clean? 

Anyone tried this?

 

I have a Kampoung mauve, geffner  and San Pablo. as well as 2 unknown sugar apples which are the two  ones doing so well. 

Seems like none so far have matured and colored fully. Its healthy is pushing new growth, leaves are dark green and  not dropping curling from stress or sunburning. 

My red lime fruits are falling off the tree at ~35% yellow colored. All three are in containers, not root bound, and have no signs of water or sun stress... all are in partial shade. Any ideas why?

Bland watery watermelon!
Take Simons offer and try some decent varieties! You won’t be disappointed! There is a lot of crap, tastless varieties out there, usually white fleshed, that are picked way too early just to supply the market. I personally won’t eat white fleshed varieties any more due to the lack of flavour depth. And home grown is the only way to go. Pick them when they are ready to eat and they are brilliant!

Yup, bland watery watermelon. I get that fruit picked too early sucks I can attest to that with my personal experience with fruit trees, but I'll deal with great flavor and seeds any day since I do not have diverticulitis and I do have a tongue :-)

Anyway, between collector tastings (I don't remember names of things I did not like) and trying them at nurseries (all were red)  I don't think I'll waste time pursuing them.  A friend has a red type (he doesn't don't know the name) and it's always sickly looking with disappearing green sections leaving behind an ugly woody core and I have on several occasions had his ripened on the plant and feel the same about the flavor.

If anyone would show me one that was at the very least as sweet as a store bought tuna (which is not IMO a particularly sweet fruit) I'd likely buy one to diversify my collection of fruits.

So far I've had 100% success rooting and growing dozens store bought tops (and am now into second generation tops from store top plants)  into producing pineapple plants. It takes from a week to ten days for them to root.

WOW! My gf just made marmelade with one of my gold nuggets and added juice from one of my red limes. Holy cow!

We have to go buy some more canning jars!

Anyone else made this?
 

I now have three red lime trees, two are rather small at less than two feet each, one is still in a pot, over five feet tall and producing many fruit.

Some are dropping prematurely, currently they have a bit more than a hint of yellow / orange color skin  and the inside is pale / light orange colored. I expect the worst and accept the best when it comes to fruit I have not tried before and I was surprised that such juvenile undeveloped fruits had such a nicely distinctive flavor.

Definitely more on the (less than sweet) orange flavored side with a hint of limey bitterness. The more green than orange skin was inedible... so far. Overall if the flavor develops as I hope it will I see a great many uses for these fruits in the future. I plan on giving one of my little trees to a friend who is just starting to plant out a nice large lot.

I have a tree full of gold nugget jaks and they are $5 each ANY size, 2 for 5 on smaller ones.

So. Flo only (north broward) you pick the ones you want.

I acquired an "Ice Cream" a couple of years ago from a forum member and this year it held three fruit to ripen on the tree. I was pleasantly surprised at it. The flesh is soft, sweet, with a hint of spicy pine flavor. I now look forward to the crop next season, and rather than keep it in the container, I just may put it in the ground.

Are there any other fans of this cultivar?