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Messages - venturabananas

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: bigold nugget loquat or Big Jim?
« on: January 15, 2018, 12:12:41 AM »
Never heard of "bigold nugget" loquat.  Typo?

2
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: What is the best variety of loquat?
« on: January 13, 2018, 11:26:46 PM »
Both Big Jim and MacBeth were mentioned.  Those are the only two I'm growing, and they are both excellent, though I'd choose MacBeth if I could only have one.  It is a much smaller, more manageable tree than the Big Jim tree, which is a beast that requires multiple rounds of pruning each year to keep the fruit within harvestable height.  The other knocks against Big Jim for me are (1) it is inconsistent in fruit set from year to year and (2) it took years from planting until it flowered and set its first crop.  MacBeth has been very consistent and produced fruit the first year in ground from a 5 gallon pot.  As for flavor, which one I prefer varies from year to year, I presume based on that year's weather or how I've treated them.  Both can make very large fruit if they are thinned.  Personally, I'm removing Big Jim from my yard because it is too much work for too little reward compared to MacBeth.  Keep in mind, that experience is based on only a single tree of each variety.

3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mona Lisa and Sweet heart Banana's?
« on: January 11, 2018, 01:06:09 AM »
Quote from: greenbean88 on January 10, 2018, 03:43:35 PM
thanks a lot for your specific experience with these types of banana's. My hope is to make a small banana circle and possibly have a

Good luck with your project.  You'll be doing very well indeed if you have bunches hanging by the end of summer.  That would be very fast for So Cal.

4
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mona Lisa and Sweet heart Banana's?
« on: January 10, 2018, 12:53:31 AM »
Quote from: greenbean88 on January 08, 2018, 04:33:39 PM
Thanks for the reply. I was really looking for someone in SoCal that can comment on typical height, taste, texture or productivity of Mona Lisa and Sweet heart?

Dwarf Namwah is probably the easiest variety to grow in So Cal -- pretty bulletproof by banana standards.  Maximum fruiting height (measured to the top of the "trunk") is around 9', typically in the 7-8' range.  The fruit are extremely sweet and dense when left to ripen fully, with a hint of apple cider and not much at all like a grocery store Cavendish.  Very productive plant, a workhorse.

Mona Lisa makes delicious fruit.  Closer to Cavendish in flavor and texture, but much better, with a slight tartness.  This variety has been very touchy for me in So Cal -- a poor producer.  About the same height as D. Namwah (at least in my yard), but much less robust.  I love the fruit, but I can't recommend it as a productive variety.  Also, be aware that there have been some Mysore banana plants sold in CA as Mona Lisa, so you might not have the real thing.

I haven't grown Sweetheart, but have seen it grown in So Cal.  It is an incredibly robust plant, with a very thick pseudostem ("trunk").  It gets considerably taller than Dwarf Namwah, probably more typically 10-12'.  It makes big bunches of fruit.  I haven't tried them, but I know some people find them too sweet, others love them.

5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: cherimoya top working
« on: November 18, 2017, 10:15:25 PM »
I'd be a little scared to stump one without leaving at least a small nurse limb to keep the system going.  Have any of you stumped Cherimoya before?

6
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Superior Banana Varieties for Flowers' Eating Qualities
« on: November 12, 2017, 12:50:49 AM »
This is not from personal experience: the Kepler and Rust banana book mentions Saba subgroup cultivars as having particularly good flowers for eating.

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mature avocado tree flowers, but doesn't fruit
« on: October 20, 2017, 11:01:48 AM »
I also have an avocado that won't fruit and, in my case, I think it is the result of boron deficiency because the tree shows other evidence of that and I've had it in other plants on my property.  The avocado is a grafted variety (Lamb Hass) and plenty big and old to be fruiting.  It flowers well but sets very few fruit which fall off when still tiny. It has B types grafted on, which flower, so I don't think pollination is the problem.  I've been cautiously adding boron both to the soil and via foliar sprays.  We'll see if that solves the problem.

8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Barbados Cherry can't set fruit
« on: September 24, 2017, 01:29:40 AM »
After about 5 years of regular flowering and no fruit set, I got rid of mine. I've seen others that set well. My guess is I had no pollinators interested in it.

9
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Looking for Sturdy Banana recommendation
« on: August 20, 2017, 01:11:00 AM »
Dwarf Brazilian.  You say not a dwarf, but this variety is as tall as many non-dwarf varieties, is super sturdy (never needs to be propped), and makes wonderful slightly tart fruit.  The namwah varieties often need to be propped and, while their fruit are very different from Cavendish, they don't really have much tartness, if that's what you're in the market for.

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: The Reed avocado thread
« on: August 13, 2017, 01:10:36 PM »
Quote from: Mark in Texas on August 13, 2017, 10:40:20 AM
True.   However...... I have a 10' X 10' Reed tree in a large bottomless RootBuilder pot. We're eating fruit that are now 17 mos. old.  Even when I started tasting them back in May they were rich and delicious.  Only 7 left.   :'(

So, then it's rooted through the bottom into the ground, right?

11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Help with Mysore banana
« on: August 06, 2017, 10:28:55 AM »
It looks like the two suckers are doing fine, so I wouldn't be worried at this point. The symptoms shown on the mother plant can be caused by all sorts of different stressors, but are often grown out of. It looks like in this case by putting out suckers. That is common.

12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best dwarf banana varieties
« on: July 27, 2017, 01:42:40 AM »
Quote from: marklee on July 25, 2017, 07:26:36 PM
The Ha'a Ha'a doesn't get very tall, maybe the fruit is about 4-6 foot above the ground, and it is very prolific.

The true Ha'a Ha'a is believed to be extinct.  And banana variety mislabelling seems to be the norm.  I wonder what you have.  It would be pretty exciting if you actually had the true Ha'a Ha'a.

13
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Please Help ID this Banana
« on: June 12, 2017, 02:40:20 PM »
If your neighbor was right about those being the only two possible cultivars, then it is Dwarf Cavendish. Orinoco has closed petiole canals and no wine stains, which this plant has.

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: banana blooming, BUT with only 1 small leaves
« on: March 26, 2017, 11:31:58 AM »
I've had bananas mature and ripen fine on plants with no leaves, but the fruit are always smaller than on a plant with leaves.  Can't hurt to let it go and see what happens.  Prune off the dead leaves so the "trunk" (pseudostem) is exposed to light because it can photosynthesize, too.

15
Citrus General Discussion / Re: climate/cultural practices that make citrus hard to peel?
« on: March 02, 2017, 02:43:29 AM »
Thanks Bill.  Good to know it is normal, even if it isn't correctable.

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: True Cavendish Banana in FL?
« on: February 24, 2017, 08:11:14 AM »
Quote from: englewoodhomegrown on February 23, 2017, 09:20:27 PM
...Why is it so hard to find anyone growing the commercially grown cavendish variety of banana in Florida? It seems like a no brainer being that so many people happily buy these at the grocery store everyday regardless of the fact that they are picked way too early and gassed to ripen...

If you are talking about finding Florida grown Cavendish fruit for sale in FL, I think the main reason you don't find them often is that it isn't possible to make much money growing them in FL because the ones grown elsewhere by big agrobusiness and imported are so darn cheap due to cheap labor, land, and economies of scale.  Backyard growers definitely grow them in FL.

To me, fully ripened, non-gassed Cavendish are better than what you normally find in the supermarket, but not so much better that I would choose to grow them over other, better tasting cultivars that aren't available in the supermarkets.

17
Citrus General Discussion / Re: climate/cultural practices that make citrus hard to peel?
« on: February 09, 2017, 03:03:11 PM »
Quote from: Mike T on February 03, 2017, 06:46:36 PM
The same variety of mandarin or orange grown in a range of climates will generally be easier to peel and have thicker peel from the cooler areas. Acid content will be higher and a richer skin colour will also result from the cooler climate. Tangors are more orange like from a warm climate and more mandarin like from a cool climate. Oranges and mandarins seem to have a really broad range of climatic tolerances and are phenotypically plastic. The amount of rain and seasonal extemes as well as humidity contribute to ease of peeling as well.I think cultural practices and nutrients have less of a role.

Yes, I'd read that -- specifically citrus having thicker peels that are easier to peel in cooler areas.  Doesn't seem to hold in my case.  I'm in a cool, coastal area.  Maybe it's actually about difference between daytime high temps and nighttime lows.  There's very little difference where I live, compared to further inland.  Or perhaps lack of seasonal extremes, as you mentioned.

It would be nice if there was something I could tweak about the way I grow them.  I guess not.

18
Citrus General Discussion / Re: climate/cultural practices that make citrus hard to peel?
« on: February 09, 2017, 02:58:16 PM »
Quote from: Millet on February 04, 2017, 05:28:25 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fYpziFsC10

This method is a pretty good method - watch all the way to the end.

Well, these adhere to the skin too much for that approach to work.  That's why I'd like to figure if there's some cultural practice I can try to make them easier to peel.

19
Citrus General Discussion / climate/cultural practices that make citrus hard to peel?
« on: February 02, 2017, 07:16:39 PM »
At any stage of ripeness, the citrus I grow in my yard are harder to peel than those varieties normally are if I were to get them elsewhere, e.g., buy them at the store.  I know some varieties are harder to peel than others, but I'm talking about comparing the same variety grown in my yard to that variety grown elsewhere.  For example, the Valencia orange in my yard is harder peel than a Valencia I could buy.  Same for my Page mandarin, and my Moro blood orange.

Anyone have any ideas about why this might be?  It doesn't have to do with level of ripeness/maturity, though that certainly affects easy of peeling (easier on more mature fruit).  Could it be something about the way I'm growing them, e.g., not enough of certain minors?  Watering regime?  General climate (cool coastal)?

Thanks.

20
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Identifying Cherimoya
« on: January 17, 2017, 02:13:26 AM »
Looks a lot like some of my Dr. White.  They are quite variable in how bumpy they are.

21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Big Chirimoya?
« on: December 16, 2016, 04:20:24 PM »
Looks similar to Dr. White cherimoya, but a bit too bumpy.  I grew a few Dr. White that were 2.0 to 2.3 kg last year, but not over 3 kg.

22
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: How are your Cherimoyas doing?
« on: October 24, 2016, 02:14:06 AM »
Quote from: fyliu on October 22, 2016, 05:40:25 PM
Venturabanana, how many are you getting now?

There are still lots hanging, but I normally don't get ripe fruit until December.  I think I'll get some earlier this year, but I'll have to wait and see.

23
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: How are your Cherimoyas doing?
« on: October 22, 2016, 04:14:39 PM »
Quote from: simon_grow on October 20, 2016, 01:58:02 PM
Just wanted to see how everyone's Cherimoyas are doing. I've had some health issues this year so I haven't been maintaining my garden and I only hand pollinated my Cherimoyas early in the season. With Santa Anna conditions today, I expect many of my fruit to get blown off, drop or get sunburned.
Simon

I had record fruit set this year (for me), but that brutal Santa Ana a month ago, which set heat records here in Ventura, caused a bunch of fruit to drop from sunburn or cracking.

24
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: How are your Cherimoyas doing?
« on: October 22, 2016, 04:11:41 PM »
Quote from: JF on October 22, 2016, 10:42:57 AM
Quote from: simon_grow on October 22, 2016, 12:53:24 AM
From my memory, I believe I typically graft Cherimoyas around April or May. Frank is an Annona expert and he knows when best to graft. Frank, where you at😁😎
Simon

I start grafting anonnas late February early March. Atemoyas and ilamas are first and the rest from April to May.

That's probably the best time -- and Frank would know -- but you can definitely have pretty decent success at other times, too.  September has worked pretty well for me, too.  Just strip the leaves below the graft to get the plant pushing.

25
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Top 5 banana varieties
« on: October 21, 2016, 12:05:41 PM »
Quote from: bsbullie on October 20, 2016, 02:38:14 AM
If the reds are not a favorite and you like the subacid characteristic, you might like the Pisang Raja.  Its an Indian banana that is very sweet, strong and custardy with a faint hint of subacid component but nothing like a Mysore.

I've always wanted to try Pisang Raja but I've never been able to find it in CA, or from a business elsewhere that can ship to CA.  There's one here that is claimed to be a Pisang Raja variant, but it's not -- it's just another Pisang Awak ("Namwah").

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