I have a medium sized loquat tree on my driveway that is one of my wife's favorites. Lately the birds have been hitting it hard but we were just about to have some fruit ripe (our first year of a real harvest). Our doorbell rings today and its a delivery man (won't name company, but their color is brown) who often delivers to our house. My mother in law was late in getting the door and finally opens it to get the package and sees the delivery guy with 2 full handfuls of loquats...and he's a big guy (probably 6' 5" so he has monster-paw hands).

She says "thank you" for the package (but more importantly to let him know he is busted) and he asks (as he continues picking) "I hope you don't mind that I'm picking some fruit?"

She says "Well, we haven't had a chance to eat any off of the tree...so leave some for us", and he continues to pick! I wonder how he'll behave when my lychees. longans and mangos are ripe? I'm a generous person and wouldn't mind sharing some but it burns me when people take it upon themselves to pick fruit that I have nurtured and longingly watched develop for months. So now I have to be "that guy" and let him know that picking fruit at my house is a no-no. Sucks I have to do this...it should be a given, but some people are lacking in manners.

I am looking for a 7 gallon Biew Kiew longan to be shipped to me in 32780. I can send you a Fed Ex label if you like via e-mail. C'mon, hook a brother up!

I am wanting to grow one of these in a large pot. Does anyone have one for sale? Zipcode 32780. Shipping to me would be fine (I can e-mail you a Fed Ex label and you can ship on my account if needed). Can I grow one of these in a pot without ever having to plant it?

Thanks!
Blue Palm

I have a courtyard in between my house and my garage/storage area. It was a screened patio and the previous owner tiled over 4" concrete. Needless to say, in Florida, every 2-3 weeks I had to pressure wash the tile to keep mildew from growing. This got old, quickly...not only the pressure washing, but the fact that every time I pressure washed I was inhaling aerosolized water/fungal particles. Yuck! So I eventually gave up and let the area "win." It became unbearable, and I didn't even want to open my windows because of the growing mildew/mold. So finally I got motivated, had a guy with a Bobcat rip out the concrete, tile and screen house, and then I brought in 9 yards of potting soil/fill/mushroom compost. I trenched around the house (18"-2' down and put in anti-termite treatment) , hung gutters, fixed dry-rot damage around the outside doors, painted the area in happy colors, planted it out and mulched it (50 bags of mulch). Since I live in a borderline-too cold-for mangos locale, I thought this courtyard would afford some protection for 2 mango trees. So months ago I drove down to Excalibur (3 1/2 hour drive) and bought 4 Maha Chanok trees (I kept two, gave one to my father, and gave one as a housewarming gift to a mango-loving friend south of me). Rob was our gracious host. I wanted a variety that would be slow growing, somewhat on the small side and pretty. I love the picture that HMHausman posted of his smallish Maha bejeweled with beautiful fruit (a search on Google images of Maha Chanok/Chinook will turn up this photo). The only downside to this project is that the yellow paint makes the rest of my house looks dull and old (needs to be painted). Sooo...that is my next project! I will pick a toned down color for the house though! I've posted before and after pics. The tree behind the courtyard is a Mauritius lychee.  One wall of the courtyard is western-facing, so I had to put in some sun loving plants. The other wall is eastern-facing, so I planted more lush tropicals. Most everything is perennials.  I realize I will eventually have mango trees dropping leaves on my roof, but my house is surrounded by 30 huge oaks that rain litter down non-stop, so a twice a month gutter cleaning is already in my schedule!

Yes, it was this bad. Almost everything on the ground is mildew. It loves tile in FL. I bleached it 1 time, the water ran into my backyard and killed the plants on the oustide of the screened patio. Plus, when this tile would get wet it was slick like ice. No good...


Trenching before termite application


Dumptruck delivering soil


Same vantage point as the 1st photo ("yes it was this bad")

Picked a bunch of Kent mangos, 1 Florigon and 1 Carrie (given to us) at my dad's house  and then stopped by the Ensey grove on Merritt Island for the rest in the picture. They look like jellybeans. The pen is for scale.

What a wonderful blessing I found this weekend mowing my yard: a paw paw tree! It is in a shaded oak/palm hammock in the corner of my property. I plan on clearing the vines, etc. off of it today. I live in central Florida on the coast.

Here are a couple of pics from my dad's yard taken yesterday:


-small Maha Chanok with 3 fruits


-developing fruit on small Maha Chanok tree


-Kent mango tree. I love this tree. Year after year it produces prodigious amounts of fruit. 


-New growth on a Florigon mango. Notice how thin the leaves are... reminds me of macadamia leaves.


-new growth on Nam Doc Mai


-Nam Doc Mai mangos hiding


-small Southern Blush mango tree with 3 large fruits. This tree was dug up from my yard 2 years ago after our brutal winter (that's why the top is missing...it died and was pruned back) and I gave it to my father. It was planted this year.
All in all it will be a light mango set this year. Only the Kent has large amounts of fruit. The Lancitilla, Florigon and Graham dropped most of their fruit and decided to grow. Our other workhorse tree, the Keitt, is dedicating its energy to new growth after freeze damage from 2 winters ago and has a light fruit set. The Lancitilla is growing like it is on steroids. It went from a 3.5' tree 2 1/2 years ago to at least 15 feet (tall and wide). I am amazed every time I see it.  The Alphonso and Mallika have a light-moderate fruit set, and the Bailey's Marvel (usually a heavy producer) has a light fruit set due to powdery mildew on the panicles and blossoms.

Can anyone give me some feedback on the Duncan mango? I read some older posts on the web where it was referred to as a very good/excellent mango. Now, since we are all mango snobs here  is the Duncan in the same category (give or take) as the Edward, Kent, Cushman, Dot, etc?  Or would it be a second tier mango? Also, what are the growth habits of the tree (vigorous like the Bailey's Marvel/Valencia Pride, moderate like a Kent, or slower)? And how about disease resistance?  I have read the informative Wikipedia article (thanks to Squam I believe)...but I wanted any personal experiences if available...especially regarding growth habits.  Thanks in advance!

BluePalm

For the past 3 growing seasons the flowers on our mango trees are being attacked by a fast-spreading fungus...before fruit set. Last year it kept our Alphonso from bearing fruit. Spraying the flowers with a fungicide is quite effective. However, we have some larger trees that are really hard to fully spray (with 100% coverage). Has anyone had any experience with this specific fungus?

Thanks,
BluePalm

2 years ago I planted a Mysore raspberry in my yard. At the end of the 1st year, the canes were so long that they leaned over and touched the ground. Where they touched a new plant sprung up. Now after 2 years they are become a bit aggressive in my yard.  I was planning on moving them to the edge of my woodline but I don't want them becoming invasive on my property (they have the nastiest thorns).  I enjoy the plant and the berries are pretty good. They tend to bear at the same time as my mulberry tree and blueberries. This is a pic taken today of part of my patch.  There are unripe 70% formed berries on some of the canes. I think the warmish winter fooled them into budding early.  Don't cringe at the yellow burned cycad in the pot; I dug it up from my yard because it was not happy in its spot (as you can tell).  You can see how far my mysores have spread from 1 plant.