Congratulations, normally it's the other way around.  Very refreshing to hear kids getting hooked on tropical FRUITS rather than many other things, then converting parents to make great duos.

Quote from: Triloba Tracker on August 13, 2013, 09:11:45 PM

I'm here because my teenage son - "Mr. Caimito" - has gotten me hooked on rare/exotic/tropical fruit.

Haha! I am also a teenager, but cannot seem to get my parents fully interested. Any suggestions, triloba tracker?

X

Haha! Right now, I only have a few seeds planted: soncoya, sugar apple, mamey apple, and... Miracle fruit, mangos, and lychees! I do have a full spectrum lighting system, but I am not sure what the winter heating costs would add up to!

Seems the crop either failed this year or is way late. So it might be quite a while before have them again.

I am in no hurry! If I buy them now, will I get them next time they are in stock, or will the transaction fail?

Nice collection Hope to see it grow nice and healthy.

Just be aware that Baobab like it dry though, so always keep in in places not too humid. (in other words, always indoors in our state, haha)

Wow, for some reason I imagined your Cali Gold banana bigger. Mine's a few feet tall at the p-stem and has, like a Cali Gold should, a VERY fat p-stem. Your collection inspires me to post photos of mine, but first I'll wait til my recent purchases arrive and are planted.

I don't know if I've said it before, but, good luck on your Avocado seedling. They're highly prone to not fruit for a looong time, we're talking over 8 years, and some just don't fruit at all. I know at least three people who have Avocado seedlings over 10 years old and never flowered. That's why I stick to grafted named cultivars.

I don't know how much of a nightshade fan you are, but, that chinese lantern reminds me that if you're ever interested in husked relatives like it, but edible, I grow and offer both purple tomatillos and ground cherries. Purple tomatillos are a most deep, royal gorgeous purple inside a nice cracked-open looking husk. (they're sweet eaten raw too; fully ripe they have a most unique indescribable flavor) Ground cherries are like miniature translucent chinese lanterns, but have a sweet delicious golden berry inside. Their foliage is fuzzy and attractive, too.

Just post pics now, and update when the new plants come.

Low humidity? No problem! 100% outside and 0% inside is the way it works ! As I said, I have only had this plant for a few months, but I can feel the rhizome putting on weight! The plant devours water by the bucket! I know avocados take ten years to fruit- at least they do from seedlings. I plan to graft these so the wait will only be three years, perhaps starting a scion search next month. When is the best time of year to search for wood?

I have not tried ground cherry, and killed all my seedlings, but purple tomatillo is a favorite in my house, as both my parents like to make purple salsa verde (oxymoron). Last year my plant was two foot tall and covered in purple husks, but went through a flower and no fruit stage. This year, my plant is four foot high, but still in the flower no fruit stage. Any suggestions?

PltdWorld, avocado has been fruited some fifty miles away, and I have had a seedling survive winter here, so I am guessing that a tree of a few feet should be able to survive outdoors. Citrus is grown here mainly as an ornamental. Chirimoya cannot be wintered here in Arlington, but can be first put outdoors in April, when the weather creeps into the forties. The california gold banana can be wintered, and was reccomended to me by a friend a few months ago beacause it is hardy as musa basjoo. It seems a lot of people up here like it (illia grows it, too). Karen, I have heard stories of people planting it outdoors during the summer, then digging it up and taking it into the garage for the winter... But honestly, I didn't think that one through! Especially if I want it's fruit! No excuse for it, really... 

Just four months ago I only had seven small plants. Now I have twenty two small plants. I know it is nothing to brag about, but the are growing, and will not fit in the sink anymore. Here is three picture with every single plant I have in a container (I have a few at the garden).

Clockwise: sensitive plant, gamboge, ashwagandha, Chinese lantern, strawberry (unnamed variety), rambutan

Baobab (adansonia digitata), plumeria (plumeria rubra/obtusa), guajilote, cacao, soursop

Banana, seedling avocado, chirimoya, chirimoya, kumquat, grapefruit, blood orange, seedling avocado

I thought this would be good for members who are up north, or non-members looking for places to buy the fruit.

Other northern members, please post stores or markets you know of with tropical fruit. Hope this helps!

X

Quote from: edzone9 on August 11, 2013, 10:43:36 AM

I use the Jiffy Peat Pods On Guanabana & Always get Nearly 100% Germination Rate .
Good Lick.

My experience with annonas is that they'll germinate pretty much by blinking at them if the seeds are fresh, and otherwise, they're just compost.

In general, I think the baggie approach (regardless of what sort of medium you use) is ideal.  You always maintain a high humidity, it never dries out or varies, your seeds aren't sitting in water, your medium that you use is generally sterile when it goes in, you can easily isolate as many seeds as you want, and you can see them through the plastic***.  It and variants thereof are used professionally. 

CoPlantNut uses a variant that I think I'll try next time around of using rigid plastic (tupperware-style) containers.  I find the concept interesting, in that you also guarantee enough air and won't crush delicate roots through bending.  Of course, they're more expensive than plastic bags, but they're easily reusable.

I've tried a variant of bagging whole trays of germination medium, but I've generally been disappointed with the results.  It's hard to bag the whole thing in a single bag so it slowly dries out, the use of so many seeds at a time increases the risk of mold spread, and unless the whole tray is the same species, some germinate a lot earlier than others, so you have to choose between transplants when young, damping off, or drying out your other seeds.  I also had problems with unevenness of moisture levels between individual pots in the trays.  So basically, IMHO, covered/bagged trays are fine for when you're doing a single species, but otherwise, I'd recommend going with something else.

As for mediums, the only real constraint is "sterile".  Paper towel is the most commonly used but it's sometimes criticized as being too mold risky.  My "current" opinion on the subject is paper towel for tiny seeds, peat or sphagnum moss for larger seeds.  The large fibers in the latter help ensure better air flow and thus reduce the mold risk, but tiny seeds get lost in it.  I plan to do some experiments next time with live moss to see how it fares, the thought being, mosses should survive pretty well in a moist-sealed environment, and a live moss can't mold, right?    But really, the medium doesn't seem to be the key issue, how you manage it does.  Never put too many seeds in a bag and immediately remove any ones that start to mold (some will be contaminated to begin with), and change your medium if you think it's gotten moldy.  And of course always use clean seeds from a reputable supplier.  Oh, and of course remember that the goal is not to soak the seeds, it's just to get your medium damp enough that it keeps the bag moist for you.  It only takes a little!  (here, moss again helps - it holds more water without getting "wet").

Oh, and lastly, I've found that some types of larger seeds don't like being bagged period - they like to have part in the ground and part exposed to the air, like a nut fallen off a tree, and will tend to mold if they're entirely exposed to a moist environment (like in a bag).  So I've taken to planting such seeds half-in the ground and half exposed rather than bagging them.  It's usually not natural for particularly large seeds to end up well buried, while contrariwise in nature little seeds end up totally buried with just a little breeze. 

*** - No, you don't have to wrap your seeds so that they're entirely covered with your medium (paper or cloth or whatnot), and in fact, I strongly recommend against it!  It doesn't help and you're increasing the risk of rot and making it more likely that the root will grow into your medium and get stuck when you try to take the seed out.  And it's always very useful to be able to see the the seeds to know when they've germinated.

Annonas do germinate very quickly if fresh (although some, like soncoya, can take up to six months), but if they aren't, that does not mean they are dead. Most annona species have very long storage life (two to six years). If they do not germinate right away, they are not dead. I have given up on year old soursop seeds, but after three months, who sould poke their head from the soil but an adorable baby soursop! Yes, most nuts like air, but most nuts also need chilling hours to germinate, and this is the reason they like air, because the soil will tend to be warmer. There is a risk of mold in the bags, but only if you leave the seed in there for longer than a , if the seed is clean. Seeds that have flesh stuck to them can be scrubbed lightly, and dipped in peroxide (you can find half gallons for a dollar), and even without that quick easy treatment, the sock seems to inhibit mold better than peat moss, especially polymer and bleached cotton. Just don't use wool or moldy socks!

 

I am thinking about growing this, but I have to know this: how long from sprout to fruit? And as Karen asked, do they need cross pollination?