Do Pine Needles Acidify Soil
This is an old gardening myth that just won’t rot away!
This common, incorrect, advice goes as follows:
 if your soil is alkaline (ie has a pH above 7) and you want to make it more acidic, add pine needles to the soil. Since pine needles are acidic they will acidify your soil. This advice is very prevalent especially for growing acid loving plants such as azaleas and rhododendrons.
http://www.gardenmyths.com/pine-needles-acidify-soil/

Published on Sep 14, 2014
Pine needles make a great mulch, but do they make soil acidic, or is this a gardening myth? I ask Stephen Legaree to share his thoughts on the topic. Also, please see the links to sources on this topic below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B8-1sVcfzE


http://www.forestindustrycouncil.com.au/factsheets/f2.pdf

and a 2nd Incarnata would also work as long as its seed grown
or, not a clone of the first one.
P. Caerulea seems to flower more often to me

i have several properties - rentals.
i pay taxes every year online with a Credit card.

My name and address are recorded on the page which is public
but, only from when i purchased the property
not from every year i pay taxes,
 So that information is several years old
Thats New Orleans. i dont know about anywhere else.

i have actually purchased several tax-title properties
after me paying the taxes for 3 years, i can petition the court
(my attorney can), a bit of paperwork, pay back taxes, and i own the house.

i had to do "due diligence" in tracking down the original owners.
its amazing how many people walk away from property.
(of course here in New Orleans hurricane Katrina made people leave)
especially if they owed money on the house, mortgage etc...
then, the bank has a stake in it.

Here, i can go to city hall and use their computes to research that
but, its not always %100 accurate.

i was thinking of moving just so i could find a property with an acre or more,
but, i never did, ive been saying that for 3 years now.
so... i just started putting some stuff in the ground.
blueberries, strawberry guava, loquat...
Starfruit and Jabo go in next week or 2, after im sure there will be no more frost.

so i am committed to make this work, and cram as much as i can in.
i must have 60-70 containers. will probably have to give away a few guava and papaya extras i grew.

but now, i can let myself start buying 

I am in the market for Chilean guava, grumichama, CORG, mango (of course)
and a few other berry type bushes.

any ideas for others appreciated.

ive used Pine Island before, and was happy with the price
and shipping.
but also open for ideas ...


Adam ?
anything interesting in stock, that will work in 9b ?
and you can ship to New Orleans correct ?

(should i start a new thread ?)

i have been wanting to go to Fairchild festival for years
havent made it yet.
maybe this year ?  July 11 + 12

http://www.fairchildgarden.org/Events-Community-Outreach/Mango-Festival

July 19 + 20 at Pine Island
http://mangomaniafl.net/

DAMN, that means i would have to stay a week
and go to 2 mango festivals ?

are there better ones ?

i have a large red
looking to trade scions

i am supposed to be getting scions for Pakistan
and i have a small dwarf-everbearing Illinois
(supposedly), its only a foot tall now though

would rather black, but also interested in whites.

i took a cutting and rooted it
its about 16 inches tall and is fruiting now in the greenhouse !

also pics from my large red.
it produces LOTS of fruit. sweet and flavorful
can be a tad watery in some years
but, more than likely, that was my fault for neglecting it.

i have been watching this thread since i just ordered a bunch of stuff from there.

i ordered from him around the 24 or 25th
i got am email with my order a few days later
and a stamps.com email stating the package was en-route.


"This message was sent to you at the request of Dann Jarvis, to notify you that they have shipped a package to you. For details about your shipment or to track your package, please refer to the information below."

i just checked the stamps.com link that says...

"PRE-SHIPMENT INFO SENT TO USPS"

im not sure if that means it was even shipped ?


not complaining yet
i just dont know what the deal is.
its been well over a week, if it was really shipped then ?
not a big rush, its just very unclear as to how long it may take.
and i did order some live plants

i LOVE mulberries

a few years ago, i had a tree volunteer itself in my yard
i had no idea what it was, but, i needed something to shade the house from the sun there...
i let it grow and found it was a mulberry.
the fruit was pretty poor, but, i figured i hadnt paid any attention to it,
so, i pruned it, and fed it
the next year, it produced wonderful fruit.
pretty sure its a RED, they are the supposed wild ones here.

Now, i want something to graft to it.
i have someone sending me  PAK cuttings

they are also sending (i hope) cuttings from the "native" mulberry
which they say is everbearing
(They are in Fla)

i would like to root 2 of the cuttings
and graft the rest to my tree.

is this possible ? to root cuttings from a Pakistan rtee ?

also...
if anyone has a tasty black i can get some cuttings from
i can pay shipping. (or trade -  i have other stuff too)

My Red is 20ft tall, i can graft a lot to it.

the PIC is of a cutting i rooted from my RED
its in a greenhouse and is flowering / fruiting now
its about 1 ft tall!

cheers
Brad

zands

no, i dont mind the pine taste at all.
i kind of look forward to it, to add some complexity.
2 blooms ? You mean it bloomed at 2 different times ?
that would be great.
i had got scared off of Carrie because i had read 2 different people grew it
and had no fruit at all after several years.
of course, each tree is different,. not to mention soil, weather,, care etc...

i want to buy 3 Mango trees in a few weeks
2 months tops (i cant wait)
In New Orleans we get a lot of rain and humidity
the rain stays all year round.
We are one of the highest rainfall cities in the USA.

the next problem is i am in zone 9b
it freezes here a couple times a year on average.
rarely under 28F for more than a few hours
the sun always warms things up down here.

Will 28F damage flowers or small fruit ?
Should i get a variety that flowers not in late fall/winter ?

i heard a fast growing vigorous plant is best
so, if there is any cold damage,
it will come back easier in spring.

i should really be trying to keep them all height restricted,
but, i have a spot i figure i can let at least one of them get rather large. the other 2 will have to be trimmed to
10-15 ft

i was going to go with 3 from this list
(it took me a week to narrow it down to these )

Top Tropicals list Bailey's Marvel
and Glenn as more cold-hardy than other varieties...
Is this true ?

in order as of my preference now...
but, i am open to suggestions to others...

- Glenn,
- Nam Doc Mai,
- golden nugget,
- Alphonso,
- Angie,
- Pickering,
- Valencia Pride,
- choc-anon,

reason for the picks
for each mango listed...

Alphonso
trees tolerate the abundant rain and high humidity of South Florida very well
ripens late June to July.
http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/mango/alphonso-mango.shtml

Angie
originated in South Florida.
relatively small growth habit, rich and complex flavor, and good disease (TT)

Baileys Marvel
Best cold tolerance.
t has the same flavor with the Haden, with less fiber.
fruit are bigger and less prone to fungus problems.
(TT)

Valencia Pride
ripens July to August. vigorous large grower
developed in South Florida
http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/mango/valencia-pride-mango.shtml

Glenn
consistent production, and effortless to grow.
Trees are typically fifteen feet
ripens June to July
http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/mango/glenn-mango.shtml

Relatively cold hardy variety. (TT)

choc-anon
ripens from November-January
and sometimes July as well.
http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/mango/choc-anon-mango.shtml

golden-nugget
extremely prolific,
large vigorous grower .
ripens late July to August.
http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/mango/golden-nugget-mango.shtml

Pickering
"condo mango" ripens in June.
http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/mango/pickering-mango.shtml

basil reseeded itself well this year.
i had tons of the stuff, and 20 bees on each plant. (about 2 dozen plants)
someone in the area must have a huge hive
knowingly, or not...

We get so much sun and rain here, everything wants to grow.
at some point, i stop fighting, and just let it.

they look like they need water
the leaf droop is a sign of that on mine,
 but, mine only do that in 90+F temps.

of coursethere are other reasons papaya droop leaves
cold temps do that as well.
i think that is still a water issue, when they get root-rot
it looks like they are thirsty
when in fact, they are over-watered.
root-rot stops the uptake of water and O2


its very possible it is transplant shock
they dont like the roots to be messed with.

were they originally watered in well ?
soil contact with the roots could be the issue
personally, i would finger test 2 inches down for moisture.
after you do that several times, you get a feel for what it i supposed to be.
To  me , there is nothing like physically getting in touch with
the plants environment, and, you know your soil.
there are like 5 spots in my yard that have different soil types, and moisture levels.