Looking good, Max.

Osito, I had the same problem on some of my seedlings the first year I planted them. Were your seedlings exposed to hot sun at all? I used a similar growing medium with lots of shredded woods. They can get really hot under hot sun, and if they are in contact with a tender seedling trunk, they can burn them. I now grow my seedlings in potting mix and keep them in the shade for several months.

Thanks, Fang. Do you happen to know what Orton's number was at the tasting?

That's great news. Thank you, Fang.

Gary, you can find a lot of them on ebay or Amazon. Just look for organza or jewelry bags.   According to what I read about annona seed borers, they only deposit eggs when the fruits are small, so you can buy the standard bag size (4x6"?), and remove them when the fruits get bigger. Here's an article about the seed borers.

The Annona Seed Borer, Bephratelloides Species
Bephratelloides spp. develop strictly in Annona seeds. Economic damage occurs when the adults chew their way out of the fruit, creating a 2 mm diam tunnel that provides entry for other insects and decay organisms. Bephratelloides cubensis is thelytokous, reproducing without males. It has approximately 4-5 generations per year. The egg stage lasts 12 to 14 days, the larval stage 6-8 weeks, the pupal stage 12-18 days, and the adult rarely lives beyond 15 days.
Bephratelloides cubensis prefers to oviposit in fruits ranging from 1.5-5.5 cm in diameter, which corresponds to fruit ages from 3-7 weeks after bloom. Although fruits larger than 5.5 cm are probed, when B. cubensis populations are high, most of these attacks do not result in infestation. Preferred fruit sizes presumably correspond with seeds that have not yet hardened and are easy to penetrate with the ovipositor, while the seeds of older fruits are probably too hard to penetrate. Larger fruits may be less preferred because the distance from the fruit surface to the seed may exceed the length of the ovipositor. The probes in young sugar apple and atemoya fruits look like dark pinpricks surrounded by a round whitish patch, and are visible for about two weeks; in older fruits the whitish patch does not appear, and the probe marks are permanent and often ooze sap.

Oviposition activity by B. cubensis begins at about 9:00 h and continues throughout the daylight hours with peaks in activity around 12:00-13:00 h. The wasps spend the night on the underside of leaves on their host trees, and move to the upper surface at sunrise. Flying individuals can be observed soon afterwards and throughout the day.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig166

For the problem of flower's dehydrating in dry weather:  after pollination, tie them shut with small grafting rubbers.

That's a great tip. Thanks, Har.

Thanks for sharing, JF. Your trees, and your fruits always look top notch. I know the question about when to pick a Cherimoya has come up many times, but I am going to ask again. I only have one fruit on each of my 2 seedlings. They have increased in size quite a bit lately. Should I pick them when I think they are ripe, or should I put a sling on them and wait for them to fall off the tree?

I pm'ed JF, and he said that the bumpy fruit may be related to Sabor, while the smooth one could be to Booth. Thanks so much JF, for your help.

Sunworshiper, forgive me for going back and forth, but I just looked at your air layer roots again, and there isn't much sphagnum moss there, so I think you don't have to worry too much about it keeping the roots too wet. To complicate things, lychees like at lot of moisture, and I am absolutely no expert on this matter. The air layer that I killed had a big ball of sphagnum moss and a few roots, so it's a total different situation. I think your air layer will be fine, and that you chose a fitting size pot.

Sunworshiper, Fyliu had great advice about watching the watering, especially if you used sphagnum moss for the air layer. Sphagnum moss keeps the root ball really wet. I killed my first air layer by over watering. I also agree with him about using the smallest pot possible. The main thing is to keep the roots from dying first, then you can up the pot size once the tree has stabilized.

They are both seedlings. The bumpy one is 5 yo, and the smooth one is 4. This is the first time they fruited, and the fruits (one each) are small, the size of a small apple.

Here is a pic of both of them.
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Pic of the 5 yo bumpy one.
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Pic of the 4 yo smooth one.
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I can only answer some of your questions, Gaberec. Yes, it's a guava tree, and it's easier to air layer than to graft. Some forum members have been able to graft them. I tried, but failed, because I didn't realize that different varieties have different thickness of bark. In the spring I'll do it again, and try to match the cambium layers, instead of flushed barks. They are nice looking trees, and tolerate cold weather pretty well. The upper leaves will turn red, then fall off after a frost, but my plants all recovered. I have not planted a guava from seeds, so I don't know how long it'll take them to fruit. but I have heard about 3-4 years. Not bad. Your soil looks so fertile. Volcanic soil of Italy, right? You are very lucky. My soil is hard, heavy clay, the type you make bricks with, but the guavas don't mind. That's another reason I like them. They thrive in any soil.

Simon, do the seedlings tolerate transplant well? I have a bunch of seedlings in my yard too, but am waiting till next spring to dig them up.