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Messages - Cookie Monster

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Will be planting this into the ground, should i pug it?
« on: April 05, 2018, 03:56:32 PM »
HAHAHAH

I actually like bombay, but still funny.

Quote from: murahilin on April 03, 2018, 10:04:40 PM
Quote from: NewGen on April 02, 2018, 09:00:16 PM
It's a Bombay mango. Height is about 6.5 feet from the ground. If pugging is recommended, about what height?
Thanks!

Since it's a Bombay, I would pug it about 3 ft tall then top work it with a good variety.

2
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Any repair on a large cracked mango trunk?
« on: April 04, 2018, 06:55:47 PM »
OK. Usually sunburn takes a few months to fully develop. Maybe you have some sort of fungal infection going then.

Quote from: Samu on April 04, 2018, 06:25:29 PM
Hi guys (gals included),
Thanks for all your suggestions. The crack is facing West; but it’s got some shade from tall Podocarpus trees and kids’ playpen nearby, so it doesn’t get full Western sun in the afternoon.

I used drip mini sprayer on watering this tree, before I converted to “Dripline” just a couple of months ago. I don’t think the spray water touched the trunk when it was on. Btw, the tree trunk at the bottom looked normal back in January this year; the NDM is on the Right: (before I pruned it only 2 weeks ago)



Ok then, I am keeping an eye on this tree for some time longer, while my replacement (if needed) seedling in pot needs to grow bigger anyway…

3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Any repair on a large cracked mango trunk?
« on: April 04, 2018, 06:52:54 PM »
It probably is, just looks a little ugly. I typically just use the branches which were pruned as shade.

Quote from: spaugh on April 04, 2018, 06:18:11 PM
Quote from: Cookie Monster on April 04, 2018, 05:44:11 PM
Right. Just leave it. It could be sunburn, especially seeing as how you mentioned that you pruned it pretty hard. Whenever you hard prune a mango tree, you need to shade any of the older bark that is newly exposed to sun.

Do people use latex paint in mango trees?  Its pretty popular for stone fruit and avocado here in CA.  Not sure if its ok on mangos?

4
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Any repair on a large cracked mango trunk?
« on: April 04, 2018, 05:44:11 PM »
Right. Just leave it. It could be sunburn, especially seeing as how you mentioned that you pruned it pretty hard. Whenever you hard prune a mango tree, you need to shade any of the older bark that is newly exposed to sun.

5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Help slow release fertilizer.
« on: April 02, 2018, 10:20:32 PM »
I don't. You'd probably have to make your own. 7springs sells various Tiger granules, and I suppose you could mix them together (eg, http://www.7springsfarm.com/iron-22-tiger-micronutrient-granular-50-lb/ ).

There's no real practical difference between the OMRI listed micronutrients and conventional -- other than how much it costs. Unless you have a market for organic products, save yourself the $$ and use conventional.

Quote from: FruitFreak on April 02, 2018, 09:42:09 PM
Quote from: Cookie Monster on April 02, 2018, 11:51:00 AM
That's funny. I bought 2 bags myself at the 14 mark 2 weeks ago. I think they must have some sort of algorithm to increase price based on demand. Many of the folks reading this thread must have kicked the pricing algorithm into high demand mode. It was an awesome price at 14 bux.

As for minor element mixes, Helena's 0-0-6 is the best of any I've found. It's around $30 per 50 pound bag, but has an awesome micros package, with something like 14% iron.


Do you know of any OMRI minor element granule?

6
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Help slow release fertilizer.
« on: April 02, 2018, 11:51:00 AM »
That's funny. I bought 2 bags myself at the 14 mark 2 weeks ago. I think they must have some sort of algorithm to increase price based on demand. Many of the folks reading this thread must have kicked the pricing algorithm into high demand mode. It was an awesome price at 14 bux.

As for minor element mixes, Helena's 0-0-6 is the best of any I've found. It's around $30 per 50 pound bag, but has an awesome micros package, with something like 14% iron.

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Annona seasons
« on: March 30, 2018, 11:36:32 AM »
For the soursop, you could try giving it a good fertilizer with micros (Har recommended zinc and boron if memory serves) and making sure it's watered regularly. That's how I got mine to go from flowering without any fruit for years to fruiting prolifically.

Quote from: gnappi on March 30, 2018, 02:03:17 AM
Thanks Jeff, I have two sugar apples that produce all the fruit I and friends can eat. My San Pablo has not produced but my purple custard apple is starting, it has two fruits on it, one large and another small. My soursop has flowered for a couple of years but all of them have fallen off :-( I wait for it patiently.

My only problem with Annona so far has been minor white fly caused by a nearby very susceptible "Mexican" guava which has been pulled.

8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Annona seasons
« on: March 30, 2018, 11:31:35 AM »
OK. You're in the lucky category then. Noel also had no issue with leaf hopper in his Coral Springs residence. Different story where he lives now though. I'm not sure why some areas are affected and others aren't. It's a limiting factor where I live.

Quote from: gnappi on March 30, 2018, 02:03:17 AM
Thanks Jeff, I have two sugar apples that produce all the fruit I and friends can eat. My San Pablo has not produced but my purple custard apple is starting, it has two fruits on it, one large and another small. My soursop has flowered for a couple of years but all of them have fallen off :-( I wait for it patiently.

My only problem with Annona so far has been minor white fly caused by a nearby very susceptible "Mexican" guava which has been pulled.

9
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: papaya fruitflies
« on: March 30, 2018, 11:29:39 AM »
In my area, the fruit fly are only an issue in the warmer months. I've just learned to treat summer papayas as compost, only harvesting the fruit for consumption between Oct and Apr -- which works out nicely, since there are plenty of other summer fruits to chew on.

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Too Late for Mango Rebloom?
« on: March 30, 2018, 11:22:54 AM »
I have a lot of new blooms. Pretty amazing. This might be the first time I've had blooms this late in the season. We're only 2 days away from April!

11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Annona seasons
« on: March 29, 2018, 04:16:24 PM »
Soursop doesn't seem to be affected. Har told me NOT to treat my soursop for scale / insect issues, as untreated soursops are oftentimes more productive. They do seem to enjoy regular watering as well as micronutrient application.

Custard apples: I think they do get leaf hopper, but the damage isn't as bad. But I don't grow custard apple, so this is just based on casual observations.

Ilama do get leaf hopper as far as I can tell. Those are a pain to grow and fruit. But the fruit is quite good.

Leaf hopper can be controlled. Har gave me two products: azadirachtin and a conventional product whose name I can't recall.

But I'm like you -- I refuse to give up on annonas.

Rollinia is another interesting one -- very delicious but can be a pain to grow. I'm on my second rollinia attempt at the moment. Sometimes they fly out of the ground and sometimes they fail to prosper and end up dying. Probably an issue with nematodes at the roots combined with leaf hopper?

Quote from: skhan on March 29, 2018, 02:36:23 PM
Jeff
Do you know of any annonas (variety) resistant to leafhopper.
My Custard Apples and Ilama don't seem to be displaying the same symptoms...yet.
Soursop too, but it has green scale.

Any updates for control methods from the Ag extension.
Giving up on annonas is not an option for me. lol

12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Annona seasons
« on: March 29, 2018, 01:17:39 PM »
Cherimoya don't fruit in South Florida, at least I've never heard of anybody getting more than a fruit every few years here.

Sugar apple and atemoya generally produce 2 crops per year consisting of the main crop coming in late summer and a smaller crop in winter.

Custard apple is a spring fruit (April), and soursop generally produce throughout most of the year, though cold will cause total defoliation and a break in fruiting.

While sugar apple and especially atemoya can be quite delicious, Annonas are generally high maintenance here. Leaf hopper can be a major pest and will prevent a tree from producing any fruit. It looks like major nutrient deficiency, so most don't detect the real issue. Leaf hopper control requires a weekly insecticidal spray. You might be able to get away with a bi-monthly program if leaf hopper populations aren't that strong in your area. And if you're super duper lucky, leaf hopper is a non-issue.

They also need heavy fertilization and a good watering regimen. Then there are those small mummified fruits, that I still don't know how to combat. I believe Har or Noel mentioned that it has something to do with chalcid fly. Bagging of fruits can be required.

If that weren't enough, they are light producers. This combo of factors is probably why sugar apple and atemoya can fetch upwards of $5 / pound.

Soursop might be the lowest maintenance of the group, but the fruit quality is mediocre.

That said, I've got a decade invested in trying to get a few annonas to fruit well and refuse to give up (to my wife's dismay). If you like challenges and appreciate the fruit enough, it's worth a shot.

13
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mango Pests, Diseases, and Nutritional Problems
« on: March 29, 2018, 11:11:34 AM »
Given the year that PDF was published, I'm guessing that they are referring to the BBS that infects leaves (not the new variant which infects fruits).

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: New "approach" on approach grafting?
« on: March 28, 2018, 06:43:51 PM »
Yep. The first example splits very easily, and it doesn't just break the branch; it does significant damage to the central trunk that it's attached to -- ripping out a long chunk of wood that can go half way into trunk. Those types of breaks heal very poorly, and if possible I end up cutting back the main trunk to the nearest crotch. Lychees are notorious for developing that type of acute crotch angle. Irma did a number on my lychees for that very reason.

Here's more or less what the resulting break looks like:



Quote from: pineislander on March 28, 2018, 06:07:14 PM
Quote from: Cookie Monster on March 28, 2018, 01:36:24 PM
The only worry point is that the crotch angle between those two branches that were grafted together is very acute and will be a weak point in future winds -- pretty easy for one of those limbs to tear right off through the fused cambium.

In researching tree pruning I also wondered about crotch angles. One reference showed the result of a close crotch angle this way:




A analogy in engineering would be a bar or plate of metal with a notch in it. Compression stress builds up at the notched point when the metal is bent and failure will occur at that point.

15
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: New "approach" on approach grafting?
« on: March 28, 2018, 06:30:18 PM »
I've seen a number of caimito trees that fruit well and several that don't fruit at all. I'm hoping that having a "pollinizer" nearby ensures that my trees are of the former group.

Quote from: Future on March 28, 2018, 05:27:00 PM
I notice Truly Tropicals seem to set fruit ok.

Nitpicking footnote: a friend of mind reminded me a second tree is a pollinizer, insects are pollinators.  😊

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: New "approach" on approach grafting?
« on: March 28, 2018, 01:36:24 PM »
The only worry point is that the crotch angle between those two branches that were grafted together is very acute and will be a weak point in future winds -- pretty easy for one of those limbs to tear right off through the fused cambium. I would nip off the thinner of the two branches (the one on the left) right at the top end of the graft.

Caimito trees are notorious for being difficult to fruit here. Noel had a tree that produced flowers quite profusely every year for nearly a decade but never set a single fruit. My theory is that they sometimes need another tree to cross pollinate with. I planted both purple and green caimito to hopefully ensure some fruit set. With a pollinator, I think you can expect fruit when the tree has been in ground for a good 4 to 5 years.

17
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mango tree pruning gone wild
« on: March 27, 2018, 07:59:41 PM »
Few mango trees like to be kept that small (7 feet or less). Pruning a mango tree causes it to lose some of its nutrient and energy reserves (the leaves are a storehouse of micronutrients and wood stores carbs). It also incites a growth response. Neither is conducive to producing fruit.

Moreover, pruning also enhances fungal infection. I'm not entirely sure why, but my theory is that a) copper reserves are lowered and b) this combines with heavy vegetative flushing -- and leaves are most vulnerable to infection when they are not yet hardened.

A skilled tree magician might be able to pull it off. You'd need to take great pains to keep the tree well fed (but without nitrogen), to mitigate the growth response, and to keep fungal infection in check.

You might be successful keeping "dwarf" cultivars that small. Pickering and Julie would be candidates, for example. But carrie tends to be somewhat vigorous.

The one advantage of the carrie here is that, like many in the julie line, it doesn't require much in the way of stimulus to bloom.

So, I would plan on something more like 12 feet tall unless you're OK with an ornamental bush.

18
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mulching with seaweed?
« on: March 27, 2018, 05:35:26 PM »
salt sensitive plants will be unhappy. I completely defoliated a citrus tree by giving it kelp meal.

19
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Will rats attack dragon fruit?
« on: March 26, 2018, 06:03:03 PM »
Same experience at my place. I suspected either rat or squirrel.

Quote from: Dangermouse01 on March 26, 2018, 05:53:27 PM
My DF are not growing on the fence, but on trellises about 4 feet away from the fence.
I will find fruit on the plant that has been eaten into from the side closest to the branch. Nothing noticeable until you move the branch and get a cloud of fruit flies lifting off.
I suspect rats climbing along the branch and eating into the fruit.
Maybe a possum.
Squirrels are pretty much kept in check at my place.
Raccoons would tear the fruit down and drag it off.

20
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: White Sapote: USDA and SES 2
« on: March 23, 2018, 02:23:29 PM »
At one point in time, there were multiple white sap cultivars at the fruit and spice park, like nearly 1/2 dozen. Pretty sure they are still there. For a while, they had the area quarantined (fenced off) due to concerns with greening disease I believe.

21
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: WANTED: White Sapote Tree 7g+
« on: March 23, 2018, 12:19:59 PM »
They have a big redlands tree and graft them on occasion.

22
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: White Sapote: USDA and SES 2
« on: March 23, 2018, 12:19:09 PM »
I've been trying to remember where I got it from and I can't recall. It was roughly 2006 and could have been Excalibur, but I'm not sure.

Quote from: bradflorida on March 23, 2018, 11:54:33 AM
Hi Jeff

Was your Suebelle from Excalibur?

23
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: White Sapote: USDA and SES 2
« on: March 23, 2018, 10:41:30 AM »
Redlands is my favorite so far. Large fruit and very delicious. Medium vigor.

I tore out my suebelle. The flavor was mediocre, and the fruit were on the small side. It also grew like mad.

24
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: WANTED: White Sapote Tree 7g+
« on: March 22, 2018, 10:37:57 PM »
Have you tried lara farms?

25
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Tropical persimmon
« on: March 22, 2018, 10:36:33 PM »
Didn't know persimmon were called tropical. They thrive in temperate regions as well as some sub-tropical areas, but I haven't known them to perform well in tropical climates.

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