What Harry said.

The lazy man's way to do it is:

• Get the tree trimmer to dump off a load of mulched trimmings in your driveway
• Pay someone to wheelbarrow it through the garden a few inches thick
• Let nature (millipedes) do the composting for you

Ya, this is essentially what I did, only the mulch was spread with a bobcat.

I also have a mulch/compost pile area where all the unwanted fruit and vegetable scraps and manure goes.

Ackee and Miracle Fruit are both from Africa as well if I remember right.

I've mostly seen it done to mangoes. Basically just means pruning the tree closer to the base of the trunk than normal (though obviously not below the graft), maybe at about 2 feet or so, to encourage a lower/earlier branching habit. Can probably be done with 'most' other tropical fruit trees as well. Seems to be ideal for growing a tree in a pot but perhaps not necessary for an in ground tree; might actually be counterproductive in some instances as you might not want branches occurring that low to the ground. Named after the poster puglvr1, who practiced/s it plenty.

Papaya.....there are definitely  some good ones but enough of them taste like vomit. I have them growing anyways though.

I would probably hate Durian if I actually tried it......but I'm not so inclined.

Trying to think of it; there just really aren't many fruits I don't like.

I guess it's been about 20 years since I visited the Fruit and Spice Park in the Redland, Homestead, FL.  I think I may have been there once after Hurricane Andrew devastated it.  How is it now?  Is it a MUST-SEE attraction for the tropical fruit enthusiast?  Are all the cultivars properly labeled?  Are the trees well cared for?  You're allowed to sample whatever has fallen from the trees, correct?  But you can't bring anything home?

If you like mangoes, and can bear the heat, go during peak mango season (this year late-June/July would probably be ideal due to the later flowering) on a weekday if possible (less people in the park sampling fruit). Its worth going any time of the year though. Also, while you are only supposed to eat fruit that falls to the ground, they will often let people sample fruit off the trees if you take one of the guided tours. They also have fruit available to sample at the entrance/gift-shop. A couple years ago I think they were even selling mangoes in bags but I'm not sure if they still do that or not.

The weevils are pretty fond of my Mallika and largest Edward tree because they are closest to the weed thicket. But more than anything they LOVE my loquat trees. Fortunately they seem to have a pretty difficult time eating the leaves on them

Sometimes at the major grocery stores they have California grown honeybells that totally suck.

Some of my favorite books to add to list are:

1) Mango Studies--A Compilation of Papers Presented at the Florida Mango Forum from 1941 thru 1951

2) Tropical Fruits For Southern Florida and Cuba and Their Uses--by David Sturrock

3) Fruits For Southern Florida, A Handbook for the Homeowner--by David Sturrock

4) Notes on The Mango--by David Sturrock

5) Fifty Tropical Fruits of Nassau--by Julia Morton

6) Florida State Horticultural Proceedings--Any Year

You still have these right? Would love to take a look at them.

1. Mango
2. Mamey Sapote
3. Cherry
4. Lychee
5. Jakfruit

Honorable mention: Avocado, Canistel, fresh Georgia Peach

I'm in zone 9 (Florida) where it can rarely get below 25F (so far the record for this year is 24F). So I've been looking for cold hardy avocados. I hadn't heard of those varieties before, they sound promising though! Where would you buy those varieties?

If it rarely goes below 25 where you are there's a number of varieties that will survive those kind of temps (low 20s) besides the ulta-hardy types mentioned in the original post. Lula, Mexicola, Winter Mexican, and Brogdon are hardy to around 22.

Because gardenweb was a dump and this place is awesome.