When I took my first grafting class in the 80s I was told that I had to get a special knife for successful grafts. After spending a few 100 dollars on knifes I found that wasn't the case.I now use an utility knife that you can get from Lowes, Home Depot, etc for $10 or less. These are always sharp and ready to go. I recommend buying the cheapest replacement blades because they are usually thinner. Avoid the ones labeled heavy or extra heavy duty. So if you don't own a grafting knife go to a big box store and find the one that fits your hand the best. I recommend either a locking or fixed so it doesn't close on you while in use. Also when you cut yourself and you will if you graft enough the utility knife makes nice clean cuts that heal fast! I'm sure you can find 100s of tips and suggestions on grafting knifes. I'm just sharing with you what works for me and I typically have a 90 % or greater success rate. I'm including some photos of my grafting tools and a few successful grafts. My #1 tip is just graft! The more you practice the better you will get!
Thanks,
Ed

Ed I got a nasty cut when grafting a peach a couple of years ago, now I use a butcher's glove when I'm doing it--or using things like grinders etc. Stainless steel, cheap and gives you a lot of mobility.

Quote from: starling1 on May 12, 2015, 07:22:01 PM

The only issue I can see is that by the time the soursop gets to fruiting stage, it will not fit inside the greenhouse.

I hope with careful pruning it can fit. The roof is 2.6m tall, width 2m and depth 1m. Maybe once it is that large it can survive outside in a sunny wind free position. Failing that I can try growing something else in there, I also plan on raising veggie seeds in there at the tail end of winter to get a head start.

If you're going that route, you should consider investing in a large root pruning pot filled with a soiless medium. Pearlite and coir will be fine. This will give you a much better, larger rootmass and will increase the yields you get at the smaller pruned size. It also won't weigh a tonne--easier on your back when moving it around, for sure.

Quote from: starling1 on May 12, 2015, 06:33:42 AM

Quote from: Mike T on May 12, 2015, 06:27:20 AM

Brown turkey is best in Cairns but 2 others go ok and the wet season knocks them around and you need the right soil.
I have posted bud wood much in the style outlined by Oscar.I find clipping the top and trimming the leaves a few days ahead and snipping the wood off in the early morning helps.I soak the wood in water for a few hours before packing.There have been survivors 5 weeks later.
I have no done it many times.

Your soil is probably too good for them--probably too moist and rich in nutrients.

Every time I've since a fig thriving and producing abundantly, it's been in the crappiest most lifeless looking soil imaginable. In Greece, which is the motherland of figs and produces the best quality  fruits in the world, they grow in rocky, sandy clay. Although the dry heat in that location is ideal for them too.

I only grow one variety now, which is vasilika Mavra--The Royal Black Fig of Greece. Probably one of only two in Australia, it s an extremely old variety with a rich History and at a time was once so highly prized that it was banned from export. I'm trying to make it work but yeah--it's not a fan of the humid subtropics. Here's a pic of the fruit:

No, it has nothing to do with our soil being too good. Our soil is just really a bunch of lava rocks where i live. I wouldn't call that too good.  Like i said before, the problem is too high a rainfall, and as a result too much cloud cover.

Yes, uneven rainfall is a big problem here too, as is fig beetle. You will always struggle to grow figs under the conditions you've outlined and will be battling mildew and leaf fungi in particular. I keep the mavra in a pot out of the elements now, it's the best I can do for it.

Quote from: starling1 on May 12, 2015, 02:12:27 AM

Quote from: fruitlovers on January 16, 2014, 04:15:13 PM

If you are doing just a few pieces then wrapping in parafilm, or similar tape, works best. If you are sending a lot of scion wood that ienndividual wrapping gets to be too time consuming. I put all the pieces together in a zip lock bag add a little bit of fine grade vermiculite, moisten slightly with a few drops of water, wrap tightly and hold it together tightly with some rubber bands. I don't dip in fungicide. Haven't found that to be necessary. If you aren't mailing the scion wood right away then make sure to store it in a cool dark place. i use produce bins of the fridge. Make sure not to freeze or expose to high temperatures, either in storage or in mail transit. So don't mail them in extreme heat or cold weather.

I can tell you're not using to posting fig cuttings, which makes sense because there's no way they'd fruit in the tropics I suppose. If you ever come across one that does, you will have hit gold.

Fig cuttings are very susceptible to fungal infections and molds. They really do need treatment in order to stop this developing, especally on long journeys.

The questions were about longan, sapodilla, and mango. Not about figs.
Also, you may not realize it, but cuttings are very different than scions. Figs can be easily rooted from cuttings, but mango, longan, and sapodilla can't. Scions are for grafting, not for rooting.
Yes figs do grow and fruit here. They do better, and taste better, on dry side of island.

Are they all brown turkey? This is the only fig I've heard of that does well in humidity.

Unfortunately, all the best figs are temperate varieties. Violette de bordeaux etc. This doesn't do well for me even in the subs--still too much moisture around.

If you are doing just a few pieces then wrapping in parafilm, or similar tape, works best. If you are sending a lot of scion wood that ienndividual wrapping gets to be too time consuming. I put all the pieces together in a zip lock bag add a little bit of fine grade vermiculite, moisten slightly with a few drops of water, wrap tightly and hold it together tightly with some rubber bands. I don't dip in fungicide. Haven't found that to be necessary. If you aren't mailing the scion wood right away then make sure to store it in a cool dark place. i use produce bins of the fridge. Make sure not to freeze or expose to high temperatures, either in storage or in mail transit. So don't mail them in extreme heat or cold weather.

I can tell you're not using to posting fig cuttings, which makes sense because there's no way they'd fruit in the tropics I suppose. If you ever come across one that does, you will have hit gold.

Fig cuttings are very susceptible to fungal infections and molds. They really do need treatment in order to stop this developing, especally on long journeys.

Quote from: starling1 on May 11, 2015, 11:57:15 PM

Quote from: echinopora on May 11, 2015, 11:55:00 PM

What are you paying for perlite? $35 for 100L coarse grade delivered on gold coast, I imagine cheaper by the bulka bag.
Rob

If you can point me in the direction of pearlite at that price, I'll probably go the pearlit option. My feeling is my postage would be significantly higher than that, I reckon I'd be arounf 50$ per 100L, and 100L won't go far in this thing...it's about 15 feet long and 75mm deep.

I can see how the biochar can raise the ph. Especially depending on the wood used to make it. I have been using +80% coir and 20%-10% biochar in the seedling mixes, so far I am not seeing to many problems. I am starting to fertilize with a slightly acidic mix as well.

Yeah. It has a value of like 14-15, which is of course insanely alkaline. At the kinds of ratio I'm using it (close to 40%) this simply isn't realistic. I was told by the guy at the hydro store to never use it beyond 10% maximum, most people use at 5%.

I need to fill this bed, which is nearly finished--just have to finish sealing/painting it.

I had planned on using a pearlite mix, but well--that would seriously blow out the  budget on this project as I need all the coir, moss and pearlite I have for something else. My options are various soils, gravels and sands--and a shitload of biochar, which I am replacing as my soiless mix for dragonfruit as I've decided it's too alkaline to work well ultimately. Here's said bed:



Any thoughts? Cheap is good.

I can say that Carlos has never tried to deceive me, and has never deceived any of my fellow Australians who have traded and bought from him in the past. He is reliable and honest.

Pearlite is better than pumice for a variety of reasons, the primary ones being that it is cheaper, lighter, has a more stable PH, works better with coir and peat, and delivers water more efficiently to the roots. All professional hydro guys and enthusiasts use verm/pearlite. In a run to waste system, which is what you'd be going for, you can use pearlite/verm/ coir/peat/ at different ratios depending on what you're growing.

If you're using a soiless mix, you shouldn't really be adding anything solid to it at any point for any reason. You need completely liquid feeds. There is a good range of complete feeds that are organic and designed to work with coir/peat based run to waste systems in Australia.

I recommend PMing John (JMC) on this forum, he's pretty savvy with it all.

Impressive.

There's some extremely good Australian peach varieties that do well in the subtropics and lower tropics. They are much larger and well formed than the ones you've posted, but have a similar color and are indeed white fleshed.

Those are some really interesting looking biriba, I haven't seen any with such extravagant ridges/spines before. Mine are much smoother.

Is it good?

ADDICTION



The other side to Phase II having so many trees and not being able to Part from them, so you open a fruit stand   Thank god I at least have plenty of space. NEED MORE

Holy fucking shit Buddy--is that your TV/loungeroom ??

Ok, so you're way more serious about plants than me. There is absolutely no way I could argue anything different after seeing this.

Also, I think this is awesome.