I've looked all over the web, and can't find an answer to the chilling hours requirement.

With regards to WHERE the chilling hours are applied, does the entire tree (roots to branch tips) require the cold or is it one or the other, branches or roots?

I ask because since I am about to give my sweetheart the chop this spring I decided to dump ice onto the root ball of the sweetheart (can't do it to the Mauritius for fear of killing my pineapples) made daily from my ice maker which is about 20 pounds. It got to about 52 degrees last night and much of the ice had not melted as of 8:00 this morning even though I poured the ice onto the tree over 12 hours earlier. Tonight and for the next week I plan on doing the same thing.

I figure at worst I still get no lychees and I kill the tree from the water and at best it erupts in blooms soon. I had thought of using dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) on the rootball which would not saturate the ground with water but I don't have a daily supply of dry ice readily  available so decided on water ice instead.

Has anyone tried this type of experiment to trick a tree into satisfying its chilling hour requirements? If it works I just may invest in a small freezer next season and store up a bunch of dry ice and move the pineapples away from the Mauritius AND dump some on my Peach trees and maybe pineapple guava! :-)

I have a little fountain (~3 gallons) on my patio screwed into the wall, and two bird baths on my property. The birdbaths are regularly frequented by all sorts of birds, but the fountain is near a door where my dog sleeps. She won't allow anything on the patio without scaring them away by barking and whacking her head on the sliding door.

The fountain has ALWAYS been green with algae and had many mosquito larvae in it even though I change the water every few days. The manufacturer cautioned about using chlorine in it as it would kill the pump.

I was going to drill holes in the bottom and put mini cactus or a vine in it when on a lark I put a couple of table spoons of sevin dust in it, and in the last three weeks the water is clear of algae AND larvae. The sevin sinks to the bottom and gets circulated / suspended when the fountain is turned on every night. My only concern was songbirds but they steer clear of my patio so I'm comfortable they are not in any danger.

Does anyone have thoughts on using sevin in a fountain? Here's a pic of one like the model I have.

I have a Madame Francis and a Julie seedlings that I want to top work with a couple of lateer and early season mangos. What is a good month to chop branches to get new growth suitable for grafting and at a time when bud wood / scions are likely to be available?

Also, since neither of the parent trees are very large (Both are over 10 years old and less than 12' tall and have never been height pruned) I'm thinking less vigorous growers that have lackluster color if possible (deters front yard thieves) , the more green / yellow the better maybe Beverly, Graham, Keitt,

For early season rosigold, florigon, and maybe manalita.

I only have the online references (which many here have disdain for) to growth habits, taste and fruiting season so any recommendation as to cultivars would be welcome.

I am not a fussy mango eater (I very much like my Glenn) so taste definitions like "overtones" "subtle hints" of non mango flavors are not important, and may be undesirable. For example I wouldn't eat more than 1 or 2 per season of the Lemon Meringue.

It's been raining Waaayyy more than normal this fall and early winter. By this time in years past I was watering once a month and I haven't used my well other than to wash off some scale on my caimito and hose down the patio.

I'm worried about fruit production this coming year, especially on my lychees, I was hoping for a first crop but I heard that winter dry stress is good for them. Also mango are likely to be impacted?

Is anyone else in So. Fla. concerned for other fruits?

I'd like some Beverly, Fairchild, and Icecream scions when available. Three or four of each would be excellent.

I've heard it asked about the length of time Papaya seeds are viable, so this may answer some questions you may have.

It's been two full summers since my last papaya tree blew over and broke. All the while it was alive papaya fruits would break off in the wind and smash to the ground underneath it. To this day, I'm constantly "weeding" out sprouts from under where the papaya was. I'm sure that many more seeds died than sprouted but it's good to know that planting immediately is not necessary.

I always wanted carambola but with so few cultivars available for a taste test, I planted three planning on selecting the best after having a few seasons of each to taste. They have grown nicely and shade the whole west side of my house from the hot afternoon sun, a BIG plus!

Now that I know the cultivars I want to keep one has to go. I underplanted it with a Lancetilla I had been nurturing in a pot for just this purpose and it stands about 5' tall.

As it grows I plan on cutting back the carambola that's scheduled for removal to give the mango more light, but yet keep the west side of the house shaded with the carambola while the mango grows.

Does anyone have experience with an underplanting method of mango like this? Pitfalls? disease issues? Or should I just whack the starfruit and be done with it?

My canistel (A Fairchild #2) has been a shy bearer. It fruited the first full year in the ground (2011-2012) and since then either no fruit set, or as last year two fruits that set stunted and mummified on the tree.

It's pretty large now about 15' tall, and this year it set about 25 nice fruits all on the most mature branches on the bottom third of the canopy. 

Is this fruit setting habit on lower more mature branches typical for canistel?

Early last month (Aug) my muscadines, loquat and peaches bloomed again here in So. Fla.  Has anyone else had two bloom cycles from fruits that ordinarily give one crop?

What is a decent success rate for veneer grafting?

 

I got one (grafted) today, a 7 gal, 5'+ in a small bloom cycle. I'm contemplating leaving it in a pot for a while and letting it keep the fruit. Anyone have experience with them in containers? Should I just plant it?

My Geffner has exploded in blooms this summer and has already set a couple of dozen fruits. Last year I lost all but one to seed borers, this year I'm bagging them. I started bagging them at the size of a golf ball is that size still to small to protect?

Does anyone know what approximate size the fruit gets to when seed borers attack the fruit?