Can this be the real deal?
Coming from US... has me suspicious.
http://www.ebay.it/itm/Passiflora-Edulis-Misty-Gem-10-Seeds-/360626232519?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53f6ff9cc7

I've purchased from them (Georgia Vines) before -- they're generally reputable, though their seeds are often old or for whatever reason don't germinate that well.  I've bought Misty Gem from them, though none of them have germinated (and I've been waiting quite a while).

Mike -- which are your favorites of the non-flavicarpa edulis varieties grown in Southern Australia?  I have heard good things about Misty Gem and Sweetheart -- are there others that you'd recommend?

btw, somehow I managed to grow good tasting Hawaiian Lilikoi this year in my mild/cool subtropical location this year.  Not sure what that implies about other flavicarpas, but I'm going to try some of them next year (like the Panamas and Pandora).

I'm hoping to plant out more Avocado seedlings as rootstock, but my source of Mexicola seedlings (relatives) has run out for the year and I haven't gotten a chance to plant too many yet.  Does anyone in California have any seeds from Mexicola or Zutano avocados to spare?

Of these I'm only growing Sapodilla (seedling and Silas Wood) and a few White Sapotes, a couple of which are courtesy of you.  The White Sapotes have been great so far -- they've been pushing new growth well into the fall despite the cooler temperatures (and may still be now -- I have to go check).  I haven't been that disappointed by the Sapodillas' growth, though they do seem to get a bit nutrient deficient at times and I have to guess at how to get them healthy again.

There was discussion here about a Sapote del Monte (actually several varieties) and I hope to try that someday.

Hmm -- I guess you're right that it doesn't sound like the trees grew that well in San Rafael.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the two Manila mangos I planted in the last year grow in the East Bay, and trying out Tim's new varieties here...

Interesting -- so his rootstock trees are actually airlayers from some new variety he bred?

I was in contact with her several months back but didn't quite get a sense of what their delays mean for the timeline.  It seems it would be more upfront if Tim could just provide updates to everyone at once rather than to each of us individually.  It'd be easier for him and easier for us.

Pancrazio -- maybe you could find someone who can mail you some Zutano seeds?  A lot of nurseries in Northern California use Zutano seedlings as rootstock and they seem to do well in our cold / wet winters.

I haven't had much luck with container avocado trees -- they really like to be in the ground.  The three things I've seen here that have killed or injured avocados are:

1. In-ground amendments -- when planting, don't amend the soil.  Instead, add the amendments above the soil and let them leach down.  When I've made the mistake of amending the planting hole, the amended soil becomes like an in-ground pot and doesn't allow water movement.

2. Sunburn -- I've been starting to paint my young trees with white latex paint to keep the bark healthy until they shade themselves.

3. Salt burn -- Irrigating the trees makes salt build up in the leaves and in extreme cases they go brown and drop.  I've found some soil sulfur plus less frequent / deeper watering helps fix this.  (Plus, my goal is with most of these trees to wean them off irrigation, so I think the deeper watering will help with that as well.)

My gut sense is that you probably don't need to do anything and the tree will continue producing just fine.  And slow / careful / incremental pruning should be just fine with a tree of that size / age -- a friend's (non-fruiting, seedling) Avocado in San Francisco of similar size gets hacked back pretty harshly every year by a pruning company and doesn't seem to mind.

They do like to have their own leaves as mulch under the base, so I wouldn't plant there.  But you should be fine as you move away from the base.

I'll send you a PM too -- I'd like to get some wood and try grafting locally.

How have the Hawaiian avocado varieties done for you so far?  I've gotten some of them as well and will be trying them out here in California.  (Are those Hawaiian varieties common in Florida?  I assume not, but I have no idea.)

After reading about several possible mango rootstocks that might do well in California, it seems that Gomera (either Gomera-1 or Gomera-3) are the best to use, but it's a hard tree to get a hold of.  I've been considering ordering from Canarius from the Canary Islands, but it's a bit of a complex and expensive process.

Does anyone have access to some Gomera seeds that they'd be willing to sell mail order?  Since they're polyembryonic, I assume getting 3-4 of them should be enough to be certain of getting at least 2-3 true Gomera trees.

Thanks!

bsbullie -- it's a container garden, so everything is in medium to large size plastic pots.  (Both the citrus and sapodilla have good drainage.)  Do you know of any broad spectrum micronutrient sources that are organic?

jcaldeira -- I'll see if it's phosphorus.  The weird part is that the leaves themselves are solid green -- it's just the edges and veins that are yellow.