The way I just learned (given, I haven't tried it yet, probably in the next week), use a spade, but then use a mallet on the spade handle to cut the pup off the mother corm.  Previously I was stabbing at it with the spade and this was probably not healthy for the mother. I will try this method (the saw blade) see what works better. Looks like you have some really soft loamy soil... way softer than my clay.

Ed, those are nice looking plants, my leaves look thrashed from the wind gusts we get occasionally.

Tried drying a cookie sheets worth yesterday. Set the oven to convection mode, 170, 2 hours later there was still significant moisture. Will try again...

Maybe I just need to break down and get a dehydrator.

Someone recommended toilet paper rolls to shade it from the sun. Haven't tried it yet, cannot comment beyond the idea. Just throwing this out there.

Best experiment would be to measure the temperature of a shaded graft vs direct sunlight.

Hold on Dr Jones.... I am only interested in lychees on the tree.

I need a groundskeeper....

I have space and desire to grow mangosteen. I just cannot take the waiting part... I applaud you for having the patience to grow it indoors and grow it well.

Hello Brett,

Another thing to consider is the flowering period. Even if its a different type, it needs to make flowers in the same months to get the cross pollination. Carlos posted this chart a while back http://postimg.org/image/oq7l4b5c1/ (Note, this is the fruiting season, and they don't necessarily flower in the same window, but I think this is really what you need, i.e a flowering chart).

I don't recall anything negative about Nishikawa. I tried searching under Nishikawa and Carlos' user name.  Do you have a link or at least a hint to what I should look for? Poor production, growth, etc? I am about to propagate more Nishikawas (probably 2 or 3 more) in the next couple of weeks.

thanks,

Quote from: BMc on April 15, 2015, 12:40:34 AM

They are very true from seed in the sense that if you plant a sapodilla seed you are more likely to get a sapodilla than an anaconda.

On the other hand. seedlings often suck. A good number seem to never set fruit at all. A small percentage will be similar. If you have the space and time, have a crack as they are tough, but I wouldn't have high hopes for a seedling sapo. There are quite a few in the BG that look to be 20yo and never seem to flower or fruit.

Prices for grafted trees have skyrocketed in the past 3 years here.

*bsbullie,  wanting an anaconda,  goes out and rips up his seedling sapodilla trees*

"My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hun" - Anthony (Sir-Mix-Alot) Ray

A good friend says he has tried lots of sapodilla seedlings and they are never as good as the named varieties. I will likely rip mine out soon (I believe mine is on year 5 or 6) and replace it with a grafted. 

(To resume the tangent topic) I will probably attempt a few more grafts. I think sapodilla runs two issues, one the latex makes it harder to graft and two is that the scion seems to rot under the parafilm before it pushes new growth out. I believe the sapodilla may be a good variety to "graft and bag"

I have heard not a lot. Which is discouraging, since I have found them harder to graft with traditional techniques. I will keep experimenting grafting techniques till I find what works.

The general consensus is, you don't know.   And I still doubt there is any justification to try to grow a polyembrionic, are the seeds virus free?

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=12057.0
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=14966.0

If you have access to the mother plant, get some scions and graft it (its really not that hard, and it can be done on the cheap). Unless you want to wait a long time and experiment... I started out that way (being very naive about the genetics), now I removed all my experiments. Ain't nobody got time for experiments unless that is your goal. In other words, grow a ton of seeds in a ton of pots, and maybe you get a lot of good mangos, maybe you get a bunch of bad mangos, its a lottery.... but it takes a lot of time and resources over the course of many years to play that lottery.

I think I was on year 3 before I said, hell with this seedling crap. Watering, weeding, feeding...its time consuming and expensive. Just isn't worth it. So in my opinion, the whole poly-vs.-mono debate is bunk. That is just me, everyone has different goals and runs a different race.

Remember, not every child grows up like their parents.  How much can you or do you want to invest on chance?

P.S. If you plan to sell to any type of market, consistency is going to be key. And that consistency can only be guaranteed through grafting. You don't want to go to the market and say "most of these are really good, but some of them are not good".

Quote from: FrankDrebinOfFruits on April 08, 2015, 08:58:31 PM

I know your stuff is probably differently priced than me (being on an island) but may I ask what the going rate for a 120 gallon or 500 gallon pot is in FL?

I haven't found a good source for large pots here yet.

I have to drive down to Lake Placid or South Florida to get those tubs. Just ask the Mexican Crew Learder and they will sell it to you. For the price I can't tell you because it's different from each person. The cheapest one I got was free on the side of the road. You have to drill holes in them for drainage.

Thanks for the idea Rob and Richard. Will do.

Horti oils worked for a while on my over ran Alano sappo, but for some reason young scale wasn't affected anymore by it. Reluctantly, one application of Sevin killed em all (ants and scale). I'm a believer and plan to use it as a last resort...reponsibly.

Sometimes its better to use Sevin and have the tree survive, than have the tree die a slow organic approved death.