Here are some images of my Sabara 5 and my Paulista

Sabara 5


Sabara 5


Paulista


Paulista


The leaves do look similar, but they are not the same. the tip of the Sabara 5 is more lanceolate than the cauliflora. it is hard to see on the pictures, but the top 20 mm of the Sabara 5 leaf looks like a 'stinger.' The main vein of the Sabara 5 is slightly pubescent while the Paulista is not. the main vein is also slightly depressed in the Sabara 5.  And as I said in the beginning of this thread, the color of the new growth in this plant is totally different from my Paulista (and any other Plinia I have ever seen until yours Huertas.

Also, it looks somewhat tile my truncifolia, but I am boubtful on my ID of the truncifolia as the leaves seem too large (7- 9 cm on a very young plant)

For those of us that have the Sabra 5, if it is indeed a hybrid, then it is not surprising that all the plants look different.

I am getting fed up with the San Diego APHIS inspection station for my seed imports.  Every once and a while they give me a break, but the usual situation is that  seed shipments arrive at the inspection station where they sit around for two to three months.  When they finally get around to inspecting them they are either germinated or moldy, where in either case they destroy the seeds and then send me a nice stack of letters informing me of that fact.  The last straw was recently when I received a call from an inspector who complained to me that the shipper did not put a forwarding label in the box with the seeds, and that they need to do this. When I asked if he was able to label the box for me, the response was there there was nothing to forward as all the seeds had germinated and there were no phytosanitary certificates included with the shipment.  He was just calling me so that it did not happen next time!

My question to the group is does anyone know of an APHIS station that processes seeds in a timely manner so that my imports can actually get to me rather than sit, germinating, in some government inspector's office?

I am not complaining about the program or the inspectors, many I have spoken with even agree that calling seeds that germinate in transit "plants" is ridiculous, but they have rules they are told to follow. I am just looking for an office that is not as busy and/or understaffed as the San Diego branch.

Thanks,
Richard

Ed,

I don't think those are mangosteen seedlings

Yes, Tricia and Edgar's Baby are he two that I have heard about being tissue cultured on a commercial scale

If I remember the story correctly, Joe Simcox was visiting Edgar Valdivia one day and while sampling dragon fruit thought that this particular seedling was the best of those that he tried.  Edgar generously gave him a cutting to propagate, and when asked about the name said "call it what ever you want." So Joe took it back to Baker Creek for propagation and named it Edgar's Baby.

 I have been growing one out for two years now, and hopefully I will get fruit this season.

Cheers,
Richard

Raul,

Thanks for the update and thanks for putting this group buy together.

Cheers,
Richard

My first question would be are they cut at a node or in the middle of a branch.   I, and everyone I know, have better luck when the stem is cut at the node, although they will root both ways.  As far as watering goes, I will put my cuttings in a soil mix much like yours that is very slightly damp and not water it until I see new growth, and this has taken many months at times.  I also know a commercial DF grower that paints the ends of their cuttings with a roofing tar before planting them, and they have great success although I think that this procedure is overkill.  Another person with a very larger collection puts his cuttings in straight perlite for rooting and has 95+% success.

Richard

Hi All,

I was thinking about having a cubic yard or so of cotton seed meal delivered to my house.  Since this is obviously more than I need I was wondering if anybody local had a need for any.  It will be in bulk, so you would need to bag it up and haul it away your self.

PM me if you are interested.

I purchased a group of cuttings a few years ago, while trying to add to my Hylocereus collection.  When they arrived, just about all the plants were misidentified, except the ones that were lableled Hylocereus sp., and in really poor condition, so I did not hold out much hope for them.  As they grew, the first of these plants fruited, and were fair to poor quality white undatus. Some of the now unknown species also fruited and none of them were much to speak of, mainly bitter flavorless fruits.  This particular plant, which was sold as Hylocereus trigonus and is clearly not that although it is not an H. undatus either, flowered for the first time this year, and I made sure it was pollinated even though I figured it was going to be another bust.  Was I ever surprised!  This is by far the best tasting white fleshed dragonfruit I have ever tried, better even than Asunta.  It is quite flavorful, unlike most of the bland whites I have tasted, with flavors of lemon and pear, and a wonderful balance of sweetness and acidity. The only criticism I could make is that it could be a bit more crunchy, but I attribute that to the fact that it was a bit over ripe when I picked it.

I will definitely need to work on propagating this one so that it can be more widely distributed and enjoyed by those who enjoy dragonfruit.

Cheers,
Richard

Anybody out there have Cosmic Charlie cuttings available  I can purchase or trade for one of the many other DF plants that I currently have (or lots of other plants).  Cosmic Charlie is one of the few that I do not have and people keep asking me for it, so I thought I should find out what all the fuss is about.

Thanks,
Richard

Is anyone else growing Myrciaria delicatula?  I have one that is about four years old and five feet tall, from seeds I received from Helton.  Other than Helton's website and  the e-jardim site I cannot find much information on this particular plant.  It grows much faster than my other Myrciaria/Plinias and is the most trouble free of all of them. 

Has anyone tasted the fruit or have any knowledge of this plant?



A photo of my plant

Thanks,
Richard

Very nice! All your plants look healthy and happy. Thanks for sharing.

Richard