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Topics - TomekK

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Silvestre Silva’s books?
« on: August 06, 2021, 07:32:51 PM »
So I’m thinking about getting a book by Silvestre Silva. I understand that the Fruits Brasil and variants are mainly picture books with not much info about each species, but that is fine for me.

My question is, to those that have any of these books, do they have any theobromas and herranias in them? Also, which edition do you have and what do you think about it? The newest edition is some 150 pages longer than an early edition, but it costs 3 times as much. Wondering whether the new edition is worth getting over the older ones.

2
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Duguetia Seeds Sprouted!!!
« on: July 28, 2021, 09:39:17 AM »
Last year I got 4 duguetia seeds from Brian Laufer as a last-minute addition to a trade. Actually, I didn’t know he included them at first, and only saw them when going through the packaging material in the box he sent, and found them taped to the side of tue box. After getting them, I put them in sphagnum moss in a plastic freezer box and left them on and off my heat mat, depending on if my heat mat had to be used for other things.

About 6 months ago, one of them germinated. Unfortunately, the seed broke off right before the leaves came out, so I was left with a nice root and stem, but without leaves or any nodes to grow new leaves from. It soon died.

The other seeds were slightly moldy and didn’t look too promising, but I kept them in the moss and forgot about them. A few days ago, I was cleaning around and saw the box, opened it, and saw 2 seeds growing, one forming leaves! Both have much thicker roots than the one that germiated earlier as well.

Planted them and put them on the heat mat with a plastic bag covering to slowly adjust the humidity from the 100 percent of the box to a more reasonable amount. Super excited to see them grow!

Anyone have any tips on care for these? Only my second annona/relative that I’m growing, the other being grocery-store-seed cherimoyas. Will they do well in my grow tent with my cacaos and other ultra tropicals? How much light do they need?






3
Final week of selling! Leaving on Monday, get your orders in quickly if you’re interested!

I recently got an exciting order of Theobroma and Herrania seeds from Costa Rica. Most of these varieties I don’t think have ever been grown in the US. I have a huge amount of plants, but I am leaving for college in Poland in the beginning of September and will not be able to send plants after that.

To Order:
Send me a PM (and reply to this thread so I know you sent a PM in case it doesn’t get to me), or send me an email to Tomasz.kleczek@icloud.com. Don’t use the forum email option, as that doesn’t work at this moment. Please include the plant varieties you want, the amount of each, and your address. I will respond and let you know if I have those still available, and send them on Friday or Saturday.

Pricing:
The price will depend on the number of plants ordered.
9 plants or more: $10 a plant
4-8 plants: $15 a plant
1-3 plants: $25 a plant

Special offer: 20 assorted plants (I choose how many of each variety,, will give a good variety of remaining stock) $9 a plant.

40 assorted plants $8 a plant

80 assorted plants $7 a plant


The prices per plant does not include shipping. Shipping will be with USPS Priority mail by default, but I could use other carriers if requested. Buyer pays shipping, including $3 for the shipping supplies (I ran out of my supply of free boxes).

The price of shipping will largely depend on how far away from me you live-for a 9-plant order, I estimate the shipping to cost about $23 total (with shipping supplies) to Florida, to about $35 total for orders shipped to California, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. I will charge shipping based on the actual shipping cost at the time of shipment-it might be a bit less, as the above estimates use a 1 pound per plant weight, while in practice I find the weight is a bit less than 1 pound per plant.

Varieties:

Listed below are all the varieties of Cacao, other Theobroma species, and Herrania species I received. Further below is some more detailed information about each variety, but you can find even more info on the ICGD cacao database online-search for specific clones.

Theobroma Cacao:
Porcelana-3 out of stock
Pentagona-2
Nacional-1(A6)
Matina 1-6 out of stock
Catongo
CATIE R1
CATIE R4
CATIE R6
IMC-67
PA-121

Other Theobroma Species:
T. Simiarum (waited months for the pods to ripen-they are very rare. Seems similar to cupuacu (T. Grandiflorum) in pods and seeds, maybe a bit smaller-kind of like Subincanum and a few other Theobroma species) out of stock

T. Bicolor (Mocambo)

Herrania Species:
H. Albiflora out of stock
H. Nycterodendron out of stock
H. Nitida out of stock
H. Umbratica (lots sprouting)

More info about cacao varieties:

CATIE developed high-quality hybrids-probably would be considered good Trinitarios:
* CATIE R1
* CATIE R4
* CATIE R6

Peruvian varieties, collected and described by F.J. Pound in 1938
* IMC-67
* PA-121 (maranon population)

Other Heirloom varieties:
* Porcelana-3 (This Porcelana does not have smooth green-yellow pods with pure white seeds, but a cundeamor/angoleta shape with both light purple/pink and white seeds. It was however collected south of Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela like the “real” Porcelana. I don’t know if its related to the “real” Porcelana, but I know its called Porcelana, has white seeds, and comes from Venezuela, so its something interesting nonetheless. Here is a link to the ICGD page about this variety: http://www.icgd.reading.ac.uk/all_data.php?nacode=7576. More info about all these varieties can be found on ICGD.

* Pentagona-2 (a red-colored Pentagona, and the single reason I got these seeds in the first place)

* Nacional-1(A6) (not the same Nacional as what I offered before, this is most likely an old Nacional-Trinitario hybrid from the early 1900’s. Don’t know if it’s more pure “Nacional” than what I had before, but still something interesting and different)

* Matina 1-6 (the Nacional of Costa Rica-a high-quality heirloom cultivar of Amelonado-type cacao from Costa Rica)

* Catongo (White seeds-not a “Criollo” heirloom, but a genetic mutation of a common Amelonado type. Produces cacao of typical white-seeded varieties-a more mellow and refined flavor)

4
Tropical Fruit Discussion / What happened to Ertdude?
« on: July 13, 2021, 05:31:36 PM »
Does anyone know what happened to Ertdude? He doesn’t seem to be making any new posts in the last few months, and has not responded to any of my messages. Does anyone know how to contact him?

5

SOLD OUT OF ALL PLANTS

All profits go towards a grow tent or greenhouse purchase/build

New year, new plants. And, again, too many of them! Selling rare varieties of cacao, as well as some Garcinias and Herrania Mariae.

To order: PM or send email to Tomasz.kleczek@icloud.com if interested or have any questions. With PMs not working the best lately, please reply to this post so I can make sure I get your PM. Payment is through PayPal.

Shipping: packages shipped with USPS priority mail. Flat rate $15 shipping no matter the order size. Can ship express or other carriers upon request, but buyer pays extra shipping cost.

Plant list (detailed descriptions/photos below):

Cacao varieties:
Small Seedlings:
* Nacional: $15 each Sold out
* Soconusco: $15 each
* Pentagona: $20 each Sold out
* Criollo X: $20 each
* Claiborne Criollo: $20 each Sold out now, might have more later in the summer stupid caterpillars girdled my best plants…
* Round Leaf Jaca: $20 each Sold out

* Cacao seedling variety package: 1 of each variety (2 plants), $25 plus shipping (save $10)

Larger plants (over 1 year old):
* Pentagona: $30 each Sold out for now, still have some worse-looking plants which might be available later this summer if they grow better.
* Nacional (about 1.5 feet tall, 1 gallon pots): $30 each Sold out

Other theobromas/herranias:
* Herrania Mariae (1 year old plants, grow slowly when young): $15 each

Garcinias:
* G. Intermedia (Lemon Drop Mangosteen): $10 each
* G. Brasiliensis (Superior Lemon Drop): $10 each

Other plants:
* Langsat: $15 each

Discounts:
* $25 off 10 plants or more. Cacao seedling variety pack counts as one plant in this case.
*$5 off any 2 plants
*Criollo X cacao: 1 plant $28 with free shipping
*Garcinia pack (1 of each garcinia, 2 plants total): $30 with free shipping







Plant descriptions and photos:

Criollo X: New variety! A “true” criollo variety with white seeds. Pure white beans make a more subtle, delicate, and smoother chocolate. This new variety is from an unknown seedling in Puerto Rico. This is the first year the tree has fruited. Pod is yellow and medium sized, and a bit fatter than the Soconusco. Seeds as stated are pure white, and medium-sized.





Claiborne Criollo: An old, heirloom Puerto Rican Criollo variety. Large striking red-to-yellow pod with a unique shape. Seeds are large, pure white to mottled purple in color. Limited stock due to few seeds germinating well.







Nacional: This is an heirloom Nacional variety from Ecuador, EET-59. Nacional is the original and genetically pure Ecuadorian cacao. While this is not 100% Nacional, it is an “heirloom,” the closest variety to pure Nacional. This is what high quality “Nacional” cacao from the arriba region is made of. Nice big yellow pods, large dark purple seeds inside. Have both larger plants in 6 inch pots and small seedlings.







Pentagona: A spectacular cacao from Venezuela. Incredibly rare, this variety produces small yellow-green pods. The shape is very unique, as it has 5 ridges instead of grooves along the fruit. Because of this, the cross section is pentagon-shaped, hence the name. Seeds are small-sized, lighter purple to pink. Extremely hard to find. Have both 1 year old plants (not as big as 1 year old Nacional-this variety grows slower in the beginning, but should increase growth soon), as well as small seedlings.







Soconusco: Famous heirloom Mexican variety from the region of the same name. One of the best regions/varieties from Aztec cultivation. Medium and somewhat thin yellow pods, both dark purple and light purple small-sized seeds in each pod.





Round Leaf Jaca: A cacao with round leaves! Small seedling leaves somewhere in between round and pointed, but the true leaves are totally round. Variety is a mutation of a high quality amenolado variety, with potential for disease resistance. Plant easily branches and should be easy to maintain as a shrub rather than a tree. Small yellow amenolado pods, small dark purple seeds. Looks like a miniature Nacional, and should taste similar (stronger flavor notes instead of the more subtle flavor of Criollo varieties-still high quality, just different).







Herrania Mariae: rare species closely related to the theobromas, except that mature leaves are compound, and H. Mariae tends to remain a smaller, less branched plant. These also took several weeks to sprout and grow relatively slowly, when compared to the instant germination and fast growth of cacao. Even being almost a year old most are under 4 inches tall-better plants than cacao for keeping in small spaces, as they remain smaller even when mature (and flower at smaller sizes, though at about the same age). Pods are green when ripe with ridges and slight webbing between the ridges.





Garcinia Intermedia: Lemon Drop Mangosteen. Relative of the Mangosteen, this species produces small spherical yellow fruit which, peeled, reveals a white juicy, cottony aril around one, two, or three seeds. Flavor is pleasantly sour-sweet, and distinctive (aka hard to describe, so I won’t even try-but its delicious!). Plants grow very slowly at first-mine are almost a year old-but should pick up pace as they get older.





Garcinia Brasiliensis: Superior Lemond Drop Mangosteen. Fruits are smaller and pointier than LDM, but much sweeter and a stronger flavor, with almost no acid. In my opinion definitely superior to LDM.



Langsat: Common Langsat from Borneo, not any special variety but from good fruit.



Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any plants killed when buyer’s fault-leaving package out for extended period, shipping when temperatures too cold/hot (though I will try to make sure weather is good before shipping), etc. If a plant dies from shipping, I will replace the plant if possible (buyer pays shipping), or refund the purchase.

6
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Potted Papaya Soil and Pot Size?
« on: April 29, 2021, 10:32:30 PM »
I think I need to transplant my vasconcellea species, as they’re in 6 inch pots and doing worse and worse. I’m thinking that either they have root rot, in which case they’re doomed, or are suffering because of some scale, or simply because the pots are too small. I didn’t want to transplant them during the winter, but now as temperatures are getting warmer they should go in bigger pots.

So, first, what size pot? Should I be going in increments, or just go for the biggest pot I have (7 gallon deep root nursery containers)? The plants are on average over a foot tall and have a trunk between a centimeter and an inch in thickness (mixing units is fun!). What do you recommend? I hear papayas have big roots which are better undisturbed, so I’m leaning towards the bigger pot. But is 7 gallon too big? Can also do 5 gallons and smaller.

My biggest problem is with soil. I really really don’t want to give them any root rot, and my past experiences with papayas all ended in rot. These are in someone else’s soil, and I don’t want to screw this up. What do you recommend? I have plenty of perlite, and some miracle grow-and-equivalents (the cheap stuff from Home Depot). Should I buy better soil, or can I do something with what I have? If I do need to buy something, the cheapest (and therefore best) option for me is a 5kg block of coconut coir. I really don’t know though, so please give me some recommendations.

Thanks,
Tomek

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Greenhouse building questions
« on: March 04, 2021, 04:45:15 PM »
I’ve basically decided on the size/shape of the greenhouse I hope to build this year-it will be small, about 16x7 feet, but with two cutouts in the corners (to make it fit in the space I have), making the floor area about 102 feet square. The height will be either 9 feet sloping to 6 feet, or 10 feet sloping to 7 feet. Still haven’t decided, it will depend on my budget. There will be a concrete foundation, and possibly a concrete floor with a small cutout for a raised bed (to grow tomatoes, and only about 7.5ft^2), though the floor may change. It will be a zone 13 greenhouse, with electric heating (can’t use propane/gas). The polycarbonate will be 8mm thick, probably from this source: https://www.advancegreenhouses.com/made-in-america-polycarbonate/

My questions:

For the frame, I will use either galvanized steel or aluminum. I am leaning more towards the aluminum, as it is probably easier to work with, but haven’t decided. Please share your opinion as to which is better. Most importantly, can someone please give a source for the beams/extrusion/frame materials? It needs to be a sturdy greenhouse (able to support a few feet of snow), and I want to know what my options are and where I can buy them.

Regarding the heater, will either of these two following heaters work? If so, should they be mounted on the ceiling, the floor, or somewhere in between? With these heaters (which both seem to have fans), will I need more fans for airflow? Thinking of having two heaters for redundancy, and also a generator in case the power goes out.

https://www.growerssupply.com/farm/supplies/prod1;gs_greenhouse_heaters-gs_wall_ceiling_heaters;pg105811.html

https://www.acfgreenhouses.com/240v-electric-heater-24v-thermostat

Four more things. Insulation: should I insulate the the floor/foundation with the foam boards? Also, I will insulate the back wall-should I build it out of polycarbonate and add the foam boards over that on the inside (like Millet recommended in a different thread), or build a wall out of another material (what would that be?) for even better insulation. The north facing wall will be almost against a brick wall of the garage (not connected).

Attaching the polycarbonate to the aluminum/steel frame: is there anything I need to know/any tips/anything I have to buy in addition to the polycarbonate profiles (from the same source as the frame) and screws/bolts to secure them to the beams?

As this is my cacao house, there will need to be a constant 80/90 percent plus humidity inside. How do I do this? I think some sort of fogging system, any suggestions? On a similar note, how do I manage water? What filters do I need to filter tap water to water/spray/cool/etc. the plants? Do I store the water in a big barrel, or can I just pull water directly from the tap? Do I need a pump?

Finally (for now), cooling. How would you recommend me to cool the greenhouse? Especially during the winter, do I need a good air exchange with the outside, even during the night? That would waste a lot of heat. The max temp should ideally be around 90F, but it might be able to get up to 95F for a few days of the summer.

And of course, if you have any other ideas/suggestions I welcome them all!



8
I’m looking for peanut seeds, specifically Amazonian colorful types. The “Fastigiata” type is easy to find, but I want some others. Preferably the type where the purple stripes are thinner and blotchy. Any interesting others are also wanted.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / What to do with pawpaws?
« on: October 30, 2020, 10:03:44 PM »
After thinking my pawpaw seeds I got last year wouldn’t sprout, I threw them all in a little area in my vegetable garden. At the end of the season, while ripping out the weeds/cucumber vines in that area, I saw that they did indeed sprout. I unfortunately ripped off a lot of the leaves, not knowing that they were there, but I transplanted them and many seemed to have survived and are growing new leaves.

So here’s my dilemma: I don’t know whether to keep them outside or indoors for the winter. They seem so frail and are only barely growing a couple tiny leaves, I don’t know if they would survive going dormant. But, indoors I don’t have room for them to be in an area with good light. Hopefully the pictures will help. Please advise, thanks.






10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / What’s wrong with Papaya relatives?
« on: October 23, 2020, 09:33:04 AM »
A few weeks ago I got a bunch of Vasconcellea plants of various species. One of the species, growing in tall and thin containers, haven’t grown at all, and two of three have lost all their leaves. The plants seem to be trying to produce new leaves, but they turn yellow and fall off before maturing. Another species has been growing very slowly, but has nice and very deep green leaves.

The species most important to me has at first grown spectacularly. After growing a stunted leaf or two after the stress of shipping, they quickly grew new and bigger leaves. Some of the leaves at the bottom fell off, but that I excepted. A few days ago, however, it seemed as if they just stopped or slowed down. What was going to be the largest and most complex leaf of the largest plant, just isn’t seeming to grow and mature. And many of the lower mature leaves, and even a newer leaf, started to have yellow tips. It’s as if they stopped growing, and the leaves from the bottom are still falling off.

What is this? I think I have narrowed it down to two possibilities, though it could be something else I don’t know. First, they are root bound and need bigger pots, but that doesn’t make sense because the smallest one still stopped growing and it’s small for the pot.

What I think is more likely, though, is that they need water. But I usually see that all the leaves are flopped with other plants that are drying out, does this happen with papayas? I am very scared of overwatering them and getting root rot, that’s what killed every single one of my previous attempts at papayas (albeit those I grew from seeds, these are bigger). I have not watered them since I got them, and yesterday I felt the soil about halfway down the pot was very dry. I watered them slightly yesterday, but today another leaf from the biggest plant is starting to turn yellow.

Please advise.

















11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Greenhouse recommendations
« on: October 06, 2020, 01:02:19 PM »
I will probably be going off to college next year, and of course won’t be able to take my plants with me. I currently have my ultra-tropicals in an indoor grow tent, which I have to spray twice a day to maintain humidity. It is also too small, and the plants are crammed tightly inside. With me out of the house, I would like to have a more automated system to take care of my plants, as well as more room.

So, I’ve decided I want to build a greenhouse. I’m still trying to find the best location for it, but right now I’m leaning towards a small area against the south facing wall of the garage. It doesn’t get full sun for most of the day, but with some grow lights it might be worth the extra heat from the brick wall of the garage. Also cacao, which is what would predominantly be in there, doesn’t need as much light. The greenhouse wouldn’t be connected to the brick wall, but there would be a gap of about half a foot.

This would be a ~85 square foot ultra-tropical greenhouse, with humidity above 80 percent and temperatures never going below 60 degrees. I know it’s a bit small, but I don’t want to pay for heating a bigger greenhouse, and it should be more than twice as big as what is needed to house all the plants I want in there. My other, tropical and subtropical plants will stay in the house, facing some very nice and big south-facing windows.

Now, here are my questions:

First, what materials would you recommend? I want a rigid material for the clear walls, either glass or polycarbonate. Which would be cheaper for better insulation? My biggest concern however is the supporting structure: what material would be able to withstand the humidity, while also having good insulation? I do not want to use pvc. As for insulation, what can be done to improve it? I will keep all the plants in pots, so I can insulate the floor, any other recommendations for insulation? Also, should I leave the back wall which is a foot away from the brick wall clear or use a material with better insulation.

Second, what would you recommend for the cheapest and best heating and humidity control which wouldn’t require any additional work (no refilling firewood, for example). I don’t have access to natural gas.

Finally, any additional recommendations regarding the overall design are appreciated.

Thank you (and sorry for the long and never ending first question),
Tomek


12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Theobroma obovatum
« on: September 19, 2020, 03:28:18 PM »
This theobroma interested me when I saw this video of the fruit: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B7DnNY06B_0

It is quite a cool-looking theobroma. Here are some more pictures: http://atrium.andesamazon.org/images_list.php?id=16595&start=0&filters=on

The only other interesting mention I found was this page about cupuacu, which states that cupuacu grafted onto obovatum can yield dwarf cupuacu trees. https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/1492/cupuacu.html

Has anyone heard or seen this species of theobroma? More importantly, is anyone growing it or knows a source for seeds/plants?

13
SPECIAL OFFER: Pick and choose 2 plants for $50 free shipping to Florida or closer to me.

Up for sale are some rare varieties of Theobroma Cacao and the relative species Herrania Mariae. These are seedlings of grafted plants, so they may not come completely true from seed, but should be very close.

Shipping is with USPS Priority Mail, to most states. About $12-20 depending on location and box size. Can also do any other shipping method preferred.

Trade requests are welcome! Looking especially for white mangifera species, jarilla species, Cola Urceolata, rare theobromas/herranias, and durio species/hybrids.

Nacional: This is an heirloom Nacional variety from Ecuador, EET-59. Nacional is the original and genetically pure Ecuadorian cacao. While this is not 100% Nacional, it is “heirloom,” and is almost pure. This is what high quality “Nacional” cacao from the arriba region is made of. Nice big yellow pods, large dark purple seeds inside.

Each plant is $20 plus shipping











Pentagona: A spectacular cacao from Venezuela. Incredibly rare, this variety produces small yellow-green pods. The shape is very unique, as it has 5 ridges instead of grooves along the fruit. Because of this, the cross section is pentagon-shaped, hence the name. Seeds are medium sized, somewhat lighter purple. Extremely hard to find.

Each plant is $30 plus shipping SOLD OUT















Herrania Mariae: rare species closely related to theobroma cacao, except mature leaves are compound and it tends to remain a smaller, less branched plant. These also took several weeks to sprout and grow relatively slowly, when compared to the instant germination and fast growth of cacao. Pods are green and segmented, below is a picture of the dried halves of the pod.

Each plant is $20 plus shipping.





Please PM me if interested in buying anything. Payment is through PayPal. You can also send me an email to Tomasz.kleczek@icloud.com.


Read before buying:
I am not responsible for plants killed during shipping when buyer’s fault (leaving package out for extended period, shipping when temperatures too cold/hot, etc.). If my fault, I will replace the plant if possible, or refund the purchase.

14
I’m growing an ice cream bean from seed, and the leaves from the start looked kind of wonky. They are sort of crinkly, and never reached a full green. This newest leaf is the worst, it didn’t even reach full size. What’s wrong?






15
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Deer suck
« on: June 21, 2020, 12:25:21 PM »
The fence is repaired for the first time in many years. The deer still came, jumping over the fence just as the beans started to flower heavily. Unlike squirrels and smaller pests, I cannot catch/shoot them. For now, the tomatoes and cucumbers are left alone. Of course, the tomatoes and cucumbers aren’t growing anyway, but still. And this is the first year I am actually weeding/taking care of the garden. Seems everything’s against me: first the weather, then the weather again, then bad seeds, and now deer.

This video I filmed yesterday shows the extent of the damage. Perhaps make yourself feel better about your own deer problems: you are not alone.

And please subscribe to my channel to make me feel better about my ruined garden. :)

https://youtu.be/4doQk1O_YgM

-Tomek

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / WHY IS THIS HAPPENING AGAIN?
« on: May 04, 2020, 10:41:51 AM »
So after a few blissful months of my cacaos in their new grow tent, with all of them having fast new growth, the new leaves have suddenly started turning brown at the edges/ with spots, and some of them have fallen off. I am used to cacao sometimes aborting new leaves, but this has happened to all of them in the space of a week. Looks exactly how they looked when they came back inside (with new leaves dying), but that was most likely due to humidity while the humidity in the grow tent is very high. They were doing quite well prior to this, showing new growth for the first time this winter after I put them in the tent. Any clue as to what is happening? The three cacaos not in the grow tent don’t have this problem, and are growing well (they were the only ones that did not almost die because of the lack of humidity outside the tent).
Tomek












17
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Spider mite or something else?
« on: April 30, 2020, 09:52:04 PM »
A few days ago I saw some small white moving dots on the bark of my cacao tree, growing in my humid grow tent. I first thought these to be spider mites, but now am not sure. They seem to appear on the bark of the tree first, especially on any dead stems. I did see them on some leaves too, though not any webs. I washed the bugs off and sprayed with neem oil, but they were back the next day. They are still coming back no matter how much I take them off. Are these spider mites, or something else? Do I need to be worried? I made a closeup video of one of them, attached is a link.

https://youtu.be/bxZ_lpAp6LE

Thanks,
Tomek

18
I have a collection of tropical fruit plants I’m growing, and am making some videos about them (and also some about watches). My channel is called The Catalog Collector. I just uploaded an update video on my indoor plants, linked below. Making these videos takes a lot of time and energy, and if you enjoy it please consider subscribing. I’d really appreciate it. Any advice is also appreciated!

https://youtu.be/qADpMlRqEyA

Tomek

19
So I was searching for some Weird Fruit Explorer video on YouTube, and came across an older video I previously saw that started my love of herrania varieties as a theobroma relative. I saw it again, but looking at the “herrania” pod he shows, it doesn’t look like any other herrania species I know. While herranias are green with ridges or yellow with rounded ridges, this one is small, red, and relatively smooth. Like a tiny cacao pod. Does anyone know what this is?

Video is “rare fruit at tenom park part 2” (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mYC4s2SdgRc&t=194s)

Thanks,
Tomek

20
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Will these seeds germinate?
« on: March 22, 2020, 05:28:03 PM »
I got my first international shipment of seeds two days ago (seeds from Borneo). I just want to ask if some of the seeds I got have a good chance at germinating, or if they will rot. I’m asking because several nephelium seeds I got came with mold on them, and now have become semi soft and I think they rotted/died in transit. The pictures show a nephelium seed that feels hard but has a black tip. The pointed flat seed is a baccaurrea angulata, and the durio Oxleyanus seed came like it looks now. Durio Kutejensis seeds I ordered did not germinate in transit (which took 9 days) and still haven’t germinated. I also have Xanthophyllum seeds (photo with two seeds), Langsat seeds, and Willughbeia seeds (which have not sprouted bud don’t have mold on them). Any suggestions for germinating these seeds? I’m used to just flinging cacao seeds in potting mix and all of them sprouting. I washed them and sprayed lightly with a hydrogen peroxide solution to get rid of the mold and put them in a plastic box with moist spanghum moss on a heat mat.














21
This was my first time ordering seeds outside the US, and I got and used a small seeds permit. I ordered two packages, one shipped by Correos Costa Rica and the other by EMS Indonesia. Unfortunately, I screwed up on the  USDA shipping label and both packages have the courier option Miami inspection station rather than the usps option. Can anyone tell me what will happen to my packages, which were sent two and one weeks ago respectively? And can I fix this? I live in northern Virginia if that makes a difference.

Tomek

22
Tropical Fruit Discussion / My New YouTube Channel About My Garden
« on: March 03, 2020, 10:35:25 AM »
Hello everyone!

A few weeks ago I started my YouTube channel, The Catalog Collector. It’s mainly about watches, specifically watch catalogs, but I also started putting out videos about my adventures growing tropical fruit indoors in zone 7. I have two garden videos out now, the first about how I got into tropical fruit and what fruit I found and tried, and the second is a tour of my garden.

First video (my experience with tropical fruit) link: https://youtu.be/4dTu6u9tK6c
Second video (tour of the garden) link: https://youtu.be/Y02vs1uFVU0

I release watch catalog collector videos once a week, and will try to do the same with my garden, but cannot guarantee that. I have a total of 6 videos ready for now and more filmed, so maybe I can do it. Next week it’s an orchid, but in three weeks I post a video about fresh Montoso gardens cacao pods.

I hope you enjoy the videos! Any advice for the future is greatly appreciated! Also, thanks for all the help I got on this forum regarding my plants! I only joined last year but visited often for several years now, the advice on here is really helpful.

Thanks,
Tomek






23
So, just as one cacao is starting to grow again after threatening to die, my other cacao are losing leaves! Ah well, such is life when you try to turn zone 7 to the tropics.

I wanted to ask about several different plants that either never grow well for me or always die. First up is my pineapple guava/feijoa. I have tried to grow guavas several times, and the same thing always happens. The plant grows well, but then the leaves start to wither away, new tips wither away, and the plant dies. I’m down to 2 feijoas from an original ~10. Please help, as a guava may be the only thing that, if I can solve this problem, may have a chance of fruiting for me.


Jackfruit never grows well in the winter. For one thing, most of the leaves fall off. Nothing special, except that one of my two survivors had all the leaves one by one droop, turn yellow in a weird way and fall off. I sprayed with neem oil, and the leaves stop dropping, but in a few weeks droop again. Spraying with neem seems to help, would like to know what is causing this. May be too late to save that one, as I knocked off a tip (long story), but am considering growing other artocarpus this year.

My lychees from supermarket lychees are just about dead, with no hope. They grow 2 new leaves, then the growing tip dies. They may try again, but if they fail they end up dying. I’m down to my last one, which reduced two sickly leaves that are quickly browning. Funny thing is, I treat my Spanish limes I got from PR the same way (most likely terrible soil, bad watering, etc.) but they seem to grow quite nicely, though that may be because it’s their first year.

No photos for this, but my coffee is not growing well, putting out leaves as fast as dropping leaves. Cherimoyas drop leaves, hopefully those that dropped all will recover outside, I never throw away dead sticks! One of my round leaf cacao that I thought had no chance, where all of my other round lead cacao (over 10) all died, is putting out new growth.

Thanks for the help,
Tomek











24
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Sending plants throughout the U.S.
« on: January 17, 2020, 10:04:42 PM »
So, I soon want to start a YouTube channel about mainly watches but also a lot about my indoor tropical fruit growing experiences (and other plant-related experiences). I want to start a Patreon page at the same time, and I want one of the rewards to be that I send the patron some plants. I would most likely send things like cacao, passion fruit, dragonfruit, perhaps some autocarpus and lychee family fruit seedlings. No citrus for now. Can anyone tell me what the rules are about sending plants/do I need special permits? I know how to get seed permits, I have a USDA aphis account that allows me to get permits online, is the process for plant permits the same as for seeds? I live and would send out shipments from Virginia, if that makes a difference.

Thanks,
Tomek

25
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Help me save my favorite plant
« on: January 05, 2020, 06:12:30 PM »
So I’ve been growing this cacao that I got from logees for many years; it was my first tropical fruit tree I ever got except for the lemon I grew from seed. It always grew slowly and lost basically as many leaves as it grew, but it never came close to dying. I grow the plants indoors for half the year as it gets too cold outside, and the humidity levels are not very ideal for cacao (unfortunately about 45-50 percent). Even so, it has always survived the winter. This year, shortly after I brought it inside (after doing spectacularly outside) it suddenly lost about half of its leaves, the leaves yellowing and falling off all in a matter of days. 9 leaves were left, and they did not really change for a while. That is, until a few weeks ago when the browning of the edges seemed to quickly speed up and a couple leaves started yellowing. I think all of this is a humidity deficiency problem, but correct me if I’m wrong. I put it in a small “growing tent” I constructed, where I can keep the humidity at 70-80 percent, though at the cost of much less air circulation. It is in there for about 3 weeks, but leaves are still falling off. The ones that did fall off I expected to die, as they were already yellowing. I am now left with 4 leaves, all of which are starting to look like they will soon yellow and fall off. There is one growing tip left, but it doesn’t look very promising for quick new growth. There do seem to be many very small growing “nubs” (they are not yet growing tips) where leaves once were, but they have browned at the tips. I don’t know what to do, I am keeping it in my “greenhouse” for now and any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Tomek






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