We harvested a jackfruit today from our Cristela and it was delicious. Sweet, crisp (for a jack), relatively easy to peel.



This tree is very precocious and produces small jacks. It doesn't put as much energy into growing in height as it puts into producing fruits. It has remained a compact little tree, at about 6.5" after a few years in the ground. So for those who want jacks without devoting a lot of space, this may be your answer.

In the picture above, the jack is next to an 8" chef's knife. It has set 6 fruits this year, all at the very base. Last year it set two fruits when it was only 5' tall! I harvested those too early, and so wasn't able to taste the fruit until this year.

My 5' Day avocado produced 5 avocados last Fall. It burst into full bloom a couple weeks ago, but every single bloom fell off without setting fruit. What gives? Will there be another bloom cycle...? Was it the lack of water? The tree looks good, no pest problems, has been growing steadily. I can't imagine what is wrong.

What are all the varieties of spicy mangoes? I don't like Valencia Pride, but I like Beverly despite it's similarity because of the spicy overtones. I am eager to find more spicy mangoes. If you can think of any please list, and please specify if they are Southeast Asian (which I also love).

I just ran into a neighbor who said he found a solution to a problem he was having with birds stealing his miracle fruit crop. He got a pepper vine with red berries that look similar to miracle fruit and are super spicy (can't remember the cultivar). The mockingbirds went after it as soon as he put it out and haven't been back since.

My Day avocado is 5-6' tall and is going to give me 3 fruits this year. I will probably be pleased with the fruit because I love avocados, but I am from Texas and thus partial to oily avocados. I need guacamole. So I am thinking of having Har help me top work part of the tree.

I know just enough about avocados to know that I don't know much about them. I know there are "A" and "B" blooming trees, but I don't have a good understanding of this, and specifically I'm not sure if this means I should match types when selecting budwood for a cocktail tree.

I know there are watery avocados (which I have) and oily avocados (which I want), but I don't know if these types can or should coexist on the same tree.

I know there are 2 different harvest times for avocados in South Florida, but I don't know how different bloom cycles coexisting on the same tree would affect productivity.

Taking all of the above into account, I'm interested in hearing recommendations!

It has stubbornly triumphed over my assassination attempts. Anyone who want to come dig it up can have it. It is 3 years old.

A great new upscale pub in Hollywood offers 40+ beers on tap, including Cigar City Guanabana and many other fruit-infused beers. Sometimes it is difficult to meet each other at the fruit club events because of the number of people and speakers, so why don't we arrange a more casual, intimate setting?

Time & Place:
Thursday, May 9th, from 6-8 pm at the Tipsy Boar in downtown Hollywood, FL (1906 Harrison St.)

Anyone who plans to come, can you shoot me a PM, or preferably email at jay@kjaylaw.com, so I can get a head count for the manager? They have an outdoor patio and plenty of room. This could be a good time to arrange trades and maybe bring a plant for a raffle or contest or something. Ideas welcome, and anyone who wants to organize the trade/raffle is welcome!

Katie
jay@kjaylaw.com
305.492.9928

My barbados cherry tree has produced great berries the past year or so, but this month the berries are misshapen, pockmarked, with brown pods inside just under the pockmarks. What is this? Some sort of fruit fly?

Let's say, hypothetically, that your city is requiring you to plant a tree on your swale (that little area in between the street and the sidewalk) because you removed a tree (white fly invested coconut planted by previous owner). And that there is a very restricted list of trees that the city will allow to be planted on the swale. And none of them are fruit trees, with the exception of pond apple (annona glabra) and Indian Tamarind (Tamarindus indica). After the permit process, it is safe to assume that one of the city's arborists will drive by to verify that one of the approved trees was planted.

Does atemoya look substantially like pond apple? Atemoya leaves are bigger, right? Would a sugar apple be a better bet? I don't want pond apple. Although perhaps I could plant a big one and then top work it?

High holidays are approaching and I prefer to buy local as opposed to ordering off the internet. (Oh, who am I kidding; if I can't find a local etrog I'll just use a lemon.)

When I looked out my window this overcast morning, after plenty of precipitation this past weekend, and saw my wilting mamey, I knew I had a dying tree on my hands. What I don't know is why. Obviously lack of water is not an issue. I did notice about a week ago that one of the new branches was persistently wilted. I have not seen any suspect bugs or marks on the tree, and all of my other 20 fruit trees are thriving. Jus went outside and checked the status: still dying. Dying with a vengeance, it seems. Any ideas?

If you are willing to come dig them up, you can have them.