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Messages - mangomandan

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1051
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Introduce Yourself
« on: January 29, 2012, 10:06:52 AM »
Erica,  we're in a subdivision of sorts called Sebring Acres. It's off CR731, a bit west of the Venus General Store. Used to be fishing camp sites, now a refuge for all sorts of folks.
The auction has closed, sadly.  I used to sell my Lamancha bucklings there.  And it was "the-place-to-be" in Venus on a Saturday night.

Yes, my mulberry trees were still small, only in the ground about 9-10 months.

I wish I knew more about how to choose deciduous trees for this climate.  I don't think chill hours are the whole story.  The peach trees I bought in the spring bloomed after about 8 chill hours, in November.   If I hadn't moved them to Lake Worth for the winter they would have hated the freeze we had in December.

1052
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Looking for Zone 9 fruits
« on: January 29, 2012, 09:53:09 AM »
Erika,  if you don't find everything you need through trading and so forth, you may want to try Hopkins Tropical Fruit nursery, in Immokalee.  They sell trees for both zones 9 and 10.   On their website it sounds like they are mostly wholesale now, but they could help you one way or another.  They are a great family, and used to have a nice nursery in Broward county.

1053
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Honeybell orange
« on: January 28, 2012, 08:26:54 AM »
I've had Minneolas from west Broward that stacked up to the Indian River ones.
I think they are sweeter on some rootstocks than on others. I remember Cleopatra being favored in some areas.
My mother grew a Minneola in Michigan, inside in the winter of course.  It actually fruited, so I don't think cross-pollination is an absolute requirement.
The fruit didn't have the sweetness of a Florida tangelo, though.  Still it was cool, and amazed the meter reader.
I believe Harry mentioned the Page, which is also very sweet and delicious. It's smaller, and earlier in the season.

1054
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Top 5 favorite fruits (including non tropicals)
« on: January 28, 2012, 08:18:01 AM »
Quote from: bsbullie on January 28, 2012, 07:32:18 AM
Quote from: mangomandan on January 27, 2012, 10:44:27 AM
This thread is a great excuse to try new fruits, or those that we sampled once or twice and didn't appreciate.


murahilin:   Do you grow your own watermelon?  If so, is there a variety that sweetens reliably for you?   I have bad luck with store-bought melons (and apples, and mangos of course.)
This isn't really watermelon growing country down here.  You have to go up farther north in the State, and the best are grown out of the state.  During watermelon season (mid summer, drive down 441between Lake Worth Road to just south of Boynton Beach Boulevard.  You will find people selling watermelons on the side of the road.  You must be cautious and ask questions to ensure their origin (some are actually brought directly from the fields but some people do nothing more than pick them up from the packing houses so they are the same, or similar, to what you'd get in Publix).  Find the right person and you will get an excellent melon.  Of course, you must know how to pick them by weight and sound (growing up in Pennsylvania, we had friends who grew watermelons, yellow ones to be precise, and the best damn watermelon you ever had..he taught me how to pick a watermelon).  Its the non-commercial heirloom varieties that will be the best but since they don't do well commercially for various reasons, you will be hard pressed to find them down here.  Go up to North Carolina and search out the right farms and you might.

Don't get me started about apples.  I worked at my friends apple orchard in high school where they grew at least 20 different varieties.  After eating a fresh picked tree ripened apple, you will never grab one of those gas chambered store bought ones again.  Same with pears and plums (now of course as for pears, and stated earlier by Harry, nothing beats a "Cream of the Crop" Royal Riviera from Harry and Davids.  "The Favorites" aren't bad but the "Cream of the Crop" are truly amazing.

Thanks for the tips.   I'm so old that I can actually remember eating a Red Delicious apple that was delicious.  My uncle planted the tree in Michigan in the fifties. Absolutely no comparison to the beautifully bland apples sold these days.   We also went apple picking, so got fresh Macs and Jonathans and snow apples.  Yumm.

1055
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Top 5 favorite fruits (including non tropicals)
« on: January 27, 2012, 10:44:27 AM »
This thread is a great excuse to try new fruits, or those that we sampled once or twice and didn't appreciate.


murahilin:   Do you grow your own watermelon?  If so, is there a variety that sweetens reliably for you?   I have bad luck with store-bought melons (and apples, and mangos of course.)

1056
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Introduce Yourself
« on: January 27, 2012, 10:40:16 AM »
Quote from: ericalynne on January 26, 2012, 09:06:36 PM


In Venus (9b) I have started a lot, but nothing has fruited yet: Angie and Jean Ellen mangoes (Fairchild), Loquat, key lime, jaboticaba, two seedling jaks (from Warren), three seedling kwai muk, imbe seedlings (Fruit and Spice Park), three banana varieties that are supposed to do well in zone 9, (Going Bananas), pineapples, charichuela (Whitman) (in pot, has flowered but no fruit), 4 garciania gardineria (sp? Whitman), moringa oleifera (sp?? the Kampong.) Ed is in the process of sending me some mulberries and hardy avocados. I have ordered Sunshine Blue blueberry plants and a couple other blueberry varieties to try.

I was very interested to see some posts on low chill northern fruits, because I want to try them, now that I can't grow much of the tropicals. I have a small greenhouse for the cold nights.

When I am not working on the fruit trees, I have more orchids than you can shake a stick at, even after giving away half of them, bamboo, and a vegetable garden.

Erica
I'm in Venus too, but weekends only. I wish I had a greenhouse, as I've lost every citrus tree, a "cold-hardy" Winter Mexican avocado, and other items to the hard freezes.
One mulberry has done well for me, another gave up the ghost the winter that we had 3 hard freezes separated by really warm intervals.
Anyway, the next time you drive by a mobile home with goats and sheep in the front yard, stop in and say Hi.

1057
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Multiple rootstock grafting
« on: January 26, 2012, 03:16:51 PM »
Has anyone had long-term success with planting 2 or 3 tropical fruit trees (let's say mango, for the sake of argument) in one hole?

I'd love to see a picture of two or three ten-foot tall trees sharing one location.

1058
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: new USDA Zones due to warming trend
« on: January 26, 2012, 02:52:34 PM »
I've read that central Florida had fewer temperature extremes, e.g. hard freezes, back before some of the land was drained.   Apparently swampy areas retain more heat than dry ones, in the winter at least.
As far as global warming/weirding/climate change, I'm not offended by any sort of opinion about it, despite being a card-carrying liberal. (A library card counts, right?)
Maybe it's happening and man-made.  Maybe not.  Nobody actually knows. Maybe our great-grandchildren will find out one way or the other.
At any rate, I'm happy to see that the topic isn't generating any sort of flame war.
But if someone were to post that Carrie mangos are great and Dot mangos suck, I'd have to get nasty.....
 :P

1059
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: what happened to the karma feature
« on: January 26, 2012, 09:27:40 AM »
Quote from: murahilin on January 25, 2012, 09:09:40 PM
I can give you an honorary title other than "member" for you all your troubles if you'd like?

Member Extraordinaire?

1060
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Is graham mango good?
« on: January 26, 2012, 06:58:56 AM »
My graham tree is a vigorous grower.  It has a nice, rich flavor.  But as Squam noted, the "spicy" aspect is one that some love and others (like me) aren't as fond of.

1061
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: new USDA Zones due to warming trend
« on: January 25, 2012, 02:21:38 PM »
Quote from: bsbullie on January 25, 2012, 02:14:47 PM
Never had any problems with loquats fruiting in Gator Country (Gainesville, Florida).

Rob

I had always thought they grew great in central Florida.   Maybe it's a microclimate issue for my yard / neighborhood.

1062
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: new USDA Zones due to warming trend
« on: January 25, 2012, 02:19:18 PM »
murahilin:   I've had the loquat trouble in Highlands; each year the flowers or fruit are killed by low temps.   So far I've saved the limited yard space in Lake Worth for mangos and such.

Are fruit flies a problem these days for loquats in Florida zone 10?

1063
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Introduce Yourself
« on: January 25, 2012, 02:10:14 PM »
Quote from: North_Tree_Man on January 25, 2012, 01:51:17 PM
Hello everyone. My name is Jeremy, and I have been growing sub-tropicals/tropicals for about 6 years now.  I have successfully fruited lychees for years now, but the trees are finally coming into their prime fruiting age, so good things are expected from this time onward.

Fruiting lychees in Pennsylvania  is just way cool.  Congrats.

1064
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: new USDA Zones due to warming trend
« on: January 25, 2012, 01:39:28 PM »
I see that the map is based on data through 2005. My zone 9b place in Highlands County, Florida has had quite a few nights down to about 20 degrees in the last 3-4 winters.

I've heard that even modest overall climate change can cause extremes of temperature, etc. in some areas.

Still, I'm hoping that this is just a short-term trend. Someday I'd like to eat a loquat.

1065
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Bender's Tropical Grove
« on: January 24, 2012, 09:33:43 AM »
I bought a couple beautiful low-chill peach trees from Bender's.   Weirdly, they are already in fruit, but it's been a strange year for my other deciduous fruit trees too.

1066
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Your potting mixes for mangoes, citrus and more
« on: January 24, 2012, 09:29:16 AM »
I've been wondering the same thing, since I plan to try a couple mango trees in fabric pots.
With vegetables I've had good luck with Miracle-Gro Moisure Control, I think it's in a blue bag.
But I'm not sure if your citrus would dry out enough between waterings.

1067
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Why everyone moved to this forum?
« on: January 23, 2012, 07:05:39 PM »
This forum is easier to use. The editing and searching are kind of clunky on GF.   Still, it doesn't have to be an either-or proposition.

GF is a repository for a lot of fruitful wisdom from recent years. And I'm sure interesting posts will continue to bless both forums.

1068
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Harry's Fruit Stand
« on: January 23, 2012, 09:30:42 AM »
Harry, I haven't tasted Thai Night or Possum Trot.  How do they compare to the others for flavor?   Which of your varieties seems sweetest to you?

1069
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ)
« on: January 22, 2012, 04:42:02 PM »

"So where are the frequently asked questions.......and the answers, more importantly?  Someone better get on the ball here."

Speaking of questions, Harry, what kind of mango is the one you're using as your profile photo?  More importantly, may I have some please?  Right now?  It is gorgeous.
I feel some good karma coming your way.  ;)


1070
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Fabric containers / Smart Pots for fruit trees
« on: January 22, 2012, 04:33:26 PM »
Many thanks for the feedback.  I've ordered a few fabric pots and one superoots one.   If nothing else, it will be fun to experiment with them.

1071
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Fabric containers / Smart Pots for fruit trees
« on: January 21, 2012, 03:31:58 PM »
Thank you to CoPlantNut for mentioning these, as I had not heard of them.
Has anyone had good (or bad) luck growing tropical fruits in these?
I'm thinking of trying a Pickering mango in one.  Would it be important to start with a smaller pot and gradually step it up?

1072
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: What matters to you in a mango variety?
« on: January 19, 2012, 07:04:55 PM »
I'm not fussy. I enjoy pretty much any large delicious well-colored mango from a productive disease-resistant tree.

1073
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Introduce Yourself
« on: January 19, 2012, 10:08:53 AM »
Hi, my name is Dan, and I'm a mangophile.      No, not a mango expert, sadly.  Just an addict.

It's a poignant story, starting back in the early eighties when my other half stole a Hayden mango from a neighbor's yard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I was hooked immediately. Soon we were attending mango tastings at the Broward Rare Fruit Council meetings, craving more and more mangos.  We became groupies of Crafton Cliff (or Clifton Craft?), Professor Will, the Doctors Campbell, Chris Rollins and Gary Zill. 

There was no room in Ray's yard for a mango tree, so I was forced to buy a small house, on a tiny lot, in eastern Tamarac.  I planted Kent and Keitt and Glenn, as well as lots of other fruit trees, driving the HOA and the maintenance men crazy. The trees prospered, I found that Kent and Keitt are easy to ship, and my relatives in Michigan joined in my addiction.

A job change brought a move to Lake Worth, where there was only room for one mango tree. I planted a Gary secured on a class trip to the Zill establishment.  We had the chance to move to a place with a larger yard, so I never got to taste Gary. The tree is still there, though.

We've been in suburban Lake worth about 18 years now. The yard isn't big enough, of course, but I've squeezed in what I can. Started with Dot and Cushman, Beverly and Jacquelin and Carrie. Through the years we lost Cushman to hurricanes and Carrie to some awful disease. But we have added Neelam, Rosigold, Lancetilla, Joellen (not Jean Ellen), and Graham,  all bearing size.  And our most recent acquisitions, with thanks to several members of this forum, are Coconut Cream, Pickering, Maha Chanok, Lemon Zest, and a tiny, sad little Mallika.

I also have an old trailer on a couple acres up in Highlands County, where I've managed to kill many trees, including citrus, jujube, and oriental persimmon. The climate there has been especially harsh the last several winters, hotter than Hades except when it's 20 degrees several nights each winter.
Luckily our goats and sheep and chickens don't mind.


P.S.  I love that I was able to edit this after the fact.  Turns out I had been misspelling Jacquelin as Jacqueline all these years.

1074
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Giant Papaya Tree ( Video test )
« on: January 19, 2012, 09:01:35 AM »
The dramatic music was a nice touch!

1075
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Jak & Coconuts
« on: January 19, 2012, 08:52:31 AM »
That is one big-arse jak. It doesn't seem to be weighing you down, though. Are you especially strong?  Or is the jak hollow????   ;)

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