It takes some cold, too, even as seedlings.

 I managed to germinate a couple of seedlings a couple of years ago. These seedlings went through our winter
 without any special protection.

 Unfortunately, when I planted them in larger pots, a feral cat kept digging up the pots,
 until I lost them. 

 Hi,
 
 I have a Genipa americana that is blooming for the first time.
 
 It has never thrived in my climate and often takes a hit when there's a cold wave with
 near freezing temperatures. Still, it manages to recover and has gained some size over the years,
 although it is rather spindly. Today, I noticed it has some yellow flowers in a couple of
 branches.

 Does anyone know if it needs a companion to set fruit?

 --sérgio

the differences between genera are too vast, they should have been trying to find a compatible species within the genus Myrciaria.

Quote from: siafu on August 15, 2016, 08:45:09 AM

Quote from: FlyingFoxFruits on August 13, 2016, 06:54:31 PM

They should have been trying interspecific grafts...not intergeneric.

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-204X2003001200015

I don't understand your point.
The paper describes grafting camu-camu onto psidium and eugenia. Aren't these species in different genera
in regards to camu-camu?

Sorry. I thought you were complaining about the term used, rather than the choice of species.

Yeah, but loquat on quince says otherwise ;-)

 Hi,

 There are some date palm (hybrids?) in Faro town, near the hospital.

 I'm not sure how pure they are, but these palms produce rather large fruits compared to Phoenix canariensis,
 so they must have some date genes in there. I noticed the fruits dropping a couple of weeks ago.

 

How does your tree's fruit taste?  (Did you grow from seed or do you have named cultivars?)

I have two trees grown from seed.

The problem is not taste. It is a juicy, tasty fruit, but there's little pulp.

Nevertheless, I have to admit that marula is growing on me. It's nice to bite into
the thick rind of the fruit and get a squirt of a rather fine juice.
Then there's a bit of pulp around the large seed to chew on for a couple of minutes.

Siafu....thanks for the info you share with us !!!

What do you think abouth A. cherimoya ? Does it mature the fruit in winter in the coldest parts of Algarve?

There's little difference from place to place in terms of averages. The limiting factor is extreme minimums.
There's this place called Aljezur, where it can get incredibly cold (-7C), well below the limit for cherimoya.
Elsewhere, the fruits will be ready by mid to late Autumn and fine quality.

Few days ago I spoke in an Italian forum about the differences for a plant between survive and ripe a fruit....
What do I mean?

In Tropical or Subtropical regions this is not a problem....temperatures are high throughout the year. But in other parts, for instance the warmest part of Europe, the average Temp can be lower than 13° for 4-5 months.

Until few months ago I considered only the temperature that a plant could take without die....and i believed that it was the only "problem" for a subtropical plant in a mediterranean climate.

So a subtropical plant, to ripe the fruits in a frost-free zone, MUST:

- Ripen the fruits before November (so Flowering must occur not too late and fruits must ripe in 4-5 months)
- Fruits must not rot or fall if temperature drops under 10°C

- LUCUMA : I read about a plant that fruits in Spain...since the fruit takes one year for ripen, I guess it can withstand low winter temperatures


What about other subtropical fruits??

- BLACK ZAPOTE??
- JACKFRUITS?
- JUBUTICABA?
- CARAMBOLA?

Which are your experiences??

Thanks

Lucuma is very easy and shows no stress over winter.
Green sapote also does well and does fine over winter.
Black sapote does well for me. The fruits ripen in mid spring.
Carambola does not grow well outside for me. It defoliates and takes a long time to recover. Sometimes, it still manages to produce a late crop. In more protected conditions it does rather well and produces two crops: summer and around Christmas.
Jaboticaba fruits needs just a few weeks from bloom to maturity. It even does well in Northern Portugal.
There's still little experience with Jackfruit here. So far it looks promising. I have two in a mosquito netting covered structure that fruited for the first time this summer. The fruits did not develop properly. The seeds were malformed, but the rag was sweet and edible.
Mamey grows very slowly. It is much more cold sensitive than green sapote.
Achachairu does well outside here, but grows slowly (in poor soil and heavy shade).
Sapodilla seedlings do well outside. Winter usually scorches some of the tender top leaves of the plant.
It recovers over the warmer months and gets bigger over time.
Canistel does well outside in good spots and can mature fruit. Mine tends to defoliate, which allows sun to scorch the fruits.
Ilama (grafted onto cherimoya) does well outside. It spends winter leafless but wakes up and blooms when cherimoya is also
coming out of dormancy.
Biribá (A. mucosa) does well but my plants set fruits too late and they mature over winter and are very bland.
 
edit: corrected some typos

Yes, the calcium binds with iron and many other micronutrients. But, I wonder if there is just so much present that there is sufficient for the tree? At any rate, I think it's more complex than just pH, because it doesn't make sense that my tree (which is a seedling of the F&S tree) is terribly chlorotic while the parent tree is thriving. I'd love to get a soil expert out here to solve the mystery.

It also seems to depend on the plant species and also its age.

I have shallow alkaline soil and have seen countless plants
doing well in pots and then turn yellow once planted.
They green up somewhat with the first Autumn rains. (Rain water does
make a lot of difference.)

Interestingly, I have also seen plants improve with age to the point
that they no longer look chlorotic.

Hi,

Any chance it might be "Pouteria fossicola"

David Chandlee used to list this species in the Borneo Collection seed page.
That was before his farm got destroyed by the cyclone Larry.

"On the outside, this giant fruit resembles something out of the Jurassic era and emits a sweet yet putrid stench."

Are they confusing jackfruit with durian?

Hi Berto,

Have you tried to drench the soil with some chelated iron or micros?

Some species of Garcinia respond well to that. Maybe your soil is fine it
won't make a difference, but for me it sure helped to get them going.

Hi Berto,

I received the mexican garcinia seeds from Luc in 2005.
So these plants are 10 years old, although the first bloom was 2 years ago.

The achachairu plants are a couple of years older: at least 12 years old. The seeds
came from Puerto Rico.

They are slow in my climate and soil/water conditions. Chelated micro-elements
often are rewarded with a growth flush, soon after. It's something I recommend
to anyone growing garcinias in less than ideal conditions.

only two Garcinias in my collection have leaves like the plant in your photo.

one is Luc's Garcinia, the other is Garcinia gardneriana (I have two varieties, or possibly species, labeled as G. gardneriana, the one with larger leaves looks like your tree)

I believe your tree is G. gardneriana.

congrats of on fruit set, I think you will be impressed by this fruit.

the variety I have with small leaves is the best Garcinia fruit I've tasted so far...I bet the larger leaved type will make a larger fruit (much like Luc's Garcinia, which is probably a subspecies of G. gardneriana).

Hi Adam.

Thanks for your input. G. gardneriana !? I don't recall planting these seeds, but
it has been so long ago that everything is becoming very foggy.

I do remember Luc sending me his Garcinia seeds. So, for now, you raise my hopes
my plant could still be one of those.

Speaking of Garcinias, any suggestion on how to coax my Achachairu's to fruit? The three I have are
already 3.5 m tall and very full. I never expected them to take longer to fruit/bloom than my mamoncillos...