If one were going to add 3 new mamey sapote cultivars to their collection, which cultivar would they be, and why?  (South Miami-Dade area) Thank you.

I was part of a group that met with the powers that be at the County today regarding the future of the Park. The job position is open until March 8, so any rumors you hear of a new Park Manager (official position title - not Director nor Curator) will be just that...rumors...as the new Manager will be chosen down the road from that date. First a committee will be formed and ultimately Mr. Kardis (Director of Parks, Open Spaces, etc.) will make the final decision.  The County is not in a hurry to hire someone - they want the right person, which they described as someone who is a horticulturist AND an educator (realize that Chris taught half of the 36 classes that were done at the Park in 2014). This person must also have an administrative background which will allow them to manage the different factions that exist at the Park as well as work with the various members of the local community (county extension, farmers, TREC, volunteers, etc
etc). Hopefully they will find someone that can do all those things for the salary they are offering.

There is also a team of designers that will work on a redesign of the Park, and at some point, an opportunity for public input. Since there isn't much money to implement the new design, it may be quite some time before any changes actually happen.

I'm glad to see that some folks have met Jerry. He is a good guy. The other horticulturist at the Park is Louise. She is equally as enthusiastic about fruit. :-)

W.

Mulch, mulch, mulch!  I've been slowing working on removing grass from my property and replacing it with mulch.  Initially there has appeared to be a nitrogen deficiency as the mulch does take it out of the soil as it breaks down, however in the longer run, when your trees become established, the falling leaves will tend to even things out.  I do occasionally pull back the mulch and add in some compost, but mostly when I am establishing a new tree.  As the mulch breaks down, it becomes quite soil-like and weeds can grow in it, so I simply remove those weeds that do appear (mostly I the summer as the much is breaking down quicker) and add more mulch.  Nutsedge is also a problem here.    Pulling them out by hand is a waste of time unless you can get the nuts out (challenging).  There is a nutsedge killer that is sold at Home Depot.

Way to go Clint!  Keep pushing the boundaries northward! 

Way to go Berns!

So, Fruitguy and Ohiojay, would you say it's fair to describe you both as people to whom it didn't taste like "unbearably awful rotten onions that make you want to gargle for hours to try to get the taste out", just "nothing special / don't really care for it", right?

Not even close.  More of a garlicky custard taste. 

For me - and apparently boukmn as well - it was as if the fruit was some sort of cruel prank, as if people pretend to enjoy it to get unsuspecting victims to taste it so that their reactions can be secretly filmed for an episode of Punk'd.

I have felt the same way about other fruit, such as Surinam-cherry, Nance, Mabolo and several others.   Just like medicines do not work the same on all patients, different fruit "affect" us differently.  Some factors include genetics (as you mentioned earlier), stage of ripeness, variety, preparation (if any), and/or climate conditions where the fruit was grown.

(And I don't care what people say, there's no way that freezing something makes something that was fine taste that unimaginably awful. We all know that frozen fruit isn't generally as good as fresh. But it doesn't make things taste like some awful form of concentrated onion rot.)

Have you considered that the frozen fruit may have not been handled properly when shipped halfway across the globe?  Perhaps it was left to thaw, and then refrozen? Another possibility is that the fruit was not at the right stage of ripeness prior to being frozen initially, or even that it was treated with a chemical to induce "ripeness" (or treated improperly) and that has affected the end product. There is no way to tell at this point.

My first thought was to step up and defend the durian (after all, it is nowhere as bad as a "good" Surinam-cherry!), but then a brief flash of genius crossed my mind - the more people don't like it (or are turned off by the negative descriptions in this thread), the more for me!!!!!! 

I recall seeing those plants in seed catelouges back in the 1980's. 

Damn good fruit, if you can find them.  I was fortunate enough to try some at Bill Whitman's house and they are one of my favorites.  I found the taste to be similar to tangerine as well, but without the acidity and I didn't run into any aftertaste.  The difference could be related to location or source material.  Very slow growing plant.  According to Whitman, can be fruited in a pot when they reach 3 feet.

Good news Luc, there is less than 1% chance that you will end up with 7 males!

My money is on Oscar's picture coming in top 3 places in CRFG's Photo Shoot!

Congrats Erica!  I recall Whitman saying that he planted a second tree for cross-pollination which he believed increased his fruit-set. 

I also read some variety's don't need full sun but partially shade.

Location, location, location!  Just like in real estate, location is an important factor.  In the deserts of Israel (high light intensity, low humidity) dragonfruit must be grown under shadecloth.  If my memory hasn't totally failed me, most species did best under 30% shade with the exception of Selenicereus megalanthus which fruited best under 60% shade.  Here in South Florida, all of the Hylocereus species/varieties I have growing can handle full-sun in the summer (high light intensity, high humidity).  The only time of the year that I have problems is in October when the dry season starts to kick in and the nearly daily rain dries up to once a week or less, and I can start to get a little burn on some of them.  A little supplemental watering usually takes care of that.  My S. megalanthus is currently growing in a black sapote (think fairly heavy shade) and only the parts that find sun set fruit, albeit relatively small fruit (about 100 g.)

A few tips:

(1) It's better to fertilize earlier rather than later.  At least if you want large bunches of bananas.  The number of bananas are determined in the first few months of the sucker's life.  That said, I would still encourage fertilizing later as well to ensure a strong enough stalk to hold the bigger bunch of bananas.

(2) Plant deep.  Unlike regular fruit trees, bananas can be planted 1 foot (or more?) below the level that they were previously at.  Not only does this provide support, it also allows the mat to grow longer, since each successive generation of suckers comes out slightly higher than the previous one.

(3) Use manure.  Even though horse manure is categorized as a "hot" manure and usually needs a bit of composting to avoid burning the roots of most plants, bananas (and papayas) do not appear to be affected by this and even thrive when the plants are surrounded by the horse manure/saw dust mixture.  (Cow manure is a "cold" manure and can be applied right away on most trees.)

(4) Check for diseases before using cut stalks as mulch.  Black Sigatoka and Panama Disease can be spread to other bananas from the cut stalks.  If you do not know what the symptoms for these diseases look like, Google them.

(5)  If you have well-drained soil like we do here in South Florida, you cannot overwater bananas.

My advice is to not top the tree unless you are going to provide a protective structure. 

Yes, this is where my thinking was headed. 

These trees have a bad habit of die back to the ground when the cold hits.  The bigger the tree when the cold hits, the more protection the above ground portion of the tree will get from its own size/canopy. 

If available, I would (will) wrap a blanket or comforter around the lower trunk as well.  I do recall Whitman's tree dying back in cold weather and then resprouting, but I do not recall if it was from the lower trunk or roots.  Might want to lay some extra blanket around the ground as well.

The second reason I was leaning towards topping it was for hurricane season.  For those who grow them, how do they stand up to hurricane force winds?  Simply deleaf or topple over?