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Messages - simon_grow

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4226
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: seedless lychees?
« on: February 08, 2012, 12:40:26 PM »
Hey Oscar, I know what you are talking about, especially the watermelons although with research and genetically modified seeds, they are producing sweeter and tastier fruit without the seeds.

An example of a fruit that tastes the same without seeds is the Tango Tangerine.  It is basically a seedless version of W. Murcott.  It was produced by irridatiating W. Murcott causing a mutation that likely renders the pollen inactive. 

I really like the Sweetheart Lychee for the extremely large, golfball sized fruit and the shrivelled seed.  Some other examples of fruit that tastes good if not better with atrophied seeds are Durian and mango.  From my personal experiences, I have purchased several Durians with atrophied seeds and they tasted much sweeter and creamier than their large seeded counterparts.  Also, for Manilla type mangoes(and probably others), I always try to select the Thinner fruit as they often have atrophied, very very thin seeds compared to the larger wider fruits with the fully formed seeds.  My theory is that the energy that would have gone into producing the seed went into the formation of more sugars.  This is just what I have noticed and I could be totally wrong 8)
Simon

4227
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: What is the best lychee?
« on: February 08, 2012, 12:29:43 PM »
Hey Oscar, I believe it is Guang Zhou and Guang Dong, I have to ask my dad to be sure.  My dad comes from a lychee growing district in China and we still have several trees on our ancestrial land with a few extremely large Lychee trees that must be close to 100 years old.  Most of the varieties on my dads land are chinese named cultivars and they taste extremely good.  I haven't been back there for almost 15 years.  Last time I went back, I wasn't even into Lychees but I do remember my brother and I climbing on the trunk of a large Lychee tree next to the pond and picking the few lychee that were within reach.  I think it is that memory that has got me so interested in Lychee growing once I got back to the US. 
Simon

4228
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: What is the best lychee?
« on: February 07, 2012, 08:39:25 PM »
Lycheeluva, I will make it up to lord Mauritius if this years crop tastes better.  I will even consider purchasing a Mauritius since its supposed to be one of the more dependable fruiting lychees. 

Oscar, next time I go back, I will look for the Black Lychee ;D
Simon

4229
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« on: February 07, 2012, 07:58:28 PM »
Not exactly sure about why the Yellow DF is so much more difficult for many of us to grow.  Leo Manuel from the CRFG San Diego has it growing in his backyard in full sun and it fruits pretty well.  My yellow DF grew more in about 1 month under artificial light than it did all year outside.  I read somewhere that the Yellow DF are supposed to be able to withstand more sun but they are less cold hardy and get badly damaged by frost. 

Frankies Red is supposed to be a cross between a Yellow DF and a Red Fleshed variety.  From what I've read online, people are suggesting that the Yellow DF will grow better and produce larger fruit when they are grafted onto a Red fleshed DF variety, they didn't mention grafting onto a white fleshed variety.  My easiest to grow and fruit variety is the Vietnamese White so I will attempt to graft some Yellow DF on my Vietnamese White and also my Halley's Comet.
Simon

4230
I've been doing a lot of research on what variety the Sweetheart might actually be and my best guess is either Fei Tsze Siu or Sah Keng.  Both of these have been grown in Australia and have very large fruit of good quality.  If you google pictures for Fei Tsze Siu, you will find several pics that look a lot like Sweetheart.  As for Sah Keng, I'm going mainly based on the descriptions of this cultivar-especially the large size, growth habit and good flesh to seed ratio. 
Simon

4231
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: seedless lychees?
« on: February 07, 2012, 07:40:15 PM »
I've never had a seedless lychee but I did on several occasions have lychees whose seed was the size of about an ant.  The abortive seed was still hard but it was pretty much just the shell.  I found several of these nearly seedless, most people would probably consider them seedless, Lychee fruit at Exotica Nursery.  It was either a Brewster or Mauritius fruit.  These nearly seedless fruit were obviously smaller in size compared to the rest of the fruit growing next to them.  The Sweetheart Lychees that Phase001 grew in his backyard and also the ones we ordered on Lycheesonline had very small chicken tongue seeds with the smallest ones being literally the size of a small chickens tongue.  For those of you that may never have raised chickens, its about 1.5cm long and shriveled.  I posted a pic of some cut open Sweetheart Lychees on the other forum a while back.
Simon

4232
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: What is the best lychee?
« on: February 07, 2012, 07:30:04 PM »
My favorite Lychees in order of preference are
No Mai Tsze- tasted these in China and Hong Kong, sweet, crisp flesh, very white colored flesh, average size fruit, no medicinal taste at all- my parents favorite as well
Sweetheart- very large fruit, very small seed, smells and tastes of honey
Emperor-I love fully ripened Emperors, the ones with very little tartness, the ones picked even a little early are much less sweet and pretty tart.  I ordered some last year from Lycheesonline.com.  The fully ripened, fully colored, full sized Emperor with abortive seed-I will rate on par with a good Sweetheart.
Hak Ip-standard lychee
Brewster-I love the flesh, one of my favorites, if not for the seed that takes up 99.99% of the fruit
Mauritius-going to order some from Lycheesonline this year to verify it is one of my least favorite lychees, sorry Lycheeluva

Still looking for a source for Garnet Lychee airlayer so please let me know if anyone has one available for sale.
Simon

4233
Tim picked up the scion this morning.
Simon

4234
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Where To Buy These Lychees
« on: February 07, 2012, 01:44:09 PM »
I have would like to reserve a No Mai Tsze and Hanging Green if you have them available.  I'm in Southern California.  I have a Hanging Green from the experimental station at Hilo Hawaii but it is not doing well.  Thanks in advance!
Simon

4235
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: My Sweetheart Lychee flowering
« on: February 06, 2012, 07:30:45 PM »
I would just leave the bloom because Lychee will naturally drop a lot  of its fruit if it feels it can't hold them.  If you prune the panicles and the new growth gets some cold weather, it may bloom again, using up more energy. 
Simon

4236
Hey everyone, I finally attempted to inarch my Maha Chanok mango with my Manilla mango in an attempt to create a Maha Chanok mango with multiple rootstocks.  I decided to top my Maha Chanok to get the hormones going so I have a scion about 12 inches long.  I already cut off all the leaves and the scion is about 1/2 inch thick.  The scion is not fully swollen, only partially, so it may not be the best scion to use for grafting but its free to a good home.  I live in San Diego California.
Simon

4237
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: What tropical fruits impress normal people?
« on: February 03, 2012, 06:58:20 PM »
I love sharing fruit with my friends and co-workers.  They are really impressed with Cherimoya, good Dragonfruit, Mango, White Sapote, Lychee, Longan and Rambutan.  I don't grow all of these but purchase some from the fruit market when they are in season.  Surprisingly, out of all these tropical/sub-tropical fruit, I got the biggest response from some freshly picked Strawberries from Carlsbad.  The quality of our store bought mangoes, Lychees and Longans are usually horrible.  Sometimes I will be lucky enough to get a good case of Kent or Champaigne mangoes.
Simon

4238
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Fertilizer for Cherimoya Tree
« on: February 03, 2012, 06:48:18 PM »
You should read the label carefully.  They may have added minors, trace elements or other things geared towards roses but it shouldn't hurt your Cherimoya.

Simon

4239
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« on: February 03, 2012, 05:24:23 PM »
Great topic nullzero!  I'm currently growing Halley's Comet, American Beauty, Vietnamese White, Yellow DF, Frankies Red and something I call Simon's Red.  The Vietnamese White is the easiest to grow and fruit for me.  I have the most difficult time growing the Yellow DF outdoors but the easiest time growing it indoors under T5 lighting.  My yellow DF grew 3 branches, each that grew about 2 feet in about a month and a half in the winter indoors. 

I just took cuttings from each plant and I'm going to start new with a planned out set up.  Previously, I just stuck them in a pot and let them climb everywhere.  They grew and fruited well this way but it was sloppy looking.  This time, I'm going to try growing them in smart pots and grow them as a DF tree like they do in Vietnam. 

I grow my DF in full sun but they do get burned in the summertime.  This summer, I may throw some shade cloth over them during the hottest part of the summer. 
Simon

4240
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Fertilizer for Cherimoya Tree
« on: February 03, 2012, 04:37:40 PM »
I always try to apply fertilizer, even organic fertilizer, away from the trunk of my tree.  I would apply the fertilizer near the drip line or slightly within the drip line.  I would suggest giving it less nitrogen and more P-K.  I like to give my plants some E.B. Stone Organic fertilizer, I think its something like "Bloom" and the numbers are 0-10-10.  You may also want to give it dilute feeding of Fish emulsion and kelp emulsion for the minors and trace.

Cherimoyas can grow very large in a season if given too much Nitrogen.  The P-K should also help to sweeten up the fruit.
Simon

4241
I believe there are different formulas for calculating chill hours.  One of the formulas deducts chill hours for every hour over a certain temp. 

I've noticed many of the trees are blooming earlier this year(not necessarily fruit trees) which makes me think that the trees might have felt we got fewer chill hours, not sure but the weather has been really strange!
Simon

4242
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: World Record Miracle Fruit? LOL
« on: February 02, 2012, 03:24:15 PM »
There are two  varieties of mf. I'm guessing that is from the larger fruiting hairy variety

4243
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Pugging
« on: January 31, 2012, 09:06:09 PM »
I pug most my fruit trees to keep them shorter with fruiting branches lower to the ground for easier harvesting, spraying and ease of protecting. I've read that trees that are headed back may be more precocious.

4244
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Help keep my "black thumb" at bay
« on: January 31, 2012, 07:23:34 PM »
Depends what type of Orchids you have but many of the orchids like morning sunlight, try to avoid direct sunlight.  They also hate tap water, try using RO water.  Many people kill Phalenopsis Orchids my overwatering.  When you water, water deeply or simply submerse your orchid container in some RO water for several minutes so It can saturate the orchid mix and roots.  Let it completely drain.  You should let your orchid dry out before watering again.  You likely won't need to water for another 2-4 weeks depending on the type of orchid, its size, and the size of the pot it is in.  Many types of orchids like some mistings with RO water.  Cold weather and fewer hours of light may induce flowering depending on the type of orchid.  Good luck!
Simon

4245
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Some Recent Pictures
« on: January 31, 2012, 07:16:45 PM »
Beautiful trees Jacob.  Where did you purchase that Paulista Jab?  I've been looking for a large specimen but I'm having difficulty finding one.  They have some large Jaboticabas at some of the nurseries down here but they are mostly unnamed cultivars.  Keep up the excellent work!
Simon

4246
Mango
Lychee
Cherimoya
Dragonfruit-preferably with Brix close to 18.0, red or purple fleshed unless its the yellow DF
Mara Des Boise/Chilean Guava 8)

4247
Many people are already growing Lychee and Mango and I was wondering what is the best tasting fruit we may be missing out on?  I'm specifically wondering about fruit trees that don't need ultra tropical growing conditions, something that can be grown outdoors in Florida or California without too much extra attention.  So far I've come up with:

Achachairu
Green Sapote
Jaboticaba
Chilean Guava
Maprang

 


4248
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Multiple rootstock grafting
« on: January 30, 2012, 12:15:39 PM »
After reading Ohiojay's post and checking out Bernie Dizon's website, I decided I'm going to attempt to put multiple rootstocks onto my Maha Chanok Mango.  I've already purchased a sacrificial Manilla Mango and will attempt my first mango graft soon.  I've never grafted Mango before so I'm guessing it will take many attempts but at least I don't have to top my Manilla Mango untill the graft takes. 

Ohiojay, do you have any advice?  Thanks in advance!

Simon

4249
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Severely Wind Whipped Lychee Tree
« on: January 27, 2012, 06:56:33 PM »
I agree with Harry.  My Lychees, especially my smaller trees in containers that I had outside are almost completely defoliated.  I took them inside a little over a month ago and placed them in my garage under some T5 lights and I'm starting to see some new growth.  My Kaimana is actually starting to flower.  If your trees are small, you may want to consider growing them inside a greenhouse or building some sort of shelter for it untill it gains some size.  My larger Sweetheart tree has enough of a canopy to protect the inner foliage and although it did loose a lot of leaves, it is still doing ok.
Simon

4250
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Introduce Yourself
« on: January 26, 2012, 02:21:02 PM »
Hey Oscar, the Tazziberries(Chilean Guava) are extremely, I mean absolutely delicious!  No kidding, they smell and taste kind of like cotton candy mixed with berry.  Unfortunately, mine were very small, smaller than a blueberry and my specific variety didn't turn completely red, mine were very light pink with some green on it.  If they were bigger and more red, they would be even more amazing.
Simon

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