The Tropical Fruit Forum

Pecans might be interesting to try. Arent there some avocados that survive that low in temp? Paw Paws. There are lots of apples, peaches and plums that will work for you. In my opinion you are in a much more ideal temp zone than I am in 9b Florida where we have the worst of all conditions, too cold for tropicals, too hot for sub tropicals, and all the disease and bugs of both.

I started two from seeds back in 2013 or so. One is about 4 foot and the other is 7 feet tall, they are about four feet from each other. In my experience, it doesnt care about cold in Florida 9b. But it neither of mine have flowered either. I would have pulled them long ago but they are in a corner of my yard I dont really care about so I let them do their slow thing.

Nicks Edibles over in St Cloud has some at very good prices.

What can be used to control CLM? In FL Neem and other oils are a No-Go since we tend to hit 85 in early spring and doesnt cool down until late November.

My favorite cactus is my Peruvian apple cactus that I took a 1 foot cutting out of someones garbage in the tampa area while I was visiting. In one years time, it is over 6 feet and with many offshoots. Im hoping for some fruits this year

I have one in a pot that is about 2' tall. I have had it since last fall and it hasnt grown at all. It does have a single what I think will be a bloom on it. I am clearing a bit of a glade in my new property and am planning on putting it there in ground over the winter when I can get some heavy work done in more than 15 minute efforts due to the heat.

Just some background, I have recently picked up an adjacent plot of land which has a large section covered in oaks with some fairly decent open areas under them hidden behind an outer layer of palmetto and I didnt even have to clear it. About six months ago I planted a Ponderosa lemon in the greyish sand there. Grey sand seems to be formed in areas of current or former heavy palmetto growth and is also the reason we cant grow figs thanks to a nasty nematode infestation. On the outskirts still under the canopy, about 2 years ago, I planted a blood orange and a tangerine of some kind and mulched them with oak leaves from the neighbor. I fertilize them sporadically. So far, so good. I havent noticed even any leaf miners like I have on my other citrus elsewhere in my yard who are in full sun for the most part. Leaves on the three are much greener and the growth and bushiness is much thicker. After I move some logs and drive my mower through to knock down some of the stickers and wild grape I am going to plant a red naval orange, a Persian lime and a Centennial kumquat that is hurting in a pot I have it in now. Given the success so far, I will likely start fertilizing more often using the fertilizer listed higher in this thread and doing some fish emulsion leaf spraying which is always highly recommended for citrus.

Mostly this is to continue my experiment on the whole oak protection thing. Not sure if I will expand the citrus aspect of my grove past that point as I have other trees and such I am working on. Maybe a key lime if it looks like there is space to test the micro-climate aspect of the under-canopy.

Aside from a freak shower here and there its almost a standard dry season for us in Central Florida. Mangos are developing correctly and should be ripe soon. Typical light winter and spring. Still in the 80s, hopefully that continues.

Meanwhile, I'm in east Orange county and we have barely gotten a drop, most of which evaporates as soon as it hits the hot ground.

You guys are odd. I am 9b, in east Orlando, we get at least one freeze and several frosts a year and it is disastrous every time.  The last one we had in March nuked almost all fruit production on all of my trees for the year and my mangos never recovered fully. This one strikes early where most trees that do it havent even went dormant yet while my mangos are pushing new growth. My Friday is going to suck.

Its Fall, unless you are in south Florida they will lose their leaves and come back in Spring. It just doesnt do the pretty fall colors like most Northern trees that do this since our Fall doesnt seem very well defined.

A number of citrus should survive for you. Kumquat, Satsuma mandarin, and Calamondin to mention a few. Mulberries, Chinese by Jujube, sugarcane, and Cherry of the Rio Grande are some others that might work. Its not a fruit, but I think pecan might grow well for you if you could keep it well watered. If I were in Greece, I would also be growing grapes.

I would say no to Cherry of Rio Grande unless its potted. For me when the temp drops to the low 30s it will die back to the roots and is stupidly slow to grow back, as in years.

It's not a perfectly ideal mulch solution, but if O-town's landfill doesn't, the Melbourne (Fl) landfill will give you all the free mulch you can take and isn't that far from you. You'd just want to find access to a dump trailer to make the hour drive worth it.
I've had the same experience with Chipdrop. Going on nothing for a year and a half.  I even stopped and told the Asplund guy when they were in the neighborhood. He pulled out his phone and said "ok, I see you here. The next load's coming your way." -- That was 6 months ago, so I expect it to be a big load 

... And thanks to whoever shared the fruitgeek link. Another fruit blog to obsessively read, just what I needed.

Good ideas, I am not sure if the Orlando dump is making mulch yet. As a crow flies, its literally about 3 miles from me, but by vehicle its closer to 25 minutes with tolls lol.

I actually had a Spanish speaking coworker translate the entire process of talking to tree workers about getting the mulch dropped at my house complete with address and such and keep it on a piece of paper in my glove compartment just in case I see tree people in the neighborhood. As my luck would have it, havent seen a tree company in over a year and a half lol.