The Tropical Fruit Forum

that was going to be my second recommendation- could be fungal or just too much water, both of which would be helped by increasing drainage,

i havent grown vulpina but others can handle wet roots fine

Posting an update on these as we have some developments-

Agapetes rubrobracteata NV101
This blueberry relative was an exciting find from a small mostly deforested limestone ridge in Vietnam. It was a small compact 12"-18" shrub growing both in the rocks and epiphytically with orchids on the few trees left. Evergreen with boss white tubular flowers and a red berry sheltered by 3 large red bracts. Edible. This will get larger with longer stems when growing in cushy cultivation.

Text sourced from farreachesfarm.com

This is our second time getting fruit of this little plant from Far Reaches Farm. A. rubrobracteata is the most palatable of the genus that we have tried so far, sweet with a lot of "red" flavor, I pollinated this flower back in May and it is just ripening now. I will distribute the seeds from this fruit to SFSU as I am having issues with damping off and it seems most plants in the US are from cuttings of this original clone.








Sphyrospermum cordifolium
Blueberry kin: Semi-epiphytic sprawling shrublet with arching branches 1–2′ long. Small lanceolate leaves, pink-bronze new growth. Little, egg shaped, white-pink flowers. Edible sweet berries, white with a violet blush. Occurs throughout the cloudforests of the Andes, this seed originated in Ecuador. Leaves applied topically for heart pains. Rooted cuttings from several seed grown plants. Acid soil, filtered light. Z9b?

Text sourced from sacredsucculents.com

We recently acquired this plant from and SFSU sale- the berries are palatable enough but nothing to write home about- hopefully with some selection they will become sweeter and better. Beautiful little epiphyte that takes temps down to 40 easily.







Agapetes aff. praeclara SEH#25095
Another tremendous flowering species native to temperate rainforests of the eastern Himalaya. This is an arching plant with bright pink-purple new growth. The small, very rugose and glossy leaves are ovate and slightly toothed and the tubular flowers which hang in clusters range from pink (indoor cultivation) to almost red (colder temps outside). New to cultivation and a great addition to the palette of Agapetes species in cultivation. (+15F) RSBG

Text sourced from rhodygarden.org


Another first flowering for us- the blooms on this are just gorgeous, will hand pollinate these flowers which means this and Ceratostema kiatana should be the next neotropical blueberries we are able to taste. This came to us as an unknown species numbered by the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, but it would seem the people over at Andys Orchids have nailed it as Agapetes praeclara.









Going to try some crosses soon as well, I am sure many will be familiar with the story of how the modern strawberry is a hybrid of two somewhat palatable species, maybe we can follow a similar formula here and get a winning fruit with a cross.

Edible Uses
Leaves - raw or cooked[332]. Wherever it occurs in Africa, the leaf is valued as a tasty vegetable, usually eaten finely shredded for addition to soup or made up into condiments, or even taken raw[332]. To soften this rather tough vegetable, people often mix it with waterleaf (Talinum triangulare)[299]. Shredded leaves can be dried and preserved for later use[299]. The leaves have a very high nutritional value and constitute an important source of protein, essential amino acids and mineral elements[401].
Leafy stems remain fresh for at least a week after harvesting[299].
The dry matter content of the fresh leaves is much higher than for other dark or medium green leaf vegetables. This gives a feeling of firmness during preparation, hence certain consumers consider the leaves as a substitute for meat[299]. The leaves of this species are somewhat thinner and paler than the dark green leaves of the related Gnetum buchholzianum[299].

Fruit pulp[332].

Seed[332]. The mature seed is 15 - 15mm long, enclosed in a somewhat drupaceous orange-tinted envelope.

The tubers are sometimes eaten - especially at times of scarcity[401].

Climbing members of this genus growing in Asia yield a potable sap[332]. This species should also be looked at in this respect[332].
Medicinal
The leaf is used in the treatment of enlarged spleen, sore throat, piles, high blood pressure and as a cathartic[299, 332]. It is eaten as a treatment against nausea and is considered antidotal against arrow-poison based on Parquetina nigrescens[299, 332]. The leaves are chewed to mitigate the effects of drunkenness and they are taken as an enema against constipation[299].
Applied externally, the chopped-up leaf serves as a dressing on warts and boils to hasten maturation[332, 401].

The stem is cut up into small pieces and infused to produce a tisane that is taken to ease childbirth and reduce the pain[332].

From Ken Ferns, seem like quite a useful plant also

Propagation
Seed - difficult to germinate in nursery conditions, though the plants self-sow successfully in the wild[401]. It is assumed that seeds need pre-treatment, such as passing through the intestines of a bird, fruit bat, squirrel or other animal, before they germinate[299].
Seed is normally found only in the tree canopy[299]. Seed collection is thus far from easy, a further reason why the plant is hardly cultivated[299].
Methods of vegetative propagation using leafy stem cuttings have recently been developed. It is recommended that leaf blades of cuttings be trimmed in half[299]. Nursery beds under shade and made of well-decomposed sawdust or fine river sand can be used for propagation[299]. Ectomycorrhizae assist the roots in absorption of nutrients; the most common species reported is Scleroderma sinnamarense. After about 6 weeks the rooted cuttings are transferred to polythene sleeves, bamboo pots or other containers where they remain for a further 2 - 3 months. The soil mixture for these containers consists of 25% sand and some compost, supplemented with forest soil[299]. Field planting, preferably next to a young tree or shrub, takes place at the beginning of the rainy season[299].

Seems you got quite lucky on the collection/cultivation also

yeah palm fruits are good but tough with the height a lot of them achieve-

from what I have heard they can be maintained in pots for a while which naturally stunts them and you can get some fruit but IIRC this is one of the insanely tall ones

https://ecuagenera.com/products/pourouma-cecropiifolia?_pos=1&_sid=8793927c8&_ss=r

sold out now but I think I am getting one from them in Feb

haven't germinated yet, I sourced them myself from peru, but have seen them for sale a few other times

from https://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Eugenia+pyriformis

A variable species, several distinct forms have been recognised.

With that said many Eugenia species are undescribed or poorly described, the flower should be the distinguishing identifier barring genetic information

https://postimg.cc/4KFK5M1x
happy to share this paper as well if you provide an e-mail

sounds a bit woo-woo but I am generally down to try anything as long as it isnt too expensive

I highly doubt it is "harvesting the energy of the universe" but it could be that

• Copper is a natural killer of invertebrates which could reduce pest pressures and help the plants grow
• Copper is a 2+ ion that could work in the same way as Mg, Ca, Zn, Fe (and probably a few others I am forgetting about) and could benefit the plants in some of their natural processes

FWIW old italian gardeners swear by watering with water that has been sun warmed in copper vessels

jesus!

crazy story roblack-

invest in a picker with a rubber handle...

The Huntington is supposed to be stellar but a bit pricy

Specialty produce is an easy stop if flying into SD

SDBG has a great edible section

Thanks for sharing. The plinia rootstock is probably oblongata. Especially nice to see something from Jibril.

Thanks Nate- i'd be happy if it was an oblongata I like sour fruits

Good looking plants and nice write ups!

Cheers NissanVersa- and chance you remember what that other Feijoa is?

Finally getting around to doing a write-up of the fruit I got to try while on Oahu, was traveling for work unfortunately so not much time for fun but still managed to get some fruit hunting in. The Psidium acutangulum and Marang were really good fruits that I will try to grow, most of the other stuff was a dud- as I get deeper into this hobby finding a truly good new fruit becomes harder and harder

Other fruits-


1.Cactus spp. - totally bland- not worth growing
2.Hala fruit- good taste but wood
3. Syzygium spp.- very astringent, maybe not ripe?
4. Psidium acutangulum- Really good lemony guava
5. Hylocereus spp.- Purple fleshed from a Frankies variety, delicious
6. Breadfruit- its breadfruit
7. Sandicorum borneense - Borneo santol, smaller than the usual ones, sweeter and smaller too
8. Cacao- delicious pulp
9. Cattley guava
10. Eggfruit
11. Randia spp.- shell was impossible to get through and maybe under ripe
12. Mimusops balata (coriacea)- bland and mealy
13. Acai - good flavor but no flesh
14. Guachilote - waxy
15. Borassus Palm- great smell/flavor but needs to be infused in some liquid
16. Pomelo- delicious




Marang-



From the fruit stand at frankies nursery. If there is any Artocarpus it is worth trying to grow it must be this one- banana marshmallow flavor, delicious and not possible to get in the grocery store. I still need to try Kwai muk and A. sericicarpus but this is the best Artocarpus I have had by far

Borneo santol-

From the fruit stand at frankies nursery. Tasty but not much flesh, sweeter than the standard santol but also smaller- overally very tasty

Cempadek-






Was finally able to chase a Cempadek down from the fruit stand at frankies nursery. This was apparently the orange fleshed variety. My travel companion was so mad I bought this fruit- it was basically a durian- maybe a durian mixed with a jackfruit but the durian wins I enjoyed the fruit but a whole one was way to much for me to eat even over a long period

I was able to go to a lot of the Botanical gardens while there also-
Koko crater botanic garden- cool location but not that many interesting fruit plants, many things that were not labeled as well
Ho'omaluhia botanic garden - maybe the best one I went to, actually many small trails that you walk but then to get between the trails you drive- lots of cool stuff
Foster botanic garden - cool, well manicured, well labeled trees, small - very cool to see the double coconut
Lyon arboretum - Another really cool spot but nowhere near enough labels

For buying fruit
Frankies nursery- This was the big win of the trip, borneo santol, marang and cempadek were all first time fruits from me and they were all good. They had the honey cream pineapple but at $150 for a small pineapple and a sunday flight with the USDA office closed I had to pass.
KCC farmers market- Not as much fruit/produce as I would have liked but I was able to find the freshest mangosteen I have ever had and the best pineapple of my life. also a good eggfruit