The Tropical Fruit Forum

The brown area looks fine. If the graft is good, it should heal over. Just be careful with all the rubber bands. If they are placed on too tightly, it could restrict the sap flow. Some grafts will grow vigorously and as the union heals and expands, it could restrict the growth of the scion. I’m not saying it’s too tight but just keep your eye on it. Good luck with your grafts!

Simon

Thank you very much for the input and help Simon!  Noted about the rubber bands too.  At what point is it safe to remove the elastic bands?  I was thinking 4 weeks after the graft, but that's a purely arbitrary number.

I just noticed that what I thought was the scion being stripped was the tree you are grafting onto.  Did you cut the branch to match the scion wood so that its a flat match?

I am still not a fan of this type of graft

Yes the scion wood was as close to flat as I could get it to the branch.  If this doesn't take, I'll try the side veneer - I'm definitely not giving up.  Also, I don't have an option to try this technique again as the bark wouldn't be wide enough on the tree branches I'm grafting.  That said, if it fails, will the tree heal the box area where I stripped the bark, or should I apply something to help it heal?

I used this technique today on my Venus, and hoping the grafts took, although I'm not sure.  Did my best to get some pics, but I don't have any of the left lateral side branch graft, and my camera was having issues focusing on close up shots on the others.

Center branch pics -





Right lateral side branch pics -





I think my biggest challenge was finding a position on the Venus tree that was wide enough to fit the scion into.  In one of the earlier posts, I believe sapote mentions this method is best when you have 4" of room to work with.  I had roughly 1", or maybe slightly less.  I was able to get the scions in, but it was tight. 

Right now, I have a bag taped over the scions, and sprayed a little bit of water in the bag, so it has a humid environment and also prevent water from getting into the scion. 

I'll post results here.  This is fun and really hope it works!!!

I personally do not like to attach DF to the house because of their aerial roots. When I moved into my new house, I placed my cuttings in a shady spot leaning on the stucco of the house. Couple months later, the aerial roots were gripping the stucco so much, it actually ripped the stucco off in pieces (as well as the roots).

But, if you go that route, my personal experience has taught me to stick with one variety per post. Two vines seem to work best for a lazy backyard warrior, like myself.

I don't know how the yellow grows, but I have the 8S and the PH. Those two will certainly not mix well together, but the 8S is great at pollinating. Keep them separate but close.

Just my $.02

Thanks for the info John, and it's appreciated.  I like learning from others that have already walked the path so to speak haha.  I'll definitely only do 1 DF per column then.

In the video he has a piece of wood on top of the cinder blocks, and there's a gap between the cinder block and the vertical wood beam.  My thought is if I trained the DF to climb the front wooden beam, and then come out the top, then I would be good.  Do you think that there would be risk in ruining the stucco with that approach?  Here's a couple pics of his set-up to show it a bit better:

I guess the issue I'm facing with Venus is fairly common.  Skhan mentioned he has it with CAC, and Truly Tropical also has it with Florigon and Fruit Punch ->  https://youtu.be/wbKY3hb9lXQ

I had never seen it before, so I guess it's reassuring knowing it happens to other varieties too.  The things we do for mango's 

Good luck!  What type of graft will you try?  And where on the tree are you trying (any pics)?  I ask because I'm new to grafting and hoping to graft one of my trees very soon.

Thanks everyone for the ideas!  I like the idea of simply taking my cutting with me when I'm ready to move, so I'll do that. 

That said, I saw this youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0z1SI-gNGA&t=326s, 5 min 26 sec, and I'm planning on using 2 existing concrete beams from my upstairs balcony to make my trellis.  I'll consider it "agritechture" . 

I've attached pics of the 2 beams which are 16" wide, and most cinder block is 16" as well.  In the video, it looks like he has 2 dragonfruits vines growing into 1 trellis.  I have 1 Sugar Dragon, 1 Purple Haze, and 1 Ecuadorian Yellow Palora.  So one column will have 2 dragon fruit vines, and the other 1 (my neighbor is to the left so I was planning on doing 1 variety on one side to minimize potential of growth into their property).  Does it matter which 2 grow together?  Will I get less amount of fruit from the trellis with 2 dragonfruit vines from the same trellis because they're competing for space or does it not matter?  Should I buy 1 more dragonfruit so that's 2 and 2 which will be more aesthetically pleasing, and I get more dragonfruit, or would 2 on one column closest to neighbors risk dragonfruit growing on their property?

I'd be curious to hear others comments on the growth habits of their Venus trees.  Mine is moderately vigorous.  Less vigorous than Sweet Tart, and more vigorous than Pickering.  I love that it's precocious, and has been resistant to anthracnose.  It has had 0 issues flowering and producing fruit.  I actually planted out another one last year.  So far, I have not had any issues with MBBS, and this is the 3rd year producing, and it was planted as a 7 gallon back in 2017. 

In any case, I digress, and it's the the growth habit when it fruits that I'm concerned with.  Before it fruits, the growth habit is great, and somewhat compact.  However, with my tree, the fruit really weighs the tree limbs down, and branches must be staked to prevent the fruit from ending up on the ground.  The tree is probably about 12' high, but many of the limbs are now sprawling horizontally from the weight of the fruit.  It's slightly unattractive, but I question how I can keep it long term without removing these horizontal branches.  Over time they'll all end up on the ground, unless I completely prune off the branches.  The only positive I can think of is it has great airflow hahaha.  I will post pics of the tree this weekend.

Has anyone that has had a Venus tree for a lengthy period of time had issues with pruning, and managing how it has been growing?  I'm having serious considerations about top working the tree with other varieties with a better growth habit.  It's unfortunate, as I have another tree I just planted out last year as a 7 gallon before I realized what can happen with a more mature Venus.

I've recently just discovered Golden Dragonfruit from the store (imported from Ecuador with a "Pitahaya" brand name).  Previously, I only had the other red one from the store, which was very bland.  This Golden one has a nice sweet taste - and I'm very interested in growing it.  Is this type of dragonfruit self-pollinating?  I would love to grow it.

Also, because you all are experts, what Dragonfruit varieties are sweeter than that one, self-pollinating, and produces fruit fairly quickly.

Any info is much appreciated, as I'm completely new to to trying to grow it!

Thank you for confirming my suspicion.  I'll keep on looking for other SAFE deterrents. 

The FL hybrid: Dellerman Gold - pineapple w coconut flavor comes to harvest in fall. Nature Farms.

He still sells fruit w crowns.  He usually sells out after 2-3 weekends of selling roadside.

Pineapple Fest Sebastian.

USDA Hilo is a commercial resource according to mission statement on ARS page.

They prepare plants for requests and it can take time for them to prep (months).  Tracie is truly
professional and good about responding - but usually swamped w requests. Set expectations accordingly and be patient. Great people there and you usually get what you need. Up to 3 requests. Requests on USDA ARS Hilo webpage.

Thank you for the information on that pineapple variety and the USDA hilo.  I had been searching for the name of this pineapple variety since I saw it mentioned in another thread (not by name, but by flavor profile).  Nature Farms is about 2 hours from me.  For a coconut flavored pineapple - I can justify the drive 

When requesting from HiLo, do you say the pineapples are for researching or do you simply request the pineapples interested in growing?

That's pretty cool.  Did you plant all of those by yourself?  Do you hire landscapers to help trimming the trees every year and how long does it take to trim them back?