The Tropical Fruit Forum

Hey All,

Life's business has kept me away for a bit, but recently had an experience I thought worthy of sharing on the forum- (don't worry I will do another unwarranted neotropical blueberry post soon enough)

I had the opportunity to revisit the Belle Isle Conservatory in Detroit since it has re-opened after nearly 5 years of renovation and reconstruction-



This conservatory is more north that parts of Canada, and sits in the Detroit River where is gets blasted by winds, with that said they are able to grow some very impressive trees

Gigantic Surinam-


Guava with tons of fruits-



Lychee-







Allspice



Fruiting Coffee-




Fruiting Annato-




Jiant Jabo-


Mango-




Avocado-




Australian Finger Lime-




All of these are cool but I was really impressed when I saw these-

Mamey-




African Sausage Tree-




Fruiting Jackfruit-




Screw Pine-





I don't know how any of these trees produce reliably or at all but it was very cool to see a fruiting Jackfruit in Michigan haha

Worth noting that none of these beds are set into the ground to regulate temperatures and that the greenhouse felt about 45 degrees on the day we were there. A lot of hope for you zone pushers with a large greenhouse!

Bonus pic of my Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus v. macdowellii because it bloomed today

Hey All-

Time to clean out the extra seedlings before things get cold- prices do not include shipping.

Mango- Seedlings From Frank- Will update with vars as more are ready- grown in tree pots to prevent J root, You get the whole seed whether poly or mono

6x Pickering - $15 each
2x Guava - $25 each
2x NDM - $20 each

 
3x Redlands White Sapote - $15

2x Abiu - E4 fruits, the first good one I ever had- $35

4x Euclea crispa - $10

Euclea crispa - “Blue Guarri”
Euclea crispa can be an evergreen shrub or small bushy tree growing up to 8 metres tall with a bole 5 - 15cm in diameter. At times it can be a rhizomatous suffrutex or virgate shrub growing 30 - 300cm tall. The edible fruit and leaves are sometimes harvested from the wild for local use.
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required. Fruit - raw. Pleasantly sweet, they are chewed as a nibble. Leaves.
Text sourced from Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-08-06. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Euclea%20crispa>


I will ship on Mondays

Cheers

Hey all-

I am tired of weeding my pots- I am starting to get some good candidates for "groundcovers" to put in the base of my larger pots but would love some other suggestions


Rubus pentalobus syn. calycinoides - pretty tasty and beautiful, relatively large foliage, likely not heat tolerant

Creeping Raspberry is a unique ground-covering raspberry species that goes by many names including Emerald Carpet, Formosan Raspberry, and Taiwanese Ground Raspberry. This is truly an exceptional raspberry unlike any other that we’ve grown. In fact, you probably wouldn’t even know it’s a raspberry plant at all if not for the fruit! Creeping Raspberry trails along the ground, forming a thick mat of dark, leathery leaves that are adorned by snowy white flowers in early summer and vibrant golden, delicious raspberries by midsummer.
Creeping Raspberry is a thornless plant, but does have small hairs that can be a little rough on the hands. Plants are a favorite for bees and are very adaptable form shade to sun, are drought and frost tolerant, and are easily pruned. Creeping Raspberry tolerates foot traffic, so don’t hesitate to get in there and go berry picking!
Cold hardy to USDA zone 6a and above, or to -10 degrees Fahrenheit.
Text from wanderlust nursery.

Myrteola nummularifolia “Groundcover Guava” - promising, pretty, havent tasted the fruit yet

Myrtaceae. Ground hugging evergreen subshrub to 6" high and 2–3' across. Red stems and small, dark green, rounded leaves, pleasantly scented if crushed (makes great tea!). Little white flowers and abundant, round to oblong berries, rose to pink blushed with a sweet, aromatic flavor similar to Ugni. Plants in cultivation can probably be traced to Hinkley’s introduction from southern Chiloe. A handsome edible groundcover. Z7b?
Text sourced from sacredsucculents.com

Justicia pectorallis var. Stenophylla - ultra tropical, amazing tea

Justicia is a plant employed widely in northwest Brazil and Venezuela. It is used medicinally to treat pulmonary problems. The leaves are aromatic and are often mixed with snuffs or used alone. It is a plant used in curing practices. I GREATLY enjoy drying the leaves from this plant and putting them throughout the house to scent it with the leaves WONDERFUL fragrance. The leaves can also be ground up and made into a tea, it has an intense calming and grounding effect. The leaves can also be gel capped and taken as a smooth muscle relaxer, sedative. Many uses for one of my favorite plants!
Text from heavenlyplants.com

Aptenia cordifolia “Brakvygie” “Ibohlololo” - good for anything

Aizoaceae. Sprawling groundcover with succulent lime green heart shaped leaves. Bright red-pink flowers bloom Spring through Autumn. A South African native that is an important medicine for Zulu healers. Applied externally the plant is a highly effective anti-inflammatory. An infusion of the leaves is used for sore throats and as a anti-perspirant. A black powder is made from the plant that is said to protect against sorcery and possess magical powers. The presence of several mesembrine alkaloids also found in Sceletium, probably account for the plant being good for calming anxiety. Simple to grow. Roots quickly from cuttings. Z8b
Text sourced from sacredsucculents.com

Austromyrtus dulcis “Midyim Berry” - havent seen one set fruit yet, pretty plant

Myrtaceae. Perfect addition to the edible landscape: a low growing evergreen groundcover to shrub, 1–6′ high. Small lanceolate leaves, dark glossy-green with silky undersides. New growth is burgundy to bronze. A profusion of small white flowers followed by white, mauve-speckled, edible berries. Native to eastern coastal Australia inland to the rainforest ecotones. The berries are a delicious traditional bushfood with a melt in your mouth, sweet-tart, aromatic flavor similar to Ugni. Easy to grow, plants in bright sunny positions remain low growing, partial shade encourages height. Tolerates some frost once established. Z9a
Text sourced from sacredsucculents.com

Romulea rosea “Frutangs” - beautiful blooms, not much "coverage"

Iridaceae. Bulbous plant with stiff, narrow leaves to 6–12" long. Relatively large, star shaped, rose-pink flowers with yellow centers. Native to the Cape
of South Africa. The unripe green fleshy fruit are eaten. A summer dormant winter grower, does well in our garden. Z8a
Text sourced from sacredsucculents.com

Salpichroa origanifolia - "Cock’s Eggs” - haven't tasted the fruit, great contender

Salpichroa origanifolia is a very fast-growing, perennial, climbing plant with somewhat woody stems. Although the fruits have a poor flavour raw, they are often gathered from the wild for use as preserves and are commonly found for sale in local markets. A plant of the warm temperate to tropical zones, being found at elevations above 1,000 metres in the tropics. Plants are susceptible to frost, even the fleshy roots can be killed by temperatures down to freezing. Prefers a sunny position. Thrives in alkaline soils. Fruit. Of poor flavour raw. Often used to make preserves. The white or yellow, ovoid fruit is 18mm x 8mm.
Text sourced from Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2021-10-05. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Salpichroa+origanifolia>

Solanum muricatum - “Pepino dulce” - good fruit, takes a lot of water/fertilizer

Solanum muricatum is a short-lived, evergreen sub-shrub growing about 1 metre tall.
The plant has been cultivated for its edible fruit in S. America for hundreds of years, since before the Europeans arrived. Its cultivation has spread to other areas of the Tropics and subtropics.
Fruit - raw. A juicy, sweet aromatic and very agreeable flavour, somewhat like a honeydew melon. The skin of some varieties has a disagreeable flavour. The fruit contains 35mg vitamin C per 100g, 7% carbohydrates and 92% water. The fruit should be harvested just before it is fully ripe and will store for several weeks at room temperature. The fruit is about 10cm long and 6cm wide.
Text sourced from sacredsucculents.com

For those willing to pay an arm and a leg

https://www.sayweee.com/en/product/Sweet-Violet-Yangmei/8848?trace_id=9dd356ba-4121-4413-a259-3ba794b55886

I came across the opportunity to get one of these and couldn't pass it up-



I am happy to say that it was well worth it- this officially takes the spot of the top Annona I have eaten beating out Rollinia, Florida grown Lisa atemoya, mexican grown sugar apples and peruvian grown cherimoya

Perfect balance of sweetness and tartness, my wife who doesn't normally like Annona was even asking for more of this one





Great seed to flesh ratio and the seeds are even a bit soft



I recently decided to try to do one Annona in a pot and this will be it for sure

Hey all,

I am trying to get better at grafting because despite my love for buying plants, I have limited space and would like to get different varieties of things rather than focus on production amount as this is not a commercial venture for me. Kaz and others on the forum have really inspired me with some of the multigrafted projects and I'd like to get one or a few Frankenstein Jabos going

I recently took advantage of some of the scions a forum member had on here and wanted to make a multigrafted tree out of the fruting escalarte I have-

I put-
Polpa roxa
Grimal
Coronata restinga
Red Hybrid
ESALQ

on there and basically used a cleft graft with the cut on the rootstock running parallel to the ground if the branch was growing sideways.

I wrapped all of the scions with parafilm, and then wrapped them again with tin foil because we were going through crazy heat and drought at the time of grafting, I wrapped the graft union once lightly with parafilm and then made a little "rope" wax tail to tighten down the union and promote healing.

After a month I removed the foil, nothing looked like it was pushing strongly and I kind of gave up on it.

I was debating if I just suck at grafting, if Escalarte is a bad rootstock (it has some characteristics like producing runners that seem to be different from most Plinia), or if the weather killed them and just left them on there because I am lazy-

I was wallowing in my failure when I saw this on the Coronata graft-



So I took a box cutter and checked the graft union on the other 4 and all of them seemed to heal except for the ESALQ, I'm going to wait to see what happens regardless but I wanted to see what peoples experiences were and if they thought the grafts would be good and that I am just being impatient

Hey all-

I checked for previous posts on this and only found one asking about the compatibility here-

I recently grafted a few sticks from Bush2Beach onto a mature M. fragrans bush I have here and I am happy to report one of the scions is pushing-

We will see about long term compatibility but a good start!

Hey All-

I have some seeds from a nice little guava that is perfect for containers-

Officially it is called Psidium sp. Araçá amarelo but it could be called bubblegum cream guava because it tastes like a mexican cream guava with some bubblegum

I have 10 packs of 10 seeds for $10 a piece

Here are some pics from the mother tree, Its producing fruit in less than 3 years and with 1 plant











Cheers

Hey all,

I need to trim two of my lesser known, but awesome, fruit bushes and thought I would offer cuttings up to the forum

The first is

Rosa roxburghii  “Cili” “Sweet Chestnut Rose”
Stout shrub 4–8′ tall. Thorned branches, long pinnate leaves. 2″+ pale pink to purple-pink flowers, sweetly scented. Unusual orange-yellow fruit blushing red, globose to 1.5″+ and covered in small prickles. Native to southwest China. The fruit can be eaten fresh with a mild pineaple-like flavor. Traditionally made into a jam and wine, the dried fruit is brewed into a sweet tea that is said to strengthen all faculties and enhance longevity. The leaves are used as a green tea substitute. The fruit is rich in minerals, vitamin C and E, beneficial polyphenols, polysaccharides and SOD. Studies have shown the fruit is a strong antioxidant with anticancer potential, cardiovascular benefits and cognitive enhancement. Easy to grow, sun to part shade, rich, moist soil. We offer seed grown plants from strains selected for their darker fruit color and medicinal value. Z6a

More cold tolerant than a lot of the species on here, pretty flowers, good fruit, and medicinal leaves

Green yearling cuttings wrapped in parafilm (at least 3 nodes) - $5
Hardwood cuttings wrapped in parafilm - $12

And second-

Lycium andersonii  “Desert Goji/Wolfberry”
Solanaceae. Densley branched thorned shrub to 3–6’+.  Semi-succulent leaves. Yellow/lavender tubular flowers followed by small round edible berries. Seed from Baja. Drought deciduous. Heat, drought and sun tolerant. A good choice for the arid edible landscape. The berries are rich in beneficial phytonutrients. Z8

This has been a 0 care plant for me and produces really high quality, but small, goji berries- the best I have tasted and are good for eating fresh

Hardwood cuttings wrapped in parafilm - $6

I also have a very small amount of Red Veined Indonesian Mitragyna speciosa and one fruiting Escalarte jaboticaba branch that prices can eb worked out over PM of anyone is interested

Shipping added at the end

I'll post some pics later

Cheers

Largest plant that is shippable for cheapest if possible

Hey all-

I have 2 extra Asimina campechianus seedlings for sale

$40 each plus shipping or 70 for the both

Hey All-

Trimming up my Barbados Cherry bush and thought I would offer some of this rare variety from FFF

I have 3 cuttings-

$10 each plus shipping-

You can also root them from cuttings

https://www.flyingfoxfruits.com/product/-echo-sweet-acerola-barbados-cherry-malpighia-emarginata-rooted-cuttings-1-gal/100