The Tropical Fruit Forum

Hey all, so I’ve been fertigating (water and dilute fertillizer) my containerized plants with home made organic liquid fertillizer from a worm farm and bokashi composter. It’s working well and everything is super healthy. I’ve been trying to track down a hose end sprayer that had a dilution factor of 10. Does anyone have any suggestions.

So I’ve got my first bunch of loquats which are in the process of ripening. I’ve never seen or eaten a loquat fruit before. These fruits are starting to get soft, but they don’t seem orange enough and there is still a touch of green. Do I leave them on for longer? Thanks I’m advance for your knowledge.

Does anyone know if the potassium in insecticidal soaps provides any benefit as a foliar feed?

So after 6 years of trying to make an ecosystem in my greenhouse where pests/predators/pollinators would keep things in perfect balance I have officially given up. Spider mites, aphid, thrips and white fly were all controlled with predatory bugs. Scale was sometimes a mild problem on a couple of citrus (I’m looking at out you Tangelo) especially in the spring but as soon as I could took those susceptible plants out in the summer they all went away. Last year however the mealybugs were everywhere. Dragonfruit, cattley guava and loquat were the only plants that didn’t get infested. All my companion plants (flowers, legumes, fruit) were loaded.

So I got rid of the companion plants,  and all my trees/vines outside for the entire summer. All pests completely disappeared within 2 weeks. My plants have been back in for 3 weeks found a couple of hard scale, mealy, spider mites, whitefly have been found with detailed examinations of every plant surface every 3 days. Using 0.5% safers soap on entire plant for whitefly/spider mites, focal treatment of 0.5% soap for mealy. And weekly 1% canola oil with pyrethin on entire plants on mango and passionfruit (for hard scale). I also got a backpack sprayer with proper hort oil based off Millets suggestions in case I have to nuke the whole place.

Thoughts?

Thoughts

Hello to all the greenhouse growers out there. I was wondering how you go about controlling your vapor pressure deficit. I can’t find much on the market for the hobby greenhouse. I have a jimmy rigged system that is based off different 3 different temperature intervals each with their own humidity set points. It works quite well except for when I have to spray things down for pests in the late winter. I was curious what everyone else does.

I have increasing shade in my backyard, I used to be able to grow grapes but now there is only vegetative growth. I transplanted gooseberries against a fence that only gets evening sun. They produced a dozen berries last year but none this year. Should I try something else that is shade tolerant like thimbelberries or black currants (i have both in other parts of my yard) or do u think it’s futile? Note I had the trees thinned last year and I don’t think it did anything.

I had a nectarine in a pot that may have not had enough chill hours this winter. The tree still hasn’t done anything but a scratch test shows it’s still green. Any tricks to forcing it to leaf out or is it just done?

I was wondering if anyone could identify the source of damage of my rambutan leaves? I’ve never seen any bugs on the plant but they are completely full of holes.

Hey everyone, I started a new thread after a comment from Daintree (I think it was Daintree… I went out and enjoyed too many refreshmentz). In people’s experience which tropical fruit trees can and can’t handle root pruning well?

Hey everyone, I’ve been struggling for a while to grow container tangerines in my (tiny)greenhouse. I love tangelos, and have been growing a “Minneloa” for about 5 years. Despite it being very healthy, It struggles to hold fruit, and the fruit that it has produced has been less than impressive. I also picked up a 4’ sugarbelle 18 mo ago, and am currently (almost finished) resolving a chlorosis problem that has probably arisen as it transitioned from synthetic to organic fertilizers over the past year.

For those of you with greener thumbs or better climates, which plant do you prefer in terms of health productivity and taste? We don’t have HLB in canada so that isn’t a factor. Also if a citrus has been unproductive but looks healthy, do you think is worthwhile to graft onto it?

Thanks Al,

Minneola



Sugarbelle

Hey everyone, I have limited space in my greenhouse and just got my first fruit of my baboon lemon. It was a nice size and looked good and was looking forward to making a couple of cocktails for myself and a friend, but was very embarrassed with the amount of juice I got from it, less than a tablespoon.

What do I do? Will it get better as the tree ages, or did it need more water etc. Or do I get rid of it in an attempt to save my reputation as a tropical cocktail connoisseur?

Here is what’s left after I crushed it trying to salvage my cocktail.

Does anyone know the cause of the new tips of Longan growth to dry up and die? I’m
Growing it in a heated greenhouse, rh 60-70, no drafts goo light 65-80F for most of winter. The new rips are so delicate I’m worried about spraying with water if the culprit is spider mites. Any ideas?