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Messages - Tropical Sunshine

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Well now she has made a name for herself in the tropical fruit community.🙂


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Disclaimer: Physan PSPTA20 is not a nutrient nor is it a medicine. DO NOT take it internally or allow it to come in contact with any body part. It is only a plant fungicide, and hence, should only be treated as such if you intend to use it.

I just want to make that clear so no one would read my previous comment and interprets it the wrong way...

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This whole “chemical” vs “organic” fertilizers/fungicides/pesticides just never seem to end.

It’s all about moderation folks.

Paracelsus said it best: A nutrient in small dosage can become a potential poison in high dosage. The level of exposure can matter.

For those who still insist on going “organic”, I recommend adding a small amount of true cinnamon (C. zeylanicum) powder to your seedling potting mix. I found it does appear to lower the incidence of damping off in some seedlings..

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i arbitrary give it that name of Betty, then after talking with the home owner, we decided it would be nice to name it after his wife Syliva, so that is what happened. In the beginning he didn't want to give it a name and just asked me to name it but changed his mind later.

That's lovely. Thanks for the reply.

That’s nice of him to want to name it after his wife. It reminds of Dr. Campbell naming the mango variety Cecilove, supposedly from what he likes to call his wife heheh...

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Sounds good. I'm also going to try rooting some cuttings, if it works then I should have some extras by the end of the year. I'm just hoping my grafts will be good so I can get some fruits in a few years.

I haven’t had much success at rooting guava cuttings. I have better luck at air layering, but seeing how you need to have a tree first before you can air layer it, this situation makes me more determined to get a take, from cuttings or grafts...I see a pretty bright future for this new and upcoming guava variety. Kaz, thanks for sharing!

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Thanks Kaz, received the package. Got here quick—Will try some cleft grafts and some bud grafts. Maybe even try to root a small piece of cutting. If any of those take, I will be one of the happiest tropical fruit gardeners in March! 😉😁

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That 248g Sylvia guava is a whopper! The shape and skin color of the Sylvia bears some resemblance to an Egyptian guava. I have successfully germinated some Egyptian guava seeds and am really excited to have them in my guava collection. I have never tried Egyptian guava before but heard they emit a pleasant perfume once ripened. And yes, as mentioned in the previous post, our experiences with the Pearl guava flavor wise appeared to be different. I did give it several application of insect frass near its root and I was not sure if that had an effect on the sweetness of the Pearl guava.
I also want to remind folks that we should take the variety on a tree with a grain of salt. We won’t know for sure if we are indeed getting that variety until we get to try the fruits on the tree. It’s quite unfortunate we have a few unscrupulous nurseries and sellers who will mark a random plant with a famous named variety just to make a quick buck. It’s frustrating to say the least...

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Glad to know that the Sylvia guava usually has a much higher flesh to seed ratio! Yeah, if the seeds are concentrated around a small core, they would be rather easy to remove while we can enjoy the rest of the fruit. Sounds like a guava variety worth having in the yard!

Also I noticed you mentioned that you had tried the Pearl guava and that it was bland tasting. Not sure where you got your Pearl guava tree from, but the one I received from that nursery was surprisingly sweet. Please note at the time I had the Pearl guava, I was freely giving out insect frass to it because I got interested in raising mealworms at the time. Not sure if the frass helped bring out the sweetness in the Pearl guava but it’s probably worth taking a note of...

But I also grow a Crystal guava tree. It flowers quite prolifically over a long season, but does not appear to set fruit that easily without the help of micronutrient input. Also so far, I am a little disappointed at the taste of the Crystal guava. Most of the fruits have been juicy, but rather bland tasting like you had pointed out...

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http://www.chfruittreenursery.com/product/ruby-supreme-guava/

The above link leads to the Ruby Supreme guava. Although I have personally never grown nor tasted a Ruby Supreme, many Asian fruit enthusiasts, particularly the Vietnamese, rave about that variety. I think that they may be on to some thing, because from my experience, pink flesh guavas tend to be sweeter than green/white flesh guava (there are exceptions to the rule obviously).

http://www.chfruittreenursery.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/IMG_4254.jpga_.jpg

http://www.chfruittreenursery.com/product/kingkong-guava/

The above links refer to the aptly named King Kong guava. That is one of the guava I mentioned that I grew a few years back. Its fruit can get huge just like in the picture. And the taste is just incredible. Sweeter than your typical green crunchy guava, but just sweet enough for you to enjoy the experience without the sugar rush you get from some fruits.

It is also quite prolific and easy to set fruits. I love it so much, that maybe somebody I’ll go back and order another tree from that nursery (It’s currently out of stock).

The other guava that I mentioned was the Taiwanese Pearl guava. Unfortunately it looks like it’s no longer available from that nursery. Although the Pearl guava was smaller than the King Kong guava, what it lacked in size it made up for it with one of the most refreshingly intense guava experience that I had the chance to experience from a guava. Pearl guava was not only green flesh and crunchy but brix was amazingly high, almost as sweet as a well ripened Concord grape.


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I had grown several 1/2 pounders to 1+ pounders with pleasant aroma and mellow to moderate sugary flesh. They were also crunchy and had fewer seeds.

Unfortunately my trees had perished during our previous freak freezes. They were grown in ground and back then I did not have as much experience protecting tender tropicals as I do now. Wish those trees were still around; Definitely some of the best tasting guavas I have ever tried.

I got them from chfruittreenursery.com. Their plants are on the pricier side, but they seem to send out genuine air layered, grafted, and rooted named fruit varieties...I don’t necessarily like how they package their plants. You have to be very careful at how you plant them and keep them in a moderate environment to keep them thriving in the initial stage of planting; Basically, I don’t recommend beginning collectors to order there unless you have some fundamental understanding of plant care...

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I prefer my guava to be on the slightly firm and crunchy side. The Mexican cream guava made me dislike soft, creamy guavas due to some giving an off tasting sour flesh and having numerous seeds. Not sure why some people give Mexican cream guavas such a big hype. Perhaps the Sylvia will change my mind about eating soft, creamy guavas?!?

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Fruit forest videos
« on: March 11, 2024, 12:26:02 PM »
I second Virginia Fruit Grower!

And let’s not forget Fruitful Trees!

Anyone interested in Florida orchards and food forests should consider Paul’s youtube channel. Really like his down to Earth attitude... 👍

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Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Wanted different Ilama Scions
« on: February 28, 2024, 06:20:03 PM »
Catchy and interesting sounding names can help with sales. ‘Mexican Rose’ sounds intriguing. Now I feel like I want to try out some of its scionwood! :D

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Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Ilama Rosada scions
« on: February 21, 2024, 07:32:36 PM »
Just imagine if one of the grafts succeed, you are essentially getting your money back!.😁
Ilama seedlings are still rare and quite expensive. Availability of grafted ilama trees is even rarer and more likely to be even more expensive...

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Well it varies...Some times I cheap out and divided a 6” cutting into three parts, each with a bud or two. Other times I graft a whole cutting. I like to experiment using different graft lengths for cleft grafting as I am still fairly new to different grafting methods and I need more hands on experience...
What I can say is even small 2” to 3” cleft grafts eventually failed after being grafted for a month or so. I covered some of the cleft grafts with clear, long thick zip lock bags in the hope that would help keep the grafted wound moist. I guess it works, but think the clear bags can heat up the scion wood during the middle of the day. Maybe that’s one reason why my grafts failed. My strategy had changed as this time I was using aluminum foil for the bud grafts. Seems to help as all my bud grafts are still showing signs of green...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V3-4shUjEx0


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I tried cleft grafting both cultivars and, as far as I can tell, there were no signs that any of the cleft grafts made it. My hypothesis, and it’s only a hypothesis, was that the rootstock had a more difficult time keeping the whole length of a cleft graft alive. The cleft grafts would usually dried out at their tips and make their way down toward the root stock until the whole grafts withered and dried up.

One of the reasons I tried budding this time was because I figured the rootstock would need to use less energy to keep a small bud alive as opposed to having to keep a whole length of long graft alive. I just checked on them yesterday, and so far my Red Himalayan buds are holding up. Yes, I heard it’s better to do budding techniques when the buds are still dormant. I am still very new to bud grafting, but I hope to make it one of my go to techniques to win over the more difficult to graft fruit types and/or cultivars...

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For anyone who is on the fence of grafting difficult mulberry cultivars such as Red Himalayan and Australian Green, consider grafting using budding techniques. I have Red Himalayan budded to mulberry seedlings. It’s been a tad over 2 weeks now since I done the grafts. Last I checked they were still green. Actually some of the Red Himalayan buds had swelled up a bit...

Hint: Might want to cover those grafted buds with aluminum foil to protect them from sunlight and drying wind as well as keeping in the moisture at the tree wound of the grafts.

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Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: ISO Kyoho grape cuttings
« on: January 30, 2024, 09:04:34 AM »
Also you might want to look at the Everest grape, the fruit of which is supposedly about twice the size of a Concord grape and is seedless! It is said to have some genetics of Kyoho grapes, so there is some potential for good taste and decent fruit quality...

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Some vendors could learn a thing or two from Lance’s business model: Quick shipping, fair pricing, and accurate seed descriptions. In this tough economy of rising inflation and relatively stagnant wages, people want to feel like they are getting a good deal for their hard earned bucks. If they feel like they’re getting cheated or manipulated on their purchases, they can bring their business elsewhere. And trust me, the plant business is more competitive now a day than even just a decade ago. Buyers now have way more options to choose from, so vendors need to step up their game or risk the possibility of being left behind! So in summary, I would like to congratulate Lance on being an awesome seller. 👍🙂

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Not just a good fruit, frost hardy, and ornamental too.

Thanks for giving us hope that the NZ varieties are really as good and as productive as many fruit tree nurseries had stated!

Once I prepare and work in organic matter on a plot of land,  I hope to become the proud owner of a little pineapple guava orchard. No winter protection needed since my winter climate is mild enough for them. They are said to be hardy down to 5F, which IMHO, is amazing for a South American fruit tree...🙂

I saw slight leaf damage and some small amount of damage to stem tips at 16°F, so I think you'll see some more significant damage quite a bit higher than 5°F,  but that might be the kill threshold.

Yeah I did notice some slight leaf damages on them when my area got down to the mid to low 20s (F) during our recent freak freezes. I just mentioned the 5F because of what some literatures and nurseries had reported. It’s probably the absolute lowest temperature that their roots can handle...Even in the mid to high teens (F), I suggest they get a deep mulch of safe straw or bark to help the roots stay drier and warmer than the surrounding exposed soil...

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Not just a good fruit, frost hardy, and ornamental too.

Thanks for giving us hope that the NZ varieties are really as good and as productive as many fruit tree nurseries had stated!

Once I prepare and work in organic matter on a plot of land,  I hope to become the proud owner of a little pineapple guava orchard. No winter protection needed since my winter climate is mild enough for them. They are said to be hardy down to 5F, which IMHO, is amazing for a South American fruit tree...🙂

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Quote
I can sell the cuttings. Do not know when is good time to graft so I can cut on demand. Theres fruits as of now, so i can add 1/2 lb of fruits for additional  $5. Names are oval and circle for now.

Oh darn, I was hoping you would call the round one, Da Bomb and the oval one, Bazooka! 😉😛😂

Okay great, appreciate the offer!!

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Hi Pau, a suggestion only but would you consider selling cuttings of those trees? Since the mother trees are on your lot, do you consider naming them if you were to graft them onto feijoa seedlings?

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Ok, you guys convinced me to buy a few trees. I ended up ordering the NZ varieties (4) that Tropical Sunshine mentioned.

The Thai giant guava and Mexican cream guava have helped push for the interest of the general guava. I feel that the pineapple guava hasn’t been mentioned in mainstream society as much as the former. I wish you the best of luck in planting those NZ varieties from One Green World. Perhaps your posting on the merits of each variety once it fruits could help ignite a stronger interest in the less mentioned, but equally deserving fruit as the pineapple guava...

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One Green World current NZ cultivars include Anatoki, Kaiteri, Kakariki, Takaka and Waingaro. The names are rather hard to pronounce, but I heard those fruit qualities are top notch!

One Green World also sells long time favorites such as Nazametz, Unique, and Coolidge.

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