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Messages - Daintree

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51
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Choose de
« on: January 17, 2024, 08:32:11 PM »
My jabos do well, ginberry and coffee never stop fruiting, and I love my bananas, even though they all ripen on the same day.
The majority of what I grow is for fun and ambience. I don't care how much they produce.
Because I grow almost everything from seed, I mostly do it because I enjoy the challlenge.

Carolyn

52
Thanks for sharing, Carolyn. It sounds like a pretty amazing greenhouse. I'm building a small (6x8ft) greenhouse right now. Any tips on what plants to start with? What has been the most "bang for your buck" growing in containers? Especially since space is limited for me, I'd like to focus on plants that can reliably produce in containers AND overwintering in a cold greenhouse. With 48 sq ft to work with, I don't want to use space on something large that I'll just be battling to produce a few fruits each year.

Also, do you have pictures of the greenhouse posted? It sounds amazing!

Thanks again,

C

I am in zone 6b/7a. The USDA just rezoned us.
I have everything in the greenhouse, from ginberry to banana to weird solanums like lulo. I have a bunch of trees, cacao, some annonas, cinnamon, bael, wampee, a couple varieties of papaya, dragonfruit etc.
You can pretty much grow anything in pots.
Carolyn

How cold would your greenhouse get in the winter? Citrus do well in containers and they can get cold in the winter. My bananas are super reliable, you already have ginberry, and those can stay small and make heaps of fruit. Yes, I have some pics of my greenhouse on the forum in various places, just sort through my posts. It is not geared towards heavy production, it is my backyard paradise and "happy place".


53
Hi there,
I am in zone 6b/7a. The USDA just rezoned us.
I have everything in the greenhouse, from ginberry to banana to weird solanums like lulo. I have a bunch of trees, cacao, some annonas, cinnamon, bael, wampee, a couple varieties of papaya, dragonfruit etc.
You can pretty much grow anything in pots.
The problem you will have is moving the plants once they get big. It quickly became not worth the effort for me. The plants got shocky twice a year took time to recover, I transferred pests into the greenhouse, and darned near ruined my back.
Now everyone lives in the greenhouse fulltime.
If you do a greenhouse, get the kind with the roll-up roof or sides so you dont have to move 30 gallon, 200 lb trees.

Carolyn

54
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Leaf cuttings citrus propagation
« on: January 14, 2024, 09:11:35 AM »
I think those are called "blind cuttings".
Lots of leaves will make roots, but you have to have a meristem bud (which I believe usually form on the stem, NOT the petiole) in order to make a shoot that may turn into a plant. African violets and some other plants have dormant meristem cells in the actual petiole, but citrus leaves that grow roots will just be leaves with roots.  :(

55
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Help
« on: January 14, 2024, 12:24:07 AM »
Eight more inches have fallen since then!

56
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Help
« on: January 13, 2024, 06:48:08 PM »
Here are a couple shots of my trees. The custard apple especially drops a lot of leaves in the winter. Even with lights on. I like to use a REALLY well-draining mix to avoid common root rot problems.

Pots

Trees



Outside now...


57
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Help
« on: January 13, 2024, 09:41:46 AM »
Hi Zwanif,
I will post pictures later today after the sun hits the door to my greenhouse, it is frozen shut right now due to the freezing weather!
I have Annona muricata, A. reticulata, A. squamosa and Rollinia delicious all in pots in my tropical greenhouse.
The pots are 25 gallons.
I do not use organic fertilizer in pots because there is not enough microbes in potting soil to break down organic fertilizer and turn it into the ions that plants can use.  I give them Osmocote time release fertilizer three times a year and Miracle Gro every time I water.
Yields - very low unless I hand pollinate! Just a couple of fruits. I grow the A.muricata for the leaves for tea so I don't bother to pollinate it.  It will make a couple of fruits now and then.  I do not know the variety on any of them.  They are seeds I brought back from Chile a few years ago.  The fruit tasted really good though!

Good luck!
Carolyn
 

58
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Choose your best annona and why
« on: January 10, 2024, 09:35:45 AM »
Right now it is Annona muricata, simply because I am doing a pretty good business selling the dried leaves for tea. Don't have to wait for a fruit crop!

Carolyn

59
Yes, that is true. I have tried boosting the organic matter, but the bacteria and fungi need "soil", which I don't use, due to weight, drainage and availability.
I set up an experiment one year and had three sets of pots.  One where I used potting soil and fed organic food that has mychorrhiza and bacteria added to it, one with organic potting soil heavily augmented about like Tropicaltoba's (from my 100% organic sister who swears her potting soil is perfect), and one with just my favorite potting soil.
I planted tomatoes in all of them, and fed the first two only organically and the last with Miracle Gro.
I kept everything going for a year, then spent a lot of $ sending samples of the soil and the roots into the lab to test for microorganisms.
Results? NONE of them had the amount and types of bacteria and fungi to break down organic fertilizer.
At the end, I even called Miracle Gro to see if they were interested in my little experiment. They said, "Thanks so much, but we already knew that!"

So I just throw varying amounts of synthetic fertilizer in my water (depending on the plants' needs) and all my plants are happy!

Carolyn

60
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Growing tips for the tamarind tree
« on: January 10, 2024, 09:12:18 AM »
Like Brian, mine is from seed. Flowered for the first time at about 4 ft in height, maybe a few years old. I have lost track. It flowers profusely every year but I don't get much fruit in the greenhouse. I tried capturing a few honeybees to pollinate it but they got sucked out the exhaust fan when they tried to go home with their pollen :(

61
Depends on if your plants are in the ground or in pots.

All my plants are in pots, in a basically soilless medium. I steer clear of anything labeled "organic" because there is just not enough microbial and fungal activity in potting soil to break down the nutrients into the ionic form that the plants can utilize.
So I go with just Miracle-gro and an added cal/mag.
For my acid-loving plants I love the Espoma Soil Acidifier.

Funny story, for years, I would have sworn the label said Epsom, not Espoma. I once sent my hubby to the store for some and he was the one that noticed I was calling it the wrong thing. My brain is weird...

Carolyn

62
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Happy New Year!
« on: December 31, 2023, 07:46:10 PM »
Happy New Year to all my "fruity friends"!!!

Carolyn

63
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: ID Request
« on: December 31, 2023, 09:54:36 AM »
Reminds me of rainforest plum (E. candolleana), but they usually fruit in clumps.

Carolyn

64
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Merry Christmas
« on: December 26, 2023, 09:36:52 AM »
Merry Christmas!
Merry Quailmas!
Santa brought us some surprise baby quail today, when I was SURE I was getting all the eggs picked up.

We just had a surprise batch in September too, and I think they are already laying...
They are like Tribbles! Ack!

No more free-range, group-sex quail at MY greenhouse - Gonna spend Boxing Day building a quail run, and separate the boys from the girls.




Happy Holidays!!!
Carolyn


Are those Coturnix?

No, they are Chinese Painted Quail (or King Quail), Synoicus chinensis.  Sometimes people call them button quail, but they are unrelated to true button quail.  Takes 4 eggs to equal 1 chicken egg. Too small, and WAY too cute, to eat the birds.  I love them! They come in many colors, the males "laugh" when they call, which freaks out some greenhouse visitors. They have eaten all the centipedes and earwigs in the greenhouse.  But they are extremely shy, and very sneaky about egg-laying. 

65
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Merry Christmas
« on: December 25, 2023, 12:54:43 PM »
Merry Quailmas!
Santa brought us some surprise baby quail today, when I was SURE I was getting all the eggs picked up.

We just had a surprise batch in September too, and I think they are already laying...
They are like Tribbles! Ack!

No more free-range, group-sex quail at MY greenhouse - Gonna spend Boxing Day building a quail run, and separate the boys from the girls.




Happy Holidays!!!
Carolyn

66
Ha!  ;D

67
I water mine all year long, but they never get a lot of water.
They are in a greenhouse, so I don't know if that makes a difference.

Carolyn

68
I have what I was TOLD is Grains of Paradise, but since it has never bloomed I can't confirm, unless someone can share some info about it that I can use to identify it.  It does look like pictures I have seen. Grows like a weed in my greenhouse.

Carolyn

69
Tropical Vegetables and Other Edibles / Re: Tomato plants
« on: December 15, 2023, 09:09:56 AM »
If you are seeing the damage but can't find the pest, my first thought is slugs, since they hide out during the day.
Check at night, around midnight, and see who you find.

Carolyn

70
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Anyone's citrus blooming right now?
« on: December 15, 2023, 09:00:55 AM »
Yep, my Meyer lemon is blooming and ripening fruit. My tango has fruit ripening too. Greenhouse smells awesome!

Carolyn

71
I am always too late to donate, but managed to help with a few shekels this time!
Merry Christmas and Happy Fruit Year to all!

Carolyn

72
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Foliar Feeding Micronutrients
« on: December 13, 2023, 06:48:29 PM »
I may stir up a can of worms here, since it seems like foliar feeding is more of a belief system than science, but here is a good article about what does and does not work in foliar feeding -
https://www.gardenmyths.com/foliar-feeding-gardeners/#Movement_of_Nutrients_Once_in_the_Plant

Carolyn

73
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Need help saving my mango tree
« on: December 08, 2023, 08:34:05 AM »
To me, the fourth picture looks like borer damage.

Carolyn

74
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Sap leaking low on healthy mango tree
« on: December 08, 2023, 08:29:57 AM »
It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks like the sap is coming from a couple of holes.
If so, you may have borers.
Check with your county Extension office for chemicals you can safely use.
You can also kill the larvae living in the hole by taking a sharp wire, sticking it in the hole and swishing and stabbing it around (one of my grandson's favorite activities), then plug the hole with mud or a q-tip soaked in whatever chemical the Extension office recommends.

Cheers,
Carolyn

75
Emotional support quail!  :P

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