Voting Time: Should Sri Kembangan Get The Ax?

[Hollywood]

I am posting pictures of my Kari and Sri Kembangan carambolas below. The Kari is small and is in front of the SK. The SK has the chlorosis leaves. The deep green leaves are from the Kari. They both get foliar feeds, iron drenches, Excalibur fertilizer, mulch and Epsom salts, even though the Kari has never show signs of needing any of this.

The only thing going in SK's favor at this point is its size. I haven't had the Kari very long, so maybe it just needs time for the cross-pollinating to work. They are flowering heavily right now- would this be a fair time to make final judgment, or is it too hot for fruit set? Thus far, SK has been a high maintenance, low yielding tree. So who votes for it to get replaced by a self-pollinating cultivar? (And if you vote for the ax, what cultivar do you think I should replace it with?)

[CoPlantNut]

I wouldn't chop the SK down...  If you haven't had the Kari long, it may be just as susceptible to chlorosis but just isn't showing it yet.  It is always possible that the SK's rootstock is sub-par somehow.

I'd suggest cross-grafting them (put Kari branches onto the SK, and SK branches onto the Kari) and re-evaluate next year.  Having a cocktail tree also guarantees flowering synchronization- at least it does on both of my SK / Kari cocktail trees.

   Kevin

[Hollywood]

The grafting is not a bad idea.

But the Kari has been in ground for over a year now, so if it was going to have nutritional deficiencies I would have seen it by now.

[Doglips]

You definitely have the interveinal chlorosis going on.

I'd hit it with iron and manganese, if you decide to keep it anyways.
I agree with CoPlantNut, a plant can be deficient and not show signs, they call it hidden hunger.

I too vote to fence straddle, with a cocktail vote.

[johnb51]

Maybe it is a problem with the rootstock.  The SK I have (planted March, 2012) is a beautiful, healthy tree that produces excellent fruit--the best starfruit I've ever tasted.

[Cookie Monster]

I think CoPlantNut's theory is correct. Your Kari will likely develop severe chlorosis too as it gets older and roots out further into that fantastic high ph soil of ours. My kari looks just like your SK, despite compost, drenches, sprays, etc. But, the good news is that the darn thing still produces prodigious crops twice a year despite looking really bad.

That said, no one that I know needs more than one carambola, and my vote would go for keeping the kari and possibly nixing the SK. A single carambola tree will bear enough fruit for you, your neighbors, your kids, your kids friends, your family, your coworkers, rats, ducks, birds, and even have some left over for fruit thieves.

And, as for the persistent issue of chlorosis due to our high ph soil, I've given up and called out the expert (Har). I'm having him come out on a regular basis to tend to the orchard. He does a great job. Yesterday he did soil drenches and granular micros for me, as well as some light pruning and shaping.

[Hollywood]

Jeff- that's a great point. I can hang on to the SK for some fruit until the Kari gets to a size where it would help it further to remove the SK next to it. And yeah, I need to make an arrangement for Har to come by more than a couple times a year, especially as all my trees start getting to significant production sizes.

[Cookie Monster]

haha I've been having him come out once or twice a month. But I have roughly 35 trees plus bamboo, etc for him to take care of.

[zands]

Jeff- that's a great point. I can hang on to the SK for some fruit until the Kari gets to a size where it would help it further to remove the SK next to it. And yeah, I need to make an arrangement for Har to come by more than a couple times a year, especially as all my trees start getting to significant production sizes.

Do you in fact have high PH soil? I know for sure I do because I have coral rock-limestone when I dig down past 8 inches. So when I grow citrus it does OK until it begins rooting into that lower calciferous soil. My next project is to grow it in pots where I can easily provide a non-alkaline ph
What do you see when you dig down past 8-12 inches?
Some Broward members here have mucky acidic soil

Carambola are kinda like citrus in that they prefer neutral to acidic soil which makes sense to me given that Carambola fruit are acidic and awful until they get ripe or beyond. Over ripe carambola picked up off the ground can be deliciously sweet, just be sure to brush off the ants and dirt.
I am saying both are acid fruits liking acid soil  (some logic to this!)

[Hollywood]

Jeff- that's a great point. I can hang on to the SK for some fruit until the Kari gets to a size where it would help it further to remove the SK next to it. And yeah, I need to make an arrangement for Har to come by more than a couple times a year, especially as all my trees start getting to significant production sizes.

Do you in fact have high PH soil? I know for sure I do because I have coral rock-limestone when I dig down past 8 inches. So when I grow citrus it does OK until it begins rooting into that lower calciferous soil. My next project is to grow it in pots where I can easily provide a non-alkaline ph
What do you see when you dig down past 8-12 inches?
Some Broward members here have mucky acidic soil

Carambola are kinda like citrus in that they prefer neutral to acidic soil which makes sense to me given that Carambola fruit are acidic and awful until they get ripe or beyond. Over ripe carambola picked up off the ground can be deliciously sweet, just be sure to brush off the ants and dirt.
I am saying both are acid fruits liking acid soil  (some logic to this!)

My soil is neutral to slightly alkaline. Sandy loam for the first 2' and then sugar sand. My house was built on a former mangrove, apparently. No limestone here, so I am fortunate in that regard. I just sprayed Miracid on my trees a couple weeks ago and they seem to have responded well and the chlorotic ones have been greening up (abiu, SK carambola, Cristela jackfruit, jujube).

[Cookie Monster]

Ahh, ok. You're playing a different ball game. I"m jealous.

[zands]

Jeff- that's a great point. I can hang on to the SK for some fruit until the Kari gets to a size where it would help it further to remove the SK next to it. And yeah, I need to make an arrangement for Har to come by more than a couple times a year, especially as all my trees start getting to significant production sizes.

Do you in fact have high PH soil? I know for sure I do because I have coral rock-limestone when I dig down past 8 inches. So when I grow citrus it does OK until it begins rooting into that lower calciferous soil. My next project is to grow it in pots where I can easily provide a non-alkaline ph
What do you see when you dig down past 8-12 inches?
Some Broward members here have mucky acidic soil

Carambola are kinda like citrus in that they prefer neutral to acidic soil which makes sense to me given that Carambola fruit are acidic and awful until they get ripe or beyond. Over ripe carambola picked up off the ground can be deliciously sweet, just be sure to brush off the ants and dirt.
I am saying both are acid fruits liking acid soil  (some logic to this!)

My soil is neutral to slightly alkaline. Sandy loam for the first 2' and then sugar sand. My house was built on a former mangrove, apparently. No limestone here, so I am fortunate in that regard. I just sprayed Miracid on my trees a couple weeks ago and they seem to have responded well and the chlorotic ones have been greening up (abiu, SK carambola, Cristela jackfruit, jujube).

You are in luck with your neutral soil. Taking care of the Carambola chlorosis should be easier than for those stuck with alkaline soil. Miracid has iron https://www2.itap.purdue.edu/msds/docs/4771.pdf

[LEOOEL]

To give you my answer to your question, if you do ever need to replace your Carambolas with a self pollination variety, I have no issues with recommending to you the variety that I have, which is old reliable, Arkin. It's a tried and true variety, and gives me more fruit than I know what to do with. Because of all the hoopla, I also got a new variety, can't remember the name now, and it produces just 1-4 fruit per year. Maybe it'll produce more as the tree gets older, but right now I have and urge/impulse to assassinate it. Some Forum Members prefer newer more exciting/sexier varieties. If you decide to go this way, you could do some research and make your best choice.

[Tropicalgrower89]

Jeff- that's a great point. I can hang on to the SK for some fruit until the Kari gets to a size where it would help it further to remove the SK next to it. And yeah, I need to make an arrangement for Har to come by more than a couple times a year, especially as all my trees start getting to significant production sizes.

Do you in fact have high PH soil? I know for sure I do because I have coral rock-limestone when I dig down past 8 inches. So when I grow citrus it does OK until it begins rooting into that lower calciferous soil. My next project is to grow it in pots where I can easily provide a non-alkaline ph
What do you see when you dig down past 8-12 inches?
Some Broward members here have mucky acidic soil

Carambola are kinda like citrus in that they prefer neutral to acidic soil which makes sense to me given that Carambola fruit are acidic and awful until they get ripe or beyond. Over ripe carambola picked up off the ground can be deliciously sweet, just be sure to brush off the ants and dirt.
I am saying both are acid fruits liking acid soil  (some logic to this!)

My soil is neutral to slightly alkaline. Sandy loam for the first 2' and then sugar sand. My house was built on a former mangrove, apparently. No limestone here, so I am fortunate in that regard. I just sprayed Miracid on my trees a couple weeks ago and they seem to have responded well and the chlorotic ones have been greening up (abiu, SK carambola, Cristela jackfruit, jujube).

Does it look like this?

[Hollywood]

Jeff- that's a great point. I can hang on to the SK for some fruit until the Kari gets to a size where it would help it further to remove the SK next to it. And yeah, I need to make an arrangement for Har to come by more than a couple times a year, especially as all my trees start getting to significant production sizes.

Do you in fact have high PH soil? I know for sure I do because I have coral rock-limestone when I dig down past 8 inches. So when I grow citrus it does OK until it begins rooting into that lower calciferous soil. My next project is to grow it in pots where I can easily provide a non-alkaline ph
What do you see when you dig down past 8-12 inches?
Some Broward members here have mucky acidic soil

Carambola are kinda like citrus in that they prefer neutral to acidic soil which makes sense to me given that Carambola fruit are acidic and awful until they get ripe or beyond. Over ripe carambola picked up off the ground can be deliciously sweet, just be sure to brush off the ants and dirt.
I am saying both are acid fruits liking acid soil  (some logic to this!)

My soil is neutral to slightly alkaline. Sandy loam for the first 2' and then sugar sand. My house was built on a former mangrove, apparently. No limestone here, so I am fortunate in that regard. I just sprayed Miracid on my trees a couple weeks ago and they seem to have responded well and the chlorotic ones have been greening up (abiu, SK carambola, Cristela jackfruit, jujube).

Does it look like this?

The sugar sand is not as pink and the top 1-2' are a darker brown and a little more organic rather than ashy-looking. But otherwise, very similar.

LEOOEL- Thanks for the suggestion. If I do decide to replace the SK I will probably go either Arkin or another Kari. But I'll give the Kari a few years to get bigger and if it produces more than I know what to do with, I'll just chop down the SK and let the Kari take over the space. Thanks everyone for their input! If the SK gets it together and starts producing significantly, I will post pictures. Otherwise, it is going down in the next couple years.

[Hollywood]

Update: SK finally got its act together and has set a bunch of fruit. I think it's definitely due to my recent threats. (Although it might be the fact that Kari has matured enough to bloom in tandem and profusely).

[HMHausman]

Glad to hear that you are beginning to get production out of your SK carambola.  If ever you decide to replace it, I would advise tasting some of the other cultivars.  If you are used to Kari, I would reasonably expect you to be disappointed with Arkin on all fronts other than productivity.  And, regarding productivity, of all of my other trees, SK, Kari, Thai Night, Hart, Possum Trot, and Bell, only Bell is a laggard on production.  I am sure that the reason for this is the youth of the tree.  I don't think there is any real productivity issue with carambolas in general assuming they like the spot they are being grown in and are mature sized trees. So I would not give Arkin any real significant production edge. Arkin is a smaller fruit, it ships well and stores well.  It is, in my opinion,  the Tommy Atkins of the carambola world. What I see in Publix is always Arkin.

[Cookie Monster]

haha or you could replace it with a MANGO tree.

[Hollywood]

haha or you could replace it with a MANGO tree.

Several hundred mangos per season is plenty for my family (and all our friends. And our cabinets for dried goods.)

[Cookie Monster]

haha I never have enough. can go through 1/2 dozen mangoes in a day all throughout mango season. Anything left over gets sold or frozen.

but if all I had were valencia pride, I'd let most of them rot. I'm not very fond of them.

And, while carambola are pretty much all the same and all pretty much bear at the same time. There's enough variety in mango to keep the palate intrigued for months.