The Tropical Fruit Forum

Hi! I have bought some Annona crassifolia seeds from rarepalmseeds.com and have tried to germinate them. Previously, i ordered 3 seeds of Annona crassifolia from tradewindsfruit but they were seized at the Greek post office so i lost them and wasted the price. That is not fair, because seeds from tradewindsfruit are sanitized and they pose no danger whatsoever, but they fell to the wrong hands and i cannot help with it. In the past i had received from tradewindsfruit, and even now others receive here; it depends on who will be the clerk at the customs house, and we have no way to find that out.
Now i have the seeds from rarepalmseeds, but rarepalmseeds has a bad habit of keeping their seeds until sold out, so you often buy old seeds. Now, Annona crassifolia seeds have a reputation of being hard to germinate, and in fact none of them has germinated so far. I asked the seller at rarepalmseeds and even they don't know about sprouting Annona crassifolia - they only buy and resell, they advised me to ask at a forum - that is HERE. Has anyone here sprouted Annona crassifolia? Your advice please! The fact that the seeds are difficult to germinate may also mean that the seeds are durable over long time, so it would not be too bad if they sell old seeds in this case - however some other Annonas like Annona montana have short-lived seeds. Anyway, nobody knows better than experience. Waiting for information, thank you!
Also, information on pollination of Annona crassifolia would be much appreciated.

Hi! i found some information on the internet, rather ambiguous and contradicting, about Kadsura coccinea. Anyone share personal opinion about it? I know it suits my climate, but how big (long) the vine grows, how big the fruit, what about its pollination, and its value as food.
From experience please, not pasting from sites.

Hi! today i longed for this: https://www.tradewindsfruit.com/plinia-cauliflora-acu-paulista-seeds but i cannot afford it because i do not have any free space for it, maybe in the future... So, since i cannot have it, i let you know, so my friends, all fruit lovers here, have a chance to enjoy it! cheers!

Hi! i saw somebody on youtube who tried a cassabanana for the first time and said that the leaves and seeds are poisonous. Is there any truth in it? So, if i put whole pieces of a cassabanana in a juicer, will it yield some poison from crushed seeds or maybe from the fruit skin? And then, if you eat it still unripe as a vegetable, would you remove the seeds?
They say it can be grown in temperate areas as a long season annual, but let us suppose i sprout it indoors during April (north hemisphere) in 9b zone and after it sprouts i take it outside, will it grow to bear ripe fruit before winter?
And what will happen if i sow the seeds in June, will it have time to bear fruit?
Thank you for your experience!

Hi,
this site https://www.palmaverde.nl/en/cudrania-tricuspidata.html?id=229030139 says Cudrania tricuspidata "Gives fruit without pollination", but here https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cudrania+tricuspidata they say "both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required". So i m a little confused. I m thinking to plant two female trees, will they fruit or not? Maybe they will fruit but with seedless fruit? (even better, if that is the case). What is your experience?

By the way, any advice on watering and exposure to sun? Does Che prefer sun or shade?

thank you!

Hi! this year i got a bean sprouter machine, it is very simple, just keeps temperature inside at 25 C and showers the seeds for a few seconds every one hour. I thought it would be ideal for germinating seeds that need no cold stratification. It does work well for mango seeds. However, i tried with small seeds like papaya, guava, and Jarilla caudata: put in a plastic cup with many holes for drainage but no soil, just naked seeds kept warm and humid in the machine. To my surprise, nothing of these has germinated! A real surprise, because papaya seeds from market fruit just thrown on the ground sprouted like weeds every springtime, guava germinated easily outdoors and all Jarilla seeds i sowed outdoors this past summer germinated - although no plant survived, the sly cats damaged the young shoots and the last one was destroyed because of heavy soil and strong winds of early winter while it was still too tender. Anyway, all those did germinate outdoors, but they are not germinating in the bean sprouter machine. Can somebody explain it?
After that, i put some seeds in clean potting soil and keep them moist in cut halves of plastic bottles at room temperature indoors, but those cut halves do not drain, they rely on evaporation for keeping not too wet. Even those in the potting soil have not germinated, about 5 days now. Some light of experience on the matter? thanks!

Since information is scarce about the rarer Cyphomandras, i m sharing my experience, the first year it produced lots of flowers but they all fell without producing fruit. The second year some flowers fell immature, but most of them turned to fruit, without pollination from a second plant. The fruit is the size of an olive, some are the size of a big fat olive, while others are the size of a small olive; anyway, they are generally not palatable, while some of them might be called nearly tasty, mostly their taste is usually that of a lightly baked eggplant with some fruity sweetness added, and just as often eggplants, the c. corymbiflora fruit give a biting/stinging sensation to the palate (solanoiid alcaloids i suppose); the fruit skin is very thin and soft, so they should be eaten with the skin (after they fall from the bush and get soft to finger pressure; before that, they are hard like wood); however, the fruit, which smell like tomato leaves when picked, if kept for a little while they give a fragrance similar to feijoa. In small quantities they can make an interesting addition to a fruit salad. There is no copyright about this information, you can share with anyone.

Cyphomandra sibundoyensis "forest tamarillo", i m in doubt whether i should plant it or not. I have never seen or tasted a fruit of it, so is it worth? Is it hardy enough to stand -2 celsius for 2 days? Your experience with it? Thank you!

i saw this post http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=28392.msg322377#msg322377 but i know Entada is hard to grow, obviously it needs scarification, otherwise it will float in the ocean for 100 years until it finds land and gets naturally scarified.
A few years ago i bought some Entada raetii seeds and scratched them on rough concrete, then put them in water, then they absorbed water and started to grow a root, but when that root became less than a centimetre, the seed started getting rotten. This happened three times if i remember well.
Any tips to grow it successfully?
Then, is the pod or seed edible?
Still i wonder if it needs huge space for its roots and for its liana. Has anyone grown it in a pot? Will it smother a tall tree if planted next to it?

Hi! Has anyone grown this type of papaya: https://www.andrewsgarden.be/en/exotic-tropical-fruit-trees/papaya-pubescens-serena/a-190-16 I have bought 4 seedlings of it, and only one is alive and growing. One was received broken; the other two withered and dried up for no known reason. I have given them plenty of water, in a big container each, which is cut around the bottom for draining. I might be satisfied with only one, but will one of this variety produce fruit? What are the chances?

Hi! has anybody some experience of Cyrtocarpa edulis? I am trying to grow it from seeds, so far i have seen none sprouting. Do the seeds need scarification before planting? Any tips for germinating them? Then, is it a self-fertile tree? Welcome any knowledge about that tree. Thank you.

Hi all growers!
i m planning to plant two plants of passiflora quadrangularis, and i have a little hesitation because it is generally described as not self fertile. But what if i plant two of them close to each other? will they pollinate each other? Since this is said to be very common a plant in the tropics, what is your experience?
By the way, if i plant two passiflora ligularis next to each other, will they pollinate each other?
Thank you!