Not enough Durian Discussion

[ben mango]

Yes they are bigislandgrower, but not always. Going to recommend that the owner starts irrigating again, noticed it’s been kind of dry. I had tasted a red prawn from there the other day. There was only one fruit on the tree. Based off how the Monthong tree looks that was planted there about 15 years ago, which has about 12 fruits on it now, durian seems to grow great in that area. It could be known for its durian even if someone had planted more of it decades ago, and they could be millionaires because the demand for it is so high. But instead this area is mainly only known for its coffee and Mac nuts

The differnt varieties planted are pohakulani, red prawn, musang king, monthong, d132, puang manee, xiao, chanee and kob

[Mike T]

Red prawns can handle cooler weather but over here they are very shy bearers and mine has been on thin ice for a while. Penang 88 also won honours at Penang but neither can match a good gumpun or monthong in my opinion. Out of that lot I would say Chanee is under rated and has many positive attributes.

[Gone tropo]

My red prawn is about to die same as my D190 neither have grown a single leaf in 18months, seems rootstock is very important with durian. A few others who got trees from same source have also had trees die. I’m done with buying expensive grafted trees. I think cassowary and other growers in the area who only use seedlings are onto it. Some of the grafted trees do good here and are mostly Thai varieties.

Mike interesting on your comments re p88 and Monthong and gumpun a few years back you favoured p88 over these Thai types

[Mike T]

Maybe the trees have changed as they have aged or I have. My Limberlost has great fruit some years and mediocre other years. P88 is good but gumpun fruit seem to get better each year. I am pretty good at picking a shithouse durian and I am kinda fighting with my red prawn tree these days. Its pretty big and doesn't bring much to the table.

Grafted durian are actually a better option and yes its about the rootstock. Chanee rootstock is good but most named good varieties are not so good as rootstock. The trash masquerading as durian in Rusty's, full of seeds and light on flesh make good vigorous rootstock. Maybe for rootstock a junkyard dog is better than a poodle.

[ben mango]

‘Better’ is always relative. A lady in Hilo planted a durian seedling over 30 years ago, and that tree is known as pohakulani which is revered as one of if not the best seedling tree on the island. When it sets a good crop there are probably over 200 fruits on the tree. over time seedlings will produce more than a grafted tree will so there is that benefit to planting seedlings as well

[Finca La Isla]

I have a seedling tree over 30 years old that can produce over 300 fruits in a season.  We call it ‘Isla’ nameing it after our farm. It’s good and we sell the fruit.  Kind of vanilla cookie dough that is a good introduction durian.  I encourage planting seedling if you have lots of space and we’ve planted quite a few.  But it could be that our kradom/D99 that are 25 years old produce just as much durian by weight, has more flesh, than the Isla.
Somebody asked me about getting red prawn for here but I keep hearing that it has inconsistent production.  I’m a little concerned about Black thorn on that account as well but I have 4 of them planted.
Peter

[Mike T]

It is true that some seedlings perform like champs once they get going and have a more productive life than most grafted durians. Seedlings can also be duds even from respectable parentage. Tree size, juvenile period and certainty makes most people lean towards grafted trees I guess.

[tongmuan]

There's a plot with huge old durian baan (grown from seed, not grafted) trees that we've been admiring when going to our farm, and the other day the farmer was selling the fruit roadside. We got 4 durian baan fruits, each fallen from different tree. Total price was 210 baht - about 6 USD.



Top left: 1/10. Almost no sweetness at all, mushy texture, tasted somewhat like green peas with sweetness taken away.
Top right: 7/10. Thin flesh, but very nice sweet and nutty flavor. The wife's favorite of the four.
Bottom left: 9/10 Very nice strong durian baan taste with some bitterness, texture like cookie dough. Sweet, but not overly sweet. My favorite.
Bottom right: 8/10. Very (even overly) sweet and creamy. Texture like soft butter. A lot of flesh.

[Finca La Isla]

Would be interesting to try them all.many of the best durians have been discovered from plots like that. Perhaps there’s a new rival to Red Prawn among those old trees!
Peter

[fliptop]

Found this recently at an Asian Market in Hernando County, FL. I can't compare taste to fresh Durian, but this was nice.

[ben mango]

Fun to try different brands. The arroy-d one used to be very good but then it became hit or miss, they used to be $7-8 per packet in chinatown, now probably $20

Monthong close, the owner already has buyers lined at $10/lb 

[fruit nerd]

$10 US/lb is pretty close to what durian was selling for here this season ($30 AUD/kg), and that wasn't good quality fruits from cultivars or good quality seedlings. Admittedly, there was a cyclone and massive flooding which had a big impact on supply.

[Finca La Isla]

In production areas of CR, like our farm for instance, durians are selling for about $8-$12US per kg.  Maybe $6 for kompong and the higher price for musang king which has very limited availability.  There’s a lot more D-99 around than musang king, Mongthong, etc.
There has been some durian in Perez Zeledon and that shoul happen until August and then September into October on the Caribbean coast.
Peter

[Bush2Beach]

Wowza , Those Monthong look great Ben. You been finding any D123 , Kob or anything else around lately?
Had a good D123 from Pam a few weeks ago. had to pick it out from a pile of B grades and small aborted pod fruits though. They were very fresh. She sold me Kob for $4 a pound last season.

[ben mango]

ya B2B ive been seeing more durians pop up at pams and the market lately , seems the season is starting again. Hoping I will score something good next week

[ben mango]

A vendor in Kota Kinabalu texted me this pic a few days ago. Says they have red prawn, musang king and more coming next month. When buying durian anywhere it’s always good to look at the stem to determine how fresh it , even these guys will try to sell stuff that is 3+ days old. Last year I had argued with one vendor in KK after turning down a black thorn, he was pissed, but I was standing my ground to say what he was selling was subpar black thorn and not worth the money. The durian market can be tricky as a beginner, but just like anything ya learn as ya go
 

[BigIslandGrower]

ya B2B ive been seeing more durians pop up at pams and the market lately , seems the season is starting again. Hoping I will score something good next week

Hilo farmer's market?   She has some D-132.  There are several vendors now with durian FS at this market.  I believe the going price is $8/lb.

[ben mango]

Guess that variety.

[fruit nerd]

So what is it? I'm dying to know

[ben mango]

So what is it? I'm dying to know

Really not sure, asked Lindsay, still awaiting a reply

[fruit nerd]

Do you know or suspect that it's a cultivar?

[ben mango]

based off the quality I would guess it’s from a grafted tree. There were other fruits with the spikes closer together and looked like they were off the same tree. It reminded me a bit of how Ganyao looks. I have only had ganyao once in Thailand and it wasn’t that good , probably because it was picked too early. I would have rated this fruit an 8/10.

[ben mango]

Lindsay says is probably a seedling and that I may be right to think it’s related to Ganyao. I guess even within the variety Ganyao there is a ‘family’ of 7 or 8 types of Ganyao. If you read into the different varieties In Thailand it really is mind boggling how many there are. Kudos to Lindsay for all her efforts

https://www.yearofthedurian.com/2019/03/complete-guide-to-234-thailand-durian.html

[fruit nerd]

Interesting, sure is an amazing diversity in durians!

[arvind]

Peter we have had wet weather last few years I have recorded

2023 5021mm
2022 3552mm
That kind of rainfall is normal here in kuching sarawak.terrible for mangoes but okay for durian
2021 3120mm

We are probably due for a dry year. Like you say it’s been good for my young plants to grow except when we get too much in short periods. I lost several trees in recent flooding and earlier in the year we had 1225mm rain in February which caused some wet feet problems for a few trees and killed
My 6ft E4 abiu.

I have a few 3 year old seedling rambutan trees that flowered heavily one set no fruit probably male one is loaded with fruit very excited to try them and pretty happy to have fruit growing from seedling in 3 years.