The Tropical Fruit Forum

Great question, 'irun', and I agree that buying fresh fruit as you describe, can be a sort of 'flying blind' experience.

Hoping that your question will elicit some interesting responses from various of our experienced fruit lovers.

Cheers!

Paul M.
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I am also out of the running for this Challenge!

Alas, while I got roots on all but two of the dozen or so of the cuttings that I received, once they were planted up all eventually turned brown and died.

Maybe IF there's a next time Challenge similar to this one I might have better success.

Best of Luck to all the remaining participants.

Paul M.
Tampa, FL
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I got a dwarf 'Sugar Belle' three months ago and it's already bloomng in a three gallon pot and needs to go into the ground soon.  I wanted some citrus that wouldn't be ruined by ACG.

I also recenty released some tiny parasitoid Tamarixia wasps to control the Asian Citrus Psyllid and its nymphs that infest citrus trees and inoculate them with the greening disease.  Since I released these tiny wasps I haven't seen any more psyllids or their nymphs on or around my citrus trees.  (I got these wasps free via an ongoing program at the Division of Plant Industry in Gainesville, FL.)  Here's a link:

https://www.fdacs.gov/Agriculture-Industry/Pests-and-Diseases/Plant-Pests-and-Diseases/Biological-Control/Asian-Citrus-Psyllid-Biological-Control/Tamarixia-Release-Application

Paul M.
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 . . . I'm chortling in my joy — cuz my biribá is blooming, for the first time with perhaps a dozen flowers that have just opened on it!!!

My biribá (Rollinia deliciosa) is closing on five years old, is about six feet tall with a 2-inch diameter trunk, so for a first-bloom event I am holding out the hope that it may set and hold at least one or two fruit this first time 'round.

Fingers X-ed!

Paul M.
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My E. calycinas too, came from 9waters down in Jupiter.  I bought 5 from there and lost one or two over time but the remaining ones got moved up out of 1s into 2 gals two months ago and are having a nice growth spurt right now.  Haven't seen any flowers on them yet but two of 'em are big enough that they should, soon.

Happy to read that yours taste good.  I'm hoping for similar results.

Cheers!

Paul M.
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Thanx All for the comments.

The smallest fruit was seedless and underdeveloped (1st of 3) and had some juice and a fibrous center instead of a seed; it was small, about 5/8th of an inch in dia.

The two medium sized ones (1-in +) were juicy with a medium-sized to large seed and had no latex aspect to them.  Flavor was about equally sweet to tart and not-at-all unpleasant.  But with only these three initial fruit I couldn't really ID a flavor comparable to either mango-apricot or passiflora-apricot.

There are about five more fruits on the large bush and another five or six on one of my 3 yo seedlings which hopefully will hold and ripen so I get to taste some unrelated genetics!

My big plant is out in full sun and some of the leaves are showing a slightly reddish cast to them, but that may have resulted from the cold weather of DEC-JAN.  This plant might benefit, however, from being relocated to a position with afternoon shade, which is suggested by all the cultural comments I could find online.

FYI, my five 3 yo seedlings are in morning and afternoon shade with full midday sun and they are all green and robust.  They are in 2gal pots and get watered twice a week.

Cheers!

Paul M.
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They need to find varieties of pomegranates which are bred for our humid and wet Florida summers, and which will set and hold fruit to maturity without getting fruit rot.

There are a several cultivars out there which are said to be productive in central Florida,  But I'm guessing that none of those are the ones you saw in the grove you mentioned, Bovine.

Meanwhile, as to citrus as mentioned, I contacted Gainesville about some parasitic wasps that are predatory exclusively on the Asian Citrus Psyllid [ACP].  They sent vials  for free to release at my house as part of their project.  The wasps seek out various members of the Rutaceæ like citrus which the ACP feeds on.  The wasp genus is Tamarixia.  Once established in an area these aggressive miniature wasps will range up to about five miles looking to the psyllids!  The wasp/ACP project was mentioned somewhere on these Forums but I cannot locate it at this writing.

Fingers X-ed  (for both poms and ACP wasp control)

Paul M.
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All my condo mango cultivars (4) are in a 1:1:1 mix that I make up of one part each of:

milled sphagnum : humus : coarse bulders sand

which seems to dry out fairly readily.  They have all grown okay except the 'Beverly' whose leaves all just recently suddenly dried up for no apparent reason and I fear that it may be dead.

So, from the earlier suggestions here I will just wait a while longer to see what the 'Pickering' does.

Fingers X-ed!

Paul M.
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They're back . . .

When the lubbers are still that small (or even closer to having newly hatched) I find that just a light spray with RAID! House & Garden to each one is enough to knock them down. 

Then they will lie on the ground  in the sun, incapacitated, and the hot sun will dry them out and finish them off. 

This always works very well for me until the lubbers get older and start showing adult coloration.

OK — HTH

Paul M.
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Sorry, I don't know what they are but suggest that, in case you get no definitive replies, then you just keep a close eye on them every day(!) until they begin to hatch.  Then post another photo of what hatched and someone maybe will recognize what they are.

It could even possibly be some beneficial bug.

OK — HTH

Paul M.
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PM sent for large box.

Wondering if anyone who's nearby close enough to collect some of this seaweed that is washing up on the shore here and there has taken the opportunity to collect some to use as feritilizer?

I've heard that some back-to-the-landers in Florida were doing that a several decades ago.  They collected it as it washed up, rinsed the salt out of it, composted it, and turned it into the soil as free food for their veggie gardens.

It probably should be suitable for some fruit trees once it's composted.

Just pondering . . . .

Paul M.
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Does anyone on here know if it helps the biribá to bloom and set (and hold) fruit if it's fertilized occasionally?

I'm wondering if a citrus fertilizer formulation with minors would be the best thing to use. How much?  How often?  Any other fertilizer?

My biribá has a large enough diameter main stem that by now it should be able to bloom and hold a fruit or two.

Just curious ....

Paul M.
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