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Citrus General Discussion / Re: huanglongbing disease
« on: Today at 06:37:10 AM »
No, it's been spreading in California for a year or more https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/citrus/pests_diseases/hlb/regulation.html
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best Mangos from India Grown in Florida?
« on: March 13, 2025, 02:10:23 PM »It's been so long since I last read it, I had to go back to PINs Mallika page be sure it was camel and not some other pack animal's poop I was remembering in the anecdote (India doesn't seem like a natural camel habitat). Before I found TFF, I read PINs variety pages over dozens of times trying to figure out what variety of Mango/Avocado to grow. It was a simpler time...I have always assumed that they were being "tongue-in-cheek" when they wrote that.Mallika is grown in the northern mango growing areas of India. I have heard they are more cold tolerant but I can’t say for sure from my personal experience growing it this far south.Mallika's drawback is you must pack it in camel dung for several days to reach peak flavor. The lack of camels in Florida is a major hurdle that has yet to be overcome
The idea being it has to be properly ripened off the tree.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Super Has Looks a little Sad
« on: March 13, 2025, 01:41:09 PM »
It's getting ready to drop all those leaves; happens every year, that looks pretty normal for a Haas variety in Florida. Just start feeding it and watch for sunburn on any trunk sections that aren't shaded after the flush hardens (trunk looks a little sun-burnt to me). Paint white latex on any sun-exposed trunk to give it some protection.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best Mangos from India Grown in Florida?
« on: March 13, 2025, 01:31:37 PM »Mallika is grown in the northern mango growing areas of India. I have heard they are more cold tolerant but I can’t say for sure from my personal experience growing it this far south.Mallika's drawback is you must pack it in camel dung for several days to reach peak flavor. The lack of camels in Florida is a major hurdle that has yet to be overcome
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Forum text size problems
« on: March 07, 2025, 12:19:46 PM »
Do you have your browsers linked, so when you login to a device you have the same saved passwords, bookmarks, browsing history, etc., from the other device available?
I have noticed an issue with the forum related to text-sizing when posting new threads/comments in Chrome, but it doesn't sound like the same issue you are having.
I have noticed an issue with the forum related to text-sizing when posting new threads/comments in Chrome, but it doesn't sound like the same issue you are having.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: This is gonna be a weird topic but hear me out...
« on: March 07, 2025, 09:51:24 AM »
If you have even just a decent sense of smell, the sap can definitely give you an idea of what flavors will be in the fruit. It's like anything though, you need exposure and experience to know what you are smelling for; helps to be surrounded by mango trees.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Why So Little Discussion About Soil Science on Here?
« on: March 07, 2025, 09:23:41 AM »
A lot of us Floridians live in homes/yards that were built up; loads of fill that came out of deep holes dug some miles away. I know on my lot there are big differences between the soil 1'-3' down and the soil below that. I care to know the soil make-up, but getting a true picture with multiple soil tests at different depths around the yard isn't very appealing. My trees are healthy and the fruit tastes great; my ignorance is bliss...
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Black Sapote Flavor Test (Lara Farms)
« on: March 05, 2025, 03:54:18 PM »Great to hear about the excellent seedling fruit! I just planted out some 1 year old seedlings in part shade, sounds like there's a decent chance they'll produce good fruit. They have a beautiful magnolia type look.The seeds are so unique, I was more compelled by the seeds than the fruit they came in
My seeds took almost 2 months to germinate, it's fun to see the brown seed pods pop out and the new leaves emerge.
I cleaned/dried a bunch of the seeds, intending to plant them, but my kids and I just toyed around with them while they sat on the counter for a few days.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Can I create a good mango variety...?!
« on: March 05, 2025, 09:06:41 AM »
Girdling branches at the appropriate time can also reduce flowering/fruiting wait-time, but then it's not a mature tree producing its best fruit. You can tell a good bit about what the flavor will be like from the smell of the sap (crushing a handful of green leaves or smelling the tip of a leaf that's been freshly broken off); won't answer a lot of the most important questions (disease resistance, fiber content, productivity, etc.,), but you'll get a good flavor clue.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Can I create a good mango variety...?!
« on: March 04, 2025, 12:46:50 PM »
If you are short space and/or time, I would focus on growing some of the exciting existing varieties, not breeding something new. Sure, you might get lucky in a decade or three and produce some quality new variety you could then name after your mom, sister, girlfriend, wife, etc., but you could also become local-famous in a much quicker/reliable fashion for just having delicious mangoes nobody has tried before.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Does salt spray deter Erinose Mite?
« on: February 27, 2025, 09:49:07 PM »
Ahhh, that's a good point.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Does salt spray deter Erinose Mite?
« on: February 27, 2025, 12:04:01 PM »
Probably just a spurious correlation, but I've noticed none of the Lychee trees within ~100' of the intercoastal have signs of infestation. I can go ~1/4 mile inland and find multiple trees with heavy infestation. One tree, in particular, is just over the North bridge on Siesta Key and is very old & very big (I've only seen it fruit once, first year of Covid IIRC).
Anybody notice this, is it possibly a deterrent? I'm maybe 300' from the intercoastal, as the crow flies; really would like to have a Lychee, but that mite has put me off getting a tree.
Anybody notice this, is it possibly a deterrent? I'm maybe 300' from the intercoastal, as the crow flies; really would like to have a Lychee, but that mite has put me off getting a tree.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Help me choose a mango tree
« on: February 24, 2025, 09:52:31 AM »
You want 2 to 3 trees and you list 3 choices; why not get one of each?
Fruit tree taste/performance is greatly affected by soil/climate, so relying on what someone in another country tells you is not wise. You can always top the one(s) whose fruit you don't favor and graft in something you prefer.
Fruit tree taste/performance is greatly affected by soil/climate, so relying on what someone in another country tells you is not wise. You can always top the one(s) whose fruit you don't favor and graft in something you prefer.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: I'd like to remove panicle growth as it starts to flush from the bud
« on: February 22, 2025, 12:48:12 PM »
You can remove most of the panicle, just leave a few lower stems on the panicle that can develop into fruitlets (which you can remove later). If the tree wants to flower and you take them all off, it'll spend even more energy pushing flowers again. Here's a video of the concept:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zguKPqsWMaU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zguKPqsWMaU
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Is it possible to get a polyembryonic seed from a monoembryonic mango?
« on: February 09, 2025, 12:27:12 PM »
There are several reasons a mono seed might develop multiple stems (damage, disease, nutrition, etc.,). Next Kent seed you germinate, snap off the stem before the leaves harden-off; it'll start new stems from the collar. The mangoes you are getting this time of year are coming from outside the US and have gone through various processes to keep them edible/sellable and pass through US Customs. The answer to why it's happening probably lies somewhere in that process
Again, multiple stems does not make it poly. Poly seeds are fairly easy to spot; peel the brown skin off the seed and you should see separate/segmented embryos. Each embryo is genetically distinct from the others. You can take a poly apart like a puzzle and germinate each segment (no matter how small the segment is). This page has some pics that might be useful in understanding what a poly would look like: https://www.graftamango.com/learn-how-to-germinate-turpentine-mango-seeds
Again, multiple stems does not make it poly. Poly seeds are fairly easy to spot; peel the brown skin off the seed and you should see separate/segmented embryos. Each embryo is genetically distinct from the others. You can take a poly apart like a puzzle and germinate each segment (no matter how small the segment is). This page has some pics that might be useful in understanding what a poly would look like: https://www.graftamango.com/learn-how-to-germinate-turpentine-mango-seeds
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Please make a TFF App!!!!
« on: February 06, 2025, 03:42:26 PM »
As GiP outlined, a custom app is just not realistic. Porting to Discourse or Flarum would be the way to go, IMO. Both are modern forum software, free to install, and should work in the same hosting environment TFF is in currently. The problem is porting everything over. I've done many version upgrades over the years within the same platform/software, and things very often go sideways that require a bunch of tweaks to underlying SQL queries and multiple trial/error reloads. Moving to a different platform would likely mean converting nearly everything; text formatting, image links, user passwords would probably break (all users would have to recover their passwords). It could take weeks/months for a solo dev. Maybe 20 years ago when I had no wife/kids and time to burn...
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Please make a TFF App!!!!
« on: February 05, 2025, 08:19:01 PM »
SMF is older software; nobody was concerned with small screens and low-powered mobile devices 20 years ago. It's also open-source, so there's maybe not as much of an urgency for/at SMF to rewrite working code and take on the challenge of re-designing the software for today's mobile-first world. There are surely SMF templates available that function better on small screens, but even the smoothest template transition breaks the way people are used to some features working.
Porting over to modern forum software would be the way to go; building an app just for mobile devices would be pricey overkill. That said, moving all the old posts, user accounts, etc., over would not be fun.
Porting over to modern forum software would be the way to go; building an app just for mobile devices would be pricey overkill. That said, moving all the old posts, user accounts, etc., over would not be fun.
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Tropical Vegetables and Other Edibles - Buy, Sell, & Trade / Re: Looking for wing bean
« on: February 05, 2025, 09:20:26 AM »
Lots of sellers on Esty. I just picked up some seeds, starting them in the next two weeks (first attempt with these)
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Is it possible to get a polyembryonic seed from a monoembryonic mango?
« on: February 03, 2025, 03:36:07 PM »It is possible that the root was damaged at some point and both roots are from the same embryo. Time will tell when the stem(s) growth starts.That's what I was thinking; I can only make out one stem in the pic.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Need advice on mango tree/varietal selection
« on: January 22, 2025, 04:03:11 PM »Thanks for the suggestion. I guess, my biggest problem is to decide whether I want an early season one or the one that fruits late. What are the pros/cons of those?If anthracnose is a big problem for you, you'll want to avoid fruiting during your rainy season when it flourishes, as best you can. Focus on early and/or disease-resistant varieties. The earlies you list are old varieties, nothing wrong with them, but there are other early candidates with better disease-resistance (Guava is a very good one). The link I gave you to TAF should be where you go first, Alex does a good job of giving you an overview of the characteristics of the varieties he grows. You can also buy the trees from him. Good luck!
The biggest problem of my location is not enough wind and it gets pretty wet in summer. Carrie has been doing ok there.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Need advice on mango tree/varietal selection
« on: January 22, 2025, 03:42:51 PM »maybe one of those posts would be a good candidate for a pin?Maybe...good luck in your finding said post; let me know when you think you've found it
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Need advice on mango tree/varietal selection
« on: January 22, 2025, 01:52:21 PM »
There are many opinion/feedback posts for each of those varieties going back over a decade; many from users who were very experienced growers, but are no longer active here. Use the search tool to get your information and narrow your choices: https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?action=search
Not saying you won't get opinions, you will, but these types of questions have been asked & answered time and again here.
Another great resource on varietals: https://www.tropicalacresfarms.com/mangos (scroll to the bottom of the page, the table listing is the most efficient way to search IMO)
Not saying you won't get opinions, you will, but these types of questions have been asked & answered time and again here.
Another great resource on varietals: https://www.tropicalacresfarms.com/mangos (scroll to the bottom of the page, the table listing is the most efficient way to search IMO)
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: It's my first time grafting
« on: January 14, 2025, 12:00:07 PM »
Might be a good idea to wrap the unions with something to give them a little more strength; once the branches start bending with fruit, any weak spots in the union could cost you the branch. I do it pretty habitually on all my unions once I remove the grafting plastic wrap; it makes for a prettier union scar and there's no worry of one side separating (there's no need to trim deadwood, either).
Spaugh had recommended Texas Roll Flagging tape awhile back for grafting, so I picked up a roll to test it out. I don't like it for grafting, but it is perfect for what I am recommending here. It'll give you a nice, tight wrap, but it also has give to it. I imagine you could wrap it too thick and cause the branch to girdle, but I've never had it happen (don't tie it off tight, try to allow some give/expansion). The tape expands over time with the branch, so I don't have to twice about it for a year or two and then remove it for good. It comes in a bunch of colors, so you could use it to differentiate different varieties or seasons/years the grafts were made, etc.,.
Spaugh had recommended Texas Roll Flagging tape awhile back for grafting, so I picked up a roll to test it out. I don't like it for grafting, but it is perfect for what I am recommending here. It'll give you a nice, tight wrap, but it also has give to it. I imagine you could wrap it too thick and cause the branch to girdle, but I've never had it happen (don't tie it off tight, try to allow some give/expansion). The tape expands over time with the branch, so I don't have to twice about it for a year or two and then remove it for good. It comes in a bunch of colors, so you could use it to differentiate different varieties or seasons/years the grafts were made, etc.,.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Sweet Tart vs Cecilove Mango
« on: January 08, 2025, 11:25:19 AM »My Cecilove is from TAF and has been fruiting for two seasons, no doubt what I have.John -Now don't be offended. Did you get your tree from Dr. Campbell?
Are you impuning that my Cecilove is in question due to it's health?
I know there are pictures on my phone from when it flushed a few years back; I am 90% sure they look something like GG's, but I don't have the time to scroll through Gigs of pics right now.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Sweet Tart vs Cecilove Mango
« on: January 08, 2025, 11:19:53 AM »Here is my sad exampleI have seen that so many times, fatal flowering would be a good term for it. The last thing a small, less-than-healthy grafted tree needs to do is put precious energy into flowering, but they do it determinedly.
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