The Tropical Fruit Forum

There is no way to identify with certainty these seedling clones, absent DNA testing. There are studies showing that the largest, fastest-growing seedlings can be the cross (hybrid vigor) and other studies showing that the smallest is the cross. Other evidence suggests that the cross can abort and then all the resulting seedlings are clones. The best option I can think of is to hope for numerous seedlings and then hope (again) that one is different (cross) but even that scenario has a flaw in that the others may not be growing at identical rates.

Was Bill really into Cochin cultivar for a time? I had heard somewhere he tried to do a small scale grove of them but they did not do too good. Lara has them most of the time.

Bill did grow the 'Cochin' variety in Bal Harbour, FL. The tree produced small fruit, roughly 5 lbs, that at one time was expected to be a more affordable and quicker to clean variety. Chris Rollins, retired manager at the Fruit and Spice Park, planted out 3 rows of what he told me were 'Cochin' seedlings from Bill's house (those trees are still at the Park) however not a single one produced the small fruit.

Quote from: Fruitguy on April 27, 2025, 03:09:21 PM

Are any of the mangosteen, durian, willughbea, langsat trees still there?

Can you check for us?

I have not been there in many years.

PM sent

Amazing! 

How big is your tree?  Could you show a wide angle picture of it?

I had started a pedalai in my greenhouse and it grew well but I read everyone's stories about how they get like 100ft tall and still not fruiting yet

A couple of different angles.
W.

I remember hearing many years ago that the only difference between Rollinia delicious and R. mucosa was the stage of ripeness that they were picked at. 🤔

W.

Congrats

Thank you Jay. There is hope! 🤞

W.

After 10 years of patiently waiting, I finally have the first flowers on my pedalai (Artocarpus sericicarpus). So far there are only male flowers. Does anyone have any information on previous flowering/fruiting of pedalai in South Florida so I can figure out how when it might fruit (assuming female flowers follow)?

W.

All travellers are a required to go through Ag inspection upon departure from San Juan. Once cleared, a sticker will be placed on your luggage. Then you have to go through TSA and they will double check for a y questionable items. Nonetheless, there is a list of agricultural products that you are allowed to bring back. The link below provides the list of permissible items. Bare root plants and cuttings are usually not a problem, but as always, you are subject to the whims of the individual inspector. Seeds should be cleaned and labeled with the scientific name. USPS will get your plants back home...eventually. Make sure your box is reinforced.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/traveling-with-ag-products/puerto-rico-usvi

Good luck, and have a safe trip!

Taste is subjective, so what tastes good to one "expert" may not taste good to another.

Durian is a delicious fruit to me! But I will share that the first time I tried it, I could not understand what the big deal was. Part of the reason may have been that the first sample was frozen, imported Durian. The second time was a little better. When it really set in was on a trip to Thailand, where not only was the fruit fresh, but there were numerous varieties available. I would correlate the experience to mango - if you only tried the heat-treated 'Tomny Atkins' you find at the supermarket, you might come to the conclusion that mango is nothing special, but if you travel to an area where numerous varieties are grown, you would likely have a different opinion.

Totally agree that black sapote is beyond bland, at least all the ones I have tried. I understood the common name of "chocolate pudding fruit" to refer to the consistency rather than the flavor.

Pitaya/pitahaya aka dragonfruit is one of the most easily hybridized species out there. I have had many white-fleahed fruits that were sweeter than the red-fleshed fruit, although some of the worst I have tasted were white-fleshed (think "wet styrofoam"). I think the reason that the red-fleshed fruit are thought of as sweeter is because the red flesh is more attractive and therefore they are used more frequently to create new hybrids, with the lost tasting resultants being culled.

As much as I think very little of Surinam-cherry, I do recognize that there is likely a genetic component differentiating between those who are fans and those who are not. (I have never been able to finish a single fruit, including the various black varieties and those that are "fall off when touched" ripe.) Likely similar to cilantro which many enjoy and others think taste like soap.

I have a similar rule for SE Asian fruits (got this one from Chris Rollins) - if they say a fruit "goes good with fish", it is likely very sour.

Very well written description of the trip. It was almost like being there. Fantastic photos of some pretty cool fruits!

Nice looking tree. Good job on getting it to that size. Hopefully you will have one that sets fruit on its own. Looking forward to seeing cacao pods in VA!