Garcinia and Fruit Fly

[Julian R]

I had my first fully ripened lemon drop today. Was surprised to find one of the segments had a dang fruit fly in it! I noticed little dots forming over the fruit and thought it was just surface damage from curious insects/birds but I guess it was attempts to sting the fruits. Was under the impression that Garcinia (in FL at least) was not susceptible to fruit fly but I suppose that is not true! The lemon drops skin is quite thin compared to other Garcinia I've had... perhaps as the tree matures and the fruits are a bit bigger they will be more resilient? I'll be bagging from now on regardless. Anyone else dealing with this issue?

The single larvae didn't stop me from trying the un-violated segments though! Tasted like lemon sorbet!

[brian]

Damn, that is a shame

I know what it is like to have all my fruits ruined by bugs, at least for my temperate trees.  Garcinia seems like something that would be resistant but I guess not.

[Julian R]

Here's some pics of the skin after it was peeled.  You can see the sting marks and how paper thin the skin on this one is.

[Jaboticaba45]

Well, on the positive side, achacha rind is too thick for the flies is what I've seen.
And achacha is a better fruit overall than lemon drop objectively.
I'd plant out some achacha!

[MadFarm]

Well, on the positive side, achacha rind is too thick for the flies is what I've seen.
And achacha is a better fruit overall than lemon drop objectively.
I'd plant out some achacha!

This


There are a few different flies that will get in to fruit of all kinds down here.

[Julian R]

Well, on the positive side, achacha rind is too thick for the flies is what I've seen.
And achacha is a better fruit overall than lemon drop objectively.
I'd plant out some achacha!

Just waiting on it to fruit! It's about 6ft tall this year - Dang thing is being stingy! Though the hurricane set it back pretty bad last year so maybe I should go easy on it:

[TropicalFruitHunters]

Jaboticaba45...here in Thailand, the fruit fly stings don't always penetrate to the actual fruit, but the sting seems to stunt the maturity of the fruit.  None of the fruit get to proper size, never achieve the deep orange, and the flesh never reaches its full potential of sweetness.  Most fruit are stung early and drops.  Those that don't drop, aren't worth eating.  Not sure what defensive measures are going to work here, but the little bastards sure have zeroed in on my tree.

[Fruitguy]

My lemon drops get these stings as the season progresses, usually around June or thereafter. The early part of the year they are clean.  They usually do not penetrate far enough to cause larval issues. They do not taste any different but the fruit does seem to deteriorate a little sooner than normal, and it certainly makes for an unattractive fruit when it has a dozen or more stings.

W.

[daisyguy]

My lemon drops get these stings as the season progresses, usually around June or thereafter. The early part of the year they are clean.  They usually do not penetrate far enough to cause larval issues. They do not taste any different but the fruit does seem to deteriorate a little sooner than normal, and it certainly makes for an unattractive fruit when it has a dozen or more stings.

W.

I'm all the way up in Gainesville and even mine get stung. They definitely penetrate far enough to have a maggot inside. If you really look you'll eventually find it


The silver lining is that I really appreciate the clear visual indicator that it's been stung. They stung the bejesus out of this fruit, but so far I'm only losing about 50% to stings and enjoy the rest blemish free.