Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - starling1

Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5 ... 35
51
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« on: May 31, 2015, 12:00:08 AM »
Quote from: Rannman on May 30, 2015, 07:40:04 PM




Breakfast of kings. Pawpaw and Purple Haze. This was my largest Purple Haze of the season, 983gms. Very nice!

What kind of papaya is that Anthony? Looks too broad to be a solo but is about the same size. Waimalo?

That's a whopper of a P haze, never had one that big. Almost a Kilogram, that's incredible.

52
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: best way to harvest spiney dragon fruit fruit
« on: May 30, 2015, 11:57:57 PM »
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Chef-Blowtorch-Jet-Flame-Torch-Kitchen-Cooking-Soldering-Brazing-Best-Price-/251628940425?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item3a9640ec89

53
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Stony Creek Cacti; a great source for fruiting Opuntia (prickly pear) varieties
« on: May 30, 2015, 06:57:56 PM »
https://www.stoneycreekcacti.net/

Mail order too. Prices are good, range is excellent, postage is fair. US based.



54
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best type of organic mulch to buy at local nurseries
« on: May 30, 2015, 01:16:38 AM »
Quote from: Viking Guy on May 30, 2015, 12:50:50 AM
Plain cypress mulch is a very cheap and great mulch to use.

Can even get it cheaper at Wal-Mart.

Definitely don't bother with any of the dyed crap.

I dig Soil Conditioner into the top layer and then cover it all with cypress.  Holds moisture deep in the driest of times.

If the mulch is swamp cypress, please avoid using this as it really isn't sustainable and takes quite an ecological toll.

55
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best type of organic mulch to buy at local nurseries
« on: May 30, 2015, 12:15:22 AM »
Bark mulches don't really do much for your soil, that's why all the pro's use lucerne straw when commercially farming. Bark mulches tend to make soil kind of gummy over time. I do use bark because it is cheap and I can't afford to mulch everything with lucerne (or pine straw) but if you can afford either of those, get them. Alternatively, it is worth spending money on regular pine bark chip as it is long lasting, and  helps acidify your soil.

56
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Opuntia 'Santa Ynez' pads for postage
« on: May 29, 2015, 11:35:22 PM »
This is opuntia linguiformis, or cow's tongue opuntia. The fruit are red fleshed and are usually pretty good.

Burbanks only ever developed one opuntia for fruit production, all the others were intended as cattle fodder. There are much better fruiting opuntia out there than burbank's spineless types. I do have the one he developed as a fruit crop, it's probably the rarest thing I own, and it is not spineless. It has long spines, but no glochids. It is some kind of Robusta hybrid. The reds have been better than any other colour I've tried, including yellow, and the flavour is different. Reds have a raspberry-like flavour, whereas the yellows/ oranges are kind of melony.

57
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Plant O Gram Poncho Avocado Tree !
« on: May 29, 2015, 10:01:56 PM »
wow, incredibly healthy and good sized tree for a mail order. I doubt anyone would even guess it's a mail order tree. looks like it was picked up from a  nursery.

58
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: For Trade; Oca seed tubers
« on: May 29, 2015, 08:42:51 PM »
Pm sent raul.

59
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« on: May 29, 2015, 08:41:35 PM »
Quote from: merce3 on May 29, 2015, 08:36:26 PM
pollinated these bad boys last night... excuse the poor quality photos. i took them on my tablet.




Beautiful, healthy plants merce. And perfectly pruned.

60
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Thondy (Alangium Salvifolium) fruit seeds available...
« on: May 29, 2015, 08:14:08 AM »
price? and is this self pollinating?

61
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: unexpected guest at my garden, sorry wanted to post originally in Trop. Fruit
« on: May 29, 2015, 07:40:11 AM »
Quote from: stuartdaly88 on May 29, 2015, 03:23:14 AM
Quote from: starling1 on May 29, 2015, 01:45:40 AM
Here's my unexpected visitor raul, juvenile ( I think) Koala.







Ha ha ha ha thats amazing I would flip!
I just could not have bad day after being greeted by that in my one of my gardens trees ;D ;D ;D

I'm guessing it must have spent time in human care, because it wasn't phased by me one bit. Normally they scamper back up the tree when you go near them, this one just climbed down and went on its merry way down the paddock, Walked right past me at a distance of a few feet. Well, not walked--they kind of lope.

I'll tell you what else is weird--the tree it's in in the picture is a tuckeroo, and its about as likely to eat the foliage of that as it is to eat a cheeseburger. No idea what it was doing in there.

62
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: unexpected guest at my garden, sorry wanted to post originally in Trop. Fruit
« on: May 29, 2015, 01:45:40 AM »
Here's my unexpected visitor raul, juvenile ( I think) Koala.








63
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: For Trade; Oca seed tubers
« on: May 28, 2015, 11:04:59 PM »
Quote from: Raulglezruiz on May 28, 2015, 10:58:47 PM
Starling, that sound very tasty! I love yuca smash and fried and also platano macho fried also; those  ones look very yummy! Too bad I dont live in temperate climate; my coldest in winter time here is 15 ,16celsius early in the morning through the day is 25 /28, average

if you grow them in the shade,  you will probably get away with it--but only in winter. The plant itself has leaves like clover--very delicate and cannot handle blazing light. They are grown where I live successfully in winter and it is about the same temperature range in winter as where you are.

64
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: extraterrestrial forms in the backyard
« on: May 28, 2015, 10:40:00 PM »
This is perhaps the most awesome backyard project ever. Well done sir!

65
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / For Trade; Oca seed tubers
« on: May 28, 2015, 10:06:42 PM »
Delicious Yam Native to New Zealand. Tastes like a combination of potato, squash, and some othery-ness kind of like sweet potato. Flavor is delicate and not robust. Very soft flesh. Very easy to mash, but I prefer mine par-boiled, rolled in onion powder and deep fried, which gives them the texture and consistency of a tater-tot (super crispy on the outside, soft on the inside).

Note: Oca is not a tropical Yam, and is a temperate crop. If you live in the tropics, or subtropics, you need to reverse the season--that is, grow them in winter.






66
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Copper vs. Sulfur Spray (for mango)
« on: May 28, 2015, 09:24:32 PM »

copper sprays do work on mangoes, hut you really have to drench the tree with them. I also mix mine 2/15 times stronger than recommended.

67
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Banana ID required
« on: May 28, 2015, 08:33:55 PM »
What is this? Dwarf Ducasse? Have been waiting for it to fruit for a while, finally got there after a recent inundation. I don't treat it very well.








68
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: chilli overload
« on: May 28, 2015, 08:23:03 PM »
Quote from: Mike T on June 10, 2012, 05:51:07 PM







Fruit waste in yard is greatest with chillis and with many crazy productive plants including the thai gourmet and bhut jolokia above even the foraging birds can't keep up.When the morugas and butch T's start producing the jolokias will be the 3rd hottest in the yard and I will have to try using them properly.

I really don't understand the attraction to butch T's, scorpions etc. You'd have to have an insane tolerance to really enjoy them, that excludes me. Anything hotter than a Jalapeno and I'm out.

69
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« on: May 28, 2015, 07:00:12 PM »
Quote from: TheWaterbug on May 28, 2015, 06:34:02 PM
I think my purchased-from-Lowes-from-LaVerne dragonfruit is about ready for trellising, so I built this:



The bottom of the top crossbar (or the top of the bottom crossbar) is 6' off the ground. Don't look too closely at the diagonal braces; I did a _horrible_, ugly job with those. Should I wrap the main post with burlap to give the aerial roots something to attach to?

Is that pot big enough? It's nominally 19" wide by 16" tall. If use an interior top radius of 8.5", an interior bottom radius of 6.5", and an interior height of 15" I calculate 2,666 cu inches, or about 11 gallons.

There are two plants in the soil; the 6' one is doing fine, but the other one is growing out sideways. If I can successfully bend the existing growth upright it'll be about half the height (from the ground). If it breaks off it'll be much shorter :D

Also, I need to decide on a permanent location for this. How does one move a 6', spindly plant that has sharp spines?

You can bend them a little bit, but yeah--they're not like a passionfruit vine or something and will snap if forced too much. The side growth should be pruned off if it isn't pointing directly upwards.

That pot is definitely big enough to allow the plant to produce fruit, but you will need to find a way to anchor it at the base, because it will blow over otherwise--definitely. The roots form in such a way that they spread out to quite a shallow depth at first, then they start moving down towards the bottom of the pot.

70
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Mychorrhizae; is it worth it?
« on: May 28, 2015, 06:32:09 AM »
I've seen a few reports of people using it who say they don't seem to notice any difference when including it as part of their nutrient regime. Anyone able to share their experiences with it?

71
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Queensland
« on: May 25, 2015, 06:03:01 PM »
Quote from: druss on May 25, 2015, 05:56:23 PM
Echinopora, mainly tropical fruit and nut related, though I'm interested in any recommendations. Starling; thanks Ill add rustys to the list. Any dragon fruit farms/ growers that i could go visit?

You could pay a visit to red fox pitaya in nanango. Bernice is a nice Lady, a skilled breeder, and runs tours. Avoid Tamborine Dragon fruit farm. The guy that runs that place is a mean spirited Joker, and all his varieties are terrible with exceedingly average brix ratings and no flavour.

http://www.aussiedragonfruit.com/Contact_Us.php

72
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Queensland
« on: May 25, 2015, 05:41:39 PM »
You're definitely going to want to take a trip to Rusty's fruit market up in cairns. Might be worth sending  message to Mike T, he might be able to help you out.

73
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Contest: Best Containerized Tropical (Subtropical) Fruit Tree Photo $$ PRIZE $$
« on: May 25, 2015, 05:38:19 PM »
Quote from: HMHausman on May 25, 2015, 03:04:12 PM
Algebra was not my strong suit.  I was much more a geometry kind of guy.  Thank God I don't have to boggle my mind with your formula. Thanks for your generous spirit.  It is kind of you to give back to the community.......and fun also.  :)

lol you know that thing doesn't make any sense, right?

Haha. Hilarious. ;D

74
Citrus General Discussion / Re: My Fingerlime Grove and How I grow Finger Limes.
« on: May 24, 2015, 08:34:05 PM »
Quote from: luc on May 24, 2015, 07:34:29 PM
OK , so I planted mine , several years ago , in the ground and in the wrong spot , I looked at commercial plantation pictures and they were in full sun , so that’s what I did . I had a few fruits after 5 - 6 years . Flowered last year but no fruit , the 1.70 meter tree looked like it was gonna die , branches dried ...Now it is back to normal but so far this year no flowering . I’ll give it some Epsom salt.
Should I maybe put some shade cloth over it ?

Thank you Luke for this great Info .

well, those pictures are deceiving. What you'll find when you visit a commercial operation (I have) is that they're never put in full, baking sun--they are planted at an aspect which gives them gentle sun exposure, and the pictures that show the sun beaming down on them have been taken at a time during the day when that is happening. But they aren't ever exposed to that kind of heat all day. They can't handle it. Look at don's pictures in the fingerlime thread in the discussion boards--that's their precise natural conditions.

4 hours of gentle light is perfect if you can manage it, on either side of morning and dusk.

They are hard to get fruiting in the ground--well, prolifically anyway. You're much better off keeping them in a large pot filled with a gritty mix. Try to keep your PH around 4-4.5. I have tried a bunch of different fertilisers, cheap citrus granulated stuff is good, the best I've tried ( and still use) is a nutrient mix designed to work in coir, but it is expensive. I can't stress  enough how important light, free draining soil is.

75
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Fingerlime find.
« on: May 24, 2015, 07:55:45 PM »
Here are the pictures Don took of the fingerlimes he discovered growing in their natural habitat. Some very picturesque country. As you can see, the trees are in very low light, which is optimal for them. Do not try and grow them in full sun; they will no do well, and will generally hate you for doing that.

Note: These are not my pictures, and I don't have seed to trade! If you want to work that out, please PM Don.

It probably took quite trek through the bush to find these.

These are the only ones I could get to work sorry Don, I get error messages when trying to upload the others. Weird.

*update*

Ok, let's see if this works; I copied them onto my desktop and will try to upload via that que.

Seems to have worked.






























Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5 ... 35
SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk