The Tropical Fruit Forum

It's not a fruit tree, but is anyone growing it?  It's a beautiful fan palm from Cuba, but the only place I've ever seen it is at Fairchild.  My son was at Fairchild last weekend, and I asked him if he saw the Baileyanas.  He found a lady in Satellite Beach who sells them, so he's going to plant one at his new house in Melbourne.  He's on his way to becoming a gardener!

The Florida Big Bend area is going to get clobbered with storm surge comparable to Ian.  At least this is the least populous section of Florida coastline.  I hope everyone in Cedar Key evacuates because that little island will probably be 100% underwater.

I wanted to give them a shout-out.  I received a box of these beauties today (Simmonds).  I feel their price is reasonable, too. www.guacfarm.com

Strong, sturdy plant, as is typical of this variety. Excellent fruit of the apple type.  We (you!) will dig carefully to preserve the roots.
PM me if interested.  It's free, but I won't refuse any mangos from your trees!

If you had to choose between the two, which one would you plant?  I know that Orange Essence is "citrus-Gary" and Orange Sherbet is "citrus-PPK," but if someone, who has room for only 2 mango trees, is just looking for one of the best-tasting mangos, which one should he choose if his other mango is going to be M-4?

I have avocados "fresh from the farm" in CA, untreated and unadulterated in any way.  If I want to start seedling trees from some of the seeds, what's the best method?  Here's the catch.  My family and I are going on a 2-week trip from the end of May to almost the middle of June.  I need to start this project when I return so how best to store the seeds until then?  Would refrigerating them be okay?  Thanks, guys.

SPRING 2023 PLANT SALE

Spring has sprung and the Soursops have flushed out again!!

Date: Saturday, March 25, 2023 @ 9am

Location: South Florida Fairgrounds Concourse Building 6-10

West Palm Beach, FL

https://pbrfc.wildapricot.org/page-1516775

There may not be anthing too exciting, but who knows!

The mighty Lula tree in my neighborhood still has fruit at the top.  It was literally a stretch, but I managed to pick me a bucket!  I revere this tree.  I started picking in late September.

Sleepy Lizard Avocado Farm, South Miami-Dade. www.guacfarm.com
End of season Monroe avocados. My box had 5 avocados, which weighed about 9.5 lbs. Beautiful fruit!

There's a Lula avocado tree in my community, which is at least 40 ft. tall and loaded with fruit this year.  I've never seen so many avocados on one tree.  With my 25-ft. pole I've been picking a bucket a week for almost a month now.  I like them way more than the Mexican Hass that all the supermarkets around here sell.  Better quality, better flavor, even though Hass is considered a superior variety, which it indisputably is when grown, harvested, and processed properly. 

(Fucking Mexican cartels!  Mexico--where human life has no value.  And I'm not speaking of the vast majority of Mexicans, who are kind, gracious, and generous people--they suffer and die also, especially indigenous people, because no government, army, and law enforcement are more corrupt.  Why are our supermarket chains supporting the cartels?)

I've read that many Indian mangos don't reach their full flavor potential in Florida or don't produce well and consistently due to our different climate.  So which varieties are best when grown in Florida?  I don't want to eliminate USDA Himsagar even though it's probably not the Himsagar actually grown in India because I tasted it this summer, and it was very good.  A big plus would be if the tree were compact and dwarfish.  I apologize if some version of this topic has been covered before, but as we've had more experience with Indian mangos in the last few years, I think it's worthwhile to find out what the consensus might be.  India is the mango's motherland, after all.

Are any members growing the Hall avocado?  Can you tell me about its ripening dates, productivity, and flavor?  Also, growth characteristics?  Would it be along the same lines as Simmonds, Choquette, or Monroe as far as oil content and flavor?  Or perhaps a little denser (drier) and more flavorful like Lula?  Anything else you can tell me about this variety and whether it's worth growing?  I'm looking for something that starts ripening in the fall a couple months before Monroe kicks in.  Thank you, friends.  Even if you tasted it and didn't like it, let me know.  I know it's one of the "SlimCados."  God, I hate that name!

I had a few relatives over, and we tasted Cac, Dupuis Saigon, Peach Cobbler, and two different seedlings.  Everyone agreed that Cac was the best, but surprisingly the seedling fruit (which in a previous thread I had mistaken for Kent) came in second.  Peach Cobbler was third (we all tasted tangerine), but it may not have been the best representative of this variety.  Unfortunately, a Venus mango was still too hard to be included.  The last two Cac I've tasted have been almost identical in flavor to the Mahachanok mangoes I grew in the past--with floral and cola notes and super-sweet without acidity.