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Messages - gnappi

Pages: 1 ... 89 90 [91]
2251
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Help Identifying My Mango Tree!
« on: July 07, 2012, 07:55:23 PM »
I have what I think is a Madame Francis mango.

The previous owners of my house were Haitian, and I think they grew this one from seed. I found this description on the web it describes my mango to a T.

The Madame Francis grows on small farms throughout Haiti.

Flavor: Rich, spicy and sweet (Describes mine)
Texture: Soft, juicy flesh with fibers (Describes mine)
Color: Bright yellow skin with green overtones (Describes mine)
Shape: Oblong and sigmoid S-shape (Describes mine)
Ripening Cues: Green overtones diminish and the yellow becomes more golden as the Francis ripens. Squeeze gently to judge ripeness. Season May-July. (Describes mine)

Other descriptions I found:

Waxy skin, managable size, anthracnose tolerance, and can ALSO produce MULTIPLE CROPS (I have had a couple of separate bloom flushes but only this last crop has set fruit) in Florida May through January!

Every pic I have seen on the web is exactly like mine, and they have just finished ripening. Has anyone seen or does anyone have one?




2252
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Dog Digs Up Fruit Tree
« on: July 05, 2012, 11:05:19 PM »
Quote from: Mr. Clean on July 04, 2012, 08:28:14 AM
My dog has dug up this jackfruit tree twice.  Any recommendations on how to get him to stop?





I have a sweetheart lychee and a 60+ pound dog that bowls everything over when we play fetch the stick. I added a circle of garden wall stones around it, problem solved.








2253
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: The Ultimate Mango List!
« on: June 30, 2012, 01:29:19 PM »
Quote from: murahilin on June 05, 2012, 10:45:07 PM
Input from members


Some 25 odd years ago I had a peach mango (never saw another one) and can tell you this:

Tree size: large
Growth rate: fast
Fruit size: Small less han a pound
Fiber: None very sweet
Disease resistance: NEVER had any common problems reported on the web
Location:Deerfield Beach Fla.

I only fed it fish carcasses, nothing more, and it supplied the whole neighborhood with fruit in less than 5 years from a tree when it went into the ground with a trunk around 3" across.






2254
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: sweetest carambola
« on: June 28, 2012, 12:17:37 AM »
Quote from: Tomas on February 14, 2012, 11:41:33 AM
Hi,

I just ate some Kari carambolas and they were so sweet and good.  Is Kari the sweetest varieties around?

Tomas

I have Kari, Bell, and Kajang carambolas and all are good. But from side by side taste tests with several people, all agree that the Kajang is the best. My Kari are best when the fruit starts to get brown "age spots" but before they fall from the tree.


2255
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Thai white guava
« on: June 28, 2012, 12:05:26 AM »
Quote from: Mike T on June 27, 2012, 06:56:47 PM

Once having a range of guavas I have trimmed it down to the 5 best.My thai white is from a very productive strain fruiting several times a year.The large white fleshed fruit routinely way well over 2lbs in summer,have very few seeds and taste very similar to mexican cream.Seedless thais are not available in australia.

My Thai white is only giving one crop a year, but it's small and in a container, I hope it will give me more once I put it in the ground, I LOVE the flavor.

2256
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: A star is born
« on: June 28, 2012, 12:01:28 AM »
Quote from: KarenRei on June 26, 2012, 11:01:09 AM
Quote from: Jackfruitwhisperer69 on June 24, 2012, 09:19:59 AM
Hi Mike,
I really luv carambolas...They are not the sweetest fruit on the block...but, they are very refreshing and very exotic 8)

Thanks for sharing :)

I really want to love carambola.  Not just productive and exotic, but so pretty too!  But they just taste like... well, nothing.  Like someone took a good tasting fruit, then took all the sugar and flavor out, leaving moisture-filled pulp with the flavor of fruit skin.

At least that's been my impression of grocery store stars.  Are any varieties better than others?

Buying carambola in a store is a waste of money, just like papaya. I have three cultivars and let them ripen on the tree, they're sweet, and juicy. My fave is my little Kajang, but I don't throw away the Bell or Kari either :-)

2257
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Jaboticabas & such ...
« on: June 27, 2012, 11:48:31 PM »
Quote from: KarenRei on June 25, 2012, 03:36:30 PM
ASaffron: It might well be cleaning your teeth, although it won't do the same thing as fluoride.  :)  Teeth are normally predominantly hydroxylapatite.  Fluoride converts it to fluoroapatite, which is a harder and more acid-resistant mineral.  So yeah, not the same, but it may well at least be cleaning your teeth  :)

I liken Jabo to concord grapes with a crunchier skin. I think that if you like Concords, you'd like Jabo. This is the way they were explained to me and I bought a tree without tasting its fruit. I'm in my second season of small harvests and can't wait till it's as full as some I've seen.

2258
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Fairchild --- The perfect perimeter mango. No one will take them
« on: June 27, 2012, 11:42:08 PM »
Quote from: bradflorida on June 26, 2012, 09:32:05 PM
Hawaii either doesn't allow concealed carry or makes it nearly impossible I obtain the license if I remember correctly. Florida gun laws are much less strict.

I saw a multi camera indoor/outdoor security system for about $400 which captures and stores a ton of video on a large hard drive. Much more reasonable than in the past.

Brad

I'm torn about the ease of getting a concealed weapons license here in Fla. As a firearm instructor I see the worst of the worst "teaching" the class, the students get legal advise which is against NRA instructor rules, and few teach a real NRA approved class which is "generally" required by the state with a few exceptions. Add to that the state "proficiency" requirement is a joke and you get incompetent people teaching incompetent people with weapons.

Anyhow, I lost a lot of mangos this past week from thieves and the mangos were STILL GREEN, which means that they have patience to let them ripen. I did get to see them on my DVR security system. LOT of good that does, police have better things to do, hell, even when a crime is SERIOUS bleeding heart judges let them off with little more than a slap on the hand, trust me, I KNOW this first hand. 
 
The cameras will come in handy if they murder you though. :-)

2259
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Atemoya Disaster!
« on: June 27, 2012, 07:10:29 AM »
Quote from: sunworshiper on June 25, 2012, 07:00:10 PM
Today's severe weather took its toll. My poor atemoya tree was snapped off about 10 inches above the ground=( Here it was last week:
Would you have pruned the "before" tree? It seemed to me that it was taking on a pretty good shape with well placed branches. But it was not strong enough to hold itself up and I had it tied to a bamboo pole. Strong winds unfortunately broke the ties.

Angela

Hi Angela. My Geffner is really tall and spindly, so I kept a vertical garden support stick tied to the trunk, and have three stakes in the ground that it's also tied to, as I had the same worries about it breaking. I also have a sugar apple which has a support stick tied to the trunk also. Both will have their supports until the trunk size matches their spreading canopies.

Sorry to see your tree break. It looked really  nice, hopefully it will rebound.

2260
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: For the love of white sapote
« on: June 27, 2012, 07:04:28 AM »
Quote from: bradflorida on June 26, 2012, 09:19:16 PM
Most people on this forum in southern Florida seem to have a hard time getting white sapotes to fruit. However, I have now seen mature fruiting trees at Excalibur and young fruiting trees at treehouse in Bokeelia.

Perhaps with my small yard I should just play it safe and plant both white sapote trees in the same hole

Any thoughts on the variability or discrepancies?

Brad

In the fall of 2010 I bought an SES2 White Sapote at Excalibur at a fairly high price. It's been in the ground since then and while it's healthy and has grown slowly and is nicely shaped, I still wait for it to  bloom.

Until the tree produces I'll wait to pass judgement on it. Even if it doesn't fruit much, it's an attractive gnarly looking tree. Long term whether or not it gets to stay in the ground may depend on its ability to pay me back for its cost in fruit :-)
 



2261
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Anyone having good luck with Julie this year?
« on: June 27, 2012, 06:49:39 AM »
Quote from: Mike T on June 27, 2012, 05:48:10 AM
I had a Julie a few years ago and kept it for 3 fruiting seasons.I found that it just was not good enough to keep its position in the backyard so was cut.It did have a nice shape and was quite productive.

I have a Julie, in its first season, I had a dozen fruits, and the ones I ate were delicious. IMO, even an average mango is better than none, they're certainly as good as a top notch carambola or canistel. Unless a mango is of a turpentine type I can't fault most mangos.


2262
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: My new Pickering mangos - gone!
« on: June 27, 2012, 06:46:51 AM »
Quote from: puglvr1 on June 26, 2012, 09:19:33 AM
Holy Smokes!!! I'm SO sorry  >:(...So far the varmints in my yard have NOT touched any of the mangos that are wrapped, I know my days are numbered.

I've been checking my fruits on a daily basis and have been picking it as soon as I start to see some color in hopes of preventing them from eating it as soon as the ripe scent gets noticed. Wish me luck!!

Time to break out some stronger Fencing wire that they sell at the Feed Stores...for next season.

At least your thieves NEED the fruit, I had two of my trees nearly cleaned of mangos. My little Julie was having its first fruiting season, and a two legged rat helped himself to almost all of the 12 mangos on the tree. I'd like to put a bear trap in my yard and whack off the leg of the creep, but only in my dreams :-)

I too will fence my trees next season

2263
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: How many trees do you have and how big is your property?
« on: June 17, 2012, 01:43:07 AM »
Quote from: FloridaGreenMan on June 01, 2012, 10:47:13 PM
I want to find out how crowded your yard, farm or orchard is with fruit trees. 

My property is 80x100, and I have about 35 varieties of fruit. Many are bushes or vines (guava, Grumichama, coffee, barbados cherry, surinam cherry, pomegranate, Grape, passionfruit) most trees are small or dwarf (Ambarella, Makok sapodilla, jaboticaba, Julie mango,  carambola) or are confined without spread or huge canopies (Papaya, bananas. gold nugget jackfruit, lemondrop mangosteen) many others are in pots,

I keep many spares in pots in case I lose something to disease, cold, or just unacceptable fruit or production.








2264
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Post pics of Pitombas!
« on: May 06, 2012, 10:28:36 AM »
Quote from: Adam Shafran on May 02, 2012, 03:44:53 PM
Seems like it gets underutilized in FL, although nurseries stock this plant.  I don't usually go to peoples houses and see nice specimens of this plant...let alone a specimen at all.

Who else is hiding this one?  Let your pitomba's start popping up out of the woodwork.

I have one for about a year. It had a couple of fruit on it that I just recently picked. I also was underwhelmed with the taste.

2265
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: My first chocolate tree
« on: April 28, 2012, 03:50:55 PM »
Quote from: CacaoGuy on April 28, 2012, 11:42:21 AM
Here's a few pictures of my very first chocolate tree (aka cacao)





I have two. After one season of the first one blooming, I bought a second to get it to cross pollinate themselves. Grrr still waiting for the second to bloom



2266
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Harvested some Suris...Not the tribe ;)
« on: April 23, 2012, 12:09:32 AM »
Quote from: Jackfruitwhisperer69 on April 22, 2012, 06:38:09 AM
Hi :),

I harvested some Surinam cherries...

Who's cultivating them too...add pics if possible ;)

I have a red variety (VERY resiny) and purple ones which are sweeter and have less resin taste. I much prefer the purple ones. Several people I know prefer the red.

That's what I like about tropical fruits... something for everyone, BUT, that also makes it hard to take someones advice on flavor!

2267
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: White Sapote --anyone growing it?
« on: April 22, 2012, 11:59:00 PM »
Quote from: zands on April 22, 2012, 11:11:43 AM
I see Pine Island nursery lists them. Any other sources in South Florida for it? thanks!
I put my SES2 in the ground ~1.5 years ago. It's VERY slow growing, even slower than my Jaboticaba but my Jabo has given me at least a couple of dozen fruits in its second year in the ground. I still wait for the SES2 to flower. It's probably 4+ years old, and has grown only a few inches since I bought it.

I got my SES2 at Excalibur, it was pretty expensive if you go there expect to pay dearly.



2268
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Anyone have bee hives
« on: April 22, 2012, 07:18:54 AM »
Quote from: mikesid on April 20, 2012, 07:36:35 PM
I am going to be getting a hive soon for my property. Does anyone hear have one? What are your experiences with having to hand pollinate vs the hive....I use to hand pollinate my dragon fruit but I see many photos where the bees do the work...Also bees are good for my raised veggie bed....I know my watermelons can stand to benefit...and I get honey!

I am in north Broward, and was having to hand pollinate too and I looked into bee keeping too but came to the conclusion that in a home environment it is impractical, and likely not legal.

So Lowes and Home Depot solved my problems.

I went to their garden centers and watched lots of wild honey and bumble bees on their perennial  flowers looking specifically which types the bees liked best. I came home with 10 pots of flowers and also bought a flowering calamondin. Today I have lured sufficient wild bees to keep from hand pollinating ever again. Even iff bee keeping were an option for you, I think my solution is a good start before going through getting a hive.

My "Bee  Haven" is under the eaves of my house in an otherwise useless area that now serves a purpose. Here's a pic of the area when I planted it. Now the flowers are MUCH larger.




2269
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Guava Tree Issues
« on: March 23, 2012, 12:19:24 PM »
I don't know how much better they will do but add insecticidal soap and do it every few days for a while. You can easily remove scale by hand too. My Ruby supreme got so bad despite my measures, I cut off the top and am waiting to see if it comes back.

My Strawberry, Lemon, and Thai guavas seem to be immune to scale, white fly and sooty mold, so I'm going to focus more on those in the future. All of my red / pink guava have been a pain. 

2270
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Suggestions For New Fruit Trees?
« on: March 20, 2012, 07:46:25 AM »
1) Fast growing, 2) Ease of care, 3) High Fruit Yield, 4) Good taste (I like sweet), 5)  No thorns (ouch!

Fast growing is the problem... Sweet is another and relative. To me papaya, banana and starfruit meet all your criteria, though your palate may not agree.

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