The Tropical Fruit Forum

Groundnut (apios americana or prieceana), Jicama (pachyrizus sp.s), dioscorea sp., sweet corn root (calathea allouia), texas ebony (ebenopsis ebano), malabar chestnut. what about oil crops? such as acorns, cocoplums, oil palms, macadamia,. there have to be some many other nuts as well..

I commented earlier about oyster nuts. I'm planning on trying to find some seeds and trying it out next Spring. Sacha inchi seems like a great candidate as well, though I know it's a pain to process the nuts (as is the case for many nuts).

Off the top of my head I think of my old house that had english ivy growing up the southern wall, given that it's only a one story house what do you think of a vining plant like passionfruit? Good for your area, One vine gets up to 50 feet, fruits aren't too heavy and can be picked with those fruit picking poles pretty easily, + beautiful flowers

I was thinking about that. Did you put a trellis up to the south of your house or attach something to the house itself?

I like making baked green banana chips or fries. Cut the ends off, make a slit down, then peel the skin off (use a knife and cutting board you don't care about!). Then slice and bake at 400 for 20 minutes (flip half way through if you care to).

I like to boil them sometimes too.

Whatever you do, stay away from true yams (Dioscorea family).  They grow so easily that they are horribly invasive.  If you aren't careful, everywhere you look there will be a vine with a big edible root under it.  It would be terrible.

Good point. You have to stay on top of collecting the bulbils. There are varities (I've seen for sale on cody cove farms) that do not produce bulbils - so that would be the way if growing yams.

Cody cove also sells a variety of chayote that is thorny and tastes like a potato - not sure if it's just the flavor or if it in fact has higher calories.

I posted about this initially, but based on my research, it seems like oyster nuts are underrated as a staple crop for tropical/subtropical climates. A vining species that produces an abundance of easily stored and nutritious nuts. Cuttings would be preferred over seeds since you need a male and a female and won't know which is which for I think a year and a half, but I haven't been able to track them down. Going to figure out a trellising system and start from seed. Excited to give it a try. They produce for 20 years I think. The nuts are encased within a pumpkin looking thing, so my hope is the squirrels don't give too much trouble (especially if I plant them in the front yard making it difficult to add the squirrels as a sustainable protein source to my diet).

Another thought. Not food but I use soap every day. In the vein of sustainable living, growing my own soap would be valuable. Does anyone have experience with soapberry? I know I’ll need a male and female. I wonder how small these trees can be maintained while still fruiting?

In the vein of living more sustainably, I've been buying more local food and growing more and more of my own food. It's easy to find locally and grow your own "nutrition" crops, like green leafies. I can also find local fruits easily. But staple foods are harder to come by. So now I am growing my own annual staple crops (e.g., sweet potatoes, cassava, etc.). But I am more interested in perennials; tree and shrub crops. Here's what I have going on right now and what I have in mind.

Currently:
Jackfruit (for the seeds)
Pigeon pea
Bananas

Potential:
Macadamia
Oyster nut

Any other ideas for perennial crops that can provide meaningful amounts of calories and macronutrients like carbs, proteins, and fats that grow in my climate?

That's for the recent suggestions. I may be overthinking this, but my concern with cassava (or other root crops for that matter) is if the pesticides could potentially be uptaken by the root. For instance, I know that cassava absorbs pesticides pretty well. I wonder if the safety of the root can be compromised. I'm probably being overly paranoid, but it is a thought that I have. I generally don't like to grow roots along property lines because of all of the poisons people spray on their lawns; I don't want it getting into the roots of my plants. Maybe unreasonable concern, though.

Based on these discussions and my desire for access, I'll probably keep the bananas that aren't diseased, throw in some pigeon peas, and put up some trellises for passionfruit and granadilla (I've never had the large ones before, but I love the other variety that I have tasted). If space permits I may work in a dwarf sapodilla or slow growing mango (e.g., pickering).

I would plant some sugar cane. Black preferably.

Thanks. Doesn't sugar cane require a lot of water? I'd also need to invest in a juicer for it I guess. It's an interesting suggestion.

Some other ideas came to mind, but not sure if they're viable given the space constraints. Makok sapodilla and soapberry.

Hi all. I was in need of privacy along my fence, so I planned to plant a hedge of fruiting plants. However, my neighbors have a mosquito spray that the wind carries over to my property, so I didn't want to plant anything with edible skin. Along most of the hedge, the space I am working with is pretty narrow (about 9 feet or so until you reach my pool fence). I decided to plant bananas along the hedge, which worked great for a while, until a disease showed up, which has been spreading to many of my bananas. I am in the process of diagnosing and treating the disease, but it has underscored to me the importance of avoiding a monoculture. This would be much easier to treat if it didn't spread so rapidly down my hedge. So I am going to pull out some of the bananas that appear to be too far gone and replace them with other plants. However,  am still not sure what to choose, given that I need a plant that will grow to at least 8' to provide some privacy, but also that won't encroach too much on the pool fence. I still need to be able to walk around there. I am going to do some pigeon peas, but I am looking for additional ideas. I thought that araza might be a possibility.
This spot along my fence gets full sun. It is along the east of my property, running from north to south. Thanks for any ideas.

Quote from: Julie on July 22, 2022, 01:01:26 PM

This is so horrible.

This makes me so worried about my front yard trees.  I planted in my front yard because I want as many trees as possible.  I have 27 trees on 1/3 acre.  I have jackfruit, coconut, lime, avocado and mango in the front yard.  I have the option to put all buy 1 coconut tree inside a front yard fence.  All my trees in the front are not producing yet.  I could also do security cameras, but that may not deter them.  Right now I have a front yard papaya tree that will produce in a few months so I'll see if anyone takes them.  I don't want to go through the expense of the fence or cameras but I'm expecting that I probably will have to. 

I know, I want to plant in the front yard, too. I am going to try to plant close to the house and just see what happens. There are so many cool fruit trees that I want to plant that grow in South Florida, but my backyard is too small to fit them all! I think I am going to plant a Mamey Sapote and White Sapote in the front this weekend. I am hoping that maybe people won't recognize them as easily as the Avocado and Mangos?!
Good Luck, Julie!

I'm quite worried about my front yard trees as well, but I'd rather have something growing even if some get stolen than nothing at all. I think my jackfruit will take a hit, followed by mamey. Red custard apple, unsure. Barbados cherry, persimmon, and fig I think are safe.

Peach Cobbler!!

Agreed

Any recommendations for the above? I've heard that Venus has good resistance.