The Tropical Fruit Forum

A lot of Eugenias and Plinia can handle down to 32 or lower, but since they are going outside for the first time, I would say 50 is a good low to start out with as long as there's no crazy winds.

It's extremely dappled, basically right up on the trunk under a peach tree canopy so it just gets a kiss of light.  I'll monitor it closely but since I basically do the same process to garcinias and jabos with no issue I think it will be okay.

I should go about it more properly but I literally have a bunch community pots with tons of guava seedlings that go straight from indoor and barely acclimate them and let them fight it out under the sun gladiator style.

Hi everybody,

Welcome to a community where us prickly nerds can discuss our passion for all things cacti related.  Inspired by the PGA thread for Psidiums and looking back on a thread I started called Top Cacti fruit, I decided this would be a great place for conversation and sharing thoughts.  While I don't have the length of experience many of you already do, I like many of you have started to put together a little collection of these low irrigation plants. 

Cacti are resilient here in Southern California, anyone that lives here knows that they require little care other than warm sunshine and a bit of water to keep growth pushing.  Pests are far and few between for these plants.  Basically, except for a select few species, they require little care and resources which is great for the environment (and wallet! ).

So how is everyone's cacti plants warming up this season? I am seeing a lot new growth emerge here as our Spring slowly kicks into warmer temperatures.

I have a few Campomanesias but those are new to me and still babies.  Schechtendeliana barely has 1st set of leaves and have 1 more emerging from the soil.  My Reitziana is a bit further along but have little info on it.  It has some really neat leaves IMO.  Check it out from my pic last month:



Personally I like the idea of Psidiums better because I can have them get blasted with full sun and not be too bothered by our cold.  But if Campomanesias have a worthy taste then I would consider exploring adding more to the collection.

Thanks for the opinions, I was just trying to get an idea.  I love throwing some blood oranges in lemonade to make a nice flavor, so while I do eat them sometimes, I really like that they have this orange flavor with hints of berry.  When I make it with other oranges, it just becomes too orange-y for me personnally.

Wow Rob, yours is killing it.  Just shows you how different our zones can be with the same label, no doubt you guys have higher humidity and all that.  I am just glad that mine made it through our winter and ready to kick into high gear for growth.

Hi all,

I don't know that much about citrus but I really enjoy blood oranges.  Can someone point me in the direction of the best varieties that are worth obtaining?

I totally understand a situation like that.  I would assume the ones I saw in airport are pre-screened or something, of course these weren't mango seeds that I saw there though.  Even when crossing land borders into CA they just ask if carrying fruit from other states outside of Cali at USDA checkpoints and that's about it.

I am new to jabos since last year.  I'm pretty close to the water.  The one I have growing in 10b here near the coast got a little crispy in full sun during the summer and even a bit until early fall.  I had then moved it to a place where it gets dappled/partial sun in the morning and shade around noon and it seems happy there.  We can get a lot of cloudless summer days with intense summer sun near the coast so that is just my opinion, San Diego has a lot of microclimates though.

Anecdotal but I had a small Achacha probably about 9 inches outdoors and it looks like it didn't make it here in 10B.  Probably a combo of the cold/rain/windy winter we have had (for Southern California standards anyways) and its young age.  I did tuck it away indoor about halfway through winter but probably too little too late.  Garcinia Madruno on the other hand basically went through the same conditions and is perfectly fine.  I may try getting an Achacha again, but seems like a lot of time and work babying it here in infancy to get it going.

Really interested in hearing about the commitment in different zones to make psidiums thrive. In SoCal they are very easy to grow near the coast and inland a bit.  I keep.all my Psidiums outdoor. The regular psidium guavas I have had no issue at all basically all winter long.  The Cas guava though defoliated quite a bit with all this cold rainy winter for us but mine is young and only maybe 1.5 feet tall.  Doesn't seem to matter anyways as its already pushing new growth near the bottom and branches as well.  Cattley guava sprout that I have didn't even figure out it's winter yet.  My other guava sprouts don't really mind coming up in the middle of winter either.

My real interest is in seeing if there are any Psidiums that can pose a bigger challenge for me here (maybe one of those species coming from Cerrado region).

Hello fellow tropical geeks.

I have a few too many plants sprouting and I wanted to share the love.  This is for local pickup in San Diego area only.

Thai White guava (1 whole small tray available) - $2
These are outdoors already in a unheated greenhouse and taking the end of winter cold like a champ.



Bo Hong Star Apple - Chrysophyllum Cainito (3 available) - $3 each
Obtained from Frankies Nursery in Hawaii.  Apologies for having them in plastic bottle greenhouses for now so not the best container but they are happy for now.



Pitangatuba - Eugenia Selloi (1 available) - $4



Red Sugar Apple - Annona Squamosa germinated seeds (2 available) - $1 for both



These are inflation busting prices for some babies ready for spring and that is why I also will not ship them.  Shoot me a message if interested.