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Messages - Epicatt2

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601
I’d be interested in the Theobroma Subincanum and Obovatum descriptions/photos from that book. Do you know if those species have any photographs in the book?

I looked in my copy and yes, there are photos of them; one or two each with two pages of related text for each.

Quote
Book’s a bit expensive for me, and I can’t seem to find it in any libraries. By the preview on Amazon, this book seems great, with amazing photographs of the fruit.

The only place I've seen this book regularly is on Amazon.

One other helpful feature is that the book has an extensive bibliography.

OK — HTH

Paul M.
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602
I guess anything that can barely tolerate 45 I guess
Chempedak, marang, santol, durian, rambutan, pulasan, abiu, mangosteen, salak, breadfruit, kepel, all of those

If defined properly, then yes, this could be a useful sub-group to have, especially for those who are just getting started with tropical fruit –and there seems to be more of the newly-interested all the time.

Just my 2¢-worth . . .

Paul M.
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603
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: New(ish) Rollinia
« on: March 21, 2021, 01:37:04 PM »
I agree with Epicatt, except that I haven't observed Rollinia deliciosa in flooded or swampy conditions.  They like well-drained soil, usually on hillsides in the Amazon region, and plenty of rain, preferably every day.  They are not drought hardy.

I too have found this species to not be drought hardy.  That is why I have the 7 gallon pot that it is growing in sitting in a saucer which I fill about every other day.  And if the temp. is 80º or above it can drink that water in about 8 hours, in my experience.

Meanwhile, I have today posted to the TFF Online Library a reference to a book called

"AMAZON RIVER FRUITS: Flavors for Conservation" by Nigel Smith.

On page 34-35 of this book there is a very helpful discussion of R. mucosa and its habitat in the Amazon Basin which describes its water needs.

OK – HTH

Paul M.
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604
"Amazon River Fruits"; paperback; Missouri Botanical Gardens Press; pub. 2007.

This book describes a number of interesting fruits found in the western Amazon Basin, various of which are not widely –if at all– in cultivation.  Many useful photos of these fruits are included, a surprising number of which are palms.

But species from a large number of other fruit families are also covered in this volume.

One species that is covered in this book and which may be of interest to others is Rollinia mucosa (syns. R. deliciosa; Annona deliciosa) with a discussion of its habitat and its popularity with the indigenous peoples of the basin as a dooryard fruit tree. The text eplains how the fruits of this species differ depending upon the area of the Basin they are being grown in.  The habitat descriptions for this particular species as covered in this volume will be instrumental for those of us TFF Members who wish to successfully grow this species which is called in Portuguese, 'biribá'.

Those interested in growing the biribá will find it on page 34-35 of this volume.

I have been given to understand that this book may go out-of-print soon so, just a word to the wise.

Paul M.
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605
Also interested, pending a price.

TIA

PM
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606
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: New(ish) Rollinia
« on: March 19, 2021, 01:47:06 PM »
Agreed that Rollinias can be water hogs.  They are from the Amazon Basin and never really dry out.  In fact many of them may get some flooding annually.

I bought mine from Top Tropicals and they make you sign off that you accept that Rollinias don't ship well.  I went for it because the tree is only in the shipping box for one or two days from Ft. Myers to Tampa.

When it arrived the leaves were alive and dark green but were small and deformed, curled at the edges, crinkled and leathery.  I gave it water and sat the pot (3 gal.) in a saucer and filled the saucer with water.  It drank all the water in a single day.  I refilled the dish the next day and it drank all the water again.

I kept the saucer filled pretty much all the time and it started to grow with a vengeance.  The new leaves it produced were flat and velvety looking, more yellow green, and much larger, looking like the healthy Rollinia leaves shown in many photos.  I'm sure the plant had not been getting enough water at the nursery. 

It's now in a seven gallon pot and six feet tall with about a one inch+ diameter trunk.  It went deciduous during the cooler weather here and has now just re-leafed itself in the last week.  Now that it's growing I'll keep the saucer filled again with water.  It seems happy now sitting out in full sun. Hopefully it will flower soon and maybe give me a couple fruit this season.

I'm convinced that ample water provided to this species is one key to success with it.

Paul M.
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607
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: taste of cas guava
« on: March 18, 2021, 12:16:10 AM »
The cas I had in Costa Rica was served me as a refresco natural and tasted,more than anything, not unlike a refreshing lemonade. 

I got to where I craved it while I was there!

OK — HTH

Paul M.
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608
I still have several seashore mangosteen seedlings available in central FL/zone 9b

Seedlings are shipped barefoot.

Can you advise what species this is please.  (Common names are not always accurate for a species ID.)

TIA

Paul M.
==

609
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Fruits in Panama
« on: March 14, 2021, 06:22:06 PM »
Finca L I,

Would C.A.T.I.E.  in Cartago be worth a side trip for the OP for fruit?

Paul M.
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610
Feed him that same fruit non-stop 'til he finally gags and never wants another!

Or maybe instead sue him for the value of the lost fruit.

Solamente mis dos granitos de arena . . .

PM
==

611
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Fruits in Panama
« on: March 14, 2021, 06:45:52 AM »
Hi Fruit Monster,

If I were you then before my trip I'd check out the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panamá.
(See:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian_Tropical_Research_Institute.)

Also contact the OTS (Organization for Tropical Studies) in Costa Rica –adjacent to Panamá– which is a non-profit consortium of over 50 universities and research institutions based in the United States, Latin America, and South Africa. 

Along with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, the OTS research stations in general (and La Selva, in Costa Rica, in particular) provide some of the most important and productive sites of original research on neotropical ecology.

(For the OTS see: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_for_Tropical_Studies)
(Or directly at the OTS website: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Organization+for+Tropical+Studies&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8)

Depending on the time you have available for your trip abroad, a couple side trips into Costa Rica might be in order since there are some very interesting places like Las Cruces Biological Station (maintained by the OTS) just over the western border of Panamá into Costa Rica near the small rural town of San vito de Java.

Any of these places are likely to be good sources of information for where to find tropical fruit in Panamá (and Costa Rica).

OK — HTH

Paul M.
==

612
For those of us where space matters and who have only a city lot to grow our tropical fruit on, which would be some ideally recommended mango cultivars that are dwarf, semi-dwarf, or Condo options? 

This would be for zone 9b and let's estimate that only three or four smaller mango trees would be the max that could fit on the lot (along with all the other stuff).

Ideally cultivars which are precocious, have decent flavor, and aren't prima donnas about culture and are not prone to disease would be ideal. Also it would be helpful to have cultivars which have their ripening times spread out over the season.

Suggestions?

TIA

Paul M.
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613
It reminds me of a Pouteria ucuqui I pickd up locally and it was as big as a mammey and had greenish orange flesh. I should never have given the seedling away as it was a great fruit.

Hmmm....

Do you know where that seedling got to after you gave it away, Mike?  Is it even still alive?

Sounds to me like it really ought to be propogated!

Paul M.
==

614
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Naranjo navel orange tree from Lowes
« on: March 10, 2021, 06:33:10 PM »
That label reads:

NAVEL ORANGE
Naranjo Navel
Citrus sinensis

Line 1  is the name of the orange variety.

Line 2 is the same thing, but in spanish.

Line 3 is the Latin (scientific) name of the plant.

Espero que esto le explique todo....

Paul M.
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615
I am heading towards limon now (snip)

Check out C.A.T.I.E. [ https://www.catie.ac.cr ], in Cartago.

(Sent you a PM, q.v.)

Paul M.
==

616
Don't kill animals, judgement day will come and you will end up in hell!

If by killing rats (or squirrels) which are marauding my fruit and vegetable gardens I were threatening the entire species then I would think twice about doing so.  But as I only reduce the local populations of those marauders and know that more will eventually migrate in from surrounding areas (i.e., nature abhors a vacuum), I have no compunction against offing the ones that come into and forage on my garden's produce, ruining my fruit and veggies.

Even so, I am not entirely indifferent to their hunger:  I like to feed 'em a bowl of toasted wheatgerm mixed with an equal amount of concrete powder.  I mix one drop of anise oil into the toasted wheatgerm because rats love anise and cannot resist it.  Then I provide another bowl filled with water next to the dry mix cuz I know they'll be thirsty after eating the mix.

What happens is they develop an intractable B.M. and eventully die from it.  And unlike D-Con or other poisons the rats/squirrels NEVER develop an immunity to my mix.   And because it takes so long for symptoms to develop they don't associate the mix with getting sick and therefore don't learn to avoid it.

Likewise, if one of these sickened rats or squirrels is caught by a neighbor's cat or by a raptor, the predator won't be poisoned 2nd-hand by consuming the preyed uopn rodent!

Paul M.
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617
Rats can easily survive a 30 foot fall and walk away from it.

Keep this fact in mind if you are planning to dispatch a rat by whacking it against a hard surface (or if whacking it with a solid object of some sort).

It's swift and instantaneous that way, and IMO a better alternative than allowing them the run of one's property so that they can continue to breed and bring along diseases like hanta virus, etc.

Just FWIW...

Paul M.
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618
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Any dwarf starfruit plants for sale?
« on: February 28, 2021, 12:16:06 AM »
Besides the previously mentioned cultivar, 'Sri Kembangan', which other dwarf carambolas are recommended and available here in the US?

TIA

Paul M.
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619
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Improving Pond Apple — Any Attempts?
« on: February 27, 2021, 05:46:58 PM »
Galatians,

You mentioned that you've eaten a few pond apples that had a fairly good taste.  Could you elaborate on that, please?

Your remarks make me think that this species could likely be improved wth careful intraspecific breeding.

Paul M.
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620
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Improving Pond Apple — Any Efforts?
« on: February 26, 2021, 11:52:06 PM »
U think “golden sugar apple” tastes better considering they list it as a hybrid? Also it most likely could be hybridized with other “guanabanus” annonas

I'm merely saying that there are those who say that the golden sugar apple is either a hybrid or maybe just a chance pond apple with a distinctive flavor.  I personally don't know for sure what the actual case is with this plant.

But I do suspect there might the possiblity of improving A. glabra and am wondering whether anyone has tried this before.

Paul M.
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621
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Improving Pond Apple — Any Attempts?
« on: February 26, 2021, 11:38:31 PM »
With the various comments and discussions over time ref Annona glabra (Pond apple) here on TFF, I've got to wondering whether anyone has ever taken this taxon in hand and seriously tried to improve it.

Improvement perhaps by means of the crossing of any of the better tasting individuals, or by out-crossing A. glabra with related species of Annona that have decent flavor.

Of course there is that one costarrican variety called 'Golden Sugar Apple' or 'Golden Honey Sugar Apple' which is considered by many as just a random variety of pond apple.

I guess what I'm mostly wondering is whether A. glabra has potential enough to be worth trying to improve. (I'm guessing, of course, that those aligators in the 'Glades that eat the fruit in the wild are satisfied with the status quo of this species.)

Cheers!

Paul M.
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622
Bovine (& Gentle TFF Members),

Remember, my 3 mangoes are each a dwarf or a semi-dwarf cultivar and each is in a 7 gal. pot. per the initial post of this thread.

Does this significantly change anything ref providing a weak hit of fertilizer to (apparently) first-bloom sapling mangoes?

Still got to go read the Zill link above.  [Update - Read it!]

Thanx!

Paul M.
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623
Still wondering whether my three mango cultivars in 7 gallon pots and which are starting inflorescences woud benefit from any sort of light fertilizing to help them set and hold some fruit this season.

I'm asking since there were no replies when this was origiinally posted the other day.

It seems odd that with the huge mango interest on TFF that no one has any suggestion about this.  Thought that we were here to help out each other when we can.

Regards,

Paul M.
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624
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Where to get pouteria viridis
« on: February 22, 2021, 06:59:38 PM »
Hi Julie,

Just FWIW, I got P. viridis because it is supposed to be more cold tolerant than other Pouteria species, in particular P. caimito, the Abiu and P. campechiana, the canistel.

This winter in Tampa I lost several abiu seedlings at 41ºF. while my several green sapote seedings came through unaffected.  (My canistel was fine, too, BTW.)

Cheers!

Paul M.
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625
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Where to get pouteria viridis
« on: February 22, 2021, 05:57:18 PM »
Polynesian Produce Stand in Hawai'i had 'em.

I ordered several from him last October.

OK — HTH

Paul M.
==

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