The Tropical Fruit Forum

I just got a Kary starfruit and I'm deciding where to plant it.  I have one spot right next to the road in the easement.  Will people steal starfruit or are few interested in it?  I guess if I have a bounty and a passerby takes one fruit it's not a big deal, I'm more worried about the people who take all your fruit to sell.  Of these trees which would be the best to plant right by the road:
- Kary starfruit
- younghans white sapote
- cochin jackfruit

this is also a smaller spot, maybe cochin jackfruit would be better since it's a dwarf tree?  Kary starfruit I can buy locally as well, cochin jackfruit I cannot, so I'm leaning towards putting the jackfruit in the back since it's more precious

Finally, my soft jackfruit seedling produced one fruit.  Here is my post from 2021 on this tree:
https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=43428.0

This seed comes from fruit I bought.  The jackfruit was the most amazing fruit I've ever tasted.  The flavor is intense juicy fruit gum.  You can just pull off the peel, no knife needed, minimal latex.  The texture is soft but no fiber that makes you choke.

I no longer have access to the mother tree and never will again.  I am so glad I planted a seed.  There's another amazing crunchy jackfruit on this same property which the one seed I planted died and now it's lost to me forever.  In fact, I've also got an amazing avocado from a school my daughter used to go to, one teacher gave it to me.  I never planted the seed because back then seedling trees were always talked about as inferior and that a grafted tree is the only way to go.  I believed that the best varieties were the ones for sale in nurseries.  I was sure I would discover the variety name soon--but I never did.  The avocado was shaped exactly like a huge florida avocado but the huge amount of flesh inside was like a hass avocado (even better) - creamy, nutty, etc.  The lesson is PLANT THE SEED unless for sure you are trying a named variety from a newer planted grove.  There are many old unknown trees in groves here that are not sold in the nursery trade but have fruit way better than available named varieties.

As I always do, I went outside to feel every fruit I have ripening to see if any are softening.  The one jackfruit on my seedling tree was soft for the first time today after some rain.  I picked it and brought it inside and opened it.  It was easy and fun to peel open just like the mother tree.  Unfortunately I opened the fruit too soon-should have let it ripen on the counter a little longer - BUT the tips of the pods were ripe enough for me to tell-it's exactly as good as the mother tree!  The fruit is amazing.  Never thought I would taste this fruit again.  I was expecting the disappointment knowing that I planted the tree 4 years ago and waited for 4 years the fruit doesn't live up, but NO-JACKFRUIT IS TRUE TO SEED! The flavor was very intense juicyfruit gum, juicy, no latex, no fiber, some pods even had tiny seeds.

Will post some pictures soon!

I purchased this Pakistani purple tree from Lara Farms:
https://larafarmsmiami.com/products/mulberry

Would this be the same as the Pakistani black?  I'm looking for the darkest, sweetest fruit, looking something like this:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1567949129/pakistan-mulberry-tree?ref=shop_home_active_33&pro=1&frs=1&logging_key=459c0d05b37826c55e0b182ffd96309585c52976%3A1567949129

Thanks everyone

I would like to put a cover over the old wooden fence that separates my yard from my neighbors.  There are a lot of holes in the fence and a big gap at the bottom.  I've read that the color of johnb51 and Coconut Cream's house was affecting their trees--sometimes in a good or bad way.  What color should I pick (black, blue, or gray - I could also get red if I get heavy duty and not super heavy duty) to not affect my trees at all?  I know some colors can cause them to overheat or other problems?

This is the product I'm looking at:
https://www.tarpsandall.com/custom-super-heavy-duty-vinyl-tarp

Thank you for your help.

When planning where to put trees, is it more important to think of pollination (planting two varieties of the same type of tree next to each other) OR keeping jackfruit and white sapote trees out of the rows around the house?  How far apart can trees be for pollination?  Is 8 feet from the house OK for jackfruit and white sapote?

I have one spot available next to red custard apple with low production.  I was planning to plant a second annona reticulata variety in this spot for pollination.  However, this spot is far from the house, and would be ideal for the jackfruit and white sapote I want to plant.  Custard apple does not have invasive roots so it would be fine next to the house.  If I plant the second custard apple still in the backyard but not next to the existing tree, would it be close enough for pollination?  What should be the priority-planting the custard apple trees next to each other or planting jackfruit and white sapote far from the house?

I have 7-8 cocos that I've planted that are now starting to fruit.  I can have my lawn guy open coconuts for free with a machete but he only comes every other week.  It would be nice to be able to open coconuts on my own to drink every day and use the meat in recipes/smoothies.  I've looked for machines like this in the past and nothing like this has ever become available to US buyers.

Would lead paint or other chemicals in the machine be a concern if it's coming from India?  Do I need to worry about some plant virus or pest coming over with the package?

Or should I try to learn to use a machete myself?  I'm small and out of shape so not sure if it's possible, also I don't want to take risks of hurting myself.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/305492481020?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20230811123856%26meid%3D8d6e5f5e45ab4f49a7ce7d5d53427aab%26pid%3D101770%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26itm%3D305492481020%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DRecentlyViewedItemsV2WithMLRV6RankerPricelessTop30Features_BP%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p4375194.c101770.m146925&_trkparms=parentrq%3A685139d11920ab4c4a940442ffff880a%7Cpageci%3Af872a8eb-84dc-11ef-94ad-6e6ed57ac295%7Ciid%3A1%7Cvlpname%3Avlp_homepage

https://www.ebay.com/itm/305362806632?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20230811123856%26meid%3D8d6e5f5e45ab4f49a7ce7d5d53427aab%26pid%3D101770%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26itm%3D305362806632%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DRecentlyViewedItemsV2WithMLRV6RankerPricelessTop30Features_BP%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p4375194.c101770.m146925&_trkparms=parentrq%3A685139d11920ab4c4a940442ffff880a%7Cpageci%3Af872a8eb-84dc-11ef-94ad-6e6ed57ac295%7Ciid%3A1%7Cvlpname%3Avlp_homepage

I had some mulch delivered to my house and a very heavy truck drove very close to a young coconut palm I have.  What are the chances the tree will be OK?

Will post a picture soon if the site lets me.

I have a Haysa sapodilla and want to get a second sapodilla as a pollinator.

When does Butterscotch flower - would it be flowering at the same time as Haysa?

When does Butterscotch have it's fruit maturing?

For those who have Butterscotch sapodilla - how does it taste compared to Haysa?

I am planning to have someone come to do some pressure cleaning on my back patio (and pressure cleaning the sides of the house).  I have a lot of fruit trees nearby.  I'm going to make sure they don't use anything other than water in the pressure cleaning and don't touch the trees with the pressure cleaner.  Is this generally OK or should I not do pressure cleaning?

I have 3 large namwah banana bunches that will be taken down soon.  How do I set up the rope holder for bananas so that I can ripen the entire bunch outside and take bananas off as they ripen without them getting damaged?  Any tips on setting this up will be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

Paul Nison posted a video awhile back about growing watermelon during the South FL summer.  He mentioned georgia rattlesnake as the variety in the comments.  Does anyone have any experience with this?  What month should I plant the seeds?  What varieties have you grown?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B66tq72O2Z8