2026 tropical fruit & fruit goals

[bovine421]

2026 my major Focus will be grafting Excalibur mango variety onto Dot.Last grafting season by the time I got to sample Excalibur then discovered that it tendency is to be early. By then Squam had already shut down his budwood orders for the season. My intentions are to graft Excalibur zinc and M4 on to Dot. The goal is to get an early season an alternative to sweet tart which my tree is very fickle and late season varieties. Truth is I'm getting like a slinky that spring has been over sprung. Sometimes I'm Jim Dandy other times I'm like a tick on a dog's behind. Most of the time when it's critical to spray Dot it's too windy and when and if there's an opportunity I may feel over sprung. Even though when I started my Grove I was very prudent and planted disease resistant varieties I like Dot so much I rolled the dice. It's first season of producing I thought maybe my area was an exemption to the rule and didn't spray and didn't have any good products to spray. That season all the little fruitlets got and anthracnose and aborted. Ever since then it's been a labor of love. That well is drying up cuz I have so many other good choices. Excalibur's lineage is speculated to be Dot and Carrie two trees with issues. Excalibur is said to be disease resistant. With my communications with Tropical Acre Farms they report that it has been consistently early for them with multiple blooms. Second major goal is to be able to consistently produce without crop loss to the nefarious tropical pickle worm Athens cantaloupe melon. My new strategy is to use some fine meshed metal chain link 5 gallon gopher root protection bags from the very early stages of the melon to keep those Burger Boys at Bay. I've accomplished to grow them consistently and sweet growing them vertically. Pickle worms have accomplished making holes in 90% of them even with being sprayed. Early spring and spring tend to be windy so I have to spray at night when there's an opportunity.. That's it one two left right eyes and head straight forward.🙂

[Sevastopol]

My goals this year are pretty simple: Finish redoing the yard with at least 20 more trees waiting to be planted. My new year's resolution will be not to buy any more trees (I think). lol
Also, adding water collection vessels.

[brian]

Hoping my seashore mangoseen (g. hombroniana) seedlings will flower this year.

Giving my abiu one last season to set fruit or it's gone, it has been years with thousands of flowers and not a single fruitlet set.

Hoping my soursop will set more fruit, trying to hand-pollinate.

Hoping my mallika mango will hold fruit to maturity instead of dropping them all halfway like it has been doing every year.

Hoping my jackfruit and kwai muk will actually set fruit now that they are flowering consistently.

Hoping my long-struggling plants will either thrive or die, instead of being stagnant for years. 

Looking forward to trying a bunch more of these obscure eugenias and other plants fruit for the first time.  I assume most will be bad and I can get rid of them to clear space, but some could be good.

Hoping the (outdoor) persimmon and paw-paws survive the winter

Hoping my kei apple and ackee flower this year

Grafting my remaining over-vigorous citrus onto dwarfing rootstocks and ditching the parents

[pineflatwoods]

I have a few more trees to wait until Spring to plant,

and I'm doing to put in drip irrigation. Trees growing too slowly for my liking.

I'm also going to continue to practice grafting.

[Coconut Cream]

1. Stop. Buying. Trees.
2. Stop falling victim to the hype around new varieties
3. Plant the trees I already have in the ground
4. Pull out the trees that are not thriving or producing
5. Dig up and move trees that need a better spot
6. Sell whatever doesn't get planted
7. Stay on top of maintenance tasks
8. Grow a massive beard and start a youtube channel

[SDPirate]

Cull my dead trees
Stop buying so many trees/seeds
Graft more varieties
Pot up trees that have been waiting eons for a new pot
Address insect issues consistently
Put more trees into the ground

[K-Rimes]

I am mulling over some big changes and considering selling off my collection. It's becoming really challenging to keep it going with my land / housing insecurity in the Santa Barbara area (6th most expensive city in the country, #1 least affordable for housing). It is clear I am not going to be able to buy property here.

It seemed like I had a winner of a place going at the ranch I rent at, but it's been a year now with no transparency from the owners, and not being able to stay overnight the last 7 months (I live in a small apartment and commute up there to take care of things, which is costly and time consuming). Long story.

We'll see what happens for me, but I sense a year of big change for my fruit tree collection. I am pondering South America lately.

[FL Boy]

and I'm doing to put in drip irrigation. Trees growing too slowly for my liking.

Fliptop, I installed my drip irrigation system recently and am ecstatic with the results.  I'm irrigating an acre of trees with 112 drops on one zone with plenty of water volume available to add additional future drops for the nursery.

If it helps, I'll share the details on my setup...  My well produces 12 GPM, so that is the starting point. 

The property has a 30" elevation from lowest to highest at the emitter locations, so I decided on pressure-compensating emitters to account for elevation loss and gain.  I chose 2 GPH emitters after doing the math using 112 emitters in total.  I wanted to have some reserve.

112 Emitters x 2 GPH = 224 GPH ÷ 60 Minutes ≈ 4 GPM consumed by drip system.  Even with the math, I was skeptical and thought this configuration would result in a substantial loss requiring splitting this system up into several more zones.  I stuck with my gut based on these calculations and remained committed to maintaining one zone.

For the black poly tubing, I chose Dig .710" and went with their termination fittings having the blue rings (.710" fittings).  The female hose (FHT) connectors each have an inlet screen fine enough to keep sediment from getting in and plugging up the drip emitters.  I also picked emitters that could be unscrewed and manually cleaned as well.  Each poly pipe run is terminated with a cap to allow for flushing and future service.

My distribution piping throughout the property (undergound) is all 1" PVC from a 1" zone valve, and the header risers are 3/4" PVC.  I used 3/4" PVC ball valves and Male Garden Hose Thread (MHT) adapters to allow full flow to the poly tubing.  Each poly tubing feeder attaches just like it's a garden hose.

Drip emitter assy's were made from 1/4" distribution tubing cut into 2' sections with a 2 GPH emitter on one end and a 1/4" barbed connector on the other.

Putting it all together and digging trenches (even with a rented trencher) was a chore and not fun.  Used 1,500' total black pipe and roughly 1,500' of underground PVC.  I'm glad that job is done, lol. 

The irrigation controller is a WiFi type so I can essentially control it remotely from my phone in the field for testing, etc....  Turning it all on for the first time after purging the lines and capping the ends, I was very happy with the results.  All emitters produce 2 GPH, and I still have 48 psi of pressure...  Plenty of pressure for additional taps in the future as I mentioned earlier.

My trees are on every 3rd day schedule for 1 hour.  Drink up, baby trees, drink up and grow!.   



Making Drip Emitter Assemblies



Drip Irrigation Installed

[FL Boy]

For me starting a brand-new boutique mango farm adventure, I'm going to do as much learning, growing, experiencing in the fruit tree realm as I can, making new friends and contacts in the industry....  The sky is wide open for 2026!

[johnb51]

Hoping my seashore mangoseen (g. hombroniana) seedlings will flower this year.

Giving my abiu one last season to set fruit or it's gone, it has been years with thousands of flowers and not a single fruitlet set.

Hoping my soursop will set more fruit, trying to hand-pollinate.

Hoping my mallika mango will hold fruit to maturity instead of dropping them all halfway like it has been doing every year.

Hoping my jackfruit and kwai muk will actually set fruit now that they are flowering consistently.

Hoping my long-struggling plants will either thrive or die, instead of being stagnant for years. 

Looking forward to trying a bunch more of these obscure eugenias and other plants fruit for the first time.  I assume most will be bad and I can get rid of them to clear space, but some could be good.

Hoping the (outdoor) persimmon and paw-paws survive the winter

Hoping my kei apple and ackee flower this year

Grafting my remaining over-vigorous citrus onto dwarfing rootstocks and ditching the parents

Have you ever considered moving to Florida?

[johnb51]

So we just bought the house in west Delray Beach two weeks ago.  I have in pots ready to go in the ground: three mango trees, three avocado trees, three pineapple plants, and three banana plants.  I also have the following immature seedlings: three soursop, one atemoya, and four cherimoya (for grafting).  And I have two metal raised garden beds to set up.  This should keep an old retired guy occupied and protect/distract(?) him from the many unwelcome ravages of old age.

[MasOlas]

Redid the fence and the yard recently. Added a mango and blood orange in the ground. Added irrigation with 2.5 gpM heads and only need to run for a couple of minutes per week, but will add a second couple of minutes in summer. Heads are adjustable down to zero flow.

Grafted seven varieties to my Manila last summer. Looking forward to spring and retirement either mid-summer or Jan 8 next year - my 62nd bday and getting busy in the yard.

Oh, and looking forward to my spot in central Baja!

Happy New Year!

[Jaboticaba45]

My goals are to thin down the collection.
No need for 100 jabo varieties

I am focusing more on pineapples (easy to grow low space and quick to fruit. I have at least 30 planted in ground and I aim to hit 100 by 2027… and yangmei (mine are doing good and I have flowers…also quick to fruit (1.5 years to flower from graft)

Also I hope to upload more consistently to YT @ryanstropicalfruits

Other than that, keep on growing and taking care while weeding out bunk fruits like many Eugenia’s etc

[Galatians522]

I need to finish some grafting/air layering projects for my Dad. Specifically, I need to clean up and finish some of the projects I started last year like top working his big male mulberry. It's got 4 varieties now: Bryce's World's Best Himalayan FSP, DMOR 9, and Australian Green. I'll probably add Black Pakistan and Thai Dwarf. Maybe I'll add Skinner if I make time to get bud wood. He also has some stone fruit that he wants me to graft. I may try a Capulin to Cherry Laurel just for the fun of it. He also has a bunch of annonas that he wants on Pond Apple rootstock (via a Cherilata interstem) so that he can plant them on the bank of his pond.

[johnb51]

8. Grow a massive beard and start a youtube channel

You don't think we could benefit tremendously from your expertise and advice?

[Rico_Kryptic]

1. Stop. Buying. Trees.
2. Stop falling victim to the hype around new varieties
3. Plant the trees I already have in the ground
4. Pull out the trees that are not thriving or producing
5. Dig up and move trees that need a better spot
6. Sell whatever doesn't get planted
7. Stay on top of maintenance tasks
8. Grow a massive beard and start a youtube channel

Don't lie. You're going to try the hardest for 8 🤣

[ben mango]

hopefully get into some land, start my own project
Get back to Se Asia / Borneo

[SHV]

Greenhouse!  I need to build a large shelter for my sensitive plants and propagation activities.

[nullzero]

2026 goals:

More seeds, more trees, more land, and more fruiting. Grow less grafted and more seedlings. Cull weak and inferior fruiting plants.

[fliptop]

johnb51, what happened?! Got sick of the HOA?! I'm guessing your new place doesn't have an HOA?

I've got to learn how to graft again (last year's success rate was so pathetic it almost seemed like failure was my goal).

I've got to cull the herd and stop buying plants and seeds.

I'm hoping everyone achieves their goals.

[roblack]

Simplify. Clean up, giveaway, sell, and cull. Eat more homegrown fruit and veggies.

Good luck all with your endeavors!

[nullzero]

I need to finish some grafting/air layering projects for my Dad. Specifically, I need to clean up and finish some of the projects I started last year like top working his big male mulberry. It's got 4 varieties now: Bryce's World's Best Himalayan FSP, DMOR 9, and Australian Green. I'll probably add Black Pakistan and Thai Dwarf. Maybe I'll add Skinner if I make time to get bud wood. He also has some stone fruit that he wants me to graft. I may try a Capulin to Cherry Laurel just for the fun of it. He also has a bunch of annonas that he wants on Pond Apple rootstock (via a Cherilata interstem) so that he can plant them on the bank of his pond.

DMOR9 is really good, my friend said skip Bryce was unimpressed. Chiang Mai 60, Tice, and Skinner are all excellent. Thai everbearing ok flavor but amazing production.

[Galatians522]

I need to finish some grafting/air layering projects for my Dad. Specifically, I need to clean up and finish some of the projects I started last year like top working his big male mulberry. It's got 4 varieties now: Bryce's World's Best Himalayan FSP, DMOR 9, and Australian Green. I'll probably add Black Pakistan and Thai Dwarf. Maybe I'll add Skinner if I make time to get bud wood. He also has some stone fruit that he wants me to graft. I may try a Capulin to Cherry Laurel just for the fun of it. He also has a bunch of annonas that he wants on Pond Apple rootstock (via a Cherilata interstem) so that he can plant them on the bank of his pond.

DMOR9 is really good, my friend said skip Bryce was unimpressed. Chiang Mai 60, Tice, and Skinner are all excellent. Thai everbearing ok flavor but amazing production.

Thanks for the recommendations! I was trying to focus on top tier varieties that produce well in Florida (oddly enough I don't know if DMOR 9 will fruit here 🤔). Bryce's and TD were trees that I had been given that needed a home but I did not want to dedicate a whole tree. 😆 I was hoping that they might give some fruit off season of the really good ones or at least distract the birds.😂 I did not realize that Tice was that good. I should add it to my list.

[thesimsdude]

This year I would like to actually use some of the wood from my tropical fruit trees to make woodworked items. Such as mango wood coasters, maybe a sapodilla bowl. etc.. Just a fun idea I had as some of our trees have awesome wood grain and colors. Instead of hauling debris to the dump. Maybe I can do something useful with the extra.

[nullzero]

I need to finish some grafting/air layering projects for my Dad. Specifically, I need to clean up and finish some of the projects I started last year like top working his big male mulberry. It's got 4 varieties now: Bryce's World's Best Himalayan FSP, DMOR 9, and Australian Green. I'll probably add Black Pakistan and Thai Dwarf. Maybe I'll add Skinner if I make time to get bud wood. He also has some stone fruit that he wants me to graft. I may try a Capulin to Cherry Laurel just for the fun of it. He also has a bunch of annonas that he wants on Pond Apple rootstock (via a Cherilata interstem) so that he can plant them on the bank of his pond.

DMOR9 is really good, my friend said skip Bryce was unimpressed. Chiang Mai 60, Tice, and Skinner are all excellent. Thai everbearing ok flavor but amazing production.

Thanks for the recommendations! I was trying to focus on top tier varieties that produce well in Florida (oddly enough I don't know if DMOR 9 will fruit here 🤔). Bryce's and TD were trees that I had been given that needed a home but I did not want to dedicate a whole tree. 😆 I was hoping that they might give some fruit off season of the really good ones or at least distract the birds.😂 I did not realize that Tice was that good. I should add it to my list.

My friend is in Florida and swears that Tice has larger fruits and the best flavor. Also Austurkey is really good as well.