The Tropical Fruit Forum

I too ordered one back in March 2021... 

I'm fairly local, so I started contacting Adam in Spring 2022... After trying to get ahold of him a couple of times, he finally got back to me. I asked him if my tree was ready and if I could come to pick it up. He said yes and agreed. I drove to his new location in AL the next day. I arrive and he was super nice and shared all the perils he's had with his business (hurricane/property/rental/location/employee issues), which is unfortunate. But it looked like he was getting his feet on the ground and all set up at the new location.

I was able to retrieve the tree... but it was pretty obvious most, if not all, of the grafts had been done the day before (nothing had flushed out, grafting tape was pristine, labels were brand new, etc).  A tree I had ordered over a year ago at that point had just been grafted.  I'm not sure if he lost some of the original trees in storms or power-loss events... but that isn't encouraging for the rest of ya'll.

Only 2 of maybe a dozen grafts ended up taking. I contacted him about the failed graphs and he said that ,under his guarantee, he would come and re-graft since I was local. I told him, I'm here anytime...  That was months ago, I'm not holding my breath because at least I got a tree.

"Here’s info on how to germinate paw paw"
where is the info? Do you have to vernalize them?
my first attempt failed - I vernalized them.

Where are you located? I've really been on the lookout for some seedlings, but may have to try germinating again...

very cool. I've got a sparkleberry growing on the lot next to me that is over 20ft tall.  It's a tree!

these grow like weeds around me (pensacola area). all over the untamed lots in my neighborhood.  i just transplanted several to a property line on a lot i purchased - I hope they survive. should make a nice natural fence if they do.

i've got brogden. two small trees - one is actually flowering right now. not a ton of extra limbs at the moment, but may be able to spare a cutting or so. i'm over in pensacola. I'm on the lookout for mexicola grande and other mexican/mexican hybrids.

so no one has tried some backyard grafting of v. arboreum?

I may have to give it a try myself...

Yes, the second photo is trifoliata (Rootstock).

yes, the punchline is that my brother-in-law cut the orange tree down... allowing the rootstock to completely take over.

Does anyone else have trouble meeting your citrus' trees demand for nutrients? Mine are mostly 1-2 year old nursery stock (navel, hamlin, satsumas, lemons - some still in pots some in the ground) and I'm using citrus fertilizer (as instructed on the bag) but various trees (some not all) are still showing various deficiencies. I'm in 9a FL btw.

here is a navel orange leaf. I'm trying to figure out what it needs. Iron or Manganese? It is on new leaves not old. Newer growth is an even lighter color. Best way to apply the needed nutrients? Apparently, the regular citrus fertilizer I've applied hasn't been enough.

i second sweet potato greens. they grow really well in hot humid FL.

The deficiency is a nitrogen deficiency..  The symptoms for a nitrogen deficiency in citrus are:  Totally yellow leaves with no variation of color, or yellow/orange veins with some green to the sides.  Note: 1 inch of irrigation either from rain or hose can leach nitrogen 1 to 2 feet down in sandy soil.  A combination of low nitrogen and cool weather could also be involved.

thanks for the insight! Do you recommend fertilizing during winter right now? If so, how much would be safe?

thanks. that's what i was thinking too. i'll report back.

How cold tolerant is the lula variety? I'm in N. FL. I picked up a small lula in spring and it put on a lot of growth. Alas, it was washed away by Hurricane Sally. Would like to find a replacement if it can handle below freezing temps.

Quote from: odin.9 on September 25, 2020, 11:00:33 AM

Very interesting and thanks for the tips!

I do have a .6 acre lot near the water S. of milton... but again too close to the water - it is in the flood zone (all of garcon point is a flood zone...). It should be close enough that I may be in more fully a 9a zone. On the positive side, all the trees i had in 1.5 ft raised planters (you can see two in the second photo) faired just fine. SO i may go more toward that route.

I will be checking out some asian markets soon and will go to the one you mention. Would love to check out the UF greenhouses.
My neighbor to the .6 acre lot has 30 acres of ag. designated land with horses... maybe i could get some 'restoration' greenhouses there!

Well I will say this.. some trees can take extended flood conditions.. what comes to mind are our native American persimmons and lychees among some others.. also some plants can take higher levels of salt in the soil than others.. synthetic fertilizers contain various nutrients in salt forms.. also it rains so much in this part of Fl, even if the bay (which is brackish, probably half the salinity of ocean water or even less) did flood your coastal land, depending on the time of year, heavy rainfall could probably dilute the residual brackish salts, at least in theory. Even planting on a slight slope or mulch mound would likely help with that a good bit.
I wouldn’t say any of our sub-towns (Navarre,GB, Perdido,Pcola, Garcon/Milton) are reaally in a completely solid 9a zone... what I mean by that is yeah, 4 out of 5 years the average low will be somewhere between 22-27F, and evidence from the last century of lows does indicate we are warming up a bit (we haven’t hit a low of 15F in over 20 years, although in the 1980s it got into single digits..) but occasionally in that fifth year or whatever it will dip into the upper teens, and even what seems like a small stray from the normal lows will spell disaster for many if not most subtropicals.. unless you have very specific varieties that can handle brief upper-teen temps or even prolonged 20s temps ( a few years ago I believe we had a 20-hour frost in the 20s and low 30s F.. although furthermore I will say that some things like mangos and papayas, even when burnt down to a stump, can sprout back from that stump. Because the immediate crust of the earth and anything under the soil or mounded up with soil will never even freeze at all (the crust maintains above freezing temps, at least for sure in our area)
As for the Asian markets I usually go to the Bien Dong or Asia Market on E. Cervantes, although there’s another called My Tan that’s smaller, and I spotted out one called Tony’s Asian Market on Olive Rd near scenic but I haven’t stopped by that one yet..

again, appreciate the insight.

Avoid Tony's though... i stopped there recently and they didn't have any fresh fruits or veggies to speak of.