The Tropical Fruit Forum

If it helps any, there are at least 2 Ilamas in Sebring. They would have gone through 28 at a minimum this last winter (one is bearing fruit this year). I would say they are approximately equal in hardiness to mango and maybe slightly harder. They appear to be more resilient/long lived than sugarapple.

Thanks for the encouraging reply, Galatians. I'm glad to hear this; it offers me some hope.  Though further south than Tampa, Sebring is inland and Tampa is on the coast so I'm guessing that Tampa is a few degrees warmer than inland Sebring is.

Guess I'll hafta bite the bullet and plant my larger ilama in the ground next season.

Fingers X-ed!

Paul M.
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Ilamas are surprisingly cold tolerant.  The main issue for ilamas in Florida is excessive rain during certain months

Thanks for the reply Mark.

So, do ilamas require a long dry-off period during their annual cycle?  How long and when, please?

And Mark, how cold have your ilamas survved down to, and how old were they at that time?

Regards

Paul M.
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You will need a chemical product (bait) that decimates the fungus that the ants are growing from all those cut leaves that they carry back to the nest which they use to farm more fungus with. 

That farmed fungus is the colony's main food source and once their food source is destroyed then the colony will either die or relocate.

There are several of these sorts of bait product on the market to control leaf-cutters' fungal food.  You will need to ask around to see what is available where you are.  Check with your local agricultural offices or with plant nurseries in that area.

OK — HTH

Regards,

Paul M.
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On another thread, someone showed an A18 rodent killer.  Looked good.

This appears to offer an effective quick kill. Unfortunately the Goodnature Pest Control Trap
model A18, specifically for squirrels, is illegal to sell to us in the US. Hopefully that may change
soon.  Maybe there's a TFF member who lives in the UK somewhere who would send one to
us stateside if we were to send them the money for the item and shipping. Alas, it's not cheap!

I empathize with those members reporting damages and losses to their fruit crops.  I've lost
to squirrels every 'Mexicola Grande' avocado fruit on my tree for the last two seasons. They
got all my mangoes, too!  I have no sympathy whatsoever for these fluffy rats!  Grrrrr!

Paul M.
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Epicatt2, are you personally having success with pomegranates and fejoas? Pomegranates here get a fungus that destroys the fruit unless sprayed several times a year. My fejoas in 9a have flowered for the past 2 years and have yet to produce a fruit.

Hi daisyguy,

I have three pomegranate cultivars that I am growing:  'Parfianka', 'Vietnamese', and also an 'Indian River' seedling.  None of the three are old enough to have flowered or fruited but all three are growing rampantly here in 9b. 

From what I've read, 'Parfianka' is a semi-dwarfing type, which I like for having in my small yard. I received 'Parfianka' in late 2021 sent from a TFF member in north Florida and USPS had it so long in their custody that when it was delivered to me here in Tampa it had lost all its leaves. 

This 'Parfianka' was a 9-in tall rooted cutting in a 4-inch pot which looked like an all-but-dead stick upon arrival, but amazingly it leafed out again shortly after it was placed outside in dappled light and watered. Now eleven months later it's in a 3 gallon pot and 4-ft tall.  It will go into the ground soon.

The 'Vietnamese' cultivar on the other hand is supposed to tolerate the high humidity here in Florida making it resistant to fungal damage to the fruit.  We'll see, fingers X-ed!


As to Feijoa, I tried some a couple years back that I got from Just Fruits in Crawfordville, FL, but they did not survive.  I think they arrived damaged due to too much jostling during shipping and just never recovered from that.  I've held off getting any more feijoas until I can find some particular cultivars like 'Manmmoth' which sounds like it ought to do well here in 9b.

OK — HTH

Paul M.
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Spustacci,

I would suggest you consider trying pomegranates.  There are numerous cultivars to chose from which would be good for Webster.

And for a banana, choose Raja Puri.  My Raja Puri seems to take the cold and wind quite well.  I recall that William Lesard comments in his book,"The Complete Book of Bananas", that Raja Puri is 'bulletproof'.  I really like the fact that Raja Puri is also a smaller banana plant of about seven feet tall.

Don't overlook fejoas, either.  There are a number of cultivars of that, too, which would be right for your area.

Do you have Maypop, i.e., Passiflora incarnata?  It's very cold tolerant and will come back in the springtime after a freeze has knocked it to the ground.

Maybe you could even get away with a pawpaw (Asimina triloba) if your area in Webster has sufficient chilling hours.

OK — HTH

Paul M.
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Thanks Peter.

In addition to Eugenias and Garcinias, I have a number of Annonas including a couple of ilamas and a biribá with a 1-1/2 in diameter trunk.

In addition to our central Florida cool-off during December and January then about that same time there's also a dry-off for the most part, but through all this there are still two nearby streetlights that are on all night.

The streetlight has never affected my Suriname Cherry (Eugenia uniflora) nor any of my bananas nor a sugar apple. but other things maybe are beng impacted by all night long light.

Hoping some more TFF members might share their similar experiences involving streetlights.

Cheers!

Paul M.
Zone 9b
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Egads — Seeds arrived KA-WIKLY!  And in great condition.

Thanx Mike!

Paul M.
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I can’t see the foliage very well but it looks like cas.

Looks like cas to me, too, Peter.

Paul M.
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Great, instructive video whch clearly demonstrates the pollination mechanics of a passionflower and how the bee 'just fits perfectly'.  Now the bee's fuzzy back makes far more sense to me as a pollen collector.  Also the position of the stigmas is important: up when the flower is male and down/horizontal when the stigmas are ready to accept pollen.

Thanx for posting the link, Kevin!

Paul M.
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Could someone please point me toward a Florida nursery that is offering Kwai Muk in say, 3 gallon pots, and that is willing to ship?  So far my searching comes up 'out-of-stock' everywhere.  Not lookng for a tiny seedling and would prefer to pay somewhat less than $100.

Wanting to try growing this here in 9b.

Fingers X-ed.

TIA

Paul M.
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I have several trees in my backyard, but I have detected that specifically under the mulching of two trees (an avocado and a lychee), there are thousands of ants.

Every time I water those trees, they start to move everywhere, including climbing the tree.

What can I do to deal with them in a natural way? [ snip ]

The boric acid powder + sugar or syrup made into a thick paste that someone suggested earlier could work but you'd need a lot of it with that many ants.  (This concoction works n clckroaches, too, BTW...)

Ants hate tansy (Tanacetum vulgare = common tansy) so you could plant some of that around the base of the affected trees as an ant repellent.

A couple years ago I had a severe pest ant species (Pheidole megacephala = big-headed ant = BHA) in my yard in Tampa that just walked thru any pesticides that I treated the area with.  Nothing affected them and they were farming aphids and scales on my fruit trees.  Finally in frustration I tried broadcasting Imidacloprid  around the affected trees and watering it in well.  This worked on the scales and aphids, killing them and preventing them from reproducing. This caused the BHAs to move away to farm untreated plants/trees in my yard.  So I treated those trees with Imidacloprid, too, and the ants left those alone, as well.  Eventually the BHAs gave up and moved out of my yard.

One of these ideas may be an option for you try to curb your ant infestation. 

Good Luck!

Paul M.
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