The Tropical Fruit Forum

Thanx Roback. 

Much appreciated.  I had no guess.

Paul M.
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So which pom cultivars should be productive in Florida, zone 9b?

I've heard that a variety called somethng like 'Vietnam Pink' is one that should do well for zone 9b.

Paul M.
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if you leave [fruit on the tree] till very close to usual bloom time in Florida which is around February-April the result may be a failure to get bloom. If the avocado fails to bloom that, in turn, sets the tree up to take a year off then begin an altranate bearing cycle where you get a heavy crop one year then no crop.

That's useful information about why an avocado tree might change its fruiting habit from yearly to every other year.

In your experience does such a change become permanent or will a tree eventually revert to fruiting annually?

Just curious . . .

Paul M.
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Just keep in mind that a rooted cutting will not be dwarfing and might grow large if conditions are right. 

Hey EDG,

Brian's right.   A rooted cutting won't necessarily be a dwarfed tree unless the cultivar itself is a dwarf or semi-dwarf cultivar. 

However growing the tree in a pot tends to keep it smaller plus there's always pruning to keep the tree from getting taller than you want and pruning is also useful for shaping the tree the way you'd like it.

Just FWIW . . . .

Paul M.
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A couple of my young citrus trees have been very popular with the Florida Swallowtail this year and their caterpillars managed to strip off about half the leaves before I noticed them.  So I want to spray the trees with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis), and I'd like to us a wetter-sticker with it.

Not sure how the BT will react to something like a couple drops of Dawn Liquid but then got to wondering whether I could use a tiny bit of molasses instead.  Think that might provide enough sticking effect even if very well diluted and prolly wouldn't hurt the BT organism.  (Of course I wouldn't want to use so much molasses that it would encourage sooty mold; just enough that it would break the surface tention of the water.)

Or maybe there is no need to use a wetter-sticker with BT.

Comments?  Suggestions?

TIA

Paul M.
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Try Jené's Tropicals there in St. Pete.  Their website says they offer: Assorted Mango Trees (Over 50 varieties)

Here's a link:  https://www.tropicalfruit.com/Mango_c_62.html

OK — Hope this helps . . . . .

Paul M.
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I have never seen a six-foot Biriba' holding fruit to maturity.  I expect a tree about ten-feet tall and with a trunk diameter of at least three inches to be able to start fruiting.

Thanx for your observations, Har.  Looks like it has about a 1-1/2 to 2 inch dia. for its main trunk right now. So sounds like it's getting close on that account. But since my tree needs to gain a bit more vertical height

Fortunately it's growing pretty fast so I will try to keep it happy and growing.

Now I need to figure out what sort of fertilizer it prefers.

Fingers X-ed!

Paul M.
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I have eaten fruit off a friends biriba in a pot. It is in a 25 gallon pot though and it fruits profusely. It can be done in a pot, but I don't know what size would be necessary. You should try it with a 7-10 gallon. I just planted seeds so I am giving it a try in a smaller pot.

In February I got two seedling biribá about 4-inches tall from Jupiter in 2" square pots and moved them up into deeper 5" pots where they've grown apace up 'til now but have somewhat slowed down.  They are now almost 2ft tall each one of 'em.

But because they have slowed down I'm now considering moving them up into 1- or 2-gal pots to see if that will sort of jumpstart them again.  I'm thinking that the roots may have reached the bottom of the pots that they're in and they think that there's nowhere else to go.

There's also a third one I got in March from TT in Ft. Myers in a 3-gal pot.  It arrived overnighted and had lot of leaves which were all crinkly and only 2- to 3-inshes long.  I potted it in a 5-gal pot and put it in the shade.  Then because this species is native to the Amazon River várzeas I set it in a 2-inch deep plastic saucer filled with water –which it drinks up all in one afternoon. 

I have now shifted it out into brighter sun but fill the saucer every other day that it does not rain.  The leaves now look normal and velvety and a few of the newest ones are about 10-inches long.  It's turning into a really nice looking plant, about four feet tall now.  I'm toying with going ahead and moving it up to a 7-gal pot to see if it will continue growing without any slowdown.

And that's why I am considering also moving the two smaller ones up into larger pots to see if they will take off running again.

Fingers X-ed!

Paul M.
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Thanx for the sensible replies about the Biribá, all.

I'm not sure about going into a 15 gallon pot with it because I don't think I'd be able to move it around.  I'm guessing a 7- or a 10-gal pot would be about the largest I'd want to try to maneuver around if it was gonna get too cold.

As far as the wait & see attitude for some other fruit trees that was mentioned, I may be seeing that with my canistel 'Trompo' and an Atemoya 'Gefner'.  Lots of buds/flowers but no fruit setting.  I did have one fruit on the canistel that I just last week finally picked which had been on the plant since last season.  But it isn't setting any right now although it was full of buds.  And I've got a 'Mexicola Grande' avocado in ground for three years now and about 12 feet tall.  It, too, bloomed for the last couple of years but is not settng fruit.  All these are in full sun.

I'm wondering whether they don't set fruit because they are not getting the kind or amount of fertilzer that they would like.  Too much, maybe.  Maybe need to be pruned to shock 'em into flowering.  Or maybe they would benefit from having a 'companion' to share pollen with.  Not sure which is more likely…

Cheers!

Paul M.
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So being mostly unfamilair with mangoes, is there a list of cultivars which are resistant or immune to MBBS?

I only have two cultivars so far and they are recently potted in 7 gal pots: 'Ice Cream' and 'Irwin'.  I chose them because I wanted cultivars which were dwarf.  Since I'm in 9b it seemed prudent to have mangoes that could be kept small enough to be able to move them into a gr'house if we have a severe cold snap here.

Fingers X-ed!
==

Whoops, sorry.  This was meant to post to the disccussion board.  Moderator please move it.

I finally broke down and bought two mangoes recently.  They are both dwarf varieties.  My understanding is that they can be kept small enough (6 to 8 feet) and still provide me with some fruit.  I'm in zone 9b so they will have to be kept in pots in case of extreme cold when they would need to be put into a greenhouse that can be heated.

The two cultivars are 'Ice Cream' and 'Irwin' (aka 'Egg of the Sun'), both touted as good for central Florida and not so tender to the cold as some other mangoes. Both of these are about 3-feet tall right now and I potted them into 7 gal. pots.  The 'Ice Cream' was already pugged at about 2-feet when it arrived and had grown three or four branches since.  That seems all well and good.

The 'Irwin', also in a 7 gal, has one central axis, never pugged and has just broken a cluster of tiny leaves at the apex.  It needs to be pugged but I think I should wait for it to establish for another month maybe two, before cutting it.  Leaving it about two feet tall sounds like it ought to be okay.  Yes?  It's not too late in the growing season yet to do that is it?

So, do my intentions for the treatment of these two cultivars seem doable and/or practical?  Or am I wasting my time with them and should have chosen some other cultivar?

Comments?  Suggestions?

TIA

Paul M.
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I checked and looks like right now they are going for around $100. So I could either wait like you say or maybe pick it up if my pockets end up burning. Seems like a novelty worth the price, not only to read but also have, so I will probably get it at some point. Thank you!

Well JBJ, this book is definitely not a novelty.  It's crammed full of narratives about the discovery of and introduction to Florida of many tropical fruit.

It also contains the minutes of the Rare Fruit Council meetings for several decades.

In those minutes one can find notations on when certain fruits were first brought to Florida and the efforts to grow and succeed wth them. These same minutes document the source for certain cultivars of different types of fruit, some of which were exemplary-tasting and became all-the-rage, but which over the years fell from favor and which may only today be being rediscovered and becoming popular again.

I wouldn't undrrate this particular book.

ˇSolamente mis dos granitos de arena!

Paul
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I haven’t had a chance to read it yet myself but try looking for bill Whitman’s book. I think it is called five decades with fruit or something along those lines. Guy was a pioneer

Hi again JBJ,

Mike's suggestion for the Whitman book is a good one.  I recently got a copy and have only skimmed thru it but it is crammed with interesting fruit history.

It is now quite pricey since it is OOP but be patient because every so often a less inexpenvive copy will show up and that's the time to nab one.  It's a big, heavy book.  The complete title is:

"Five Decades With Tropical Fruit, A Personal Journey" by William F. Whitman; pub. Coral Gables, FL, 2001.

OK — HTH

Paul M.
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