How will Durian do in my climate?

[DurianisaDrug]

I'm looking at property around this area, el pangui,  and wondering what others think about the lack of a defined dry season, and the volume of rain.

http://en.climate-data.org/location/25400/

Some small durian from ecuador!




Thanks for any helpful input!

[Pancrazio]

You are a little strict on rain for maximum production, but your values are just about right. Growth during the months with less than 22°C as mean monthly temperature will see less growing, but also better flowering and fruit production. So i would say go for it!
Remember that temperature under 10°C could be very detrimental.

[DurianisaDrug]

Im thinking of having various plants some closer to a stream others up higher. Excessive mulch on some, some on a small hill and maybe build a pond for tempurature retention near others.. some of my theories as of now.. idk if sun traps will work being relatively on the equator.. maybe just using dirt mounds.. I will try everything I can though and call it science haha.

 Im not sure about the long term low temps but I think its safe being around 800 meters and about 4 degrees from the equator... it seems pretty steady for temps here but asfar as long term records I cannot find anything. Coconuts barely grow well here so I think thats a decent sign that it stays warm, while 10 to 20km away and 100meters up they dont produce coconuts at all because its slightly cooler they have nice ones here. Almost zero bugs that bite here and plenty of flat areas, really some of the best ive found in ecuador..  3 to 5k a hectare on the reasonable priced land.. less for steep bs and more for greedy roadside bs.

Im not too worried about slow growth if it doesnt delay fruiting, short heavy bearing trees would be nice for me. Hoping to get 2 fruitings a year also.. we'll see how it goes!

[Finca La Isla]

I bet it works fine.  I'd plant the durians on a slope both for drainage and for the fact that you might not have to enter the impact zone during fruit collection.  Simply put logs out to stop the bouncing durians heading down from the tree.
We can get two crops a year here in our area and I attribute that to our relatively uniform rainfall.  The durians really suffer through the 6 month dry season experienced in much of Costa Rica.  I think I would rather deal with the mid-altitude coolness rather than the dry.
Peter

[fruitlovers]

Durians like consistent rainfall and hate drought. They only need a couple of weeks of no rain for good flower set. We have rain evenly spread through year and they fruit fine. I like Peter's suggestion of planting on a slope, but mostly to avoid root rot disease, to which they are very susceptible. Make sure they are planted in soil with very good drainage, not heavy clay.

[bangkok]

Durians like consistent rainfall and hate drought. They only need a couple of weeks of no rain for good flower set. We have rain evenly spread through year and they fruit fine. I like Peter's suggestion of planting on a slope, but mostly to avoid root rot disease, to which they are very susceptible. Make sure they are planted in soil with very good drainage, not heavy clay.

They also grow well in heavy clay in Thailand in places that get no (almost) rain for 6 months a year. Just give it a go.

[Mike T]

Durians are more adaptable to seasonal droughts and a range of temps and rainfalls than popular opinion seems to suggest. Here, 16 to 18 latitude it is a strongly seasonal climate and they are grown from sea level to 450m and from 1700mm/yr to over 5000mm/yr. In wetter areas the trees thrive in the 4 months with low rainfall and have more fruit when a proper dry season takes place. In dry areas they do best in the rainy season.
Durian trees do fine in clay soils,especially on slopes and where there is no puddling, if on mounds and if not 'well' planted.
The ideal climate would be around 23c to 32c every day with a slight dip in winter and around 2500mm pretty evenly spread. The climate given should be fine for most varieties but if coconuts struggle then the min temps are likely to be lower than on the chart. Durians are more tropical than coconuts.
10c if ok for most types but frequent and prolonged periods around this level or temps spiking down to 5c even briefly are bad news.

[fruitlovers]

Durians are more adaptable to seasonal droughts and a range of temps and rainfalls than popular opinion seems to suggest. Here, 16 to 18 latitude it is a strongly seasonal climate and they are grown from sea level to 450m and from 1700mm/yr to over 5000mm/yr. In wetter areas the trees thrive in the 4 months with low rainfall and have more fruit when a proper dry season takes place. In dry areas they do best in the rainy season.
Durian trees do fine in clay soils,especially on slopes and where there is no puddling, if on mounds and if not 'well' planted.
The ideal climate would be around 23c to 32c every day with a slight dip in winter and around 2500mm pretty evenly spread. The climate given should be fine for most varieties but if coconuts struggle then the min temps are likely to be lower than on the chart. Durians are more tropical than coconuts.
10c if ok for most types but frequent and prolonged periods around this level or temps spiking down to 5c even briefly are bad news.

The durian's adaptability depends on a lot of factors which you may not be observing in your area. Here after only a few weeks of no rain and they will start dropping all their leaves. More than a couple of months of no rain and they can easily croak. But i guess you don't have lava rock soils there with almost zero water retention capacity?

[Soren]

Durians are more adaptable to seasonal droughts and a range of temps and rainfalls than popular opinion seems to suggest. Here, 16 to 18 latitude it is a strongly seasonal climate and they are grown from sea level to 450m and from 1700mm/yr to over 5000mm/yr. In wetter areas the trees thrive in the 4 months with low rainfall and have more fruit when a proper dry season takes place. In dry areas they do best in the rainy season.
Durian trees do fine in clay soils,especially on slopes and where there is no puddling, if on mounds and if not 'well' planted.
The ideal climate would be around 23c to 32c every day with a slight dip in winter and around 2500mm pretty evenly spread. The climate given should be fine for most varieties but if coconuts struggle then the min temps are likely to be lower than on the chart. Durians are more tropical than coconuts.
10c if ok for most types but frequent and prolonged periods around this level or temps spiking down to 5c even briefly are bad news.

Entebbe Botanical Gardens at an elevation of 1.180m (3,870 ft) have at least 2 old fruiting durians (planted during the colonial times); average annual temperature there is around 21 degrees Celsius with precipitation of 1.507 mm (59.33 inches). 3 months with almost no rain is common.

[Mike T]

Oscar you are correct and on young basaltic krasnozems and sandy soils with open porous structure higher rainfall is needed. On alluvials and colluvials generally and denser soils of finer grained sedimentary, metamorphic, acid volcanic and granitic parent material what I was suggesting hold true.
My red prawn and luang could handle at least 2 months with no rain but only half that in the December at the end of the dry season before suffering noticeably. I rarely water established trees.

[Finca La Isla]

Durians can be grown in dry parts of CR but they definately suffer through the second half of the dry season to the point of being set back in their growth and not having any chance for two harvests, especially if there is dry wind.  This is on a good clay loam soil with  irrigation in full sun.
Peter

[DurianLover]

I'm a little worried about coconuts not doing well. Is your area covered in a fog or mist a lot of times, even when not raining?
First step I would do is to make sure your elevation is really 810 m. 100-200 meters more at your latitude and I would be worried.  You can ignore Soren's  comment because he is right on equator, it wont apply in your case. Get trekker's watch with altimeter or perhaps there is an app for mobile phone. On paper climate is almost ideal. Actually durians are even better at higher elevations because they develop stronger bitter sweet aspect, very much sough after in Singapore. Also don't worry about record temps. At 4 degrees its very steady, there are none.

[fruitlovers]

I'm a little worried about coconuts not doing well. Is your area covered in a fog or mist a lot of times, even when not raining?
First step I would do is to make sure your elevation is really 810 m. 100-200 meters more at your latitude and I would be worried. You can ignore Soren's  comment because he is right on equator, it wont apply in your case. Get trekker's watch with altimeter or perhaps there is an app for mobile phone. On paper climate is almost ideal. Actually durians are even better at higher elevations because they develop stronger bitter sweet aspect, very much sough after in Singapore. Also don't worry about record temps. At 4 degrees its very steady, there are none.

I believe area he is talking about is only 3 degrees south of equator.

[DurianisaDrug]

By saying the coconuts barely do well I mean its very close to areas that only produce small ugly ones or none at all, as little as 2km up the hill sides or 1 to 2 hours south in the lowest part of the valleys. Im looking at places almost as low as possible, along the river or near it. Trying to find something with a flat area slight grade and steep on the other side to capture 2 climates if possible. With a clean small stream or two. Most the terrain is clay. Let me make a second post after my pina and banana dinner with soil n stuff pics.

I could go for more sand, loamy soil but I only see that right along larger streams or rivers mostly. I think temps will be fine as long as I stay low, 800 or less in altitude. I would love to buy a wristwatch with altitude but I question their accuracy, need to read up on it more, brands etc, any suggestions would be apprexiated. High clay content leads mw to thinking more slopes is good and possibly using earth moving machines to manipulate flat land if I need to.

and thank you all for your responses,  learned a bit and reminded of a lot!

[fruitlovers]

For altitude of your area go to Google Earth. It's pretty accurate.

[DurianisaDrug]

Tried to squeeze it all in here. Some areas have more sand but not many.



The tablet version ofgoogle earth is retartedd to not have the altitude,  lhotos and other fjnctikns unfortunately...

[DurianLover]

Oscar, who cares, north or south. He says 4 degrees from equator. It puts equivalent to Northern Malaysia.  I researched this topic when I was looking for a land. I was trying to find examples of durian orchards in Peninsular Malaysia above 800 meters, but to my knowledge there are none. Its simply too high. Yes, it contradicts Soren, but 4 degrees in latitude and couple hundred meters difference in elevation could make a difference whether you have ornamental or a fruiting tree. If you go by Julia Morton's text it says: "The durian is ultra-tropical and cannot be grown above an altitude of 2,000 ft (600 m) in Ceylon; 2,300 ft (700 m) in the Philippines, 2,600 ft (800 m) in Malaysia"  Its not really accurate because I personally seen 7 year old durian tree in Ceylon at 825 meters. I checked my altimeter when I saw the tree. I did not expect it to be right up there with highland tea.
I think it will fruit at the place you provided, but I'm not convinced 100%. To be safe try to come down to 500-600 meter range. I also believe this will positively influence your "years to first fruit" and productivity.
Try lean towards safe side as much as possible. Latitudes and altitudes are just for reference and sort of guidance.  Individual places at the same raw data points might be radically different. There are many influencing factors. For example there is a town in Mexico, officially south of tropic of cancer at 22 north where time after time they get temps well below similar latitudes, and they even had snow at sea level!!!

As far as watches my observation that they are pretty accurate. Maybe 15-20 meters error. Enter "altimeter watch" into ebay search, and you got plenty of choices. I think Suunto is a premium brand consistently above $200, but there are also cheaper alternatives like this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/La-Crosse-XG-55-Watch-Altimeter-Compass-Barometer-XG55-/390837469580?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item5affba818c  Can't vouch for performance. As Oscar says: recheck with Google Earth. Software is accurate.

[DurianisaDrug]

Thanks, I am looking at the suunto core because its accurate and waterproof. I definitely want to be safely situated as far as altitude and tempurature to not waste my time and energy.  From what I see it gets as low as 600 meters in this valley but not much area, maybe 5 square km. I can go check it out easily enough!

[fruitlovers]

Thanks, I am looking at the suunto core because its accurate and waterproof. I definitely want to be safely situated as far as altitude and tempurature to not waste my time and energy.  From what I see it gets as low as 600 meters in this valley but not much area, maybe 5 square km. I can go check it out easily enough!

Isn't it cheaper and easier to access a computer at an internet cafe to use Google Earth than to buy a new watch for $300?

[ben mango]

Durians like consistent rainfall and hate drought. They only need a couple of weeks of no rain for good flower set. We have rain evenly spread through year and they fruit fine. I like Peter's suggestion of planting on a slope, but mostly to avoid root rot disease, to which they are very susceptible. Make sure they are planted in soil with very good drainage, not heavy clay.

Sorry but I wouldn't say durian fruits fine in hawaii. It fruits inconsistently. Sure, this is a good year for durian but I know someone on hamakua coast who had not had a crop in 3 years. I'm sure he wouldn't say "they fruit fine" and this goes for graveolens etc

[DurianisaDrug]

I still question the accuracy of google earth but yeah clearly the cost is a lot for a little to no more accuracy..

[DurianisaDrug]

Got a sweet surprise today while land hunting, I met a local ecuadorian who has durians, this is his oldest one, and he didnt even know it was a durian lol, the others are under a year old. Thisone i am guessing is 3 years old about.. therewere somedeadleaves atthe base but itlooks happy enough for me to be happy to see it! Today was a good day, he had fruiting jackfruit trees, jaboticaba and a good amount of other fruits, mainly orchids.

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

[Finca La Isla]

Really, the durian in the video doesn't look strong.  Interesting that there are durians there.  Did you ask him where that came from?  Someone else must have durian in production.
Peter

[DurianisaDrug]

He said he went to borneo and brang back seeds, I think it would be healthier if he added mulch but also I suspect the heavy clay soil isn't perfect for the durian. Idk if adding gypsium or sulfer etc , ight help.. soil testing prior to drugging the ground though. I think adding lots of legume mulch could be all it needs but idk.

[DurianLover]

First and foremost durian in the video needs partial shade in order to get stronger. I think its too small to be exposed like that.

[fruitlovers]

Durians like consistent rainfall and hate drought. They only need a couple of weeks of no rain for good flower set. We have rain evenly spread through year and they fruit fine. I like Peter's suggestion of planting on a slope, but mostly to avoid root rot disease, to which they are very susceptible. Make sure they are planted in soil with very good drainage, not heavy clay.

Sorry but I wouldn't say durian fruits fine in hawaii. It fruits inconsistently. Sure, this is a good year for durian but I know someone on hamakua coast who had not had a crop in 3 years. I'm sure he wouldn't say "they fruit fine" and this goes for graveolens etc

Are you speaking from personal experience? i don't think so. Maybe your acquaintance just forgot to fertilize them for 3 years? There are many reason a plant may not fruit, besides climate.

[ben mango]

Durians like consistent rainfall and hate drought. They only need a couple of weeks of no rain for good flower set. We have rain evenly spread through year and they fruit fine. I like Peter's suggestion of planting on a slope, but mostly to avoid root rot disease, to which they are very susceptible. Make sure they are planted in soil with very good drainage, not heavy clay.

Sorry but I wouldn't say durian fruits fine in hawaii. It fruits inconsistently. Sure, this is a good year for durian but I know someone on hamakua coast who had not had a crop in 3 years. I'm sure he wouldn't say "they fruit fine" and this goes for graveolens etc

Are you speaking from personal experience? i don't think so. Maybe your acquaintance just forgot to fertilize them for 3 years? There are many reason a plant may not fruit, besides climate.

Ask some of the bigggest durian collectors/ growers on the islands , John mood on the hamakua coast, ken love in kona, or Frankie in waimanalo if their durians fruit consistently and their answer will be no. Frankie hasn't seen a decent durian crop in 4 years. Maybe he's not fertilizing but I think it has more to do with climate. Here in hawaii until this past season we had not seen a decent durian crop in 3 years... Definitely doesn't " fruit fine "

[DurianisaDrug]

This year in ecuador at a much lower elevation had we a very weak harvest. I think it was from too much rain.. kona sure isnt durian haven though hilo is much more so imo.. papaya farms road etc

[ben mango]

This year in ecuador at a much lower elevation had we a very weak harvest. I think it was from too much rain.. kona sure isnt durian haven though hilo is much more so imo.. papaya farms road etc

The trees grow well and get big in Puna but they don't fruit consistently. It's also wet there a lot so they might no sweeten like they should. Kona definitely isn't ideal for durian but with irrigation, wind protection etc they will grow. I think one of the sweetest durians I've had was from kona side and it was off season around summer time..

[DurianisaDrug]

Was it india where they would yell at and hit their jackfruit trees when they werent fruiting? Sounds like slme of those hawaiian durians need a spanking and lecture. Is it possible to set up a feasable amount of large speakers and give a plant a low db stress.. I read somewhere certain levels increase growth speed and possibly more..

[fruitlovers]

Durians like consistent rainfall and hate drought. They only need a couple of weeks of no rain for good flower set. We have rain evenly spread through year and they fruit fine. I like Peter's suggestion of planting on a slope, but mostly to avoid root rot disease, to which they are very susceptible. Make sure they are planted in soil with very good drainage, not heavy clay.

Sorry but I wouldn't say durian fruits fine in hawaii. It fruits inconsistently. Sure, this is a good year for durian but I know someone on hamakua coast who had not had a crop in 3 years. I'm sure he wouldn't say "they fruit fine" and this goes for graveolens etc

Are you speaking from personal experience? i don't think so. Maybe your acquaintance just forgot to fertilize them for 3 years? There are many reason a plant may not fruit, besides climate.

Ask some of the bigggest durian collectors/ growers on the islands , John mood on the hamakua coast, ken love in kona, or Frankie in waimanalo if their durians fruit consistently and their answer will be no. Frankie hasn't seen a decent durian crop in 4 years. Maybe he's not fertilizing but I think it has more to do with climate. Here in hawaii until this past season we had not seen a decent durian crop in 3 years... Definitely doesn't " fruit fine "

Still not speaking from personal experience. FYI, Ken doesn't have a single durian tree planted. He doesn't have a farm of his own. (Other small detail is that he is in opposite side of island, Kona, too dry, and not best area for durians.) The plantings here in Hawaii  are all very small. And most people don't know how, or don't have the time, to properly take care of their trees to make them fruit. But there are people who get them to fruit consistently. You can see the fruits every year at farmer's market.

[ben mango]

Are you speakin from personal experience? you have fruiting durians every year that fruit fine? And Not true about finding durians at market.. There was hardly any durian found at Hilo market the last 2+ years 

[ben mango]

So who gets them to fruit consistently ?

[Finca La Isla]

I don't know that anywhere is super consistent.  Areas that are considered very good for mangoes, durians, mangosteens, rambutans, etc. can have very different results from one season to another.  We say the trees are 'resting' and leave it at that.
Peter

[Mike T]

Some of the areas here with durians are very reliable.It seems that basaltic krasnozem soil and rainfall over 4000mm/yr helps reliability of fruiting. Cyclones are the wild card that messes things up in these patches.

There are a few farms that trialled multiple durian varieties, maybe 30 to 40 named types at 18s latitude. There was a big difference in the performance of the varieties and local conditions, especially winter minimums did not suit many. In other spots trialled some varieties responded badly to less rainfall or watering and poorer on some soils.One outcome of the durian trials held is that there is a big difference between durian varieties in the suitability for a particular area.

When it comes to predicting whether an upland site in Ecuador is suitable for durian growing it seems likely that some varieties will be suited and others not.The average minimum temps seem lower than ideal and more cold tolerant types should do better.

[DurianisaDrug]

Thanks mike t, can you think of any specific varieties for me to look into obtaining?

[fruitlovers]

Are you speakin from personal experience? you have fruiting durians every year that fruit fine? And Not true about finding durians at market.. There was hardly any durian found at Hilo market the last 2+ years

Guess you went on the wrong days. Been buying durians there the last few years. Several vendors had them.

[fruitlovers]

So who gets them to fruit consistently ?

The discussion was, to remind you, about whether durians will fruit in high rainfall areas. How long a dry spell they need. They need only a very short dry spell, as little as a couple of weeks for flowers to set. And we very often do get that.