Durian would any of the Caribbean islands be fertile territory to grow Durian

[bovine421]

Is or could Durian be grown in Puerto Rico and what other Caribbean islands might be suited for that. What areas of the world are the General Public familiar with this fruit. Is it grown commercially for export or mostly consumed locally. Is the promotion of exotic fruit travel designations feasible. Yes there should be an Ultra tropical section in this form. Yes talkin of mangoes does get redundant for us folks in Central and South Florida but I am sure that in Iowa they never Tire of corn soybeans and pork belly conversation.Lol

[canito 17]

I know Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. I think that all Caribbean Island have potential.

[spencerw]

a different location, but here in hawaii we are quite far from the 'normal' durian growing regions. i know people that grow them at 50' sea level in puna and hilo (very young volcanic rocky/lava soils). and people growing them at 1000' in hakalau, which has at least 10' deep soils that are almost consistently wet with very little rocks and organic matter and with high rainfall, average >150 inches of rain. and even in kohala at 100' elevation in drastically less rainfall, <100 inches. this is basically the entirety of east big island. meaning we have the potential to grow them over the entire wet side of hawaii. all of these locations fruit and produce fairly good quality durian, at least as far as we are aware, only a few people have been around the world to taste south east asian and hawaiian durians, and i am not one of the lucky few.
at this point we can only ship inter-island. but there is efforts for us to get them to the mainland via containers to tap into the real market potential. thick skin means it has shelf life, so it can be sent out and treated prior to arrival in california. i know people travel here to taste durian, but its not the same level of food tourism as other countries. and luckily we have a large mixed asian influence here, so thats created a market and cultivars for the fruit. its sold here currently from $4-6 per lb dependent on variety

[Mike T]

Trials for cold tolerance of dozens of varieties in Australia came to the following conclusions at the end of the study:

'Therefore identifying cold tolerant clones is one of the major objectives for a consistent supply of fruit to the consumer. When this selection criteria is coupled to the known fruit quality of the productive clone in Malaysia, this will be a real bonus for the industry. D 175 clearly was outstanding in this category followed by Chanee, D 118, D 144, D 190, D 197, D. macrantha, Kan Yao and Kradum Thong.'

[Mike T]

At 5c durian clones were observed to exhibit cold stress related symptoms ranging from death, through a spectrum of leaf dropping and yellowing to those which seemed almost unaffected. How much lower the colder tolerant clones could go was not determined but 5c seems like a critical minimum temp when many varieties struggle. Selecting the right variety is the key part of pushing the limits.

[bovine421]

a different location, but here in hawaii we are quite far from the 'normal' durian growing regions. i know people that grow them at 50' sea level in puna and hilo (very young volcanic rocky/lava soils). and people growing them at 1000' in hakalau, which has at least 10' deep soils that are almost consistently wet with very little rocks and organic matter and with high rainfall, average >150 inches of rain. and even in kohala at 100' elevation in drastically less rainfall, <100 inches. this is basically the entirety of east big island. meaning we have the potential to grow them over the entire wet side of hawaii. all of these locations fruit and produce fairly good quality durian, at least as far as we are aware, only a few people have been around the world to taste south east asian and hawaiian durians, and i am not one of the lucky few.
at this point we can only ship inter-island. but there is efforts for us to get them to the mainland via containers to tap into the real market potential. thick skin means it has shelf life, so it can be sent out and treated prior to arrival in california. i know people travel here to taste durian, but its not the same level of food tourism as other countries. and luckily we have a large mixed asian influence here, so thats created a market and cultivars for the fruit. its sold here currently from $4-6 per lb dependent on variety

That's good news to hear it has a long shelf life. I think the market in California would be very receptive 2 Durian fruit with the proper education and promotion. On the other thread not enough talk about durian. They mentioned that Durand is not generally grown in areas prone to Cyclones. Are the trees tall and brittle and is there any agricultural practice that can be used to mitigate high winds. How long is the fruit cycle. And how long from sapling to producing trees. If I remember right from discussions on this forum . Costa Rica is already an exotic fruit travel designation  adding Durian would be a wonderful thing. I will inquire from my in law that have a Fruit Stand in Castries St Lucia if they have heard of this fruit but they may call it by a different name.

[canito 17]

Time ago Ian Crown give limited tours in the farm .But was before Maria and the pandemic

[canito 17]

Orlando is called 79 Puerto Rico municipality. Believe it or not the pic is from Orlando.

[spencerw]

That's good news to hear it has a long shelf life. I think the market in California would be very receptive 2 Durian fruit with the proper education and promotion. On the other thread not enough talk about durian. They mentioned that Durand is not generally grown in areas prone to Cyclones. Are the trees tall and brittle and is there any agricultural practice that can be used to mitigate high winds. How long is the fruit cycle. And how long from sapling to producing trees. If I remember right from discussions on this forum . Costa Rica is already an exotic fruit travel designation  adding Durian would be a wonderful thing. I will inquire from my in law that have a Fruit Stand in Castries St Lucia if they have heard of this fruit but they may call it by a different name.

certain varieties have longer shelf life than others, some remain closed while others split open. through my research, one of the flavors dissipates after 30 minutes off the tree. very few lucky people will get it at that point. but the other flavors stick around longer. probably picking them would allow the shelf life to be longer as well, but once again the flavors wont be fully developed. but older durian is better than no durian. im sure if the industry was kickin, they would fill airplanes during the season and get them over same day for sale. all we gotta do is get them to san francisco chinatown and los angeles chinatown. the fruits will be sold almost immediately. there are already markets and cultures who want the durian.

winds can be an issue. trees grow large. ive heard from many growers broken branches due to wind and heavy fruit set. this can be mitigated by pruning grafted trees (who arent as strong as a seedling), and thinning fruit set per branch. some farmers prune branches to allow wind to penetrate easierthere are farmers who have this down to a science. if you plant them in a forest they will be protected by the other trees from high winds as well.

flower to ripe fruit is 180 days. seedlings can take 7-10 years to produce, ive heard as little as 5 though. they can drop all their fruits in a few weeks. some hang a little longer. planting a mixed culture will allow you to have a longer season by having different genetics. fruits are normally collected off the ground once they fall so they develop full flavor. the sooner you eat them after they fall the more flavor they have. they typically arent pruned to a particular size because they drop their fruits naturally when ripe.

[bovine421]

That's good news to hear it has a long shelf life. I think the market in California would be very receptive 2 Durian fruit with the proper education and promotion. On the other thread not enough talk about durian. They mentioned that Durand is not generally grown in areas prone to Cyclones. Are the trees tall and brittle and is there any agricultural practice that can be used to mitigate high winds. How long is the fruit cycle. And how long from sapling to producing trees. If I remember right from discussions on this forum . Costa Rica is already an exotic fruit travel designation  adding Durian would be a wonderful thing. I will inquire from my in law that have a Fruit Stand in Castries St Lucia if they have heard of this fruit but they may call it by a different name.

certain varieties have longer shelf life than others, some remain closed while others split open. through my research, one of the flavors dissipates after 30 minutes off the tree. very few lucky people will get it at that point. but the other flavors stick around longer. probably picking them would allow the shelf life to be longer as well, but once again the flavors wont be fully developed. but older durian is better than no durian. im sure if the industry was kickin, they would fill airplanes during the season and get them over same day for sale. all we gotta do is get them to san francisco chinatown and los angeles chinatown. the fruits will be sold almost immediately. there are already markets and cultures who want the durian.

winds can be an issue. trees grow large. ive heard from many growers broken branches due to wind and heavy fruit set. this can be mitigated by pruning grafted trees (who arent as strong as a seedling), and thinning fruit set per branch. some farmers prune branches to allow wind to penetrate easierthere are farmers who have this down to a science. if you plant them in a forest they will be protected by the other trees from high winds as well.

flower to ripe fruit is 180 days. seedlings can take 7-10 years to produce, ive heard as little as 5 though. they can drop all their fruits in a few weeks. some hang a little longer. planting a mixed culture will allow you to have a longer season by having different genetics. fruits are normally collected off the ground once they fall so they develop full flavor. the sooner you eat them after they fall the more flavor they have. they typically arent pruned to a particular size because they drop their fruits naturally when ripe.

With proper variety selection how long could you stretch the season for 5 months? To my surprise I thought it was much longer My Google Assistant tells me that a flight from San Francisco to Hawaii is 5 hours. Overnight shipments to the Asian market in San Francisco who would have no qualms about paying premium prices sounds like a lucrative Endeavor for you. If they behave anyting like the Mango customers in South Florida you may need armored cars to make deliveries LOL

[elouicious]

I actually had 5 durian recently survive the storm in Houston in my GH, temps dipped to 30 briefly

[Mike T]

My red prawn got smashed around an lost some big branches a couple of weeks ago when a cyclones brushed by. They are more prone than many durian due to their architecture. Just in terms of a couple things mentioned about durian that may be a little more refined, flower to fruits ripening is around 90 to 130 days depending on variety, 10 to 15 years is a more realistic juvenile period for seedlings and 70 inches of rain a year and above is suitable for durian. Typically the season in one spot is less than 3 months regardless of varieties but if there is a second fruiting or early flowering very odd fruit ahead or after the usual season can stretch it out to maybe 7 months. Ome monthong tree I know had ripe fruit in October while new flower buds were on and the new crop was in February but this is highly irregular.
Many Thai varieties are picked from the tree before they drop and this gives them extra shelf life. Flavours do not dissipate so quickly after picking or flesh extraction.I found extracted flesh kept in the fridge is just as good a few days later. If a fallen durian still needs a few days to ripen it will be at its best when ripe rather then when first fallen or picked for that matter.This can be as much as a week later.

[Gone tropo]

Mike I was talking to an old Malaysian lady today from Borneo, she has been around durian all her life she had a property in the Daintree she told me she prefers seedling durian and that they produce in 7 years over there in the Daintree from seed. She claimed that they mostly are very similar to the parent and that the seedling trees are much healthier, hardier and long lived.  Unfortunately theft was a major problem and she since sold the property.

[Mike T]

I guess in really good conditions with the right variety 7 years is not unusual but its not what a lot of growers experience with them.Seedlings do look healthier and are bigger and stronger.  A feature of durians is that they like to outcross and also many varieties have not stabilised enough for seedlings to grow true. Older types that are self fertile and not grown around other varieties would probably grow true more often.

[brian]

Is durian just a "love it or hate it" fruit?  Or is it all about having the right variety and freshness?

I bought a fresh (as in unfrozen) one from a local asian market and I thought it was gross smelling and the taste wasn't so great to offset the smell.  I like almost all fruit, and I like garlic, raw onions, etc.  But the durian smelled like a trash truck to me.

[Gone tropo]

Is durian just a "love it or hate it" fruit?  Or is it all about having the right variety and freshness?

I bought a fresh (as in unfrozen) one from a local asian market and I thought it was gross smelling and the taste wasn't so great to offset the smell.  I like almost all fruit, and I like garlic, raw onions, etc.  But the durian smelled like a trash truck to me.

I’ve never had a frozen durian so can’t comment on that but I loved durian from the first one I tried. My wife won’t even taste it because of the smell, one of my 3 kids love it the other 2 tried it but didn’t think much of it. There ain’t anything that tastes like durian to me, I haven’t tried any of the cultivars either only seedlings or kampung durian as they say.

[Finca La Isla]

I’m sure there are lots of Caribbean islands where durian could be grown.  The area needs to be wet.  I think it could de similar to growing on Hawaii.
Durian could be grown in many parts of Colombia and Venezuela as well as well into Peru and Bolivia, Brazil. It’s in production in Ecuador.

Durian does not have the general appeal to the uninitiated compared to a fruit like mangosteen.  But it makes up for it when considering the level of dedication it inspires for those who cherish it.
Peter