The Tropical Fruit Forum

We can all make lists of what we have (to give), what we want, and if any match that will be our secret santa. If they don't match, we can give the person something that they don't have.

Ok - I'm in!  And before then, can someone teach me how to do scion cuttings?

Quote from: fruitlovers on November 07, 2013, 04:54:10 PM

Quote from: Doglips on November 05, 2013, 06:20:17 AM

We could time share it, I can chip in a couple of grand, bet I could talk Daintree into joining on.

Looks beautiful.

Time shares are for vacations, not for working farms.

Sure they are, others could do the work the rest of the year I could show up for the mangosteen harvest.
I sure it would be a tremendous amount of work, nothing to tackle without a whole team.
The point is moot unless my dear, dear, lost uncle Oscar leaves me a small fortune.

Well, I am working on the "lottery option" and have spent $2 in hopes that the Powerball will help fund the endeavor.
Several people at work have also offered to come and stay at the B&B in exchange for farm work. It would be fun to have a "workation" sort of thing.
Always fun to dream!!!!

We could time share it, I can chip in a couple of grand, bet I could talk Daintree into joining on.

Looks beautiful.

Yeah, what a GREAT idea!  That is one of the sweetest places on earth..
Of course, there ARE the cyclones, the giant lizards, crocodiles, plant invaders that you have to chop down with a machete, and the fact that everything that crawls or slithers is probably poisonous.
Oh, and the rain.  And the leeches.
But it is still paradise!

Oooh, that could be it!  The most likely suspect is Spondias dulcis.  I just e-mailed some pictures to the my son and daughter-in-law, to see if it is a possibility.

Thanks!

That looks like a really healthy population of mealy bugs. 
I get them too, sometimes, in my greenhouse.  You can wipe them off with a cotton swab dipped in straight rubbing alcohol, if there aren't too many.  I also use Neem oil and pyrethrin, but you have to keep on top of it.  They have a fast life cycle, so if I get hit with them, I spray every week.  The tiny baby ones (sometimes called crawlers) are not white, but sort of tan, and the size of a pinpoint.

Carolyn

Thanks!

Not sure what that is, maybe there were two seeds in the pot to begin with?

Quote from: Michiganian on November 02, 2013, 10:24:11 AM

So in September I received 32 seeds, which were described as latexless fresh Thai orange jackfruit with a description of sweet, crunchy and thick fruits.

If the seeds you got are the same as those you've described above, then you may have hit the gold mother load. Many jackfruit growers, including myself, would love to purchase from you a grafted jackfruit tree that was latex-less, sweet and of the crunchy kind.

BTW, there may be very few people in the USA with those seeds/seedlings, or you may be the only one with them. I sure hope that you propagate them all to the maturity point of fruit production and then, that each seedling fruit will be sampled and its quality compared to the others. And finally, that you will end up propagating and selling the grafted jackfruit of the most promising seedling(s).

Although this may sound like a lot of work, it may really be worth your while (or even someone else), since some very good profits could be made from this endeavor, best wishes and good luck to you.

These sound just like some seeds I recently purchased on EBay from a nice fellow in California.  He described them as latex-free, orange, crunchy Thai jackfruit.  Made my mouth water, just looking at the picture!  I think he still has some.
- Carolyn

Where can a person find these seeds?
I would love to buy some of them to grow.  I have eaten the toasted seeds before, and they were very good, with a weird, slightly fishy taste.

Thanks!
Starting tomorrow, they get MORE LIGHT!

I bought them 3 years avon, and the stems were very thick (2-3 inches).  THey were about 2 feet tall, and seemed really vigorous.  They have grown like crazy, but the stems are always very thin.
Aarrrggh!  I am tired of buying my dragon fruit at the oriental market in Portland!
What am I doing wrong?

Great ideas for a dragon fruit thread!
I could use some help with mine!
I have Physical Graffiti, and a yellow dragon fruit (Selenicereus megalanthus according to Pine Island Nursery, where I ordered them).  I have had them for over 3 years now, and cannot get them to bloom!  They were fairly large plants in gallon pots when I got them.
They have been in my tropical greenhouse, which never gets below 50F.  I have tried SO many different things to try and get them to bloom - lots of water, little water, fertilizer, no fertilizer, letting them grow until they took over the place with greenery, pruning them down, more light, more shade, and nothing.  I have no problem at all with getting my epiphyllums (orchid cactus) to bloom. I have recently moved the dragon fruit to the dormant house (gets into the high 30's in winter but never freezes), thinking maybe they need vernalization(?). 
They grow like weeds, and seem really happy and healthy, other than no blooms.  Aaarggh!

The only other things I can think of are, maybe, light intensity?  Or do they have a critical photo period and I need to keep them in the light for a longer period each day?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Speaking of jackfruit (artocarpus), do they respond well to container culture, with regular root and branch pruning? I mean, in its native habitat, jackfruit can grow  to be a pretty hefty tree! I was thinking of buying some jackfruit from an online Thai food store, primarily for the purpose of growing the seeds.

I haven't had any success with mangosteen, despite the fact that I sowed the seeds immediately after they were extracted from the fruit. The seeds, which were sown in ordinary seed starting potting compost, became mushy and succumbed to rot.

Tamarind, the ripe fruits of which are readily available from Thai food stores, are easy to grow and make great bonsai plants. They have attractive foliage, but would a seed-grown tamarind ever bear fruit in a large container?

Thankyou for offering some fresh arabica coffee seeds! I'd love to grow a coffee plant or two, but I've had no success whatsoever in trying to get dried, dessicated coffee seeds to germinate.

Gary

Hi Gary,
I planted about 20 mangosteen seeds, and got 2 to germinate, but I don't know where I went wrong after that.  Maybe not enough humidity?
My tamarinds never bloomed, but they got really tall, and I finally chopped down a couple, and gave the others away to another gal with a greenhouse.
And yes, I know these coffee seeds will grow for you, because if I accidentally let the fruit (which tastes really good, by the way, sort of like a sweetish celery) fall, I get baby plants in the pot!
I have found that pretty much anything will grow and make fruit in a pot.  I don't prune the roots at all, I just move them to bigger pots.  The major limiter, when I was growing indoors, was not enough light.  I had horticultural lights that would give me a sunburn when I worked in the "plant room", but things still wouldn't bloom.  Then I built the greenhouse, and "pow"!  Everything bloomed at once! Happy plants! Lots of food, low pH (I use vinegar), and lots of the RIGHT kind of food.