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Messages - siafu

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1

 Nitric acid is a good alternative and provides nitrogen besides lowering pH.
 Where I am is considerably cheaper than sulphuric acid.

2
Hi,

My experience is that M. vexator is clearly more adaptable to alkaline soil/water conditions.
My M. vexator is now over 4 meters tall and does rather well whereas all other Myrciaria species
struggle...

Is Myrciaria vexator compatible with any Plinia/Myrciaria species?


3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Will these seeds germinate?
« on: March 23, 2020, 06:51:27 AM »
I got my first international shipment of seeds two days ago (seeds from Borneo)...

Those seeds don't look bad...

You have to start with fresh seeds, for sure, but a lot can go
wrong afterwards...Still, your best bet is to start with the freshest possible seeds...

If you are just starting with exotic tropical seeds, I would suggest you first gain some experience with
easier and cheaper seeds. After a while you kind of know which will germinate and which will not.
There are some basic rules, like floaters usually do not germinate. Moldy seeds are usually already
condemned.

In my experience, it is very easy to get the sowing medium too wet. I like to use coconut coir and soak it well, but then
I try really hard to squeeze out as much water as possible.

If the seeds also get too warm they will die.

Unless you have a good setup, germinating seeds in the colder months is more difficult. Whereas
in the summer months, fresh seeds will germinate readily.

Impatience also kills a lot of seeds. Avoid poking the sowing medium to check the seeds all the time...

Good luck.

4
I'm dealing with an issue in my rollinia that i can't identify. I have tried systemic treatments that don't seem to help.

The damage in the undersides looks like spider mites. If that's the case, you'll need an acaricide.

5
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Kaffir lime disease? Leaf symptoms
« on: March 15, 2020, 08:28:20 PM »

 I would also check for spider mites...

6
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Does my Lucuma plant have a disease?
« on: March 14, 2020, 08:23:04 PM »

 Hi,

Too much fertilizer or water with high conductivity (salts)
produces damage in plants that can look like that.

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Grumichama not fruiting
« on: January 03, 2020, 10:47:26 AM »
It likes plenty of water. I had one that bloomed and set fruit after being flooded every day due to a rupture in the irrigation
hose.

8
Hi,

I have a single tree from seed I got years ago from Island Jim, in Florida.
This tree blooms for long periods of time. It produces male flowers and then female flowers, but with little to no overlap.
As a result, it has set a handful of smallish fruits in all these years.

Is it normal for a single tree to behave like this?

I would like to try to grow this species in a different location. Does anyone know if it is possible
to airlayer kwai muk?  Or, any chance that kwai muk is graft compatible with jakfruit?








9

 Franklin e-tech  material is well regarded here among professionals.

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mabola plum - Parinari curatellifolia
« on: October 10, 2016, 08:29:57 AM »

 It takes some cold, too, even as seedlings.

 I managed to germinate a couple of seedlings a couple of years ago. These seedlings went through our winter
 without any special protection.

 Unfortunately, when I planted them in larger pots, a feral cat kept digging up the pots,
 until I lost them. 


11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Genipa americana.
« on: September 12, 2016, 06:38:17 PM »


 Hi,

 Miguel, my tree came from fruits I bought in Lisbon, many years ago.  Never seen it again ever since.
 
  This year has been prolific in first time bloomers. My Bombax ceiba produced its first flowers. A couple of
  months later, my largest flamboyant (Delonix regia) also bloomed for the first time. I grew both from seed!!!

 Oscar, thanks for the link. I also found an interesting link to a video about the Jenipapo (Genipa americana). It's an episode
belonging to the "Um Pé de Quê?" series presented by Regina Casé. She says jenipapo trees can be either male
or hermaphrodite.

I would check the flowers but they are way up there...
 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnjCpQhMy2Y

12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Genipa americana.
« on: September 11, 2016, 03:54:04 PM »

 Hi,
 
 I have a Genipa americana that is blooming for the first time.
 
 It has never thrived in my climate and often takes a hit when there's a cold wave with
 near freezing temperatures. Still, it manages to recover and has gained some size over the years,
 although it is rather spindly. Today, I noticed it has some yellow flowers in a couple of
 branches.

 Does anyone know if it needs a companion to set fruit?

 --sérgio

13
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: First Good Harvest of Kwai Muk
« on: September 11, 2016, 03:39:44 PM »

 Hi,

 My tree usually aborts all the fruits, but one or two, due to poor pollination.
 This year, for some reason, is has many more oblong fruits than usual, which
 I am hoping will mature properly. I will have to wait several weeks still, they
 should be ready by late October, early November.

 If I remember correctly, my tree is a sibling to Luc's and Oscar's.

 --sérgio

14
the differences between genera are too vast, they should have been trying to find a compatible species within the genus Myrciaria.


They should have been trying interspecific grafts...not intergeneric.

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-204X2003001200015

I don't understand your point.
The paper describes grafting camu-camu onto psidium and eugenia. Aren't these species in different genera
in regards to camu-camu?

Sorry. I thought you were complaining about the term used, rather than the choice of species.

Yeah, but loquat on quince says otherwise ;-)


15

They should have been trying interspecific grafts...not intergeneric.

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-204X2003001200015

I don't understand your point.
The paper describes grafting camu-camu onto psidium and eugenia. Aren't these species in different genera
in regards to camu-camu?

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Fruiting dates in Europe?
« on: November 05, 2015, 03:02:25 AM »

 Hi,

 There are some date palm (hybrids?) in Faro town, near the hospital.

 I'm not sure how pure they are, but these palms produce rather large fruits compared to Phoenix canariensis,
 so they must have some date genes in there. I noticed the fruits dropping a couple of weeks ago.

 

17
Love to see.pics of your fruits Siafu!  I have many plants and seeds but if the genes look different I would get:)

Tomorrow, I will see if there are any fruits left that are still unspoiled.

The fruits fall from the tree and carpet the ground but I was away when it happened.

I still managed to try a few that were still ok, but that was several days ago.

Stuart, have you tried to get the named selections found by the late professor Kas?

18
How does your tree's fruit taste?  (Did you grow from seed or do you have named cultivars?)

I have two trees grown from seed.

The problem is not taste. It is a juicy, tasty fruit, but there's little pulp.

Nevertheless, I have to admit that marula is growing on me. It's nice to bite into
the thick rind of the fruit and get a squirt of a rather fine juice.
Then there's a bit of pulp around the large seed to chew on for a couple of minutes.



19
Thanks...do you think A. cherimoya could fruit in French Riviera? For sure it will withstand the winter, the problem is that spring is not very warm and flowering could happen to late (mid summer i think)...does it mature fruit even if temperatures are 15°C?

 Sorry. I don't know. 

20
Siafu....thanks for the info you share with us :) !!!

What do you think abouth A. cherimoya ? Does it mature the fruit in winter in the coldest parts of Algarve?

There's little difference from place to place in terms of averages. The limiting factor is extreme minimums.
There's this place called Aljezur, where it can get incredibly cold (-7C), well below the limit for cherimoya.
Elsewhere, the fruits will be ready by mid to late Autumn and fine quality.







21
 
 Fresh marula seeds  from my own trees...

 

22
Few days ago I spoke in an Italian forum about the differences for a plant between survive and ripe a fruit....
What do I mean?

In Tropical or Subtropical regions this is not a problem....temperatures are high throughout the year. But in other parts, for instance the warmest part of Europe, the average Temp can be lower than 13° for 4-5 months.

Until few months ago I considered only the temperature that a plant could take without die....and i believed that it was the only "problem" for a subtropical plant in a mediterranean climate.

So a subtropical plant, to ripe the fruits in a frost-free zone, MUST:

- Ripen the fruits before November (so Flowering must occur not too late and fruits must ripe in 4-5 months)
- Fruits must not rot or fall if temperature drops under 10°C

- LUCUMA : I read about a plant that fruits in Spain...since the fruit takes one year for ripen, I guess it can withstand low winter temperatures


What about other subtropical fruits??

- BLACK ZAPOTE??
- JACKFRUITS?
- JUBUTICABA?
- CARAMBOLA?

Which are your experiences??

Thanks

Lucuma is very easy and shows no stress over winter.
Green sapote also does well and does fine over winter.
Black sapote does well for me. The fruits ripen in mid spring.
Carambola does not grow well outside for me. It defoliates and takes a long time to recover. Sometimes, it still manages to produce a late crop. In more protected conditions it does rather well and produces two crops: summer and around Christmas.
Jaboticaba fruits needs just a few weeks from bloom to maturity. It even does well in Northern Portugal.
There's still little experience with Jackfruit here. So far it looks promising. I have two in a mosquito netting covered structure that fruited for the first time this summer. The fruits did not develop properly. The seeds were malformed, but the rag was sweet and edible.
Mamey grows very slowly. It is much more cold sensitive than green sapote.
Achachairu does well outside here, but grows slowly (in poor soil and heavy shade).
Sapodilla seedlings do well outside. Winter usually scorches some of the tender top leaves of the plant.
It recovers over the warmer months and gets bigger over time.
Canistel does well outside in good spots and can mature fruit. Mine tends to defoliate, which allows sun to scorch the fruits.
Ilama (grafted onto cherimoya) does well outside. It spends winter leafless but wakes up and blooms when cherimoya is also
coming out of dormancy.
Biribá (A. mucosa) does well but my plants set fruits too late and they mature over winter and are very bland.
 
edit: corrected some typos

23

 My own observation is that those tropical plants that require a lot of heat, tend
 to bloom rather late into Summer, and so the fruits will have to mature over winter
 and either fail or produce very poor quality fruits. Good examples: tamarind,
 biribá (A. mucosa) and A. reticula.

 Some species develop their fruits much faster and have enough time to mature them
 before winter sets in: Lychee, longan, marula, mango, A. squamosa (part of the crop).
 For these, the main requirement is not being exposed to freezing temperatures. Given that,
 they can handle somewhat cool conditions over the whole winter.
 

24
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: the taste of Olosapo
« on: October 15, 2015, 12:36:30 PM »
Yes, the calcium binds with iron and many other micronutrients. But, I wonder if there is just so much present that there is sufficient for the tree? At any rate, I think it's more complex than just pH, because it doesn't make sense that my tree (which is a seedling of the F&S tree) is terribly chlorotic while the parent tree is thriving. I'd love to get a soil expert out here to solve the mystery.

It also seems to depend on the plant species and also its age.

I have shallow alkaline soil and have seen countless plants
doing well in pots and then turn yellow once planted.
They green up somewhat with the first Autumn rains. (Rain water does
make a lot of difference.)

Interestingly, I have also seen plants improve with age to the point
that they no longer look chlorotic.

25
I've never seen a Tamarind here in Italy, can it be grown in Florida or California?
As I know it likes arid conditions, so California could be better than Florida....does someone grow it? how does it grow? does it flower and fruit? When?

The Tamarind should resist to cold at least until 32° F, but even less for short periods !!

Thanks

:)

In Southern Portugal, tamarind grows slowly. It blooms and  sets fruits, but the fruits rot during the winter when the plant goes dormant.

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