The Tropical Fruit Forum

I guess when people refer to Psidium angulatum they are actually meaning Psidium acutangulum, which should be the proper name to be used.
Called pear guava in Brazil (araçá pêra).

Hi everyone! I only got seeds in December 2021, but seedlings have grown well.
Any more info on this species other than what Raul has shared? best climate and soil, time to fruit from seed, etc

Where can I find mangos (those special varieties you can only find there) for sale in Miami from 4 to 8 August, as well as mango scion wood and grafted trees? Anything else other than Lara farms?

Thanks!

here there is a description of the species in Portuguese. Does not seem a very tasty Myrtacea.
http://www.colecionandofrutas.com.br/neomitranthesobscura.htm

I would rather try N. glomerata, the flavor description seems more interesting (a mix of jabuticaba with cinnamon).
http://www.colecionandofrutas.com.br/neomitranthesobscura.htm

Best,

T

also looking here, please DM me if you have

email sent

Dear Erik

I am in Portugal/Belgium and also looking for seeds. Some days ago a guy from the Philippines called Joven Raval posted on facebook that he was selling seeds. He told me that in order to send me the seeds he would need me to get an import permit for mabolo seeds, only then the Philippines authorities would shipping the seeds. Php 3,500 per Kg plus shipping fee.
This all seemed too complicated and I ended up not following up.
If anyone else knows where to find mabolo seeds or seedlings in the EU, let me know or from a third country where export is easier.
It is so nice to live in the EU in general but the complications regarding import of seed/plants from third countries is just not a very fun part of it, especially for us plant-aholics.

Best,

Tiago

pm sent

oh well this all sounds messy to me. More bureaucratic procedures, exactly what we didn't need!

In the past almost all the seeds and plants I've order from third countries were confiscated by customs when shipped to my address in the Azores (Portugal) - I must be in their blacklist , but none was confiscated when senty to my address in Belgium... So I started to order seeds to Belgium, germinate them there, let them grow and then take the plants as hand luggage in the flights to the Azores (intra-EU flight). Has worked so far...

I even had my little adventure of plants in the luggage in a flight from Brazil - was also successful but it all depends on your luck! It was very stressful and I do not recomend if you are very fearful of getting caught

T

If you google search permaculture azores you will find some others who have been working in the area.

Nothing says a food forest cannot be in straight lines, or cannot be similar trees like mango in one area.
N/S rows are best for sunlight but if your contour doesn't fit that on sloping land you need to place low plants to the south and taller to the north to take advantage of winter sun.
Part of my place is a one year old food forest with a concentration on 50 mango trees as the dominant fruit trees, in rows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv_0Xf7oIMQ&t=3s

Nitrogen fixers can be low like peanuts, medium like beans, or tall like pigeon pea, leucaena, Inga, or various others.
Carob might do well in your area. I've heard of Tagasaste (Cytisus proliferus) should be a good one for you, native to Canary Islands. I try to stack functions, so that most of the legumes and bananas function as food crops, nitrogen fixers, and mulch producers to build soil.

This is an example of the sector analysis I did for my property taking into account the environmental factors on the site.
Doing this as part of the design process helps.

amazing example, thank you so much for the ideas!!!
T

Dear forum colleagues,

I am planning two subtropical food forests in the Azores (in my particular area, hardiness should be around 11, with 18 degrees C. of yearly average temperature).

In the food forests, I want to create patches for the 4 main "cash crops": mango, avocado, macadamia and coffee.

What would be the best way to combine these 4 species mono cropping patches within the food forest? Could I intercrop between them (for example macadamia and coffee), and with other species (such as bananas, etc)? What would be the best tree spacing for these crops? Any suggested varieties for these species?

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe mono-cropping patches are necessary in food forests for the more important cash crops so as to make it easier to harvest.

Only main issues there are: wet climate (fungus related problems) and wind protection, so space for wind breaks is needed. One of the orchards is in a hill and has a big slope, facing North towards the cliffs over the ocean, the other is flatter and has good sun exposure.

More to come on this food forest projects. For now, a drone video on youtube of the orchard in the hill:

https://youtu.be/bbizB6R1qSk (I've just created this youtube account to post this video and I do not really intend to become a master of editing videos, nor a YouTuber ,).

In the video we can see the consolidated rectangle with recent plantation, surrounded by abandoned forested areas to convert to food forest.


Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

T

What we are witnessing is a political instrumentalization of science. Furthermore, the issue needs to be put into perspective so as to consider the politics of deforestation control in Brazil.

•   Following a great hike in deforestation, the Federal government (1st Lula’s term), in 2004,  launched the Programme for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon (PPCDAm),  grouping together different national ministries to thereby better promote coordinated action. This programme’s axes of action were 1) land regularisation, 2) monitoring and policing of illegal deforestation, and 3) promotion of alternative sustainable activities. The programme was a success especially due to its integrated approach and has shown results, the reduction in the deforestation rate that Lula so proudly presented in international events and negotiations.

•   In recent years there has been a slight increase in deforestation rate, but not yet to the levels of 2004. However what is most important is the dismantling of deforestation control policy (and environmental policy more generally) since Bolsonaro came to power, his denial of facts and science, and his rhetoric and discourses against indigenous peoples, environmental NGOs and in favour of a “development” at all costs in he Amazon. A “fire day” (!!!) organised by farmers this month was incentivised by Bolsonaro’s discourses and authorities did nothing to prevent it. Fires have always occurred but never incentivised by the President! And the scale of destruction this year can also be directly linked to the dismantling of Amazon deforestation control by the federal government.

•   On measuring deforestation, two main systems of satellite monitoring are used. The PRODES has been used since 1988 to identify the broad areas of deforestation, and enables calculation of annual rates of deforestation. It remains the main system informing governmental strategies. The other system is DETER, which was created in 2004; it is a real-time system, inputting data every day thus allowing for swift control and punitive actions. It is hence now possible to know in real-time ‘where’ deforestation is occurring and, with the advent of the geo-referenced rural registry (the CAR), ‘who’ has deforested, thus enabling rapid surveillance and enforcement actions. The integration of actions in crime investigation by sharing information with different entities, the use of intelligence, the coordination between the army, federal police and Ibama has helped law enforcement, notably through ‘ostensive’ operations aimed at psychologically deterring deforestation. During Lula’s and Rousseff terms especially.

•   All this monitoring and enforcement mechanism is now at stake with lack of funding (now with Norway and Germany pulling out) and Bolsonaro’s antipathy towards environmental protection; and his denial of satellite-measured data.

•   While agribusiness has been in favour of less restrictions on production in the Amazon and always complained and tried to dismantle these in the national congress where its lobby controls a great portion of the parliamentarians, even them seem now unpleased with Bolsonaro as this situation is affecting Brazil’s international image and hence their ability to export commodities. You start hearing many high profile agribusiness-related parliamentarians criticising  the government.

This would be a great topic to discuss over a coffee, I will stop here. 

would love to taste it but haven't found it in Belgium yet ;(