The Tropical Fruit Forum

Hi all,

This Catalina avocado has been in the ground for maybe 3 years now from a 3 gallon. Unfortunately, I planted it a bit lower spot than I should have, but it is never flooded by water. Early this spring when we had torrential nonstop rains, it came close and was maybe a bit soggy for a few days, but it survived. It was a light green color before without the current discoloration you see. This tree gets fertilized with citrus fertilizer, I treated it with an EDDHA iron chelate 6% supplement a couple of weeks ago, and I just gave it another round of double-dosed citrus nutritional spray.  Tree has been looking the same

What else can I do?  The tree looked better before that last rainfall event. It set about 10 fruit a few months ago, but they all fell off except the one that remains.

The tree is probably in an alkaline spot. There is house fill underneath of it with a good amount of limestone rocks, so the soil probably leans to alkaline PH. The soil is not mucky there, but it retains water well enough and the tree is mulched well.

I live in SW Ranches, FL (SW Broward County, FL), and I'm trying to decide on what mango varieties to add.  I know there are some people in the area that read this forum, and I would love to get some advice based on their experience.    In short, I would like to stay away from planting poor producing /disease prone mangos (in our conditions).  I don't mind a poor producer here or there (like Ice Cream, which I love) if I really love that variety, I just don't want a whole yard full of them.

So far I have:

• Mystery tree (planted by previous owner): looks like a smaller/dwarf variety but it's probably 15 feet tall.  Has produced a few fruit, but they fall off before I get a chance to ID.  It was sickly when we moved in, but has been getting healthier over the years.
• Phillipine (Carabao) (mature, planted by previous owner): It had its best season last year.  I was selling fruits on FB at the end of its season and people were calling me for more  Fruit were were excellent. Anthracnose and BBS resistant.  Pretty much alternate bearing so far.
• Kent (mature, planted by previous owner): It tastes ok, produces well and reliably.  It's the mango I will happily share with friends/family.  Anthracnose resistant, not much problems with BBS the last couple of years.
• Sweet Tart: young tree, looks relatively disease free, but a definite favorite of thrips in dry, hot springtime.
• Ice Cream: one of my favorite mangos so far, prone to anthracnose and very prone to PM.  Has not held on to fruit so far, but I don't spray.
• Carrie: young tree, some anthracnose
• Orange Sherbert:young tree, some anthracnose
• Seacrest/Triplesec: young tree
• Honey Kiss: young tree, disease free
• M4: young tree
• Sugarloaf: young tree, just planted this year
• Pickering: young tree, disease free

Many of my young trees bloomed and set fruit, but I didn't let them hold fruit this year so they could get in another year of growth (ST, M4, and Seacrest did not bloom this year).   My trees were anthracnose free until the summer rains started.   In my yard, I have flooding/standing water frequently during the rainy season.  I have the typical mucky soil common in this area.

I just put in a grafting order for Cecilove at TA and am also considering adding these varieties for their disease resistance and productiveness in my conditions: Angie, Fairchild, Mahachanok.

I haven't been able to taste too many varities, but, too be honest, I'm not terribly picky.  I would say I like something more flavorful as opposed to mild, I don't mind tart, and don't mind the "piney-ness" of certain mango varieties.  I was able to buy some mangos from Hidden Acres, which is not far from me, and I liked them all: Angie (it was a bit overripe by the time I got to it, so had a bit of an off flavor, but it wasn't objectionable and I still ate it), Pickering, Cogshall, Lemon Zest, Fairchild, Ugly Betty, VanDyke, and Carrie.  Out of all those, VanDyke was my least favorite, but mostly just because it was boring, not because it was bad--it was a good mango and I was happy to eat it.

I liked the Lemon Zest and I've heard/read a lot about its productivity/disease problems, but I also read that there are some fellow SW Ranchers that have LZ trees that are doing well.  Should I take a chance, lol?  Those who are growing LZ in the area sucessfully, are you spraying them?

The other variety I was thinking about is Duncan, but I don't want to add another mild tasting mango like a Kent, that I will just end up giving away most of the fruit.

Nina

Hi, I recently purchased a Grimal Jaboticaba and I'm having a bit of analysis paralysis with respect to its planting site in my yard.

I live in SW Broward (SW Ranches).  Most of my yard is muck over limestone and it stays pretty moist throughout the year.  Much of the non-irrigated parts my yard can be underwater 2-3 days in the summer, the water drains, and then the cycle repeats until the rainy season is over.  Most of the non-irrigated parts of my yard stay moist throughout the year.

I've read through the posts on this forum about the Grimal and it says it doesn't take flooding well.  Should I plant it outside of an area that doesn't get flooded at all in the summer?  I have a Red Jaboticaba that I planted last year from a 3g that is loving where I planted it between 2 mango trees, where it's often flooded in the summertime and its always moist (it didn't miss a beat during the week of record flooding we had here a few months ago).  I thought the Grimal could take the same conditions, but I'm now rethinking my initial plan after reading some posts here.

Thanks for any advice!