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Topics - greg_D

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1
If you haven't like this fruit, make sure you've tried it completely ripe!

I've noticed that if strawberry guava (Psidium cattleyanum) is picked when the fruit is a uniform deep purple, almost black, it tastes nearly exactly like a very good strawberry, both in terms of what it tastes like and how intense the taste is. At this stage they'll fall off the tree if you barely touch the fruit. They're also very vulnerable to fruit flies at this level of ripeness. I'm assuming cheese cloth bagging would be sufficient to prevent infection; you could check for fallen fruit inside the bags without having to open them. Some extra work, sure, but the flavor is night and day compared to the earlier stages of ripeness so I think it's worth it.

2
I've had the popular dwarf guava cultivar that a few places sell, planted in the ground, for a few weeks now. Just received a plant in the mail from Hawaii. New cultivar, said to have been found in the jungle by a friend of the nursery owner. Leaves, fruit, flowers are proportionate.

Here's a photo of the two side-by-side. The difference is pretty incredible.



3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Eugenia subamplexicaulis
« on: October 06, 2023, 03:13:58 PM »
Just ordered a couple seeds of this from Bellamy. Seems really interesting. It's essentially being billed as a less acidic Eugenia stipitata. It was seen once, over 200 years ago, then in 2018 it was found again.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Collection-area-and-morphology-of-Eugenia-subamplexicaulis-A-sub-montane-forest-in_fig1_338489633

https://www.bellamytrees.com/seeds/p/eugenia-subamplexicaulis-atlantic-forest-boi-ara

https://e-jardim.com.br/produto/eugenia-subamplexicaulis-araca-boi-da-mata-atlantica/

Scientific literature states that wild specimens are 3 to 4 meters tall, Brazilian website linked by Bellamy in their product description claims trees in cultivation reach 1 to 2 meters tall. That said, the species was only rediscovered in 2018, so it might be more accurate to say 'trees that are a few years old are 1 to 2 meters tall.'

Photos of its habitat suggest it probably doesn't want full sun. Hopefully can take some drought as well.

4
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Goldfinger banana question
« on: September 22, 2023, 08:07:23 PM »
We recently moved. Along with the new place we inherited some banana plants. Tag said goldfinger (previous homeowner kept the tag). I would like to harvest the fruit and then remove the plants (I have other stuff I want to put in the space, and a similar tasting cultivar already planted elsewhere on the property). There are four bunches in total; I've attached one picture of each.

My question: do any of these look like they'll be ripe this year? From what I've been told by local growers, I basically have through the end of October until the plants stop growing.

Of the four bunches, one obviously has no shot of ripening this year, one seems like it will probably start ripening this year, the other two I'm not sure. All of them have fruit with very clearly defined edges. Almost like triangular prisms.









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I was just at Oaxacan restaurant that had a delicious appetizer. It uses avocado leaves!

The waitress gave me the recipe.

Cook black beans in water, the way you normally would. Use dry beans, not canned.

After the beans are done, put them in a blender with a handful of avocado leaves. Purée.

Whatever amount of black beans you used, put roughly the same amount of onion in a pan with oil. Burn the onions. Burning them is apparently very important. I don't know if she meant 'brown' but she said 'burn' and reiterated.

When the onions are burned, add them to the beans. But I'm assuming you purée the whole thing again

You put this over tortilla chips, which is why I'm assuming you don't add salt (the tortilla chips are salted)

It's very good. It has sort of a star anise, licorice flavor.



6
On the Yelp page for Exotica Nursery (San Diego area) there's a photo of their in-stock list that includes a reference to lemon guava selections. I called today to ask about it. Apparently they have two selections of lemon guava. One is 'giant Hawaiian' which has abnormally large, normally flavored fruit. The other is 'big leaf' or 'shiny leaf' or something like that. That one, the one I can't remember the name of, has strange leaves and abnormally large, unusually flavored fruit (more acidic than normal). I asked the nursery owner which he liked more and he said he likes both.

Curious to hear if anyone here has tried these two selections and what they think. I'm also curious to learn more about the history of the unusually flavored selection. I know there are several guavas which seem very similar to the strawberry guava varieties but are in fact different species. For that reason I'm wondering if the unusually flavored selection could be one of those.


7
I'm interested in growing P. cattleianum due to its relative drought tolerance. I would like to try out some other guava varieties as well, but don't want a whole tree. Unless I'm misreading a study I found, it seems like using P. guineense as interstock will allow grafting P. guajava cuttings onto P. cattleianum.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339424390_Guava_seedlings_with_rootstocks_or_interstocks_and_their_reaction_to_salinity

"in guava grafted onto P. cattleianum, graft incompatibility was seen one year after planting in the field (Robaina et al. 2015)."

"The experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions, in a randomized block design, including eight treatments and three replications, with one experimental unit consisting of three plants. The treatments were scion/rootstock: (I) P. guineense/P. cattleianum, (II) P. guajava/P. guineense/P. cattleianum, (III) P. guajava ‘Paluma’/P. guajava, (IV) P. guajava ‘Paluma’/P.guineense, (V) P. guajava ‘Cortibel 1’/P. guajava, (VI) P. guajava ‘Cortibel 1’/P. guineense, (VII) P. cattleianum (purple) and (VIII) P. cattleianum (yellow).The plants were 28 months old, and grown in Basaplant substrate in conical flasks with a capacity of 3.8 L."

"The P. guineense/P. cattleianum combination can be used to form interstocked plants, however, there is no study that reports the use of interstocked guava seedlings in the field, and further research should therefore be carried out."

What's unclear to me is whether the plants were grafted together 28 months prior to the experiment beginning, or if 28 month old plants were grafted together then the trial was run as soon as the graft healed. I'm also unsure if the last quote is them saying 'according to our experiment the combination can be used' or 'it is generally known that the combination can be used.'

I think this is worth exploring, especially given the future water restrictions we will be experiencing in Southern California due to climate change intensified drought. P cattleianum with some branches of different P guajava varieties grafted on via interstock may be more resilient to such circumstances than standard P guajava trees of the same varieties.

8
Interesting tidbit from "CITRUS ROOTSTOCKS FROM THE PAPEDA GROUP by
W. P. Bitters, C, D. McCarty and D, A. Cole*"

Screenshots of text below:









9
I ordered a Yuzu tree from Four Winds Growers recently. I asked them what the rootstock is and they said Macrophylla. I'm in Los Angeles County, where tristeza is endemic. Given Macrophylla's susceptibility to tristeza, should I be worried about the tree getting infected?

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / New dwarf guava selection from Hawaii
« on: September 02, 2023, 11:26:40 PM »
I shared this here some months ago not realizing it was a new selection. The nursery that sells it (a small mail-order nursery I'm a fan of, "Vintage Green Farms") recently made an Instagram post clarifying the selection's origin.

Caption:

"New compact, if not an all out dwarf guava. Found by a friend here in the local jungle. I just started propagating it, such a cool plant, great as a specimen in the ground, or as a wonderful selection for bonsai with ornamental fruit that’s edible but small."

In response to a question about the taste:

"like guava, sweet"

I'm not sure if the fruit quality much different than the dwarf guava already common in the trade (for example, the one sold by Logee's).













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New to in-ground citrus and not sure how to handle watering

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Description:

Psidium guajava ‘Strawberry’ Also known as Chinese guava. The fruits are great when eaten fresh but also can be used to make excellent juices or jams.

This selection of guava by Dr. Greg Partida, has a distinctly strawberry fragrance when cut open, with the usual acid, sweet balance of the other tropical guavas.  (Do not confuse this with Strawberry guava Psidium cattleianum variety!) Heavy-bearing tree is self-fertile. These plants typically grow up to 12' in height and produces fragrant red fruits that are similar to the common guava but with a scent similar to strawberries. Grows in full sun and hardy to 29 degrees.  Fruits September thru December. Drought tolerant once established but the quality & quantity of fruit will decline without water.

Photos:





$6 on the Cal Poly Pomona nursery website (only ships within California)

13
Saw this variety at Mimosa Nursery in Los Angeles recently. They have it listed on their website as well. Googled it to find more information and found an article about it.

Article: https://voh.com.vn/thi-truong/lai-tao-thanh-cong-giong-man-moi-nang-suat-cao-va-dat-tieu-chuan-xuat-khau-429883.html

Translation:

After many times going to participate in the International Fruit and Vegetable Exhibition, and in 2015 once happened to encounter a Taiwan fruit fair booth, in which Mr. Tran Quoc Toan, Director of Ngoc Dinh Import and Export Limited Company, feel most surprised is their fresh plum products, because their plum products look very beautiful, delicious and sweet, especially the selling price of their plum products is not cheap at all. At that time, Vietnamese money was calculated at about 400 thousand VND/kg.

After a trip to visit the fruit fair booth in Taiwan, Mr. Tran Quoc Toan, Director of Ngoc Dinh Import-Export Limited Liability Company based in Hoc Mon District, Ho Chi Minh City, always worries, why our country's plums are very low in price, and their country's plums have a high resale price but dozens of times higher than our country's. It was from those concerns and thoughts that Mr. Tran Quoc Toan researched and visited the models of plum cultivation in Taiwan and studied the varieties, climate and how they cared for them. After visiting this plum variety growing model in your country, Mr. Tran Quoc Toan has summarized a lot of experience from this plum. First, in terms of care, they cover bunches of specialized bag-type plums for plums to avoid pests and yellow flies and more importantly, to minimize the use of pesticides, because their plums have been exported all over the world. In terms of climate, their country is not as favorable as our Vietnam, especially in November to February next year, the weather in winter, the temperature drops, so their plums have to be made as a greenhouse to limit fruit loss and cracking. As for Vietnam, the weather is favorable, we will reduce the cost of greenhouses. Since then, he has successfully learned and bred this plum variety to develop in his home country.

Mr. Tran Quoc Toan, Director of Ngoc Dinh Import and Export Limited Liability Company shared: "In 2018-2019, we also exported to some countries, which were highly appreciated by some partners for our company's plums. This new plum variety is different from many Vietnamese plum varieties today, although it is still red, this plum is more bright red. As for the quality, it is completely different, and the weight of the fruit is from 4-5 fruits/kg. Because this plum itself is a large-fruited variety, we do not need to spray growth drugs or stimulants at all. As for the quality, this plum variety is crispy, firm and very sweet. In particular, this plum variety has drained meat, so it is convenient for export".

It is also because of the realization that this plum tree has a very high economic income and is easy to grow in our country, since 2016, Mr. Tran Quoc Toan, Director of Ngoc Dinh Import and Export Limited Liability Company has researched, bred and planted experimentally, applying fruit packaging techniques like in Taiwan. After a year of planting, the first year each plum tree gives 25-30-kg/tree fruit, the second year gives 70-80kg/tree and from the third year or more will give 150-180kg/tree, the more the tree will bear more fruit. Although he has successfully bred this new plum variety, Mr. Tran Quoc Toan does not keep it for himself, but wishes to widely disseminate it to many people who need technical guidance on cultivation as well as buying plant varieties.

"Through many years of planting and testing, this plum variety has a very stable yield. People who plant and take good care of each hectare will give 80- 100 tons/year if from the 4th year or more. As for the growing time, about 10 to 12 months, the fruit is already given. The planting density is about 500 plants/hectare. Currently, if our selling price in the garden is about 100 to 120 thousand VND/kg, it is normal to give an income of a few billion VND/hectare. We find this to be a very potential plum variety economically. Not only ensuring the life of the family but also can help farmers get rich on this new plum variety", Mr. Tran Quoc Toan added.

In order for newly bred seedlings to be guaranteed in terms of quality and yield, Ngoc Dinh Company has been planting and surveying continuously from 2016 until now, every year the company produces 3 fruits, two opposite crops and one good crop, the rate of flowering, fruiting and development are the same. 'The new plum variety has been registered by Ngoc Dinh Company as an exclusive intellectual property trademark with the trade name plum seedling - Plum Hong MST (the spelling name of ''Plum Hong Soc Trang''.'

Regarding the upcoming orientation and plan, the company will supply seedlings to the market and link a material area of 1,000 hectares or more for planting, processing, packaging and export. According to calculations, this new plum variety is planted with only a selling price of 100-120 thousand VND/kg, it will have an average income of 7-8 billion VND/year/hectare, because the yield and yield of this new plum seedling is very high, if planted in the fourth year or more, one hectare will yield from 80-100 tons/year, this is a crop that will bring very high income and economy to farmers in the near future.




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Visited today. Not everything is pictured




































































15
I'm interested in growing a mango tree here in the Los Angeles County area. I've read a lot of what people on here have discovered and shared regarding the unique challenges of growing mangos in this climate. Specifically, that it's much better to start with a seedling and then graft it at some point in the future, instead of buying a grafted tree from a nursery. In part because our cold weather ("cold" for mangos) makes the flowering-age scion on grafted nursery trees continuously bloom, preventing the tree from growing vegetatively into a specimen large enough to support a crop of fruit to maturity.

I was watching this video last night: https://youtu.be/H7SN7nvVk-0?si=UB0cEjY5jKkGAQo9 and noticed something interesting. The demonstration in the video is how to prune mangos in the warmer parts of Florida. Per the video, the goal in that climate is to help the mango flower. For that reason the demonstrator aggressively tip prunes the tree. He says that there is a certain amount of bloom inhibitor produced by the root system, and the more growing tips you have the more that bloom inhibitor is diluted in the tree. For that reason the pruning goal is to essentially create a bush.

Given that the issue in SoCal is not enough vegetative growth, as opposed to not enough blooming, I wonder if the opposite approach would be helpful. Specifically, minimizing the growth tips while maximizing the root system.

I've seen people mention stone grafting multiple mango root systems to a single scion. Would that help in this context? Two root systems = more growth inhibitor produced?

17
I planted half a dozen Orange Sherbet mango seeds in a large pot some weeks ago. I know that polyembryonic mangos produce one zygotic seedling (not a clone of the mother plant) and multiple nucellar seedlings (clones of the mother plant unless they mutate). My plan was to graft two seedlings from the same seed together, preserving a branch of the rootstock. Then, if necessary, I could topwork the scion using the preserved rootstock branch in the future (presumably if the scion were not the clone then the rootstock would be the clone).

As it turns out, two of the seedlings seem to have fused together. Problem solved!






18
Visited Kaz today and he gifted me some lychee from his tree. I'd previously only had store-bought lychee. The difference in taste between the store-bought lychee and the tree-ripened lychee is phenomenal. It was like eating candy. I guess it makes sense since lychee is non-climacteric but I was still really surprised.

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Citrus General Discussion / Calamansi / Calamondin as rootstock
« on: August 19, 2023, 02:33:35 AM »
Hi everyone,

I have some calamansi (aka calamondin) cuttings that I've successfully rooted. Once they have a few branches, I'd like to try making them into multi-variety trees. What are some types of citrus that would be compatible?

Thanks

21
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Amazing melon variety from Japan
« on: July 18, 2023, 01:09:11 AM »
Tried this one today. Impossibly juicy. Bought it at Tokyo Central in Gardena CA

http://www.iiokamelon.jp/english/what/index.html






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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Wild fruit trees @ Singapore Botanic Gardens
« on: January 15, 2023, 10:01:17 AM »





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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Manila mangoes: better in Manila!
« on: January 09, 2023, 08:43:59 PM »
I'm in the Philippines this week. The family I'm staying with has a bowl of what looks exactly like yellow skinned potatoes on the counter. In fact they are Manila mangoes; apparently there are over a dozen strains (probably not news to most of you here, but was news to me). Whatever strain these ones are it's absolutely fantastic. Extremely juicy, completely fiberless, very sweet, with a super pleasant resinous herbaceous taste on the back end (perhaps from my teeth scraping the peel. Very fragrant as well, even uncut. Individual fruits seem to range from 230-270 grams.




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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Lakatan banana
« on: January 09, 2023, 02:11:47 AM »
Tried this today in the Philippines. Very good. Small-ish, slightly orange. Sweet, with a bit of tart flavor, and maybe a little bit of a grassy undertone (pleasantly so).

The people I'm with said it's their favorite and they can't find it back in the States.






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