Why no Subtropical folder/category?

[cassowary]

Why isn't there a subtropical folder/category in the forum?

I can see that a lot of subtropical tree's and their fruits are being discussed in the tropical forum probobly for a lack of a subtropical area.

I think it would be better to create a subtropical folder for reasons bellow:

- discussions of tropical tree's and their fruits don't get burried buy subtropical threads in the Tropical fruit folder,
- easier to find older posts if search does not yield results, as one can browse manually in the respective folder, dividing them makes it easier as there is less to browse thru.
- some are not interested in subtropical fruit ans they came here for the tropicalfruitforum.
- also it will be indirect subliminal education to members which fruit's are subtropical in it's origin and which are tropical in origin.
- agricultural methods and processess described for tropical climates might not be suitable for subtropical climates and vice versa.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropics#/media/File:World_map_indicating_tropics_and_subtropics.png



I am only trying to induce improvent in the forum in a way I see fit,

Peace,
cassowary

[W.]

There was a thread a while back on tropicals vs. ultra-tropicals and whether there should be a separate section for each of those. Separating subtropicals and tropicals would run into the same issues pointed out back then. Creating a subtropical section would just be a mess, adding needless confusion to the site. The sections we have work well, though they would work better if people used the citrus and temperate sections properly instead of just posting everything in the tropical section. The only new section that would make any sense to add would be one on mangos, given that fruit's enormous popularity and the number of threads created about it. But, it would be an incredible headache for the moderators to move all the pre-existing mango threads into a new mango section, a huge undertaking that would be even more difficult to accomplish if one was to split tropicals and subtropicals.

[cassowary]

The old threads in any given folder would probobly stay and people just put the new threads in the newely created sub tropics folder if they qualify, the past is the past.
Yeah I get it but wouldn't people eventually adjust and place their discussion in the right climate folder? once habit is formed.

Yes a mango section would be great as a lot of the threads are mango related. A sub category to the tropical one.

Dividing into an ultra-tropical wouldn't make much sense since in my experience most equatorial region origin tree's grow within the tropic of cancer and capricorn so they are really tropical in origin, some just have high air humidity needs which makes them hard to cultivate in drier climates.

[johnb51]

I would say that although this forum is called "The Tropical Fruit Forum," from the beginning it's actually been The Subtropical Fruit Forum since it was formed by South Floridians, and then Southern Californians immediately came on board, with neither of these groups actually living in the tropics.  It could easily have been called The Mango Forum (with Other Tropical Fruits)! 

[Gone tropo]

Yes it should be called the mango forum every second thread is about mangoes and yep I agree with John that it really is the sub tropical forum.

Cassowary those of us who live in the actual tropics really need a forum with all the SE Asian people as we have much more in common than the US when it comes to fruits. Unfortunately we speak English and SE Asia doesnt in general.  Imagine the sharing of knowledge on fruits like durian, duku,
Pulasan, rambutan etc if Thai, maylasia, Indonesia and us were able to speak the same language on a forum !!!!

[cassowary]

I would say that although this forum is called "The Tropical Fruit Forum," from the beginning it's actually been The Subtropical Fruit Forum since it was formed by South Floridians, and then Southern Californians immediately came on board, with neither of these groups actually living in the tropics.  It could easily have been called The Mango Forum (with Other Tropical Fruits)! 

I don't feel like people's location does matter to much but more where the plant in dicsussion originated regarding the category choosen (tropical or sub). Example, mulberry did not originate in the tropics and should not be discussed there unless someone is making a post specific about mulberry in the tropics.

It would seam a bit excluding to people with limited outside climate. People in the subtropics can create micro cliamtes with some effort, this is acutally a good way of learning more about a tree and would be invited in a tropical category, just growing a tropical originated tree in the subtropics does not take away the expereince learnt from observin the tree or it's fruit, it's still of tropical origin.

So tropo I wouln't be in favour for a forum folder that is in favour of people actually living in the tropical region.

I feel this is a tropical forum as the majority of the members are trying to grow tropical plants.
I was mostly talking about separating subtropical plants from the tropical folder, not the forum in it's whole.

It would ofcourse be quite epic with an automated translate feature for asian languages and vice versa english and then whole of indonesia, malaysia and thailand could join in. That would be AMAZING!

[Galatians522]

One difficulty that I see is that the lines of distinction are not clearly defined in all cases. Avocados for example are both tropical and sub-tropical in origin. Mexican/Guatemalan (Sub-tropical) vs West Indian (Tropical). Thus the avocado thread would need to be split into two separate folders. This would make a meaningful discussion about quality cultivars difficult. Then, there would be a question about where information about hybrids should be stored. Actually, I would propose that dual origins tend to be the rule rather than the exception. For example, Annonas, Eugenias, plinias, psidiums, even mangos all have some species with tropical origins and others with sub-tropical or even warm temperate origins. Maybe the simplest solution would be to start a thread about tropical fruts that do well in your climate? Then, you could interact with people with similar interests.

[pagnr]

I can't think of anyone who doesn't like to push the boundaries of what they can grow in their climate.
That ranges from those who grow Tropical Fruit in pots in Melbourne Australia,
to some real kooks that aimed to grow Apples in Far North Queensland, ( at higher elevations ).
Not satisfied with all the true tropical fruit they could grow down on the coast,
or the Apples from Tasmania they could buy at the supermarket.
I am in a temperate area, but can grow plenty of subtropical and tropicals.
As frost has really lessened over the last years, that has become easier,
except for the fruit fly arrival, and their overwintering survival.

[K-Rimes]

Rather than divide it into Sub tropical or Tropical, I would vote to add regional forums so we could better share local tips and importantly, develop better links locally. Nothing better than getting people to come visit or visiting someone else's property! I would love to link up more with growers in CA. Brad is doing great stuff with this local Fruit Parties in SD.

It seems to me, as others have echoed, that there are very few truly tropical growers on here and it's mostly a The "Sub Tropical Fruit Forum" with tropical guests. I would say the average zone is 9b on here.

[W.]

Rather than divide it into Sub tropical or Tropical, I would vote to add regional forums so we could better share local tips and importantly, develop better links locally. Nothing better than getting people to come visit or visiting someone else's property! I would love to link up more with growers in CA. Brad is doing great stuff with this local Fruit Parties in SD.

I could not disagree more. The masthead of Tropical Fruit Forum says "Uniting Growers Worldwide!" I cannot see anything that regional sections would do other than to divide growers and make the site harder to use. Someone from Florida might miss out on avocado growing tips because the thread was created in the California regional section and vice versa. Fruit parties and other get togethers are able to be posted on the site already, for everyone to read and to attend if they are close enough and have the desire to do so.

[johnb51]

I'm sure everyone looks down the list of topics, and if they find something of interest, they read it and ignore a lot of topics.  It works fine the way it is for me.

[K-Rimes]

Rather than divide it into Sub tropical or Tropical, I would vote to add regional forums so we could better share local tips and importantly, develop better links locally. Nothing better than getting people to come visit or visiting someone else's property! I would love to link up more with growers in CA. Brad is doing great stuff with this local Fruit Parties in SD.

I could not disagree more. The masthead of Tropical Fruit Forum says "Uniting Growers Worldwide!" I cannot see anything that regional sections would do other than to divide growers and make the site harder to use. Someone from Florida might miss out on avocado growing tips because the thread was created in the California regional section and vice versa. Fruit parties and other get togethers are able to be posted on the site already, for everyone to read and to attend if they are close enough and have the desire to do so.

Not to say that we wouldn't continue with a "General" discussion, but simply adding other areas wouldn't hurt. My opinion, anyways.

[Galatians522]

I think there are a lot of good ideas for new discussion threads here. There is a good thread about growing mangoes in California already. I have not commented on it, but I have read much of it with interest--sometimes there are items of interest even in unexpected places.

[Epiphyte]

Anybody subscribe to "All the fruit" on Youtube?  In one video he gave a tour of a public park in southern Spain that has a bunch of subtropical fruit and nut trees. 

Naturally I'd love to have the same kinda park here in southern California.  If I created a recruiting thread in the general category I think it would get buried pretty quickly under threads with broader appeal.  So it would be very useful if there was a subtropical category as well as a California category.  And then voila!  We'd have a public park in SoCal that introduced the general public to so many wonderful fruits and nuts trees that they've never heard of.

Creating such categories wouldn't divide us, since there's already a feature that shows us all the recent unread threads. 

[Bush2Beach]

People can’t be bothered to understand the differences between temperate and tropical fruits, adding another term unfortunately adds more confusion.

[roblack]

Interesting ideas. Seriously doubt the forum is going to change.

The structure of the site in general is fine. Changing things would have both positive and negative effects, and would take time and work and money. I think the idea is to run the forum as simply as possible.

The occasional spam onslaught is what is most annoying to me.