The Tropical Fruit Forum

2/8 3pm forum time.

Feijoas are extremely drought tolerant. I heard they are some of the toughest plants. I haven't tried wet feet, but I wouldn't. That plant's pretty small to be holding much fruit. In my experience fruit quality is highly dependent on when you eat them. Wait until the fruit drop, then ripen on the counter a week or so. You don't want them to get soft. Inside should be about half clear half opaque. If they're sickly sweet you ripened too long. If they are mostly opaque and oxidize immediately after cutting, not ripe enough.

I have a tree that's about 20 years old. It seems to bear heavy crops in alternating years. In good years I get maybe 50 fruit, probably less. They're good, but not great. Mine ripen up in November, not very cold yet, so I doubt they require cold to improve the fruit. If anything it'd be heat.

Do you want arbutus seeds? There's 'Marina' fruit now, and I might be able to find some unedo around town.

https://phoenixdesertseeds.com/product/stenocereus-pruinosus/

This may actually be S. huastecorum, but that's true for most things sold as S. pruinosus, S. griseus, and even S. querataroensis. It's cheap though.

for this forum, crazy dancing isn't really the best way to direct each other's attention.  neither is democracy because we risk being flooded with stupid content.

You make a good point!

Hello
Can anyone ID this plant? Is it something that's compatible rootstock with Yangmei?

Toyon Heteromeles arbutifolia

purple leaves only means 1 of 2 things:
- autumn
- phosphorus deficiency

given that pitangatuba are evergreen, it is option 2 but other plants might be trickier to diagnose if they lose leaves naturally in late fall/early winter

Pitatngatubas turn purple in the cold, doesn't matter if they're evergreen. It could also be to reject excess light, i.e. maybe your lights are too strong.

The plants look dried out and sunburnt. Some of that is normal this time of year, but that mix looks overly dry. They can't handle much fertilizer, might be overfed, meaning it can't take up enough water. Really doesn't look very bad though. I wouldn't add anything other than water.

The first set of flowers opened missing most of the parts, now the second set is opening the same way. This was after I pulled back the sepals to show the inside of the flower. Does not seem promising.

Both of my grandparents, and several of their friends that lived in Guam for a period of time on the base developed Parkinsonism/PSP. None of them were genetically related. My relatives never knowingly consumed pawpaw or annona fruits. We did a fair bit of research regarding cause when my second grandparent was diagnosed and it seems like it would be very difficult to unwind all of the potential causes. I'd be curious too, and I haven't looked, but about the overall increase in instances of Parkinsonism across the world and its territories and how much could be assigned to better testing, more awareness, or just overall greater case load. (before demonizing pawpaw)

Parkinsons in Guam is suspected to be linked to consumption of cycad-eating bats. But on-base it could be so many other things, as you say. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lytico-bodig_disease

Are there any other tropical crops that are unhealthy to eat a lot of? 

Taro and Monstera deliciousa come to mind ( oxalic acid ). Not a problem if prepared properly.
Both Cashew and Mango fruit have irritating sap, many for fruit pickers.
Durian and Jackfruit directly kill a bunch of people ever year, heavy fruit falling on their heads.
Apples have cyanide in the seed, can cause problems if not removed before brewing Scrumpy Cider.

Potatoes are also toxic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaconine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenape_potato

"After the Lenape variety was released for commercial production, a potato breeder in Ontario ate some to see if they might be suitable as new potatoes but soon felt nauseated. When the same occurred next time he ate them, he sent a sample to be analysed by a vegetable biochemist, Dr. Ambrose Zitnak of the University of Guelph, who found they contained exceptionally high levels of glycoalkaloids (mainly solanine and chaconine), the natural toxins found in potatoes that help protect them from pests and disease.[5] Lenape potatoes collected from around Canada were found to contain over 16–35 mg of glycoalkaloids per 100 g of fresh potato compared to 3–18 mg in other varieties.[4] Samples grown at 39 locations around the US had an average of 29 mg per 100 g of potato but ranged from 16–65 mg compared to an average of 8 mg for five other varieties."

If 29 mg/100g of glycoalkaloids causes nausea, how safe is the average 8 mg/100g? "potato farmers aim to keep solanine levels below 0.2 mg/g"  So the recommended safe limit is 20 mg/100g, but 29 mg/100g causes acute nausea? It's unclear if there are long-term deleterious effects, but why risk it when there are safer alternatives?

Oxalic acid is also a lot more common than you might think: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalic_acid#Content_in_food_items

"Although spinach is touted as being high in iron and calcium content, and is often served and consumed in its raw form, raw spinach contains high levels of oxalates, which block absorption of calcium and iron in the stomach and small intestine. Spinach cooked in several changes of water has much lower levels of oxalates and is better digested and its nutrients absorbed more completely.[7][8] In addition to preventing absorption and use, high levels of oxalates remove iron from the body.[8][9]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinach

Squirrels (and jays) are a seasonal issue. Right now they're being compelled to collect and bury acorns for the winter.  I think they might have another annoying phase in the spring, but most of the year they don't bother my seeds.

You didn't get any photos of the leaves or anything? What other species have a similar looking fruit? Groups of three seems uncommon. Maybe some not-fully-ripe Toechima?

"This loquat cutting will be from my grafted tree that is a proven Peluche with the large orange flesh fruits. The origin of this Peluche source is Adam (Flying Fox Fruits)." - sc4001992

https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=49056.0

Maybe Adam picked the ebay picture ones early?