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Topics - HMHausman

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26
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Mini Yard Update 1/6/2014
« on: January 05, 2014, 07:08:39 PM »
ot all that much going on, as this is generally the dormant period which ordinarily leads up to the busting out of bloom on mangoes and lychees. Fruting trees include carambola, canistel, avocado, caimito and june plum.  I need some additional pictures but of note was my original cacao, that fruited the first time about 4 years ago.  The fruits were blackened by the intense cold we had that winter and the tree went into major shock.  This is the first fruit since.  Of course, now facing a mid forties night or two with the upcoming passing front.  This is the most mature a fruit has ever gotten.  It looks like its going to be a red.


Alphonso mango, one of the early bloomers this year.  I have yet to get a decent fruit set on it.  Those few fruits that do set are scarred horribly by fungus. Eating quality has been poor...at best.


Not sure what is going on with Post Image, but it is not letting me post more images. Says the file size limit has been exceeded.  I need to figure out what;'s up.  To be continued......






27
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Borneo Red Jakfruit 12/4/13
« on: December 04, 2013, 02:34:30 PM »
At long last, my Borneo Red jakfruit tree, that I grafted myself, looks to be putting on its first female flower/fruit. Chris Rollins, curator of the Fruit and Spice Park, says that this is the best jakfruit cultivar he has ever had.  I have heard others extolling the virtues of other allegedly red fleshed jaks.  BSBullie (Rob), before his auspicious disappearance from the forum, had promised me a red fleshed jak from Excalibur.  I have yet to try any red fleshed jaks.  So, I would say I am patiently waiting, but that would be a lie.






28
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Cacao update 12/4/13
« on: December 04, 2013, 01:23:46 PM »
Looks like one of my more newly planted cacao trees....I believe it is supposed to be a yellow fruited variety, may finally be holding fruit.  It has set dozens of smaller fruits only to reach about an inch or so in length before turning brown and falling off.  The largest fruit on the tree now is about 4 inches long.  I might be a bit premature with this question, but does any forum member actually make chocolate with their cacao seeds? I know it is incredibly labor intensive, but the allure of making ones own chocolate is just too much to discount.  My neighbors, from Trinidad,  make some sort of a drink with it. That is a less appealing use for my tastes.  I guess I'll worry about it once I get some mature pods.




29
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Way off season longan bloom...2013
« on: November 13, 2013, 04:45:56 PM »
Went out this morning and could not believe that my See Chompoo Longan is putting out bloom in early November.  I have never seen this from this or any other longan at my place before.  Usual bloom is not until late winter, early sprng.









30
Tropical Fruit Discussion / First Mango Blooms of 2013-2014 Season
« on: October 06, 2013, 07:40:53 PM »
A little early surprise I noticed this week.  Rosigold, of course.




31
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Royal Purple Mango
« on: October 04, 2013, 03:32:29 PM »
I was fortunate to receive some Royal Purple mangoes for sharing, testing and tasting.  Thanks, Joe.  They arrived on Wednesday and were quite firm upon arrival with the exception of one fruit which had some very slight give to it.  I was going to eat that one immediately but got tied up and had no one to share it with so I stuck it in the refrigerator to be shared the next day with some forum visitors (Murahilin and TnTRobbie).

I have pictures but am having a technical issue at the moments and they are not in a form where I can readily upload them.  I should have some pictures to post shortly.

The fruits were on the small size.  I didn't weigh them but they looked to be about 8-10 ozs. or so, just eyeballing them.  They were magnificently colored with some break in the general purple coloration.  There was the beginning of some yellow areas on the fruit exterior and also a more reddish cast to some of what was probably previously purple.  Brooks and Malindi are two other culitvars that I grow that are really intensely colored during immaturity and then have some lightening of the intense background color with a splash of yellows  filling in some of the exterior of the fruit. The fruit had a very nice mango aroma.

We tasted all of the fruits that were sent.  There were 5 all together. The fruits ranged in ripeness from just over ripe to just under ripe.  The fruit we determined to be slightly over ripe was still pretty firm.  The under ripe fruit even had some small greenish areas at the base of the fruit. First let me say that this was the best group of mangoes I have eaten this month.  Of course, they were also the only mangoes I've eaten this month. We started with most ripe and went to least ripe. 

Overall, I would say that this mango is no better on its best day than Good on the Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor taste range. It might bump into the Fair category if not at peak of ripeness.  I could see where someone might say that it had a grape flavor.  But for me the flavor was more a non-descript sweet mango flavor. The flesh was pretty fiber-less and the skin separated from the flesh nicely. The seed was medium size.  During a prime season mango tasting this mango would not get a second look. The color is impressive but the flavor in the world of mango snobbery is not. But, in October, the experience of trying them was excellent.  I very much appreciate being given the opportunity.  Thanks again, Joe. I invite my compatriots present to each give us their analysis.

32
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Sweet Tart Mango
« on: August 19, 2013, 06:09:39 PM »
I am growing this mango, but my tree is still small and has not bloomed as of yet. I had the opportunity to try this mango thanks to Jeff (CookieMonster).  The mangoes he gave me were quite small.  They had been grown in a cluster....which, as I understand, is not always the case as far as production habit for this mango.  The fruits that grow singly get considerably larger according to Jeff. The mango is well named based on its flavor profile.  It has very strong sweet and tart components and nice fiber-less flesh.  The magnitude of the flavor burst I encountered makes this a mango that I definitely consider top tier. Under perfect ripening conditions, I would expect to see this mango win its fair share of top honors at any respectable mango tasting.

33
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Yard fruit haul 8/10/13
« on: August 10, 2013, 03:59:06 PM »
Just keep up with the Jones....or, I guess with the Ramoses, here's my fruit haul from today from my yard:




34
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Lost Genova Red Ilama
« on: July 26, 2013, 09:19:36 PM »
Unhappy to bring news of a victim of today's nasty thunderstorms.  My Genova Red Ilama snapped off at the graft point where it connected to the Pond Apple root stock that was growing from.  The tree was badly damaged in Hurricane Wilma and looks like its a goner.  I will obviously have lots of bud wood for anyone that wants to stop by to pick up some in the next couple of days.  I'll take pictures tomorrow.  I am glad I was able to give out bud wood over the years to those that grafted from my tree.  There were only two fruits produced this year and once was nearing maturity, but I don't think it is quite fully developed. This tree was planted out in approximately 1995 and was grafted by Zill's probably under the supervision of Har.

35
I will be climbing up to check  for sure and , of course taste, but I believe my main fruiting Mauritius tree's fruit are ready today.  They're the right color and size.  The less red fruit at the bottom of the tree have sufficient give to indicate that lychee season is upon my property a full month before I have ever had mature fruit before.  I'll confirm this over the weekend.


36
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Squall Line of Saturday 4/20/13
« on: April 21, 2013, 06:57:28 PM »
Did anyone else here in South Florida have some wicked weather roll through their place yesterday, late afternoon.  There was considerable wind gusts, rain and lightning.  I thought I heard a few hail pings.  Lots and lots of mangoes down.  I counted the loss from my Okrung mango tree at 49 fruits.  Glenn lost about 20.  Valencia Pride lost about 25.  Lots of others lost lots of fruits.....but not wanting to depress myself or anyone else, I stopped counting and I refuse to take or post picture of the mangoes on the ground.

37
I was surprised too see lychees coloring up this week.  I haven't gone back to look how this compares to previous years, but it seems very early.  I might be wrong.  The coloration began showing itself about mid-week.

Bosworth 3, just beginning to show any color


One of my supposed Sweetheart lychees...the tree which has the more squat, less Hak Ipish growth habit








The fruit on my other supposed Sweetheart, with the Hak Ipish growth habit has green fruit that match my hak Ip fruit development in shape as well as color.



Mauritius



Actual Hak Ip for comparison.



I now have serious questions as to whether either of the Sweethearts I purchased from Pine Island Nursery are actually Sweetheart....if there is even any such thing.  One of my trees is clearly Hak Ip.....again, at least what we are calling Hak Ip.  The other is clearly not Hak Ip, but whether it is the elusive Sweetheart is another issue.  I thought Sweetheart tended to be a mid season and not an early season fruit. Geeez......I am so confused, but ready to eat lychees sooner than I expected. 

Other trees seem much further behind than what is pictured here.

38
Tropical Fruit Discussion / March 2013 Yard Update
« on: March 15, 2013, 06:09:12 PM »
Went to give my jaboticabas some water last night, got a call and ended up forgetting about the hose running until this morning.  They got a bit more water than I originally contemplated.....along with everything else on that side of the yard.  Anyway, it was  a gorgeous morning and I took some update pics. I hope you enjoy:

Sorry for the poor positioning of the shot in relation to the sun....the white colored area at the bottom is water.  This is the lowest point on my property, but the flooding spread out about 25 yards in all directions.  Should be good for pushing some new jabo bloom.  Not sure sure how well the nearby mangoes and their bloom/fruits are going to respond:


Kensington Pride with fruits and new bloom still coming.


Pickering mango


Extrema mango


This is my Maha Chanok seedling project three trees in one whole, looking from the east.  The tree that bears the colorful fruit, from which my avatar has been selected has not previously bloomed this year, but is beginning to now.



The northwestern Maha Chanok seedling bears the largest of the fruits.  It bloomed nicely earlier this season, is blooming again and the fruits that did set from the first bloom are about 1/3 of their mature size.


Coconut cream mango in its second bloom.  There was fruit set from the first bloom, but I can't seem to find any of the fruits that set. So either I am missing them or they have dropped.



For all those of you that write me privately asking advice about your trees, thinking I have all the answers.....here is my Green Sapote.  I haven't a clue what the heck went wrong with it.  It was healthy an vibrant.  Now.....well, just look


That's more like it.....Alano Sapodilla


Surinam cherry "Zill Black" in full flower after just completing a fruiting.


Tiger Eye longan


Ross Sapote....a bit out of frame, but I wanted to chronicle the fact that it still had one fruit left on it from the last bloom.  This is an unusual situation from my previous experience with this tree.


Canistel "Bruce"



Caimito seemingly taking forever to size up.  I am still wondering if  there is any purple coloration in their future.





Another sad story......My Kai maprang set two fruits......the last of these has turned yellow and is ready to drop.



Kau Dwarf mango from Hawaii.



Close up of Imbe blooms on my sideways, hurricane blown over tree




Maha Chanok (tree #3) with a close up of the fruit The size of the fruit would ordinarily not be this big for several months in a normal year.




Cluster of Thai Everbearing mangoes


Royal Lee cherry (foolishly purchased thinking that we could grow low chill cherries) the grafted portion of the tree is dormant or dead, but the root stock is growing like gangbusters.  I figured I let it grow to see what it might produce.....if and when it flowers.


Miracle fruit sporting a few hundred mature fruits



Momoncillo getting ready to push something.....probably new growth, but I am hoping it will be bloom.  Although the leaves are chewed up slightly by weevils, the new flush/bloom is going to be earlier than usual and so the Cuban May Beetles are not going to be around yet to devour all of the foliage like they usually do.  Below is a close up of the bud.  They swell for seemingly a month and then burst one day when you least expect it.




Bosworth 3 lychee and close up of fruiting panicle



My two, very different looking supposedly Sweetheart Lychee trees.  Neither of them is fruiting particularly well, after some promise early on.  But the more squat growing tree is definitely doing better than the more lanky growing Hak Ip like tree.



Van Dyke mango


Jamaican/Cuban Red banana


Beverly mango


Goldfinger banana (FHIA1)


Clusters of developing (what I have been calling) Dian Guaw mangoes


Mauritius lychee (apologies for the poor photography and washed out from the sun shot).  Interestingly, half the tree is fruiting like gang busters and the other half, not all.



Rataul mango to the left, Julie to the right with Edward and Dot behind.


Okrung mango, dripping with fruit....and this is just one side.


Angie mango


Last, but not least, Jean Ellen mango.  This was the subject of a thread I did in Garden Web regarding....To Prune or Not to Prune.  You can find it here:  http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tropicalfruits/msg1221370531594.html

For those that may remember, I planted out a Fairchild purchase as a typical whip of a plant and never pruned it to see what would happen.  It has still never been pruned.

39
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Kai Maprang update
« on: February 16, 2013, 06:26:17 PM »
Here's the progression of the grafted Kai maprang originally purchased from Frankie's a couple of years ago.  It has bloomed twice and has set fruit in its second year in ground.








40
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Bosworth 3 (Kwai Mai Pink) Lychee
« on: February 16, 2013, 05:57:45 PM »
Here's a shot of my 15 or so year old Bosworth 3 lychee putting on its best fruit set ever.




41
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Staggered mango season 2013
« on: February 16, 2013, 05:49:38 PM »
This season is going to be a very different mango season.  There is going to be a staggered crop.  I have already harvested my first mango of the year, a Rosiegold.  Unfortunately, it cracked and didn't ripen properly.  That fruit was from the tree's second blooming this year. Now, Rosiegold is putting out a third bloom and many trees that either did not bloom, either in part or at all, are now blooming. Meanwhile, there are fruits sizing up on most of my mango trees from the earlier bbloom.   I expect that there will be a very spread out, sort of a staggered mango season this year.  This is a very good thing.  Some trees do this from time to time.  Edward is famous for doing it.  This year it is going to be the rule and not the exception. Here's one of my Nam Doc trees doing what I am describing.






42
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Sweetheart Lychee Redemption?
« on: January 23, 2013, 09:02:36 PM »
Just came in from a walkabout in the yard with the flashlight.  As many of you will remember, I have two supposed Sweetheart Lychees.  They are the third double planting attempted in my yard.  The first two attempts ended in abject failure and tree death.  The third attempt has been successful and the trees are getting some size.  However, they have completely different growth habits.  One favors the growth habit of Hak Ip.....lanky and tall.  The other is wide and bushy.  They have bloomed over the last few years but I have yet to have a decent crop to make any judgment about this notorious (at least from a marketing standpoint) lychee.  If what I see holds, although the bloom on the wider,  squat shaped tree is considerably less than in previous years, there appear to be many more female flowers for some reason.  It looks like there is going to be substantial fruit set.  Stay tuned.  Pictures to follow.

43
Mangoes and lychees have center stage at my place.  Here's what a few look like at the moment:

Hak Ip Lychee


Mauritius Lychee


Extrema Mango


Angie mango



Okrung Mango



Grafted Kai Maprang from Frankie's Nursery


It is having a secondary bloom after being in full bloom for a couple of weeks.  I didn't see any fruit set until:




Edited to correct Maprang from Wan to Kai.

44
Tropical Fruit Discussion / First Lychee Blooms for upcoming 2013 season
« on: December 12, 2012, 07:27:16 PM »
Was surprised to find some branches of one of my Mauritius Lychees throwing out bloom.  As best as I can see, this is the only tree doing this although there are other trees that seem to spiking at the top, but I thought the spikes looked more vegetative than blossomy.  Time will tell.  This is the earliest I ever remember seeing lychee bloom at my house in the 20 plus years my trees have been growing.  Hope it is a sign of good things to come.



45
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Caimito/Star Apple.......first fruit set
« on: November 16, 2012, 02:27:44 PM »
Found a little surprise this morning.  This is the first fruits on this, the third incarnation of caimito planting in ,my yard. The first two trees got blown over or snapped at the base in wind storms.  I don't remember if this is supposed to be a purple or green skinned variety. I am anxious to see.






46
Tropical Fruit Discussion / First Mango Bloom for Upcoming 2013 Season
« on: October 06, 2012, 08:10:09 PM »
Its that time again. The first blooming of a mango tree in my yard award, again goes to Rosigold. Seems the picture I took of the tree doesn't show the main portion of the bloom.  Excellent photography on my part.  This year, I will spray copper and get a crop. Stay tuned.



47
Tropical Fruit Discussion / First Rollinia Fruit Ripens
« on: August 15, 2012, 12:05:06 PM »

OK Rollinia experts.......my first fruit was picked today.  It wasn't very large by Rollinia standards.  It weighed 356 grams or just over 3/4 pound.  The stem separated from the fruit very easily, leaving a hole in the top of the fruit.....a sign of readiness in most other annonas.  However, there is no give at all to thumb pressure.  This has me concerned.  When I picked the fruit, the spikes on the fruit were perfectly green.  One half hour in the airconditioning and the tips turned brown. There is still some green tinges on one side of the fruit. Question......should I wait for thumb pressure give or cut into the fruit asap?  Thanks in advance. I left the fruit at home, so there won't be any testing until tonight anyway.







48
Tropical Fruit Discussion / 2012 Abiu Crop.....Questions
« on: July 26, 2012, 05:04:32 PM »
So I have two Abiu trees, side by side.  One flowered 4 times this past few months and only set fruit on the third flowering.  The other flowered three times and set no fruit.  They were both in bloom at the same time.  This is the third year of fruiting for the tree that is in fruit.  But oddly, all of the fruit set in only one small portion of the tree, no where else.  Any ideas why this all might be?





 



One fruit ripened a week or two, there are ssveral that are just about ready to pick and there are about two or three more green fruits in the tree, which you can see if you look closely.


Harry


49
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Natural Mystic Dragonfruit
« on: July 24, 2012, 07:30:22 PM »
I bought one of these from Pine Island Nursery last year.  It is in a pot with the small wooden support piece they sell their dragonfruit with. I really didn't pay any attention to it until the other day when I noticed a nice developing fruit. I kept an eagle on it as the area where this plant was sitting is in prime raccoon foraging locale. The fruit's exterior got nice and pink.  I wasn't sure if it was supposed to get darker than the nice pink color that it had developed.  I checked the PIN viewer and saw that pink is what it is supposed to be, so I picked it.  The fruit was about one pound. Got to taste it tonight.  Very appealing and had a mild sweetness and pleasant flavor to it.  It was much better than the whites that I have had, but it was not quite as good as American Beauty.  The good news, it set fruit totally on its own without any cross or hand pollination. Might have gone another day before being picked and perhaps that would have brought the BRIX up to a higher level.  Tough to really say with only one fruit to try.  Here it is:





Harry

50
Tropical Fruit Discussion / New (for me anyway) mangoes tasted
« on: July 18, 2012, 06:05:53 PM »
Had a chance to try some new mangoes. Gerry (Lycheeluva) provided the Mesk (from Fairchild) and the Orange Sherbet and HW 14 (from Walter Zill's).  The Heidi was grown by Clint (Sleepdoc).  First, thanks to both for providing the material for this tasting. I did throw in a couple of home grown mangoes just to get a feel for how these new mangoes stack up. The sampling looked like this:












I didn't take pictures of the Graham and Maha Chanok as they were not new for me.

Analysis:

The mangoes were tried by my office staff and I and the results were mixed.  First let me say that the Mesk was slightly under ripe and was therefore slightly tart where it would not have been, I don't think, if it had another day to ripen. The Heidi was slightly over ripe.  It was given to me on Monday and I think should have been opened that day or at latest on Tuesday.  The Heidi had one of the most aromatic fragrances I have ever encountered on any mango before it was cut.  After it was cut, oddly, it had a strong over ripe smell that was slightly objectionable. The Heidi was so firm that I dared not cut it open earlier for fear it would be under ripe. I should have trusted my nose instead of my touch in this case. This the problem with lack of familiarity with mangoes.  It takes some experience before you settle on the best time to pick and cut open. Heidi was extremely meaty and has the potential of being a top notch mango flavorwise. Even though there was this unusual over ripe smell, the flavor was quite good. This particular mango had some cracks at the top of the fruit that may have contributed to the over ripening of at least a portion of the fruit. Overall,  I am very happy I got some trees grafted up and growing from Sleepdoc.  The Mesk was small but also has good potential. Depending on who you asked of my staff, it was either terrible or great....depending on the staff member's like or dislike of tart in a mango.  HW 14 was quite nice tasting but had some negative comments about the softness of the flesh. Maha Chanok fared well as usual ranking either 1 or 2 in everyone's rating. Now on to Orange Sherbet.  First, I was struck by  how non-adherent the skin was to the flesh.  It was very easy to cut.  The mango was small and only had slight fragrance....especially when compared to Heidi and Maha Chanok.  The flavor was very nice......and very reminiscent of orange sherbet.  This fruit looked completely different to what we ate as Lemon Zest at our tasting last Friday.  As I reported, that Lemon Zest tasting was not good and I am presuming it was not representative of what Lemon Zest could be.  In this case, however, Orange Sherbet definitely lived up to billing.  Excellent mango.  I even thought it edged out Maha Chanok on this particular tasting for the first place ribbon.  However, all of the mangoes tasted today would be considered top tier in my book.

Harry


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