The Tropical Fruit Forum

My Flowzone backpack sprayer broke down for the second time. I’m thinking of replacing it with something a little bigger, so I don’t have to refill halfway, as well as something more durable/ commercial. Does anyone have any experience using this sprayer?

https://www.northerntool.com/products/northstar-high-pressure-atv-spot-sprayer-16-gallon-capacity-2-gpm-12-volt-282795?cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=Lawn%20%2B%20Garden%20%3E%20Sprayers%20%3E%20Broadcast%20%2B%20Spot%20Sprayers&utm_campaign=NorthStar&utm_content=282795&ogmap=SHP%7CPLA%7CGOOG%7CSTND%7Cm%7CSITEWIDE%7CINTRADE%7C%7C%7C%7C857741004%7C42214669903&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADpPfbMmZBEjL8WDCh3SIoHYC9Wf_&gclid=CjwKCAjwxLKxBhA7EiwAXO0R0A9QW8mj0BC3GsESJyOCiFo23zkkR6rwvGeae2NHIdr4SHBxBjE8thoCbswQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I’m particularly interested in durability and not much is available where I’ve looked online. Also, I plan to use it on a gorilla cart so I won’t have the battery hooked up to an ATV, does anyone know how long the sprayer will work without being connected?

My Xie Shan fruited for the first time this year and the first fruits are coloring up.  Can anyone give any insight on what factors I should look for to pick it at optimal ripeness. I am in Miami if that helps.  Thanks for any insight.

Hi,
I’m looking to buy or trade scions of the following mango varieties:
- Lil Gem
- Jehangir
- Super Alphonso
- Baileys Marvel
- ST Maui

In Miami Dade or Broward.

I have to offer:
- Beverly
- CAC
- Carrie (2)
- Cotton candy
- Edward
- Fairchild
- Fruit Punch
- Guava
- Honey Kiss
- Ice Cream
- Juliette
- Kesar
- M-4
- Malika
- Orange Essence
- Orange Sherbet
- Pina Colada
- Pineapple Pleasure
- Sugarloaf
- Sweet Tart
- Val-Carrie

Please PM me.

Thanks

I was inspired by Gnappi’s post, Fruit Trees You've Given Up On, to start a thread about trees that have been difficult to grow, but you’ve still not given up on and maybe even eventually found success with, expanding on what you found.  For me, it’s been:

Purple Mangosteen - my hardest tree to grow so far. It is the most tropical of anything I grow, gets burned easily with too much sun but struggles to grow with too little, is finicky about the soil and nutrition, and seems to have a problem if you just look at it wrong.

Abui - my second hardest trees to grow.  With the exception of one particular tree from Excalibur that just excelled, all of the other roughly dozen trees have been difficult and I lost about half of them. They are very finicky in our limestone/ high ph soil, need a lot of minor nutrient applications, and don’t seem to recover if damaged by the cold too young.

Citrus - lost about a dozen trees the first time around due to HLB (poor container mix didn’t help either) but with screen protection they’re actually not that difficult.

As I mentioned in the other thread, I would put lychee and my coconut crème mangos in the giving up on category.

I recently ordered a Red Australian Finger Lime and after ordering it I read a post from a knowledgeable grower in my area that the Red Finger lime doesn't fruit well in S. Florida due to a lack of cool weather and that he recommends the Green Finger lime (I already had that one). Does anyone have any experience they can share with this?

I’ve been picking Carrie mangos over the last couple of weeks and noticed a considerable watering of flavor after the heavy rains of the last few days. Will the flavor intensify again if we have a dry period before harvest or is this effect permanent?

I have a few air layers and one root cutting I can take from a fruiting Ma’afala breadfruit tree. This tree was planted as a 3 gallon in 2020 and has been the strongest growing tree in my yard (see pic). It also took our late January cold snap (~37) without issue.

- Long Air layers (4 1) - $25 (no shipping - local pickup in Kendal area of Miami)

- Double-Stem Root Cutting (1) - $25 (US shipping $20 via USPS priority)

I recently went on a trip to St. Augustine and was surprised to see this mature mango tree growing on the side of our hotel. I was even more impressed that it didn’t seem to be affected by the late Jan. cold snap and that it had flowers and tiny fruit forming. Does anyone know of any in-ground mangos further north than this?

First off, thank you to everyone here who made it possible for me to grow citrus successfully (after previously losing all my citrus to greening) in South Florida, especially Millet (you’re always so generous with sharing your knowledge).
I am harvesting my first Ponkan mandarins and I only had four so I want to make sure that I time the harvest right for the remaining two. I harvested my first one on January 27th. It still had quite a bit of green color and the taste was intensely tart/ tangy. The second I picked today (2/8); it was not as intensely flavored as the first one, it was less tart but not any sweeter, which I had hoped. Should I expect them to sweeten more if left longer on the tree or should I just pick them now (they are orange and slightly give when squeezed)?

I was a little careless applying chelated iron around my pavers and a limestone bench and was not successful with a degreaser or pressure washer in removing the stains. Does anyone know what might be effective in removing iron stains from pavers/ limestone?

Selling a few things for local pickup in the Falls area of Miami.
2 15 gal Sabara Jaboticabas - $120 each or both for $200 - SOLD

15 gal grafted Purple Corrango Caimito (flowering) - $100 - SOLD

Seashore Mangosteen in Stuewe pot - $30

Lemon Drop Mangosteens in Stuewe pots or 3 gal - $30

1 gal Grimal Jaboticaba - $25

4 7 gal Jamaican Cherry (red and yellow) - $40 or $60

4 7 gal Pink Hipólito Caimito seedlings (will include 5 scions of a grafted Jaco Green or Pink Hipólito Caimito with each) - $50

2 15 gal Mai 1 Jackfruit seedlings (will include 7 scions of grafted Tony Morris Red jackfruit with each) - $50 - SOLD

Invatech Italia ULV FOGGER Mosquito FOGGER Atomizer Electric Backpack Sprayer (see specs here: Invatech Italia ULV FOGGER Mosquito FOGGER Atomizer Electric Backpack Sprayer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PB5D81P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_B6V25M1JD5M1P8P81Y0P?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1) - $150

I have a PPC atemoya that was healthy till a few days ago and all of a sudden started wilting and showing signs of drought stress even though it’s getting watered daily. There’s a Geffner atemoya 10 feet away in the same conditions that is doing well. I have a similar issue with my Page atemoya in another location that’s only 3-4 feet from a perfectly healthy Geffner.
The root systems on both trees seem to be healthy as when I pull they are firm. Is there some kind of disease that may be attacking these trees or does anyone have any idea of what could have happened. The recent change I can think of was an application of minor nutrients (iron, zinc, boron, manganese) but I wouldn’t think that would do any harm?