The Tropical Fruit Forum

All my jaboticabas are potted in Miracle Gro potting soil. I've had no nutrient deficiencies or root problems with any of them. Of course, I also regularly fertilize them with Espoma to prevent the former and up pot them incrementally to prevent the latter. I've occasionally had tip burn on a few jaboticabas, Plinia rivularis seemingly being the most sensitive, but that was when I was forced to use city water on them. Frankly, I've been surprised since I started growing jaboticabas over the past few years at just how easy they are to grow.

In my part of the US, we had a bitter, record-breaking cold spell around Christmas. Temperatures were as low as 2°F (I think that is about -15°C), and we did not get above freezing for 90 hours. We had not had a cold snap like that for thirty years. Since that time, temperatures have fluctuated between average and above average spells. All the native plants in my area are unaffected by such cycles, but there are some non-native ornamentals which have shown signs of stirring from dormancy. It would be a bigger problem for me if my fruiting plants were acting that way and the way yours are. Unfortunately, short of protecting plants if they come out of dormancy, there is nothing you can do to push them back into dormancy.

Citrus are one of the hardest types for me to grow. While I do not have to worry about HLB, I do have to make sure their potting mix is just right and constantly defend them from spider mites.

Sapindaceae are probably the most difficult for me. I've managed to keep one lychee alive long-term but with the exception of that lychee and the generally easy-to-grow Mamoncillo, I've killed many other plants in that genus. I've given up on growing rambutan or pulasan.

Glad that worked for you. There has been many other seeds with that hard seed coat I tried to take off but ended up smashing them in the process.
One of the coupeia edulis seeds I tried to crack but ended up killing it. At least you can eat the seed...call me crazy, but I tried it and it was pretty good.

I used a small, very finely toothed saw (normally used for model making and very fine woodworking) to carefully cut through the hard shell. I had a feeling that, like you, I would smash the seed if I tried to actually crack the seed coat.

Sold.

I have a copy of Fruit in Brazil available for sale if anyone is interested.

Fruit in Brazil was written by Helena Tassara with photographs by Silvestre Silva and published in 1996 by Empresa das Artes Projetos e Edições Artísticas Ltda. in São Paolo, Brazil. It is a hardcover with dust jacket that measures 9.25x11.5 in. (235x293 mm.) with 236 pages. The ISBN-10/ISBN-13 numbers are 8585628200/9788585628208. The text is in English and is fully illustrated by many large, exquisite color photographs. There is a Portuguese edition of this title that is much more commonly available than this English edition. Photographs of the table of contents and a couple of pages will give you an idea of the book's contents and how they are arranged.

This book is in overall good condition. The dust jacket has some rubbing and scratches to the surface and some edgewear, including a very light stain at the bottom edge of the rear cover, light creasing at the head and base of the spine, and very small, 1/4" long tears at the base of the spine, but the dust jacket has no other major damage. The hardcover boards have light bumping along the edges but no tears, stains, or other major damage. The binding is strong and intact. The interior is unmarked with no writing, highlighting, or underlining and has no tears, dog-eared pages, stains, mold, or any major damage. The page edges have no remainder mark, foxing, stains, or any major damage.

The price for this book is $50.

USPS Media Mail shipping included in the price. I will consider shipping it internationally if there is no interest among any American buyers with the international shipping cost to be covered by the buyer, but the book is rather heavy and shipping from the United States overseas would likely be fairly expensive.

I only accept PayPal.

This book will be securely packed in a box and promptly shipped once payment is received with a tracking number provided after it is shipped.

I only have one copy, so it is first come, first served.

       

It's been down before. I noticed that a large number of new plant entries appeared on the site after the last time they were down. I'm also not getting any sort of alert about the website being unavailable; I just get a blank screen when I go to their homepage. I'm hoping they're just doing another website update and will be back up very soon. I agree that it is an excellent resource and one that we are very lucky to have.

Honeys must be a new persimmon brand being carried by Publix. I purchased a bag earlier this week, the day before gnappi's post. However, mine were all soft and properly ripened. They truly were ready to eat, good quality Hachiya persimmons. So were the other bags at my Publix.

I agree with gnappi that this is not a good idea but for a completely different reason. Ripe persimmons are very fragile. Nearly all of them had damage of some sort. Whereas the unripened ones I bought earlier in the fall are in excellent shape, though some of them are still not ready to eat. I like the basic premise of what the Honeys brand is trying to do. Perhaps if they packaged these persimmons in clamshell containers with individual compartments, to prevent crushing, bumping, bruising, etc., then I would be completely on board with what they're selling.

A normal potting mix works well. Miracle grow potting soil for instance. It's mostly peat and perlite but pre mixed. This would work well but I'd sprinkle a little sand in it if available. Like 5% sand or something. It doesn't need any special soil though prefers a little more drainage than average.

Miracle Gro used to be a very good potting mix. But, it has really declined in quality since 2020. Given the finicky nature of citrus roots, I would not advise planting citrus in Miracle Gro. The ones I've potted in it since 2020 have not grown and thrived like ones I potted pre-2020.

Thanks to the both of you for the positive feedback. I want people to be satisfied with their plants and try to do my best to make sure they are.

Unless I'm mistaken, fresh fruit from Hawaii cannot be shipped to the mainland United States due to a fruit fly quarantine. So, you would have to see what sells well in Hawaii or what people want there but currently can't get. You could also sell something that could be processed so that it can be shipped to the US. You would probably have to partner with or become a supplier to a company already in that field. Macadamia nuts might fall into that category, if the major processors buy from independent growers. Hawaii's Department of Agriculture would be the agency to advise you about that.

My plants came in the mail today they were a week late and I was worried they were confiscated but they arrived in California safe and sound thanks to the great packaging. Thank you!

I'm sorry they took so long to arrive. I try my best to pack them to withstand what the US Postal Service dishes out, and I'm glad that this time, thankfully, they made it through their "careful" handling with no damage. Thank you for your purchase.

All your young plants should be brought in. I err on the side of caution with all of my plants. Even my citrus are not allowed to experience weather below 40°F. I want my plants to grow, mature, and fruit as quickly as possible. Even if temperatures in the 30s would not kill a plant, it could cause it to go dormant. Whereas, my jaboticabas have fresh new growth flushing out even after I've moved them inside for the winter.