The Tropical Fruit Forum

This Simmonds avocado tree was looking fine and healthy 4 months ago.  Then little burn spots started to appear in the middle of some leaves.  Now it has progressed to this stage.  What do you think could be happening?  This doesn't look like laurel wilt, and my Monroe tree hasn't been affected, nor have a dozen other avocado trees in the neighbhorhood.  I have been using city water regularly, but not overwatering.  Could it be something in the water?  But my other tree looks fine.  Any ideas, insights, or suggestions would be helpful.  I'd hate to lose the tree and have to start over with another.

Current track shows Sarasota landfall, exiting Florida through Brevard County.  I've read that almost every building on Anna Maria Island has already been destroyed by Helene.  Clean-up will have to start all over again from scratch.  It seems surreal.

The lychee tree in my neighborhood had an erinose mite infestation earlier this year, but in the past few months it has had plenty of healthy new growth.  It seems to have recovered.  Is this uncommon?  What about future infestations?  Unfortunately it hasn't had fruit in the last few years due to the warm winters.

Other than what have become the standards, such as Simmonds, Pollock, Lula, Choquette, Miguel, Catalina, Brogdon, Day, Marcus, Donnie, and Oro Negro.  Anything that has really wowed you and that you endorse?  Julian Lara and Alex Salazar both offer a lot of varieties.

I'm in north Broward County very near Boca.  I could give you Raja Puri pups.  I also have Goldfinger, but no pups yet.

I'm finding that my Monroe and Simmonds trees have leaves that are particularly striking.
Monroe

Simmonds

The consistently cool weather we've been getting this month seems to have created a pause in mango bloom.  I guess it will resume when the weather warms up.  How will this affect the crop this year?  Any guesses?

If I wanted to topwork this 5-ft. mango seedling to a named variety (probably PPK/LM), what would be the best way to do it?  Where to cut it?  Wait for new growth?  How to graft?

If anyone in South Florida has one for me, I would be most grateful. 

Has anyone grown Red Nemesis F1 papaya?  It sounds like it might be superior to Red Lady, which is a pretty good papaya that I've grown in the past.  I'll probably buy some seeds and give it a shot.  (And what would be the best type of pellet gun to buy to reduce the iguana population around here?  They love young, tender papaya leaves!)

Does anyone have experience growing Lemon Zest in Melbourne, FL?  Do you think it would do good about 3 blocks west of the Intracoastal in a uphill location?  I've seen a mini-mango-orchard in the neighborhood, and the trees all seem to be healthy, thriving, and bearing fruit. My son bought a house, and I was thinking about planting Orange Sherbet and M-4, but maybe we should just go for it and plant what has arguably been described as the GOAT, OS's sibling Lemon Zest!

I just got back from a 2-week vacation to find 2 bunches of Raja Puri bananas had ripened. The fruit had even started to split, maybe from the rain? This was my first crop. The plant set fruit in January so it took five months to mature the fruit. The plant was strong and sturdy, and semi-dwarf to medium, not tall. The flavor of the fruit is sub-acid and apple-like, and the size is medium, not a finger banana. My wife and I like it a lot, and I recommend this variety. I'll plant 2 new plants that came from pups.

If you look at the 10-day forecast, it shows rain on the way starting Sunday.  Hopefully this has a positive impact on mango retention for mangos that are still developing towards May/June ripening.  Any that are already being harvested are bound to suffer some flavor/brix loss.  What do you think?