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Messages - roblack

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mango Season 2026
« on: March 04, 2026, 05:51:14 PM »
Much of the Spring crop has dropped. CL, ST, Ed, OS still holding a little bit. Glenn dropped all early fruits. SL still has a couple. Everything is flowering now, different stages or about to pop.

2
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Lara Farms Miami
« on: March 02, 2026, 11:57:09 PM »
Update on my trees:

G3. repotted into 5 gallon pot several months ago. The roots looked great on both plants.




G1


Together


3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Dockys yard 2025
« on: February 27, 2026, 07:19:47 PM »
Docky, you rocky! Exciting imagining walking through your food forest, with new surprises and old favs. Growing mangosteen is a dream many of us share. Was watering our beat up tree earlier, will be impressed if it ever fruits. Kids will have to settle for loquats and kumquats for now.

4
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: There is a lot of chatter about My4Sons sprayer
« on: February 26, 2026, 10:39:11 PM »
M4 getting lots of action here. Thing's got some range too! Can't say enough good stuff about the customer service at My4Sons. Actual people to talk with who know the equipment, so cool.

5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Myrciaria Madness and Eugenia Mania
« on: February 25, 2026, 11:32:43 PM »
Keeping my anthropophaga for now. Tasted a lot like lemon to me, with a bit of juice. It's fun to plate with fish or chicken. It has utility, but not good for eating out of hand and on its own. It's also a cool looking little tree that fruits at a small size.

6
Tropical Vegetables and Other Edibles - Buy, Sell, & Trade / Re: Over 300 varieties of pepper seeds available
« on: February 24, 2026, 09:32:03 PM »
PMs sent, need help with making an order.

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best Tasting Star Fruit
« on: February 24, 2026, 08:22:37 PM »
Kari is good and produces most of the year, off and on. Beautiful tree

8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 2026 Cold Weather [Megathread]
« on: February 24, 2026, 12:46:42 PM »
Quote from: Julian R on February 24, 2026, 12:16:24 PM
Quote from: roblack on February 24, 2026, 10:49:39 AM
38.8F was our lowest temp overnight, so sayeth the rooftop monitor. 44F was the forecast low.

This weather has been great for our mangoes, but hard on breadfruit, some garcinias, and a few others.

Hoping to see panicles on any of our mango seedlings. Thinking this cold may get them going. Especially curious re CL and Z20 seedlings, LZ too.

Which garcinia are you noticing issues with? I did cover all mine to varying degrees but my list of winners up here have been: Luc's, lemon drop, imbe, achaichairu, madruno, guacopary, xanthochymus, aff. Macrophylla do Acre and seashore mangosteen. My large achachairu was very well protected but many of the smaller trees only had a pot over the top to keep frost off and no supplemental heat. I'm certain they would have been much less happy without any protection, but only the imbe and lemon drop have leaf burn from touching their covers.

Cherapus all got beat up badly. Should've brought them in. New delicate growth on some others was damaged, but not sure which ones, will check.

9
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 2026 Cold Weather [Megathread]
« on: February 24, 2026, 10:49:39 AM »
38.8F was our lowest temp overnight, so sayeth the rooftop monitor. 44F was the forecast low.

This weather has been great for our mangoes, but hard on breadfruit, some garcinias, and a few others.

Hoping to see panicles on any of our mango seedlings. Thinking this cold may get them going. Especially curious re CL and Z20 seedlings, LZ too.

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Arctic blast recovery 2026
« on: February 24, 2026, 10:44:27 AM »
Lots of encouraging signs! Hopefully, many will see recovery over the next few weeks and months. Great that so many are documenting their experiences. Keep us posted!

11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Florida Trip
« on: February 22, 2026, 01:27:55 PM »
Quote from: puglvr1 on February 22, 2026, 12:19:52 PM
Quote from: murahilin on February 21, 2026, 10:52:17 AM
Quote from: MAMOHT on February 21, 2026, 10:42:31 AM
Mounts botanical garden is a very decent place and they have a ton of mangos and other tropical fruit trees. It’s a bit of a drive from Miami though.

https://www.mounts.org/

Being a bit of a drive from Miami is often a positive.

Lol...Murahilin, I agree  ;D

Miami (and parts south) is awesome, just gotta know where and when to go. Would much rather be here than...

Serendib and Lara Farms may have some fresh fruit, and Robert is Here is worth checking out. Fruit and Spice Park, Fairchild Garden, Fairchild Farm, and Kampong are all worth a visit. Frost Museum is a lot of fun, I especially like the top levels where marine life and terrestrial displays meet. No fruit tho 

Loquats, carambola, and sapodillas are ripening now, Indian jujubes just finished up. Got some noni too, lmao

12
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Best Place in South Florida for Fiji Dwarf Coconuts?
« on: February 21, 2026, 10:51:31 AM »
Still waiting on Dwarf Fiji to flower, but our Green Malays are producing. The water is good, and they produce when short.

13
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: The Survivor's Guilt Thread
« on: February 20, 2026, 09:34:20 PM »
If you zone push and buy and grow non-native plants, you might be a gambler. Better than wasting your money on betting or the casino tho! 

My survivor's guilt has subsided, and sadness about everyone's losses remains. I hate losing any plant, even small ones, but bigger ones really hurt because of the time, attachment, and potential lost. It is humbling to be reminded how powerful nature can be.   

Seems we have lots to learn about protecting our trees...

5 potted cherapu trees here. 2 lost all leaves, 2 almost all, 1 looks markedly better. They were in 3 different spots. The most exposed trees took the most damage. The 1 that fared the best was tucked amongst several other trees (Eugenias and whatnot), and had a wall of the pool filter box (painted faux brick-like material) right next to it. It probably got the least wind, which was coming from the opposite side.

Continuing the practice of packing plants in, with companions. My wife complains that much of the backyard looks like a jungle. She is correct, and I love it.

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mango Season 2026
« on: February 20, 2026, 12:07:46 AM »
Quote from: Orkine on February 19, 2026, 08:04:28 PM
I walked the yard this evening and was surprised to see Lemon Meringue (PPK) pushing some panicles on the undamaged parts.  That tree and parts of 5 or 6 other trees that still have green leaves on them may actually come back and fruit this year.  Most of my other trees, I will be happy if they just come back.

I doubt Abiu, Caimito, several annona, and a couple of large jackfruits will come back, but I will be patient and see what nature does.

That's great news! Looking forward to hearing about and seeing recovery. Don't forget to help nature out, until the rains start up again, it's a good idea to water and not let the roots totally dry out.

15
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mango Season 2026
« on: February 19, 2026, 05:58:23 PM »
Good to see panicles popping there Flip!

It is certainly sad to see the devastation to so many people's orchards and gardens. Would be interesting to develop a map of the state, showing where damage was extreme, moderate, mild, and non evident re mangoes. The areas further north and away from the coast understandably were impacted more than more southern locales and coastal spots, and would be good to see in one image.

Here a bit south of Miami, damage to mango trees, leaves, flowers, and fruits appears to be zero or very minimal. Found a few blooms that look strange, possibly damaged, but plenty look great and more are coming. Seems this winter will result in a great crop in our garden, with more fruit than in the past and some holdouts finally coming through. Anticipating a long drawn out season.

Definitely expecting some April mangoes, maybe even some late March ripening. Don't give up ya'll, come visit your friends down south! 

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mango Pruning
« on: February 18, 2026, 05:14:10 PM »
Can't tell for sure, but you may have too much dirt around the trunk(s). I would clear back/remove some of the medium from the stalk, till tops of the roots are visible.

17
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Triple Sec vs Orange Sherbet
« on: February 17, 2026, 11:22:21 AM »
OE is certainly a lovely mango, so much so we gifted my bro in law a tree, as we didn't really have the space. Figured he would share. They are so good, he doesn't share. So much for that idea.

18
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Best place for multiple species/varieties of Jaboticaba?
« on: February 15, 2026, 05:48:22 PM »
Forum member J Travis may be able to help you out.

19
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Myrciaria Madness and Eugenia Mania
« on: February 15, 2026, 04:46:50 PM »
Quote from: mikesid on February 15, 2026, 04:34:07 PM

Eugenia pruniformis holding its first fruits. one should be just about ready.






Very exciting!=)

20
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mango Season 2026
« on: February 14, 2026, 02:14:28 PM »
Thank you Bov! Working with limited space here, and cannot grow as many as I would like. Some must grows for me/us are:

Glenn
Orange Sherbet
Mmm4
Ceci Love
Kesar
Sweet Tart

Cheated and chose 6. These cover a wide range of flavor profiles and can spread out the mango season pretty well. ST can be a little tricky production wise, but the others are quite reliable. All do well resisting diseases.

The way things are looking, might have to squeeze Sugar Loaf into the mix. Several frustrating years may have been worth it.

21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Triple Sec vs Orange Sherbet
« on: February 14, 2026, 01:07:38 PM »
I've had Seacrest/Triple Sec, remember liking it but can't recall specifics. Have heard it is vigorous. OS also grows fast ime, but is manageable.

OS is a fantastic tree, and a must have. It produces well and reliably comparative to others in our garden. The crops can be spread out over the season, with early fruit as well. The fruit are usually clean, has good resistance to disease, and is a wonderful mango. On a good day, it can rival LZ, although a primo LZ is beat by no other citrus mango I know of.

22
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mango Season 2026
« on: February 14, 2026, 10:33:32 AM »
Quote from: Greater Good on February 14, 2026, 10:20:37 AM
Is my Nam Doc Mai #4 finally going to push flowers? If no bloom she is getting top worked.




Little Gem looks like something is happening. She has over a year less time in the ground as Nam Doc Mai #4.






Cecilove finally looks like she found her groove.






Nice! Topworked ndm4 with OS here, OS took over, has fruits and is blooming. Would like some ndm4s too! Stubborn tree in our yard.

Mmm4 showing panicle emergence on just a few branches. Hope it takes it time, need late mangoes!!

Good luck with the fruit Bov! Put a security cam and livestream on it =)

23
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mango Season 2026
« on: February 14, 2026, 08:47:24 AM »
Spring mangoes are coming!

Ceci Love


Ceci Love/Glenn


Edward


Glenn


Glenn


Sweet Tart


Sugar Loaf



24
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 2026 Cold Weather [Megathread]
« on: February 13, 2026, 06:13:18 PM »
New growth on several garcinias took a nasty hit here. Cherapus were probably the most sensitive, most are looking sad, even old leaves.

Breadfruit looked good for a while, then creeping death...


25
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Cold Damage
« on: February 12, 2026, 07:24:42 PM »
Sad to see the damage to your plants and business. You've helped me out over the years, happy to share scions (summer) of some choice mangoes and other stuff if that will help. pm if interested.

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