The Tropical Fruit Forum

Here's my coconut cream I got it as a 15 gallon that was bunched together with other trees so they were all lanky. As you can see there's a few with the downward trajectory. In your case I wouldn't worry about it I would treat those four or five scaffoldings as Central leaders with an upward trajectory. Yes they'll be unwilledly convoluted but Coco cream is known for doing that. Any branches with downward trojectory prune them off until it gets to a height where it's not an issue.

So what's your question? At what height do you head it to start your scaffolding. If so that's personal preference. Some folks wait till 5 ft for maintenance reasons. Such as mowing. In a nursery where they have the pots close together and the trees can only get sun at High Noon those trees tend to be tall and lanky. Didn't really care for those trees at first until I realized for landscaping Aesthetics they can be useful for visual depth perception. Such as not blocking your view of a lake. Commercial folks probably won't have a use for that tree. As a backyard gardener you have much more flexibility because you're producing for yourself not for profit. The same goes with the spacing of the trees. Has the backyard gardener if you plant them a little too close. The trees  can still have production off 180° off of each tree. Paraphrasing Gary zill when ask a similar question. Where the trees face each other the branches will intertwine. Or you can just prune those sides of the tree. The jungle effect. Most of what you read is what you would do commercially running your rose ideally North and South and spacing of 12 to 15 ft depending on viggor. The commercial folks like to keep the lower branches because they're about profit and some of the lower branches or more mature and produce. The critters agree with this  method because it makes for low-hanging fruit. No climbing required LOL
Weiss613 is the best example of this Urban Jungle planting

 

 Since I'm a gardening hobbyist I get advertisements for irrigation but this was new to me. Anyone using these ceramic valves reminds me of ceramic valve on irrometer Galatians schools me on in another thread. May experiment with these Blumat ceramic valves attached to a 5 gallon bucket with bulkhead 8 mm Spaghetti hose on container grown tomatoes just for fun.                                                                         For those not familiar with Blumats, they utilize a ceramic actuated valve... when the ceramic drys up, the valve opens, then once the ground is wet again, the ceramic soaks the water back up, swells, and shuts off the valve.

This is one that has caught my eye.

That's an eye catcher🙂 To let you know the  strawberries made it through last
 summer and this winter without spraying any fungicide. Now the bottom of one of my raised garden beds did collapse. Otherwise everything is going according to plan. I've got my melons started they're under a grow light. So I may move on to planting some tomatoes. John51 likes to remind me that it my favorite fruit. Mangoes are overrated🤣. If there's a particular variety of tomato that is Hardy and does well in Florida don't be bashful please share.

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwiFjtafjeuDAxXtt1oFHQM7By0YABAIGgJ2dQ&ase=2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhY7Wn43rgwMV7bdaBR0DOwctEAQYASABEgISRvD_BwE&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAASJuRo6YNInDuJVGU7vpTKepz3H44zx76msWiLWCUnyfzR8o519LrJ&sig=AOD64_1fUilvjVDclI0JGBZ4jZ9ksWsJ7Q&ctype=5&q=&nis=4&ved=2ahUKEwj_486fjeuDAxUMTjABHUEiCH4Qwg8oAHoECAMQDA&adurl=

35 degrees in northern Orlando. I heavily watered my mango trees last night and covered the trees that could be covered (up to 7-8 ft tall). Hopefully they are ok.

What temps can mangos tolerate briefly? (2” diameter trunks and up)?

You can ignore the feel like and wind chill forecast. The actual temperature reports are from sensors that are 5 ft off the ground. The actual temperature 1 ft off the ground is probably lower. At 32° when ice crystals form cellular damage begins. Incrementally the damage surmounts as time pass. More than a couple hours is very problematic. You did the right thing by watering heavily. In your freeze combat Arsenal you should have some high quality trunk wrap some C7 incandescent lights and frost cloth for your smaller trees. When trees get mature keep them pruned and manageable. Radiant freeze irrigation. advective  freeze with wind above 7 mph propane heaters are your only
option. Worst case scenario with trunk wrap or anything else you can think of protect a couple feet above the graft. Should be able to start to recover with in a couple seasons instead of replacing the tree which would take 5 years or more. This is the new model for the Citrus industry with undertree irrigation a couple feet above the graft union. They can use her already existing under tree micro jet sprinklers that they use for summer irrigation. In the past they tried to save the whole tree but the unpredictability of a freeze duration caused too much limb breakage. Do not buy into the BS of gibberellic acid and Brassinolide they are not cellular antifreeze. Well hydrated cellular structures fair better than dehydrated plant tissue. Magnesium sulfate adds chlorophyll two plants which they use in the Midwest in early spring to help plants with stress related issues such as cold. Not necessary in Florida. Irrigation is very effective against frost on bloom  at 18 gallons per hour.
Some border pushers swear by Brassinolide  plant sterol.I am not going to dismiss it. Something about elasticity of cellular walls so ice crystals do not rupture. Sounds like wishful thinking to me not something I need to use
This is my short answer aspirin LOL 🙂

https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/2020/iowa-state-university-researcher-finds-natural-compound-boosts-plants-freeze-tolerance

My community garden buddy had surprising luck with a disease-resistant smaller variety called "Divergent." He did spray with BT every couple weeks to suppress all the worms.

The modern disease resistant hybrids tend to do better for us here in FL than the old heirlooms.

I'm going to try growing Burpee's "Mango" variety this year, after reading folks rave about it. Apropos, Burpee seeds are BOGO this weekend if anyone wants to trial them with me.

M&M mangoes and melons
Sounds like you and your community garden buddy got a beautiful thing going on there. Much appreciate the information. Yep sugar cube seems to check all the boxes as far as disease resistance. So that will be my majority of planting and some of these others as a minor experiment. Did stumble across a couple of interesting varieties. That if I am successful this season will be added to the queue


Would appreciate any information on this variety of melon. Is it unique or common? Availability of seeds? What is its origin

Quote from: bovine421 on January 16, 2024, 10:15:15 PM

Yeah I'm feeling pretty good.  Dot is about 100% bloom along with dwarf Hawaiian which bloomed a month ago. M4 and coconut cream pushing. Orange sherbet almost at 100% bloom.

Is Juliette blooming?

Started about 3 weeks ago it is at 100% bloom. It's about 6 ft tall but not as wide. I'm debating whether I should let it carry fruit or get its first fruit behind me. Probably the latter. Surprisingly ice cream is holding out.Last season it was one of the first to bloom behind dwarf Hawaiian and Julie

Best of luck bovine, I rarely see anyone mention melons down here.

I had some korean melons going strong but I removed the vines before fruiting cause they took up too much space. Apparently they can tolerate the heat down here but they'll die in the full FL summer sun. Might be worth a try, though they are fairly susceptible to all the same pests and diseases as cucumbers. Personally not aware of 'healthier' or more tolerant varieties that could grow well in FL, let me know how things work out!

I had a ton of Noir des Carmes muskmelon seeds and seedlings that I passed throughout FL last spring. Never heard any updates though, so I assume they weren't successful.

I wonder if a quick-fruiting, early grower like Sweet Granite could be grown late-Winter through Spring before the heat picks up too much? May have to try it, seeing as I likely have trellis space clearing up... (keep fighting, table grapes!).

Thanks for the info. You have me looking into the Korean and the sweet granite and I also stumbled upon one called the Sprite melon popular in Japan.It is being grown commercially in North Carolina. They're growing these different types of melons in greenhouses vertically in growth bags. I don't see why we can't hear in Florida start them off early indoors under a grow light with maybe a oscillating fan or in a greenhouse having them climb a stick of  bamboo and Transplant outside on a trellis. Beating the Heat and rainy season. Any input would be much appreciated😊

Photo that inspired me

Since my earliest mangoes are mid June. I planned last season to start cantaloupes indoors at the beginning of the new year. I'm a little behind schedule but I have all the pieces to the puzzle. Going to raise them in 25 gallon pots drip irrigation with a cattle panel trellis proximately 8 ft tall 20 ft wide. The varieties I selected for this first rodeo are (Ice Cream Green Machine (Sugar Cube) (Honey Bun) and (Brilliant F1 Canary Honeydew). These are Bush type and smaller cantaloupes of around 2 lb. Going to raise them vertically. The goal is to have fruit in May. Then go down to Palm City for the early sweet Turpin mangoes and hopefully early Carrie

If spraying fungicides over 60F was the best option, CA would have a very small window to treat its crops. Most fungicide treatments are recommended for mornings where temps are typically lower than 60F most of the year here.  Of course, the best guidance is from the supplier of your specific fungicide as they all have different recommendations for optimal conditions for spraying.  Just call them up and they can get you the information you need.

Thank you! That's kind of what I was thinking a very small window especially for the farmers in the Midwest. When articles give you a generalized recommendation for fungicides. I always want to know the why! This forum is usually the only place I can get answers. I suspect someone in the citrus industry would know.
 Citrus industry contributed about $5.3 billion to Florida's gross domestic product. 2020

Mangoes in Florida,  2,000 acres, producing about $2 million worth of product each year 2013

I read in several places that it's recommended not to spray fungicides below 60°
But they don't really state why. Because of the wind I sometimes I want to spray as the sun rises. As of right now the temperature is 45°, but that's not the daily high. The daily high will most likely be above 60°. So my question is. Is it that fungus and spores don't grow rapidly below 60° and they deem spraying not necessary? Or is it that the trees and plants will not absorb the systemic fungicide? Could it be the metabolic rate of the plant or trees is slow and will not distribute the fungicide once absorbed efficiently?
I have a two application rotational regiment to keep anthracnose systemically low in my trees. There is some bloom on some trees so powdery mildew is also on the hit list.
Happy New Year
Bovine

Good luck, bovine421! I guess it all depends on if you've been naughty or nice??

I bought a 15gal Coconut Cream from Montura Gardens over the summer and planted it in July. It had two flushes of growth and is about to bloom. Damn that "wait three years to let it hold fruit" rule!





Merry Christmas!

Fliptop I've been nicely naughty so I may end up with mixed bloom LOL