The Tropical Fruit Forum

Fabric ones are ok. I used them a lot a year ago. They're better for plants that you're gonna throw out annually like tomatoes or whatever. They are not a great solution for long term use and will fall apart in the sun pretty quickly (if you move them anyways). I have some big jabos and stuff in them and wish they were in plastic now.

They root pretty easily. I think it'll come back.

I've resorted to basketing everything and trapping the gophers after some losses like this (I'm at #5 this year and the in ground stuff is doing great).

My Pakistani easily got up to 80ft.... cut it back by 2/3 this winter... trying for a more manageable size...

Kevin

I think they make these things called chainsaws.

Sheeeesh though that's crazy. 80ft is too much! You must get fruit literally raining on you for weeks.

My thoughts are that the shorter the duration was from Ken's place to the pot they live in now, the higher likelihood they are to thrive. Simon also is evidently the SoCal king of roots / plants, so, there is also that. I have hopes mine will survive. I am at least fairly certain the rootstocks will all survive.

All of my trees are still showing green wood including my two dongkui but they look pretty much the same as i got them. Only one of my  An Hai is showing green buds. I just moved them to 75% shade from full shade and hoping to see a little spark.

Mine are all about the same, minus the chopping of dying scion back smaller and smaller. My AnHai is in the best shape so far. I moved Biqi and Dongkui indoors onto a heat mat and I think the Dongkui is finally about to pop out a bud. AnHai and black peak are still in the greenhouse in the shadiest area and not really doing anything. None of them are, but at least they aren't dead. I'm really tempted to give them a light liquid N and micronutrient fert... But will hold off some more.

Great thread!  I learned quite a bit reading it.

I'm new to the forum.  I got some Zill Dark Pitanga scions from a forum member here and I grafted them onto a seedling Surinam Cherry I got from Exotica Nursery in Vista.  It seems like the grafts have taken!  Anyone growing the Zill Dark here in SoCal?  I too am interested in the production, taste, etc.
Thanks

I have Zill's grafted onto Exotica seedlings as well. I'd been holding out hope that they will produce naturally but got impatient and put some of my vermillion on, and tacked a few Zill's on. I think they may fruit next year (Zill's).

If anyone does do any air layering or roots cuttings, I'd like to try growing the high quality varieties here.

I have a friend with a big tree, but the quality of the fruit is lacking. Not sure what variety it is.

I'm experimenting with rooting jaboticaba and pitomba cuttings which should be more challenging than pitanga.

Also, of note, the native name in Tupi (the brazilian native language) is pitanga* and I much prefer referring to it that way. Does anyone know how it became known as Surinam? Seems disingenuous.

This year I really changed up my fertilization regimen on my surinams which didn't produce much (other than my grafted vermillion which was INCREDIBLE for production and quality) and what I am finding really interesting is that the leaf thickness is substantially improved by switching to high P fertilizers. Last year the leaves were very thin and delicate when using lots of N, but I also feel that's why they didn't produce - nutrients I used were all high N slow release.

My trees all fully defoliate in the winter so they are still building out a new coat of leaves, but are doing so rapidly now. Here in 9b they miss the first fruiting period (it flowers when there's still risk of frost and there are no leaves to protect the delicate flowers). I'm really wanting to extend my greenhouse and pack all of them inside it for the winter so this doesn't happen next year.

My grafted vermillion does not produce large fruit, but it makes a ton of them that are sweet but not overwhelmingly so. My black star produces noticeably larger and sweeter fruits, but hardly holds onto any of them or flowers much at all. I've been grafting a lot of the vermillion onto my other plants because it's so much better for production and also added several Zill's grafts this year but have not had any fruit from them. Of note, the Zill's leaves are super thick. My suspicion is that leaf thickness may have something to do with fruit quality and size?

This was an average day in late October. I was getting 10-20 fruit a day from just one 4' plant that's pretty scraggly. I look forward to this year when it builds a better canopy - I up potted from 15 gallon to 25 gallon.

Quote from: K-Rimes on May 19, 2021, 11:13:47 AM

Quote from: Grow Tropicals on May 19, 2021, 09:53:59 AM

You also need to make sure you have the proper PH soil for Blueberries.  They like a lower PH (~4.5) than most soils so you'll likely need to add sulfur and use a fertilizer for acid-loving plants.  Because of this, I keep my Blueberries in containers where it's easier to control PH.

It took me a long time to dial in blueberries PH wise. I use 5ml of extremely strong phosphoric acid per 2.5 gallon watering can.

I wonder if I should buy this too, just found a supplier for it. It says its a 85% concentrate. Will pass it for now since I added sulfur two months ago....

Depends on your water PH. Mine is extremely alkaline at 8.3ph so I use the phosphoric acid every time I water AND top dress with sulfur. It's really hard to get blueberries right when your water is like mine.

Its making fruit but none have ripened yet.  Should be soon, you can't really tell but its full of fruit inside.

They're awesome. You'll enjoy

Most blueberries need cross pollination. It doesn't need to be the same type. I see bees hitting mine hard usually and they fly from bush to bush. I have 7 plants and get awesome fruit set.

Kevin, I got 30 chickens and use the litter in the coop for fertilizer too.  I'm trying to get away from paying for bagged products.  But I'm not there yet.  The grow power fertilizer I e been using has 40% humidity acid.  It seems like good stuff, its just a bit hot so I wait until the trees get going to use that.  And its expensive so I'm trying to phase it out and just use chicken poop and Mexican sunflower and mulch only but its still only a goal to reach that point.

Yeah, I feel you on that. I bought a truckload of redwood compost recently and that's been working pretty well as a top dress on the in ground stuff... Then I chipped 5000lb of oak and that's been a bitch to move around by wheelbarrow but it's slowly getting distributed. I liked what you had going with your thick mulch piles around the trees.

If I had chickens, that would be awesome for a source - but I know you have a ton of stuff out there in the orchard and 30 chickens still wouldn't make a dent.

I have been having some luck with vigoro avo citrus, 30lb bag for $10 at Home Depot ain't too bad and the pellets seem to fully dissolve.

what about using a scoop of ash on each plant.  Is there any reason not to?  I have lots of ash piles from where I burned all the brush.  I know it is PH alkaline but a small amount top dressed maybe ok?

I tried ash on some plants to try to stimulate flowering, various amounts. They were all eugenias and jaboticabas and stuff which like acidic conditions. They all suffered immediately and I had to dig it out by hand. If you're using ash, use very little in my opinion. I dunno if it was cause it was oak ash (which is highly alkaline) or something? I won't do it again. It was also from my wood burning stove which incinerates more than it does leave "bio-char" with chunky bits of charcoal or something.

The best stuff I've used of late is the Down to Earth humic acids, langbenite, azomite etc. It makes an immediate noticeable improvement in any plant I put it on, the humic acid especially and it's really cheap at Greencoast Hydroponic stores ($9 for 5lb). There was a study I was reading about Humic acids where they increased the yield of peanuts by 87%. I bought a bunch after reading it and yeah, everything loves it. Blueberries - sapotes - jabos - eugenias - dragonfruit whatever. It apparently allows the plant to better absorb nutrients and I would say the proof is in the pudding for me.

I hear you on osmocote plastic bbs. I think they are bio-degradable like some airsoft bbs are but it will probably take a decade or something. It's kind of an eyesore.

The fertilizer I keep coming back to is regular old chicken manure from Home Depot (the yellow Lowe's bags are not as good as the Home Depot red bags) which have pine mulch mixed with chicken manure. It helps retain water as a mulch, it acidifies as it's pine, and it has good supply of N - then I top the manure with whatever fertilizer I have around and it seems to chelate or bond to the mulch and then slow dose. Hard to beat honestly.