The Tropical Fruit Forum

Mike,

I hope you are doing ok with the freeze recovery. I will be in town late may. Will definitely be interested in some mango trees, hoping you have good stock then.

Sorry to see Coconut Cream. My yard took a hit i won't know the extent of damage until I visit in a few months. I am going to just replace some of the dead trees.

I have some coconuts that look like they made it. Mangoes I would not be surprised I lost 1/3 of them. Things like Saba comorensis and Nauclea latifolia might be dead to the ground. Vitex doniana looks toast, Alma tree toast. Lucs garcinia looks like maybe stronger ones will survive. Wax jambu looks toast but wil probably resprout from ground.

For those asking for Nauclea latifolia cuttings. Here is the state of the trees. 28f low exposed to wind.




I am now hoping it regrows from roots. I have 1 rooted plant I am keeping for myself. Hope everyone who bought cuttings was able to start new plants.

Saba senegalensis, Saba comorensis, and Vitex doniana. Not sure how many of these survived 28f we will see.

I am actually kind of surprised how good some of the trees are looking after frost events.

One of the coconuts


Garcinia sp. From Thailand higher elevation and Psdium guineense. Some others such as Okrung Seedling mango with a Vitex cymosa next to it (looking frost burned on leaves). There is a Lemondrop garcinia I believe in background as well looks good.



So far only concerned on Nauclea latifolia and Duku. I have not seen Kwai Muk it was in less sheltered area though. I have really good microclimates in the yard which I believe helped greatly.

Quote from: nullzero on February 02, 2026, 05:49:47 PM

Your in PSL west of 95? Looks like my mature coconuts will mostly survive, the younger ones may be dead. The mangoes looked good but I have not inspected yet in person.

I'm pretty far East, on the St. Lucie River and close to US-1. I thought the river/wetlands microclimate would help but it made no difference in this case. I can see the mature coconuts across the river in my neighbor's yard are turning brown as well.

I think the mature oaks, elevated lot, and groundwater flooding helped, 1/2 mi west of st lucie river. I won't know for sure yet but believe most mango and majority of the coconuts survived I have some cold tolerant genetics though. Nauclea latifolia looks fried but thicker branches near ground may survive.

I noticed lower elevation flat areas the temp stations were 1f lower. My hunch is the absolute low for large parts of yard was 28f for only about 2 hours. I should of had a digital thermometer setup. My soursop was looking rough but believe it may pull through.

I have not been in yard to visually inspect. But the video call I did showed some following

Nauclea latifolia got hit hard all the leaves and none hardened growth got fried. I think may resprout from ground if it survives.

The mangoes look good I may not loose any. The coconuts look like a hit or miss.

Coconuts smaller younger ones sub 5 years look pretty bad. The older more mature ones look OK, I probably lost the weaker cold tolerance genetics.

Olosapo (Couepia polyandra) looks like the leaves got fried, not sure if it makes it unless the primary trunk is ok.

I have not seen the garcinia species or others yet. So far looks like worse case scenario is avoided. I may have upto 50% loss across collection depending on type of plant. I feel like may only lose like 1/3 of the fruit collection.

Most of Florida will go below 29F tonight & tomorrow night my prediction.

Next time i'll have gardenhose adapted to a lawn zone valve.
Sprinkler system i haven't used in yrs.  Got tired of caring for lawn that landscaper (a friend) always mows too short & kills anyway.

I would have it come on at 32f & run 2hrs.  Instead of mine running now since 5pm till i get my butt out there tomorrow & stop it.  Damn i'm not looking forward to that lol.

3f warmer already then predicted for area. Looks like models slightly overestimated the lows. If its above 36f by midnight should avoid worse case scenario being under 32f for hours.

We shall see said the blind man🙂

...as he picked up his hammer and saw.

Don't know why, but appears our little microclimate here is 1-2F lower than local posted temps, at least when its cold. Moved a sensor off the porch and into a couple of the mango tree branches. 5-6 feet off the ground read the same as the rooftop sensor.

Same is true in the other direction. On hot days, we typically read 1-2F higher than local posted temps.
[/quote]

I think im in the clear now, they revised the lows upto 29f now. Yard should definitely be above 32f. I have a pond now on the second lot with 4 inches of water temp of water 60s.

Going to flood the second lot with groundwater. Will have it run for +4 hours. Start on Saturday.

I may have rooted cuttings soon from my fruiting plant. Message me back in 2 weeks.

Quote from: nullzero on January 01, 2026, 03:55:51 PM

Quote from: Galatians522 on December 31, 2025, 11:03:59 PM

I need to finish some grafting/air layering projects for my Dad. Specifically, I need to clean up and finish some of the projects I started last year like top working his big male mulberry. It's got 4 varieties now: Bryce's World's Best Himalayan FSP, DMOR 9, and Australian Green. I'll probably add Black Pakistan and Thai Dwarf. Maybe I'll add Skinner if I make time to get bud wood. He also has some stone fruit that he wants me to graft. I may try a Capulin to Cherry Laurel just for the fun of it. He also has a bunch of annonas that he wants on Pond Apple rootstock (via a Cherilata interstem) so that he can plant them on the bank of his pond.

DMOR9 is really good, my friend said skip Bryce was unimpressed. Chiang Mai 60, Tice, and Skinner are all excellent. Thai everbearing ok flavor but amazing production.

Thanks for the recommendations! I was trying to focus on top tier varieties that produce well in Florida (oddly enough I don't know if DMOR 9 will fruit here 🤔). Bryce's and TD were trees that I had been given that needed a home but I did not want to dedicate a whole tree. 😆 I was hoping that they might give some fruit off season of the really good ones or at least distract the birds.😂 I did not realize that Tice was that good. I should add it to my list.

My friend is in Florida and swears that Tice has larger fruits and the best flavor. Also Austurkey is really good as well.

2026 goals:

More seeds, more trees, more land, and more fruiting. Grow less grafted and more seedlings. Cull weak and inferior fruiting plants.