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Messages - Julian R

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Eugenia Stipitata VS Eugenia Victoriana
« on: October 30, 2024, 07:54:40 PM »
The smell and flavor of my Araza was outstanding. It was melt through the floor sour though. I ate a slice out of it out of hand and then made a pretty tasty vodka drink with it later  8)

2
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best tasting cattley guavas
« on: October 29, 2024, 05:10:52 PM »
Both my strawberry and lemon are very good eating but for me too small in size to be enjoyable. They're also very likely to get wormy. Yuk! They're coming out this year.

Mine are finally starting to fruit since I've grown them from seed and almost all of them have had worms.  I already have to deal with this on my ruby supreme and it's made them unappetizing for me to question whether or not I'm gonna get a mouth full of worms. Throwing bags on them seem to resolve the issue but it's not a fun thing to have to manage vs other plants that don't have this problem. My lemon guava is quite good and tastes like a light lemon meringue to me. I could eat a whole bowl of them if I wasn't worried about the extra protein haha.

3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 2 avacado trees in 1 hole?
« on: October 21, 2024, 05:04:11 PM »
Why not just graft two varieties on one tree?

That makes a lot more sense. Or just plant two bloody trees ten feet apart. Avocados are not hard to manage with pruning.

That would make too much sense.

To quote Jurassic park, “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should”  ;D

4
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 2 avacado trees in 1 hole?
« on: October 21, 2024, 10:36:25 AM »
I am currently testing this out. They are about 2 years in ground now and are both doing OK. I imagine as they get older pruning them in a way so that one does not dominate the other will become more challenging.  I didn't put too much thought into it when I did this other than putting an A and B type together.

5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: jaboticaba - from seed to fruiting
« on: October 18, 2024, 09:23:01 AM »
I believe the 'White' Plinia Aureana's are rather precocious, which is where the Red hybrid and Scarlet get their early fruiting genetics from.  I have a red hybrid that fruited at 3 years and a scarlet that is coming up on year 2/3 that has not fruited yet. My Grimal is only 3 years old and has not fruited yet.

6
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Hurricane Milton
« on: October 13, 2024, 07:24:23 PM »
Came out pretty lucky from this one.  Most of my trees got knocked over except for my various Myrtaceae. I was able to prop them back up so hopefully they will be OK. Some pidgeon peas and papaya are not recoverable unfortunately.

7
Barbados Cherry are quite interesting, however they have a star carambola (starfruit) flavour.

They taste like green apples to me

8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Ideas on what to plant in this spot?
« on: October 01, 2024, 02:59:21 PM »
Hey all! I've just removed some boring shrubs from the side of my lanai and suddenly have  a 2.5ft x 10ft area to shove some more interesting things into. Get's plenty hot and tons of sun throughout the day. Still a WIP but this is what I'm working with (postimg seems to be having issues if it doesn't show):



I think an obvious choice would be some Red Jabo's but I already have several around the yard and want to change it up a bit.  I'm wanting to throw something in that won't grow too fast and will be able to tolerate a pruning so that it doesn't push into the screen or the path, so I'm thinking some other Myrtaceae's would fit the bill... but since some of the varieties I have collected are still on the smaller side and I am not familiar with their growth habits I was wondering if I could get a good recommendation from the ones I currently have.

Currently in 1 gallonish+ sizes:

Jabos:
Campo Ramon
Coronata Restinga
Branca Vinho

And non-jabos:
Rainforest Plum
Myrciaria Floribunda


I do have some other Jabos that I can wait on until they get a bit bigger later next year, but those include:

Phitrantha Red Crystal
Ruby Honey
Otto Anderson Acu-Canaa

And some larger plants that I think might need a different spot with more room... unless I'm just crazy:

Plinia Oblongata
Trunciflora Gigante


9
I've used ear cotton swabs to gently rub scale off my plants.  If it's a tougher leaf, the mist setting on my hose up close is gentle yet strong enough the blast them off as well.

10
There is this out in Arcadia area.  No house but seems to have most of the other stuff you listed.
Lots of land out in Desoto county to look at. A friend grows pomalos
 east of the town and they do well. Could be some cold days, I know in the past they used to get frost and freezes out there.
It is listed as 9b for the planting zone.


https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/fl/arcadia/3669-nw-hwy-70/pid_61668404/

I used to live in Arcadia and it definitely froze out there a few times back around 2004. A few years ago I went and bought some stuff from Luke (Green Planet Farm) out there near Arcadia out more towards Okeechobee off Bermont Rd, and I recall him mentioning winds were a problem for him as well.  Though that at the time didn't seem to stop him from having dozens of beautiful mango trees on his property! I would believe an unheated greenhouse would solve a lot of these issues in central FL if it is a persistent problem for a particular lot.

11
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Lucs Scions and germinated seeds
« on: September 25, 2024, 06:32:42 PM »
Anyone knows if Luc’s is compatible with superior garcinia for grafting. I know the IMBE is.
Should be. Adam be grafting many onto lemon drops.
Keep american garcinias together and generally they will be compatible.

And to double confirm, I have had a couple of Adam's grafted Luc's for a bit and they have been pushing growth!  I'd say go for it  ;D

12
Thankfully growing tropicals has actually been the cheapest hobby I've had! That is until I find a plot of land somewhere to plant yet MORE trees  ;D

13
So far for me in my young food forest...

1. Red Hybrid Jaboticaba

This thing just keeps on producing. Definitely get more than one if you want lots of fruits (at least early on).  My trees are not fussy other than not liking the intense heat and light between June and September, keep 'em shaded.

2. Bananas

I have a couple different varieties. Definitely Namwah.  Orinoco if you like cooking them.

3. Passionfruit

Want tons of fruit fast?  My vine produced within a year and it grew FAST.  I do have to keep it tame, although I let a couple take over the oak canopy in the back of my yard!

4. Figs

My fig is the only tree I don't really have to do anything for other than a prune once a year and the fruits are delicious.

5. Mulberry

Another non-fussy plant. It just produces like crazy.

And an honorable mention would be my Ruby Supreme Guava.  It makes the most fruit and they are quite delicious, the only reason I would not put it on my worth growing list is the fact that just gets constantly infected with worms.  I have to bag fruits to prevent it and that takes a lot of time if I want to get all of them... so I lose most of the crop during the summer.  The Winter crop seems largely unaffected by fruit fly.

14
Citrus General Discussion / Eremocitrus and other Australian Citrus in FL
« on: September 02, 2024, 04:37:24 PM »
I've been successfully growing finger limes for a bit and just recently found out about the other amazing Australian species. Is anyone growing the Desert Lime or Round Lime or any hybrids in FL? I've been looking around and can't seem to find any FL sources.

15
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Looking For Inga Vulpina
« on: August 30, 2024, 08:41:33 PM »
I am also looking to source fesh fruit of inga vulpina. Does anybody have any leads on this?

For the seeds specifically, I never ended up making progress with Oscar. He stopped replying to my emails and never added them to his website so I'm guessing they are not something he really wants to put out there :(

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Guavas: High Protein Fruit
« on: August 19, 2024, 11:54:42 AM »
Clearly this includes the fly larvae protein in the calculation.   ;)

Already lost a couple of my 1 pounders to those guys (albeit I didn't bag them).  Maybe I should just accept the extra protein :D

17
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Can you please identify this tree
« on: July 08, 2024, 10:34:24 PM »
Looks like Achachairu to me

18
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: WTB nematode resistant FIG?
« on: July 02, 2024, 10:55:50 AM »
This is good info to have about nematode resistant figs for our Florida gardens.  I already have 'Brown Turkey' and 'LSU Purple' both of which produce fruit for me but not a whole lot.

I also have 'Celeste' and 'Green Ischia', which are in 5 gallon pots at present but I'm not sure whether they are ideal options for putting into the ground here in west central Florida.  They are growing well enough but have not so far produced any fruit.

Any advice on these last two on their nematode resistance here in Florida 9b . . . . ?

Cheers!

Paul M.
==

I've had a Celeste in the ground for 3 years now and it just seems to only get stronger and produce more.  Not sure if I have a high nematode presence or not though.

19
Hey All! I planted out a mango seedling from some turpentine mangoes I managed to get my hands on. Been growing them out for about a year now but I put the healthiest looking one in the ground maybe about a month ago. My idea was to let it establish a healthy root system in the ground before grafting to it since I wasn't sure which varieties I wanted just yet.  The idea is to eventually do a multi-grafted tree since I only have so much space in my yard.  After tasting some different mangoes at the mango festival on Pine Island this last weekend I think I'm going to try my hand at adding sweet tart first. Anyhow... My first thought would be to not overthink it and just go ahead and lop off the top and do a cleft onto the main trunk. But then I had another thought to maybe let it grow up a but more, tip it and then graft multiple scions to any new branches that pop out.

What are y'alls thoughts on this?  Here's some pics of the seedling for reference:




Hand and finger for scale:



20
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Guava infestation
« on: June 21, 2024, 02:38:59 PM »
I get aphid and scale in waves on my guavas and the ants farm them.  Doesn't seem to hurt the tree or fruit and I just let them be.

21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Jaboticaba in pure pumice?
« on: June 18, 2024, 09:52:06 AM »
Thanks everyone.. I’m not 100% convinced that they were healthy though because the leaves were turning very dark brown after each rain which was so confusing to me because everything I’ve read said they love that… which is why I pulled it up and moved to just peat and about 20% perlite…. Which it did well in until the rainy season came back around and the brown/black tips came back and next thing you know the trunk was dead and brown 😫

Anyway… all of this is in hindsight because it didn’t survive. My initial questions pretty much apply to a new grow I am planning (should have said this).

What kind of fertilizer were you using? Was it just one tree and what species/variety? They really should just be set and forget for us in FL for the most part, especially during rainy season.
I was lightly dressing with hollytone, but I agree that this may have also contributed to these issues.

I've had luck eyeballing a ring of it around my larger plants twice a year in March and September and smaller plants get potted up regularly enough with fresh soil that has it mixed in.  If it's a light amount and not super regularly I think you're good on that front.

22
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Jaboticaba in pure pumice?
« on: June 17, 2024, 07:39:11 PM »
Thanks everyone.. I’m not 100% convinced that they were healthy though because the leaves were turning very dark brown after each rain which was so confusing to me because everything I’ve read said they love that… which is why I pulled it up and moved to just peat and about 20% perlite…. Which it did well in until the rainy season came back around and the brown/black tips came back and next thing you know the trunk was dead and brown 😫

Anyway… all of this is in hindsight because it didn’t survive. My initial questions pretty much apply to a new grow I am planning (should have said this).

What kind of fertilizer were you using? Was it just one tree and what species/variety? They really should just be set and forget for us in FL for the most part, especially during rainy season.

23
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Jaboticaba in pure pumice?
« on: June 17, 2024, 05:16:16 PM »
I agree the roots look healthy.  For you to compare here is what one of my red seedlings roots look like:




24
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Jaboticaba in pure pumice?
« on: June 17, 2024, 02:29:00 PM »
I have had the best success in pots using a rough estimate of 10% - 15% perlite and the rest peat with a splash of holly tone.  The only time I get issues is when worms get in the pots and turn it into soil milkshake which is resolved by pulling them out and replacing the soil with the same mixture.

25
I fruited one this year and it was the only flowering tree.

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