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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Fruit Tree Horror Story
« on: November 07, 2025, 11:49:25 PM »
I think they thought they could grow it from a cutting like rosemary.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Fruit Tree Horror Story
« on: November 07, 2025, 12:16:18 PM »Apologetic because they were caught. They asked for rosemary cuttings then helped themselves to your mango without you being around. Ripping the branch absolutely indicates a malicious act whether it was out of cluelessness or not. I'm all for keeping good relations with neighbors, but that trust has been broken. If they did this after asking, I would be concerned what they might have done when you were not around. It's a good lesson for all though. Next time, if there is a next time, tell the neighbor you will get them the cuttings yourself. I would not allow them in the yard unsupervised again.
Self-service is definitely off the table from now on.
Oh man, that IS a horror story! Most of my stuff is in my backyard greenhouse, but I realized too late that I planted my pawpaw trees too close to the sidewalk. They had their first fruits this year, and I was worried sick the whole time that someone would “help themselves”!
It's absolutely an issue if people know what the fruit is. Have had several solicitors or other transient folks in the neighborhood steal guavas off my tree out front over the years. Typically they steal ones that are unripe or likely full of worms... so not the worst. They tend to leave the ones that I've bagged. Though... strangely enough I've not had an issue with people stealing peaches or plums which are close to the sidewalk and folks don't even know to look at the grumichama.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Cinnamon and Cacao Trees Socal
« on: November 07, 2025, 11:57:00 AM »I would disagree. I have several cacao trees in South Florida out west in Davie. Trees get a bit beat up badly if temperatures hit close to freezing but so far surviving for over 7 years in the ground. It is challenging but totally possible.
Yep! I've seen a few examples even more north. Always protected by micro climates though e.g. up against a house, protected by fences/walls. I am putting one in the ground after winter and it will be protected from wind on all sides and be right up against the house. Will probably need to occasionally bring the frost cloth and incandescent lights out though
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Fruit Tree Horror Story
« on: November 06, 2025, 06:07:21 PM »Since they asked I don't think they were being aholes, just uninformed. I would have cut them myself and given what they wanted steering clear of trees that should not be cut explaining why.
They were definitely not trying to be malicious - just clueless. I did let them know I was upset and they were apologetic... but it doesn't really make anything better. Unfortunately I don't think the branch is going to come back, it looked a bit shriveled when I check again this afternoon. The only light here is that they did this above the healed graft union so it may push out so long as it makes it through the cold this year.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Very light coloured new growth on Jaboticaba seedling
« on: November 05, 2025, 07:47:12 PM »
I'm going to guess it needs a tiny hit of holly tone or something similar as the soil may need to be more acidic or just some extra nitrogen. I find it's not uncommon for seedlings to be a little Chlorotic and they tend to come out of it quickly once you adjust (I use just a pinch or two making sure to get a sulfur pellet in the mix). You might want to adjust your water source as well if it's alkaline. You can use rain water or distilled water that's exposed to the air for a bit, overnight is probably good enough. I use my AC drip line for a source of 'free' air exposed distilled water. I don't use chemicals to clean the line, so I would avoid this method if you're not sure.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Fruit Tree Horror Story
« on: November 05, 2025, 06:00:43 PM »
Figured I'd share a nightmare incarnate that happened to me yesterday. Neighbor came over to ask if they could take some rosemary cuttings and decided that they would take some off of my newly grafted sweet tart mango tree while they were out of line of sight... except they didn't use shears or a knife or anything. They just ripped the branch off! Needless to say I was quite upset but I did attempt to re-attach the ripped off limb with some buddy tape and reinforced them with a splint. I don't have high hopes for the new growth on the graft but it's been about 24 hrs now and still looks OK so hopefully it heals. 2 legged squirrels really are the worst.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Which garcinia...
« on: November 03, 2025, 09:36:17 PM »
From seed, lemon drop will likely fruit in a pot. Mine fruited for me for the first time this year at around 5ft tall so you could probably do it in a 15 gal or smaller pot. I'm not sure how well they would do long term. I've seen achacha and lucs fruiting in pots but they were in huge containers. A grafted tree might be a good option, I've seen some folks with very small trees with flowers/fruit. Example grafted lucs here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pbkdjE8hdrM
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Jaboticaba Fall/Winter Watering - Zone 9B Florida
« on: November 02, 2025, 09:13:13 PM »
Definitely water less but I walk through and check for dryness every day. This time of the year it can sneak up on you and you'll end up with a crispy plant.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Can you root it?
« on: October 29, 2025, 05:02:22 PM »Good info! i didn't know trunciflora rooted well. What was your take rate?
Do rooted cuttings have a similar benefit to grafting in the sense that they fruit faster? How does it compare to grafting? i suppose the lack of taprood could be an issue in hurricane town or in areas with droughts.
I tried 2 cuttings at the time and only 1 made it. I've tried taking cuttings of sabara previously and failed. I'm assuming they will take just as long as a seedling to produce unless you can get a decent sized cutting to take root. I think it's probably worth trying to root cuttings if you don't have access to seeds or a way to graft the cutting. If I'm remembering correctly I saw on a Youtube video from FFF that Charles Novak mentioned his gigantic red hybrid was from a rooted cutting and it seems to be doing quite well in the ground. Not all Jabos get a crazy tap root from seed or even an identifiable taproot at all so they're probably not any more susceptible to high winds. Cambuca and the Grimal/Grimal Relatives are the only ones I've grown from seed that have had noticeable tap roots from memory... Just started growing some Plinia sp. Costada Gigante Vermelha and they also seem to have a pretty aggressive taproot for a Plinia.
Here's the current root ball of the cutting (think I might go ahead and pot this one up
):
Forgot I made a video on this tree at the beginning of the year. At the time I thought it was from my branca vinho, but I had got them mixed up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rtTuMYfxI4
Apparently I used #8 and not #16 and at the time I was 'pretty sure' it was the branca vinho lol!
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Can you root it?
« on: October 27, 2025, 02:55:09 PM »I rooted an avocado cutting this summer which from what I saw online isnt doable. Or it least it was very hard to find anyone else doing it
On the Trunciflora before applying the rooting hormone I dipped it in lime juice (tip from The Reid Farm).
What is this lime juice magic?!
Here's the video in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfFqiSV4zGs
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Can you root it?
« on: October 27, 2025, 01:30:38 PM »
So far I've been able to root a few cuttings. Oddly enough, I've never been successful with mulberry which is supposed to be easy. I typically only try to root something if I've accidentally knocked a branch off or prune trees. Here's what I've been able to do so far:
Plinia Trunciflora "Gigante"
Green Wax Jambu
Red Finger Lime
For all of these I sealed them completely in a Ziplock bag. I used the same peat moss/perlite/holly tone mix I use for my potting mix. For the Trunciflora and Wax Jambu I used hormex 16 and the red finger lime I used hormex 8. On the Trunciflora before applying the rooting hormone I dipped it in lime juice (tip from The Reid Farm). The Trunciflora took around 6+ months to root out, wax jambu and red finger limes were much quicker at around 1 -2 months. I would occasionally open the bags to check progress around once a month.
Oh, and after they visibly rooted out I transferred them to a humidity dome and slowly acclimated them to less humid conditions, not sure how much this part was actually necessary.
Plinia Trunciflora "Gigante"
Green Wax Jambu
Red Finger Lime
For all of these I sealed them completely in a Ziplock bag. I used the same peat moss/perlite/holly tone mix I use for my potting mix. For the Trunciflora and Wax Jambu I used hormex 16 and the red finger lime I used hormex 8. On the Trunciflora before applying the rooting hormone I dipped it in lime juice (tip from The Reid Farm). The Trunciflora took around 6+ months to root out, wax jambu and red finger limes were much quicker at around 1 -2 months. I would occasionally open the bags to check progress around once a month.
Oh, and after they visibly rooted out I transferred them to a humidity dome and slowly acclimated them to less humid conditions, not sure how much this part was actually necessary.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Muntingia Calabura Overrated??
« on: October 26, 2025, 09:03:08 PM »
Don't particularly love or hate this one. Definitely more of a novelty.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Myrciaria Madness and Eugenia Mania
« on: October 13, 2025, 09:19:45 AM »Candolleana is awesome. It needs a mate. I can send you some fruiting wood in spring to graft. I haven’t had success grafting but I’ll try again. We can trade.
Does it need it for any fruit set or just for an abundance? I've got one lonely one out in the ground... Time to get it a friend!?
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Garcinia and Fruit Fly
« on: October 08, 2025, 07:19:37 PM »Well, on the positive side, achacha rind is too thick for the flies is what I've seen.
And achacha is a better fruit overall than lemon drop objectively.
I'd plant out some achacha!
Just waiting on it to fruit! It's about 6ft tall this year - Dang thing is being stingy! Though the hurricane set it back pretty bad last year so maybe I should go easy on it:
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Garcinia and Fruit Fly
« on: October 08, 2025, 05:01:40 PM »
Here's some pics of the skin after it was peeled. You can see the sting marks and how paper thin the skin on this one is.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Garcinia and Fruit Fly
« on: October 08, 2025, 03:24:26 PM »
I had my first fully ripened lemon drop today. Was surprised to find one of the segments had a dang fruit fly in it! I noticed little dots forming over the fruit and thought it was just surface damage from curious insects/birds but I guess it was attempts to sting the fruits. Was under the impression that Garcinia (in FL at least) was not susceptible to fruit fly but I suppose that is not true! The lemon drops skin is quite thin compared to other Garcinia I've had... perhaps as the tree matures and the fruits are a bit bigger they will be more resilient? I'll be bagging from now on regardless. Anyone else dealing with this issue?
The single larvae didn't stop me from trying the un-violated segments though! Tasted like lemon sorbet!
The single larvae didn't stop me from trying the un-violated segments though! Tasted like lemon sorbet!
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Myrciaria Madness and Eugenia Mania
« on: October 07, 2025, 01:15:09 PM »
Update on the grafted stipitata -> pitangatuba. Very slowly growing:
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Plant ID - Weed or Rare Fruit sapling
« on: October 07, 2025, 08:54:02 AM »It isn't noni. I still think it's an Annona due to the bud at the end, possibly Annona scleroderma based on how the leaves are curved. It could be a rarer type than that, since Bellamy has offered several rare types. Let me know if you don't want it, I might take a flyer on it depending on the shipping costs.
The new growth on the end + the alternating leaves and general leaf structure. I would be surprised if it wasn't something in the family
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Plant ID - Weed or Rare Fruit sapling
« on: October 05, 2025, 09:30:26 PM »
Looks like some kind of Annonaceae to me
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Syzygium Symphony
« on: October 02, 2025, 08:23:00 PM »Here is my 3 year old polycephalum, it's a fast grower with leaves taking some damage in the coldest nights:
Man! They are quite stunning. Can't wait for mine to get up to that size. I was doing a bit of research on them recently and found the common name for them to be Gowok or Kupa/Kepa.
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Syzygium Symphony
« on: September 30, 2025, 01:16:20 PM »
Update on my Polycephalum! They're coming up on a year old here soon:
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Variegated Luc's "Jumbo"
« on: September 27, 2025, 09:26:04 AM »Nice! I wonder if variegation is a trait of Luc’s seedlings. One of mine from Fruitlovers is showing a pattern as well. I’m waiting for some true leaves before getting my hopes up that it’s real.
I think we might just be lucky like that! Here's what mine looks like hardened off now
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Red Jaboticaba
« on: September 27, 2025, 08:57:38 AM »
I've noticed they can range from balanced sweet sour to sickly sweet depending on the time of year and amount of rain. I haven't tested brix but I wouldn't be surprised if some reach the 20 - 30 range
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: What if I did this? <Eugenia thread>
« on: September 25, 2025, 10:19:21 AM »
I think it's worth a shot. There's still a lot we don't know about crosses and graft compatibility. I posted in the other eugenia/myrciaria mega-thread a recent successful graft of E. Stipitata onto Pitangatuba... raises the question as to whether or not they can hybridize?!
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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Variegated Luc's "Jumbo"
« on: September 23, 2025, 01:32:36 PM »Congrats, you lucky bastard!!!Make sure to save me some graft material!! 🤣
Definitely want to get it to as many hands as possible asap!!