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Topics - Triloba Tracker

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76
Temperate Fruit Discussion / What is my Fig doing?
« on: June 06, 2015, 03:49:52 PM »
I have a Violet de Bordeaux fig in a pot....it's 2-3 years old and fruited for the first time last summer.

It started leafing out about 3 months ago, and immediately set 2 ping-pong ball sized figs. Once I put it outdoors, birds actually got the 2 figs just as they started to get a hint purple.

since then it has set 10-12 even smaller figs, and it has not put out hardly any new growth to speak of. (Last year it probably doubled in size).
The figs are now starting to turn purple. A couple weeks ago they had gone from rock-hard to soft, and now they are rock-hard again. The birds aren't bothering them.

So what in the world is going on? Is this going to be all I get out of the tree? I didn't get ripe figs last year until September/October. Is this just a breba crop and the tree will kick into high gear soon? Sorry - a novice with figs (well, with everything!). Thanks.






77
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Maypop (Passiflora incarnata) Thread
« on: May 08, 2015, 06:08:38 PM »
Well, since becoming totally smitten by passionfruit while in Taiwan last October, I became dead-set on growing Passiflora incarnata.

It also helps that it's the official wildflower of my home state, Tennessee.

So I ordered 2 plants from Logee's - one white variety and one purple, so that I could save on shipping costs versus trying to get 2 genetically different plants from 2 different nurseries.

The white maypop arrived about half the height of the purple, and it had 2 main shoots versus 1 on the purple. The purple tripled in height over the course of a few weeks, but the white one barely grew a couple inches (in the same conditions).

Logee's is subsequently sending me a replacement - not holding my breath. My backup plan is to dig up a wild plant as soon as I can find one.

I constructed a trellis based on recommendations in my post "Passionfruit Trellis Ideas." It consists of 2 metal posts about 6-7 feet apart and galvanized wires running across, one at about 2 feet from the ground, and the second at about 4 feet.

I did not want the vines to spread all over my yard, so I dug 2 holes about 12 inches in diameter and 10-12 inches deep. I got 2 plastic straight-sided grower pots, cut the bottoms out, and put them in the holes with hopes that it would contain the runners.

I tried to just backfill with native soil, but it was difficult to work with - pretty heavy clay. So I found a decomposed tree that had disintegrated into peat moss-like loose compost, mixed with actual compost of my own, and maybe some other junk, and planted the vines in that.

Within a day or 2, something had nibbled the topmost leaves off the white maypop. And just this morning I discovered that something had rooted around quite aggressively and essentially destroyed the white vine. So good thing Logee's is sending me a replacement anyway!

My next step is to decide the best way to protect the plants. Thinking of hardware cloth or chicken wire on the ground around them to prevent digging, and/or a chicken wire fence around the entire area.

I've trapped 3 possums in a week so far...thinking they will be having a field day on any fruit I am able to get.

Any and all advice is welcome!









78
Temperate Fruit Discussion / Root pruning pots for figs?
« on: February 27, 2015, 10:23:53 PM »
I've read multiple places that figs "like to have their roots constricted" or something to that effect.

So it makes me wonder how a potted fig would do in either a superroots type of air pruning pot, or a pot treated with spin-out or microkote.

Does anyone have any direct experience growing a fig in a pot like this?

I currently have a Negronne/Violette de Bordeaux fig in a regular ol' pot (with gritty mix) and it seems to be perfectly happy, but after last growing season it had considerable amount of circling roots in the pot. Wonder if it would've been more vigorous in a root-pruning pot...

79
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Passionfruit Trellis Ideas
« on: February 12, 2015, 07:26:41 PM »
What do y'all think is the best material and/or design for a passionfruit trellis? I am hoping to grow Maypop this year.

Only reference here I've found is to chain link fence. Coincidentally I have access to free chain-link fence, but it's not all that attractive, of course.

How about just plain untreated wooden lattice panels? any particular shape/design considerations?

And lastly, is anyone out there growing Maypop?

80
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Fruit hunting in Taipei - October 2014
« on: October 02, 2014, 01:35:56 PM »
I can hear Sheehan already telling me to Google this (LOL) but this is kind of a last-minute Hail Mary post - not much time for Googling.

Plus always best to get expert advice to go with it.

So - I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Taipei. Going to be trying some fruits I've never or rarely had, so I'm somewhat (not completely) clueless as to how to determine quality/ripeness of said fruits.

What should I look for in the following fruits?

1) Atemoya
2) Sugar Apple
3) Asian Guava
4) Chempedak (unlikely to find, but..)
5) Salak (?)
6) Jaboticaba (?)
7) Hawthorn
8) Papaya

Any help appreciated ....thanks!

81
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Black emerging leaves on Annonaceae
« on: August 28, 2014, 10:03:25 PM »
I've got a few Asimina triloba seedlings going, the tallest of which is maybe 10 inches, the shortest maybe 4 inches.

They are in little pots and kept under shade as prescribed.

They grew fairly rapidly until a few weeks ago, now they seem to have plateaued.
I noticed around that time that the new little leaves at the tip of the plants were black (dead).

But the plants themselves look totally healthy otherwise.

Any thoughts on this from other annonaceae growers? Should I remove these black leaves in order to encourage new growth? Or just ignore it?
I will try to get pictures posted when I can get a chance.

82
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Tennessee Yard Tour!
« on: July 19, 2014, 07:38:56 PM »
Several weeks ago a forum member (who will remain anonymous for now) bestowed several plants upon me and Mr. Caimito, thereby tripling our plant collection instantaneously.
We're happy to say that so far we've not lost any of them! In fact, I think they're doing really well. Just thought I'd share some pictures of our new (and existing) family members, and I also have some questions about pests that are attacking some of them.

1) Acerola (new) - in a one-gallon pot with 1-1-1 gritty mix. Has put on lots of new growth after recovering from bare-rooting, and is now sporting a few tiny pink flower buds. However - we noticed today that something seems to be eating the leaves (see pictures)There are several little black ants (tried to snap pic) and a couple of other winged things I noticed. Any suggestions? For now we are planning to just spray the thing down to try to dislodge anything that may be on it, because that's all we can do right now.


2) Papaya (existing) - we have 2, one we got as a tiny seedling and the other was 3-feet when we inherited. Both have grown substantially this summer. The one in gritty mix seems to be overall happier and is sporting some flower buds. I have noticed Japanese Beetles (down in these parts we call 'em "June Bugs") camping out on them but only a couple, not an infestation. They have done some damage, however (see pics). Clearly could be the culprit on the Acerola too but I have not seen any on it. Any suggestions for the Beetles other than hanging a trap?

3) Luc's Mexican Garcinia (new) - one multi-rootstock grafting experiment and one seedling. Both repotted into gritty mix. Not much action on these guys but at least we didn't kill them with the barerooting!



4) Dragon Fruit (new) - chucked the 6-8 inch cutting in a bottle with gritty mix and it's taken off. Trouble now is we have to get it into a bigger pot with a trellis! Been doing some reading on that. Honestly not sure what the winter requirements are for this guy so would welcome any advice on the DF.



5) Miracle Fruit (new) - large specimen (approx 14-16 inches). Arrived in a 4 inch pot and recently repotted (not barerooted) into a one-gal with 50/50 Turface/Pine Bark.  Had it indoors due to some crazy low evening temps (mid-50's) but need to get him back outside in a shaded spot until we're sure it's over any possible shock. We also received 3 seedlings with the shipment and they are doing fine.



6) Negronne Fig (existing) - drastically root-pruned this guy back in early spring (waited too late really - had already broken dormancy) and put in a large (3-gal?) pot in 1-1-1 gritty mix. At the time only had a main leader and maybe 2 smallish side branches. Has really exploded with growth and is sporting several fruits. So far no obvious pest damage. not sure if I will need bird netting eventually...already lost one "fruitlet" to.....something.

7) Coffee (existing) - this courageous little fellow made it thru the chamber of death last winter (http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=9411.msg119984#msg119984and was repotted into gritty mix and a superoots pot. We've kept it indoors in a window and it seems happy enough. It lost most of its lower growth due to the rough winter but has just started putting on a little growth lower down. I would like to see it grow even more vigorously but honestly we haven't done much research on it. I guess we could put it out in the sun (?) but not after acclimating it, of course...




8 ) Asimina triloba - of course I'm super excited about these. Sowed 6 seeds, 3 from wild fruit I found last fall and 3 from our visit to KYSU last year. All but one germinated and produced a shoot after about 2 months. This is the first thing I have ever really grown from seed. It was pretty stinkin' exciting (Mr. Caimito successfully grew some cherimoyas on his own a while back). I "jerry-rigged" pots for them and threw together a little support structure out of junk we had laying around. Bottom is 1/8 hardware cloth so they are getting air underneath. We keep them shaded under a cloth. Interested to see if the relatively short "pots" will pose a long-term issue with taproot growth. The struggle too will be to find a place to actually plant them in 2 years once they are able to withstand the sun. Here's hoping in 5-7 years I will be over my apparent inability to digest the fruit.


The ultimate quandary is what will happen in the winter. We still have all the grow tent stuff http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=8167.msg104359#msg104359but the biggest papaya I don't think will hardly fit. We will also have to figure out air circulation and possibly humidification solutions. Some things will likely just camp by the front window and hang on for dear life.

In summary - this summer has been a lot of fun with all these plants. Speaking for myself, I really have caught the bug for growing things, which is a first for me. Having started from absolute ground zero, I still have a long way to go in gaining knowledge, but when I look back at where I started, I'm proud of how far I've come. :)  Henry still surprises me with his ability to spout-off factoids - I have a way to go to catch him, I'd say.

83
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Jackfruit: underripe or just a dud?
« on: June 22, 2014, 07:11:04 AM »
Bought a whole jackfruit from an asian market yesterday. It's the second one I've bought from this establishment. The other one was excellent.
This one had a nice but not overpowering fruity aroma, some large patches of dark coloration on the skin, and the spikes were well flattened.
It seemed to me to be perfect for cutting right away.
However, when I got into the fruit, I found that the interior was rather dry. The rag was dry and the arils were too. Compared to all the other jaks I've had, It was much more difficult to separate the arils from the rag.

It had a good flavor but was crunchier/tougher and again not as juicy. It was also not as sweet.

What do you think is behind this? Did we just act too soon in cutting the fruit or does it just sound like a "dud?"

84
Cold Hardy Citrus / Mystery Citrus
« on: June 12, 2014, 03:51:46 PM »
Sorry for this un-researched and not-terribly-thought-out post, but...

I inherited a large (6-7 foot tall) orange tree (supposedly) from a relative. It's in a large pot (maybe 20 gallon?). The previous owner would keep it outside in the summer and just indoors (garage) in the winter. This is in Zone 7b. The tree was purportedly started from seed from a grocery store fruit.

My questions:
1) Assuming it's a run of the mill Orange tree from a grocery store seed, will it EVER produce fruit?
2) Assuming it's capable of producing fruit, can it do so by spending summers outside and winters inside but with no supplemental light, humidity, etc?






85
Finally time to attempt to germinate my Asimina triloba seeds. Recommendation is to use the tall (14-16 inches) and skinny (about 4 inches) "tree starter" or "seedling" pots, but they are not available locally and too expensive for my tastes to order.

Anyone have any ideas for cheap alternatives? I've seen suggestions of 2-liter soda bottles (cheap or free) or PVC (seems hardly if any cheaper than the pots)......

Any other suggestions welcome.

86
Tropical Fruit Discussion / The Chamber of Death - our Grow Tent
« on: February 28, 2014, 09:21:26 PM »
Hey everyone,

Mr. Caimito and I have been laying low for a while. Sort of in a state of depression. Since moving our plants into the grow tent, things have really gone downhill fast. The plants are clinging to life by the root hairs.

One thing recently occurred that has turned me into somewhat of a conspiracy theorist.
My grandfather-in-law recently passed away. He was an avid fruit gardener who loved to try growing any and everything. When he died, we were given a 3.5 foot tall papaya tree in a pot. The tree looked wonderful - deep green, healthy leaves with no sign of any problems.
He had been growing this plant indoors in Kentucky, just in his living room near a large, south-facing window, right next to a heating vent, in a pot with just regular ol' dirt in it, from what I can tell. To boot, the pot was so dry the soil had pulled well away from the sides of the pot.

It was quite a shock to see this huge, healthy papaya doing so well in these conditions when ours have practically died in what we thought would be ideal conditions in the grow tent (warmth, light, humidity, etc).
This then got me thinking about how well our own plants were doing until they went into the tent (granted it was summer/fall).
Combine this with another puzzling experience - I tried to get some basil and cilantro going in little gro-dan rockwool cubes. They sprouted quickly in their ziploc bags but didn't last long once they were exposed to the air, yellowing and eventually blackening despite a watchful eye.

Crud! I can't even grow basil for crying out loud!

Something has to be wrong. So I remembered coming across the topic of outgassing (offgassing, out gassing, whatever) when researching grow tents.

Some quick Googling turns up some people (pot growers, of course) who are CONVINCED their tent was killing their plants in side-by-side comparison situations. It sounds very similar to what we've experienced.

The tent we bought was some no-name made in China thing from a dude on Craigslist.

I am now getting more and more convinced our tent is gassing our plants to death.

Yes? No? Suggestions?

Our house maintains about a 60-65 ambient temp at best in the winter and we have very limited south-facing window space (currently occupied by our fig and the giant papaya which is doing pretty well even in the cool, drier air).

I don't know if it's safe to put the plants out in those conditions. I suppose another alternative is to strip the tent off the frame and throw-up some clear plastic.

Or I may be totally crazy and there's something else killing our plants (poor soil, improper humidity, fungus gnats - all concerns of mine).

HELP!  :'( :'( We're literally at the end of our rope on this one. Considering throwing in the towel.

87
Tropical Fruit Discussion / I can't stop eating these...
« on: January 10, 2014, 12:26:42 PM »

Jackfruit Chips. I get these at K&S World Market in Nashville. Made in Vietnam. I could eat a whole bag in one sitting.

Wonder if anyone else has the same issue?

They claim to be only Jackfruit and Palm Oil....I hope that's true. They range from somewhat airy to very dense and hard (watch your teeth), and from very sweet to just mildly so.
Batches seem to vary too...this bag and another weren't as strong in flavor as ones I've had before.

These sure help me get by until I can get my next fresh Jackfruit....


88
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Air Exchange Requirements for Grow Tent?
« on: January 06, 2014, 12:15:03 PM »
I've been looking for information on how much air exchange is needed in a grow tent. So far, not a lot of specifics unless you're growing marijuana or doing hydroponics (or both!). Perhaps the same info applies, but....

I also didn't see a lot here on the forum so maybe this thread will benefit someone else in the long run.

Our tent is 4x4x7 and we're running a 400W Ceramic Metal Halide light.

I do not have any kind of air exchange fan (I do have a low-power oscillating fan just to provide a little mixing and "wind" for the plants to grow against).

Of course there are several vents on the tent, but in order to keep the temps around 80F and humidity above 50%, I can't open many vents.
So I admit that most of the time I have very minimal venting.

My concern is that if I start opening up too many vents, my temps and especially humidity will drop to unhealthy levels. Our house is very poorly insulated and the central heat runs quite frequently in the winter, driving humidity down to 20-35% RH.

I have had struggles with our plants, but these can be attributed to several newbie mistakes which I think I am slowly overcoming. It's hard to know whether they're getting enough fresh air/CO2, but I'm willing to bet they're not.

Here are my questions:
1. How much air exchange is needed for the average tropical fruit tree in a tent (if known)?
2. How do I know whether I'm getting enough air exchange?
3. How can I increase air exchange while maintaining temps and humidity?

89
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Very Nervous Novice Needs Repotting Advice
« on: December 28, 2013, 04:32:55 PM »
In my thread regarding our Grow Tent, (http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=8167.msg108120#msg108120) I have documented that our plants' health has been declining. I'm convinced my issue is root health, caused by poor soil, poor pots, lax maintenance, and over-watering. The soil is a random mix of play sand, sphagnum moss, and garden soil (except for the Mango, which is in the soil from Excalibur).

I've read all of the seminal Al threads from GardenWeb - Water Movement and Retention, Fertilizer Program for Container Plants, and Trees in Containers, and I've searched our Forum for info too. Some members have already given me some advice as well.

As a result of all of this, I decided to purchase some 3-gallon equivalent Superoots pots, and I've acquired Turface, Gran-i-Grit, and Pine bark that I've screened thru 1/4 hardware cloth and insect screen.

My thought is that I'm drowning my plants and I want to rescue them ASAP by getting them into Gritty Mix and the root pruning pots.

My issue is I've never tried to bare-root anything, so I'm nearly paralyzed by the fear of killing all of our plants :)

Here are my areas of concern and my questions:
1) Seasonal Timing - Al mentions repotting at certain times of the year. Since I am in a temperate zone and am using artificial light during the winter months, I'm thinking this isn't so much as issue. If anything, I'm thinking now is a fine time to repot, since plants are in the less-intense and less-ideal indoor environment. Agree?

2) Plant Readiness - I've read a few references to only repotting when the plant is in a certain stage of growth, before or after a flush, etc. I've also come across mention of only repotting healthy trees, which makes some common sense (don't want stress to be the final nail in the coffin of a weak plant) but would then mean if a plant is dying in poor soil, there's nothing that can be done, which doesn't make sense.

The plant that is/was doing the worst is our mango. It lost every single leaf a few weeks ago, but just recently has actually begun pushing out new growth:


Is this tree too weak or otherwise in the wrong stage to bareroot and repot right now?

3) To root-prune or not to root-prune - From what I've read, root pruning kind of goes hand in hand with repotting. In my case, I think my issue is sick roots, not really root-bound roots. I don't think any of our plants have even filled their containers, except maybe the papayas and the coffee. My thought is that I will only work on the roots if there are decaying areas, circling roots, or several thick roots (not likely). Is this the right approach?

4) Post-Repot Environmental Conditions - the majority opinion seems to be that plants should be out of full sun (in my case right now the "sun" is a 400W lamp), in a cooler temperature  (65F-75F? I can't remember), and in a humid environment (right now I'm at 40%RH - is there a target RH?). I suppose I could use some specific practical advice on this piece, since it is winter here and my only options are "loose" in the house or inside the grow tent.
Though "loose" in the house would satisfy the cooler temperature and low-light criteria, I think it would be way too arid.
So my current thought is to stick with the grow tent. I could raise the grow light significantly to effectively "shade" the plants. is this sufficient? I would like to avoid constructing an actual shade barrier. As for ambient temperature, I can open many more vents in the tent to lower the temps (current temp is about 82F). Humidity, however, would still be a concern especially if I open more vents. Assuming the Tent is the better option, what is the recommendation for keeping humidity higher while lowering ambient temp?

Well, I think that's enough paranoid ranting for one post. Looking forward to some help!  Thanks!

90
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Fig questions - dormancy and repotting
« on: December 23, 2013, 12:57:05 PM »
Our Violet de Bordeaux fig is in a run-of-the-mill plastic 3-gallon pot and is about 3 feet tall (excluding pot).

It grew fine over this past summer and appeared to set some flower buds, but nothing really happened prior to the arrival of Fall.

We had some extremely cold weather about a month ago (Lows around 20F), so I kind of panicked and brought the fig inside, near a relatively drafty, cool window. My goal at the time was to try to keep it cool enough to keep it dormant, though I wasn't sure if it would still be alive.

Well, thankfully the tree survived! It's starting to emerge from dormancy, sporting several green buds.

My confusion is around chill hours for this tree. I'd read on some sites that a certain number of chill hours are required for Figs, but other things I've read have made no mention of it. A read of the old Gardenweb fig forum sounds like it's an unsettled issue. For what it's worth, the tree was obtained from EdibleLandscaping.com, which is in Virginia, USA.

Here's what I see for our options:
1) Leave it by the window and just let it do its thing
2) put it in the grow tent to try to induce full-on growth/fruit set (if so, at what stage of "awakeness" should the tree be before reloacting?)
3) put it back outside because X chill hours are required (doubt this is advisable at this stage)

Thoughts?

Finally - since i'm making this post: any benefit to moving the tree to a Superoots pot (just ordered some) in Al's Gritty? I've read contradictory stuff on this too: some sources say figs like to have their roots constricted, others the opposite.

91
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Gritty Mix in a Superoots or RootBuilder pot?
« on: December 09, 2013, 04:18:24 PM »
This probably falls squarely into the "stupid questions" category, but anyone have an opinion on using a mix identical or similar to Al's Gritty in a Superoots or RootBuilder pot?

Seems like with all those holes, the mix would not stay in the pot very well (especially in the bottom of a Superoots pot).

I'm thinking the Smart Pot fabric pots (or similar) would be a better bet for using Gritty Mix, but wanted to get some advice.

Thanks!!

92
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Homemade Shade Cloth?
« on: December 02, 2013, 12:58:54 PM »
I'm thinking our little cherimoyas need some shading in our Grow Tent (http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=8167.msg104359#msg104359)

Was planning to build a PVC frame to put over them and then cover with some kind of shade cloth, preferably something I already have lying around the house.

In my novice's mind, shade is shade, whether it comes from loosely woven fabric or window screen or whatever. 

Do I actually have to go buy shade cloth or can I use some scrap fabric or window insect screen that I have?  I'm not really finding many references to makeshift shade cloth anywhere. 

I guess the downside would be controlling/knowing the amount of light transmission you're getting. Not that I have any idea how much shade they need :)

93
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Our New Grow Tent Setup! and Some Questions
« on: November 19, 2013, 08:45:41 PM »
After much research, labor, and advice from CoPlantNut, Mr. Caimito and I finally got the winter home for our small plant collection up and running! I wish we had gotten it going about 3 weeks before we did - the plants were rather deprived of light and were not in a particularly warm environment either.


It's a no-name grow tent of nominal 4x4x7 dimensions. Seems pretty well made but the listed dimensions are quite generous - it's only about 6.5 feet high. We're running a 400W Philips Colormaster Ceramic Metal Halide bulb in a Hydrofarm Daystar reflector with a lens. Maybe not the best setup but we just needed something to keep the plants alive without too much of an investment.

Mr. Caimito's bedroom is rather spacious, especially when it comes to vertical clearance. If we need to expand, I thought I might try to rig something where we use the walls of the tent but build it up to the ceiling.

We've got one coffee plant, 3 cherimoya seedlings, 2 papaya seedlings, a Muntingia calabura, and a Cogshall mango. There are also some Aframomum seeds from Soren in the little seed starter thing, under some plastic wrap.

Health report and questions:
Cogshall - prior to getting the tent, the leaves started curling somewhat and browning on the edges. I hadn't watered it in possibly 3 weeks prior to putting it in the tent (oopsie). I've "flushed" it (watered heavily until draining significantly, allowed to drain completely) twice in the past 3 weeks at this point. It has definitely started pushing new growth from three nodes since going into the tent, but the leaves still look pretty bad. Possibly a tad worse - hard to say.
-----Questions: Is this salt damage to the leaves? What should my watering regimen be? It's in the pot and soil from Excalibur. Should I move to a root-pruning pot with gritty mix? (It will be in a pot forever)


Cherimoyas - prior to tent life, these were doing fairly well by a partially sunny window in ambient temps which were probably between 60-65F for the past couple months. They seemed to grow in spurts, and sometimes they'd kind of flop over a bit. Since going into the tent, they have straightened up, but they seem to possibly be getting "burned" (see pics).
-----Questions: What's happening to the leaves and what should I do about it? 

Papayas - once we realized these puppies needed full sun, they really took off (compare to Mr. Caimito's post here! http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=7258.0). They seem to be doing just fine in the tent. Not growing as rapidly as during August. I'm just trying to keep them modestly moist. Any tips welcome.

Coffee - pretty much a champ like the papayas. Only issue we've had is some burning when I put it in full sun one day in July. Since then, near a window, it's put on a couple of flushes. Since moving to the tent it's really taken off, pushing several new leaves. Just trying to keep it modestly moist too. Advice?

"Cotton Candy Berry" - we got this from Logee's in August. I have to say it's been one of the fussier, unpredictable plants we own. It arrived ragged-looking and pretty much still looks that way. It has several leaves with brown edges. In August, outside, it seemed to put on a little new growth but since coming indoors, prior to the tent, it kinda declined. I can't seem to figure out how to make it happy. I have deduced - possibly erroneously - that it likes constantly moist soil. I thought it would take-off in the tent but it hasn't really done much. Possibly bouncing back a little bit.
-----Questions: What are we doing wrong? I thought these were pretty easy to grow but it's puzzling me so far. 

Last but not least - in keeping with KarenRei's and CoPlantNut's warnings, we sure 'nuff have little flies flitting around the tent - appeared a few days ago. Mr. Caimito noticed that the papayas have several little whitish specks on the stem, resembling grains of sand. Assuming these are the eggs? I'm certain these are very common pests and there's ample info out there, but would welcome any quick advice.

Huge thanks again to CoPlantNut for his help in getting me set up - before I talked to him, I didn't know a ballast from a biscuit cutter!

94
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Pawpaw Hunting - Gatlinburg, TN
« on: October 14, 2013, 10:42:51 AM »
I'm always on the lookout for pawpaw trees, so it goes without saying that on our recent trip to Gatlinburg, TN, my eyes were peeled.

We hiked over 6 miles in the mountain woods (Newfound Gap to The Jump Off) without spotting a single A. triloba.

The next day while we were strolling along the Vegas-style Gatlinburg strip, my daughter and I decided to ride the "Skylift," a leisurely ski lift that takes you up the moutainside and back down again.
On the way down, 100 yards or so from the bottom, I happened to look down at some landscaping behind the Gatlinburg Inn.
20 feet below us stood a pair of pawpaws among some other random bushes and rocks.

Once we got off the lift, I grabbed Mr. Caimito and we went down Maple Lane, beside the Skylift, then crossed into the Gatlinburg Inn parking lot. From there, we had to hop a little stone wall to get into the garden where the pawpaws were. There were no warning signs or anything, even though we were directly below the ski lift.

We inspected the 2 trees. They were healthy by all accounts, about 10 feet tall and full of leaves, some of which were turning golden. We stuck our heads into the foliage, looking for fruit on the undersides of the branches. Sadly, there was no fruit to be found. Of course, it's quite late in the pawpaw season, so it could be that the fruit was gone or perhaps they never fruited anyway.

The trees surely were planted intentionally, given their location among a landscaped area in an "urban" setting.

I guess if we ever return to Gatlinburg we'll have to check on the trees to see if they've fruited. And now any forum member who visits this tourist trap of a town will know where to find the trees!


95
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Wild Pawpaw Harvest and a Sobering Realization
« on: September 30, 2013, 10:45:43 PM »
Over the past several months I've located several pawpaw trees hither and yon in the Middle Tennessee area. Like most wild pawpaws, none of the trees had fruit. But earlier in the summer I finally located a few mature Asimina triloba trees with fruit. A good bit of fruit, in fact. These trees are on the edge of a forest that abuts a farmer's field, so they get a decent amount of sun. I also think there is a more abundant fly population for pollination due to horse manure dropped on a nearby horse trail (the place smells pretty foul actually.)

I checked on the trees a couple of weeks ago and the fruit was still not ripe.  This past Saturday I had time to go back.

The first tree I checked was totally bare and the leaves were starting to turn yellow. I was afraid I'd missed the boat - that the possums and 'coons had beaten me to the goods.

I kept hiking to the spot where I knew some other fruiting trees were, but upon initial inspection these were also bare.
I kept hunting the canopy visually and finally I saw a good sized fruit, but it was about 10 feet off the ground. Channeling my inner Richard Campbell from The Fruit Hunters film, I managed to climb the tree by bracing my feet on a thicker nearby trunk, grabbing the trunk of the pawpaw, and "walking" up almost parallel to the ground until I reached the fruit.  It was soft - success! 

I still couldn't see any other fruit.  I started looking deeper into the woods, and BAM - I spotted several clusters of fruit in a thicket of trees surrounded by dense briars. I worked my way back to the trees. They were too thin to climb and the fruit was far overhead. I shook the trees and several fruits tumbled to the ground. Surprisingly, most of them were still rock-hard, but a few were soft and undamaged. I even spotted a half-eaten pawpaw on the ground - some critter had enjoyed a healthy snack.

I waited to eat the fruit until I got home so that the rest of the fam could try them. Unfortunately I am recovering from a nasty cold, so my sense of taste is a little dulled. But the fruits were tasty - not as bold as the ones we got from KYSU, but the same general flavor profile. I would add that all the pawpaws I've tasted have just a hint of gaminess - untamed and wild. It almost makes me think "Should I be eating this?" At least, to me (see below for a possible explanation of this :))

I noticed that they ripened even further in the 24 hours since I brought them home - they were quite a bit softer. I also discovered that they're tasty to eat chilled.  I haven't found the best way to actually eat them.  there are so many seeds that spooning-out the flesh doesn't work great. Slicing like a mango or something doesn't work too well. I found that peeling them works ok, and you can just bite off a mouthful and spit out the seeds.

Unfortunately I think I have confirmed what I suspected after our first pawpaws from KYSU - my digestive system does not appreciate pawpaw. I can't think of any other food on this planet that makes me "sick,", but apparently pawpaws do, of all things! I will keep eating them as I have the chance though.

96
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Really wanting to pug our Muntingia calabura
« on: September 28, 2013, 11:10:22 AM »
Mr. Caimito ordered this Muntingia from Logee's a few weeks ago.  It arrived in a fairly small box  with the plant stem bent near 90 degrees so that it would fit (not saying this is a bad thing, necessarily).

We repotted the plant and staked it, but as you can see, the shoot is still bent. The leaves above the bend look pretty ragged too.
Below the bend there is some new growth, so I think the "tree" is healthy.

I really want to just chop it off at the bend so that it won't look so ridiculous. 

Sound like a good idea?  From what I've read about Muntingia, I would think it'd be fine, but I'd feel better with some experts behind me :)

upper leaves

new growth

97
Tropical Fruit Discussion / My Birthday Cake...I mean....Durian
« on: September 22, 2013, 11:25:23 PM »
This year for my birthday I decided to have a durian instead of a cake. 

So Mr. Caimito and I made a trip to our favorite international grocery store in Nashville, K&S World Market. There are 2 locations. One of them is bigger and has a better selection of durians, in a dedicated freezer.

The selection wasn't that great this time, however. There were probably only 8 durians to choose from. There were also 2 brands represented: the usual  "Sun Voi" brand and a never-before-seen "Twin Panda" brand, both from Thailand.

I opted for one of the Twin Pandas. What little aroma I could detect was pleasant, and there were no wounds to the fruit. I did notice the top of the stem had been painted. We'd read about this a while back on year of the durian, but neither of us could remember enough about it to really factor it in. So I just went for it - I figured it's all a gamble anyway.

I used hot glue to affix some birthday candles and set it on a cake stand. It made a right purdy birthday cake stunt double.

Then came the hard part. I forgot to take the fruit out of the freezer early enough - it had only been at room temp for about an hour. It was quite a chore to get it dissected, but I managed to get all the arils extracted intact. The flesh was rather noticeably orangish compared to the last frozen durian I got, which was off-white (Sun Voi brand). I also noticed the spikes on the exterior of the fruit were wider and shorter than my last durian. I wonder if this was a different variety. ....the Sun Voi purport to be Monthong but this Twin Panda didn't make a specific claim.

The aroma of this durian was VERY potent compared to my last experience. My wife ran me out of the house pretty early on, but she was nice about it  :)

The arils were still so frozen (at least, I thought) that I couldn't really eat them until the next day after thawing for a while.
After 6 hours in the fridge, I noticed that the texture of this durian was very different from my last. The last one was creamy pudding, with just some tough parts around the seeds. This one had a thick outer layer that was darker in color and rubbery/leathery in texture. There was practically no gooey pudding. It was also kind of stringy in the interior. I tried to demonstrate this in the pictures below.
I'm not sure if this is just another type of durian, or the result of improper handing (thawing/refreezing?).

The taste was also very potent, with strong onion/garlic overtones and only minimal vanilla custard sweetness. I found the chewy texture fairly unappealing and thus resorted to sucking out what little "pudding" I could and mostly chucking the rest. The tougher parts were also more intensely onion. It's definitely close to the upper limit of funkiness that I think I can tolerate.

So unfortunately, not as good of an experience, but I think I will continue to eat the harvest, at least as long as I can find a better way to contain the odor - this one is really powerful!


"Duran $2.19/lb"
Caveat emptor



98
Mr. Caimito and I just attended the 2013 Pawpaw Field Day at KSU in Frankfort, Kentucky this past Thursday.

Up to this point in time, we'd never tasted a pawpaw, though we have located a patch of wild fruiting trees in our area.  The remaining fruits weren't ripe as of about 10 days ago, so this trip to Kentucky was our only sure-fire chance to finally taste this temperate annonaceae family member.  Unfortunately it was a 4 hour drive one way :)

I was expecting a small crowd, but there were probably 150 people there, apparently from as far away as California and Germany.

The event was held at a very nice facility off-campus, where they have 2 pawpaw research orchards. Members of the faculty gave PowerPoint presentations about growing the trees, tree diseases and pests, processing pawpaws and value-added products (pawpaw beer or wine, anyone?), and information on current cultivars as well as new selections under development at KSU. Some of the cultivars being developed purport to have flavors of coconut and creme brulee - sounds intriguing.
There was also a presentation about the wild popularity of pawpaw in Japan. It seems like a pretty big deal, at least in some regions.

The day concluded with a tour of the orchard, and we were allowed to take any fruit we found on the ground. Mr. Caimito and I gathered about 10 fruits and brought them back.
There was also a tasting/evaluation of some of the up and coming cultivars.

The orchard where we gathered the fruit consisted of Sunflower and Susquehanna varieties (technically the fruit was more than likely a cross of the 2). Many of the pawpaws we gathered were overripe, but I still thought they were good.

The very first bite reminded me immediately of a cherimoya (no surprise really). I would venture to say there was also a fair amount of jackfruit flavor. Overall the pawpaws seemed more complex than the cherimoyas I've had (imported I'm sure). Several different flavor notes were present to varying degrees, though none were overpowering - bubble gum, canistel, flan/creme brulee, and even one fruit had a hint of durian at the finish (maybe due to its overripeness).  Though the pawpaw is sometimes called the "Indiana Banana," none of the ones we tasted had any banana flavor in my opinion.  Nor was there any mango, melon, or coconut, which are flavors that are associated with pawpaw.  Of course, there are several named varieties out there and we were only tasting a few.
The texture was excellent - fiberless and creamy - very smooth.

In the final analysis, I would consider myself a pawpaw fan. I probably had overly-high expectations because I've been waiting so long to taste the fruit, and I just wanted it to be awesome. I doubt I will have any pawpaw cravings like I do with durian, jackfruit, and others, but pawpaw still has a pretty amazing taste for a native, temperate fruit that I could easily grow in my backyard.

Here are some pictures from the event.
Auditorium

Pawpaw taste test

Trees in the orchard

Susquehannah fruit we brought home


99
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Should I buy this Grow Tent setup?
« on: September 21, 2013, 07:07:06 AM »
Looking to get an indoor growing setup for Mr. Caimito's and my plants for the winter. 
Bear in mind, we are utter novices with pretty much everything, especially this kind of equipment.

I have gotten some great advice from a couple of forum members, but thought I would throw this out to the general public for comment.

Here's a craigslist posting in my area.  Bottom-line question is: for a total beginner, would this be a wise purchase? They're only asking $350 OBO.

I have a LEDwholesalers GYO1009 60-Inch x 48-Inch x 24-Inch Mylar Reflective Hydroponic Grow Tent, aNew Apollo Horticulture 400w Grow Light Kit Purple Dimmable Ballast w/ Gull Wing Hood Reflector and Metal Halide(MH)(x3) and High Pressure Sodium(HPS)(x3) HID bulbs, and a 250w Switchable MH /HPS grow light with gull wing hood reflector. Also includes 8" inline duct fan and small circulation fan.

I used the tent during this past winter too keep our outdoor potted plants and some veggie plants going indoors. Worked very well. Only 1 mh bulb has been used in the 400w and the mh bulb in the 250 was used also. Rest of bulbs are brand new with less then 5 mins of burn time on them ( just testing time to see if they worked)

Inlcudes
60x48x24" mylar lined grow tent.
400 W dimmable ballast( cords and reflector included)
3 400w Mh bulbs (2x apollo brand 1x hortilux)
3 400w HPS bulbs (2x apollo brand and 1x hortilux)
250W switchable MH/HPS ballast (cords and lights included)
1 MH and 1 HPS bulb for 250w light
Hangers for both lights
3x timers
8" inline duct fan
circulation tent

100
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Violet de Bordeaux Fig - Leaf problems
« on: September 08, 2013, 03:24:05 PM »
We have a Violet de Bordeaux that we ordered early this Spring.  It's in a about a 2 gallon plastic pot, and it seems to be doing fairly well.

A few of the biggest leaves, however, are showing a white/gray speckling.  The same leaves are also outlined in a silvery color:




Any ideas?

I haven't been able to find any solid reference to this online.  The closest thing I think I came up with was spider mites. I have noticed some webbing and i've actually seen small critters that look like true spiders, not mites.  I've sprayed the leaves just with water and it appears to be keeping them at bay somewhat.  I would not say I have an infestation by any means.  The culprit?

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