The Tropical Fruit Forum

Last year i had a lot of success with my fungus susceptible plants by using a system fungicide. Even my blighted quince trees seem to be making a comeback. Btw Karps sweet is not that sweet but it does resist pine rust. My plan is to proactively douse the quinces, apples, pears and the mangos and probably the persimmons too. I had some kinda nasty on my sugar apples but neem knocked it out.

I'm trying to figure out what the discoloration is on the skin of my Vernon Sapote tree purchased at Home Depot in Indio California about 2 years ago. It started as 3 gal and was upsized to a 7 gal. Flowered in Early Spring. It tasted sweet with a sugarcane like flavor. There was no caramel undertone like the one I tasted from the tree at Clausens in Vista. The texture and flavor  is very similar to a pawpaw but with a little graininess like a pear.  The level of sweetness was like a just ripe cavandish banana. Not at all cloying. The skin was much like a pear with no bitterness. One half had a slight citrus flavor more like orange or tangerine than lemon or lime or grapefruit. Zero sourness. There is a slight tannin aftertaste that may be from the pieces of skin I ate. It had two large well developled seeds and two that were not developed. I would say it was 50% pulp.

I was just about to snag some wax apple plants online when I saw the bad reviews for www.chfruittreenursery.com. Kinda disturbing how many members have taken a loss with these people or been dissatisfied. I rolled the dice and decided to buy from Mimosa LA's website but when I clicked on purchase online I was redirected to Vườn cây ăn trái - California Tropical Fruit Trees. I bought it Paypal but not I'm thinking it might be sketchy too. Anybody else bought from Mimosa online and had this experience?

I bought a few of these on a whim. Does anybody have any information on these? Less than a decade or not?

Are there any official varieties? One of mine is like tree and it is sending out buds. The other two are "bushy" and super spiny but no buds. What gives?

East Coast-
Jack and the BeanStalk
The property
This a small property with a large variety of tropical and subtropicals. They also carry some citrus.
The staff
The staff is was two ladies  and an older gentleman who spoke "ok" English so with my "ok" spanish I was able to converse.
The website
It's pretty basic and sparse. They seem to make an effort to update their inventory but you have to download a pdf so it is not up to the minute accurate but at least they are trying. They also respond to emails so that is plus.
Prices
Prices there are on par with with the upper end of Florida prices and I would say maybe a little pricey; Almost like West cost pricing a few years ago. 3 gals for >$45 is becoming the new normal. Theirs were $55 and small. When I was there most of their inventory was above 7 gal and up especially for what I call hard to find. Caimito's were in short supply and what they had looked healthy but was in 15 gals for $190 and only the greens were available. They had some healthy wax jambus in 7 gal but they were $90. I still bought two but it stung. Yes, the inflation has hit and it sucks.
Quality
On par with most other sellers in terms of size and health. Some of the plants were a little burned. I suspect this is because they don't have everything under shade cloth.

I met the owner and he was a nice guy. Even though his prices were a little high IMO he did cut me a deal so I basically got one 3gal plant for free.  I heard about the place from a youtuber named Paul. This guy is a great resource for places to go but he is single-handedly running down the inventory for everything  The owner said a few days after Paul posted the video he was swamped. It's about 20 min off of I-95 Near West Palm beach if I am not mistaken.

BTW
I was at Lara's bright and early. The gate was closed 10 minutes after opening time so I called. Julian answered the phone. After a short convo I found out he was sold out of almost everything. I was looking for: caimitos, custard apples.... Hopefully he will have more inventory soon. Call before you travel

My 8-10 yr old 6 ft Jaboticaba defoliated last spring and the leaves have not grown back. It is still green under the bark. Does anybody have any ideas what I should do?

I am planning a road trip to Miami next weekend. The mission objective is to go to Lara Farms and get some of his Caimito and Canistel cultivars and what ever else turns my head. If he's game I will try to purchase some scions of his Campbell cultivar of White Sapote. Any suggestions of any other places nearby I should hit? I would love to pick up a Sugar belle citrus while I am there. The last stop that day will be Pokey's as usual. Come guys! Help old man Carolina hunt!

Does anybody know an online seller with kerajis?

I did a run Thursday and hit three spots. Fruitscapes in Bokeelia, A Natural Farm in Howie in the Hills, and Pokey's Citrus in Zellwood. Pkey's and a A Natrual farm are about 15 min apart so if I hit one I hit the other. 

The main reason for my trip was  I wanted to replace possibly two of the 7 gal ($70) purple Caimitos I purchased earlier this year from Fruitscapes. I say possible because they both defoliated after experiencing  a couple of weeks in the unheated greenhouse. The temp is usually around 50 but I did have with a few nighttime lows in the upper  30's.  I am not sure if it was lack of water or the cold. One of them had shriveled leaves when I noticed it and the other (which I hope will come back above the graft)completely defoliated. The one with the shriveled leaves failed the scratch test and it is stiff. R.I.P. The second reason was to get a butterscotch sapodilla.

First StopFruitscapes
I texted earlier in the week and got an indeterminate answer about what they had for Caimitos. I decided to take the risk since they confirmed what they had the butterscotch sapodilla in 7 gal and at a cheaper price than was quoted on in the "Buy, Sell, Trade" forum. Unfortunately they did not have purple Caimitos in the 7 gal size so I bought a 15 gal for $150.  It was about a foot short and 2 cm too narrow for me to call it a good deal for a $150 plant. It looks pretty healthy though so we will see. The bigger disappointment was the butterscotch Sapodilla. I must have caught them when they upsized the pots. It was way small for a 7 gal tree. It would have been a deal at 3 gal for $45 and just fair at 5 gal for $60 but it was not a good deal at all for $70. I had to get it because I knew I wasn't going to hit anywhere else. The service on this trip was good. The young guy there was polite and helpful. I snagged some canistels from the market which did not have much fruit and headed to the next location.

Second stop A Natural Farm
I hit that spot to look for some miracle fruit trees. I have purchased miracle fruit trees before and so far the ones I have gotten from them have been the healthiest and the best producing. I bought two 1 gal that would have been really nice 3 gal at any other vendor. They cost $45 which is more than fair for the actual plant size but about $20 too much for the pot size. That said I would have bought more if I had the loot. If you are in the market for Miracle fruit trees get them from these guys. Don't worry about the pot size. Buy the plant because the caliper size and the health make them worth it.

Pokey's
My last stop was Pokey's. I was hoping to snag some cold tolerant Avocados, a Meiwa kumquat and some fertilizer. I don't know what Pokey has in his fertilizer but it is the best stuff I have found. I have a hard time thinking he has a special blend but the fertilizer I bought from him seems to do better than the fertilizer I bought from other places.

The big score  I found at Pokey's was a 3 gal ($45) Young Hands (I actually think it is "Younghans" White Sapote. He only had one and it was back near a mix of yellow strawberry guavas, black sapotes, and something else I can't remember. I actually had planned on getting my godson to pick up a  Younghans in Phoenix at Oleary's (assuming his website is accurate). I probably will still get the one from Phoenix but I am happier that I got the one in Florida. I also snatched up a 3 gal ($45) black sapote  so I can experiment with inarching with my texas persimmon and my Nikita's gift persimmon. They had a nice healthy Yehuda loquat. I picked up a 3 gal ($55) that  I felt it was a little high as well. The Emperor Lychee stung a bit more; $65 for a 3 gal! I got a 5 gal Meiwa for $65. A good fair price in my opinion. I talked to Pokey for about an hour. He is as always great to talk to and full of knowledge. If you are near Zellwood go by and see Pokey. He is slowing down but he has wealth of knowledge and he has really good quality citrus and avocados. 
 

How are the Zill's stuff getting into the US? Why aren't the large litchi's not available in the US? How would they get here? I see that some nurseries in Oz have cultivars that originate in florida? How did they get there?

I'm searching for a reputable grower of abiu who sells in at least 3 gal. Named varieties are preferred but I would be willing to purchase seedlings. Does anybody know where I can go to buy some of these trees?