The Tropical Fruit Forum

I have already seen some chewed up Lychee skins on the bottom of the tree, I've also seen Crows swoop down and grab one a time so I'm really worried they will be eaten up before they are ripe  :'(

I would definitely pick my Mauritius if any were left as I finished them about a week ago. IMO Mauritius tastes great when only partially red with the greenish/yellow still on part of it. Mauritius at my house is sweeter than Brewster or Sweet Heart when still partially greenish. I usually wait for Brewster and Sweet Heart to get more fully ripe with less greenish left on the fruit before picking all of the fruit.

Squirrels and many bird varieties have eaten my lychee.

You mentioned Crows attacking yours and I think they are the smartest bird in my neighborhood. They tend to relay the message of good and bad to the other birds and I would not be surprised if you had gone from 1 crow to 20 crows attacking your lychee in 2 days. However since they are so smart here; when one gets shot and dies they caw caw caw in a flying circle wanting to know why and they spread the word and tend to avoid that place.

When I was a kid, I had a great time trapping and re-trapping and re-trapping the same backyard squirrels and chipmunks.  I think they kept coming back for the extra crunchy Jif.

Google search Squirrel finding it's way HOME  LOL:
Studies show that a squirrel can find its way back to a former nesting ground from as far away as 15 miles. If you choose a good Colorado relocation spot where your squirrels can be happy and thrive they are less likely to return.

Even if one decides not to come back, a territorial domino effect tends to push them back into areas once cleared of squirrels... LOL.... I hope all have fun playing with their squirrels and nuts...

I tried freezing a bunch of mangos, and all I got was mush when I defrosted them -- flavor was ok but the texture was very off-putting.  Any better way to preserve them by freezing?

Expect to get messy if eating them whole frozen.

They thaw fast from the freezer so I'm guessing no more than 20 minutes on the counter if you still want ice crystals and a firmer experience. I prefer melted as taste buds are not able to taste as good with ice crystals.

The inside of the skin usually holds more flavor just as when fresh. The peelings however are usually bland/leatherly and I don't eat.

Frozen without the skins and cut up is also an option and much easier to eat but the skins sometimes adds flavor.

Thunderstorms do supply N but not enough. In the NT where there are 80 to 90 thunderstorms a year, the fertilzer guide for mangoes is pretty sophisticated and draws on N % in foliage in which optimal range varies between varieties but also canopy area.the amount of N available in the soil in plantations also is known and influences application rates of N. Keitt by the way has lower requirements than the more glamorous and prized honey gold.It advises that N is the most important nutrient for fruit volume and quality and that excess or deficient application strongly influences the crop. It is lost from the system relatively faster than other macros and is in the soil in a few forms.
The pre-flowering dormancy is needed as is the pre harvest root flushing but vegetative flushing during flowering isn't. So what does that all mean? Most people have no idea how much N is needed in any season but it is pretty volatile. Anyway fertliser application around harvest time and a second period around flowering and fruit set is recommended for the best crop. Nearly always dominates other nutrients in terms of volume applied but is reduced in some seasons and years when the soil has plenty and leaf concentrations are over about 1.4% N.

A great thought provoking piece Mike T.

For those that love biology & theories,  "Nitrogen storage and remobilization by trees: ecophysiological relevance in a changing world"  I'm really enjoying the first few minutes of reading.
https://academic.oup.com/treephys/article/30/9/1083/1640876



I've already decided to try extra nitrogen on a particular tree that may be lacking as it is not carrying on the process of abscission properly IMO...

IMO :::

If your mango tree is healthy green etc. and has tried at least once to set fruit but failed due to fungus or little female flowers.... Expect it to want to try again & IMO a good chance yet for another bloom attempt.

Regardless of weather IMO if already has tried.

So, IMO hope for heat 85 F and sunshine if your not into spraying for powdery mildew.

And yes your tree is already stressed IMO as it did not set enough fruit... So IMO expect it to try again regardless of temperatures.

Now if your tree has not tried to flower/fruit yet and has not failed to set fruit this year... IMO there may be other reasons nutrient levels etc. and it might skip a year... Just IMO....  Still there are a few trees like some of my Mahas and a few of my sweet tarts that are late and just starting to send buds up.

I expect Most of my fruit set that is expected to last to maturity to occur in March guessing 55% and probably 25% in April and 9% in May, 2% in June thus only 9% fruit set that I think will last to maturity at my location during  Dec., Jan., Feb., common for me when I do little or no fungal spraying often during the winter months.

Now I could say if you rub your tummy, touch your toes, and jump up in the air... You will have more fruit set to last to maturity over the next 30 days if trees are blooming....  But... I know the real reason regardless of your efforts... More sunshine and warmer temperatures should lessen fungal activity (especially powdery mildew).  But, fungal spraying is proven to decrease fungal growth & increase fruiting so do not ignore it unless you have a lot of trees and know you will get plenty of fruit without spraying.


Just had to give some hope/good news to some of you guys...

If going to Key West, a lot of places to visit along the way. If you have a dive mask, snorkel, also get a small divers down flag to prevent a ticket and go snorkeling at many bridges. Beautiful small aquarium looking colorful fish are around the rocks at the shoreline but you can not usually see them unless you enter the water as the light reflection blocks your vision.

I did a lot of free diving over the years so the manatee swim was pretty boring to me as the manatee are sea cows and slow; also the water in the springs is colder and the bottom was not as pretty as reefs. I enjoyed swimming under bridges in the keys with tarpon but I carried a spear gun as I do not trust sharks or any wild animal.  Tarpon usually swim in packs pretty slow for most fish until wanting to eat some fish (still much faster than manatee). They  can rival manatee in size. Sharks like to swim near them usually also along with other big fish.

I always had a small boat but if I did not, I would probably go on a group daily boat trip snokeling instead of the manatee trip. They go out to the reefs and you will always see something. Many small colorful fish and you might see some larger ones like dolphin, grouper, etc but they usually hide with a lot of people in the water. Many places in key Largo, Looe Key, etc.

Here's some tarpon pictures but I never fed them at this place:::  https://www.robbies.com/

If a mango sends out blooms in S. Fl. when 2 ft high, suspect it to be under stress...

In 10a unlikely to have temperature stress of cold so far this year that would be greater than the normal primary desire to grow at the 2 ft. stage.

Suspect other stressors like weed wacker, rabbits nibbling on trunk, moles under the tree, soil ph or mineral balance off, water, etc. etc. etc.

I assume it will be 4 years until fruit?

I've had a few seedling fruit. The length of time seems to vary by parent variety. A seedling of Okrung I would expect 10 years or more; a seedling from sweet tart I would expect some (your luck will vary) to fruit in 5 to 6 years; I have other seedlings that have fruited but not sure of variety the seed came from but some have produced in 6 yrs for sure. Expect slow growing trees where trunk diameter increases slow to take longer at least in my experience. Once the trunk diameter reaches like 3 to 5 inches try to slow it down to fruit. Just IMO...

Eastern Time Zone U.S.A. now celebrating a merry Christmas.

In 1 week Time will be celebrating a happy new year.

As a special thought for matter changing with time (Think Mangos Ripening)::: https://www.gotquestions.org/God-time.html

I usually bring in papaya without thinking about what plant it was off. I am trying to remember and let you know if one is much better than another per a possible factor.

I just brought in a roundish papaya in almost full sunshine as on south side of a mamey sapote that is not too big. It is sweet and full of seeds. I had previously fertilized it 1 to 2 months ago as this and the extra sunshine is my guess as to why it is sweeter.

I picked 2 papaya today off a tree that fell over during Sept. when raining a lot but has since reestablished and started growing. Unfortunately it fell toward the house and the top I lifted with a brick to see if the papaya would finish maturing. They did but all have been bland and I'm guessing it is due to the house blocking the sun after 1pm on the top leaves. It also was not pollinated and seedless vs. the other roundish papaya about 50 yards away.

A greater amount of sunshine increases chance of a sweeter papaya.

Once it is living, the next question is will it bear fruit. I will go to that.

Carrie: Thick foliage bears fruit well  in low light when buried within the canopy with black material on the limbs but yet still bearing fruit often unknown to all till they fall from the tree.

OK Kaz, what's the total count??

You Solicited forum members to guess a total.... Why don't you follow through and give the total after Soliciting people to guess the number of Fuyu's??