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Messages - TheVeggieProfessor

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: rat chewed jackfruit bark - goner?
« on: March 11, 2024, 08:27:31 PM »
Well then... Silly me! :)

2
Tropical Fruit Discussion / rat chewed jackfruit bark - goner?
« on: March 11, 2024, 03:58:49 PM »





Hi all. As can be seen in the photos, a rat went to town on my young jackfruit tree (planted as a 3 gal last summer). The rat at all around. Oddly enough, the only other time a rat has chewed the bark off of a tree at my house has been another jackfruit tree (which made it just fine and is doing great). But this time, the rat chewed all the way around. Should I bother breaking out the hardware cloth and trying to protect this tree, or does it look like a goner and I should pull it out and try again?
Thanks for your insights.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Protect base of trunk from moisture?
« on: March 10, 2024, 08:36:01 PM »
It’s going to depend on what kind of tree.  Most truly tropical trees occur naturally where there is abundant biomass and the trunks have to be able to tolerate that.
Peter

Jackfruit and malay apple. I may put rocks around the base as mentioned by the poster above just to be safe.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Protect base of trunk from moisture?
« on: March 07, 2024, 01:08:20 PM »
Hi. I have a groundcover of sunshine mimosa and perennial peanut around my fruit trees. I noticed this morning that for several trees, the bottom inch or so of the trunk is moist; I'm assuming from the dew on the ground covers. What say you? A problem? Put some rocks around the base of the tree? Purchase some type of tree guard?
Thanks for any insights you might have.

5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Banana woes (nutrient defficiency?)
« on: January 27, 2024, 08:52:16 AM »
That is being caused by too much nitrogen, not not enough. When the cigar leaf comes out crinkled up, ribbed and then developed into a thin leaf, the plant has too much nitrogen. The plant is growing too fast. The leaves don’t have time to properly thicken up before they are pushed out. Hold back on the fertilizer for a while and watch what happens. You will have a happy plant soon.

Bill

Interesting! I'll give it a try.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Banana woes (nutrient defficiency?)
« on: January 25, 2024, 02:48:11 PM »
I can spot a nitrogen deficiency in many plants by the color of the leaves. Leaves in N deficient plants are lighter green in color than with adequate N. Older leaves can senesce early as nitrogen is cycled into the newer growth.

Cool soils can cause similar symptoms on plants like banana that like warm soil.

I am still doubting that this is the case since it's only one banana showing this syptmom - and I have several - and it's not all that cool here. It's 78 degrees right now, for example, with a low tonight of 71.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Banana woes (nutrient defficiency?)
« on: January 23, 2024, 03:21:42 PM »
Thanks for the reply. I think nitrogen deficiency is not consistent with what I am observing. The symptoms of nitrogen deficiency, from my reading, would begin on older leaves, whereas I'm observing it on newer ones.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Banana woes (nutrient defficiency?)
« on: January 23, 2024, 08:47:09 AM »
It seems like bananas.org has been down for a while. I would normally post about an issue like this there.

New growth on one of my bananas started coming out pale yellow. I thought a sulfur deficiency was a possibility. I added langbeinite (https://downtoearthfertilizer.com/products/single-ingredients/langbeinite-0-0-22/). It maybe seemed to help. The leaves that came out yellow started to darken up, but new leaves were still coming out light yellow. So I tried more. New leaves are still coming out yellow though, and now there is some browning as well. See photos. Admittedly, I'm not very precise with fertilization. I throw a few handfuls of all purpose organic fertilizer per month. I have several other bananas and no other ones are showing these issues. A few months back, some started to put out light yellow new leaves and I increased fertilizer applications (plus some langeineite - which I added for additional potassium, I didn't even think about sulfur at the time), and it seemed to do the trick. Though the yellowing of the leaves never got to the point of this particular banana.













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I planted these cultivars due to their resistance. Last year, if my memory services, the winter wasn't nearly this wet. It's been pouring most days. Wouldn't this have an impact on the likelihood of disease, making last year's experiences less relevant?

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 10b - berries for cereal
« on: January 14, 2024, 09:20:09 AM »
Prime Ark Freedom blackberry has solidified its spot as my family’s favorite, very productive. I also grow mulberries, but haven’t figured out the trick to get them to bear consistently. Low chill blueberries also do great, I’ve been fruiting Sunshine Blue, still waiting to see how Pink Lemonade does. I’ve also fruited Caroline, Joan J., and Double Gold raspberries, and am trialing Niwot and Ohio’s Treasure. I’m also growing Domestic, Alpine and Vescana strawberry varieties.

The trick to temperate berries in the tropics is low chill (200 hours and under), and for caneberries in particular, primocane types (they fruit on current year’s growth, which has no chill requirement). For strawberries, Day-neutral types are more likely to fruit consistently.

How many chill hours do you reliably get at your location? According to agroclimnate.org, I got about 4 chill hours last season.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Mango blooms and rain (lots and lots of rain)
« on: January 14, 2024, 09:17:21 AM »
My pickering is putting out a lot of blooms for the first time (yay!). It looks like my Glenn is right behind it. But it's been raining A LOT here and I don't want anthracnose and other diseases to reduce/eliminate my yields. What could/should I be doing for prevention? I have copper spray. Should I be spraying the blooms after each rain? Any other tips and insights? Thanks so much.

12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Stawberry Papaya - Tasting
« on: December 13, 2023, 06:19:20 PM »
Best I've ever had.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 10b - berries for cereal
« on: December 01, 2023, 11:09:13 AM »
Thanks so much. Based on the two recommendations (and some of my initial research), I'll definitely be giving Physalis peruviana a try; especially since they are nematode resistant!

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / 10b - berries for cereal
« on: November 30, 2023, 10:24:07 AM »
I'm spending way too much money and using way too much plastic packaging getting my kids berries for their cereal. I'd like to grow some in my landscape, likely in a hedge. Many berries aren't productive down here, though (e.g., blackberries) or are reportedly bland (e.g., mysore raspberries).

Mulberries are good. Intense root system though. The space I have to plant is near my home's water main. Don't want to mess with that. Jamaican strawberry is good, but large tree.

What else might one consider?

15
Much of the perennial vegetables for leafies. What about options that are more robust? Like something that can be used in cooking where a vegetable like broccoli would be used?

16
Bill's Tropical Fruit Trees - (954) 444-0862
Private seller in Davie, been buying fruit from him last couple years. Lots of grafted varieties and everything is fairly priced.

He's a good guy. I'd add hidden acres mango farm to the list. Message them on facebook. Near hardrock.

17
I have a Mai-1 jackfruit and I want to add another one to principally use for eating green (while letting a few ripen). I want a jackfruit that is small so that I can prepare a meal with it without having to process and freeze a lot of extra for later. But I want to be able to eat the seeds too. Some small jackfruits that I've had in the past (seedlings) have had small seeds, too. I was interested in Cochin, but just read that it has small seeds. There are several jackfruit that I'm aware of with fruit that trend to the smaller side (e.g., cheena, small, gold nugget), but I don't know about the seed size. Are there others and any first hand experience about seed size?

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Vietnam Dwarf Jackfruit?
« on: July 03, 2023, 11:03:39 AM »
I've planned on purchasing a cochin jackfruit to occupy a smallish space for a jackfruit tree. I've been looking around for sources and came across another variety that I've never heard of for sale by everglades farm in homestead. It's called vietnam dwarf and apparently sets two crops per year: https://everglades.farm/products/vietnam-jackfruit-tree-grafted-2-3-feet-tall-for-sale-from-florida?_pos=2&_sid=83a6a166a&_ss=r&variant=42626321285365

Any information on this jackfruit?

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Any jackfruits yet? :)

20
I think I found one variety which is Fruit punch. I just read about mango reviewed by SHV and this variety seemed the winner.

To me, fruit punch is the perfect mango. The flavor is just incredible. Bold and delicious, yet I could still eat a whole pile of them without my pallet being overwhelmed. It also has that resinous-type taste associated with a Carrie, which I love. But if you don't, it may not be the mango for you.

21
Bumping this for the weekend.

I wish I was able to make it. Really enjoyed those mangoes!

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Balanced off-season fruit?
« on: June 04, 2023, 03:12:14 PM »
As far as annuals are concerned, strawberries could be a good option.
Mysore raspberry maybe, but very thorny.

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Hey. I'll take the 10:00 spot. Thanks!

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Balanced off-season fruit?
« on: June 03, 2023, 07:41:37 PM »
The "off season" fruits that I have planted (custard apple, black sapote) and am aware of (sapodilla) do not have a nice refreshing balance of sweet and tart, like a mango for example. Carambola and loquat might be good options for an off-season fruit that has some balance. What else would make the list?

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Finding Land in South FL
« on: May 31, 2023, 07:54:52 PM »
For me, I like the idea of putting an RV on it

I'm in Broward county. It's funny that this thread popped up today. I have an okay piece of property, but we were interested in getting a summer place somewhere closer to the beach where we can still grow coconuts where land is affordable. We were very interested in pine island. I'm afraid that what you are describing is not possible due to zoning. If you are going to spend the night on the property, it will have to be in a house built to florida building code. The same was true everywhere else I called.

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