The Tropical Fruit Forum

Probably the first post like this on here; sorry mods if it isn't allowed.

Partially thanks to this forum, I have been wanting to get into the fruit tree industry for awhile now. I love learning about different kinds of fruit and what makes them produce. I think this is something I want to do with my life. I have tried sending out business letters with my resume to every fruit tree place I can find, so far without much success. That got me thinking:

I know some of the people here own nurseries. Are any of you hiring? Or does anyone know of any place that may be? I have a business degree, so I can help with administration or marketing or something as well us working on the trees.

Florida nurseries, especially in the Tampa Bay area, would be preferable, but I'm willing to consider any place as long as you have a spot for me.

Send me a PM and we can discuss it. I can give you a copy of my resume and phone number and we can talk over the phone. Thanks for your time!

I recently got a Pickering mango tree and transplanted it to a larger pot. Today, I noticed there are some roots above the soil.



Did I accidentally not cover them, or are they new roots that grew to get air? Thanks for you help.

I just had my first soursop. They're delicious! It's one of my favorite fruits now. However, the once place I know of that has them, MD Oriental Market, charges $9 a pound for them. They aren't that delicious. Does anyone know of another place around here that sells soursops?

I really like the way Musa Velutina and Royal Purple bananas look. However, most places say they don't taste very good. Are there some unique colored bananas like that that actually taste good? I wouldn't mind putting up with seeds if i had to.

Also, I remember seeing a picture of a fruit that looked like a shiny, cherry red banana. I can't find it online though. Does such a thing exist? Does it taste good?

Thanks.

I see there are a few banana plants on sale at Ken's Nursery: Musa Velutina and Royal Purple. Has anyone had these before? How do they taste? How do they compare to Cavendish bananas? I've had blue java banana and some type of dwarf red banana before and didn't really notice much of a difference. Based on that, do you think I would notice a difference in these? They look beautiful, anyway.

I have some starfruit seeds I want to plant. What's the best way to do that? Plant a whole fruit? I know the fruit provides nutrients to the seeds. What soil should I use to start the seeds? Standard Florida sand? Mix with potting soil? How often should I water them, and how long until they germinate?

Thanks.

I really like the beautiful blooms that Japanese cherry trees make. All of the regular "for Florida" varieties that I've seen recommended have dull, white flowers. Is there a variety of Japanese cherry tee that will grow in zone 9b? Or just any cherry tree that will give lots of pink blooms (and fruit, of course  )?

A couple of my neighbors have what appears to be fruit trees. I don't recognize the fruit though.



I think they're the same fruit, but one's riper maybe? What do you guys think?

I saw a house that had like 5 of these trees. I noticed the leaves look kind of like a lychee tree's leaves, and there appears to be fruit on it. I couldn't really tell though, as they were small and far away. I tried to take a picture but I don't think it turned out to well. What do you think?

I've heard that lychee trees don't fruit often and are really susceptible to wind damage and parasites and the like, and really need to be pruned aggressively to fruit. However, recently, I noticed 4 lychee trees in my area. They're all at least 30 feet tall and loaded with fruit. I know at least one of the people owning a tree didn't do any maintenance on it—not even picking the fruit, as far as I can tell. I've read that lychee only fruits on new growth, (and that's why pruning is important) but that doesn't seem to be the case on that tree at least.

Is the reason people say they're finicky simply because they don't fruit every year without maintenance? Every single tree I've noticed has been covered in fruit (granted, the fruit may be the reason I recognize the tree. I didn't even know there were any lychee trees in the area before now. Then again, I've never known that lychees exist until recently...). They all survived a category 2 hurricane, so I guess they're beyond minor wind hurting them...

We did have an unusually cold winter where it approached freezing. Could that be the reason why every lychee tree appears to have fruit? Or does everyone just happen to have a good variety? (I was able to taste the fruit off of two of the trees. It tastes a lot better than the Mauritius lychee I've had before. They both had really big seeds and were about the same size. They tasted different, though; one of them was extra sweet. Brewster maybe? Or some hybrid grown from a seed? Would having a seed-grown root system make them hardier and/or fruit more often?)

I'm new to this place. Looks like a good community and I hope to be spending lots of time here! 

I'll be moving around sometime soon, and I'm not sure when I'll find a home I'm sure I want to stay in long enough for a tree to reach full size. However, I really want a lychee tree and a cashew tree (yes, I know to be careful with cashew trees/fruits . Luckily, there's a place that sells them a few blocks from me, so I don't have to worry about mail order or anything.

I know dwarf varieties of these trees exist, but I do want to plant them eventually and have them be big full trees. Besides, I can't find a dwarf cashew tree. I'm looking at a Mauritius lychee (I like reliable, large harvests) and an unspecified cashew breed. Would keeping the trees small (say, 20 gallon pot or so, maybe 50 eventually) by pruning them make them permanently small? Do they have like a maximum lifespan or growing season or something? Would I get much fruit on a small tree?

Also, there's not space in my yard that gets full sun. I'm pretty sure most trees need that. I can probably find a space that maybe gets 8 hours of full sun. Would that be fine for a new tree (3 gallon)?

On a related note, is it realistic to expect a cashew tree to do well in the Tampa Bay area? I know they can't tolerate temperatures below 40° F and it does get that cold for about 2 weeks a year. I suppose I could cover it when it's small, but not when it's big. I might have to just keep it small enough where it can stay in a pot so I can move it indoors during those few weeks. Could I just grow both of these indoors? Do you think I would need growth lights or something for either of these options?

Looking forward to talking with you about this!