The Tropical Fruit Forum

Just was looking for a couple banana cultivars on Going Bananas of Homestead's website and noticed that they no longer do any mailouts of product.  Apparently they are only cash & carry now.

So where should one look for a decent selection of banana cultivars here in Florida that do ship?  Or is it mostly a scatter-shot effort?

Ssuggestions welcomed . . . .

Cheers!

Paul M.
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Craigslist Tampa is your friend if you don't mind driving to Plant City or Pinellas County.

Is September a good time to try grafting mangos? A friend wants to offer me some Florigon trimmings to graft onto the trunk of my Glenn. Also what type of graft would be recommended?

That's a common gray squirrel as as far as I can tell. I have gray squirrels (lot of them) hanging around in my yard, breeding in my Washingtonia palm, and a few have that same brownish/reddish breast. Some sort of genetic thing I guess. Like Galatians522 said Fox Squirrels are much bigger and have bold coloring.

Preventing people from stealing fruit off my trees is pretty simple for me. I always plant them in the back yard inside a 6' fence. If my trees were out in front by the road I would rightfully expect that some people would come by and help themselves. Same as if I always left the keys in my truck, it would soon be gone.

The last time I applied any fertilizer to my Maha and Glen trees was in March 2023. They've grown magnificently, the Maha (below) started out 2 1/2 years ago at 3', and is now about 8-9' high by about that much wide. There is a pine bark mulch surrounding it and my lawn mower throws clippings on top of that. I really want a great fruiting season for next year so I don't want to mess it up with too much fertilizer. I'm thinking should apply something that doesn't have nitrogen but not sure about the best analysis to use. Is the pine bark providing nitrogen? Any help is appreciated.

Wilting and death on one side of a plant is a symptom of fusarium. Not sure if citrus gets it or not.

This seems quite possible after reading this article. Thanks!

A review of Florida citrus blight and its association with soil edaphic factors, nutrition and Fusarium solani

Blight is an important disease of citrus and is the most serious disease of this crop in Florida, a major citrus producer. The disease affects the xylem of the tree and symptoms are those associated with water stress. Interveinal zinc‐deficiency occurs in young leaves on a branch and eventually spreads until the whole tree is affected. Wilt occurs in areas on the tree. Fruits are usually normal in appearance but reduced in size, and sometimes irregular in shape. Blighted trees also have fibrous dry root rot symptoms and Fusarium solani appears to be associated with those symptoms. In Florida there appears to be a relationship between blight occurrence and shallow soils. Studies indicate that soil moisture stress, unfavourable drainage and poor rooting volume unfavourably affect root growth and development in shallow soils. It is thought that the cause of blight is a complex of factors involving soils and their management and Fusarium solani. Ammonium nitrate predisposes roots to infection by F. solani and it is thought that this might happen in the field when ammonium nitrate fertilizers are commonly used. Ammonium forms of nitrogen are required by the fungus for toxin production. Chemical control methods have not proved very successful. It is suggested that effective control might be achieved by planting tolerant rootstocks in well‐drained soils with timely applications of lower rates of fertilizers. Also irrigation measures that reduce soil moisture stress around the roots should be practised.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09670878209370749?journalCode=ttpm19

A former coworker from Venezuela brought a mango or two to work every day and often shared with me. He always ate the skin and suggested I do the same, for the nutrients. I did and found the skin palatable but unless the skin is thin and grown in my yard I'll toss those peelings into the mulch pile.

Pruning, and stunting a tree are two different things with two different outcomes. Selective pruning, or trimming as you stated, is a recurring procedure that's proven beneficial to the tree and its productivity. Stunting a tree benefits you pehaps but not the tree. Unless you're the owner of a large grove the desire to save money and time isn't a consideration. Residential 'fruit forests' and their maintenance are intended to be a fun and fulfilling hobby, in my humble opinion and personal experience.

There were 500 views, and only 38 voted? 

There are some popular forum varieties missing from the poll. Carrie, Maha, Glen ...

We got a set of those Corelle Butterfly Gold dishes as a wedding gift in 1975. Still have most of them!

Plant more mangoes!!

  Thank you for the responses, maybe I will just ignore the leaf miners, from what I understand is that it is just aesthetic and does no long term damage. I wonder is moringa leaf extract sprayed on leaves will work?(we have plenty on the property) I have just recently heard of using it as a pest deterrent with no negative long term effects. I need to fertilize more often, I have only been doing it every three months, I will try every other month. All of our citrus trees are on raised berms that are about 50+' long, with a nice top dressing of composted organic matter, we had a dump truck full delivered to top dress the berms with decomposed wood  chips for a cover, all wood chips are away from the trunks.

Excellent choice with the raised berms and the compost!
Sounds like you might be out there east of Punta Gorda around Washington Loop?