The Tropical Fruit Forum

One of the coffee species I have is Red Catuai.  I enjoy eating the flesh for they are semi-sweet. Then I process the beans for later roasting.

In Olinda, Maui you will see large and old mango trees ... but no fruit. Elevation there is 3,500' for so.

There are a number of large mango trees in several micro-climates in the metro Orlando areas in fact, like Winter Park for example and Windermere for another.

How about this guy's success? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD_3_gsgsnk&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3VeMoTfZEwUA2G532LFR5XKvT1Q03cJ9m7mpsjbCY93fEOzcVe1J6oaqU

Here's a picture of how I protect my lychee fruit.  Dangling from the lychee trees are holographic tape (looks a bit like a snake in fact), rubber snakes, and old CD and DVD disks.  Oh, and my large (I have more than one) animal trap contains fresh sunflower seeds for the squirrels.  I catch a few almost every week.

My uncle and aunt in Waipahu had a seedling avocado tree in their back yard. The fruit was of a different shape that this one and a bit heavier on average, some about 5 pounds in fact.  The shape was that of an elongated green gourd with a small seed at the bulbous end.  It was delicious.  I got a couple scions from a cousin last year but I was not successful in grafting them.

I have had success with cold-hardy and super-cold-hardy avocados in my yard over the past few years.  The cold-hardy ones I have include Mexicola, Brogdon, Day, Bacon, and Winter Mexican.  The three Day trees and the Winter Mexican I grafted myself.  The Day trees are some of the fastest growing trees I have ever planted.  Thankfully the Days have slowed down in growth otherwise I'd have to prune them.  Two of the three Days suffered slight leaf burn from last week's freezes but their emerging blossoms are fine.  The third Day in located closer to the lake I live on and is frost-protected a bit by a Live Oak tree and a Southerm Maple tree overhead.  I have two Mexicolas out in the open on the north (and coldest) part of my property - no cold damage whatsover to the leaves and emerging blossoms.  The Brodgon is young (though I had a 25' Brogdon in the 1990's) and the Bacon (with blossoms) were both unaffected by this latest cold snap as well.  The super-cold-hardy species I have were unaffected as well and these are also located on the north side of my yard: Joey (another graft of mine), Brazos Belle, and Fantastic. 

Several winters ago, I had a major freeze (<23 degrees F) which destroyed the flowers on the cold-hardy varieties but the super-cold-hardy species were unaffected including their flowers amazingly.

"There are several sources for historic weather records. http://www.intellicast.com/Local/History.aspx is one.
There probably isn't anywhere in the continental US that doesn't have record lows above freezing. Warmest areas are on the East and West coasts where the oceans moderate temperature. The gulf coast suffers mid-continent effects so is more extreme. In addition to Florida, Coastal California is another region that has few freezing days but the dry climate isn't ideal for tropicals and real estate costs are high. Hawaii is the only US state that doesn't get freezing temperatures but it isn't 'continental'."

Hawaii has many freezes at higher elevations.  Just checkout the mountainous webcams to verify snow at this time of the year. Elevation is important even in the tropics.  In Olinda on Maui (elevation 3,573 feet), mango trees will live but not produce fruit - it's too cool/cold for fruit set.  On the road just before you enter Kula Hospital is a very old and scraggly coconut palm that's been this way for decades at ... 3,028 feet in elevation.

I have two mature Mexicola Avocado trees, three mature Day Avocado trees plus other much more cold-hardy varieties like Brazos Belle, Joey, Lila, and Fantastic.  About 3 or 4 winters ago we had temps down around 22-24 degrees F for one morning.  Note that all of these trees had blooms on them at that time.  All the outside blooms on the Day and Mexicola trees were destroyed except for the blooms located inside and nearer the center of each of these threes.  Almost none of the other super-cold-hardy varieties' blooms were affected by the low temperatures.  Interesting, the Day and Mexicola trees produced another set of blooms a month or so after the damage. The Mexicola trees themselves (and Day too) were not damaged however.  Thought I'd share my experience with Mexicola.  I'd recommend the super-cold hardy varieties if you expect below 22-24 degree F and lower temperatures.

Update after 45+ days of "lake watering" after Hurricane Irma.  The blooming Dwarf Hawaiian mango and Sweet Tart mango (on the right of the Sweet Tart) are still hanging in there.

Not a drop at my place in Longwood, FL!   

My in-laws purchased an old mango grove circa 1970 in Haiku, Maui that dates back to the 1920's. The two main mango varieties on the property are Haden and Pirie.  I used to pick the fruit and sell them as no one has cared for the orchard for some 60+ years as far as I know.

Nevertheless, the surviving trees, as you might expect in the tropics, are simply huge and at times incredibly productive.