The Tropical Fruit Forum

I managed to get some soncoya seeds from tradewinds into Australia but am struggling with germination!
Soaked one of my seeds overnight, then placed it in a plastic bag with humid vermiculite. A week on the everything is smelling like damp there was a bit of rot on the tip of the seed, so I trimmed it back to the actual white embryo, the picture is below.



My question is: what should I do next to keep this seed alive and get it to grow? Killed one of these seeds last year and really don't want to repeat history.
Thanks,
Rob.

Midway through last year I recieved some seeds from Anderson Tropicals, and one of them was a Pouteria Stylosa seed. Soon after getting the seed, I cracked open the hard shell and gently took out the seed. I planted it in some coconut coir. Germination was slow, but after a while it pushed out 2 white roots, both about 7cm long. Then it stopped, and for at least 3 months (probably more like 5) nothing has happened. Germination has 'paused'. I would love some help!

I'd love to know if anyone else has had Pouteria seeds pause mid-germination, and if there is a solution. Thank you very much.

In a few months I will be planting a food forest, after I finish my apple/pear/stonefruit orchard (5/28 trees planted).
For the time being, I'm in the planning stage. I've given lots of thought to tree spacing and paths, and now I'd like to think about cultivars/varieties of fruit.
I know I want Longans, Lychees, Black Sapote, Avocado, Annonas, Eugenias, Tamarillo, Passionfruit, Jaboticaba, Jackfruit, Garcinias, Ice cream beans, payayas, bananas, eugenias, carambolas, star apples, and many others, including everyone's favourite: The Mango!

These are the my favourites:
Kensington Pride. My favourite and the favourite of almost every Australian.
Maha Chanok. A very good asian variety with a different flavour and beautiful orange flesh.
Keitt. A very good late variety. Although it's really good, it's inferior to KP.

I'm in the process of deciding what other cultivars to grow, and I'd love some help. And here are some ones that I've been thinking about:
Lemon Meringue/Orange Sherbert/Lemon Zest
Mangifera Kasturi - Supposed to have a good spicy flavour
Choc Annon/Carabao
Asian Type e.g Nam Doc Mai
Brooks Late
Coconut Cream
Haden
Irwin (aka Mizayaki?)
Sweet Tart
Senstation
Zill

I'd love some information on what everyone grows, and loves, and what you think of the above varieties.
Information of Flavour, Texture, Growing habit, Fruit size, Fruit quality, etc would be really nice.
Thank you!

I just got thinking about my to-be food forest, and wondered about the risk of snakes.
Has anybody ever had problems with snakes in their food forest?
And if you have, what have you done about it?
Thanks!

I recently got to go to a great place called Tropical Fruit world. It's the biggest and best (in my opinion) tropical fruit farm in Australia. They grow >600 different fruits.
Last time I went I bought my first ever Mamey Sapotes - a Pontin and a Maganta.
The Pontin ripened first, and I quite liked it rich, wierd taste of syrup-y pumpkin pie, but I could only eat so much.
By the time I had finished my 1kg Pontin (3 or 4 days), my Maganta had ripened and was about going bad. I ended up procrastinating and never ate the giant fruit on my kitchen bench - I just went off.

Here is my point: I just reckon Mamey Sapotes would be better at a modest size, like the size of a large mango ~ 450g.
My reasons for my opinion are:
1: Smaller fruits are easier to eat in a single helping, making for a filling snack.
2: If you have to get through an entire giant Mamey Sapote without it going off, especially for a first-timer, it's not a great experience. Too much Mamey Sapote! Mamey overload!
3: Australian Mamey Sapotes are on the verge of going commercial, and I think that for the everday shopper there would be greater uptake of a smaller, mango sized fruit, than of a Giant that costs a fair bit, that you might not even like.

Anyway, that's just my opinon, what do you think?

At the moment, I've been growing a bunch of Grimal and Cauliflora Jabos from seed, and they've all germinated very fast, within about a couple of weeks. I was wondering if there was a way to dry or keep seeds from germinating so that they could be sold and shipped before they sprout. Just a thought, I was wondering if it was possible. Thanks!

Hello,
I brought some seeds home about 15 or so months ago from a fruit tasting at a place called tropical fruit world. I thought they were rollinia seeds, but no I am not so sure. I would love some help with identification. They seedlings have grown well, however in the photos the leaves are a bit droopy as we had a thirty or something celcius (80-90F, roughly) day, and the seedling had gone a little while without a water.
Again, I would love some help with ID. Thanks!









Modification - Another Photo:

I love Pouterias, and am trying to build a collection. I was looking at Anderson Tropicals, and they seem to have a couple 'giant pouterias': Pouteria sp. "Gigante de Colombia' and Pouteria sp. "Vereda Loma Linda". If anyone has information of these species, I would love to find out more. Cheers!

I am a big Abiu fan, and I was wondering if they had some similar relatives.
I have heard about Pouteria Torta, I would love to find out some other species.
Cheers!

I'd like to sell some seeds here on the TFF, but I'm unsure how to package them to keep them fresh and viable.
I would love some tips.
Cheers.

I have a few Pouteria plants/seeds, and am looking to expand my little collection.
A have Abiu, Mamey Sapote, Cinnaimon Apple, and Pouteria Stylosa.
I would love some recommendations on what other pouterias I should grow.