The Tropical Fruit Forum

Love lychees a lot but there's the limited availability problem.

While living in Costa Rica I developed a taste for mamon chino, what rambutans are called there.  They were plentiful and cheap down there, costing only about a buck US for a whole kilo of 'em in the mercado central in Alajuela.  Yum!

Paul M.
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I sort of doubt that tHD uses much or any fertilizer because the plants that they sell they are
just brokering, so that amounts to plants in and out, asap!

Form what I've seen at times it seems that they aren't even watering their plant stock regularly.

Just my 2¢ worth . . .

Paul M.
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The full tree leaf strip should come right before the tree wakes up from winter.  Around February or March here. 

But you can continue to do it through summer to get more flowers.  But this time dont strip the whole tree.  Just strip back some leaves towards the inside of the tree on big branches where a good fruit will form.   

Spaugh,

Would leaf stripping also encourage a bitibá (Rollinia) to produce flowers.

Mine bloomed in July this year for the first time with about ten flowers but did not try to set any fruit. That is probably because the tree is only five or six years old with a 2-in. dia. trunk and 7 ft tall.

If stripping it would encourage my biribá to flower then when should the leaf-strip be done?  Perhaps in June, even though it seems to be about the middle of its growing season?

Just curious . . .

Paul M.
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Glad to see on this new zone map that where I am in Tampa is now 10a,
but I won't hold my breath about that fer sure 'til after this winter.

Now all we need here in west central Florida is some much-needed rain.
(We're jealous of the Miami area's recent rain glut!)

Paul M.
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[ snip ] I will go back and start digging up the roots tomorrow. 

Wow, SC — I wish I had so productive a Meyer Lemon!

Anyway, I cannot understand why the owner is having it dug out if it is so productive.

Could you maybe explain why it's being sacrificed, please?

Paul M.
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Good luck,wampee is one of the worst fruit I know .Taste like grapefruit skin .

Generally speaking, which wampees are better tasting, the pink ones or the white ones?

I've heard both ways.

Is it important to choose a named variety for the best flavor?

Paul M.
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How old is it? 

To answer your question Filoz, my biribá is about five, maybe six, years old now with a trunk
about two inches in diameter.  It is between six and seven feet tall in a 10 gallon pot.

Gets plenty of water but is allowed ti dry out slightly every so often.

OK — HTH

Paul M.
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Paul, from my experiences, I was able to get a guava tree to flower from pinching the tips of branches. I wasn’t even trying to get it to flower. I just wanted a bushier tree but to my surprise, the guava tree started producing flowers.

Thanks Chris.

Pnching the tips might be something I should try. 

Think I'll wait 'til next spring/summer, though, to try that.

Cheers!

Paul M.
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They like lots of sun, lots of water, and flower and fruit better when fertilized. My compost bin started leaking into the root field. Better flowering followed, along with fruits.

Thanx Roblack… That's very useful advice for any of us who're trying to grow a biribá!

Mine is getting two of the requirements: full sun & lotsa water.

Mine bloomed finally late spring this year but set no fruit. (I'm guessing that was a 'trial run'.)

Obviously I'm going to have to feed it more generously.

Cheers!

Paul M.
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If you want fruit production, I would try to keep it in as small a pot as possible, guavaja tends to need a larger pot but there are plenty of other Psidium spp. that can fruit in even a 3 gallon pot.

Now my guava went into the ground two+ years ago and grew lushly to ten feet tall. But even with good watering and fertilizing it never bloomed or set any fruit.

Then it got pruned to six feet last year in June and grew back again but didn't flower or fruit.

Again this year in June it had grown back to about eight feet tall but no blooms. (This year it did not get fertilized like last year, but got plenty of water.)  And it got purned in July back to six feet once more but has grown another foot since then.

Not sure why this guava is reluctant to bloom.  It's a Barbie Supreme hybrid.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Fingers X-ed!

Paul M.
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Just FWIW, I have read that sugar apple can become rootbound and then stunted if kept in too small a pot for too long a time.

And once it has become rootbound then puttng a sugar apple into a larger pot doesn't usually allow it to recover from being rootbound.

So, it sounds to me like when a sugar apple has filled its pot with roots it needs to go asap into a much larger pot –OR maybe at that point just be planted out in the ground to keep it from becoming stunted.

OK — HTH

Paul M.
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Not sure about hardiness but its native region in Baja California does get occasional light frost. I would guess Zpne 9a or 9b at least.

Yes, but how should it do here in Floirda which is more rainy than the Baja?

Winter temps should suit it but what about our extra moisture and humitity?

Just pondering . . . .

Paul M.
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