The Tropical Fruit Forum

On a weekly rotating basis I spray 8 gallons of Liquid Seaweed, then Liquid Fish, then Liquid Neem and the Dyna-pro soap. Note the Liquid fish is not emulsion but actual liquefied fish. I usually wait until late evening. I just started this process this year and thus far am very impressed with the results. My apple trees are looking great and actually have a few this year(they are still only a few years old and the newest ones haven't sinc'd up on blooming cycles. 

Neem does not stop leaf miners in citrus though, but I am seeing much less damage from grasshoppers, caterpillars, and other munchie bugs.

Wow, great news. So maybe in 15 years or so after it is released and the commercial groves quit gobbling(as they should grumble grumble) the new stock as it becomes available maybe we will get it in the residential markets. I haven't noticed it in any of my trees but I foliar spray and fertilize the crap out of my trees on a weekly basis, so they had better not show any signs.

Salt was my first concern. I am not having issues with my lychees but am always open to new ideas. I forgot about green sand, heard of that before, maybe that is what he is talking about.

Since I have lychee trees(too young to fruit yet) why is the South Florida crop a disaster? In talking with the bee keeper for the Melbourne grove this past weekend, it sounds like those are doing really well.

Was nice. Prices were PI normal so no discounts, you simply didnt have to pay tax or shipping. Nice to see a few things I dont normally see, picked up a few oddball lychees my normal nursery doesnt carry( he would order it if I asked). Would have been cool if perhaps PI and some of the other exotic down south nurseries worked together and had a combined fruit tree sale/show. Would make it more worthwhile for people farther away to make the drive and could turn into something bigger, also competitive pricing and stock(not that I saw anything wrong with the stock on hand, it all looked in good condition). There is obviously a demand for this kind of show judging by the turnout I saw.

A pointer for the club, perhaps a slightly more detailed detail sheet on some of the lesser known stuff max size, temps, growth pattern and such. There were a few things I was unfamiliar with and thus didnt buy. The PI people were busy elsewhere and the volunteers while fun to talk to and very knowledgeable about the normal varients and trees we normally have, couldnt tell me much about the really oddball stuff. 

Overall was an enjoyable trip with very friendly people around, but unless it gets bigger with more exotics I will order through my local nursery and get discounts and save the gas for next year.

.22 caliber rifle. An orchards best friend. Yeah I like my guns. I pop squirrels regularly. I need a high powered BB gun for deer. Sting but not penetrate the hide, but scare the hell out of them. I want them to associate my property and my fruit trees with pain and fear hehe.

Another route is Guinea fowl. Mean little birds that don't allow anything into their territory they don't recognize and they love eating pest bugs and don't scratch the place up like chickens. Plus they act as a fairly decent alarm system is someone comes onto the property. Trying to convince my wife to let me get a small flock. Supposedly they will clear an acre of ticks inside of six months. My neighbors are all for it hehe.

.22 cal bird shot. Takes care of many orchard problems and isn't a threat to anyone else.

My nursery guy who is a fruit tree collector himself would answer that with an incredulous look and "Now, why would you go and do that?" Keep the fruit, you wont get much anyway so whatever you end up with is a bonus and tease for later on. I have two citrus trees of the same type and age I planted early last year. One I have pulled the buds that spring, the other I didn't. I ended up with only a couple fruit and both trees are almost the same size, the one that kept the fruit is actually taller and bushier.

Since you are across town, any chance you could locate a Chinese Bayberry, Myrica rubra. I have two of the three "strawberry trees", still missing this one.

They don't list pick up prices on their site, but suffice to say I went expecting to get two trees and I ended up with six for only a bit more than I planned on spending. The red fingerlime I got from them was a slow starter compared to the others(and most of the rest of my trees) but it has really taken off in the last month. Not expecting fruit this year.

Sweet, glad I stopped by the board. I might have to drop by if my out of town visitors cancel on me.