The Tropical Fruit Forum

Just found 2 super healthy Yangmei trees growing at the B&B I'm staying at in Fenglin (East coast of Taiwan, somewhere around zone 12b I think) and wanted to share.  Super healthy looking!  They have many other beautiful trees here as well, like fully mature massive Jaboticabas, wax apple, papayas, banana, guava, atemoya, mango, coffee, etc

Too bad there are no fruits...😉

Quote from: dorian on December 01, 2025, 10:10:28 AM

Quote from: johnb51 on December 01, 2025, 09:20:47 AM

Quote from: dorian on December 01, 2025, 08:37:08 AM

You can grow them in Florida. It's more work and frustration but it's certainly doable especially if you keep it to a smaller number and in pots (or grow it on a nematode resistant rootstock like ficus sycomorus). The best producing fig tree in a pot (~8ga) got me 101 figs this season. They can also go from a scion stick to producing fruit in one year in Florida.

Which varieties do you recommend for SoFlo?

JFE Black Madeira Not (from https://offthebeatenpathnursery.com/collections/fig-tree-cuttings once they do cuttings sale shortly) is my number one, followed closely by Smith but this can be peculiar on watering so works best on drip. Otherwise LSU Purple or LSU Red (very rain resistant), Green Michurinska (can split but still pumps out a lot of figs, this was the 101 I mentioned above), Atreano (for large and productive figs though lighter taste), White Madeira #1 for best taste, Bourjasotte Grise (takes a couple of years to get going well), Zaffiro (similar to LSU Purple but somewhat larger, not as good in rain though). There are other ones that work but are more finicky.

Troy has good cuttings and prices btw:
https://www.fignfruit.com/shop/cuttings

I was wondering what the JFE and "Not" meant, but I found this name.

For those who wish to know without checking the link. It's Just Fruits and Exotics Black Madeira that was found to NOT be Black Madeira. It is apparently a good fig that is similar to Black Madeira. 

All of those seem like way overkill to me. I'm pretty sure that the agitator on my Dad's (150 gallon?) is no where near that powerful. It doesn't need to pump all of it every minute, just keep the solution moving so that nothing settles out. That won't take much on a 25 gallon tank. By way of comparison, most garden hoses put out 8 gpm. That should be way more than sufficient for your 25 gallon tank. Also, I don't think you need a billage pump.

If you are planning to spray sulfur (and this the need for an agitator) spend the extra money to get Microthiol Disperss. It is worth it. It sprays easier and spreads better.

*Fact checking myself. Google AI indicates that a 100 gallon tank would only need an 8 gpm to 12.5 gpm agitator for sulfur. So, something in the 8 gpm range should be way more than sufficient for what you are doing

I believe that is black sapote. Persimmon leaves look very different.

He's selling cuttings but doesn't ship outside of Florida. 10 cuttings for $13, what a bargain!  Support his nursery if you can.

https://codycovefarm.com/product/lippia-alba-juanilama-excellent-herbal-tea/

Janet

I do, he is a great guy! 

Resurrecting an old post: My 3-Year Experience with Lychee Erinose Mite (LEM) Management

Having managed LEM for three-plus years now, what is your summary/experience of where things are, and what are your plans going forward?  Are you still growing lychee, or have you given up on it?

I will get us started with my experience:
Wind, birds, insects—whatever the source—I got LEM in my yard. Of my five trees, three in one zone got infected, and the other two initially did not. One of them did eventually get it, some time later. I removed the limbs with visible bumps on the leaves; I did not defoliate the entire tree as often recommended. It is possible that the fourth tree got it via a transfer because of the initial approach I took. Whatever the case, once it did, I treated the entire yard as if all the lychees were infected, and every tree received the same treatment. For the last two years, it appears my approach has stabilized things, and I am back to getting fruit. Unfortunately, I still occasionally see some bumps and remove parts of the trees, but much fewer of late.  In the last year or so, I have treated the two lychee growing parts of my yard differently again, focusing on the zone with the larger older trees, but keeping an eye on the two other trees.

Here is my current regimen:
Spray sulfur on new growth: I spray sulfur whenever there is new growth. I try to spray every two weeks, though I have not been religious about it and miss some time. I believe if I were more disciplined, my approach would work better. The objective is to prevent infestation of the new growth, as that is the time when the leaves are most susceptible to mite infection.
Prune infested branches immediately: I remove any branches or nearby branches that show leaf bumps. I don't wait to get the felt (erineum or erinea); the deformed leaves are sign enough for me. I work "downstream" from the infected leaves. In my opinion, branches below whichever branch has signs of LEM likely already have mites on them. I remove them if the branch has relatively new leaves. Then I spray everything else. The problem is the erineum is like a fortress—there is precious little you can do to get to the mite once they are inside.
Optimized application method: To address the fact that the mites hang out under the leaf, I use the finest spray nozzle I could get my hands on with my powered backpack pump. The adjustable nozzle has a flexible end which I turn upwards and allows me to spray from the bottom up. On the one hand, it gets some spray to the undersides of the leaves; on the other, it creates runoff to the lower branches, potentially spreading the mite. But I assume that if the mites flow in sulfur spray runoff and survive, perhaps they deserve to . More seriously though, short of an electrostatic sprayer, this is the best I believe I can do.

A Quick Aside on Systemic Treatments
While UF/IFAS does not recommend this product (they recommend Disperss as mentioned earlier in the thread), I have come across some literature that suggests there is a systemic insecticide/miticide called abamectin (brand names include Agri-Mek and Avid) that has some penetrating (translaminar) properties. This allows spray applied to the top of the leaves to penetrate the leaf. Even that research does not suggest this treatment is effective if you already have erinea, but it does suggest it could help protect new leaf growth. I have not tried this yet, but may if the situation worsens. For now, the scheme I am using seems to have stabilized things—not a cure, but an equilibrium of sorts that leaves me with fruit and mostly happy trees, but occasional flares.

Back to my Regime
I spray when the trees flower (not sure if it is good for pollination) and I spray during fruit set, always two weeks or more apart, if I get around to it. The trees away from the main cluster have gone almost a year without any spraying because close inspection has shown no bumps of late. They fruited this past year, and I have tried to make sure I don't infect them by transfer on my person or my tools. I am sure, though, that wind and birds will eventually reinfect them. The main cluster of trees gets a look during my weekly trip through the yard, and a few times a year I will find leaves with bumps and restart the treatment cycle. When I don't, I get lazy with my spraying.

Going forward: It has been three years now, and I think I will continue to grow lychee in my yard. I have a regimen that seems to work for me. Unfortunately, I live in an area where there are many lychee trees, including some growing in unmanaged and undeveloped (but fenced, large lots of two acres plus) areas, so there will always be a source of disease pressure. I just hope I have found the balance and can keep a productive tree, with more work than I would like to, in the south Florida yardscape.


I would like to learn what you have done that has worked.  I am also very happy to get suggestions or critiques of my approach.

   

I think you have a very good approach. My Dad has been doing similar with his lychee grove. He has very little mite infestation at this point, but there are no direct neighbors with lychee trees. Compared to some other commercial growers who have been using air blast sprayers, he has very good results. Two take aways from my dad's success thus far (bearing in mind that things may change as we learn more):

1. He uses the wand on his tank sprayer (imagine a larger version of a backpack sprayer) and gets up inside the tree. He sprays both sides of the leaves (particularly the back since that is where the mite hides) as well as the trunk and branches. He even sprays the ground under the tree. If you make sure to kill all the mites on the tree (as much as is humanly possible) re-infection will take longer. So, it will take longer to spray, but you will have fewer sprays to do through out the year.

2. He applies the spray with high pressure and volume to the point of runoff. Do not worry about the spray spreading the mite.

I hope that helps.

For what it's worth, I am not fully convinced that there are actually two blackberry species. That is what the "experts" say. But, I have seen some pretty significant differences in phenotype on what I know is the same plant. To be honest, I think Sand Blackberry would be better viewed as a sub-species.

That is a blackberry for sure. We have two species here supposedly. Sand Blackberry (Rubus cuneifolius) would be my guess. They are good but seedy. They make nice jelly when the seeds have been removed.

Hi everyone,I'm Jason Pepe from Pepe's Florida Fruit Trees (also the owner of Pepe's Plants). Many of you might know me from my YouTube channel, where I share growing tips for cacao, miracle fruit, jackfruit, jaboticaba, and tons of other tropical goodies.It's been years since I last hung out here, but I'm back and planning to be much more active. Excited to catch up, swap stories, and geek out over fruit with you all!
Hope to chat soon!
Jason

Glad to have you back! 👍

I would describe Navajo as sour more than bitter. With Miracle fruit they taste amazing.

I have not grown it, but I have eaten it from the wild. It is native here to Highlands County although the sand blackberry is far more common. You should have no trouble fruiting it with 100 chill hours. Keep in mind that they grow more as a vine than a bush. So, you will need a trellis or something for it to crawl over so that you don't have to stoop 1' from the ground to pick your berries. The flavor is good--probably the best Florida native rubus. The yield will not be very high in comparison to domesticated blackberries. The easiest way to tell the difference between a black berry and a dew berry is by the thorns. Blackberries only have thorns. Dew berries have thorns like a blackberry but also the spiky hairs similar to a raspberry all on the same stem. Once you see them both together that are easy to differentiate.

Other blackberries that we have fruited here include Brazos, Navajo (thornless), and Ouichita (also thornless with good flavor).

This is a picture of the Princess Delight lychee that my Mom took. I need to see if I can get some more pictures from her.

I am afraid that most people would agree with you regarding Groff.

I think I have seen the lychee sudden death and believe that it is linked, at least in some cases, to armillaria.