The Tropical Fruit Forum

Anyone buy from them? I paid for and ordered a Cherilata back in August (it stated that they will be shipping out at end of year at time of order) but have not been able to get a status via email or been able to get a hold of them via phone since. Im not in a hurry but just want to know if they received my order (and payment) and if its looking like this is still shipping this year....

TIA

I have one that looked great when I put it in the ground a couple years ago but the leaves have become more sparse and it just doesnt look vibrant and green. Any special requirements fo these guys? Im in San Diego county, tree gets late afternoon shade otherwise mostly full sun, sandy loam, water a few gallons per week in summer, less in winter. some osmocote and chicken manure in spring. Do they want full sun? or maybe more shade? More acidic soil? Any thoughts???

Looking for budwood to top work a large tree I have. Im in San Diego County, CA. Please let me know if you have or know where to find.

Thanks, Kevin N.

I've read some posts on this but none of them address my specific circumstances. I have a bunch of mango trees planted the last 2 years that range from 1.5" diameter to 2.5 diameter trunks and 4'-8' tall. Im in Fallbrook with well draining sandy loam and trees are planted in the ground in full sun. I fear I lost a couple trees from overwatering earlier this year trying to augment the heavy rains we got this spring when really I just didn't need to water. Now I'm worried about killing more from overwatering even though its hot (90's) lately. When I take a soil core sample the soil is damp enough to almost hold together at 8"-12" deep, first 2-3" are mostly dry. My last water was about 12 days ago and I tend to water heavy and deep when I water.

So the big question is-in the summer heat of San Diego at what frequency should I water these mango trees? Would love to hear from fellow Californians that have been there, done that!

Thanks in advance!

Kevin N.

Ill try to make this brief. I had a cruise scheduled and one of the stops last week was in Porto, Portugal. On a whim I PM'd Miguel PT (member of this forum) to see if there was anyway I could finally try this fruit fresh, knowing he grew yanmgei successfully, he was harvesting now, but not knowing the distance between Porto and where Miguel lived, turned out it is almost 2 hours away. We only had the day in Porto and no room for getting lost or car problems not to mention we had an excursion scheduled that day already. Somehow Miguel pulled some strings and got 6-8 lbs of 3 different yangmei types delivered to the Harbor Master in Porto waiting for me when we arrived!

Miguel really went above and beyond and made the trip so much more meaningful for me. I have been grafting and growing yangmei since I first heard of it. I have purchased grafted plants from the last 3 imports coordinated through this forum by Bill. And I'm happy to say I loved the fruit-and so did my wife and the 2 kids we brought. I loved the fact that there was such variability between the 3 varieties he had. It met my expectations and then some. Because Miguel sent so much fruit we had a bit of a fruit tasting event on the ship. Many of the cruise workers come from places where fresh fruit-straight from the tree- was more common than fruit harvested early and purchased from a store. We had people from Belarus to Africa, Asia, S. America, you name it, try the fruit and all loved it. Staff were actually seeking me out and asking if they could try some! Miguel labeled the 3 different varieties and I provided him with a quick break down of what I thought (and from the input of others) the differences were. Those descriptions, along with pictures are below.

I do want to give a shout out to Miguel for going above and beyond in furthering our common pursuit of experiencing rare fruit! He certainly is a pioneer in the rare fruit world in Europe!

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Across all three, there is a cranberry/Thimbleberry flavor only much more juicier, like a plum. If you are from the Pacific North West USA and have done any hiking, google Thimbleberry, you've likely tried them off the trail, they are not commercially grown but there was a definite Thimbleberry tone throughout all 3 varieties of yangmei.



F5-P1:

Darkest

Biggest

Very sweet and with a touch of tart like pomegranate with some having a very slight (not bad) resinous flavor. Miguel later mentioned he though any resinous flavor might be the result of being slightly overly ripe. This is likely since it was not in each sample tested.





F1-P5:

Smallest

Second darkest

Has yellow stem entry points similar to Wusu

Grape notes

Flowery flavor

Least favorite





F2-P3:

Medium size

Lightest color, modeled between light red and orange

Most tart of the 3 however still sweet. Definite hint of rhubarb.Sweetest to the outside

Cherry like but more condensed flavor

Biggest seed to flush ratio

Remnant of flower remains at top of fruit in many samples.

The PH was 6.8, I added soil acidifier and dropped it to 6.5. I have since sprayed with chelated iron. Is it possible theres something else going on?

Thanks,
Kevin N.

I have an unknown variety mango thats at least 12 years old, about 12' tall. It fruits annually but most the fruits are really small. Id like to graft it partially over to 1 or 2 varieties. I love keitt mangoes but struggle finding budwood. Any recommendations for varieties to graft? Considerations are  regular producing, not prone to health issues (not sure keitt fits this), and of course good tasting. I also prefer larger mangoes.

A couple other questions:

Im planning on grafting in June, is this the right time of year in San Diego?

Tropical Acres seems to not have scions available currently, any good sources of scions?


Thank you in advance,
Kevin