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Messages - FruitFly

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Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Having a Planty Garage Sale!
« on: March 15, 2024, 01:24:15 PM »
Hope to see you there!

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 Hope to see you there!

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Spring has sprung! Time to start planting to take advantage of the last of the spring rains!

Some subtropicals: Dwarf Tamarillo, Pepino melon, Ayacucho Peruvian/Inca Berry, Vernon & Cuccio White Sapote seedlings, Cherimoya seedlings, Fig trees, and more! Plenty of pottery all sizes. Mention the fruit forum and I’ll bring out some cooler stuff for you to choose from.

Many unusual garden plants and succulents as well!

No holds and no shipping. Local pick up only.

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Spring has sprung! Time to start planting to take advantage of the last of the spring rains!

Some subtropicals: Dwarf Tamarillo, Pepino melon, Ayacucho Peruvian/Inca Berry, Vernon & Cuccio White Sapote seedlings, Cherimoya seedlings, Fig trees and more! Plenty of pottery all sizes. Mention the fruit forum and I’ll bring out some cooler stuff for you to choose from.

Many unusual garden plants and succulents as well!

No holds and no shipping. Local pick up only.

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Crossing my fingers!🤞

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Still available.

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Got three Bananas up for sale.
All three in 15 gallon containers.
All three will make seedy bananas.
All three are super hardy.
All three were one gallon size when I got them 10 years ago.

So 10 years growth = instant gratification!

$75 each - in San Francisco - local pick up only.
All three for $200

PM me if interested.

These take a beating from the wind in my west facing garden and after the 80 mile per hour winds we had a few weeks ago it’s time to admit they were meant for a more protected garden. There are no big trees in our neighborhood.

So admittedly these look a little beat up but they are putting out new growth already. Perfect for worry free transporting.


Musa Basjoo - a hardy (zone 5-6) banana, probably the most cold hardy banana species. This species will survive snow and great amounts of cold, acting as a giant deciduous perennial. Unlike most other bananas, the foliage can take down to freezing or even slightly below without damage. Its trunks are known to take mid twenties before beginning to freeze down. It will reach 8-12' tall in one growing season with enough heat, water, and fertilizer, and can go close to 20' at maturity. In mild climates, it will overwinter and the stands look much like any other banana. While leaves will survive light frosts, they tend to get badly tattered during winter storms, and plants are probably best at least partially cut back early in spring in most situations. Like most bananas, it probably forms its flower stalk the first year and it emerges and continues the reproductive cycle the second year. If it doesn't freeze down, you may see typical banana flowers and small, seedy, essentially inedible fruit. All bananas seem to appreciate a warm situation, and if you are in the cool coastal belts, you should site this plant so it receives at least some direct sunlight in winter. This species will reportedly take 0°F without protection and -20°F with thick mulch.

Musa sikkimensis Ruby Dragon Fire Breath - DARJEELING BANANA  - an even more intensely colored strain than the famous "Red Tiger," This is one of the best and most dramatic ornamental species available, and one of the most cold-tolerant as well. It features wonderful, deep maroon stripes (a la M. sumatrana 'Zebrinus') and undersides on the youngest foliage, and occasionally on mature leaves as well but much fainter. It is a very large, fast grower where well sited, with pseudotrunks growing to 15-18' and leaves adding another 6' or so more. New pseudotrunks spread the clump slowly outwards, eventually form very large, impressive, indeed gigantic colonies where happy. Mature plants can produce a long, arching to pendant flower spike, very showy with its very large, maroon and dark golden bracts and prominent central column of maroon bud bracts. Plants readily set fruit but those aren't edible, being fully packed with seeds. This species is grown as far north as Portland without special attention, and even Seattle if mulched. Where the trunks freeze it regrows to about 10' each year but doesn't flower.

Musa yunnanensis -  another highly sought after, highly ornamental, graceful, moderate size, cold-tolerant species from high elevation Yunnan Province in China. It is recognized by long, dark green, ribbed and usually folded leaves held partway out on long petioles which arch over gracefully over. It also has a characteristic, beautiful, white, waxy coating on the petioles and upper trunk, blackish marking on the leaves and pseudotrunks and long, sinuous flower spikes featuring a thin, extended central bud column. In hot, humid, partly shaded conditions the leaves are held flat but in full sun and cool, dry, coastal California the blades usually fold over neatly at the midrib. At my house orioles regularly use those folded leaves as sites for building their hanging-basket nests. Pseudotrunks are thinner and not so tall on this modest-sized species, so it's not likely to outgrow its spot. Originally purchased and sold as M. itinerans by us about ten years ago, this tightly clumping form was separated and formally described in 2008. As with M. sikkimensis Ruby Dragon, above, all our production derives from seed harvested from the single plant in my own home garden, so supply is intermittent and very limited. USDA zone 7 or 8/Sunset zones 5, 8-9, 14-24

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Exciting plants not usually available even at your fanciest garden nurseries! At least in the Bay Area anyway!

Local Pick Up Only.
All plants 2-4 feet tall.

SOLD! -  Sharwil Avocado 5gal - $50 - hard to find on the mainland - famous Hawaiian variety used for sushi. Top rated!

SOLD! -  Nowels Avocado 5gal - $50 - rated “excellent” by Julie Frink, the curator of the avocado collection at UC Irvine’s South Coast Research Station.

Berberis darwinii - hard to find! 3gal - $30 - tangy blue berries revered for vitamins & medicinal qualities. Gorgeous spiny leaves and bright orange flower clusters. First noted by Darwin himself. Definitely a conversation starter.

Dwarf Everbearing Mulberry 3gal - $30 - sweet black oval shaped fruit. Continuous fruit all summer long. Easy to maintain at a smaller size. Can be kept in a large container.

Ayacucho Peruvian Inca Berry (next to impossible to find) - 10gal - $50 - IMO the best tasting ground cherry relative and produces sweet tropical punch flavored fruit nearly year round. This plant gets enormous and would love an arbor to grow over. Tracked down by famous fruit explorer Joseph Simcox.

Red Lake Currant 5gal - $30 - long panicles of small red bittersweet berries - Campari and soda anyone?

Strawberry Guava 5gal - $50 - 6 years old. Red marble sized berries with great guava flavor - easy!

Natal plum 5gal - $50 - less than a foot tall. Very slow growing - More than 8 years old. Fruiting size. Red egg shaped fruit an inch or two long taste like cranberries. Gorgeous glossy green leaves some spines and showy white fragrant flowers.

Fuchsia boliviana ‘Alba’- rare! - 3gal - $30 - green juicy sweet berries taste like kiwi. Showers of white and red pendant flowers that are 3 inches long.

Psorolea pinnata AKA grape kool-aid bush - 2gal - $30 - ornamental shrub with pine like foliage and purple grape scented flowers.

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Everything looks super delicious! Can’t wait to hear more about this exciting adventure!

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Got my Garnet and a few others last week! They look really great and were larger and fuller than I expected!

Thanks so much!

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Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Nice Jabo Plants For Sale
« on: May 13, 2022, 01:02:26 PM »
Pm’d

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All trees have been scheduled for pick up, if any do not get taken, I will update post.
———————————————————————————————————————————-

I made too many grafts and now I’m giving away the extras!!

If you have cool subtropical fruit trees or unusual edibles that you’d like to trade even better!

These are hard to find heirloom cider trees that you won’t see at your local nursery. These are probably not going to be tasty eating apples. These are specifically for making cider, these apples and pears are renowned for adding character to cider. Qualities they might add are sharpness, brightness, bitterness, acidity, dryness, and aroma.
These are the fruit the pros use to make cider and perry.

Please have a genuine interest in cider making if you take home some of these trees.
Limit three per person.

All in 5 gallon sized containers on dwarfing root stock.

These trees are a couple of years old and are still on the small side which is great for planting!

Plant 3 in a hole and keep them even smaller!

Local pick up only.

Here’s what’s available:

Perry/Cider Pears:
Brandy - Cider/Perry
Gelbmostler - Cider/Perry
Gin - Cider/Perry
Hendre Huffcap - Cider/Perry
Butt - Cider/Perry

Cider Apples:
Collaos - Spanish Cider apple
Piel de Sapa - Spanish Cider apple

I only have one each of these so get them while they are hot!
One week only!




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It's a bummer, that happened to me the first time more or less (got one survivor).  I'll be selling some of the duplicates of the grafted yangmei that I imported if anyone is interested in getting some recovered plants later this year.

Yes please, I would love to get a few different varieties when they are ready.

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No signs of leaf out on any of the 10 plants I purchased. Not surprising though since I got the message that they were here a week after they arrived and they were mostly picked through, mixed up with grafts disconnected and sitting uncovered in the hot sun.
Luckily Bill was nice enough to credit me back for two trees that weren’t there at all.

Scratched the bark on my bare sticks today and it looks black underneath. What a shame to go through all that trouble and expense only to have risked infecting our gardens with evil nematodes. If anyone has any success please make scions available to others once your trees get bigger.

I still appreciate that Bill went through all that trouble for the group. I’m sure it wasn’t easy. Still crossing my fingers for some Morella/Myrica Miracles!

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77?

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Pm’d

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Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Queen Natal Pineapple Slips/Suckers
« on: February 27, 2022, 10:34:47 AM »
My plants arrived in great shape and already rooted! Thanks so much!

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Really happy with the yacon material Evan! I'll have a bunch of tubers in a few years. Thanks much. Dan

I’m glad you liked them Dan. I’m sure you’ll get a decent batch this winter!

Later down the road when you have a lot more crowns. You can harvest as you need them. I usually cut the 4’ tops to about a foot long once they dry up in fall or winter.  Leaving the stalks a little long helps me spot them faster when harvesting. Here in the Bay Area or places with an occasional light frost we can leave the tubers and crowns in the ground to store them. Once out of the ground you can refrigerate the tubers for about two weeks. The crowns can be replanted right away in light frost or warm winter areas or stored safely in a cool dark place for quite some time but it’s best not to let them dry out too much before replanting. Maybe store in damp pine shavings? I cut the remaining stalks off when I replant the crowns.

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Sending out a batch this afternoon.

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Thanks for the info Evan. I just ate the more watery and delicious part of the Yacon and like it alot. Though the cooked main tuber is pretty good also.

How deep is the soil in your stock tank ?
I grew mine in a 65 gallon black pot with maybe 2 feet of soil , but I feel like I could use less.

I had mine in a 6’Lx3’wx2’deep stock tank in about 1.5 feet of soil. I felt it could have been deeper but still got great results. The tubers didn’t travel that far down anyway. The crowns sit right at the surface.  I haven’t tried to eat the crowns but I really don’t want to sacrifice the crowns when they produce the yummy tubers. Maybe next harvest I’ll try them. Thanks for the tip!

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Does anyone know if they grow well in FL?

Would be interested, sounds cool.

This is supposed to be a tropical to subtropical plant so I would imagine it should do well in Florida.
In the article I attached it says:

“that the yacon plant adapts to different climatic regions, altitudes and soils explains its expansion outside the Andean region. Yacon is currently cultivated in Argentina, Bolívia, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Peru and the United States.”

Also I grow mine in a large stock tank. So it does well in containers.

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Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Red Yacón Crowns - ENDED
« on: January 23, 2022, 09:55:20 PM »
-ENDED-

I am selling Red Smallanthus sonchifolius - yacón crowns/divisions.
$10 for a piece or pieces roughly measuring 4”x4” plus USPS $16.10 priority mail shipping.


Yacón is a sunflower relative from the Andes from Columbia to Northern Argentina. It is grown as a perennial in subtropical to tropical climates and as an annual in temperate climates.

The crowns themselves are red and white and look like sunchokes and are used as the propagative material. The part you eat is actually a starchy white fleshed storage tuber that grows below the crowns. They are eaten raw and the flavor reminds one of watermelon and the texture is somewhere between firm melon and tender jicama.

The Spanish term yacón, derived from the Quéchua word “Yaku” which means “watery”, is the most used worldwide. Interestingly, Yacón roots’ water content usually exceeds 70% of the fresh weight. So juicy!

They are sweet enough that they are being used to make a healthy sugar substitute in the form of a beautiful emerald green syrup. We freeze them to help thicken & sweeten up smoothies. You can also dehydrate or juice them.

Yacón’s best features are not only that it is a beautiful ornamental plant with large triangular shaped leaves it is also a prebiotic, high in fiber and high in fructooligosacharides and may be effective in treating colon cancer, diabetes, and obesity.

See this article for scientific research on Yacón:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4963912/

Please PM if interested.





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