Bananafan,

Rambutans are *definitely* not USDA Zone 9b-appropriate plants. They are quite exceedingly tropical in nature. My guess would be that rambutans are adaptable only in the extreme southern portions of Florida, and probably just barely adapted, even there. (If possible to grow at all.)

There are better forums, on Gardenweb and elsewhere, for asking about rambutans in Florida. So check around for more complete information. But I think that you would most likely have to grow the fruit as a greenhouse plant.

I've heard scattered anecdotal reports that jackfruit trees are potentially possible in very mild warm-temperate climates. If your potted tree had been in the ground, it might have survived. (It would have had a chance to grow to a larger size, and larger plants are obviously much more likely to survive freezes.)

Ashok,

Thanks for taking the time to respond and supplying the info. Greenhouse? That's an idea. I might have to read more about constructing a greenhouse.

Ahhh... Rambutan...

Reminds me of my documentary film days tramping through Thailand. Good memories. Great fruit. Wish I had some now.

Don

Rambutans border on the ultra-tropical type, along with Durian and Mangosteen. So they are less cold hardy than Artocarpus heterophyllus (Jackefruit) and other Artocarpus species. If the Jackfruit died, without a doubt, your rambutan will also die.

I have a friend who is on an expedition hunt for Nephelium native species in the mountains of the Philippines and have told me that there are quite a few wild species up there that are edible. If these are on the mountains, then chances are, they could be cold-hardy, but it would take a long time before they will become available.

Joe,

You have a friend on a Nephelium-prospecting trip in the Philippine mountains? That is quite interesting! Could you perhaps add a few more comments on this very intriguing mission? (I remember you mentioning that you have contacts in Philippino agricultural circles, so I would guess that your friend must be a professional academic horticulturalist.)

However, I must say that I do wonder how cold it can get on mountains in the Philippines, even on the very top of the very highest peak. Is there actually any, you know, *snow* on top of any of these mountains? Or even frost? (I honestly have no idea here ... I probably should know a lot more.)

Obviously, what I would hope for is a S.F. Bay Area-adapted Nephelium of good table-fruit quality. But my fear is that even super-hardy Nephelium species might not be able to grow anywhere north of San Diego!

Ashok,

My friend and I stayed together in the same dormitory at one time during college years and belonging to the same group that cook together our own meals. He is currently a full time professor now in another University. He loves the mountains and wanted to catalogue our endemic fruiting species and always excited to get reports from him.

So far, aside from the endemic Nepheliums, he has shown me unique aromatic mangoes, red-fleshed durian, different red colored banana species, unique fruit nuts, and many others. And of course the problems of people encroaching into the virgin forests of Palawan and knocking the trees down for lumber or firewood, or simply for clearing to plant crops.

My programmer is now helping him build the website (for free, as donation or volunteer work) for you all to see and I will post it here once itis done. Too bad, most of the pics are poor quality, simply because he is using super-outdated digital camera from lack of funds for equipments. His work is currently funded by the Japanese government and would end soon, so if you can point me to the right places to help fund worthwhile non-profit projects like this one, I'd appreciate it.

Lately, we had cooler areas in the mountains than before. IIRC, our record lows was about 4 deg C (39 deg F) in the mountains, elevation of 3,000 feet and above. Big-name multi-national companies like Dole and Del Monte are beginning to grow blueberries over there, in those mountains! they beat me to it. I know that with cooler temps in the mountains, coupled with native acidic soils, and new evergreen blueberry cultivars, that truly is feasible as a crop.

If I were to look for cold hardy types that will have a chance to make it here, the mountain regions of the tropics are such places to hunt for good candidate exotic fruits.

One of these days, we may be able to get some Nephelium that are tree-ripened from our own backyards.

Joe

We had several instances of hail in the mountains of the Philippines. But not long-lasting. It is still occuring, with this global climatic change and all.

Perhaps it snowed in some areas at least once every 100 years, but it would have been very brief, no more than 5 minutes. We don't have that kind of weather data gathering way back then, so these are only based on folkloric types of evidences passed on.

Joe,

As always, you are a fount of great information! Thanks for sharing!

I would love to see the web-site once it is ready!

Nephelium native species in the Philippines? If somebody can make the expedition there to collect the seeds from the fruit/cuttings and cultivate them for private/commercial growers, I think this can develop into something big. It's a new business opportunity the way I see it :)