I dont live 12 floors up,so living on the ground is much different growing conditions, ya think??? He did give me hints,for growing them on a patio 12 floors up. But I thought this was an OPEN forum, and ASKING advise was allowed....my mistake. Guess you run it.? Not sitting around on my hands,and being 'patient' got me some nice rooted cuttings,at a very low price. I grow many slow growing, and slow blooming plants, all over my yard. I just want hints to speed these guys up and be good to them. Sorry to interrupt YOUR forum. Feel free to NOT give anymore of YOUR hints. GEEZ!

Healthy fruit trees may flower and create many sets but the tree knows if it has the energy to support all that fruit. I planted a black cepote a few years ago. Healthy young tree. Grows and flowers each year. No fruit yet. Somehow or another the trees know if they are big enough to support the fruit. After a bumper year on my avocado, the following year was not enough for the squirrels share. But this year a lot of fruit with hundreds of little ones on the ground. Mature tree, 40 plus feet, aborted a lot of fruit. Still a nice yield though. Normal. I wonder if the tree may boycott the idea of being potted. Good luck

Yeah, I'm not sure why it's been growing so slowly. It's been slow and steady though, and may have picked up lately. As of today, I would guess the volume is about half of that of a hen's egg. When it first bloomed, though, I wasn't even sure it was pollinated because it was growing so incredibly slowly. I wouldn't call our climate heat-deprived--were not at all like SF or Oakland/Berkeley. Our average high in the summer is something like 80 or 82 (we don't have a good nearby weather station). Last summer there were 5 periods (1 or more days) when the temperature topped 95 F. Over the time since the 'Frederick' bloomed, temps have been all over the place--60s, 70s and 80s. Today is forecast for 83. Cool compared to Sacramento or Stockton, but not to SF. I'll try to post in a week or two whether my fruit appears to be headed towards standard 'Frederick' size. You got me for a minute on Tecoma stans--I had never heard about it, so I looked it up. At first I worried that for the longest time I had been calling them Tabebuias instead of their correct names! I checked a picture--very similar flowers. But Tabebuias are in fact trees, and Tecoma is a bush. Moreover, they used to be classified in the same genus. So I don't feel as ignorant, but it just reminds me how little I know (especially about trees). The reason the carpenter bees visited our yard so much this year was because I was growing giant pumpkins (they make a LOT of pollen). The giant pumpkins were in the way of where 'Frederick' will go.

Flower drop probable causes: 1. Day temp too high >95F 2. Night temp too low <65F or too high >85F 3. Too much nitrogen fertilizer 4. Too much water 5. Low light levels (reduces fertility). 6. Very low humidity (reduces fertility) 7. Poor air circulation (air circulation contributes to pollination). 8. Lack of pollinating insects. 9. Size of pot 10. Too much mineral in feedwater. 11. Too much grower attention/anxiety.