Flfishie - You can not go wrong with the Brogdon avocado, it is a good choice. Here is a ripe Brogdon going to be part of my lunch today On the mangoes it gets difficult to choose, lol. After I went to the tasting at Fairchild, I was confused like when you smell too many perfumes. I do prefer fruits that are small size and have no fiber, so that leaves me with fewer options if it was for me, also I found that is best to sample 1 variety at the time. So everyday I do only 1 mango from the varieties that I took home and here are my new favorites: 1. Alphonso 2. Fairchild 3. Champagne 4. Pairi I still have to sample the others... Silvia

Once again Harry thanks for running to my aide! I just don't want to end up throwing my tree out, it is just way to healthy and happy! Is it possible to graft a mexican variety to a Florida seedling? Tonight I will have to google Julian Lara and see if I can find what you are talking about. I really would like to become proficient at grafting and it doesn't have to be with every kind of fruit tree, I know some are more difficult to graft then others. It is funny, when people came to my apartment before when all I had for tropical fruits was a ponderosa lemon and a pineapple plant people didn't say as much but now that I have branched out more people ask me "Oh wow, can you start me a mango?" I end up telling them that yeah I could from seed and it may never fruit(There enthusiasm is gone by that point!) for you. Honestly though I think it is a very important skill to learn. My father grafted most of the fruits that my parents have in there orchard. I know some grafting techniques are the same for trees but also know that tropicals have to be diffrent in some ways. Would I need to spend money on the grafting knives and other tools? I know there is grafting tape and wax. Harry what would be your suggestion for a variety? My avocado tree has numerous branches and I know the problem for me would be cutting the whole branch system out, meaning I would have to graft below where the tree starts branching. That would make me very nervous because if the graft doesnt take, then I would be left with a stump. Well I guess you have to learn some how, and the tree only cost me a couple dollars anyways. Thanks again Harry! Oh one more question I have been meaning to ask you. Bo sent me a bunch of bell carambola seeds in a damp paper towel in a zip lock baggy. As of yet there is no germination but also no rotten seeds. I check like every other day. If I do get germination to occur, will I end up with a tree that produces fruit that are bell carambola or will it be a less desirable fruit. If so, then out they go! I would rather wait till I get to FL this summer and buy a grafted tree instead. I don't have the time and space to be messing around with seedlings that are going to produce poor quality fruit. In general, I don't like seedling fruit trees PERIOD! I have made exceptions with a few sugar apples, soursop, and tangerines. I read that you can get tangerine seedlings to fruit in a few years from seed but again, if they take more then 3 years to produce and if then the fruit quality is lousy, out they go! Andrew

I'm actually going to buy a grafted pantin mamey(Picking season: July-August), a carrie mango, diamond river longan, and atemoya. I already have a kent, valencia pride, and a glenn mango, pace mamey(Picking season: March-April, two sugar apple/sweetsop seedlings, carrie mango seedling, pantin mamey seedling, manzano banana, blue java banana(blue java not yet rooting, so lets see if it makes it)and passion fruit(just beginning to root). Today I'll go to Lowes and buy a Brogdon or a Russell avocado, depending on what's still available. In the front yard, I'll have the seedling carrie, seedling mamey and the ornamental banana.

I have had fruit from 4/11 of my avocado varieties. They will all flower in the season as mine are grafted. Not all hold fruit if they are to young and drop them. But that is not true for everyone. There are many factors that play into a tree holding fruit set including weather, temperature, pollination etc....... I've known people who have had 2-3 year old trees that were grafted produce fruit and hold on the tree. I'm one of them who did so in containers with a Mexicola and Wurtz. You can see them in the Avocado forum under container trees. My Wurtz ( Little Cado ) has 30 plus fruit on it this year and is in a 24inch box and my Mexicola is in a raised bed now and I'm expecting it to fruit this year and several other trees that are now in the ground. I will update the group this summer. I'm expecting fruit from my Fuerte, Pinkerton, Stewart, Bacon, Mexicola and Wurtz. My other trees are still to young.