Yard Update 2/6/10

14 years ago

It was a really nice day here today. Had a chance to take a few shots of some of the goings on in the yard.

I put a piece of what was called Pitaya way back when(approx. 1993), which is now more commonly called dragon fruit, into a silk oak tree and it has taken off growing to the top of the tree and then back down. It flowers prolifically (like 100 blooms at a time) but has only set two fruits ever. Now that I am growing more dragon fruit around the yard, I am hoping for better cross pollination. I have also put pieces of other cultivars in this tree but they are relative late comers and have not bloomed as of yet.

This is a loquat, fruiting for the first time. The cultivar is "Christmas."

Graham mango....not sure if you can see them, but there are hundreds of little mangoes setting.

Pickering mango just starting to bloom

Tebow mango (Edward x Kent)

Angie mango

Martinez mango which I am pretty sure is nothing more than a Rosigold mango. There are about 25 larger fruits and there are new blooms that are just beginning to set more fruit now.

Hatcher mango going into bloom for the first time

New flush with blooms on Mauritius Lychee

Early Large Red Lychee showing blooms

Early Large red Lyche new flush with blooms

Edward mango

Malay apple, happy to report new leaf growth from the terminal buds from most of the branches.....so no limb die back from the cold.

Canistel (variety "Bruce") fruiting heavier this year than ever before.

Macadamia "Dana White" in bloom

Alano sapodilla, fruiting heavily

"Zill Black" Surinam Cherry. Not sure if they show up,but the tree has literally thousands of blooms, just about to open.

Haseya Sapodilla

Alphonso mango, blooming for second year....no fruit held last year.

Nothing like a week of standing water to get jaboticabas to bloom. After a dry period they will flower immediately after a flood.

Seedling Rollinia that miraculously kept most of its foliage through the freeze, only loosing some branch tips.

Spirit of 76 mango going into bloom

Ice Cream mango, just beginning to push bloom

Maha Chanook setting a very good crop of young mangoes

Julie mango in various stages of bloom and early fruit set. I am seeing quite a few more small fruits setting this year. When Lycheeluva was here, he was wandering around the yard finding blooms on my lychee trees and young fruits on this tree. He said that "he was taking credit for this" whenver he pointed out something flowering or fruiting. I gladly give him credit for whatever flowering/fruiting prayer he had been offering prior to his arrival at my place. I know he had been very worried about there being no lychees this year. Thankfully, it looks like we'll have a good crop.

Looking from the corner of my back patio towards the north east. Remnants of my Emperor Lychee now being used as a trellis for a dragon fruit is in the foreground. Main section of my mango grove is behind.

Looking SE from the same point, old avocado tree, now dead used for dragon fruit trellis (Physical Graffiti). Behind is a See Chompoo Longan that was destroyed by Hurricane Wilma. It broke off at the ground and now what you see are in essence root suckers that grow to a point, but then are broken off with the slightest wind because of their lack of a real root system.

Bengal Lychee

Garcinia...probably intermedia if I read the pictures that Ohio Jay posted correctly...I bought it as Rheedia arristata...which it is apprently not

Garcinia fruit

Green sapote from Pine Island

That's all folks!

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Comments (30)

ajaysr5
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Nice trees;-).
bluepalm
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Harry, you are my fruit-growing hero. : )
Nice, nice pics, selection of trees, etc. Your place looks great. I hope you have a bountiful harvest!
Bluepalm
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Great plants! Everything has grown really fast for you. Those castor beans are going to be way bigger than last year and the tree ferns should have some trunk before fall. Sorry to hear about the rain rotting some of your cactus, but it did wonders for your other plants. We could use some rain here but its suppose to be a busy hurricane season so there will be lots of tropical moisture if it hits the east coast. My sago just finished producing a new flush but I think I had it in too much sun because the leaves are curling back. First flush was indoors so it was too long and now the second flush was outdoors in ALL day sun and is too short. I cant win with it! Its like a science! The Thai giant Colocasia and all your other elephant ears will be huge by the end of the summer. The banana plants should be really large too. The brugs have really large leaves and Im glad they are going to flower for you soon. Thanks for keeping us updated. All you plants look great and not very zone 5 like! I wonder what july will bring! -Alex
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Thanks for all the kind words, as always. Troicalgrower89: You are considering: carrie, alphonso, golden nugget, glenn and valencia pride. I haven't had Alphonso yet, but the other choices are all excellent. My personal favorites are Maha Chanook, Edward, Dot, and Cushman. The best tree ripened specimen of the above would win my taste preference contest on most days. There are many other mangoes, that, on a given day, at the peak of perfection of ripeness, that could crack into the elite line up. There are almost too many to name of the mangoes that I am growing that would fall into this category. I built my collection based upon mango selections that were either rated excellent in the early Fairchild ratings back in their publications in the early 1990's or, if I came across a variety that someone thought was the best mango in the world (and I thought they had any idea about what they were talking about). I do own an obligatory Tommy Atkins just for completeness of the collection (I am almost embarrased to say). Of the mangoes you are considering, I would still reserve judgment on Alphonso. Valencia Prida is one of those that I grow that, in a given year or day, it can crack the top mangoes. The others would be just below the elite.....still excellent and worth growing, however....IMO. LOL, I just went back to an old post to a thread in this Forum to see what I had previously said in answer to this question. Here's what I said.... In the very top group would be Maha Chanook, Dot, Edward and Cushman...in no particular order. These would consistantly rate 9.0 or higher on a 10 point scale. After these, there is a group that, while not always in the top group, can, on a given day rival those in the top group. These would include Julie, Carrie, Graham,Mallika, Cogshall, Pickering, Okrung, Nam Doc Mai, Spirit of 76, Ice Cream, Valencia Pride and Southern Blush. These would consistantly rate 8.0-9.5 on a 10 point scale. I also have a seedling tree grown from a Mallika seed that has fruit that has flavor with the best of the best...but is knocked down because of abundant fiber. At least I agree with myself. Best of luck with your Haden graft! John: Good question. I have purchased the Ohia, Ohia Red and Ohia Pink. I have two trees that I know are the original Ohia...that was before I ever heard of the Pink or Red. I have one other tree that is flowering for the first time which is either the pink or red...not sure which. Also not sure how this one will differ from the original Ohias that have flowered and fruited consistantly for many years. Stay tuned for further developments on this front. Ethan: No...no damage on the Dang Rasimi again this year after a second fairly brutal winter. But then again, I really didn't have much daamge this year on any jakfruit other than some peripheral leaf damage on the Tabouey x J-30, Mai 2 and the Borneo Red. Sheehan: No...you misunderstood what I had said. Two of the Maha seedlings have flowered previously. Actually, one flowered two years in a row. However, they have never set any fruit. This year they are all three flowering and I see small fruit development. Maybe I am just looking closer but I am very hopeful that we'll have some to try. In the interim, I would say that there are some fairly different characteristics that indicate individuality. In the picture you will notice that some of the pannicles are deeper red than the others. Also, there was some difference in the timing of the blossom push. Not that this proves anything as I have 4 grafted Maha's planted out and they are off considerably by a number of weeks as compared to the others in bloom timing. Also, the tree on the NW side has much shorter pannicles than the others. BluePalm: Yes, Rosiegold does seem to be very anthracnose prone and the tree habit is scraggly as you can see on all three that I have. Remember, the tree pictured was originally grafted by me and I was calling it the Martinez mango based on what I was told by the suppplier of the scions. I have come to realize that what I have is Rosiegold...so now I have three of them planted out and they all look the same...scraggly. On your question about that Brewster lychee. It was a wedding gift to my wife and I and was in a 15 or so gallon pot when it was planted out in June of 1991. Andrew: My Jean Ellen was purchased not this past Fairchild Festival but the one the previous year. So it has been planted out since around July of 2009....that is one year and seven months. Remember...that is the tree I used as an experiment in my "To prune or not to prune" thread. See link below. Here is a link that might be useful: To prune or not to prune
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Yard Update 3/24/10
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Comments (18)
Thanks to all for the nice comments. Gerry: So sorry, in a senior moment I short changed you on credit for my trees' blossoming. It's nice to know that your blooming prayers are so well received by the almighty! Andrew: The Meyer Lemon is very edible by itself...if you have just eaten a Miracle Fruit Berry. Its more sour than a sour orange but not as sour as store bought, Eureka type lemon. Felipe: Edaw is the leading commercial cultivar in Thailand from what I was told. It isn't the largest, or even the best tasting fruit, but it is very prolific, bears regularly and is a good longan. I prefer See Chompoo or Biew Keow which are both slightly better than Kohala in my humble opinion. Edaw would be just a hair less than Kohala in my book. Tommy Wong is a seedling grown by Tommy Wong....coincidentally. I didn;t know him, but Bill Flynn (an old timer from Southern Dade County (now probably deceased) sold it to me about 15 years ago. It bears regularly and is on the same level, for me, as Edaw. Sheehan: I have been getting $1 per fruit for Hasya sapodillas (the smaller ones). When I get the really large ones, I have gotten up to $4 per pound.
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Yard Update 7/2/10
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Comments (19)
Felipe: Thanks for the kind words. You asked about: garcinia intermedia ......beautiful and easy to grow tree/bush. Very attractive and prolific in fruiting. The taste is too heavily skewed to the sour side for me...not enough sweetness and much too little flesh as the result of very large seeds. -lychee bengal.....fairly large fruit, but has the largest seeds of all the lychees I grow. The flesh that is there is very nicely flavored. It bears in the mid to late lychee season which makes it worth growing for me. -lychee bosworth 3.....a/k/a kwai mai pink.....I haven't had much success growing the tree....not sure why. I have one tree that is very small that gives me about 15 or so undersized fruits a year. The original air layer was from the tree at Bill Whitman's home. Unfortunately, my tree got run over by a truck when it was young and seems not to ever have recovered completely. But then again, I have 2 Kwai Mai Pinks from Fairchild and another source and those trees are even more stunted than the one that fruits. And, these oterh two never got hit by the truck. I love the flavor of it. And the best thing I can say about it is that Bill Whitman...who could have had anything in his collection, grew three cultivars of lychee (at least when I was last to his house about 15 years ago)......Bosworth 3, Kaimana and Emperor. -illama.....very interesting fruit and tree with its diverse foliage. The ripe fruit is very good, but not very meaty. The fruits tend to split and get eaten by the bugs before we get to have them. They have a creamy raspberry flavor that is reminiscent of raspberry cheescake. Mine is growing on an incompatible rootstock (pond apple, a. glabra) and they may be having some negative effect on the tree overall. Regarding garcinia madruno a/k/a charichuela....I tried it at Bill Whitman's. The fruit is more in balance between sweet and sour than intermedia, however it suffers the same lack of flesh and very large seeds and that makes it a marginal fruit for me. I think it may grow better at altitudes greater than my 6 feet above sea level as all of my attempts to grow it from seed were not successful. I think I even bought a fairly large seedling years ago from somewhere and promptly killed it. Again, interesting tree and fruit, but something I have given up on for the above reasons. Harry
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yaslan
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow. I love your photos Harry! I especially liked the green-colored mangoes dripping off their branches and the pitaya climbing your silk tree (you have to post pics when it blooms). It's great to see your tropical fruit orchard looking very healthy and thriving!

Thank you for posting pics of your beautiful fruit trees!

~Bo
ohiojay
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Spectacular!
jsvand5
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Loved that Dragon fruit growing all over the tree. Didn't realize you had a fruiting garcinia. How does the fruit taste? I see a few laying on the ground so I am guessing they must not be that great.
squam256
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Based on your yard shots it looks like its going to be another good year for tropical fruit here in south Florida.....last summer was the best I'd ever seen for mangos, lychees, and longans and a lot of growers seemed to agree. Nice to see that we could have a 2nd consecutive good season. I guess that is what several years without hurricanes will do for you. Also, provided it doesn't freeze, the touch of real cold temps can help bring out more blooms in some of the trees, at least that was what one established mango farmer told me last season.

Lets just hope we don't get anymore freezes and it should be a good summer.
lycheeluva
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
HARRY- Thank you for correctly acknowledging that all credit for fruit in your garden belongs to me.
swrancher
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Harry,

Your yard is the model I'm following with mine. Those are simply some awesome trees and very nice photo's. How come you have never gotten anything from that Alphonso Tree it looks healthy and well established?

Tony
puglvr1
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Harry, WoW!! Everything is looking fantastic!! I can't wait till summer to visit your little piece of tropical heaven!

Harry, how old is your Pickering mango? I'm thinking of getting one of those, I love the shape of the tree, reminds me a lot of my Cogshall, I know you said it was a slow grower though right? My cogshall is actually a pretty good grower considering its a dwarf variety. Thanks!
mango_kush
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
beautiful trees, it definitely feels spring like today despite the cool breeze, i painted my strawberry pots :D

thats the tallest ice cream mango ive seen.
how long did you have your Alphonso for? are they really that poor producers?
i think i have the same variety Garcinia as you, its real cold hardy
red_sea_me
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
WOW, beautiful!

-Ethan
jsvand5
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Harry, is there something that caused your Ice creams trunk to grow like that or is that just the way it grew? Almost looks like a Bonsai.
jhl1654
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
hmhausman Can I live in your yard? Such a nice green yard!!!
hmhausman
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks to all of you for all the kind comments.

Maureen:
Actually, you could come live in the yard. I have a somewhat rustic mother-in-law type apartment in the back corner of my property. It was rented by a friend of mine for years. He's moved on to condo dwelling and the apartment is presently vacant. It does come with fruit picking priveleges.

John:
The garcinia is a kind of sweet tart mix. A bit more tart than sweet and I am not a pick tart fruit lover. In typical garcinia fashion, there is a poor ratio of edible flesh to seed and skin. Actually, I am hoping to get some mangosteen budwood and do some grafting of that budwood on the top of this tree.
Re: the Ice Cream mango, I bought it years ago (like 1995) from Maurice Kong....who supposedly brought it into the country from I think Trinidad. When I planted it out, the root system was terrible. I mentioned it to Maurice and his answer was that when he brings plant material in, he has to graft to whatever is available. That poor rootstock may have something to do with the way it is growing. I have no other explanation.

Mango Kush:
Nice looking strawberry pots!

Mango Kush and Tony:
My Alphonso mango was purchased whatever year the whole big hype went on about the coming of the fabulous Indian mangoes. It has grown quite a bit over the last two years....unhindered by fruit, sad to say. I think it needs a fungicide spraying regimen which I did not previously give it. I am trying to be more diligent this year to see if it makes any difference. So far, no matter how the mango supposedly tastes, I wouldn't give you two cents for it. Hopefully, I'll eat my words and perhaps even some Alphonso mangoes this year.

Nancy:
The Pickering mango is just about 2 years old. It has fruited fairly heavily for a small tree. It seems to be much more in the line of Julie and Ice Cream in growth habit. Cogshall would be in the next rung up in vigor and size.

Harry
dadhaslonglegs
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I hate to say this, but cold outbreak #2 is on its way. The new GFS is showing 41F at Ft. Lauderdale later this week for a low temp, so 30's should be common away from the coast.

Not as bad as the earlier outbreak, but still something to think about. The AO is severely negative right now, which should allow that Arctic air to get deep south into the country.
puglvr1
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Harry, thanks for the info on your Pickering Mango tree. I'm planning on either growing it appx. 7-8ft from the wall of the house, or growing it in a container(I haven't decided yet).
puglvr1
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Harry, sorry one more question? Do you remember what size your tree was when you bought it? Debating if I want to spend the extra $$ for a 7 gallon or just get the 3gal? Thanks again!
hmhausman
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Nancy:

I think I bought a 3 gallon size, if I'm not mistaken. I'd have to look it up. What are the price/size choices they are offering?

Harry
jsvand5
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Pug, I picked up a pickering at the broward rare fruit sale about six months back. It was in a 5 gal pot. It was really huge which is what made me buy it. About 4ft tall and maybe even more than 4' wide. Definitely a great growth habit for people like us who need to protect the trees to keep them going. The one I have is blooming everywhere and already setting fruit. I think with a slower growing type you might as well get the largest you can find. I am not sure when the next rare fruit sale is, but the pickering trees they had at the last one were a really great deal.
puglvr1
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks Harry! I am still in the process of finding one, but I know there will be at least $20-$25 dollar difference between the two sizes? I might have to go out of town to find one...I'll have to see if one of the local nurseries will have it.

Jvand, you're right, I will probably end up getting the bigger size especially because it is a dwarf and a slower growing variety, great news on yours blooming already, Thanks and congrats on your nice tree. Do you have yours in a container or planted inground?
jsvand5
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Mine is in a big container now. I am thinking about putting it in ground at some point and just doing the heavy protection for it but I am not sure yet. I'll probably see how it does in the container for a few seasons first.
simon_grow
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow Harry, you are so lucky to have so much land to plant all these tropical fruit trees. You are living my dream. I hope your Alphonso mangoes fruit this year so we can get a report on how US grown Alphonso's taste! If I have 1/10th the land you have, I'd consider myself very lucky.
jhl1654
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Harry
Did you use any protection at all for last month frost? I am surprised to see the trees looking nice and green. My 2 sapodilla trees are brown from the frost . Are those old photos ?How big is your yard?
hmhausman
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Maureen:

I did very little cold protection. I put a pillow case over a newly planted Emperor Lychee. I wrapped my Borneo Red jakfruit in a sheet and pillow case over the top. And, I put a towel over a small durian seedling. That was it. The rest is as you see it. I have things that are burned from the cold. I just didn't take any pictures of those....other than the Malay Apple.

My property is 2.39 acres in total. Of course, between the house/garage, patio/pool and some non-fruting landscape areas, the actual fruit growing space is somewhere between 1.5 and 1.75 acreas.
akuza
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
fantastic pic harry....
i am really enjoying to see your pic now.
i wish i had a yard like you ....hhmm but impossible.
i just wondering , your tree are so huge and tall , how did you pick the fruit ?? must be very hard for you to get to the top rihgt ?
hmhausman
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Akuza:
Thanks. I get up pretty high with a 16 foot orchard tripod fruit picking ladder and an extention pick and hold fruit picker. If the fruits are above 22 feet.....the birds can enjoy them.

Harry
puglvr1
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Harry and Jsvand, I found my Pickering mango. I called at least 10-12 nurseries within 70 miles radius and no one had it except Crowley's nursery in Sarasota(thanks Jb_fla) for letting me know they had them. I decided to pot this one up, with all the cold snaps we've been getting lately, I didn't want another one to cover/heat...I'll just drag it in the garage, since its a dwarf.

It was in a 7 gal.but when I removed it to repot to a different pot...the roots were closer to a 5 gal. Wasn't as big as I would have liked and spent more than I wanted to but overall was pleased with the size considering no one had them at all in my area. I didn't want to wait till summer to get one, I'm very impatient once I decide on something,lol...

Jsvand, if you don't mind I would love to see a picture of yours...thanks!

BTW, when I was there she showed me a picture of a guy in
Miami that grows one(Pickering) the tree is 10 years old, the guy standing next to the tree(holding fruits) was 6ft. 4" tall and the 10 year old tree came to about his shoulder...Wide but short...this is my kind of Dwarf tree! I think this would make an excellent container mango.
jsvand5
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I'll try this weekend. It's kind of stuffed behind a bunch of stuff in the greenhouse but I should be able to get to it.
puglvr1
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks, but only if you can get to it w/out knocking down another tree,lol...
eloise_ca
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow, so impressive! I too would love your size property Harry, but it would have to come with lots of helpers, LOL! The only mango I have is a manilla that was standing about six feet tall, but a raccoon or some other animal, broke off about two feet from the top.

Yard Update 2/6/10

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