Tropical Fruit Forum Meet and Greet
HI Everyone,
I decided to finally follow up on starting this thread so we can all introduce ourselves (put our faces and personalities with our names).
My name is Marin. I am an OB/GYN ARNP and Certified Nurse Midwife. I am married and have 3 kids (22, 20 & 16), a border collie and a sulfur crested cockatoo. I have lived in Deerfield Beach, Florida since 1983 when I moved here from NJ where I was born and raised. I decided to move to Florida after a trip here for Spring Break that year because of the warm climate, the palm trees, the beautiful beaches and mostly because of the Mangoes!!! My hobbies include snow skiing (get my 15 days of powder per year), fishing, scuba diving, camping, traveling and growing tropical fruit are at the top of the list.
I am looking forward to knowing more about everyone!
Comments (74)
squam256
12 years agopuglvr1
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Greetings... my journey thus far.
Comments (35)Linda, About the only difference is the size. So, as Dora suggests, you may have more of them on a shelf! The distance from light fixture to top of plant is also less than with standards. You can space your shelves closer together, too. Some recommend the distance for minis should be 6 to 8 inches from light to top of plant. Where as standards 12 or so inches. Also, it is recommended to repot more often than standards. Anywhere from 3 to 6 months. When you repot you usually stay with the same size pot - no need to move into a larger size. You may just use solo cups. Some say they are hard to work with. I guess because they are small. It's just what you get use to, I suppose. Arthritic hands may have problems? I do at times use forceps to take leaves off etc. My knuckle on occasion has broken the leaf above off while I'm trying to pinch a stem or flower off or check the soil. Hope you give them a try. Mac (Week two. One more to go! Maybe Valentines Day I'll have blooms.)...See MoreWintersowing greetings from Holland!
Comments (17)My chiming won't be that helpful to many, it goes along with Flora's experience so I understand her perspective; I've been winter sowing those things that need the chill since long before having a computer. I've noticed the info on the Seed Site but my direction came from a similar gardening magazine article many years back. And only occasionally find reason now to have a pot or two of dirt in my refrigerator :) I clearly remember my first sight of a photo of rained on Winter Sown plastic covered containers on a table on this forum when I first joined GW - my initial thought was it looked like a 4th of July potluck coastal Washington style. I still tend to sow only those things that need the range of temperatures, admitting I don't have a lot of interest in annuals or room for vegetables - the few I grow I start indoors (my cool summer temps create need to get those type things started early coming into play here, I can use only so many green tomatoes:)). This isn't news, but my climate couldn't be more English if I were in England so I sow mostly 4x5" square open pots topped with grit, and sow depending on that seeds requirements from July through April - some seeds (like trillium, cyclamen) I don't let dry at all once harvested and sow same day. The English method as described in the link works for me, but my coastal cool summer Z8 is unique enough to this country that I don't try to recommend exactly the same technique to anyone outside the PNW. I'm not going to have several inches of snow, varmints with voracious appetites with my infrequent brief snow cover, or dry vicious winds below freezing several days at a time. The European difference may be cultural, may be climate - I'm not well traveled enough to say! What I do find here are many with the same gardening interest who delight in sowing and growing even though we don't all use precisely the same methods for all seeds. Whatever gets us from seed packet to plant or packet to flower and fruit is fair......See MoreTropical Fruits in California
Comments (18)Shameless plug Tammy. I should have thought of that! I had some terible Mango luck this year-the largest just dried out and fell over. This had been a very fast growing tree(Manila)for two years,flowering last February 08..then,last June 08,went into a sudden decline,seemed to have started to recover..then again in spring 09 gave its last exhale! Another was hurt last winter by frost,has respouted six main trunks of a foot.I think I'm going for a multi-trunk Mango bush as a hedge against frost. Might work. I do know that some cover in winter is a must this far north.Only for mid Dec-Jan from what I have seen so far. They can take cool..but near freezing ,even without an actual 32F,for too long will kill also. Cherimoya in comparison are hardy as apples. I have seedling now on 4-5 years,twice broken to the ground by my old dog-and it still has come back. So now I'm on the lookout for a large grafted plant. BTW, My first try with Cherimoya was from seed in the early 80's(Safeway sp.) I t bore sweet fruit for years until 1990's great freeze....See MoreOrganic Growers Meeting Topic: Open Forum
Comments (3)The next meeting will be Wed, August 19th. I will be their guest speaker. The topic will be "Growing Tropical Fruits and Other Edibles". Christine...See Moremullenium
12 years agoits a rarity to see me vacuuming, so when I do it becomes a big time photo opportunity :)
w/ wife and daughter:
mullenium
12 years agomarinfla
12 years agoMy kids said they don't like the picture I posted that was taken with my cell phone and said I should put a different one on here. So for the kids, here is a picture they said looks just like me whatever that is supposed to mean.
from left to right: Husband, Max Weinberg, daughter-Erica & ME
and this is a picture of the attack bird who will run off fruit thieves if you bribe him with pizza.
I have really enjoyed reading everyone's posts!
Thanks for posting!!!!
Marinmarinfla
12 years agotropicalgrower89
12 years agopuglvr1
12 years agoHere you go Tropicalgrower89...so your other hobby is restoring cars?
Marin, GREAT picture of you and your family!
I Love your Cockatoo parrot! Lol...how he's holding the pizza! He or she is adorable! I had a friend that had a Cockatoo and I'll never forget what she said
when they scream "they can peel the wall paper off the wall,lol...does your parrot talk?marinfla
12 years agopuglvr1
12 years agotropicalgrower89
12 years agoesco_socal
12 years agonorth_tree_man
12 years agoIt's good to see the faces attached to every ones plants. So, I posted a pic of Max and I(Jeremy) checking out the Emperor lychees plumping up nicely.
As a kid, I would sit in my parent's Bing Cherry tree and stuff my cheeks until I couldn't move...ahhh, memories! I started the hobby with temperate fruit trees/bushes and that was a gateway to subtropicals/tropicals. Other hobbies/activities include Gardening, snorkeling, woodworking, and the list goes on. I am a professional ferret whisperer, and day trader.Bonus points* for anyone that finds the little Nam Doc Mai fruit growing in the pic.
*- Points have absolutely no value aside from bragging rights.
From Fuzzies
sun_worshiper
12 years agoHi all. Great to see faces! I'm Angela. I moved to FL from Seattle, for the sunshine=) I bought a house a year and a half ago and have embarked on creating a fruit landscape as my evening & weekend hobby. During the day I'm a software engineer for an Artificial Intelligence company - as of yet I have not created Skynet;)
Seems I take a lot of pictures of my yard, and almost none of me. Here's a picture of me last year at Fairchild.
puglvr1
12 years agosun_worshiper
12 years agored_sea_me
12 years agoWell, here is a picture of me doing what I love the most....crawling around under my house changing out the plumbing. Before any of you ask, no you cant help, all this fun is just for me.
I'm Ethan BTW, I'm a Sag, like long walks on the beach and snuggling on cold days. :) I've got to be one of the luckiest people alive, I have a beautiful wife, wonderful daughter and am weeks away from the arrival of my son. I've alway been into growing plants and moved a large plant collection around during the college years. Bonsai and natal plum led me to mangoes which led me to eugenias which......well you get the point. I'm standing next to a Morro blood orange with lots of baby oranges on it.
It is nice to "meet" you guys and see all your cute kids, rainbow eucs and animals. It is funny how my mental picture of you guys was different or right on in some cases.
I think I saw that guy in the 3rd photo on "America's Most Wanted"
-Ethan
lycheeluva
12 years agopuglvr1
12 years agored_sea_me
12 years agojeffhagen
12 years agofruit_guy
12 years agored_sea_me
12 years agomarinfla
12 years agomangodog
12 years agopuglvr1
12 years agorayandgwenn
12 years agomangodog
12 years agoch3rri
12 years agoHello Everyone. It's so nice to see pictures. My name is Kristy and I live in PA. I started planting tropical fruit trees in pots around summer 2006. I really love the idea of having my own trees producing fresh fruits for me year after year. Of course that's not true with some trees. Other than planting the trees I also love to eat tropical fruits. I think I spent more money on tropical fruits than on handbags and shoes.
Here is a picture of me with all the fruits I brought back from Florida trip.
marinfla
12 years agopuglvr1
12 years agored_sea_me
12 years agoch3rri
12 years agomangodog
12 years agoch3rri
12 years agored_sea_me
12 years agopuglvr1
12 years agoch3rri
12 years agosun_worshiper
12 years agomarinfla
12 years agosun_worshiper
12 years agojfernandez
12 years agoOk, you guys shamed me. finally found a pic of my wife and I together...the big dude next to me is my cousin from France.
mangodog
12 years agomarinfla
12 years agozands
12 years agomarinfla
12 years agomangomandan
12 years agoWhat is it about tropical fruits that makes us all so dang good-looking?
My picture is from a couple Thanksgivings ago. In person, of course, I'm tall and thin, handsome, and have all my hair.
mangodog
12 years agomarinfla
12 years agomarinfla
12 years ago
swrancher