Jay,
Now I know how I would want a greenhouse, that is once I own a home! How ingenious. I love the idea of having the sliding glass doors. Was that an old porch?? My Cogshall mango is blooming, and your Nam Dac Mai looks awesome! How old is it and how tall? Could I see a close up pic? I too am trying the sugar apple, but mine are just seedlings. I gave up on bananas because of there large size. I did own a dwarf plantain, a double mahoi and a super dwarf cavendish but I gave up on the bananas. I did harvest fruit once from the cavendish. How many mangoes are you growing?

Your sugar apples trees may be "uglier than he!!"but they sure are prettier than mine. Stunning pictures.

Thanks Andrew. Yes...the greenhouse is great. I love it and spend more time out there than I probably should. It is a sunroom attached to our home. I wanted something more substantial and weather tolerant for our Ohio winters. I actually hate the sliding glass doors but was the only option there was at the time. I would love to have French doors put on to give me an actual 6' opening instead of the not quite 3' I have with a sliding door. Makes getting larger plants in and out a real you-know-what. There will come a time when I have to actually remove the doors in order to do this...and I'm not looking forward to that.

Nam Doc Mai is about five and a half years old now. I try to keep it pruned back as well but it sort of does what it wants. The drawback of a larger mango in a greenhouse is the lack of wind to strengthen the branches...fans help some but just don't do the job. Mango branches can be spongy and really hang down when loaded with leaves. I recently grafted a few Florigan cuttings in various places and cut back a low branch that removed a considerable portion of plant material...getting dark and in a hurry. I wasn't too tickled about the cut! The plant itself is probably 6' wide and close to that height. I will probably systematically start thinning the plant and cutting it back even more to get an even stronger canopy. I also have a Cogshall I got from PIN last year. I also grafted a Florigan cutting onto it and so far it looks like new growth is pushing out. We'll see. Never can tell this early.

It is difficult to make out in all of the green...but the Cogshall is in front with the Nam Doc Mai the mass of green in the back.

Job well done Jay! thanks for those pics. It kind of puts my mango craze into perspective for now. I have a lot of room in the basement here, and the windows are block glass windows but there is a little bit of a cool draft in the dead of winter. I am considering a Nam Doc Mai or a Lancitilla. I want both but not really sure yet. I know Lancetilla is challenging becaue of its open shape. We will see. How do you like the flavor of the Nam Dac Mai? Have you been able to eat any of the Cogshall yet? Mine is really small but I am hoping to have some fruit to try. I really don't mind if it slows the growth of the tree down. Do you have to have supplemental heat for your sunroom? I would think that would be more affordable hen a seperate greenhouse. Well now I know I have someone to compare notes with when it comes to mango and Sugar apple. I also have Soursop(Guanabana) seedlings going.

Yes...have to heat. Attached to the home definitely brings a heat savings. Nam Doc Mai is really good. No Cogshall yet.

I can save you some room in your basement...throw away the soursop seedlings!!!!! LOL!

Come on Jay, I thought you said your greenhouse was full. I see a bit of space on the very bottom left hand corner of your last pic. Your slacking.

Are those all miracle fruit seedlings in the front of that pic?

You mangoes look amazing. They put mine to shame.

Thanks all. John...couldn't figure out what you were talking about! No...not seedlings. That is the top part of my miracle fruit tree. So much green it is a shame that the camera cannot do a better job of picking them out. Space?! I've pigeon-holed myself inside there making it a real pain in the butt to water because the hose will not reach the side near the front. I have to snake it thru the containers for both sides.

I need to organize a little better. The 5 imbe plants are a nuisance. I've identified one male and still waiting for the 4 others to show their hand. This will allow me to keep just a male and female and hope to graft one upon the other leaving only one plant. I have some tough decisions to make come spring. There's going to be some casualties! That...and I need to stop planting every seed I obtain and first stop asking for seeds from my mother-in-law in Thailand. Will further thin out some bananas hopefully only leaving a few freeing up that corner some more. Pains me to get rid of anything but the reality of my situation really hit home this year when I moved things I had outside back in. I still have the longan and big lychee to come in yet! So much for that space you saw John!

JulieMango...that pic shows the small fraction of the plant that is actually green without brown/black or yellow leaves. I really really am tired of it. The fruit is very good but holy crap...the amount of seeds in them so far is turning me off. I thought the cherimoyas I've eaten had a lot of seeds. No way! They had waaay more flesh to seed ratio than these sugar apples. I've tried grafted the Kampong muave onto them several times but each has failed. If the seeds continue like this, I will end up keeping only one plant. Still need to figure out what is up with the trashy leaves.

So Jay why did you tell me to get rid of Soursop. I love this fruit and I know Ch3rri said hers had a lot of annual die back but I really enjoy this fruit. I can't say that about atemoya. I have never ate one but if it is similiar to Soursop then it will be a keeper. Sorry yours are so seedy, Ch3rri said something about the light affecting the seed production. You still have an amazing setup. I am very jealous!
Andrew

Jay,
Great pics. I cant believe that carambola grew so much in one year. Looks like youll have some good fruit this year.

Sorry Andrew...it's a personal thing with the soursop. I've mentioned this little story many times in many posts. Lycheeluva and I tried soursop in Florida last year. Most foul. Gerry described the taste as "sour feet and vomit". I couldn't disagree. I been told by others that it makes a nice shake...and I'm promised one of the best the next time I make it to Florida...no longer in any hurry to go back down!! LOL!

Murahilin...the growth must be attributed to the large size of the seedling it was grafted onto. It was always a vigorous grower. I never dreamed it would take off like it did. Now the Thai graft is proceeding at a much slower pace. Probably some apical dominance going on. It looks good though. I'm anxious to try the fruit at its peak. So far...starfruit has been one of those "I'd really like to "like" this fruit". But so far, none of the fruit I tried really tasted very good...and not very sweet. Of course these were all from the grocer. Well...if I don't like it...that just means there will be space in the greenhouse opening up soon!

Jay,
No hard feelings with the Soursop. The truth is I never liked it until i ate two in Puerto Rico. It to me was the perfect combination of sweet and tart. The really nice part was the fact that there was not so many seeds. From what I here I won't like that about the Sugar Apple. I will wait to see if fruit is decent and if not, out it goes, INTO THE COMPOST PILE!!! LOL..I feel the same way about the starfruit. Logees is selling it but I have never had starfruit that did not taste like watered down blah! I don't think I would waste the time or money in hopes that I might get something sweeter from a grafted tree. Well we agree on that one, and we feel the same way about the mango except I think i am getting a little obsessive. I may end up with a Lancetilla from PIN here very soon. I just got an email from them, For 25.00 I get a three foot tree! So much better then TOP. I don't think I will ever use there $20.00 off voucher. Not with other copetitors prices. You were so right when you said they need to get over themselves. I blogged with another guy who got his Caimito from Nippa. Man it pays to shop around, he got a 4ft tree for $30.00 I believe. THe only thing is mine is the rare green form but for what he got I should have just got the purple instead. I think my next two purchases will be the Lancetilla and either Nam Doc, Julie, or Ice Cream not really sure yet. I know Lancetilla will be a challenge to keep nice and compact but I will take the chance to just get a five pound+ mango!! I will keep you posted to what I fianlly get. Thanks Jay for all your advice/help.
Andrew

Thought I'd throw in my humble opinion about the esteemed sour sop/ gauanabana. I've tasted about 5 different ones. I have three planted at my house. First the taste issue......for me I would describe it as having a pleasant sort of sweet and sour tropical flavor that is quite nice. My problem with it is the flesh texture and or seeds. All of the fruits I have tasted either had way too much fiber or way too many seeds or both. The tree and fruits are very interesting horticulturally. The peoples of the Carribean love them.....so I can sell whatever I could grow. The fiber filled flesh is what most bothers me. You might as well eat cotton balls immersed in soursop juice.....same effect. I bought a tree about 15 years ago from Excalibur (Richard Wilson). I paid $75 for it and it was a pretty large tree. He called it the Wilson Seedless. The good news is, the description is acurate......no seeds.....unfortuantely, no fruit either. The tree is quite large and has set fruit on its own once. Two fruits that fell off before they were mature.....but they had no seeds. I probably should try hand pollination as the tree flowers quite prolificly. If I was more interested in the fruit I would. I have recently bought a new tree...also from Excalibur....which is supposed to produce a fiberless fruit. The tree is young and has not blossomed yet. We'll see how this one does. The other tree I have is a seedling that I planted long ago and have no recollection from where the seed came. It is flowering for the first time so lets see where that goes. Stay tuned.

Jay, you don't have to go to FL to try a soursop shake. Find any good Vietnamese restaurant in Ohio and ask for Sinh To Mang Cau. Or just look in beverage menu and find soursop. The shake captures the taste of good soursop minus the pulp. One of my favorite drinks alongside avocado.

Jay, you will like the starfruit when you taste a good one. I can't eat the grocery store ones, but I got a pretty good crop from my "Kari". I think the trick to getting them very sweet is to not pick them until they are just about to fall off the tree, and then let them ripen inside for another day or two. Mine acually start kind of spreading open at the bottom when they are ready to be picked. Mine were actually quite good when fully ripe.

I agree.....good star fruits/carambolas are really tasty. I have Kari, Sri Kembangan, Thai Night, Bell, Arkin, and one from Possum Trot Nursery that is good. Arkin is the commercial one that stays firm, ships well, and has a long shelf life. Its OK when allowed to tree ripen, but it is not very good when picked early....which is what all the grocery stores have on their produce shelves. My choice for best is Sri Kembangan...with Kari and Thai Night coming in a tie, in a close second. They are all very sweet with a nice flowery bouquet. They are also great dehydrated...if you have too many to eat fresh.

Very Nice pictures Jay...everything looks like they are thriving!! You're doing an excellent job, thanks for sharing and enjoy the fruits of your hard labor!! Mango trees looks amazing!

Thanks everyone. Harry, have you had any fruit from your Bell yet. I have a big one starting to turn yellow. A few very small ones were yellow and dropped. I'm allowing them a few more days. Not sure about them since they were quite small. Looking forward to the upcoming taste test. I sent an email to my mother-in-law to see which variety she sent me.

Pepperot...thanks for the info, but I don't think I will be seeking that out anytime soon!

Sorry Jay, I mis-spoke......I have Hart not Bell and I confused them. I think they are both Richard Wilson (Excalibur) discoveries. I have never had the Bell. The Hart has a pear taste and is small and off white fleshed. Yours look quite a way from ready to be picked. I would like to try a Bell. I'll have to stop by Excalibur on my next trip up to West Palm Beach.

Harry,
I think I saw some Bell fruit last week when I was there.

Well...I can say that trying the very small fruit that fell from the tree was a mistake! Even though they turned yellow before dropping, something was just not right. You can get a hint of sweet, but they were very bitter and astringent. Spit them out. I sure hope the big ones won't be this way!!

On soursop, I tried a fruit at Excalibur around 4 years ago, it was excellent. The tastiest tart thing I ever ate. They grow very fast. Sri Kembangan is my largest carambola tree, most people like them a lot. I harvested 25lbs at once and made 5 gallons of wine out of them.

Gary

Murahilin:

You saw Bell Carambola at my house?? Where? Could I have possibly bought and planted something out in my yard during an extended senior moment?? Maybe....it might be possible but I don't think so. :-)

Harry,
I meant to say that I saw the fruit on the trees at Excalibur so if you were going that way anytime soon you'd be able to get the fruit.

Aha...well, thank God I didn't have an extended senior moment.....I see what you were saying

Hi Jay,

Do you have bees flying around in your greenhouse for the pollination?

Tomas

In the warmer months, I'll usually leave the sliding door open some and allow things access. Unfortunately, it seems that the majority of any flowering takes place long before it is warm enough for that and before insects even become active. I've found that flies are the best pollinators.

Hey Jay,
How is the ghost chili flavor wise?
I saw Man Versus food on The Travel Channel, and I can't remember his last name but Adam said it i super hot. worse then the scoth bonnet. Wow I can't imagine. I mean do you have any tastebuds left? LOL! Wher did you find the seeds? Not really sure I would have any use for it!

This is the first time I've grown one. Only a few seeds out of 25 even germinated. Hot? Scotch and Habs are around 500K scovilles...give or take a few K. The ghost is over 1 million. Yeah...it is hard to believe. I plan on making salsa for the a-holes in the office who complain that my current salsa is not hot enough! Should be interesting. My hab hot sauce can already make you see things that don't exist. Just the mist in the air gets everyone and the dogs to gagging! I washed all the utensils and food processor up after finishing. Must have left a lot of grinded up pepper mash on everything. The hot dish water opened up the pores of my hands and wrists allowing that crap to seep in and take hold. For the next several hours, I felt like I was arm wrestling with a blow torch. Almost wanted to saw my hands off. So I will be treating the ghost chilies with lots of respect!

Man Jay I feel for you. I made a batch of chili a while back and i did not even use Habenero. I just used jalepeno. I scrubbed my hands and arms. I went to the bathroom, and lets just say I ended up with a burning you know what!! I can't even imagine if that had been a ghost chili, I would have ended up in the ER!!! The good thing for you is now if you want to grow more of these(I can't imagine why you would!!) you should be able to grow from cuttings.