nice work Jay,
that lychee better be happy, that sounds like alot of work. I spent the weekend being the human rototiller myself. What variety of lychee are you growing? Are those mango blooms peeking into the picture?

thanks for the pics,
-Ethan

Nice tree, Jay!

Thanks. Sweetheart lychee from LycheesOnline. All growth, no blooms this year. Bummer. I was thinking that next winter I might, stress might, try and put a heavy plastic curtain around the lychee up to the window behind it. I could then maybe open the window up some and hopefully attain the winter chill. I don't know...just a wild thought.

The blooms to the left are from my Nam Doc Mai mango. I've been leaving the sliding door open hoping some insects will come in and give me a hand with pollination. They don't seem to respond at all to doing it by hand.

I have some more holes to dig. I was thinking about putting the plumeria to the right of the lychee in the front corner. Won't put as much work into the hole as I did for the lychee. The plumeria can probably deal with a higher PH and the clay better. I'll save the harder work for the fruit trees! I'll put the jakfruit in the back corner...if I ever get it. I'll probably end up planting the mango as well.

Hey SB...what all did you plant directly into the ground? Have you noticed a difference in the plant by doing this?

Looks great, Jay! I'm sure your tree will enjoy having all of the extra room. Not to sound grim, but I wouldn't be surprised if your tree didn't bloom next year either - air layers usually take between 3 and 5 years to bloom even here in Miami. My cousin's Brewster tree didn't bear until it had been in the ground for 6 years, and was promptly destroyed by a hurricane after fruiting (of course, he doesn't have the greenest thumb in the world, so I doubt you would be repeating his experience). Still, you'll be able to get that tree strong and sturdy enough with the new setup to withstand some lower temperatures this winter and hopefully induce bloom.

Jay, I think plants in the ground in the GH act a little bit like plants outside in the ground. They hang out and don't do much for a year, maybe two, then they get going.

In the ground (raised beds) I have Lychee 'Brewster' and 'Sweetheart,' Mango 'Carrie' and 'Cogshall,' Grumichama, Pineapple guava x 2 (thanks), Strawberry Guava, Lemon guava, Dwarf Guava, DC bananas, Passionfruit, and a variety of other ornamental stuff.

I wouldn't put the Plumeria in the ground if I were you. I got black tip on one Plumie this year and from what I have read, it is a constant battle against spider mites and black tip if you want to keep them growing in the GH. I think these are easier managed if left totally dormant in the winter, no water.

Nice tree!!

How big of a pot do Plumeria need? Mine's gotten so big now, and I think I should repot it. I've also noticed little webbing with tiny red things around the top of the branches. Any ideas what they are? I vacuumed them once, but they came back.

Nice setup Jay!!! Wow, I wanna do something like that now for the yard.

Thanks all. I'll go with your advice on the plumeria and keep it in the pot. Mine did finally drop all of it's leaves but I'm thinking a fungus or virus had more to do with that. It continued to bloom all winter long...which looked odd with only two leaves on the entire plant!

I lost my passion and patience for my passion fruit. It was getting so so huge and didn't look like it was going to flower anytime soon. And since space is at a premium and this particular plant is not on my list of desirables. So I tore it out the other day. Kind of sad but wow! It really opened things up in there.

SB...I think it's time for you to take some pics of your greenhouse and share them. I for one would like to see your in-ground plantings. What did you use to amend the soil...or did you replace it like I did?

Hey Eggo! I'm still sore and tired and my back is killing me! That was a LOT of clay I moved out of that hole. I'm using it to backfill around the patio. Since we plan on re-doing our landscaping, I sort of "borrowed" the block from around our raised beds in the yard!! I have a couple more holes to dig yet. Trying to decide where and what I want to plant. There are definitely some plants that I will keep in containers.

Trop...your plumeria has spider mites! Flee while you can! Save the children! Sorry about that. I have wild dreams of giant spider mites attacking me. You need to get them under control. Will take constant monitoring from here on out. I hate them. They are constantly on my bananas. Aphids everywhere else. I'd like to figure out where the hell they are coming from. It seems like I no sooner wipe out an infestation on one plant, they pop up on another!

I really like that idea for the lychee-very creative and nice looking too. I really should do something like that for my little mangos.
tropicaliste,
I use NEEM (a natural oil from the NEEM tree) sprayed on my plumerias for spider mites. You will need to reapply it a few times to make sure you get all the little buggers. They supposedly hate humidity as well but I had them in Louisiana too lol. If the NEEM doesn't work you may have to go to a systemic pesticide, but you really do want to rid the plant of mites asap, because like jay said, they can be quite persistant once they settle in. GL
~SJN

Jay, I replaced it with a good topsoil, well amended with rotted horse manure and peat.

No pics right now, there may be trouble in my kitchen! I have some significant leaf drop on a variety of plants, including mango, guava, and citrus. I'm hoping it is just a normal cyclic abscission, because there is new growth emerging all over everything. But it seems a little greater than in years past. Are you seeing any leaf drop right now?

Thanks all for the tips, I'll have to try them out!

I want a Lychee now!

SB...concerning leaf drop...always on my citrus. For a while there the tamarind was losing tons but could have been due to the transplant. I get periodic dropping from the lychee but like you, I believe that to be normal due to all the new growth. Hopefully it is just due to the new growth you are getting. Are they coming off only the plants you have in the ground?

What are your thoughts concerning the roots when they extend past the good, PH adjusted soil into the surrounding, higher PH clay soil? I'm betting it is lurking out there like it does in mine. I hope it eventually doesn't cause us problems.

My nanas' leaves are bronzing. I believe this is due to spider mites and hopefully not to some virus or fungal thing. I've taken to spraying the underside of the leaves with a strong nozzel about every other day now. I don't know which is becoming more persistent..the mites or aphids.

Spraying underneath the banana leaves is something I do periodically, too.

No, plants in pots are loosing some leaves, too.

I don't have any lurking clay soil. The beds are all built on the crushed rock that is the floor of the GH. Those roots would have to go a long way to find any clay!

I'm going to start taking the time to just spray everything up, down, and all around about every day now. Dealing with these mites and aphids is going to put me in a rubber room.