Sounds nice Gary. I bet the grapefruit are really good right off the tree. My key lime is loaded at the moment with blooms and small fruit. Rest of citrus blooming or has small fruit. I get a few muntingia about once a week. Namwah bananas still developing...slowly. Dying for my DF to start blooming.

I know we've traveled down the Alano sapodilla trail before, but I have to ask. How long did your plant bloom before any fruit started to develop? This is has been very frustrating. My tree has been blooming for a year and a half now and it's only come close to a single fruit once. Have you seen any of your flowers completely open up? I've not seen mine once open all the way. Makes it difficult to try and hand pollinate.

nice Gary,
for me, small second harvest of green grapes (so sweet though), toms and peppers, and my 'Frederick' passionfruit is loaded again with green fruit, hope they beat the cold. Lots of citrus everywhere, stiill green though. I have been picking wonderberry, cape goose, and lemon guavas also. If you ever need a sacraficial plant to draw bugs to, wonderberry is it (naranjilla is not bad either).

Gary, I don't suppose you have any extra muntingia seeds for postage or trade?

Jay I'm even further behind you with the sapodilla, my biggest isn't even blooming yet.

-Ethan

Jay, my Alano's been blooming the last two warm seasons. I don't remember noticing if the flowers opened fully, its fairly hard to even notice the flowers since they've been low, and the plant is pretty low anyhow. My fruit are 1' off the ground. I get lots of pollinating insects, so usually have ok luck with that. I bet next season you'll end up with some fruit sticking. My Makok sapodilla hasn't grown well, I'm probably going to move it to another spot and see if it helps. I think palmetto roots are out competing it.

Ethan, shoot me an email, if you send me SASE I can definitely do it. I find if I have to prepare a package myself, I'm poor at remembering to get around to doing it. Have you harvested your Frederick PF yet, how was it if so? I forgot to mention some passionfruit I have has fruit on it. I assume some kind of purple, but can't be sure as I received it in a swap. The fruit are more round than I would expect, almost tennis ball size, still green. What variety of green grapes are you getting? I love growing my muscadines, and will get two new varieties this winter.

Gary

thanks Gary,
I sent you an email.

I have harvested from my Frederick, the fruit that set in spring ripened in summer. They were very tastey and tart, Frederick is the only fresh PF I've had so I cant compare to others. A wonderful individual mailed me some yellow PF (lilikoi?) seeds. They are growing nicely, I'll protect them this winter, when it warms in spring, plant them out. I'm doing the same with P. Actinia too. So I hope to have something to compare to next summer.

Most of my grapes were here when I moved in, but one of them is Thompson seedless, the other?

thanks again,
-Ethan

Yeah, my plant is very low and spreading. As you can see in the photo below, a portion in the center is shooting straight up. Goofy. I'm going to prune back all the side growing tips several inches soon. I'd like to keep it short and low if possible. I'll take another whack at hand pollinating. I've pretty much ignored the plant for some time now...sort of hoping it would develop a fruit just to spite me. Would like to see some pics of your stuff when you get some time. Thanks, J

{{gwi:1331327}}

Ethan, I did get to taste a PF last year from a friend which was sweet, good tasting, right out of the fruit. You cut it open and spoon it into your mouth. I got two vines growing as a result of the seeds. I'll respond to your email today.

Jay, my Alano is extremely similar to yours, about 6' tall in the middle. I did post photos a few weeks ago, thread called fall fruit photos, will bump it up. Waiting for some plants to hold fruit can test patience, I've heard so many similar stories. My macadamia has toyed for 3 years so far with producing but not to fruition.

Gary

Now harvesting Papayas, Bananas, Tamarind, Figs, Muntingia, lots of Barbados Cherries. The citrus are loaded this year, even the potted oranges have lots of fruit on them.

My confused Peach/Nectarine trees are blooming.

White Mulberries are ripening, a few ready daily. Nice to have one that fruits nearly all the time. Monsterosa fruits look ready to be picked.

Am very pleased with my $10 Citrons. They have grown tremendously and those huge fruits are just too cool!

Had trouble with my large Black Sapote this year. It bloomed, then dropped all the fruits during the drought. No fruit yet on the Persimmon or RubyXSupreme Guava or Lula Avocado. They are all new.

The Mango trees have greatly increased in size. I hope to get fruit from them next year.

I love wandering around the property, filling my pockets and pail with home-ground fruits! What fun!

Lisa

Nice all!!
For me I am harvesting cherimoyas, guavas, persimmons, and longans. The cherimoyas was very good this year and the season began in early September till now. We had a longan bumper crop this year. They are barely ripening and reaching peak maturity in the last few days, tastes is really good and more complex than most people think.

Eggo, persimmons are so under-rated, for me especially oriental. Haven't had my own crop yet, and plan on waiting til the year after next. I picked about 20 immature fruit off to focus on growth this past spring. I have Fuyu and Izu to try to get harvest Oct - Dec, and might get a Suruga which sounds fantastic. Longan is under-rated too. Glad you got a great crop. Have yours shown bi-annual tendencies? My Chinese longan seedlings are looking pretty perky, hope a freeze doesn't get 'em. My Chompoo and Kohala finished around early Sept..

Gary

Gary, persimmons are very productive here, every year if the fruits don't get thinned I will usually have broken broken branches like this year. =)
Bi-annual blooms for longans. Never had that happen before. The problems with longans here are that they can take almost all year to ripen. We get blooms in March and fruits don't actually ripen till November at the earliest, even now my fruits could use a couple more weeks. I think your season comes much quicker. Although I think California longans end up being quite good due to our climate. My Sri Chompoo and Edaw has yet to hold fruits but hopefully next year would be it. Have you been able to compare the tastes from your different longan varieties?

I wonder why my Longans were ripe months ago? My tree is small, under 5', and potted. The fruits were the size of Key Limes, sweet, tender, and delicious. I picked them when I saw sugar ants swarming over the fruit clusters.

Should I have left them longer? They looked and tasted like ripe fruit.

I do not know the variety I have. Too many fruit trees, too few tags still attached(G).

Lisa

Lisa, July is probably the more typical time in Florida for most longans, I'd imagine it varies per plant and year, I think Biew Kiew is later than most. Unless you specifically ordered something besides it, yours is probably a Kohala.

Eggo, I don't think our humidity bothers our longans (or lychees) any, but I guess that could not always be true. I'd imagine Thailand where my two favorites grow is very much humid. I haven't tasted them side by side, but sure love Chompoos. An email friend from Thailand, who grew longans insists Biew Kiew is the best, even compared to Chompoo, and says his grower friends in Australia say the same. I don't plan to harvest Biew Kiew until the year after next.

Gary

Gary, the longan is one fruit I did not much care for while in Thailand. They were quite bland and more "musky"...to me. Of course my wife and mother-in-law thought I was crazy. I've tasted Eggo's and his was more sweet than what I've had in Thailand.

As for the humidity in Thailand? It's been awfully humid everywhere I've been. Not real sure about the cooler northern regions but have to imagine it's humid everywhere. So I too believe that they shouldn't be affected by humidity or they wouldn't be growing as well as they do in Florida.

Humidity was one of my concerns for my lychee but that can't be either. The tree once thrived in the humidity. It still seems to be on the decline by-the-way. Real bummer. I may just dig it out and put it in a container and see what happens. If anyone thinks of a magic bullet, please let me know! Going to try a compost tea today or does anyone believe I should put it in a container as soon as possible?

hey Jay,
did you see the post by Jeff on the CFC forum? He wondered if the heliconias planted next to his lychee helped it grow and fruit?

magic bullet?

-Ethan
http://www.cloudforest.com/cafe/forum/48544.html

Jay, perhaps the longan you had in Thailand was one of the less tasty but better production varieties, I think Edaw is one of those. Eggo, had you heard much of Edaw taste? Is your lychee in slightly acid soil?

Gary

Ethan, yeah, I did see that post. Don't see how the plant could be a benefit unless it develops some kind of beneficial nodes on the roots...similar to what green beans do. I tried some compost tea on it last night. There's parts of the plant that looks like it's trying to hang tough and other parts which seem to continue to decline. Not holding out much hope. My problem now is that I promised my wife "no more plants"! Whoops.

Jay,
what if in spring you were helping a friend in CA get some plants and the order "accidently" included a lychee?

-Ethan

That's sort of how I obtained my jakfruit! You know when you order from PIN, you have to by in multiples of 2. A co-worker wanted a starfruit plant and well shoot, have to get a second plant for the shipment!

I'm chanting, singing and trying different dances around the plant right now. Not a lot of room for the dancing but I got to try.

July is the month that I harvest bamboo shoots . I am harvesting guava, pummelo,sugar cane, ginger,yucca and longan now

Maureen, Longan? Awfully late, what variety do you have? How are they tasting?

Gary

Gary

It's Biew Kiew longan. Very sweet