re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates

Do you find them locally or does the Louisiana citrus shipping restriction only apply when coming from Florida?

Saxon becnel grows tart and sweet kumquats. You should be able to find one at a local retailer. I prefer the tart version

laff how tall is that tree?
I’m about to start planting, I was going to put the 2 namwah in the rear then 2 rajapuri in the middle then the dwarfs up front.

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rajapuri flag leaf!

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I learned something new today! Will be watching mine. I cut the plant complex down to the largest survivor from last year after we had one flower.

Pawpaw sun/shade update:

The internet will tell you that young pawpaws need protection from full summer sun, especially in zone 9. Still other sources will tell you they only need protection until they reach a height of 18-24 inches. And yet others will say the full sun/shade thing with pawpaws is a complete myth (in certain zones, sometimes including 9).

I have three young pawpaws (heat tolerant cultivars Mango, Susquehanna, and Sunflower) in my front yard. They don't get all day sun but they do get about 6 hours including the hottest part of the day and afternoon. It has been consistently 90F in the shade this week, so direct sun temps are significantly higher.

At the start of spring, I built shade cloth frames over them thinking I would prevent them from burning. Somewhere along the way I decided to just let it ride.

Here's how they look getting a good dose of full blast 9a summer sun:







The last one is Sunflower and leafed out very late, so it's catching up. Bottom line is these look great so far. They are on irrigation and get watered on hot days. I'll keep an eye on them as summer progresses to see if they stay looking this good. At this point I would say that pawpaws around 2 feet tall don't need shade protection in 9a as long as you keep them mulched and watered. This is great because KSU has undeniably demonstrated that they fruit much better in full sun.

I have no idea if this would hold true in 9a for cultivars not considered heat tolerant, but I doubt it.

funny you posted this today I came to the same conclusion. Mine are all 18-20” and I went to check on them today at solar max. Only one of them shows any limpness at all, and it’s one of the last two planted. The rest of them look great, I gave everyone a good dose of water and let them be

I have a tree guy coming next week to take down a dead pine I’m going to have him trim the oaks around my patch and let a bit more sun in

the one that was a little distressed is a Shenandoah. Just went to check it (it’s in shade now) and it looks fine it probably just needed water

the tree growing the least is also the one getting the least amount of sun. This one is a seedling that’s been in the ground since Feb, the other 4 are twice that size



instead of trimming I’m just going to take this whole oak out, it’s on the south facing end of the patch. That will open it up a bit. Like you said if sunburn becomes an issue it’s easy enough to add temp shade



when mine get to be 4-6’ tall the tops will get pretty much full sun

You've got a very good intro mix. The best thing in that box is Cac IMO. You should look each one up on the tropical acres website before tasting to get an idea of what it is.

I do not know enough about these varieties to give an opinion as to whether they were picked too early or not.

Glenn, Bailey' Marvel, Haden and Cac are my favorites in that group.

I am down to my last Orange Sherbet but a box of Pickering arrives tomorrow. Mine are still weeks away.

that’s fricked up, and also how non native insects get spread around. Did you kill the ants?