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re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted on 9/9/26 at 5:29 pm to cgrand
Posted on 9/9/26 at 5:29 pm to cgrand
OK guys it's time to start thinking about height pruning for winter. If you Google when to prune pretty much any kind of tree, the answers are going to be directed towards growing in the ground in the tree's native climate. The considerations will be about bloom cycle, fruit set, etc.
We do not have that luxury. These things have to fit in your 7ft tall greenhouse and (remember last year?) they might have to squeeze in there in early November. Now is the time when I start looking at things and thinking about where I want them to be in terms of height and new foliage in 2-3 months.
Because the weather is still hot, if you cut now you are guaranteed to get some replacement foliage built before winter. If you wait until the last minute, you'll have a tree struggling to put on growth because the roots are too cool.
I like to height prune almost all greenhouse trees right about now. The slow trees (sapodilla, lychee, jaboticaba, etc.) will end up about where you want them by late November. The fast trees (starfruit, citrus, guava, annonas) may put on too much replacement growth, but there is nothing wrong with simply pruning them again next month if that happens.
Bottom line: we can't think too much about blooming and fruiting cycles for height pruning. Winter protection is priority #1. Consider cutting them now so that they are flushed out with new foliage at the correct height before they slow down dramatically and need to be greenhoused. Last year I waited until the first week of October but things really began to slow down later that month.
We do not have that luxury. These things have to fit in your 7ft tall greenhouse and (remember last year?) they might have to squeeze in there in early November. Now is the time when I start looking at things and thinking about where I want them to be in terms of height and new foliage in 2-3 months.
Because the weather is still hot, if you cut now you are guaranteed to get some replacement foliage built before winter. If you wait until the last minute, you'll have a tree struggling to put on growth because the roots are too cool.
I like to height prune almost all greenhouse trees right about now. The slow trees (sapodilla, lychee, jaboticaba, etc.) will end up about where you want them by late November. The fast trees (starfruit, citrus, guava, annonas) may put on too much replacement growth, but there is nothing wrong with simply pruning them again next month if that happens.
Bottom line: we can't think too much about blooming and fruiting cycles for height pruning. Winter protection is priority #1. Consider cutting them now so that they are flushed out with new foliage at the correct height before they slow down dramatically and need to be greenhoused. Last year I waited until the first week of October but things really began to slow down later that month.
This post was edited on 9/9/26 at 5:38 pm
Posted on 9/9/26 at 6:45 pm to Tigerlaff
I’m looking at those damn namwah bananas and wondering how in the hell im going to get them wrapped LOL
the bamboo frame I made around the whole patch is at about 7’ and they are both now at 10’ plus. I have a 30x30 woven clear greenhouse tarp that I had bought years ago to make a greenhouse that I’m thinking I could drape over the whole thing with a heater inside.
how far up the stem is it critical to protect?
Fortunately everything else in the ground is still small
the bamboo frame I made around the whole patch is at about 7’ and they are both now at 10’ plus. I have a 30x30 woven clear greenhouse tarp that I had bought years ago to make a greenhouse that I’m thinking I could drape over the whole thing with a heater inside.
how far up the stem is it critical to protect?
Fortunately everything else in the ground is still small
Posted on 9/9/26 at 7:25 pm to cgrand
I completely gave up trying to protect tall namwah. Honestly they are so large and so cold tolerant that after a couple of years some of them can end up surviving without any protection.
The flower moves up the stem from the ground to the crown. If the flower has already made it up to the top but has not yet emerged you would have to wrap and heat the whole thing. If the flower is somewhere in the middle you can cut the stem at any point above the flower to make it shorter. I have tried to guess where the flower is before but I don't see any way to tell. I have definitely topped one before to wrap it and ended up cutting the internal flower off. You could do an inch at a time and carefully work your way down.
I would spend my resources protecting true dwarf bananas that are also cold tolerant like dwarf namwah and rajapuri. You can also protect one of the smaller tall namwah pups. If you can overwinter a pup that is 6-7 feet tall you have a good chance of fruit next year.
If you want to try the lazy method of just letting them get as big and numerous as possible and not protecting them at all, the varieties would be tall namwah and saba. Those are ones that are very cold tolerant and get large enough so that the center tissue might not freeze. Saba is even bigger than tall Namwah but fruit is not as good.
The flower moves up the stem from the ground to the crown. If the flower has already made it up to the top but has not yet emerged you would have to wrap and heat the whole thing. If the flower is somewhere in the middle you can cut the stem at any point above the flower to make it shorter. I have tried to guess where the flower is before but I don't see any way to tell. I have definitely topped one before to wrap it and ended up cutting the internal flower off. You could do an inch at a time and carefully work your way down.
I would spend my resources protecting true dwarf bananas that are also cold tolerant like dwarf namwah and rajapuri. You can also protect one of the smaller tall namwah pups. If you can overwinter a pup that is 6-7 feet tall you have a good chance of fruit next year.
If you want to try the lazy method of just letting them get as big and numerous as possible and not protecting them at all, the varieties would be tall namwah and saba. Those are ones that are very cold tolerant and get large enough so that the center tissue might not freeze. Saba is even bigger than tall Namwah but fruit is not as good.
This post was edited on 9/9/26 at 7:35 pm
Posted on 9/9/26 at 8:33 pm to Tigerlaff
thanks that all makes sense. All the dwarfs and smaller trees (rajapuri, orinoco) fit nicely under the bamboo frame so those should be easy. All the pups under the tall namwah will protected as well. The potted dwarf namwah you gave me will live inside.
it will be a learning experience
it will be a learning experience
Posted on 9/10/26 at 7:47 pm to cgrand
You have legit started out with probably the best possible collection of 9a bananas you could ask for. Wish I had done that instead of just buying random home depot plants years ago and having to dig them all up.
Posted on 9/10/26 at 7:51 pm to Tigerlaff
Miami Fruit labor day sale box came in:
The achacha and about 2/3 of the mangosteens were great. Did not like Rollinia at all. Like a jelly filled atemoya. The abiu were picked too early, should have no green on them. Lisa atemoyas are perfect. Filled out but not yet soft. Gros Michel bananas look like they were picked too early. Will give it a few days and see how the rest turn out.
The achacha and about 2/3 of the mangosteens were great. Did not like Rollinia at all. Like a jelly filled atemoya. The abiu were picked too early, should have no green on them. Lisa atemoyas are perfect. Filled out but not yet soft. Gros Michel bananas look like they were picked too early. Will give it a few days and see how the rest turn out.
Posted on 9/11/26 at 6:22 am to Tigerlaff
I scooped up a few mulberry scions from Marta at Really Good Plants about 3 weeks ago. It looks like 4 out of 5 grafts on a single potted red mulberry rootstock were successful. 2 are DMOR9 and 2 are Aussie scions. All 4 successful grafts were cleft grafts that matched perfectly to the rootstock diameter. The one failed graft was a veneer graft. I bound the graft tightly with rolled Saran Wrap then covered the entire union and scion with parafilm then topped with aluminum foil. I left it in a shady spot and watered daily. I just removed the foil this morning. So summer grafting of mulberry is possible but I think the shade and water are essential. Definitely easier to pull off with potted rootstock.
This post was edited on 9/11/26 at 6:40 am
Posted on 9/11/26 at 9:45 am to AyyyBaw
well done brah
I’m still waiting for it to cool off a little then I have loquats, figs and citrus rootstock ready to get to grafting. I’m not getting my hopes up too much but it looks easy enough
I’m still waiting for it to cool off a little then I have loquats, figs and citrus rootstock ready to get to grafting. I’m not getting my hopes up too much but it looks easy enough
Posted on 9/11/26 at 4:21 pm to AyyyBaw
quote:
DMOR9
I am very interested in this variety and will be hitting you up in a year for a scion.
Great work on the grafts! One thing I would recommend is to just spend the $35 for a roll of Aglis buddy tape instead of saran wrap and parafilm. It makes a huge difference on everything I have grafted.
Posted on 9/11/26 at 5:42 pm to Tigerlaff
Time for some harvest updates. We are getting near Fall and that means many tropical fruits are starting to ripen.
The summer crop of Kari starfruit is coming ripe and has been very sweet. But more importantly, the cooler (lol) nights have triggered the bloom for the winter crop. The winter crop is always MUCH larger than the summer crop for me. Whole tree is covered in flower buds.
This one was as sweet as a red apple.
Geffner atemoya putting on some size and filling out.
Getting ruby supreme and jalisco roja guavas daily.
The summer crop of Kari starfruit is coming ripe and has been very sweet. But more importantly, the cooler (lol) nights have triggered the bloom for the winter crop. The winter crop is always MUCH larger than the summer crop for me. Whole tree is covered in flower buds.
This one was as sweet as a red apple.
Geffner atemoya putting on some size and filling out.
Getting ruby supreme and jalisco roja guavas daily.
Posted on 9/11/26 at 6:55 pm to Tigerlaff
Gosh dang I didnt realize what I was getting into with the star fruit. I saw somebody in Florida on FB say that they get 600 lbs per year from 2 trees.
I have about 20 fruit set on my Bell's. The rest of the tree just started putting out buds in the last week or so.
I have about 20 fruit set on my Bell's. The rest of the tree just started putting out buds in the last week or so.
Posted on 9/11/26 at 8:39 pm to Loup
Right on time. Yep starfruit is wild. Just ridiculous production over 2+ harvests each year. Can't wait to see how Bell turns out. If good we need to trade scions and graft Kari/Bell into our trees.
This post was edited on 9/11/26 at 8:40 pm
Posted on 9/11/26 at 8:48 pm to Loup
quote:
Gosh dang I didnt realize what I was getting into with the star fruit. I saw somebody in Florida on FB say that they get 600 lbs per year from 2 trees.
Is it any good? Never tried Star fruit. I have heard they are not great.
Posted on 9/11/26 at 9:38 pm to LanierSpots
quote:
Is it any good? Never tried Star fruit. I have heard they are not great.
Starfruit is excellent if it's a good variety and picked ripe. What you see at the store are green unripe Arkin fruits or unripe sour Asian varieties. Kari, Bell, and Sri Kembangan are all regarded as among the best. It has a very high water content very similar to watermelon. The flavor is unique and somewhat resembles citrus. The best ones are about as sweet as an apple. I like to pick them when they are orange and chill them in the fridge so that I can eat them after doing yard work out in the heat.
Posted on 9/12/26 at 9:31 am to Tigerlaff
that one you gave me was excellent. Cold out of the fridge.
Good stretch of days for the tropicals here in god’s little acre. We’ve had a good rain every day or so and decent cloud cover otherwise
Native hibiscus’ are finally starting to get growing good. The swamp mallow and rose mallow I bought tiny seedlings in mid summer, the Texas star I planted a good sized plant in spring and the miscellaneous ones I dug up after they had flowered.
Bananas are rolling
Shampoo ginger looking the best it ever has. Fingers crossed for some blooms on this bing soon it’s supposed to be spectacular
Good stretch of days for the tropicals here in god’s little acre. We’ve had a good rain every day or so and decent cloud cover otherwise
Native hibiscus’ are finally starting to get growing good. The swamp mallow and rose mallow I bought tiny seedlings in mid summer, the Texas star I planted a good sized plant in spring and the miscellaneous ones I dug up after they had flowered.
Bananas are rolling
Shampoo ginger looking the best it ever has. Fingers crossed for some blooms on this bing soon it’s supposed to be spectacular
Posted on 9/12/26 at 9:34 am to cgrand
forgot to add, Tx Star seeds germinate quickly, like just a few days. If anyone wants some let me know
Posted on 9/12/26 at 9:56 am to cgrand
Loup here’s the banana you gave me look at this beast
Posted on 9/12/26 at 4:05 pm to cgrand
Pics not showing up for me.
Posted on 9/12/26 at 7:09 pm to Tigerlaff
Planted two more pawpaws in the pawpaw patch. Tropical Treat and Prima 1216. Tropical Treat is maybe the most heat loving pawpaw cultivar known and Prima is extremely reliable, prolific, and compact. Total list of cultivars on the property now includes:
Shenandoah
Susquehanna
Mango
Sunflower
Tropical Treat
Prima 1216
KSU Atwood
KSU Benson
Seedling of Collins Select
Avery Island wild seedling
New Ruby Supreme 10-30 guava from Lara Farms. I thinned the fruit on my big ruby supreme for the first time in an effort to get sweeter fruit in August/September. All it did was make huge guavas with no sweetness. I purchased that tree from Fast Growing Trees back when I didn't know any better. I am now starting to suspect that it isn't really ruby supreme but rather just a random red seedling. I'm not interested in a tree where 1/3 of the crop isn't good. This new one is definitely the real thing because Julian Lara got it directly from UF TREC which developed ruby supreme in the 1980s. First thing I noticed is that the leaves are skinnier than the ones on my big tree. Anwyay, I'll have results before too long and can give a more informed opinion. I just have a hard time believing that a cultivar as famous as ruby supreme doesn't make good fruit until October.
New (like brand new) cultivar of white sapote from California called Chang. I helped the discoverer name it after the landowner who owns the seedling mother tree. They planted 400 seedlings and this was the only one with significant improvement. It is said to taste like a mango milkshake and it has small, deformed seeds that are flat. This makes the flesh to seed ratio about 9:1 and I'm not aware of any other white sapote that can come close to that.
Lisa atemoya from Miami Fruit was fantastic. Best atemoya I've had. Bright and sweet like vanilla/pinapple/banana with very few seeds.
Shenandoah
Susquehanna
Mango
Sunflower
Tropical Treat
Prima 1216
KSU Atwood
KSU Benson
Seedling of Collins Select
Avery Island wild seedling
New Ruby Supreme 10-30 guava from Lara Farms. I thinned the fruit on my big ruby supreme for the first time in an effort to get sweeter fruit in August/September. All it did was make huge guavas with no sweetness. I purchased that tree from Fast Growing Trees back when I didn't know any better. I am now starting to suspect that it isn't really ruby supreme but rather just a random red seedling. I'm not interested in a tree where 1/3 of the crop isn't good. This new one is definitely the real thing because Julian Lara got it directly from UF TREC which developed ruby supreme in the 1980s. First thing I noticed is that the leaves are skinnier than the ones on my big tree. Anwyay, I'll have results before too long and can give a more informed opinion. I just have a hard time believing that a cultivar as famous as ruby supreme doesn't make good fruit until October.
New (like brand new) cultivar of white sapote from California called Chang. I helped the discoverer name it after the landowner who owns the seedling mother tree. They planted 400 seedlings and this was the only one with significant improvement. It is said to taste like a mango milkshake and it has small, deformed seeds that are flat. This makes the flesh to seed ratio about 9:1 and I'm not aware of any other white sapote that can come close to that.
Lisa atemoya from Miami Fruit was fantastic. Best atemoya I've had. Bright and sweet like vanilla/pinapple/banana with very few seeds.
Posted on 9/12/26 at 7:09 pm to Tigerlaff
Planted two more pawpaws in the pawpaw patch. Tropical Treat and Prima 1216. Tropical Treat is maybe the most heat loving pawpaw cultivar known and Prima is extremely reliable, prolific, and compact. Total list of cultivars on the property now includes:
Shenandoah
Susquehanna
Mango
Sunflower
Tropical Treat
Prima 1216
KSU Atwood
KSU Benson
Seedling of Collins Select
Avery Island wild seedling
New Ruby Supreme 10-30 guava from Lara Farms. I thinned the fruit on my big ruby supreme for the first time in an effort to get sweeter fruit in August/September. All it did was make huge guavas with no sweetness. I purchased that tree from Fast Growing Trees back when I didn't know any better. I am now starting to suspect that it isn't really ruby supreme but rather just a random red seedling. I'm not interested in a tree where 1/3 of the crop isn't good. This new one is definitely the real thing because Julian Lara got it directly from UF TREC which developed ruby supreme in the 1980s. First thing I noticed is that the leaves are skinnier than the ones on my big tree. Anwyay, I'll have results before too long and can give a more informed opinion. I just have a hard time believing that a cultivar as famous as ruby supreme doesn't make good fruit until October.
New (like brand new) cultivar of white sapote from California called Chang. I helped the discoverer name it after the landowner who owns the seedling mother tree. They planted 400 seedlings and this was the only one with significant improvement. It is said to taste like a mango milkshake and it has small, deformed seeds that are flat. This makes the flesh to seed ratio about 9:1 and I'm not aware of any other white sapote that can come close to that.
Lisa atemoya from Miami Fruit was fantastic. Best atemoya I've had. Bright and sweet like vanilla/pinapple/banana with very few seeds.
Shenandoah
Susquehanna
Mango
Sunflower
Tropical Treat
Prima 1216
KSU Atwood
KSU Benson
Seedling of Collins Select
Avery Island wild seedling
New Ruby Supreme 10-30 guava from Lara Farms. I thinned the fruit on my big ruby supreme for the first time in an effort to get sweeter fruit in August/September. All it did was make huge guavas with no sweetness. I purchased that tree from Fast Growing Trees back when I didn't know any better. I am now starting to suspect that it isn't really ruby supreme but rather just a random red seedling. I'm not interested in a tree where 1/3 of the crop isn't good. This new one is definitely the real thing because Julian Lara got it directly from UF TREC which developed ruby supreme in the 1980s. First thing I noticed is that the leaves are skinnier than the ones on my big tree. Anwyay, I'll have results before too long and can give a more informed opinion. I just have a hard time believing that a cultivar as famous as ruby supreme doesn't make good fruit until October.
New (like brand new) cultivar of white sapote from California called Chang. I helped the discoverer name it after the landowner who owns the seedling mother tree. They planted 400 seedlings and this was the only one with significant improvement. It is said to taste like a mango milkshake and it has small, deformed seeds that are flat. This makes the flesh to seed ratio about 9:1 and I'm not aware of any other white sapote that can come close to that.
Lisa atemoya from Miami Fruit was fantastic. Best atemoya I've had. Bright and sweet like vanilla/pinapple/banana with very few seeds.
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