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Message
re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted on 5/21/25 at 10:38 am to TimeOutdoors
Posted on 5/21/25 at 10:38 am to TimeOutdoors
Alright, here's all the trees I have bought over the last 2 months or so.
Don't have the Kumquat pictured, but i'll be planting that one in the ground this weekend. And i'm still looking to get some Ice Cream Java Banana's
I mixed my own soil for all of them except the ones i need to repot from their original smaller pots.
I used 1/3 Sphagnum moss, 1/3 sand, 1/3 perlite, and a thin top layer of black kow.
They are all on the side of my house somewhat shaded in the afternoon under a large tree. They are getting a good 3-4 hours of direct sunlight in the morning where they are. I didnt' want to stick them in their final spots with more direct sunlight just yet, plus i've got to get my watering system in place where they are going as well. I travel too much to continue to do it manually all the time or rely on others to water them.
Japan Plum tree ( I don't like calling it Loquat) put this one in the ground. Got it from Cleggs (Saxon Becnel). Kumquat is going about 12' over from this one.
Pickering Mango in a 15g pot. From Everglades farm, came wrapped in a small pot.
Alphonso Mango in a 15g pot. From Everglades farm, came wrapped in a small pot.
Two Barbados Cherries. Actually came from Rouses (Saxon Becnel). They are in 15g pots but going to jump to 25g eventually and plan on having them in my front flower bed as the end pieces where i once had large crepe myrtles that i just cut down and stump grinded.
Florida Special Pineapple in a 5g pot. From Everglades farm
Guava tree from Chapple Farms in Prairieville. Not sure what variety it is. It's in a 15g pot. Behind it you can see the Kikos Crump Hibiscus, also from Chapple Farms. The leaves on it are edible. I broke it potting it but was able to take the broken pieces and repot them and had been feeding them root grow fertilizer and they are sprouting leaves now, so i'll have 2 additional of those plants now. You can see the brown spot on them where I broke off that 3rd branch going up. P.S. those cloth pots suck. I got the light colored ones b/c i figured they wouldn't get as hot as the black ones, but they stain and look disgusting.
Brewster Lychee from Chapple Farms in 15g pot. Looks terrible. Lost almost all its leaves
Papaya from Rouses (Saxon Becnel) in a 5g pot. Probably need to repot this one as it's probably been the fastest grower of all the trees i've gotten.
Another Guava from Rouses (Saxon Becnel) in a small pot. Not sure what variety this is either but the leaves seem bigger than the other Guava tree I have
Hass Avocado from Cleggs (Saxon Becnel) in a 15g pot. It did terrible after repotting but has looked much better the last 2 weeks.
Thornless Key Lime from Cleggs. Need to repot this one to a 15g.
Don't have the Kumquat pictured, but i'll be planting that one in the ground this weekend. And i'm still looking to get some Ice Cream Java Banana's
I mixed my own soil for all of them except the ones i need to repot from their original smaller pots.
I used 1/3 Sphagnum moss, 1/3 sand, 1/3 perlite, and a thin top layer of black kow.
They are all on the side of my house somewhat shaded in the afternoon under a large tree. They are getting a good 3-4 hours of direct sunlight in the morning where they are. I didnt' want to stick them in their final spots with more direct sunlight just yet, plus i've got to get my watering system in place where they are going as well. I travel too much to continue to do it manually all the time or rely on others to water them.
Japan Plum tree ( I don't like calling it Loquat) put this one in the ground. Got it from Cleggs (Saxon Becnel). Kumquat is going about 12' over from this one.
Pickering Mango in a 15g pot. From Everglades farm, came wrapped in a small pot.
Alphonso Mango in a 15g pot. From Everglades farm, came wrapped in a small pot.
Two Barbados Cherries. Actually came from Rouses (Saxon Becnel). They are in 15g pots but going to jump to 25g eventually and plan on having them in my front flower bed as the end pieces where i once had large crepe myrtles that i just cut down and stump grinded.
Florida Special Pineapple in a 5g pot. From Everglades farm
Guava tree from Chapple Farms in Prairieville. Not sure what variety it is. It's in a 15g pot. Behind it you can see the Kikos Crump Hibiscus, also from Chapple Farms. The leaves on it are edible. I broke it potting it but was able to take the broken pieces and repot them and had been feeding them root grow fertilizer and they are sprouting leaves now, so i'll have 2 additional of those plants now. You can see the brown spot on them where I broke off that 3rd branch going up. P.S. those cloth pots suck. I got the light colored ones b/c i figured they wouldn't get as hot as the black ones, but they stain and look disgusting.
Brewster Lychee from Chapple Farms in 15g pot. Looks terrible. Lost almost all its leaves
Papaya from Rouses (Saxon Becnel) in a 5g pot. Probably need to repot this one as it's probably been the fastest grower of all the trees i've gotten.
Another Guava from Rouses (Saxon Becnel) in a small pot. Not sure what variety this is either but the leaves seem bigger than the other Guava tree I have
Hass Avocado from Cleggs (Saxon Becnel) in a 15g pot. It did terrible after repotting but has looked much better the last 2 weeks.
Thornless Key Lime from Cleggs. Need to repot this one to a 15g.
3
Posted on 5/21/25 at 11:15 am to TeddyPadillac
quote:
Papaya from Rouses (Saxon Becnel) in a 5g pot. Probably need to repot this one as it's probably been the fastest grower of all the trees i've gotten.
I'm probably going to have to repot mine soon as well.
This was on April 4th.
This was last week.
Posted on 5/21/25 at 11:28 am to TeddyPadillac
Awesome post man.
On the guavas, I would start training those now to have a central trunk and good branch structure. As you can see, it wants to naturally grow into a floppy multi stemmed bush. That will make it hard to keep in the container and unwieldy to move. It also results in infections and pests from contact with the ground.
Yes, up pot the papaya immediately. That thing needs space and it will take off.
Those barbados cherries look great.
Don't feel bad about the lychee. Hardest thing I grow. If possible give it only rainwater and distilled water and no fertilizer at all. If you must fertilize, use foliage pro at half strength and only do it once. No urea based nitrogen fertilizer and no manure of any kind.
On the guavas, I would start training those now to have a central trunk and good branch structure. As you can see, it wants to naturally grow into a floppy multi stemmed bush. That will make it hard to keep in the container and unwieldy to move. It also results in infections and pests from contact with the ground.
Yes, up pot the papaya immediately. That thing needs space and it will take off.
Those barbados cherries look great.
Don't feel bad about the lychee. Hardest thing I grow. If possible give it only rainwater and distilled water and no fertilizer at all. If you must fertilize, use foliage pro at half strength and only do it once. No urea based nitrogen fertilizer and no manure of any kind.
Posted on 5/21/25 at 12:47 pm to Loup
Wow, that passionfruit vine is going crazy.
Posted on 5/21/25 at 12:56 pm to Tigerlaff
My next project when I have time is to get a barrel that i can fill through my downspout off my gutter so i have rain water to use to water everything.
I'm curious if i can get enough pressure to hook a hose up to the bottom of the barrel and then have it on an automatic timer to water all my trees and vegetables.
I figured i needed to start trimming that guava but i haven't watched or read anything on how to do that just yet.
I'm curious if i can get enough pressure to hook a hose up to the bottom of the barrel and then have it on an automatic timer to water all my trees and vegetables.
I figured i needed to start trimming that guava but i haven't watched or read anything on how to do that just yet.
Posted on 5/21/25 at 1:01 pm to Tigerlaff
quote:
Wow, that passionfruit vine is going crazy.
Yeah I need to figure out a better setup for it. I might weld up a trellis from some rebar that fits in one of the cattle tubs I have. Will just have to make sure it'll fit into whatever greenhouse I end up going with. It has about 20 or 30 fruit growing on it. It's swallowing the prairie rose I placed 3 ft from it.
Posted on 5/21/25 at 5:50 pm to Loup
Mango box #2 has arrived. This one is from Backyard Mangos. Varieties are Glenn, Haden, Duncan, Zill, Pickering, Philippine, and Angie.
All very green and firm. Will have to sit outside on the porch for a few days. Only repeat from the last box is Angie so this should be interesting.
All very green and firm. Will have to sit outside on the porch for a few days. Only repeat from the last box is Angie so this should be interesting.
This post was edited on 5/21/25 at 11:30 pm
Posted on 5/22/25 at 8:14 am to Tigerlaff
First mango of the year. A Pickering…
Picked then allowed to further ripen for 48 hours inside. On the smaller side at just under 1/2lb. Some get as large as 1lb. A bit early too as I’d ordinarily expect these in June and into July.
Flavor is pretty much classic on this one. Some faint hints of coconut. Not as juicy as some other Pickerings I’ve encountered. In general; I’ve found that the early mangos off each tree aren’t as large or rich as the later offerings. So I’m definitely optimistic based on this one.
I think the lions share on this tree is still a week or two out. Sweet Tart, Angie and Dwarf Hawaiian not far behind them.
Posted on 5/22/25 at 9:33 am to TeddyPadillac
My Solo Hawaiian Papaya. Planted from seed last September. Currently a bit more than 6 feet tall and its trunk is 3-4” in diameter. I suspect it will have fruit on its first birthday. They grow like absolute wildfire.
Posted on 5/22/25 at 11:42 am to wiltznucs
Nice! Yeah my Pickerings look like the ones on the tree in your pic.
Posted on 5/22/25 at 12:41 pm to Tigerlaff
Went to Home Depot and they had one sad looking dragon fruit left on the shelves. I asked if they'd mark it down and they said take it. Hopefully I can rehab it.
Posted on 5/22/25 at 2:22 pm to Loup
If you manage to rehabilitate it, go through all the heavy trellis stuff, protect it over winter, and harvest a dragon fruit in Louisiana you will get a medal in this thread.
Same for lychees. If anyone in here pulls it off in Louisiana it's a celebration.
Same for lychees. If anyone in here pulls it off in Louisiana it's a celebration.
This post was edited on 5/22/25 at 2:25 pm
Posted on 5/22/25 at 7:05 pm to Loup
Never heard of this dude but his setup is awesome.
Posted on 5/22/25 at 11:03 pm to Tigerlaff
This is not my main starfruit / carambola post. I'm planning to only do comprehensive posts on things I have actually harvested. But the turnaround I have seen on this this since arrival on 01/13/25 is remarkable. It dropped literally every single leaf in January after arrival and look at it now. This is the Kari variety.
Posted on 5/24/25 at 8:20 am to Tigerlaff
Harvested the first two ruby supreme guavas today. I prefer for them to be totally yellow on the tree before picking but they both fell off on their own. This is the winter crop, which is never as good as the summer crop.
One of them had a mushy spot so I cut it and ate it. Good flavor but not sweet enough. Needed more time.
The second fruit is just as big and I'll let it ripen inside for a few days before cutting.
ETA: the second fruit was delicious. Very sweet and aromatic.
One of them had a mushy spot so I cut it and ate it. Good flavor but not sweet enough. Needed more time.
The second fruit is just as big and I'll let it ripen inside for a few days before cutting.
ETA: the second fruit was delicious. Very sweet and aromatic.
This post was edited on 5/31/25 at 6:37 am
Posted on 5/24/25 at 5:59 pm to Tigerlaff
Dang idk why but I was imagining guava to be the size of an egg. That's awesome.
I threw my back out moving my dragon fruit pot. You were right about them being a bitch
I threw my back out moving my dragon fruit pot. You were right about them being a bitch
Posted on 5/24/25 at 10:17 pm to Loup
Posted on 5/29/25 at 7:06 pm to Tigerlaff
MANGO REPORT
OK I have had the good fortune to sample specialty mangos from the following Florida outfits:
Tropical Acres - best mangos by far. Most expensive.
Sleepy Lizard - worst mangos, very underripe. Varieties not labeled. Cheapest.
Backyard Mangos - very good. Mid priced.
Lara Farms - fewest mangos, but also cheap. Good varieties. 1 of 6 in the box was rotten. The rest are great.
I'm really glad I did this because I discovered that I very much prefer the "normie" classic Indian type mangos over the indochinese new hotness varieties.
Best mango: Karen Michelle. Heaven on earth. Insanely sweet, mild subacid tang, strong coconut aroma and flavor.
2nd place: Edward. Just a straight up amazing classically flavored mango. Zero flaws.
3rd place: Pickering. Now this surprised me. Pickering is commonly dissed by mango nerds as inferior to the new indochinese varieties. But I had two kinds of Pickering. Two of them had barely turned color and were mostly green. They ripened on the counter and were just average. The third one arrived fully ripe (yellow orange with red blush). As wiltz and others have said, this mango needs to reach complete ripeness on the tree. I am assuming that is what happened with the third one because this was an amazing mango with very, very sweet flesh and a medium coconut undertone (not as strong as Karen Michelle). If that is what a tree-ripened Pickering tastes like then I am extremely pleased with my tree choice.
Other good mentionables: Glenn, Duncan, Lemon Zest, Angie, Florigon, Haden, Rosigold.
Garbage: Phillipine. These were extremely underripe and remained sour through color change. I have one left and am letting it turn completely yellow before I slice it, regardless of how soft it gets.
ETA: Had a fourth and final fully ripened Pickering and it was the second best mango after only Karen Michelle. STRONG coconut flavor. Like a mango pina colada.
OK I have had the good fortune to sample specialty mangos from the following Florida outfits:
Tropical Acres - best mangos by far. Most expensive.
Sleepy Lizard - worst mangos, very underripe. Varieties not labeled. Cheapest.
Backyard Mangos - very good. Mid priced.
Lara Farms - fewest mangos, but also cheap. Good varieties. 1 of 6 in the box was rotten. The rest are great.
I'm really glad I did this because I discovered that I very much prefer the "normie" classic Indian type mangos over the indochinese new hotness varieties.
Best mango: Karen Michelle. Heaven on earth. Insanely sweet, mild subacid tang, strong coconut aroma and flavor.
2nd place: Edward. Just a straight up amazing classically flavored mango. Zero flaws.
3rd place: Pickering. Now this surprised me. Pickering is commonly dissed by mango nerds as inferior to the new indochinese varieties. But I had two kinds of Pickering. Two of them had barely turned color and were mostly green. They ripened on the counter and were just average. The third one arrived fully ripe (yellow orange with red blush). As wiltz and others have said, this mango needs to reach complete ripeness on the tree. I am assuming that is what happened with the third one because this was an amazing mango with very, very sweet flesh and a medium coconut undertone (not as strong as Karen Michelle). If that is what a tree-ripened Pickering tastes like then I am extremely pleased with my tree choice.
Other good mentionables: Glenn, Duncan, Lemon Zest, Angie, Florigon, Haden, Rosigold.
Garbage: Phillipine. These were extremely underripe and remained sour through color change. I have one left and am letting it turn completely yellow before I slice it, regardless of how soft it gets.
ETA: Had a fourth and final fully ripened Pickering and it was the second best mango after only Karen Michelle. STRONG coconut flavor. Like a mango pina colada.
This post was edited on 5/31/25 at 6:39 am
Posted on 5/30/25 at 9:28 am to Tigerlaff
Had the Lemon Zest, Angie, and Rosigold so far. Lemon was probably my favorite out of these.
Had a Hawaiian today. Have to say that’s my favorite so far.
Had a Hawaiian today. Have to say that’s my favorite so far.
This post was edited on 5/31/25 at 4:58 pm
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