re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates

If any of y'all want to see some monster container trees, check out D's Fruit Trees, LLC on Facebook. Just crazy stuff.



$4k for delivery and installation of this 200gal mango. Good thing I don't live in south Florida because I would be doing this all day.

Unfortunately an event we will all experience at one point or another. Luckily papaya grows fast and you can have that thing back in one season.

Is the Hawaiian papaya different from the normal ones we have here like Red Lady, etc? I can't stand papaya but have been told there are sweeter varieties without the muskiness.

OK, time for some updates. First, new acquisitions. Met a new friend in Nola who sold me this very nice red hybrid jaboticaba. Beautiful structure and he clearly knows what he's doing with these. He had some enormous trees at his house. This one is already fruiting. That's a 20g container I repotted it in.





The seller was so generous that he threw in a small restinga Jaboticaba, white jade pineapple, and yuzu citrus seedling for free. Needless to say we are buds now.









Here is the dwarf namwah pup I bought from him 3 weeks ago. Already pushing hard.



He also threw in a Musa Truly Tiny banana pup. I put it in a 20g.



Here is my new Hollier fig. Ate the first fruit and it was amazing. Honey berry mix.



Finally, my 2 little bounty passionfruit plugs have taken off.



We are eating guavas every day now. This is ruby supreme and lemon cattley guava.


Good things happening over here!

i just noticed your signs...are you engraving those signs at your house? as in, you own blank sign stock and an engraver?

you are a maniac

For the people in this thread who have asked about amending big box store soil, here's an example of what I do. Every now and then I plant something that isn't super important and I don't want to waste my primo soil, Gary's Best Top Pot. When this happens, here's what I make:



That is 1cuft (whole bag) of Miracle Gro Citrus/Cactus soil in the orange bag, 1/4 cuft (half bag) of paver sand, and a little more than half a bag of perlite. If you zoom in, you'll see tons of pebbles, sand, and perlite that will slurp water down through the organic components of the miracle gro mix and out the drainage holes at the bottom. Let me be clear, this miracle gro soil is garbage. But this amendment process makes it into something I'd grade out at about a C+ or maybe B-.

Wiltz, saw your thread on r/mango. Great pics. Your stuff looks so healthy. My Pickering is putting on tons of new growth. Everything loves this cooler overcast weather.

We had talked about greenhouses/heaters a little before but I am wanting to go ahead and get everything setup for this winter. I had the 8x8 popup when I lived in Alaska and just ordered the 10x10 reinforced popup through eaglepeak. What thermostat/heater are you using? Mine will be elec and I will have to figure out some kind of alternative if elec is out or I may purchase a generator.

I need to order mine as well. I need to measure my back patio to be sure ill be able to get out of my house lol. Hopefully a 10x10 will fit.

quote:

---

I believe EaglePoint has a reinforced 8x8 as well.

---

Correct. I own this one and used it last year. It's WAY more solid and robust than what your are thinking. The frame is a powder coated heavy steel. Just make sure you secure it well for high winds. I'm using it again this year as my overflow greenhouse. My main one is an eagle peak reinforced heavy-duty 12x8.

quote:

---

If it's in a pot, you need to add 5-8 degrees to whatever the internet tells you it is hardy to. If it's young and in a pot, you need to be ready to add 10-15 degrees to be safe.

---

thank you that is very good to know. I didn’t think about the difference the pot makes

I have an 8x12 overhang/patio area attached to my shed. I was just gonna put clear tarps around it and open the door to the shed so the minisplit could heat the area? Bad idea b/c not enough sun? thoughts?