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re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted on 2/14/26 at 2:06 pm to Tigerlaff
Posted on 2/14/26 at 2:06 pm to Tigerlaff
Got three new things planted today. First up was vista white loquat. Very hard to find this variety which is known for top end excellence. White flesh fruit with brix around 18-20. Vista is allegedly one of the very few loquats that is not self fertile. I've got it right next to a gold nugget, Oliver, and a seedling for good pollination. Also have potted Oliver and honeyquat nearby. As always, we blast all the bark-based soil off the roots before replanting on a very sandy mound.
Next up is a dwarf guava (Psidium guajava nana) from Top Tropicals. I've already got a couple of dwarf guavas but this one is different with larger leaves and fruit.
Finally, an air layered biew kiew longan. This is allegedly the most "dwarf" longan and I have seen this cultivar fruit well in 15g containers and above. Longan is very similar to lychee but way less of a hassle to grow.
Also got the passionfruit trellis set up. Overwintered Panama Red on one end, Bounty on the other. Rolling the dice with winter here. If we don't freeze again I will have a HUGE head start on passionfruit. Bonus zapped shell ginger in the background. Didn't like 18F. Will be back by April.
Also enjoyed a huge Morena sapodilla today. Like a giant brown sugar pear that looks like a potato.
Next up is a dwarf guava (Psidium guajava nana) from Top Tropicals. I've already got a couple of dwarf guavas but this one is different with larger leaves and fruit.
Finally, an air layered biew kiew longan. This is allegedly the most "dwarf" longan and I have seen this cultivar fruit well in 15g containers and above. Longan is very similar to lychee but way less of a hassle to grow.
Also got the passionfruit trellis set up. Overwintered Panama Red on one end, Bounty on the other. Rolling the dice with winter here. If we don't freeze again I will have a HUGE head start on passionfruit. Bonus zapped shell ginger in the background. Didn't like 18F. Will be back by April.
Also enjoyed a huge Morena sapodilla today. Like a giant brown sugar pear that looks like a potato.
This post was edited on 2/14/26 at 6:15 pm
1
Posted on 2/16/26 at 9:12 am to Tigerlaff
What did you notice on the SpiceZee? Mine were bare root last year so no fruit, but have some good structure this year, hoping for a few.
I did spray it along with all my other fruit deciduous fruit trees (dormant oil/copper)
Next question, my ruby supreme put on a ton of growth, I need to prune it back. It has a nice central leader but the scaffold branches are close to 3ft of the trunk !
Would you just head them back close to the trunk ?
Any pruning literature you have on guava?
I did spray it along with all my other fruit deciduous fruit trees (dormant oil/copper)
Next question, my ruby supreme put on a ton of growth, I need to prune it back. It has a nice central leader but the scaffold branches are close to 3ft of the trunk !
Would you just head them back close to the trunk ?
Any pruning literature you have on guava?
Posted on 2/16/26 at 5:57 pm to DickTater
Spice zee just behaves like any other peach/nectarine in south Louisiana: magnet for leaf curl, thrips, and root rot. You did the exact right thing by spraying copper/oil before bud break. At this time of year I get nervous and spray weekly.
Guava grows like crazy. You really can't go wrong. I try to prune every 12-16 inches to create good branch structure. If you get it wrong you can hat rack these things and start over. My main goal is to not have too much crowding that will allow mealy bugs to hide.
Guava grows like crazy. You really can't go wrong. I try to prune every 12-16 inches to create good branch structure. If you get it wrong you can hat rack these things and start over. My main goal is to not have too much crowding that will allow mealy bugs to hide.
This post was edited on 2/16/26 at 7:29 pm
Posted on 2/16/26 at 6:05 pm to Tigerlaff
Got my Geffner atemoya up potted from 15g to 25g. Should be ready to hold fruit this season.
Sweet Kari starfruit starting to come ripe fairly regularly now.
The passionfruit I planted 2 days ago is already flowering. That was FAST.
Sweet Kari starfruit starting to come ripe fairly regularly now.
The passionfruit I planted 2 days ago is already flowering. That was FAST.
Posted on 2/17/26 at 6:41 am to Tigerlaff
Question for yall about lemons. I’ve had an improved Meyer in ground for 3 years and I’m done fighting with the lack of cold tolerance. I’d like to put a lemon in a container on my screened in porch. Mostly bright shade - maybe 1-2 hours of direct sun but lots of indirect light. I can always roll it onto carport where it would get more direct sun though. My local garden center has improved Meyer, Libson, and variegated eureka pink flesh lemon. Which of those would yall recommend for this application? Looking to prune it to maintain a 5-6’ height or so.
Posted on 2/17/26 at 6:56 am to AyyyBaw
Ask the vendor what root stock each is on. Choose whichever is on dwarfing root stock (flying dragon) if possible.
Shade won't be enough to produce quality fruit. It will need at least a few hours of direct sun and more if possible. The variegated one requires less sun.
If it were me starting all over again, I would pot up a Lisbon lemon and be done with it. Better true lemon flavor than a Meyer without the crazy growth habit. Is it sweeter than Meyer? No. But are you actually eating Meyer lemons in the first place? The only thing I care about is the rind/oils. And I can't imagine Lisbon being worse with pests as Meyer is the worst pest tree I have ever owned. Lisbon is far less cold tolerant but Meyer is already pretty sensitive to begin with. If it's going to live in a pot, I would want Lisbon on flying dragon and I would buy it from Four Winds growers online.
Also let us know if you're open to container citrus other than lemon. I find lemon to be the most overrated citrus (excluding only the dumb hype trees like Buddha's Hand citron and kaffir lime).
Shade won't be enough to produce quality fruit. It will need at least a few hours of direct sun and more if possible. The variegated one requires less sun.
If it were me starting all over again, I would pot up a Lisbon lemon and be done with it. Better true lemon flavor than a Meyer without the crazy growth habit. Is it sweeter than Meyer? No. But are you actually eating Meyer lemons in the first place? The only thing I care about is the rind/oils. And I can't imagine Lisbon being worse with pests as Meyer is the worst pest tree I have ever owned. Lisbon is far less cold tolerant but Meyer is already pretty sensitive to begin with. If it's going to live in a pot, I would want Lisbon on flying dragon and I would buy it from Four Winds growers online.
Also let us know if you're open to container citrus other than lemon. I find lemon to be the most overrated citrus (excluding only the dumb hype trees like Buddha's Hand citron and kaffir lime).
This post was edited on 2/17/26 at 7:28 am
Posted on 2/17/26 at 7:06 am to Tigerlaff
Awesome advice, thanks! Never thought to ask about rootstock. We don’t eat the lemons - just use for juice and zest. Appreciate you. Will likely go with Libson as I’ll be able to bring it inside during freezes.
Posted on 2/17/26 at 9:02 am to Tigerlaff
If anyone is a grafter I have tons of sprouted trifoliate orange coming up under my big tree. I usually just yank them out but they are a super vigorous rootstock for lemon and oranges. Free to a good home I have all sizes.
Posted on 2/17/26 at 11:37 am to Tigerlaff
Ended up ordering from Four Winds. Libson lemon, Bearss lime, Koroneiki olive. Already have a potted Arbequina olive so they should be able to cross pollinate. They will all live in containers using the peat, perlite, sand mix with compost, osmocote, mulch on top. Current olive tree is thriving in that setup after I washed dirt off of roots and repotted. I’ve learned a lot from this thread.
Posted on 2/17/26 at 11:48 am to AyyyBaw
quote:
Current olive tree is thriving in that setup after I washed dirt off of roots and repotted. I’ve learned a lot from this thread.
Good man! Once you banish the bark you never go back. At some point I'll post a list of things that thrive even in crappy soil. It's not a long list but there are some things.
Posted on 2/17/26 at 3:09 pm to Tigerlaff
Today the clippers came out.
The freeze of 2026 was pretty merciless. We hit 28 for several hours in my part of Tampa Bay.
The survivors don’t look great and we’ll do our best to nurture them back this year.
Survivors include Lemon Zest, Pickering, CAC, Mahachanok, Angie, P22, Kathy/K3, Dwarf Hawaiian and Sweet Tart.
The confirmed dead include Glenn, Cecilove, Bolt, Dusari, Kesar, Orange Sherbet and Pineapple Pleasure.
Many of which had to be replaced following Hurricane Milton in 2024. Gonna have to do some soul searching and decide if it’s really worth replacing and subjecting myself to this once again.
The freeze of 2026 was pretty merciless. We hit 28 for several hours in my part of Tampa Bay.
The survivors don’t look great and we’ll do our best to nurture them back this year.
Survivors include Lemon Zest, Pickering, CAC, Mahachanok, Angie, P22, Kathy/K3, Dwarf Hawaiian and Sweet Tart.
The confirmed dead include Glenn, Cecilove, Bolt, Dusari, Kesar, Orange Sherbet and Pineapple Pleasure.
Many of which had to be replaced following Hurricane Milton in 2024. Gonna have to do some soul searching and decide if it’s really worth replacing and subjecting myself to this once again.
Posted on 2/17/26 at 4:41 pm to wiltznucs
I feel the pain man. This is so much worse for y'all. I expect the teens every single year and spend weeks/months planning and preparing. Central Florida spends no time prepping for that kind of cold. It would be like us hitting 0F and all the huge crepe myrtles and southern magnolias dying. Glad you had so many survivors.
I agree that you need to decide what you want the future to look like. I would say this. The biggest problem I consistently see is people not keeping their fruit trees small. That goes for sensitive tropicals and arctic warrior deciduous fruit trees alike. The research is very clear on this: maximum fruit production (which is not even necessary for a home grower) occurs when trees are about 12ft x 12ft. The larger trees do not get sunlight penetration beyond a few feet into the canopy and you end up with "dead space" where all the fruit is growing on the outer shell of an enormous tree. And some of that fruit is on the top of the tree and inaccessible. Most importantly, you cannot protect big trees.
If you are OK with the idea of 8ft mango trees, annual pruning, and covering/heating every once in a blue moon, then I would replant. If not, I'd pick my favorite 2-3 and grow in 25g pots. The fruit set I get on a potted Pickering is unreal, but I'm sure other cultivars could at least give you a passable harvest.
I agree that you need to decide what you want the future to look like. I would say this. The biggest problem I consistently see is people not keeping their fruit trees small. That goes for sensitive tropicals and arctic warrior deciduous fruit trees alike. The research is very clear on this: maximum fruit production (which is not even necessary for a home grower) occurs when trees are about 12ft x 12ft. The larger trees do not get sunlight penetration beyond a few feet into the canopy and you end up with "dead space" where all the fruit is growing on the outer shell of an enormous tree. And some of that fruit is on the top of the tree and inaccessible. Most importantly, you cannot protect big trees.
If you are OK with the idea of 8ft mango trees, annual pruning, and covering/heating every once in a blue moon, then I would replant. If not, I'd pick my favorite 2-3 and grow in 25g pots. The fruit set I get on a potted Pickering is unreal, but I'm sure other cultivars could at least give you a passable harvest.
This post was edited on 2/17/26 at 4:50 pm
Posted on 2/17/26 at 6:06 pm to Tigerlaff
Unsurprisingly; the larger more mature trees have fared far better. Not great; but, definitely better. Which sort of suggests that if I do replace them it will need to be with larger 15 or 25 gallon trees. Which really increases the investment to replace. I’d be looking at $1,000-2,000 easily. Notwithstanding the dollars and time I’ve already lost. Pruning, spraying, fertilizing, etc.
At this point I’m guessing I’ve lost 12+ mango trees in the past two years. Ranging from small newly grafted examples to larger trees between Hurricane Milton, disease, a historic drought and now the recent deep freeze. It really feels like the cosmos is trying to tell me that maybe these trees aren’t supposed to be here. I’m growing a bit fatigued of having supposedly once every 20-30 year events every year it seems lately. We were freezing just 2 weeks ago and set a record high just today.
Covering them just gets impractical after they get to 5-6 feet. Many here tried and the high winds just ripped the covers away. Others managed to cover them successfully; but, ended up cooking the trees by not removing the cover in time. It’s pretty discouraging. I may end up with fruit off Dwarf Hawaiian; through some weird microclimate in my yard where it’s shaded by a large palm nearby it managed to get little or no damage.
We’ll see; I need to put some real thought into it.
At this point I’m guessing I’ve lost 12+ mango trees in the past two years. Ranging from small newly grafted examples to larger trees between Hurricane Milton, disease, a historic drought and now the recent deep freeze. It really feels like the cosmos is trying to tell me that maybe these trees aren’t supposed to be here. I’m growing a bit fatigued of having supposedly once every 20-30 year events every year it seems lately. We were freezing just 2 weeks ago and set a record high just today.
Covering them just gets impractical after they get to 5-6 feet. Many here tried and the high winds just ripped the covers away. Others managed to cover them successfully; but, ended up cooking the trees by not removing the cover in time. It’s pretty discouraging. I may end up with fruit off Dwarf Hawaiian; through some weird microclimate in my yard where it’s shaded by a large palm nearby it managed to get little or no damage.
We’ll see; I need to put some real thought into it.
Posted on 2/17/26 at 8:05 pm to wiltznucs
quote:
It really feels like the cosmos is trying to tell me that maybe these trees aren’t supposed to be here
They aren't supposed to be there. Take a couple of weeks to mull it over before making a decision. I'm very much of the master and overcome nature mindset. Nature says I shouldn't have eaten starfruit and sapodilla in Louisiana today, but I don't like nature's opinion on the matter and decided to ignore it. There's this very particular "be one with mother earth and don't grow anything that's not a native species" hippy dippy philosophy you often find in horticulture. Those people are never disappointed because they are bowling with the bumpers on the lane. I'm basically the polar opposite.
I hope you take a couple of weeks and then get pissed off and redouble your efforts to continue growing the king of fruits.
Posted on 2/18/26 at 12:55 pm to Tigerlaff
quote:
If it were me starting all over again, I would pot up a Lisbon lemon and be done with it.
quote:
The research is very clear on this: maximum fruit production (which is not even necessary for a home grower) occurs when trees are about 12ft x 12ft.
I just wanted to say I had crazy flowers right before the freeze on my lisbon lemon that was 15-16' tall. I chopped it down to 11' or so after I unwrapped it after the freeze and it has seriously EXPLODED with flowers. I've never seen so many flowers on this tree before in the 6 years I've had it! It's unreal!
Posted on 2/18/26 at 1:28 pm to Neauxla
Does the foliage look good too? If not it could be stress bloom.
Posted on 2/18/26 at 3:21 pm to Tigerlaff
quote:yeah other than I chopped it. Didn't lose foliage from the freeze. I had it wrapped in 2 50x10 frost blankets, 2 pipe warmers around the big branches and 2 halogens shooting up the canopy.
Does the foliage look good too? If not it could be stress bloom.
Posted on 2/18/26 at 6:27 pm to Neauxla
Nice. May be a bumper lemon year for you. I hacked mine back so far 3 weeks ago that it's still in shock. But I expect it to start pushing new growth any day now as it's by far my most vigorous citrus. Secretly kinda hope it doesn't though so I can replace it...
Posted on 2/18/26 at 8:05 pm to Tigerlaff
Another cold snap in the forecast. Forecasted low of 33 in Ascension. Hoping that holds or comes up some.
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