re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates

it does, mines all sprouting now

I have a first year edulis in a 15g. It didn’t even lose leaves this year. I only covered it on nights colder than 28. It took 32 like a champ uncovered outside. Hoping to taste some fruit this year.

I have a new open spot in-ground where my dead lemon currently is. Northern Vermilion parish zone 9b, full sun until around 2:30-3 right now. Clay soil but on an amended mound - good surface drainage. Any unique recs for something that I don’t have to protect in a “normal” winter for fresh eating?

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I think I got jipped on my super haas

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They are always a bit lanky. Scarce few of the nurseries actually selectively prune their trees to promote healthy canopies. I’d keep it staked for a while. I’m not sure when or if Montura Gardens will be heading back to Louisiana and Texas; but, they do offer better quality trees at a fair price. I’ll likely be hitting them up to replace my mangoes later this Spring.

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Unfortunately their inventory got smoked in Clewiston

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I’d heard that they got hit hard. It’s ugly for many. I have some trees I’d like to replace; but, also have come to terms with the fact that a large sized tree simply may not be available for another year or two.

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Depends. Native passionfruit / maypop / Passiflora incarnata? Every year without fail.

Tropical passionfruit / Passiflora edulis? With a heavy layer of mulch in 9a, typically yes. Without heavy mulch? Maybe. Have seen them die from cold without a mound of mulch. Have also seen them come back with a very little protection but it isn't guaranteed and likely has more to do with age and health of the root system.

Your main issue with edulis is this: the vines don't live that long. Lifespan is 4-6 years. So if they are freezing hard each year you may not get them to set fruit in time to harvest before the weather gets cool. Usually takes around 3 months for fruit to ripen. Would recommend either overwintering or heavy protection to try to get growth and flowering as early as possible. They will absolutely fruit in containers (15g plus is best) and I have no idea why some internet sources say otherwise.

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Checking back on my order they called it a Passion Fruit Plant, Possum Purple. Google says it is Passiflora edulis. The vine has made it through a couple of freezes unprotected with minimal damage. I planted it in May of 2024. I got about 15 fruits from it last year. It was getting hard to manage in a pot. I'll make sure to heavily mulch the base this winter. I'll also try to root some cuttings and keep them inside to have a backup in case it doesn't survive.

I stopped at Home Depot this morning and they had this sad looking thornless key lime out front. I was able to israel them down on the price to $10. Didn't really want a key lime tree but I had to do it for love of the game. There are a good bit of sprouts above the graft so I think I'll be able to save it.

Oh, can't you see?
A crooked tree won't fit into the mill machine
They're left to grow wild and free
I'd rather be a crooked tree

Very interested in a white sapote. Any recs on cultivar and grower? Side note - I received my Lisbon lemon, Persian lime, and Koroneiki olive from Four Winds last week. Extremely well packaged and great looking trees. Already up potted in 15g containers with peat, sand, perlite and top dressed with compost and osmocote and mulch. They are looking happy so far - appreciate the recommendation!

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Very interested in a white sapote. Any recs on cultivar and grower?

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There are a lot of varieties, but two major "kinds" of white sapote. There is pure white sapote (Casimiroa edulis) and hybrid white sapote (Casimiroa tetramaria X Casimiroa edulis). The hybrids have fuzzy undersides to their leaves and are significantly smaller trees than pure white sapote. This is important because pure white sapote can become enormous, too big to protect in winter. Even the tetramaria hybrids are not dwarf trees, they're just not as huge. For that reason I think a zone pusher should stay with a tetramaria hybrid and the most well known and available one is the Suebelle variety. That's what I grow (15g pot). Suebelle is known to be a more compact tree. Is Suebelle the best tasting white sapote? No. Younghans Gold, Campbell, Fruit Hunter's, etc. are all reportedly better. But it's not enough of a difference for me to try to overcome a growth habit that doesn't suit my yard. Suebelle is excellent, by the way. Much better than Redlands in my opinion, which is the most common one you usually see for sale.

The best authority on white sapote these days is Xain Lawracy of Xain's World Nursery. He just released a new variety called Xain's World Gold that he says is the very best, but I have no idea about its growth habit. Here's a video of him describing white sapote varieties:

LINK

Glad the Four Winds order worked out well!

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Anyone else have pawpaws and are they waking up?

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I want some bad. Do they grow well around/under oaks? I'm out of sunny spots for trees

Got a few things planted for spring today.

Yellow grumichama seedlings uppotted. That one on the right is struggling but we'll see. Hope one of them turns out yellow. Long way to go to find out.


Planted 3 lemon cattley guava seedlings in the yard. That makes one big one in a 20g and four in the ground. These 3 new ones are getting no protection ever. Goal is to see if they can take winter and fruit the next season. Pruned all of them to a single central leader. They grow very haphazardly so getting a good trunk is important.


South side of the house, brick wall, overhanging awning. This would be my bet for the best survivor.


Looks bare now but this whole area is a huge shell ginger patch that will be 8 feet tall by the time it freezes again. Growing the guava in the dead center so the ginger can give some protection.


Under the canopy of a big magnolia. Great frost protection.