re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates

If you've never had the 'Ti Punch from the French carribean islands, you are missing one of life's great pleasures. It takes a very particular kind of rum (agricole rhum, in fact) that will not taste like anything you are used to. The one you are most likely to find in south LA stores is Cheramie Blanc white unaged.



Get a bottle of that, a couple of good juicy limes, and make a 2:1 brown sugar to water simple syrup. Mix to taste. Traditionally consumed without ice, but I always add a few cubes.

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Anybody else have pineapple guava (feijoa) blooming?

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I was really hoping this was the year, but still nothing. I’m guessing mine are just seedlings that will take a while.

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I was really hoping this was the year, but still nothing. I’m guessing mine are just seedlings that will take a while.

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Where did you get them and how much yard space do you have?

Almost everything sold in the US is a seedling. The one select variety you might find at a nursery is Coolidge, which is self fertile.

I would not recommend growing these trees. Go to onegreenworld.com and get some of the amazing improved varieties from New Zealand. I have two trees, Unique and Improved Coolidge. Both are self fertile and planted right next to each other.

Yeha man. That's gonna work. Nice!

What variety?

No matter what I get I always end up back with Diplomatico Reserve.

Yall passion fruit looks way better than mine. I planted it in the ground a week before that last frost and it got hurt pretty bad. Dropped about half of its leaves. Its putting new growth out now. Just looks....sad.

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No matter what I get I always end up back with Diplomatico Reserve.

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Look, it tastes good. But that's because it's Venezuelan and loaded with added sugar. Jamaica and Barbados. That's where you want your rum to come from (at first). Additives are illegal there.

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Yall passion fruit looks way better than mine. I planted it in the ground a week before that last frost and it got hurt pretty bad. Dropped about half of its leaves. Its putting new growth out now. Just looks....sad.

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Yep. Tropical passion fruit hates cold weather.

I paid way too much money for a rooted cutting of qinmi #9. Will document as it grows.

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Mt Gay eclipse is my mixing rum

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Excellent choice but I would also say try Appleton Signature and see which you like better as a mixer. No wrong answers there. Barbados is sweet like bourbon and Jamaica is funky.

Alright we got a few interesting things knocked out today in time to watch the end of the Masters.

First, a friend gifted me a new jaboticaba. This is an unknown Plinia from Frankie's Nursery in Hawaii called Frankie's Dwarf. I've only seen one video of it on YouTube but it's definitely a small and prolific tree.


Also managed to find a good size yellow grumichama seedling. I have 3 of these and hope that at least one will be yellow fruited like the parent.


Mangos are filling out well.


Most exciting of all, my very first attempt at grafting pawpaw looks like a success. This is a Shenandoah scion grafted onto native pawpaw rootstock that I planted back in November. You can see the green bud trying to push a leaf through the tape.


Also cleaned up the yellow fronds on my lipstick palm. Starting to look better as it establishes and should be able to put it outside this week with the rising night time temperatures. I am constantly asking myself whether growing an ultra tropical palm was a good idea or not.