wiltznucs

Lychee looks great. I’m impressed. Mine hasn’t done anything in nearly two years except sit there. Only signs of life at my place are actually the zone pushers. The apples and peaches are starting to flower now. Going to try and do better about managing scab on the apples this year. I’ve got one tree that’s ate up with it. Going to see if Captan holds it at bay or if I need to replace it this Fall.

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jealous!

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A lot of the Nurseries here took significant damage to their stock and are cutting deals on what survived to finance bringing in new inventory. I saw an enormous 30 gallon Pickering the other day marked down to $200. I’m hopeful mine is going to make it; otherwise, I’d of nabbed it. The local Lowe’s and HD were fire selling fruit trees last week. I found out too late and most were picked over. Big 15 gallon peach, nectarines, plums, etc for $20-30.

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I have been wanting to ask you and TG about a easy fruit tree that I could do inside my pool cage

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Calamansi/Calamondin is a small attractive citrus tree that seems to do really well in containers and is minimally effected by greening. It’s quite tart and not for everyone. They also tend to be almost everbearing here.

Finger limes are another option. They do great in pots; but, are very thorny.

Atemoya, dwarf bananas, and guava all do well in pots in lanais too. Red Lady type papayas are another option. Some may recommend dwarf mulberries; but, the fallen fruit leaves nasty stains and I’d caution against that.

Only issue with having it inside is access to pollinators. Which is true for many fruit trees in enclosures.

Traffic has gotten positively unbearable in the last 5 or so years as the population has exploded.

When I moved to Apollo Beach two decades ago it was pretty desolate. In fact; the community I lived in at the time was on a bunch of detention ponds.

The housing market crash in 07-11’ pretty much stopped all development. So the area sat bare for many years. The Cajun in me had me going duck hunting inside of the neighborhood. I could walk from my house at daybreak and have a limit and be back home in less than an hour. It was fantastic. LOL.

Those days are behind us now.

Went to the Nursery today and brought a little piece of Louisiana home. My Simmonds Avocado tree bit the dust during the recent freeze. A shame as it was only 3 years old. I knew I was taking a bit of a risk when I planted it.

The Simmonds are known to not do well with high winds and freezing temperatures; but, their fruit is big and delicious so I rolled the dice. Probably better suited to Zone 10b or higher.

I picked up a nice 15 gallon Super Hass today. Also known as Oh La La and it is credited to a Louisiana yard grower from a Hass seedling. Wind resistant and cold hardy to the low 20’s. Should make a nice complement to the Brogdon it will be planted next to. Will wait until Thursday before planting and let this little cold snap get behind us.

I’m seeing some nice flamethrowers on FB Marketplace at good prices. Be sure to have a look.

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Nice! I suck at pineapples for some reason. Can never tell if I'm giving them too much or not enough light and water. Also found out the hard way that fertilizer will injure them if it touches the inside cup. Any tips on how to keep them happy?

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So I started planting tops in 24’. My patch is mostly a mix of HoneyGlow, Mexican Sugar Pinas and some Queen pineapples from Costa Rica plus a few Colada Royale. When I get a big pineapple whose flavor I really enjoy I plant it. I’m actually pretty hands off; just twist off the top and let it dry for 2-3 days before removing the bottommost leaves and putting it straight into the dirt. I don’t bother with rooting in water. Some do die; but, I’d say my success rate is probably upwards of 80-85%.

Honestly; I’ve sort of let nature take its course thus far. They are planted in a spot that gets lots of sun on a slight slope so it’s well drained. I think I’ve fertilized them only once. UF IFAS recommends hitting them with small amounts of granular fertilizer every 2-3 months once established. As they are bromeliads a foliar application is what’s typically used commercially.

What I see most often is smaller underdeveloped pineapples. Delicious; but, smaller. So I’m going to try to do better this year.

My vote goes to the Kwanzan Cherry tree. A Japanese varietal that thrives in full sun and does well in Louisiana. For a few months you are blessed with double blossomed beauty and nobody else is likely to have one like it. They eventually reach about 15-20 feet tall and equally wide while producing minimal or no fruit to attract pests,

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.

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So where are all the southern state kids ending up with all these SEC schools taking in the jersey trash over them? ULL, Memphis, Southern Miss?

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I will say that there are a whole lot of angry Gators and Seminole alumni in my area. Many believe because their children’s scholastic performance was better than their own that they were almost assured a spot. Legacy isn’t really used here in FL. Come to find out; their kids are being deferred or rejected en masse. Suddenly; FIU, FAU, or UCF is their destination.

It’s virtually all major colleges/universities this year and will continue for at least another two years. 2007 had the highest number of births since the early 60’s surpassing much of the original Baby Boom era. 2008 was also quite high before tapering off in 2009.

So the Class of 26’ is already enormous plus graduation rates are improved nationally; as a result, the number of college applicants is gargantuan.

As the parent of a HS Senior you’d be shocked to see the number of applications at some Universities and how selective it’s allowed them to be.

My daughter will be heading to USF this Fall. Their freshmen Nursing program had 4,000+ applicants for less than 200 spots. Average SAT accepted to the University this year was a 1360 with an average GPA of 4.5+. FSU and UF were even higher.

There’s literally students about to get a degree this Summer who wouldn’t even be accepted into the same University today with their same HS transcripts.

The OOS applicants are due in large part to the fact that they often outperform in State applicants and get merit scholarships. Making it cheaper for them to go out of State than staying home.

It’s nuts; and in only 4-5 years the job market is going to be flooded with new college grads.