wiltznucs

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Potted a Bell's Starfruit (thought i ordered an Arkin but guess thats what happens when drinking and buyinng)

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You actually upgraded significantly. Be sure to drink while tropical fruit tree shopping from now on. It’s clearly in your own best interest. LOL..

Alcohol; in general, is in a bad way. Americans are drinking less, Gen Z doesn’t drink and THC has entered the equation.

The boom in bourbon faded faster than expected and they’ve collectively overproduced on a positively massive scale. Some estimates suggest that every bourbon distillery could shut down tomorrow and it would take nearly a decade to go through what’s already in barrels at current consumption rates.

Sales are down and the distilleries know bankruptcies are coming. They’ll be able to buy barrels of aged juice for pennies on the dollar at liquidation. Now we’re at that point where closures (Kentucky Owl/Stoli and more) and consolidation/sales are happening. Four Roses to Gallo Wines being the most notable sale recently.

Brown Foreman has been in discussions with Pernod. Saz has entered the discussion. Saz wins either way. If they get BF at a good price they have virtually locked up bourbon in the US. In years past there would be anti-trust discussions. If their presence drives up the price for Pernod it’s still a victory of sorts for Saz.

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Have you ever had any success with coconut cream

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I’m using this freeze and subsequent rebuild to be a bit of a reset for my grove. I had a few mango trees in there that just didn’t grow well like Cecilove and Bolt that I won’t replace.

I had some others that are pretty widely available at local markets like Nam Doc Mai and Mahachanok. It feels sort of silly to be growing them when I can buy them relatively easily at my local Asian market or mango farm when they are in season. So I’m not replacing them either.

So I’ve decided to add some new ones in their place. I’ve got Super Julie (an Indian/Alphonso type) coming along with Lemon Meringue (a citrus mango and the parent of Orange Sherbet and Lemon Zest). Coconut Cream is my sons favorite mango; so he asked for it to be added.

Coconut Cream is a delicious mango with some known growth and productivity issues. It’s also been known to have rootstock compatibility issues with trees breaking at the graft under high winds. So we’ll see I guess.

Right now that leaves me with 2 openings for future consideration.

So as of now the grove consists of…

Sweet Tart
CAC
Coconut Cream
Pickering
Lemon Zest
Orange Sherbet
P-22
Kathy/K3
Glenn
Super Julie
Lemon Meringue
Dwarf Hawaiian

All of which are in the ground and minus the Coconut Cream are 25 gallon examples or larger.

Arkin is definitely popular. Probably the one I see the most of in nurseries. My little Bell I picked up a few weeks back has shown some growth. So far so good.

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Was this Montura?

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This is from a small nursery just outside of Tampa. About 25 minutes from my place. He doesn’t have many mango varieties to choose from; but, what he does have are generally freakishly large and priced very well. I ended up getting a 25g Glenn plus this oversized Sweet Tart and that OS for $600 delivered. Best deal in town for sure.

I’ll probably hit Montura this week in search of Dusari, Kesar and others.

There’s no large Ceci’s to be found in FL right now. I grabbed this Pickering today; mostly because larger trees are a rare find and inventory is disappearing fast. The February freeze was catastrophic. It’s honestly just a potted up 15g tree of yesterday at a modern 25g tree price point. I’ll take what I can get.

The good news is this. We’re just a few weeks away from hearing the deets on cold hardy mangoes. Who is; and who is not. Visited my local mango grove this week. They lost 900 trees which were on average 6 years old.

Bought my tickets to the Florida Mango Fest last night. Will be an interesting event. Looking forward to learning more about what it takes to move forward.

The mango grove rebuild starts today.

A 25 gallon Pickering to replace a lost soldier.

Got Sweet Tart, Orange Sherbet and Glenn coming soon.

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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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I just saw an IG video wherein the guy was talking about Nam Doc Mai mangoes and saying the seeds are polyembryonic and will produce 4 trees, 3 identical to the original and 1 that's different. So you don't have to graft them. Who knew!

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It’s true of all polyembryonic mango seeds. Just plant it and if they grow one will typically look a bit different than the others. That’s likely the hybrid. Trouble is; suckers are hard to grow from seed. Mortality is high. Even if they do grow; it’s likely to be 5 years before you get fruit. That’s why grafted trees are so popular in the States or air layered trees in Asia. The difference in time to produce fruit gets cut in half or more.

This is the 1 gallon size. They didn’t have this particular variety in a 3 gallon. We’ll see what happens. Wouldn’t be the first; nor the last young newly grafted tree that got cooked at my place. LOL…

I’ve got a Bell variety carambola coming tomorrow. Developed here in Florida. A wee 1 gallon tree; but, I will pot it up to 3 gallons upon arrival. Supposedly sweet with a citrusy character. A nice mix of sweet and tart with a somewhat watery texture. The crew at Lara Farms are big fans. If it does well I’m going to put it in the ground at a later date.

I’ve got a spot vacated near my home by a Papaya that got root rot and died last year due to excess moisture from irrigation and being near the drip line of my house. I worry that carambolas growth habit is too much to be close to my house. Plus the excess moisture is a factor.

May end up throwing another banana there. I’ve got a friend with Huamoa, Goldfinger and Pitogo at his place. May see if I can snag a pup or two.