Posted on 02/09/2009 12:36:11 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny
Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training
I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood
Men coming here to work, were what I grew up with in San Diego, at Otay and in Wellton, Az.
And then about 1977 they changed, it was what we have today, unless it was one of the older ones, that had come through before.
Our place was the first they came to, after a more than 40 mile walk across the Yuma desert.
every house had those ugly bars on all windows and doors<<<
Yes, about 25 years ago, my mother had them installed in San Diego.
Until the man attempted to come in, while I was setting here, I never locked my doors, now I do.
Somehow, keeping the good people behind bars is not the way it should be.
Round the crooks up and use the obama camps for them, we are feeding them any way.
http://www.cityfarmer.org/jac.html
Homeless Garden:
[Just because you are homeless does not mean that you can’t be an urban farmer and nutritionally self-reliant]
In 1996, the Santa Cruz Homeless Garden Project received a Harry Chapin self-reliance award for its innovative approach to fighting hunger and poverty by empowering poor people and building self-confidence.
The garden project provides people who are homeless with the opportunity to acquire skills and move beyond their marginalized situation through participation in job training based on a commercial mini-urban-farm.
Proposals are being requested for the 1997 awards.
Contact: ‘Hunger Year’ in New York
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/orgfarm/permaculture/Alan.Chadwick/alan.chadwick.lecture1
snip- end of Lecture #1
FROM ABOVE
And now that compost heap will go through the dormancy of winter, and
when you place it in the beds next year, the approaches are the same.
you thoughts are from above. your thoughts are to fertility, not
fertility for your use, not fertility towards a crop of 1,000 pounds
of tomatoes or 500 baskets of strawberries. That calculation would
get you nowhere now, or if you want to turn 1,000 pounds of beans
into $1,000 to put it in the bank as a cash deposit! It didn’t come
out of that kind of thought. It came out of a thought that was not
given you in words, an order to which you were obedient.
And now out of that compost come seeds and plants and soil and matter
and nutriment and humus which you are putting in the soil, and you
will notice that this spring the worms are different. They may be
bigger. They may be a bit more moist, but yet they are changing,
There’s a lot of whittling going on. There is fresh color that you
didn’t notice before, and suddenly you see a butterfly.
oh, there were those little white ones last year, but that one has got
orange tips. And suddenly you will seed all sorts of new variations
of snakes and lizards and snails and birds. And they are new! Why did
they come?
Was it just like the nightingale?
Did they go when they
know they were not wanted and had they come back up the river and
were waiting in the tree for the emperor to come and listen that he
may sleep and dream? And so something will happen now that is the
greatest secret concerned with the garden and fertility and the
gardener.
Magic comes out of your surprise, for there is in nature always
surprise. You don’t know anything. you can go through a little
woodland, a little alpine area, and you will think you have seen
what’s growing there., and you can go through it for three months,
and each day you will find it incontestably new. It is not static.
Every bit of it is new. And now, suddnly, new weeds have come up.
They weren’t here last year and you also notice that there is an
appearance of more succulence, of probably more intense color, of
scent and form.
It may not be size and you will certainly notice a difference in
nutritious and flavor. And this is the gift of the plants in their
giving and forgiving, that through their spiritual image now relate
to our spiritual image and have come up to where were were led to
lead them to enter—when our thoughts were given to us as from
above—we were above that elev and were thinking of a new pear, of
lettuce more wonderful, a flavor more exquisite, or walkway that id
something that no walkway had ever quite done before, or a tree bow
which held atmosphere underneath in a manner that never happened
before.
They are all meetings of that matter.
And now, suddenly, this
coming up of nature, of the garden, enters your diaphragm and connects
again with the cosmic and your spiritual image is lifted again into
a real that no verbosity, no ordinary study through words, through
books, can give you.
It’s new! It’s out of the atmosphere. Its out of the birth of the
hand of God, that is flowing throughout this are in which you are
constructing and fulfilling and being obedient and performing. That
surely can proceed ad infinite. And is this not, then, the word
fertility? And does it not conjunct with all the bird in the trees?..
All of the things that you can’t comprehend. So many people at
lectures, like at Villa montalvo, where three dear old ladies got up
and said, Yes! Yes! Yes! But what do we do about the ants?
But, you
see, there is always this inclination to rush to a store for a powder
because something’s happening that’s got up your petticoat.
ELEV of FERTILITY
Now, perceive you, that where I’m speaking of a French Intensive
biodynamic bed, I’m only focusing on one little fraction of the whole
focus of the garden. That, therefore, it includes all of those
insects that you do not comprehend but appear as enemies.
And here is a little statement about the seed of tansy; burr
marigold. This plant, wilde, grows beside water, but not in water,
and cannot grow away from water. It can’t exist on dry land, and it
cannot exist in abog, so it grows on teh edge of little ponds and
pools and around the edges of lakes and streams. In the fall, when it
goes to seed, those seeds fall on the dry land and cannot germinate.
And when the winds of winter come, they blow it into the path and,
Oh, dear, now what is going to happen? Those seeds have four horns
on the upper end like floats, and the seed floats upwards with the
germination point in the air so that the see sits on the water at an
angle facing up, and along comes Mr. Carp, and he says Oh, dear,
here we go again.
But those four horns are made like fish hooks, and every fish is
aware by relationship/disrelationship of what those four horns will
do. And any fish that have had this stuck in their gills for several
hours to get rid of it, wouldn’t dream of going near that seed agAin
knowing full well what it would do.
[TO BE CONTINUED]
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http://www.biodynamic.net/science/hello-world
Is it Possible to Practice Biodynamic Gardening Using Vegan Materials?
During my many years as a backyard biodynamic and organic gardener I have often been asked, “Is it possible to practice biodynamics without the use of animal products?”
I think that the question that should be asked is it possible that agriculture could be practiced at all without the use of animals, most notably the cow, the bee and the earthworm. The plethora of creatures great and small; insects, nematodes, Ciliate, flagellates, amoeba, mites, ants, aphids, birds, moles, voles, rabbits and woodchucks contribute their excretions and bodies to the living soil organism and are as important as the flora with which they coexist.
Also agriculture is totally bound up with culture and if you have studied anthropology you would know that there has never been a “vegan” culture. Even India where there are a goodly number of vegetarians would be totally bankrupt if it were not for the “Holy Cow” that provides milk, fuel and fertilizer.
In the western world we have removed the cow from the farm and placed them in stock yards in mounds of their own manure and that is an aberration that has bankrupted our agriculture.
Is it possible to concoct homeopathic remedies that do not directly rely on animal products to heal the earth? I am certain that it can be done and would be a great area of research for one who is so inclined. One would have to study the preparations and their planetary attributes as well as the micro-life they foster.
I have met many biodynamic farmers who do not ingest meat or practice the slaughter of animals. I am sure there are “vegan” participants in the world who have taken inspiration from the “Agriculture” lectures and have molded their own practices of the science to conform to the personal choices that they have made. I’m sure there have been some that have met with varying degrees of success.
I know that Alan Chadwick, the master gardener did not use the preparations exactly as Rudolf Steiner indicated. He was a big fan of herbal teas as well as using plants that were not mentioned in the original recommendations. His success was phenomenal.
It is up to each of us to use reason, observation and experience to create the farm organism that reflects our being. Being totalitarian about any system cannot be beneficial, After all it is a world of all possible worlds and there is certainly infinite variety in the human condition.
* Why Biodynamic and Organic Gardeners Should Study History (0)
You could be lost in these links for days:
http://www.fruitlovers.com/megalinks.html
Some information about tropical fruits and growing the trees. This page brought to you courtesy of Fruit Lover’s Nursery.
* FIVE GREAT BOOKS BELOW YOU CAN READ FOR FREE ONLINE:
* Fruits of Warm Climates by Julia Morton On Line
The most comprehensive book on tropical fruits. Entire book is online for free.
* Manual of Tropical and Sub Tropical Fruits by Wilson Poponoe
Classic work written in 1920, still has plenty of good information. Entire book is online for free.
* Lost Crop of the Incas: Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation. Now the whole book is free to read on line!
* Neglected Crops: 1492 from a Different Perspective. Read for free online.
* Polynesian Traditional Fruit Trees, Flowers, and Lumber Trees. Excellent book, read for free online.
* Southeast Asian Fruit Links
[a snippet of a few of the many live links on this page...granny]
FRUIT LOVER’S MEGALINKS
Some information about tropical fruits and growing the trees. This page brought to you courtesy of Fruit Lover’s Nursery.
Search our Site:
* Passionfruit Info and Photos
* Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) Links
Comprehensive information, photos, and links to other pawpaw sites.
* Pineapple Links
* Pitaya Information, from Australia Agriculture Department Notes
* Concise guide to grow dragon fruit by William Chow
* Rambutan Links and Images
* Tea, an easy way to make it from your own plants.
* I Love Plants Gardening Directoy. Links to over 6000 sites and 100 categories.
* Agriculture Today
* Agricultural Resources - agriculture related news, books and web resources.
* Directory Garden—A comprehensive gardening directory. Includeds state by state listings.
* Quisqualis—educational web site that promotes the growing, conservation and usage of rare edibles throughout the world with an emphasis on the tropics.
http://www.bonitacreeknursery.com/page/page/4586446.htm
Bonita Creek Nursery
Wholesale / Retail Fruit trees
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Local pick-up by apointment only
3440 Proctor Valley Rd
Bonita, CA 91902
Dave (619) 470-2005
email: sales@bonitacreeknursery.com
One of South Bay’s Largest & Finest Selections of Fruit Trees
Avocado, Banana, Cherimoya, Atemoya
Citrus: Calamansi, Grapefruit, Kumquat, Lemon, Lime, Mandarine, Orange, Pommelo, Tangelo, Tangerine
Strawberry Guava, Pineapple Guava, Guava, Longan, Loquat, Mango, Papaya, Pitaya Dragon Fruit, Sapote
Tropical Cherries Capulin, Jabotica, Rio Grande, Surinam
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Deciduous: Apple, Apricot, Aprium Pear, Blueberry, Quince, Cherry: Fruiting & Japanese Flowering, Crabapple, European Pear, Fig, Jujube, Kiwi, Mulberry, Nectarine, Peach, Persimmon, Plum, Pluot, Pomegranate
Nuts: Almond, Chestnut, Macadamia, Pecan, Walnut
Evergreen Shade Trees: Unusual Varieties of Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Pine
#
Yummy Yacon
Easy to grow and store, high-yielding, supernutritious and crunchy like an apple, yacon (pronounced ya-kon) is one of the many “new” vegetables coming to us ...
www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2006-06-01/Yummy-Yacon.aspx - 45k - Cached - Similar pages
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How to Grow Yacon. Yacon is a fruit-like vegetable from South America that tastes like both celery and apples. It’s noted for its high fiber and low ...
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Found the name here, check this out too, Calif small fruit growers:
http://www.rarefruit.com/RFN2008AllYr.txt
Subject: New Subscriber, Melbourne Australia
From: “C. Dart-Thornton”
Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2007 04:41:54 -0800 (PST)
Good morning,
My name is Cecilia and I live in Melbourne, Australia. I am
growing three kinds of mulberries (Black, White and Dwarf
Shahtoot), Custard Apple, Jaboticaba, Persimmon, Fig (two kinds),
Nectarine, Ice Cream Bean, Elderberry, Babaco, Wampi, Plum (three
kinds), Apricot (two kinds), Cherry (two kinds), citrus
(Mandarin, Lime, Orange, Lemon), Pear, Hawthorn, Guavas (Indian
Guava, Strawberry Guava, Hawaiian Guava, Yellow Cherry Guava,
Mexican Cream Guava, Chilean Guava), Tamarillo (orange and red
varieties), Goldenberry, Feijoa, briar berries (Marianberry,
Raspberry, Thornless Blackberry, Silvanberry, Youngberry), two
kinds of currants (Red and Black), Blueberries, three kinds of
Dragon Fruit, Hazelnuts, Italian Stone Pines, Kiwi Fruit,
Passionfruit, Longan, Elaeagnus (two kinds and one cultivar),
Chinese Dogwood, Cornelian Cherry, Japanese plum yew, Indian Fig
Cactus pear, Darwin’s Barberry, Ceylon Hill Gooseberry,
Strawberry.
We grow the following edible-leafed trees: Kaffir Lime, Allspice,
Culinary Myrtle, Native Lemon Myrtle. Medicinal leafed trees:
Ginkgo.
I am looking forward to growing Blue Honeysuckle Berries. We
would like to grow Rosita de Cacao, Saskatoon, Goumi, Siberian
Pea Shrub, Strawberry Tree, Sugar Maple and Service Tree.
All these are grown in a suburban back yard, along with a myriad
herbs and vegetables, including unusual vegetables such as Yacon.
For two years we have been trying to find a source of the
Quararibea funebris tree, Rosita de Cacao. It’s extremely
difficult to import live plants into Australia and we are seeking
seeds from overseas.
Any advice on where to obtain seeds would be deeply appreciated.
We would like to grow this tropical tree in a hothouse.
Thank you for reading this letter!
Cecilia mailto:angavar@yahoo.com
[snipped from newsletter]
At the bottom is 8 years of news letters, worth reading.....
http://www.rarefruit.com/RFN2008AllYr.txt
Subject: (Yang-Mei), the newest healthy fruit - Slashfood
From: Leo Manuel rarefruit@san.rr.com
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 09:31:31 -0800
Yumberry (Yang-Mei) - the newest healthy fruit
Posted Jul 5th 2007 9:31AM by Jonathan M. Forester
Filed under: Juice, South Asia, Fruit, Trends, New Products,
America, Health & Medical
I first tried Yumberry juice, the new commercial nickname for the
Yang Mei berry, a few years ago at the NY Fancy Food Show where
it was being showcased for the first time. I have tried to
contact the company in China since then to find out more, but
never could connect with them. So I was excited to hear about
this tasty juice coming onto the market soon.
Yang Mei, also called waxberries, are the waxy fruit of the wax
myrtle. They have been collected for thousands of years in China
and used medicinally. It is a healthy fruit, high in
antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals; including vitamin C,
thiamine, riboflavin and carotene. The yumberry has over 100
varieties including white, pink, red, and purple. Usually the
purple variety of yumberry has the best quality and taste.
SunOpta Fruit Group will soon start marketing Yumberry juice
concentrate in the United States, and then in Canada one year
later. This means you should hopefully start seeing the juice on
market shelves in a few months after the juice companies develop
their products. The juice samples I tried a few years ago were
slightly tart and sweet with a nice, deep, fruity flavor all its
own. Expect to see it used in various juices and juice blends
similar to how pomegranate and acai have been.
The company says that “Yumberry will be used in diverse
applications ranging from fruit juices to bakery applications,
wines, cocktails and dairy products.” Personally, I can’t wait to
play around with the juice in cocktails and I think there are a
lot of possibilities; although it’s going to be strange asking
for a bottle of Yumberry juice in the store or a Yumberry Sour
cocktail at a bar.
www.slashfood.com/2007/07/05/yumberry-the-newest-healthy-fruit/2
Interesting, England has the juice already, NOTE: the first 2 sites are from China I think and Google has a warning on them of “THIS SITE MAY HARM YOUR COMPUTER”, the rest of the links are the normal links and not flagged....granny
http://www.rarefruit.com/RFN2008AllYr.txt
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:news@arsgrin.gov
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm.
Subject: Mississippi Blues — Blueberries, That Is
From: ARS News Service NewsService@ars.usda.gov
Date: Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:16:14 -0500
___________________________________________
View this report online at www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr
___________________________________________
Combining tenacity with taste, Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) scientists in Poplarville, Miss., have bred three new
blueberry cultivars that can take the heat of growing in the
South while offering high yields of plump, phytonutrient-rich
fruit.
Dixieblue, Gupton and DeSoto are the latest offerings from a
blueberry breeding program begun in 1971 at the ARS Southern
Horticultural Laboratory in Poplarville, Miss.
With the exception of the so-called rabbiteye varieties, locally
grown blueberries were nonexistent in Mississippi 30 years ago,
primarily because of that Gulf Coast state’s heat, humidity,
abundant insects and occasional late-spring freezes. But when
Hurricane Camille wiped out the region’s tung oil industry in
1969, ARS researchers went to work developing blueberries as a
viable alternative crop.
Thirteen blueberry cultivars and 2,500 acres later, the ARS
Poplarville lab is busier than ever furnishing Mississippi’s
burgeoning blueberry industry with heat-tolerant plants whose
fruit embodies the flavor, firmness and shelf life that consumers
and processors desire.
Take Gupton, for example. In storage tests conducted by ARS
horticulturist Donna Marshall, the cultivar’s berries remained
plump and juicy for more than 30 days under normal refrigeration.
DeSoto, a new rabbiteye variety developed by ARS plant geneticist
Stephen Stringer, has potential to extend the Gulf Coast
rabbiteye season by up to three weeks. In Mississippi, this
usually ends around the first week of July, according to
Stringer. DeSoto’s berries also don’t suffer from splitting,
which bursts open the fruit after it becomes waterlogged, such as
from an afternoon rain shower.
Dixieblue, a highbush cultivar, yields light-blue, medium-sized
berries with a slightly flattened shape. Besides breeding and
storage tests, the Poplarville team’s research includes
determining the best time to harvest berries for optimal flavor
and elevated levels of antioxidants, especially anthocyanins and
phenolics.
Read more about this research in the January 2008 issue of
Agricultural Research magazine, available online at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jan08/blueberry0108.htm
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific
research agency.
http://www.rarefruit.com/RFN2008AllYr.txt
Subject: Re: Rare Fruit News Online - January 15, 2008
From: “Jeff Earl” jeffearl@sbcglobal.net
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:40:21 -0800
To: “Leo Manuel” rarefruit@san.rr.com
Hi everyone... I haven’t written in awhile so I figuired I would
drop a quick line with a mid winter report from Modesto. The
winter has been much more mild than last winter. My low temp
this winter having been only 31¬ f. This hasn’t bother any of my
tropical fruits at all. For those who are unfamiliar with me and
my rarefruit growing, I grow a lot of tropical/ subtropical
fruit trees on my tiny 5000 sq ft lot here in the San Joaquin
valley. A couple of trees worth mentioning are my White Cherimoya
which is about 20 ft tall and in an unprotected spot in the
middle of my backyard. It produces a lot of fruit when I hand
pollinate. I should note that cherimoya are quite sensitive to
freezes when young, but as they grow larger and create a
canopy, become quite hardy. Mine did lose 90% of its leaves
last winter when we got hit with a low temp of 23¬ f, however very
little wood was damaged. It is now covered with dinner plate
sized leaves. Also worth noting is that cherimoyas don’t seem to
be bothered by full sun and heat up to 100¬ f providing that the
tree has been well watered and not fertized within the past
month.
My 10 year old Dr Beaumont Macadamia is doing just fine, though
due to its location next to my driveway. I will probably remove
it this spring as it drops nuts year round. Macs also show a
strong restance to freezing temps once they get a canopy. Here in
Modesto, they start to show leaf damage at 23¬ f.
Perhaps the most exciting tree I grow is my 5 year old 13 ft tall
Maurious Lychee. I planted it in the walkway between my house and
my next door neighbors. It doesn’t seemed to be bothered by
freezing weather, unlike my Longan that get scorched at temps
below 29¬ f. My Longan has produced much more fruit though than my
Lychee. My Lychee first fruited last year. My Longan got knocked
way back by last winter freeze, but is now recovering. I should
note that I do not cover any of my trees. I do plant the most frost
tender ones in more sheltered areas of my yard. For example,
tropical guavas are always plant next to my house, and they get the
protection of the roof eve.
Bananas are another thing that I grow a lot of. I get fruit every
year. This year I got 3 bunches despite last winters 23¬ f. I
have an un-named variety that does so well here in Modesto.
Anyway, I have other exotic fruit and palm trees. That’s all I
have to report for now.
Jeff Earl Modesto, Ca mailto:tropic2tropical@hotmail.com
[Thanks, Jeff, for taking time to discuss your garden. You’re
doing a great job keeping winter’s worst at bay. I hope others
will also write to tell us about your garden. Thanks again!]
I saw your question about grafting onto large diameter stumps. I
don’t know if you received any replies yet, but I have a good
website for you. Go look at “Texas Inlay Bark Graft’ at the Texas
coop extension. the website is
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/propagation/inlay/inlay.htm
Great pics and easy to follow. I can’t say how it works, as I have only used the cleft or crown graft on 3-4 inch trunks, but it looks easy enough.
http://www.rarefruit.com/RFN2008AllYr.txt
http://www.rarefruit.com/RFN2008AllYr.txt
Subject: Rare Fruit in Containers & Questions About Mulch
From: “Minna Riber” minna@earthlink.net
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 13:27:15 -0800
Hi Leo,
Thanks for keeping the news letter going. I would very much like
to receive a copy of “Growing Rare Fruits In Containers”. My
mango babies are growing happily in their pots and are holding
onto their leaves though I am not sure why.
What types of mulch do your readers use for their fruit trees? I
cannot remember what you use.
Mike has been busy spraying and pruning. As seems to happen every
year our Ne Plus Ultra and Non Pariel Almonds are beginning to
bloom. They seem to come into full bloom just in time for a heavy
rain. To our surprise, it does not appear to effect their
productivity.
We wish you and your wife a Healthy and Happy, Peaceful New Year,
Fondly,
Minna & Mike
[Be very careful in choosing your mulch source. I wasn’t and will
forever be fighting noxious weeds from seeds in mulch I brought
in. I got it mostly from San Diego city dump. Maybe readers will
write about their mulch success stories. -Leo]
Subject: Growing Rare Fruit In Containers
From: Leo Manuel rarefruit@san.rr.com
Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:09:42 -0800
Growing Rare Fruit In Containers – [Below is an exerpt of this
supplement. I will send its entirety upon request.]
UnderCover Crops - Mobile Tropical Fruit Orchards By Ray Bayer
Tropical Fruit World (March/April 1990 22-24; May/June 1990 58-59;
September/October 1990 130; Nov/Dec 1990 163; Jan/Feb 1991 29;
Let me inspire you to discover a new kind of gardening
pleasure. My excitement is over the container growing of tropical
fruit plants, something I have now been doing for more than 13
years. Each year proving more pleasurable than the last.
For the temperate climate gardener containerizing is the only
method available for growing tropical fruit trees.
I live in southwest Pennsylvania, and as I write this article
we’re in the midst of a winter snow squall with a wind chill of
around 9?F. My tropical fruit trees are completely unaware of
this miserable phenomenon known as an Arctic cold front and are
busily blooming and setting fruit.
After a summer outdoors, and before the first freeze, I
simply pick up my potted plants and plop them in a greenhouse
under fluorescent lights, where they spend their winter in the
Tropic of Pennsylvania. The ability of these plants to adapt to
their artificial environment and continual restrictive growing is
tremendous. As I write, my plants are setting such varied fruits
as jaboticaba, passionfruit, citrus, cherimoyas, feijoas and
more.
Enthusiasm over this method of tropical fruit culture need
not be confined to northern gardeners. South Florida growers and
others in sub-tropical and mild winter areas should be exposed to
the joy of containerized growing. It opens up an entirely new
area to the rare fruit hobbyist. Fruit trees can be moved from
one area of the yard to another to take advantage of sun or
shade. Inspection of root systems can be done as needed by simply
tapping the tree out of the pot. Landscapes can be achieved by
sinking the potted trees into various locations, and later moving
them if a different garden scheme is desired. Exact watering and
fertilization schedules are easier because confined root systems
and nutrient deficiencies are taken care of more quickly. One of
the most exciting aspects of this type of gardening is that,
thanks to the portability of the plant, very tropical fruit
trees, such as the South Asian mangosteen and rambutan, can be
grown with little worry of frost or cold damage. In Florida this
advantage, of course applies to any cold sensitive species. When
the temperature threatens to plummet simply pick up the pot and
set it in a protected area, whether a Florida room or a garage.
Most trees will thrive for years in five to ten gallon pots
without any special care. As most tropicals fruit on new growth,
I usually top prune mine yearly to stimulate new fruiting growth,
sometimes taking up to a third of the growth off. This drastic
one-third reduction is done (if at all) every fourth or fifth
year, and is sometimes accompanied by root pruning, also a
one-third reduction. This is done by knocking the tree out of the
pot and reducing the root system on all four sides and bottom by
using a key hole saw or similar tool. The tree is then put back
in the pot and fresh potting medium is packed around it, along
with slow release fertilizer if desired. It is then set in a
semi-shaded location in the yard (or greenhouse) until new growth
is evident and the flowering/fruiting cycle will be revitalized.
This is only done to trees that are stressed due to extreme root
crowding and exhibit root bound symptoms by producing small or no
fruit crops, small leaves and little new growth. Of course this
stage of stunted growth is rarely ever reached, although newly
purchased plants may be in need of an immediate root cut. Fibrous
roots appearing on the top of the soil is the sign that it is now
time to prune or repot. Pot grown fruit trees usually have a
completely fibrous root system, being devoid of a tap root, so
this method of keeping the tree within bounds is not at all
detrimental. Think of it as having your hair styled; a little off
the top and sides always makes your hair grow better and look
fuller. So it is with containerized fruit trees.
Every spring I like to replace the top three or four inches
of soil with fresh medium. This gives the plant a growing boost
and aids in better fruit production. My fruit trees are grown in
a homemade potting mix of two-parts garden loam or packaged
potting soil, one-part perlite, one-part vermiculite and a
half-part peat. I also use a commercial soilless mix consisting
of sphagnum or peat moss, vermiculite, perlite and dolomite lime
for a pH buffer in which the trees seem to do as well as or
better than in the soil mixture, though it needs to be enhanced
more often with fertilizer. It should be noted that the reason I
add lime to my soil mix is that fertilizing containerized trees
often tends to lower the pH to the point where the nutrients are
bound up in the soil making them unavailable to the plant; adding
a small amount of dolomite lime simply keeps the pH in the
neutral range. Of course, some fruit trees enjoy being on the
acidic side of the pH tables as long as nutrients are available
to them. Jaboticabas do well in a pure peat, perlite, vermiculite
mixture.
I usually use diluted amounts of fertilizer with every
watering and full strength dosages twice monthly or more
depending on rainfall. Due to the fact that the trees are raised
in containers, nutrient leaching can be a problem in areas or
seasons of heavy rain. I’ve found that Peter’s 20-20-20
fertilizer mixture to be as close to ideal as any. I also
supplement many of my trees with triple super phosphate every
four to six weeks during the growing season along with a foliar
feeding of potassium nitrate. Spraying is done in early morning
and evening when the leaves are most receptive to this type of
feeding. Once or twice a season I also spray on trace elements to
round out their diet.
Chlorosis of certain containerized trees can be a problem,
but prudent applications of nitrogen corrects this problem as
does iron. Passifloras, for instance, are susceptible to
chlorotic new growth and require more nitrogen than either citrus
or peach trees. Care must be taken whenever iron or nitrogen is
sprayed on new growth to avoid burning. I have made the “more is
better” mistake in foliar feeding before and it is not a pleasant
sight to watch vigorous healthy new growth turn black almost
overnight, shrivel up and flake away. Healthy deep green growth
inevitably always appears but it sets back flower and fruit
production considerably. Following the manufacturer’s dosage is
the key to successful chemical feeding.
Personally, I use water soluble fertilizer, as I feel I have
much more control over plant feeding with this method. Other
growers might prefer the longer lasting pellet-type feed.
There are various long lasting pellet fertilizers available
that provide up to three months of constant feeding. Osmocote
14-14-14 is one such product. Many opt for completely organic
feed such as bone meal, blood meal and green sand, but the
percentage of nutrients are so low that I don’t think a heavy
feeding tree would benefit satisfactorily from them. The one
organic I do use is fish, especially those from the briny depths
of the sea. The trace elements and nitrogen these critters can
supply to a potted fruit tree is tremendous, and it’s a long
lasting supply too. A few cubes of finny flesh will last a
northern growing season and then some.
Watering is, of course critical to all plants but especially
to a potted fruit tree. During the summer a healthy, fruiting
containerized tree drinks gallons of water. I’ve often had to
water mine every other day. Growers in sub-tropical areas such as
Florida who are used to growing in the ground may be watering
more than they’re accustomed to. This can be remedied somewhat by
mulching the top of the pot with dried grass clippings, unmilled
sphagnum moss or pre-packaged mulch. During the summer most fruit
trees are holding a crop and dry soil can turn this year’s pot
crop into this year’s pot drop: those delicious lychees may be
this past year’s history with only one soil drying. One of the
best methods of preventing evaporation is by sinking the pot in
the ground and mulching the top. Also, use plastic pots. Burying
the containers gives added wind protection to the trees. It’s
frustrating to find a fruit laden tree toppled over and half of
its’ crop knocked off. Even by sinking the pot one third of its
height into the ground will prevent this type of frustration.
There are many reliable nurseries and growers in the U.S. who
will ship tropical fruit trees. When visiting a nursery that has
a plant I am looking for, I provide them with a suitable box with
return postage and have them ship the plant to me. The tree is
simply knocked out of the pot and bare rooted with the roots
wrapped in damp newspaper and a trash bag to prevent leakage.
Many nurseries will spray the plants with evaporation retardants
to prevent water loss. The tree usually needs to be pruned back,
sometimes severely, and is then placed in the box surrounded by
newspaper to prevent too much movement in transit. It usually
takes three days to reach me from Florida. In this short period
of time the tree suffers very little damage, if any, and upon
arrival is immediately potted up and placed in a protected
location for a few days. Once acclimation is over it is placed in
full sun and within a couple of weeks begins to push out new
growth. I have been shipping plants for many years this way and I
have never lost one due to shipping damage or shock. I usually
request priority mail shipment through the U.S. postal service
because they deliver six days out of the week unlike United
Parcel Service which ships only five.
My trees don’t really feel their first spring breeze until
mid-April when they are set outside. This is a critical time for
the plants, being the beginning of their summer reacclimation
period. They have been wintered over either in a greenhouse
(which happens to be plastic with light intensity much less than
glass) and under fluorescent lights. If they are exposed to
sunlight immediately, even the weak spring sum, the leaves will
be charred almost at once. I set them in a shaded location for a
few days, then to an area of dappled sunlight and eventually to
full sun. This entire process may take from two to three weeks
depending on how the trees are reacting. If I notice bleached
areas on the leaves, then they have been exposed to the sun too
quickly and will be placed in a semishaded area a while longer.
This acclimation period is not lost growing time because the
trees are actively sending out new growth. It’s simply a period
of “hardening up” the leaves to the summer sun. The last years’
growth is rarely affected to the extent of the current seasons
growth; it usually stays green with no signs of scorching.
The nights during mid-April to mid-May can drop more than 40
degrees which means a 70?F day can be followed by a 30?F night.
This is a period of overwork for me because there is a likely
chance the trees will have to be sheltered in the garage from a
cold night. It doesn’t happen nightly and rarely in May so the
only early-season backaches I suffer are in the last weeks of
April. After this initial yearly acclimating period, my trees
grow as well as the same trees in Florida.
The portability of my fruit orchard allows me to grow quite a
number of different tropical fruit trees, and to see them
flowering and fruiting in Pennsylvania is a definite sight to
behold. Next to a black oak may be a blooming carambola or beside
a sugar maple a jaboticaba crop will be ready to harvest.
Crawling skyward beside a clematis is a passionvine while my red
cattleya guava is ripening next to a dwarfing cherry. My summer
yard is a pleasing combination of temperate and tropical. This
infusion of tropical fruit trees among the standard zone
varieties adds a measure of curiosity and appeal to all who see
them. When viewing a Passiflora alata (Fragrant Granadilla) in
full bloom for the first time a neighbor was absolutely convinced
that the flowers were plastic because, as she stated,” a flower
just doesn’t look like that.” The incredible complexity of the
passionflower certainly lends itself to be called the ultimate in
flora beauty just as containerizing is the pinnacle of tropical
fruit culture, at least for the temperate zone gardener.
I have found one of the finest trees suitable for potted
fruit culture to be the jaboticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora).
Flowering and fruiting occur throughout the year but it’s during
winter, spring and early summer that the trees become absolutely
mobbed with delicious, 1” deep purple fruit.
This small, bushy Brazilian tree develops a luxuriant deep
green canopy that literally shields the branches and trunk from
the sun. I’ve found that if the tree is kept from branching too
much and kept somewhat open by judicial pruning a larger crop
will be produced.
The jaboticaba grows beautifully here in Pennsylvania and
looks a bit like a large branchy privet. This is a plant that
responds well to a supplemental diet of triple superphosphate,
potassium nitrate as a foliar feed and constant water. It grows
well in a soilless mix (available commercially) or simply pure
peat with perlite and vermiculite added and a top mulch of rich
humus.
The real delights in growing this small tree are the fruit,
which it so eagerly produces and tree’s style of flowering and
fruiting. The jaboticaba is cauliflorus, which means the flowers
and fruit are borne directly on the trunk and larger branches. It
is a pleasantly shocking revelation to the uninitiated to see a
bumper crop of fruit for the first time covering the branches in
purple clusters from the trunk to the uppermost canopy. They’re
even more amazed when told that it takes only 20 to 30 days for
the fruit to mature and that up to eight crops a year can be
harvested, making this tree an almost perpetual bearer.
The final treat comes when they bite into a ripe fruit. The
flavor is deliciously sweet with just the right amount of
subacidity and plenty of Jaboticaba tree and fruit juice encased
in a chewy outer skin. The result is invariably, “mmmmm.... that
was delicious! How about another one?” This is a fruit that the
novice fruit-taster likes immediately.
An added incentive to growing the jaboticaba is that it is
practically pest free. The only drawback is that it is primarily
grown from seed and takes from seven to fifteen years to start
bearing.
I also grow Myciaria glomerata, which produces fuzzy yellow
fruit of smaller size than the jaboticaba. The fruit is composed
practically entirely of a single seed surrounded by a small
amount of pleasantly sweet pulp. I am also growing M. vexator and
M. jaboticaba but they are seedlings and still quite small.
In my opinion, the jaboticaba is a prime candidate for
commercial exploitation due to its overall taste appeal. My
evidence for this is that during cropping, people I haven’t seen
for weeks will stroll into my yard, casually look around and walk
away with jaboticaba breath.
The passionvine (Passiflora spp.) is another fruiting plant
that is well suited to container culture. I have over fifty
different species and grow them not only for the fruit but also
for their stunning flowers. I grow all of them around galvanized
hoops pushed into the pots and wrap the rambling shoots around
them. I have unraveled vines up to 15’ in length from the hoops
when trimming them back for their winter rest.
Passiflora not only rewards the grower with delicious fruit
but also with one of the most delicate and complex flowers in the
plant kingdom. With over 400 species known (mostly native to the
American tropics) I grow only a small fraction of what could be
container grown. I’m constantly adding to my collection and grow
them with fruiting almost as an afterthought! This is how much
reverence I place in the flower. Passifloras are vines and they
definitely like to ramble, so I raise most of them in 13” to 15”
pots to keep their root systems happy. As mentioned earlier,
these plants go chlorotic rather quickly and are also heavy
feeders. They require more nitrogen than citrus and also iron
supplements during the growing season. I feed them nitrogen and
iron monthly during the summer, or whenever I notice the new
growth turning chlorotic. As with all of my other fruit trees, I
use diluted fertilizer almost every time I water.
There are many fruiting passionvines that the tropical fruit
gardener can grow but two species should definitely be mandatory.
These are the purple granadilla (Passiflora edulis) and the giant
granadilla (Passiflora quadrangularis). There are many others
that produce fruit as good or possibly better, but due to
difficulties such as pollination they have been omitted. The
purple granadilla is an extremely easy plant to fruit in a
container and during the growing season is loaded with fruit. The
flowers of this species will usually pollinate themselves,
although I usually cross pollinate with other clones for maximum
fruit set and size. It is not unusual for clones of P. edulis to
produce nearly tennis ball sized fruit. The purple and white
flower opens in the morning and usually closes in the evening,
pollinating itself in the process. The result is usually
noticeable in three to five days with the swelling of the fruit.
Maturation is fairly rapid in my geographic area, taking from
three to four months. Fruits that are evident in April are edible
by July or August. Fruits of the purple granadilla are, as the
name implies, dark I purple and fall from the vine when I ripe.
The shell of this passionfruit is hard, so the fall doesn’t
bruise it. A gentle tug will also dislodge ripe fruit. I Once off
the plant I usually let it ripen another two to three days until
wrinkled and enhanced by a delightful ambrosial aroma. The fruit
is I then halved and the pulp is scooped out and eaten, seeds
included. Delicious! There is nothing quite like a juicy, fully
ripened passionfruit to conjure up tropical visions of verdant
lowland rainforests, raucous early morning fruit markets and the
soothing lull of evening trade winds.
The fruit of the giant granadilla also coats the palate with
the same delectable tropical flavor but on a much larger scale.
The fruit can be as large as a football and weigh up to six
pounds! Unlike the leaves of P. edulis, which are deeply three
lobed with serrated edges, the giant granadilla’s leaves are
oval, unlobed and up to eight inches long, with ten to twelve
pronounced lateral veins running through them. The flowers are
also larger-up to three inches in diameter - and pendulous; they
hang downward instead of being held upright. There are actually
two forms of P. quadrangularis, one with eight inch long fruit
and one producing twelve inch long melon size meals! There is
some self-compatibility in both forms, although some growers
recommend cross-pollination with the larger form. Hand
pollination will assure a good fruit set. The outer shell is not
hard like the purple granadilla but somewhat soft and bruisable.
When ripe the color turns to yellow-green with some clones
exhibiting a slight pinkish blush at one end. Cut lengthwise the
fruit opens to a mass of pulp covered seeds nestled in a cavity
surrounded by a thick white melon-like rind. The rind can be
eaten much the same way a melon is eaten, but it is not as
aromatic. The pulp again is the main attraction and it’s eaten
straight from the shell along with the large soft seeds. It’s
very juicy, pleasantly sub-acid and aromatic. The green, immature
fruits of this species can also be boiled and eaten as a
vegetable, and in Jamaica the tuberous roots are said to be used
as a substitute for yams. Quite a versatile plant!
Most passifloras will begin to produce within a year to
sixteen months when being grown from seed, and almost immediately
when grown from cuttings. I have found that unrooted cuttings
sent through the mail survive their journey nicely when dampened
and sent in zip lock bags. I have received cuttings by this
method from as far away as Honduras and have had them root within
three weeks. There are many other passionvines that produce
delicious fruit, but due to a number of problems with
pollination, climatic requirements, poor flower production and
other difficulties, these have been omitted. A few of the “best
of the difficult” are P. ligularis (sweet granadilla), P.
laurifolia (yellow granadilla), P. maliformis (sweet calabash)
and P. antioquiensis (banana passionfruit).
Cherimoya of Pennsylvania
Mark Twain knew much about much and when biting into a
particular fruit described it as ‘Deliciousness itself! He was
raving about the cherimoya (Annona cherimola) and the taste
description still applies. I grow two varieties: ‘Booth’ and
‘Pierce’, and I couldn’t agree more. Both flower freely for me
but the ‘Booth’ is the only variety old enough to let a crop set.
The cherimoya originated in the mountains of Ecuador and Peru,
and since its’ introduction into the gardening community many
named cultivars have been produced. Mine are both grafted and
grown in 18” pots. The cherimoya is a knobby looking fruit. The
skin is smooth, light green and from lumpy to almost scale-like
in appearance. My ‘Booth’ is more on the lumpy side. Cherimoyas
may weigh up to a few pounds, with the fruit shape ranging from
heart-shaped to oval. But no matter what shape or size, the true
test of a fruit of legendary stature is decided by the palate and
the cherimoya lives up to expectations. People are at first taken
aback by the appearance of the fruit hanging from their thick
stems on my tree and I have even been asked if it was a new
avocado-pear hybrid! The cherimoya goes through a short deciduous
period and the flowering takes place during this defoliated stage
which adds even more to the peculiarity of the tree. The leaf
drop is due to the formation of buds (flower and/or vegetative)
beneath the petiole juncture. They first appear as small knobby
protuberances encased in a fuzzy brown sheath. As they grow this
sheath splits and the new growth presents itself along with the
flowers. The flowers are fairly unattractive but produced in
abundance. They are about l” long, greenish-yellow in color and
very fleshy, exuding a wonderfully fruity fragrance. Once you
detect this aroma the one major problem of the is at hand: hand-
pollination. The flower is perfect, containing both stigmas
and stamens (male and female reproductive organs) but herein lies
the problem. The male is not ready when the female is - a
botanical reversal of ‘not to night, I have a headache’ syndrome.
She is usually ready the day before he is. That is, the pistils
are receptive from 12 to 24 hours before the pollen is shed.
There is a simple, though time consuming, remedy for this
situation. Collect pollen from a male flower (the petals will be
wide open) and place it in an empty 35mm film canister or a
similar container. Next, find the receptive female. She’ll be
easy to spot because her petals will only be partially opened.
Spread the three thick petals carefully with one hand and with a
pollen laden paint brush (which has been dipped in the canister)
gently stroke back and forth across the receptive pistils. Voila!
a baby cherimoya will be born! There really can be no mistake in
choosing the correct flower because they are either closed
tightly, partially opened or completely spread apart.
The success rate using this method is very high. Once fruit
set is complete, maturation takes from five to ten months. During
this time the tree will have adorned itself with new foliage and
have become a very attractive member of the container orchard.
The leaves are large, from 8” to 10” long, medium green on top
with the brownish green underside exhibiting a velvety texture.
Here in Pennsylvania, my cherimoyas shed their leaves in
November-December, with flower buds evidenced towards the end of
December. Actual pollination and fruit set doesn’t take place
until mid-February. My ‘Booth’ is a very precocious bloomer,
producing at least some flowers throughout the summer and fall.
It’s very easy to get carried away with pollination so I
selectively pollinate to be assured of four or five good sized
fruit as opposed to a dozen smaller ones. The fruit is mature
when a yellowish cast appears on the skin. It is now that they
should be clipped, not picked off the tree. If they are pulled
off, the core may remain attached to the stem. I usually let mine
ripen from three to five days off the tree at room temperature.
Once a ripe fruit is in your possession, have a pen and paper
handy, because once one is eaten, you definitely have something
to write home about! Cut it lengthwise and spoon out the white
custard-like flesh. Get ready for an oral explosion as it melts
in your mouth, releasing a juicy blend of tropical flavors -
subacid and delicate, with taste tones of banana, papaya and
pineapple is one way to describe it. As was so aptly stated by
one Dr. Seemann more than 70 years ago, “Many people feel that
the taste of the cherimoya surpasses every other fruit. That it
is the masterpiece of nature.” That fellow certainly knew what he
was talking about. The best way to grow cherimoyas is to purchase
one or more of the many grafted varieties available, which
include ‘White’, ‘Ott’, ‘Honeyhart’ and ‘Bays’. They can also be
grown from seed and come into bearing after four years, but
probably will not be true to type. Like the feijoa, a cherimoya
requires a certain amount of chilling to flower, estimated at
between 50 to 100 hours at 35?F to 45?F*.
*[Editor’s note: in southern Florida the cherimoya set
flowers several times a year. Anything that causes defoliation
sets the stage for a fresh batch of flowers. Though cold weather
is certainly effective in this regard, so is dry-wet cycle,
fertilizer shock, manual leaf stripping and pruning - Har
Maheem].
Again, the warmer sections of the nation lose out but in this
case a few substitute annonas can be grown. One is the sugar
apple or sweetsop (Annona squamosa) which is a dependable bearer
in the south Florida climate. The fruit is much knobbier and
smaller than the cherimoya but the flesh exhibits a similar taste
quality. The soursop or guanabana (Annona muricata) is another
cherimoya relative and is the most tropical of the annonas. The
fruit is the largest of the family, being 6” to 9” long, and is
covered with soft fleshy spines. The flesh is juicy and more
sub-acid in flavor and some people claim that the aftertaste is
reminiscent of mango. The atemoya is a hybrid between the sugar
apple and cherimoya and is the perfect marriage. Traits of both
are blended together perfectly-the sweetsop’s tolerance of humid,
warm climates and the cherimoya’s exquisite taste. The atemoya
was hybridized between 1908 and 1910 in Miami, and continues to
be the most reliable producer for that subtropical climate.
Carambola: Star of Pennsylvania By Ray Bayer
The star fruit or carambola (Averrhoa carambola) can be the
centerpiece of any tropical fruit orchard, not only for its crisp
sweet taste, but also because of the unusual structure of the
fruit. The carambola has 4 to 6 prominently raised ribs traveling
the length of the fruit and when cut horizontally, voila, a star
is born! The cut fruit looks distinctly starlike, the number of
ribs determining the number of points on the star. If the shape
of the fruit isn’t unusual enough, its coloration and skin
texture add even more to the fruit’s pleasing strangeness. The
mature fruit is a beautiful bright yellow, and due to a heavy
coating of natural wax, the skin shines as though it’s been
painted with enamel lacquer. For all of its uniqueness and exotic
eye appeal though, the carambola is a pleasure to grow in a
container and very easy to bring into fruiting. I grow two
varieties, the ‘Arkin’ and ‘Fwang Tung, and both provide me with
stellar fruiting performances every year. My trees are grown in
17” pots and the soil is kept on the acidic side. I use ammonia
sulfate on the carambolas several times during the growing season
(as I do with several other trees) and they simply revel in this
treatment. Beginning in late winter, flowers appear in seemingly
constant flushes. They appear as inflorescences from the leaf
axils (where the leaf attaches to the tree) on young growth or
where the leaves have fallen away on old growth. The small
flowers are beautifully lilac, pleasantly fragrant and perfect,
although, again, I assist pollination with my ever-present brush.
Fruit maturation takes from 3 to 5 months depending on the
weather and the time of the season in which the tree is holding
fruit.
The carambola is such an exuberant producer that I have had
two foot high airlayers holding six fruit. Vegetatively
propagated plants are the only reliable method of growing this
tree because fruit taste ranges from sour to very sweet, with the
fruit produced by seedlings almost guaranteed to be poor. Another
interesting point about the star fruit is that the compound
leaves have the ability to fold back at night only to open again
in the morning. When I first started growing the trees I was
unaware of this trait. It was in the evening on the day after
they arrived from Florida that I first noticed the folded leaves
and it was right after I had fertilized them. Of course I
immediately thought I had done them in. However, the morning
brought with it not only unfurled leaves but the awareness that
this ability was just another distinctive characteristic of the
carambola. The one minor problem in growing this tree that could
eventually become very bothersome is that the trees attracts
spider mites. I’m sure for Florida growers this problem is
nonexistent but to greenhouse gardeners it could easily get out
of control. This problem only becomes evident in the winter when
the trees are quartered to the hothouse and is quickly remedied
by soapy water or other means, usually chemical. Other than this
one inconvenience, the carambola is certainly one of my top picks
for its ease of culture and abundance of fruit it produces so
regularly.
Psidium of Pennsylvania
For the grower who can’t be bothered with such tedious tasks
as hand pollination or laying awake at night worrying about
whether his beloved flowers are going to be male or female, the
tropical guava (Psidium guajava) is the tree to grow. This small
Central American tree is not overly concerned with the care it
receives and is very tolerant of a neglectful owner.
This is not to say that it can be thrown in a closet and be
expected to produce fruit, but it is quite flexible in its
growing requirements. I have raised a number of different
varieties over the years and all have borne fruit without the
slightest hesitation.
At present, I am growing the ‘Supreme’, ‘Redland’,
‘Beaumont’, and ‘Mexican Cream’ varieties. All perform
beautifully in 13 in. to 15 in. pots with a minimum of care.
The guava is a fast grower and to keep it in bounds I prune
it heavily (every other year drastically) immediately after the
fruit has ripened, which for me happens to be in late fall to
early winter. I usually take off nearly all of the current
season’s new growth, clipping it as close as possible to a
dormant leaf bud. Due to the fact that the leaves are produced
opposite one another, this single cut institutes a double
response from the plant in that it produces two new growing
shoots. This “two for one” effect is very beneficial to the plant
and grower because flowers are produced on new growth and the
trimming also revitalizes the plant, resulting in larger fruit.
The new growth will appear as day length increases, which for me
is mid-January.
The flowers, which are produced along with the new growth,
open up in May and are completely self-pollinating, although
cross-pollination will produce more fruit. You can smell a
flowering guava from a distance, the pleasing scent blanketing
the growing area, inviting bees and other buzzing creatures to
grab a free tropical meal. During this period of accelerated
growth, I ply my trees with heavy doses of fertilized water which
they imbibe gratefully, the extra dosage helping the nurturing of
the plants’ fruit.
After flowering is completed, mature fruit delivery takes
from four to six months. Growth slows considerably during this
period, the plants’ abundant energy now being funneled into the
development of its fruit. It is during this holding stage that I
lightly prune the trees, snipping back the more vigorous
non-fruiting shoots or simply cutting off undesired branches.
Watering during this time is very critical to the maturing
guavas (as it is with all developing fruit) and prolonged dryness
can lead to dry pulpless fruit. Four to six months is a too long
a time to wait for fruit to ripen into worthless, dried out
shells. My guavas ripen from September to November, with a slight
color change in the yellow skin indicating maturation. Ripe fruit
is also soft to the touch. Taste varies considerably among my
varieties, ranging from the deliciously sweet dessert type
(’Supreme’) to the acidic processing type (’Beaumont’). Seediness
also varies from extreme to minimal, with some fruit varieties
being practically seed free. Flesh is either reddish or white in
all varieties. Guavas are an excellent source of vitamin C and A,
both higher in the red fleshed variety. For you health-conscious
growers out there, this is the fruit for you! It has a remarkable
number of uses ranging from medicinal (the leaves when chewed
alleviate toothaches) to recreational (a fine wine can be made
from the fermented fruit). When the leaves are boiled and the
resulting broth drunk, diarrhea can be remedied; and as a
mouthwash it helps cure swollen gums. These folk remedies are
used in third world countries where the availability of Bayer
aspirin or Pepto-Bismol is non-existent. In some cultures I’m
sure that the tropical guava is quite an indispensable plant, one
that’s usefulness far exceeds simply a ripe fruit.
The red cattley or strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum) is
another one of those ego-boosting subtropicals that makes the
transition from temperate gardening to tropical fruit container
gardening so successful. I state ‘ego-boosting’ because this
plant is assured of producing fruit for the novice. It’s the
perfect crossover fruit to choose for the grower who would like
to begin a tropical container orchard. The red cattley has always
been one of my favorites and like the tropical guava doesn’t
require an abundance of care.
I grow two red cattleys and one yellow or lemon cattley, this
yellow variety bearing much larger fruit. The red strawberry
guava is usually grown from seed because it produces true by this
method. There’s no noticeable variation in fruit quality from the
parent tree. I have found that the only variation in seedling
plants is in size and production, and not fruit taste. Two
seedlings I have grown in particular have turned out to be
exceptional producers, one in the extra large fruit it produces
and the other in the quantity it bears. These cattleys both came
from the same parent tree but from different fruit. Seedling
trees can start bearing within two years and within twelve months
when grown from cutting. This is a very attractive plant to grow,
the glossy deep green leaves beautifully offsetting the red
fruit.
The flowers are abundantly produced on new growth which
begins to appear in late winter. They begin to open in late March
and my trees continue to flush throughout the summer. The flowers
appear almost as small white, sweetly scented powder puffs,
enhanced by the backdrop of deep green. They are completely self
pollinating (although I use my trusty watercolor brush as I do on
all my trees). The ripe fruit is ready for picking 90 days later.
The small green guavas grow up to an inch and begin to blush red
towards maturation, eventually turning a deep crimson and soft
when fully ripe. These soft red fruits are deliciously sub-acid
in flavor, with a slight hint of strawberry to entice the palate.
The fruit has many hard seeds embedded in the pulp but I either
grind them up when eating the fruit or simply swallow them whole.
After harvest, my cattleys receive a light pruning to promote
fruiting shoots and also to reshape the plant. My plants have a
habit of producing both upright and horizontal branches and to
keep the shape pleasing, I snip off and reshape, many times
bending and tying horizontal branches vertically to produce the
desired form I want to attain.
The yellow or lemon cattley produces much larger yellow
fruit, being definitely sweeter with absolutely no hint of
sub-acidity. It’s a good fruit, but to my taste buds some acidity
must be present in a fruit to be truly savory. It also grows in a
more open habit, being not as vigorous as the red cattley.
http://www.rarefruit.com/RFN2008AllYr.txt
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:news@arsgrin.gov
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm.
Subject: Fruit Fly Program Pays Off
From: ARS News Service NewsService@ars.usda.gov
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 09:03:34 -0500
___________________________________________
—View this report online at www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr
___________________________________________
A research program to control exotic fruit flies in Hawaii has
had an economic return of better than 30 percent. The Hawaii Area
Wide Fruit Fly Integrated Pest Management (HAW-FLYPM) program is
a cooperative effort of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS),
the University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension and the Hawaii
Department of Agriculture.
The HAW-FLYPM program developed a way to control four foreign
fruit fly species—Mediterranean fruit fly, melon fly, oriental
fruit fly and Malaysian fruit fly—that have been devastating
more than 400 fruits and vegetables in the Hawaiian Islands for
100 years. Without the HAW-FLYPM program, farmers must rely on
nearly weekly spraying of pesticides. Susceptible crops include
citrus, tomato, guava, mango, melon, papaya and persimmon.
Within three years of the program’s start, the researchers knew
it worked scientifically and that growers could physically apply
it for themselves. But for growers to continue with the program,
real economic benefit needed to be demonstrated.
So the program brought in economist Andrew M. McGregor to conduct
a cost-benefit analysis, totaling benefits to farmers,
households, and the public. These benefits add up to a hefty 32
percent return on an investment of $14 million over 15 years.
For example, Aloun Farm in Oahu is now producing an additional
130,000 pounds of zucchini a year with minimal pesticide use,
thanks to the HAW-FLYPM program, a gain of about $75,000.
The program has also helped preserve a Hawaiian cultural
tradition.
Ipu, Hawaiian for the hard-shell gourd, has always been an
important part of the island culture, used as a drum in hula
dance and as a traditional way to store food or water. But the
melon fly had made it almost impossible to grow the traditional
ipu gourds in Hawaii, and thousands of gourds have had to be
purchased from California instead.
This past season, for the first time, the vice president of the
Hawaii Gourd Society harvested hundreds of beautiful ipu gourds
by using the HAW-FLYPM program.
Read more about this research in the February 2008 issue of
Agricultural Research magazine, available online at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/feb08/fly0208.htm
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief in-house
scientific research agency.
http://www.rarefruit.com/RFN2008AllYr.txt
What to do with Scionwood and cuttings by Jim Neitzel
Each January most chapters of CRFG put on a scionwood and
cuttings exchange. Hardwood cuttings are selected and enclosed
in a ziplock or plastic bags wrapped with some moistened paper
towel. These scions can be stored in the crisper of a
refrigerator until the buds of your rootstock tree starts to
swell – indicating breaking of dormancy, sap flow and an
activating cambial layer (between the bark and wood).
Apple should be grafted on apple; pear on pear; prunus on prunus.
Nemaguard peach is as disease resistant rootstock for almond,
apricot, nectarine, peach – even some plums. Citation is a red
leafed semi-dwarfing peach rootstock that permits easy detection
of suckers if any sprout below the graft. “Lowell” peach is less
common here than Nemaguard peach. Marianna plum selections are
very good for plums, pluots, etc. and can deal with heavier and
damper soils.
Why do people do grafting? Firstly, a seedling is most likely
going to bear inferior fruit. Budding it or grafting it over
with scionwood of some superior selected varieties changes all
growth above the graft union to that of the proven cultivars.
Multi-grafting various branches is now commonly used to provide
the consumer with “3-in-1” or “4-in-1” trees. The 3 or 4
varieties should have similar chill requirements; otherwise, the
lowest chill cultivar (e.g. Anna or Dorsett and golden apple)
will break dormancy several weeks earlier than most of the other
grafts. Thus outgrowing everything else. Ideally the grower
would seek early, mid and late cultivars to extend fruit
production.
Grafting onto dwarfing or semi-dwarfing rootstock selections
allows the grower to plant much more intensely and makes for
easier care (pruning, thinning out fruit and harvesting).
Grapes, figs and pomegranates are generally propagated by placing
the lower half or so into a well aerated planting mix. setting
the containers off in a semi-shaded area and watering when
necessary should give good results. Figs and pomegranates can
also be grafted onto existing trees that are still dormant.
Jon Verdick’s fig article in the Fruit Gardener November –
December 2007 issue gives fantastic instructions and hits
regarding propagation of fig cuttings. (See page 17.) See Jon’s
growing tips at http://figs4fun.com/Growing_Tips.html
Many of the apples and prunus (peach, nectarines, plums, almonds,
pluots, aprium and apricots) are also easy to reproduce from the
shoots removed during winter pruning. The juvenility of the fast
growing shoots or “watersprouts” are especially easy to root.
Anyone who has stored scions a bit too long in the refrigerator
has seen how the cuts have callused over and started to initiate
roots.
http://www.rarefruit.com/RFN2008AllYr.txt
Subject: Environmentally-Friendly Controls for Peach Tree Pests
From: ARS News Service NewsService@ars.usda.gov
Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:03:07 -0500
___________________________________________
—View this report online at www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr
___________________________________________
Peach growers combat several insects that harm their crop,
usually using chemical pesticides to do so. Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) scientists in the Southeastern Fruit and
Tree Nut Research Laboratory in Byron, Ga., are seeking
environmentally friendly alternatives.
ARS entomologists David Shapiro-Ilan and Ted Cottrell, along with
colleagues at the University of Florida and the University of
Georgia, are evaluating two tiny, soil-dwelling nematodes as
possible biological controls. They were used to thwart damage
caused by the plum curculio weevil (Conotrachelus nenuphar), and
two clear-winged moths, the peachtree borer (Synanthedon
exitiosa), and the lesser peachtree borer (S. pictipes).
Shapiro-Ilan and Cottrell used the Steinernema riobrave nematode
to defend against plum curculio larvae—producing a suppression
rate of 78 to 100 percent.
For the peachtree borer, the researchers used another beneficial
nematode, Steinernema carpocapsae. They found that a single
field application of S. carpocapsae provided 88 percent
suppression when applied to mature peachtree borer infestations
in springtime. In a recent field trial, three applications of S.
carpocapsae during the peachtree borer’s fall egg-laying season
completely suppressed all damage.
The scientists knew from lab studies that another peach pest, the
lesser peachtree borer, is also highly susceptible to S.
carpocapsae. But the researchers also realized that controlling
the lesser peachtree borer would be more difficult because they
attack trees aboveground—where the nematodes dry out and are
less effective.
To deal with this problem, the researchers applied S. carpocapsae
nematodes to tree wounds and then covered the wounds with
moisture-holding bandages. In the first trial, 100 percent
lesser peachtree borer mortality was attained in five days.
Read more about this research in the March 2008 issue of
Agricultural Research magazine, available online at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/mar08/peach0308.htm
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific
research agency.
http://www.rarefruit.com/RFN2008AllYr.txt
Subject: Manila Bulletin Online: Heavy use of chemicals Hazards
From: “Herminio” dracademia@aol.com
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:39:35 +0800
Heavy use of chemicals, fertilizers threatens farms
Benguet embarks on a program promoting organic farming
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet The unabated heavy use of chemicals and
fertilizers by thousands of farmers in this vegetable-producing
province has drastically reduced the productivity of the soil
which, in turn, greatly contributed to the increase in the
production cost of farm crops.
This situation prompted provincial officials to appeal to the
thousands of farmers to reduce the volume of chemicals,
pesticides, and fertilizers they use in their farms and start
shifting to the production of organic crops which are beneficial
to the health of the consumers.
Manila Bulletin Online http://www.mb.com.ph
Herminio mailto:dracademia@aol.com
Subject: Re: Italian Nespola - Information, Please
From: Leo Manuel rarefruit@san.rr.com
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:50:56 -0700
To: John Mastro
Marlene
You’ll find two possibilities, if you do a Google search for
NESPOLA fruit. Maybe Medlar; or Maybe Loquat. I’d think it’s
probably Loquat.
Here’s something I found at:
http://rubbahslippahsinitaly.blogspot.com/2005/05/nespola.html My
husband was more than a little enthused when he saw these in
the produce section and again I’m surprised to discover yet
another exotic, unfamiliar-looking foodstuff. Nespola
(nespole plural) are grown in Italy but I noticed that the
ones we purchased were being brought over from Spain. The
flavor is a bit difficult to describe... sort of a cross
between a tart apple and a ripe pear? They fit easily in the
palm of my hand and are about the size of a golf ball. Known
as medlar fruit in English, net research revealed a fair
amount of information on nespola/medlar and its uses,
including recipes mainly for jams, jellies, and tarts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loquat says that the English name is
Loquat, not medlar I’m pretty sure that is probably what it
is.
So, read, look at pictures, and decide which is your fruit.
Leo
http://www.fruitlovers.com/fruittreeprices.html
Malabar Chestnut ( Pachira glabrum) 1 gal-8.00
Paradise Nut ( Lecythis sp.) 1 gal-19.00
SPICES
Allspice ( Pimenta officinalis) 1 gal-14.00
Clove (Eugenia aromatica) 1 gal-15.00
HERBS
Curry Leaf Tree ( Murraya koenigii) 1 gal-12.00
Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin) 1 gal-15.00
Yerba Mate ( Ilex paraguayensis) 1 gal-25.00
CLICK HERE TO SEE A PRICE LIST OF MANY OTHER USEFUL PLANTS THAT ARE AVAILABLE
TO ORDER: E mail us a list of what you want to order to fruitlovers@fruitlovers.com and we wil give you a shipping quote. After that you need to send a check or money order with full payment to Fruit Lover’s Nursery, PO Box 1597, Pahoa, HI 96778, USA Tel: (808)-965-0835.
http://www.fruitlovers.com/seedlistUSA.html
This is a page of seeds for sale, photos are beautiful.
The rarest of fruit tree and shrub/plant seeds.
Not frugal seeds, but so rare that you will want to dream a little.
The fruiting Passion Flower always tempts me.
granny
Nutmeg tree, passion flowers and some of the others are exciting....won’t copy as it is a chart.
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