When I had durian I hated it. Tasted like a mix of barf and rotting garlic. Was the fruit not ripe? I have heard so many great things about them, but mine was terrible. I guess its like cherimoyas when u get them eighther great or nasty. And updating for my 5 favorite fruits is
1. White sapote
2. cherimoya
3. lychee
4. mangosteen
5. guava
If my sapodilla hadden't gotten smashed and mixxed with lychhes when I bought it I bet it would be up there though.

the ones I said I know will make it are the ones that survived this past winter. We had temps down to 25 degrees I think, but not for long periods of time. The rest I bought just this spring and have them planted next to a south facing brick wall at my new house. I may have to build some kind of structure to protect them this winter, or hang christmas lights as others have sugguested. My parents have quite a collection as well, and some of them have survived many winters.

My top 5 (considering only those that I personally grow)are:

1. Lychee (Hak Ip)
2. Atemoya (Geffner)
3. Mango (Nam Doc Mi)
4. Jackfruit (NS1)
5. Avocado (Russel)

I also love Jabaticaba, Kwai Muk, Mamey, and Sapodilla

Well congrats Jun and I hope we have a really warm winter this year with no freezes.

Wow Jun, goodluck on them. Incredible that your growing all of those in your zone.

My list have just been edited. The cherimoya has just climbed to number one for me. It grows so easy for me and provides a bunch of fruit for me every year. And still I know I will never be sick of it!
#1. CHERIMOYA
=)

Malay apple
sapodilla
sugar apple
jackfruit
amberilla

So how do you eat jackfruit? It's so fibrous! I was served some once and although it was tasty, I chewed and chewed and chewed for several minutes and still had a big fibrous wad in my mouth that was too big to swallow. Ended up having to spit it into a napkin-- kind of an awkward social moment. Is it just me?

I have no problem eating the aril, it has the texture of bland plastic, but it´s easy to chew it. I love jackfruit.

Is anyone growing durian? I see them for sale on ebay but I am hesitant in buying it if it's going to die.

hey Kameha,

I boiling the seeds (some one told me to) and all of those are growing! Sence the seeds i germinated were the sour type I need to go to an Asian market and get some sweet tamarinds!

That's great plummy! I've heard of the boiling technique as well but I'm always too scared to try it.

Let me know how everything goes.

I was a bit woried at first but just boiled them until they jumped like jumping beens in the pot. Since it was a test batch I used 5 seeds. When I emptied them out wrapped them in a wet paper towel and set them in a big plasting strawberry container. I waited a week or two and they all sprout and now I planted them. Now I have a question for the people in the SF Bay area. Where can I get durians and jackfruit? Another question is how do I know when the durian is ripe? Thanks in advance

Plummy, I assume that you mean selecting a ripe durian in a shop and not picking them. Usually you don't pick durian off the tree, they just drop off the tree when ripe. I'm going to guess that you could get durian and jackfruit in Chinatown. Though probably only frozen durians shipped from Thailand.

As for choosing a ripe durian in the shop, check the smell and I've read that if shaken, you should hear the fruit inside "rattling" around.

And princesskim, I've just started my durians and jackfruits. The durians I'm a bit worried about for winter, since I don't know of any local trees producing. The jackfruit on the other hand can be found locally, like one just outside the window, and they are happily fruiting without active cultivation.

As for top 5:
mango
durian
sugar apple
jackfruit
lychee

Luckily for me, four of these five are grown locally in addition to lots of longan.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blog entry with photos of durian and jackfruit seedlings

Oops on my top 5 list I forgot mangosteens. ack. Another of the fruits that don't grow locally and I've had a really hard time getting them to germinate from seeds from fruit bought at the market.

Good luck with the durian seedlings in Hong Kong. I have always been interested in the climate of Southeastern China as it being somewhat similar to South Florida, only the winter, I heard, is slightly cooler overall but moderated due to being near water.

I have seen fruiting coconut palms in Hong Kong movies and they look to be in similar health to the ones in South Florida---not bad for a location that experiences an average high of 67F.

According to weatherbase.com, your city all time lowest temperature is 37F. This is warmer than even Miami beach of 32F. Have you ever tried growing breadfruits?

I don't think I've seen a breadfruit here in the wild. I've seen it listed in books listing the trees of Hong Kong.

And I'm not worried about frost or freeze damage to the plants. It is just the weeks or month or so where temps (lo-hi) drop down to 8-12C (46-54F), which might be too cold for plants native to Borneo/Indonesia/Malaysia, like the durian and mangosteen, to really thrive in.

Summer here is Southwest Monsoon with airflow from Saigon to Hong Kong. Winter here is Northeast Monsoon with airflow from the snowy north to Hong Kong.

Daai Tou Laam, thanks for providing a detailed look at Hong Kong's weather. I've always wondered exactly how cold it got. I know winter highs are usually in the upper 60s but not cold at night. When you say moonsoon in winter...does that mean it is still rainy in winter?

Ask folks in Cleveland or Buffalo what happens when you get strong cold wind blowing over warmer water. But the rainfall is minimal compared to the rainy season. Especially this year's rainy season.

Thankfully it's easier to grow tropicals here than it is in Buffalo, though it's an exchange for last month being the end of my tomato season.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hong Kong Observatory Description of Asian Monsoons

Mango (Julie Dwarf is yummy)
Guava (any kind)
Sanbokan Sweet Lemon
Jaboticaba
Barbados Cherry

Hard to pick just 5.

Even breadfruit can be grown indoors in temperate areas! Check out this Samoan variety thriving happily beside a plethora of leguminous plants in red paper cups (Cassia sp., Delonix, Lonchocarpus, Albizia, Bauhinia, etc..)and various cacao and cacao plant relatives below.

{{gwi:1316847}}

Marcelo

Maspiras Jr. That is amazing you are growing breadfruit indoors! I am so impressed! Also your other tropical plant collection is awesome!

Daai I grew up in Pittsburgh so I know all about lake effect snow and rain. So its basically just a chilly showery time in winter in Hong Kong?

Marcelo: Great picture; seem a healthy breadfruit tree and great looking Theobroma spp. I have some Artocarpus camansi (believe) seedlings (5" tall), the tree looks like very similar to breadfruit, hope mine one is not so ultratropical since here gets 8°C and sometimes very low humidity. The fruit is similar to breadfruit but with a surface like durian or jackfruit.

Isn´t that pot to short for that breadfruit?

Kameha, winter in Jan/Feb here is "chilly" and damp with occasional drizzles.

I leave the term showery for days like today or this week. It's a little after noon here and we've gotten between 4 and 6 inches of rain so far today, while other parts of Hong Kong are between 8 and 12 inches.

And Marcelo, that looks really nice. All the delonix and bauhinia and cassia seem very familiar. (The Hong Kong flag is red with a white bauhinia flower.)

1. Mamey/Chico Zapote (different fruits but similar flavor)
2. Guanabana (Is this the same as Cherimoya?)
3. Mango (I grow this in my yard)
4. Papaya (I had this but got rid of it because of possums)
5. Coconut (Could not get trees to grow here)

I used to have a huge passion vine, but I got rid of that also because of possums. My all time favorite fruit is fig, but it's not tropical. I have two fig trees, which produce way more fruit than I ever imagined - a bit too much.

I'm interested in growing tamarind, however.

Lars

I guess these are my top 10 :)
1. Durian
2. Mangosteen
3. Salak (Salacca)
4. Passion fruit
5. Guanabana
6. Sapodilla
7. Lansium domesticum
8. Cyphomandra betacea
9. Rambutan
10. persimmon

hey didn't know you could get over a hundred posts now.

Lars, guanabana is different than cherimoya. Guanabana is Annona muricata and cherimoya is A. cherimola. I've only tasted a guanaban once and I had gotten a bad one but I love the canned juices. It should really be a great, I'm attempting to grow some guanabana plants outside in my area and should see if it will make it or not after this month.

Melati, the tree tomato? Really

Yup.. mix it with Marquisa/passion fruit and its yummy.

Here in Brazil we have a lot of choices of fruits to pick from. I only saw one person mention the jaboticaba. This is one of my favorites. If you get a grafted tree they start producing quite small. Lately I have been more and more involved with palms and their fruit. My favorites are:

Tucumã - Astrocaryum Tucuma (the meat pealed from the seed makes great sandwiches when heated in french bread with melted cheese - a breakfast favorite.

Açai - Euterpe olearcae or precatoria - (makes a drink from the pulp that is widely consumed locally in the Amazon region and now sold in the States and elswhere where it is made from frozen pulp. Very good for ones health)

Bacaba - Oenocarpus bacaba (also makes a drink from the pulp, this is only consumed locally in the Amazon region. I like the taste.)

Pataua - Onecarpus bataua (also makes a drink similar to bacaba and açai. Due to the high oil content in the pulp a cooking oil with properties nearly identical to olive oil is produced.

Pupunha - Bactris gasipaes or I believe known as peach palm (the boiled fruits are eaten locally as a breakfast food. I have aquired a liking for them. The palm heart also makes great palm cabbage).

And, last but not least the Brazil Nut. The nuts fresh from the tree are nowhere like the ones you get in the States.

Of course there are all kinds of other fruits to be found around here. A lot of them in the forest where the animals are the mostly the consumers. I had a beautiful jaboticaba tree in the yard of a house I had in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. The tree was about 8 years old when I bought it in 1980 and produced all kinds of fruit. Unfortunately the people that bought the hose ripped it up as they tore down the place to make a new big, million dollar house. So is progress.

dk

dk, I am one of those who is wanting to grow a jaboticaba! I love the way the tree itself looks and especially the way the fruit grows on the trunk. This is a tropical fruit at the top of my wants list and I am determined to purchase one this year.

Leona

Leona,

See if you can find a grafted one somewhere. This saves a lot of time to get fruit. I have also seen Jaboticabas as banzai trees, they are real nice. In South Florida I knew a woman who specialized in this. I just planted one in my lot here in Manaus, Brazil. They like a lot of water and the more water the more they bear fruit.

dk

I finally got around to planting a tamarind seed, and it has already sprouted. I didn't realize it would be so easy, but maybe the weather has helped. It's been pretty warm here lately (in the low 80s), but today our June gloom returned (which I like). I planted the tamarind in the pot that has lettuce and dill in it, but those will die back, and so it should be okay. I really did not expect it to sprout. I did nothing for the seed, and had left it drying out on the kitchen window sill for probably a year or so.

Lars

HI all,

Great site here! I would LOVE to find SALAK fruit in the Los Angeles area. Also I would buy a plant if I could find one and it will grow here. I'm a bit of a beginner so any help would be appreciated. I tried this fruit in Bali several years ago and fell in love with it! It's my favorite, followed up by "water apples," another fruit I had on Bali (not sure what the real name of that one is).

Thanks for any help you can give!

hndthmnky, I don't think your be able to find any salak fruits in California. I don't think any get exported to the U.S. There are people who's attempting to try to grow the salak here but its too early to tell how well they do in Southern California.
Your water apples is probably either a wax jambu(Syzygium samarangense) or malay apple(Syzygium malaccense). You can sometimes find wax jambu from time to time at local Asian markets, mostly fruits are provided by backyard growers. Most are usually tasteless fruits but some are sligtly sweet and delicous.

Being from the Philippines, my top 5 tropical fruits and nuts are:

1. Mangosteen
2. Rambutan (R-5 Variety - best variety in the Philippines)
3. Langsat or Lanzones (Longkong variety)
4. Coconut (Fresh and chilled - the best!)
5. Pili nut - (I think Pili nuts are at par with Macadamia nuts)

Here is a link that might be useful: Rare Fruit Society of the Philippines

It seems to make patterns with Lychee, Durian, Mangostaan...

1. Lychee, mmm so sexy
2. Durian, so huge and tastes like cream pudding
3. Cherimoya
4. Carambola
5. Mangostaan

I would wish, that they wasn´t so expensive in Denmark:´/

Hi Hi!

If you could come to Thailand you will see people here love to grow mango. Mangos are everywhere here. Have you ever try mango in Thailand they are very sweet? One of my favorite is soft yellow mongo with stick coconut rice and we do eat law mango too very crunchy sour and sweet taste. At my garden have 5 kinds different of mango tree a lot of fruit for two seasons. And I dont grow rose apple but some other people here do. I think rose apple quite easy to get rust when they producing a flower and many bee too. Anyway I love rose apple is juicy and sweet.
We do have the best of Mangosteen, Rambutan and durian here in summer.
Good to hear that people are love our tropical fruit.

You have some of the greatest tasting fruit in the world. It's always a pleasure to visit Thailand.

Wow. I cant believe this thread is still going? Can we add or change our minds to something we posted 2 yrs ago? LOLOL :P
#6 Lychee

Hey Amazondk,I have tried the Jaboticabas, Im going to see if i can get me a seedling soon. I have a Grumichama, and Acai Para Dwarf, which I have planeted 100 seeds, I plan on giving a few away to friends that have farms, and or own nurseries, to introduce this fruit where I live, some of the other fruits you mentioned I have never heard of, Tucumã looks interesting, from what I have read about it that a kind of butter can be produced from it, if it has that much oil, i bet it could also be used for bio fuel too.

Lychee (Bengal, Mauritius)
Honeybell tangelo
Jackfruit
Starfruit
Passionfruit (Many different types)
(many others too)

Great lists--this thread makes me drool. Which of course leads me to my next question.

My husband and I just bought our house and are working hard to turn the property to nearly complete edible landscaping. Does anyone know of a good nursery to purchase some of these plants in the Los Angeles area? I'm in Altadena.

Thanks!

Mangosteen, without question the queen of all fruit
Honey tangerine
Kai banana
Sapodilla (lamut in Thai)
Lychee (linchee in Thai)
We grow all these, but will have to wait a few more years before our home-grown mangosteens are yielding!

1:White Sapote.It gets no good publicity because it's far best picked off the tree,chilled ,then eaten. Also the fact it grows best in the high tropics or coastal California means all those who list the zone 11 fruits don't know the greatness of this z9-10 tree.
2: Mango-if you can grow it-do it!.
3: Avocado..could be no.1 if I think more about it!
4: Lemon..just so useful. Goes pretty good with Avocado-lol.
5:Orange's.Hard to beat a sweet chilled Orange.
close: Pineapple-home grown are mouth watering.
NO.122: Agave tequila..you know why,wink,wink.

This is an excellent thread. I ran across it looking in the archives for Hawaiian mangos. Does Eggo post here any anymore? He/she is a very knowledgeable poster from California. Well here is my top 10.....five was not enough.

1. Mangos
2. Mamey Sapote
3. Anonas( chirimoya, sugar apple, guanabana etc.)
4. Suebelle White Sapote (only)
5. Guavas (red, pink, yellow, white etc>
6. Avocado ( Mexican, Guatemalan and even the inferior West Indian)
7. Lychees
8. Mamoncillos
9. Nispero ((Manilkara zapota)
10. Caimito

Mango, Guava, Banana, Papaya, and Kiwi in no specific order.

I ate a cherimoya once and it gave me food poisoning, i vomited and had liquid poop for 4 days.

mango, mango, mango, tango, bango........

mangohound

Hello ,
Read that someone might have yellow Jaboticaba seed and wonder If you would consider parting with a few seeds
Ursula
culejools@yahoo.ca

you can tell from the name,,,
most all annonas:
1. sugar apples, atemoya, custard apple
2. Mango
4. Sapodilla (like brown sugar!)
5. Jackfruit
Ok,,, I have to name these also,,
6. Banana\
7. Avocado