Nice!

Just a little update. I was checking on an approach graft and noticed this. Getting a little excited now. This is the only branch that formed anything from the flowers.

Amazing. I wonder how many other people have gotten it to fruit in FL. I think youre pretty high up in the list.

Now that is pretty awesome! Good job man! My two have suffered from the Battle of the Thrips. Hard to say what caused more damage...the actual thrips or the sprays hoping to kill them. Phytotoxicity is real folks. Have had lots of die back. Some new growth still coming out but it's been touch and go. A real pi$$er.

Keep up the pics as they develop.

Wow John great job, what are you fertilizing your plants with? My two are doing great, waiting to go outside.

-Ethan

"Oh big deal....a fruiting maprang in Central Florida.....what's so special," he asks (insane with jealousy)?

Harry

I have not really done much to it. I probably do everything you are not supposed to do. I have been giving it some miracle grow every few weeks for the last couple months and that's about it. I did not do anything through the winter. I actually just stuck it in the ground 2 weeks ago because I thought all of the flowers were already dead. When I stuck it in the ground I dug the hole, cut the bottom off of the pot and then slid the pot up the plant so I would not really disturb the roots at all. I am hoping putting it in the ground will not affect it holding a few of the fruit.

Jay, if more then one makes it all the way it will be heading up to Ohio.

Murahilin, not sure how many have fruited it in FL? I did not even know the plant existed a coupe years ago.

LOL Harry, I am sure you won't be too far behind me. Any new growth on your Kai yet?

Nice!

John:

NO, no new growths on my newly aquired Kai. In fact, leaf count is down to about 7 and holding. There is limb die back/decline on two main branches, but the remainder all look healthy with buds that are swollen and will hopefully push soon. Some freakin' bug laid a whole load of eggs on the underside of one of the few surviving and holding leaves. Luckily, I found them and removed them before the buggers, whatever they were, had a chance to hatch and start munching. Sorry, Jay...no pictures, I am embarrassed to post my scragly a$$ plant in John's glorious fruiting thread.

Harry

A bit of bad news today. I checked on my approach graft and it failed. The whole graft point was rotten. Not really sure why. I think I am going to give up on maprang grafting for a while. I wish I knew Frankie's secret.

Did you approach graft with one of your seedlings to a branch of your grafted one? That should have worked. They are not the easiest to get grafted. I lost several multigraft attempts. The two I have are still alive but still not certain they are doing any good to the mother plant yet.

Harry...those growth flushes seem to last forever and a day before they finally pop out. Hopefully yours will turn around as well. My kai has always been the problem child of the two. I hope to get a good season's worth of growth hardened off and some branches on the kai. Got to make up lost ground for the mayong chid as well. Jeesh!

Yes, it was a seedling attached to a branch of the grafted one. Not really sure what happened. I thought the approach would be pretty bulletproof, but no such luck. It was a tiny branch that I attached the seedling to so maybe that was it. I am kind of wondering if just doing a cleft on a freshly sprouted seedling might be a better way to go. I am thinking with all of the energy from the seed it might work better? I might pick up a few seeds from ebay to give it a try.

Next update. Seems to be progressing pretty quickly. They are about the size of a jellybean. I am guessing I will have to thin them a bit but I want to wait until they get a little bigger just to make sure they don't drop on their own.

Not sure why the pics are not working?

Pictures are working pretty damned well at this end. Nice job!

Harry

I guess my computer was just screwed up. I see them now too. Hopefully I can bring a ripe one down when we meet up. Not sure if they will be ready though.

Nice pics and fruits too! Do they taste similar to mango?

Bo

No idea. I hope to be able to tell you soon.

Boy those are sizing up nicely.

-Ethan

I'm getting very interest in this fruit. I too wonder how it taste like. The fruit is so cute and yellow when ripe. Look like it will be good. I hope you got the sweet fruit.

Marian Plums= maprang
Bouea burmanica, Bouea macrophylla. Small tree with edible orange fruit that looks like a small mango or apricot. Also called ma yong, มะยà¸. Maprang fruits, especially the sweet varieties, are consumed fresh or eaten cooked in syrup. Entire immature fruits are chopped and used as an ingredient in the spicy condiment sambal, and are pickled to prepare asinan. Young leaves are also consumed in salads and eaten with sambal. Propagated by seed, air layers or grafting. It is becoming a popular fruit tree in Thailand. It is commonly grown as home garden trees and the cultivation is expanding to small orchards. The Thai Government is trying to help in exporting this fruit as some Thai firms have started to advertise ma-praang fruit for export.

Looking good John. I don't know if I would thin them or not. Hard choice.

Ch3rri...this has been a very popular plant in Thailand for some time now. My mother-in-law's favorite plant. A Belgium company is importing exotic fruit from Thailand to Europe and selling maprangs as "baby mangos". It's no wonder people have no idea what the he!! they are eating these days.

Jay, do you think it could hold all of those? There is 8 on there now. I guess if I left them I would just get more fruit that are smaller. This tree really seems to be going well since I put it in the ground. It looks like it is getting ready to push out a huge flush in the nest few weeks.

Don't trees like mangos drop fruit on their own if there are too many? I don't know. I guess I would wait to see how things progressed and made sure the fruit continued to get bigger. I'd hate to tell you to thin them out if it isn't necessary.

If they're anything like mangoes, I'd leave them and let nature take its course. You might lose some size, but they will not drop if they are usual clusterers. Besides...more seeds for planting!

Harry

I don't think you should thin them out...at least not now. It's funny because my friend's dad try to thin out his persimmon and later the rest dropped too. So he ended with nothing...lol.

Plus, the maprang is just a little larger than the size of an egg.

Well some not so great news. It dropped all but the largest fruit. I am pretty confident that this one is going to make it all the way though. All of the others seemed to yellow almost overnight and fell off a few days later. This one seems to be getting bigger everyday though. Does anyone know if it is normal for only one fruit per panicle to develop on maprangs or did I just get unlucky?

Yes John, you are incredibly unlucky to only hold one maprang fruit in Ocala.

What can I say, I'm greedy. Big hopes for next season. I have a spot right next to my Mayong chid ready for that Kai. I am going to put them just a couple feet apart so they can both go in the ground but still fit inside the greenhouse.

I just showed your pics to my mother-in-law. She said this is very normal for a smaller tree to drop most of the fruit. Larger, more mature trees will hold the majority. Good job though. Baby that last fruit!!

I really think this one is going to make it. It was always slightly larger than the others and the stem seems to be a little thicker as well.

Making progress... Now I just need to keep the squirrels away.

Any idea how big they get at maturity??

Harry

I saw some pictures of the maprang and they get to the size of an egg. I hope you got the sweet variety...:)

I have read about the size of a large chicken egg. The Mayong chid is supposed to be the largest I think. I am just going to pick it when it starts getting soft.

They were advertising some varieties of mayong chid over there as being bigger than duck eggs. Many vendors would have pictures of the fruit to show which plant was being sold.

Duck egg size would be nice. I think I am going to bag the fruit in hopes of keeping the squirrels off of it. I may kill every squirrel in the neighborhood if they eat this fruit.

Ch3rri, I think the mayong chid is supposed to be sweet with some acid. The kai that I am getting in a few weeks is supposed to be pure sweet. I am really looking forward to trying this thing. I am wondering how it compares to a good mango.

sometimes certain mango varieties like Glenn produce seedless mangos that size, they are called "nubbins" they are usually sweet as hell

Not sure if this is a good or bad update. The fruit is turning kind of an orange/yellow color. At first I was thinking it may be getting ready to drop but I don't think so anymore. The fruit looks more like it is ripening than drying up and it still has a strong green stem. It does not seem to be getting much bigger. The pic makes it look larger than it really is. Hopefully the fruit is just small l because the tree is so small.

That's very definitely ripening.....you'll be eating Maprang soon!

Harry

Hey...very first fruit that hung on? I'd be happy the SOB wasn't the size of a nickle! Take a pic before you cut into it and afterwards to show the inside.

I definitely will take pics. I got some seeds last year from ebay that I remember being pretty large. I guess that is why I was thinking the fruit would be a bit bigger. Definitely not complaining though. I never really expected to get fruit from this tree when I bought it. I kind of had it in the mangosteen category of just hoping to keep it alive. It's still pretty much rock hard right now so I think it's got some time left. I am going to bag the fruit tomorrow just to be safe.

Wow,
very exciting, who needs to travel all the way to Thailand to eat maprang?

I'd sleep next to the tree with a pellet gun to make SURE that no squirrels enjoy it before you.

cant wait for the follow up,
-Ethan

I bagged it last night because I was too scared. I think it should be safe now. I am hoping that it will be ready in a few days.

I wonder when the fruit is at its prime. Some mangoes are best to be picked before they actually fall off or get too soft. With only one fruit, the pressure is on. Don't make the wrong decision or you'll be kicking yourself for a year until the next crop. I would err on the side of letting the fruit get to the stage where it falls into you hand as you touch it gently. Waiting for it to completely fall off on its own without being touched might be too late. So check it every hour on the hour.....sleep and everything else be damned. LOL

Harry

LOL, I think I am just going to start giving the tree a little shake every day. Hopefully when it falls off it will be at it's best stage of ripeness.

wow it should be ripe anyday

still looks like a nubbin to me, is the seed like a mango too?

Similar to a mango but quite a bit smaller obviously and the seeds are purple.

Nice. Should be ready to eat any day now. So exciting. :)

That is freaking awesome! Now I want a Maprang. Please keep us updated with your trees jsvand5!