Which kind mango is the one with all the little fruits? 18th down it seemed. Thanks

Zands - Thats a Rosigold.

Your trees look so lush and healthy. I am happy that you pulled thru the winter with only minimal damages. That must be sucha relief!

I am trying to remeber, don't you live by the Everglades? That must keep you a little warmer during the winter right?

I just got another mango tree last week. I finally got my Carrie mango. That's what I had wanted a month ago but instead the guy that was getting it for me, got me the Lancetilla. It still blows my mind that tho nurseryman told the guy (that was getting it for me) that the Lancetilla was a better variety for pot culture!! Obviously he didn't know a lot about dwarf mango trees!! The nurseryman was from Pine Island too. Well, I guess not everyone who works there knows as much. I remember 3 years ago when I was going to order from them, a woman who emailed me from there told me that it would be a bad idea to even try to attempt to grow a mango tree in a pot.

I hope your trees continue to grow and do well for you. Thanks for the picture updates.

Andrew

Your trees are looking great. Too bad the tebow died. Maybe you could plant a 'young' mango in its place.

HAHAHAHAHA

andrew78 >>>>>
Lancetilla has huge fruits. So how mature can they get up north though we shall see. I sympathize with you. You should have gotten Carrie the first time around. I would have been POed too

SW Rancher >>>> Rosigold looking good...up and running for early mangoes!

Such Splendid and healthy trees SW Ranchero! From what Harry says it looks like all of you florida folks could have nice yields this year....how exciting for you!

Us Californians also hope to prove as bountiful.....

Big Rains here the last 2 nights - there's snow in the mountains.....I'll post a pic or two over the next couple days when I get outside with some time - oh yeah, tomorrow's Presidents Day - hmmmmmmmmm -

mangomutt

Hello Zands,
I had mixed feelings when I realized I didn't get the Carrie that I was really wanting. The guy who picked it up for me, has become a friend of mine. He owns a large nursey, greenhouse in Erei, PA. He was in Florida for a tropical fruit expo, and I had asked if he could pick this up for me when he was there. I actually had spoken to the wife and she told me that even if they couldn't get the tree at the expo, they would have someone bring it in for them. So the reqason why I didn't make a stink about it was because he has always done right by me before, and he sold it to me at the cost he got it for...$25. I figured well for $25 why not, even though I knew the Lancetilla would be challenging.

I all ready cut back 2 of the branches pretty severely and one of them has 2 new branches growing. I can see why it isn't meant for pot culture as it is more spawling in habit and not so compact. If it doesn't do well for me, I will find someone who can take it off my hands and plant it in the ground and then buy a Mallika or Pickering. Only time will tell!
Andrew

Wow...AWESOME pictures!! Love, love the mango blooms! Wish I was your neighbor when those fruits are ready :o)

Thanks for the great pictures...great job!

Nice pictures! Sorry about those few trees that died. If your green sapote dies, I'll highly recommend a grafted pace mamey sapote. Mine is already blooming. I had it for almost a year. It was a 3 gallon tree like your green sapote before it grew different branches. I've just grafted today a haden seedling with a mature bud-wood from my big grafted haden. I did a t-bud graft using rubber bands and sticky plastic wrap used to seal food containers. The rubber bands hold and secure the graft in place while the wrap protects the graft union and bud wood. I will have it in the shade until the bud wood begins to grow and partial shade until it has grown a bit more.

Tony:

Lookin good! That green sapote is not ready to die yet....looks like it will survive to me. BTW, I have bad news about the loquat grafting project I was doing for you. The good news, the graft took from the Bradenton tree. It looked good and then decided to bloom and set fruit from the Bradenton graft. I plucked the fruits immediately, but much strength was taken from it and now it is leafless and dormant. Worse on the Christmas side of the tree. The graft initially looked good and I removed it from the mother tree. Now, it looks like it is dead and the branch from the rootstock is pushing new growth. So, I am not sure what to do now. My thought would be to try to regraft the Christmas as we get into the spring to see if I can get a better result. Stay tuned.

Harry

Wow those tamarind pods are awesome along with all the rest of the yard, of course. Congrats on all the blooms and fruitlets on the mangoes. The green sapote is a perfect example of never give up.

thanks for showing off your beauties,
-Ethan

One of the tricks with grafting loquat is to ensure that the stock has leaves. On leafless stock, the scion will take and then die when it sprouts. Most loquats are grafted very high because of this. You'll get near 100% take by doing this. Side veneer also works tremendously well.

Jeff

Your yard looks great. Sorry to hear about the losses...I never like to hear that an Edward mango tree died. You might see if you can find another one.

SWRancher?..so sorry to hear your green sapote had some issues. I?m hoping several years down the road we can compare the FL and CA growth rates on this one. Looking at the picture it does look like its coming back. Mine is doing good out here in SoCal, but still has not branched out. The leaves are no longer that majestic deep green, and I?m sure the cold nights out here haven?t helped. Keep us up-to-date on that GS.

BTW what variety of sapodilla is that? I?ve got a young alano specimen and it only put on growth flush all last year.

Thanks everyone for the comments about my trees and yard.

Andrew - I'm right at the edge of the everglades but it actually gets a little colder then in areas nearer the coast.

murahilin - "Tebow"..."Young"...a mango by any other name...

Mangodog - It looks like a great mango year here in Florida blooms everywhere, some trees are covered literally top to bottom hopefully you get the same in SOCAL.

Pug - Thanks, wish you were my neighbor, be glad to share a few.

Tropicgrower - Pace Mamey, thats a very good idea.

Harry - I hope your right about the GS tree. Bad news about the loquat grafts, I had been meaning to call you and stop by and get it. Are you ready to try another mango graft for me? I have two really vigorous rootstocks just begging to become Maha Chinooks or something else as interesting.

RedSea - Thanks, my Tamarind seems to really be doing well, I'm eagerly awaiting the first pods ripening.

Jeff - Thanks for the grafting tip.

Bluepalm - I already replaced the dead Edward with another Edward, its my all time favorite tasting mango.

SoCal - Hopefully my GS survives and we can compare in a few years. Some hard earned advice dont use chemical handwarmers under a tent to keep GS trees warm. They just dont like being cooked...:( My Sapodilla is a Alano that I planted about three years ago.

Again thanks for all the positive words.

Really nice looking trees there...Very healthy and green. One question though. What do you do with the Tamarind pods? I know some people use them to make a drink...aside from the obvious cooking applications.

North Tree Man,
I love to just chew on the tamarind pulp. IT reminds me of a fruit roll up.
Andrew

This morning I noticed my Grumichema (Brasilian Cherry)that was planted last spring and is about 3 1/2 feet tall has about a dozen open blossoms and maybe another dozen about to open. I'm hoping this will be my first crop from that tree, even if its just a couple cherries. I would post a picture but its already dark so will do so tomorrow.

YOur mango flower spikes are super nice! It does make me quite envious and have thoughts about moving to Florida! But I think I'd miss the mountains too much. Btw, what kind of bananas are those? They look great!

-Bo

Yaslan- I have a few types of Bananas growing. The larger looking ones are almost ready to be picked. They are "Ice Cream" also called Blue Java. The other ones pictured that are kind of thin looking are Orinoco. I also have dwarf Cavendish Banana trees growing.

I bought the Ice cream banana tree on Ebay last spring for 5 bucks. It was about 6 inches high and only had a single leaf when planted. Its now about ready to be cut and has five or six pups of various sizes growing around it, best 5 bucks I have spent lately.

The question was asked about what one does with tamarind pods?......Try a bit of "Tajin" Chili Powder with those tamarind pods. It's a fruit seasoning that I like to put on the tartier fruits. Next time you want a cool refreshing great tasting, natural drink during a hot summer afternoon go to the nearest Indian or Latin American market place and see if you can find it freshly made, and for those that don't know the taste of tamarind there is a brand of tamarind soda called "Jarritos Tamarind soda" that will give you an indication of what tamarinds taste like.

I am very impressed. Great pictures and looks like you are well on your way to spring season.
How old is your tamarind tree? Is it a named variety? And how big do you expect it to grow? I am amazed to see the tamarind pods on so small a tree!

Thanks for the kind words. I planted my Tamarind tree summer of 2009. The only thing written on its tag was "Sweet Tamarind," no variety name. I have not tried any of its pods yet so I can't verify if its sweet or not, but I'm very hopeful.

Tony:

Where did you get the "sweet" tamrind from. I bought one from Lara's....years ago. It is anything but sweet.

Harry

Harry,

I got it from Pine Island Nursery.

Tony

Harry,

The only so call "sweet varieties" of tamarind that I've heard of are from Thailand called "Ma Kham Waan" which I've tasted, and would say it is a combination of a sweet/sour taste, and the other which is on the USDA's subtropical horticulture research unit in Miami called Manila Sweet which I have not had the pleasure of tasting.

I have had some from the Asian Market that were plump and really sweet...very little tartness to them at all. Its hard to imagine growing any better than those.....so my theory is that it isn't worth growing that which you can buy better of in the store. That being said, I have two tamarind trees....both of which have been converted to dragon fruit trellises.

Harry

Here's a few pictures taken of some of my trees today. So far lots of little fruit still on the trees. My fingers are crossed...

Emperor Lychee

Angie Mango Tree

Carrie Mango Tree

Rosigold Mango Tree

Pickering Mango Tree

Graham Mango Tree

Neelum Mango Tree

Valencia Pride Mango Tree

Wow Mr. Farmer/Rancher....You are 3 hours ahead of me and about 6-7 weeks ahead of me when it comes to mangos!!!!!!

Especially love the nice-sized Rosigolds, known of course for being an early fruiter.....

Hold on to your patience - I know I have a tough time when all these little beauties are hangin' on the trees.........

mangoboxer

Love the pics, swrancher... feeling the weather getting warmer already just from your sunny pics.

BTW Tamarinds in the Philippines can be deshelled and coated with sugar and dried into candy (delicious, a lot of the Fil groceries carry it), eaten fresh of course or picked immature and crack the shell and steep it in fish and veggie soup to make Sinigang.

:)

They're beautiful. Makes my mouth water just to look at them. And they're nowhere near ready.

Cath

in the Philippines are the tamarind sour? here they are more likely to be sweet. same with carambola, sour in Asia, more likely to be sweet varieties here

Holy smokes! You have a TON of baby fruits! Congrats!
Your fruit sizes are definitely ahead of me...mine are barely the size of half a pea,lol...and a bunch of mine are dropping at an alarming rate.

Thanks for the update and great pictures...

Tropicaliste, I love those tamarind rolled in sugar. I just asked my SIL to bring some back from the Philippines when she visits in a few months...also for dried mangoes. Love them both!

MangoKush:
I would say they are sour in the unripe stage and a tart/sweet when ripe, it's a favorite amongst children more so than adults... I don't know much about the various cultivars here in the U.S. though so the trees here may be much more sweet...
In the PH the carambola and the bilimbi are present in both sweet and sour varieties, and the bilimbi is usually only found sweet in PH so I'm not so sure about the claims of just the sour kind in Asia. There's a few good wikiarticles.

:)

Hi Tropicaliste,
I have never had fresh tamarind from the U.S.(at least not that I know of). I have had some here and there but I never checked the box to see where they were grown.

I do know that I tried tamarind in Puerto Rico. It was only a one time thing and the fruits were sour like lemons but I still enjoyed eating them.

Andrew