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Thu, Jul 7, 11 at 17:30
| I started growing an El Bumpo tree a few years back and last year it had fruit set for the first time. I only had a few set and what I noticed was that they grew for a while (to about the size of a seed) and then stopped, got soft and fell off in the middle of summer.
Any ideas on what caused this? Was it still to young to produce, not enough nutrients, etc.? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by steve_in_los_osos CA 9b/Sunset 16/17 (My Page) on Fri, Jul 8, 11 at 0:22
| Sounds like aborted fruit from a flower that was not pollinated? |
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- Posted by wizzard419 none (My Page) on Fri, Jul 8, 11 at 2:10
| In this case I'm pretty sure it was pollinated since I've seen what happens when they aren't (from other flowers on the tree) |
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- Posted by hmhausman FL 10B (hmhausman@aol.com) on Fri, Jul 8, 11 at 7:11
| I haven't ever fruited a cherimoya, but I have seen this happen in Sugar apple, atemoya and most recently, rollinia. There is a definite difference in a flower that has no pollination and one that at least has some level of pollination. As far as I observed, an unpollinated flower goes into male phase, sheds pollen and then drops with absolutely no fruitlet appearance. When pollinated, the flower doesn't go into male phase. Instead, a small fruitlet forms and then, eventually starts gaining size until it is mature. There seems to be a fair amount of fruitlets that do not fully develop. They get to a small size and then turn black and drop. I recently experienced this with 100% frutilet drop on my rollinia that was blooming for the first time. Intially, I had about 10 fruitlets that formed initially. The loss of all ten was somewhat of a mystery to me. We did have a severe drought at the time but I provided some additional hydration. In talking with friends that have fruited rollinias previously, they had a similar experience with the early blooming. The concensus seems to be that the immaturity of the tree is the main factor. It was suggested that the tree must reach a "critical mass" of blooms that allows for the dropping of a number of these frutilets that, for whatever reason, are doomed to turn black and drop. So, I am not sure that this is the full answer to the problem. Nutrients, heat, moisture may all have some responsibility in this problem. Observations continue. Harry |
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- Posted by wizzard419 none (My Page) on Fri, Jul 8, 11 at 13:58
| That might be it, I've heard that it needs to be at least 8 feet tall for it to be able to support fruit, so I might just be under the min threshold. |
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