========================================== Rare Fruit News Online - All Year for 2000 ========================================== Rare Fruit News Online - January 1, 2000 - AKA RFN200001A.txt --Notes In Passing 1. Happy New (Year, Century, Millenium)! 2. I survived a week in Missouri, taking along and bringing back home a bad cough. Dad had said that a cough was a poor excuse to stay away, but when I got there, he said I should have stayed home with it. It was good to see him. We played almost non-stop dominoes the whole time. He's 93 and noticeably more feeble and forgetful with each visit. I promised to try to take him around to visit relatives next spring. And, it's so good to be back home! 3. Sainarong Rasananda has written several letters below. You probably know that when Sainarong Rasananda writes, all of us pay very close attention, as his knowledge of growing longans and lychees is backed by years of experience as a commercial grower. Leo ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, Hawaii - What's Profitable To Grow? William Costa New Subscriber, California; Interested In Guava, Papaya, Mango, .... Don Smith New Subscriber, Siberia, Russia(!) Sergei Moiseev --Readers Write Gopher baskets/cages Nan Sterman ARS News Service Nan Sterman Re: ARS News Service Leo Manuel To: Nan Sterman RE: Photograph of "Ginnups" For ID In US (See Photo In OldRFN) Sven Merten To: cdouglass@hotoffice.com Re: Rare Fruit News Online - December 15, 1999 Ron Couch (Editor Fruit Gardener) Ripening bananas - How To Facilitate? Nan Sterman Cherimoyas in Chicago (Finding Fruit of) Holzinger, Bob" To: Anand "Ginnups" Bob Holzinger To: Claire Mango for wet areas Bob Holzinger To: Cory Air layer on Guava - How To Prepare? Michael McCright, CWO Re: Air layer on Guava - How To Prepare? Leo Manuel To: Michael McCright, CWO Strawberry guavas and bananas as container plants Bob Holzinger To: Richard Subject: Abiu leaves - Yellow Bob Holzinger To: Phillipe Atemoya Trees With Problems - Help! Malone & Dean Longan flowering: Effects Of Girdling Leo Manuel To: Sainarong Rasananda Re: Longan flowering: Effects Of Girdling Sainarong Rasananda [Fwd: Longan flowering & Potassium Chlorate] Sainarong Rasananda Re: Longan flowering & Potassium Chlorate Sainarong Rasananda To: Reg Burgess Re: Growing Longans - Tips Sainarong Rasananda To: Sven Merten Longan Orchard Setup - Recommendations Sainarong Rasananda To: Sven Merten Re: Longan Fruiting - Manipulation To Enhance Sainarong Rasananda To: DALE STENNETT --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider http://www.stuewe.com - Tree Seedling Nursery Containers Recommended by Leo Manuel Mango web site Recommended by: Raymond Gerlach http://www.users.hunterlink.net.au/~desd/info/cloning.html Hydroshop Info Sheet - Cloning - (By Cuttings) Leo Manuel (Take a look at this detailed how-to page) --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List None, this time --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, Hawaii - What's Profitable To Grow? Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 21:58:38 -1000 From: William Costa Aloha, Leo & Betty Manuel, Happy Holidays! I have approx. 4 acres in Macnuts and thinking of trying to grow other things that might be profitable. If there is such a thing, Ha ha. Please include me in your newsletter and group. Thinking of passion fruit, no one grows it on this island I think, or something exotic, any sug. or comments? Mahalo William Costa Hilo, Hawaii, USA mailto:costa@aloha.net Subject: New Subscriber, California; Interested In Guava, Papaya, Mango.... Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 10:40:56 -0800 From: "Smith, Don (ICMH)" Currently I grow several kinds of citrus. Interested in growing Guava, Kiwi, Papaya, Mango Thank you. Don Smith Anaheim, CA 92804 mailto:dsmith@impaccompanies.com Subject: New Subscriber, Siberia, Russia(!) Date: Sun, 26 Dec 1999 02:21:38 PST From: "Sergei Moiseev" Dear Leo, I would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Here comes my personal information. I live in Novosibirsk, Western Siberia, Russia. Fruit I am now growing: pepino, tree tomato, passiflora ligularis, strawberry guava, cherimoya (all indoors) paw paw (asimina triloba) Fruit I want to grow: Naranjilla, casana, salal, crataegus arnoldiana, crataegus submollis. Yours sincerely, Sergei Moiseev mailto:moisserg@hotmail.com -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Gopher baskets/cages Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 08:19:52 -0800 From: Nan Sterman Hi Leo Thanks for another great issue of RFNO. I wonder if anyone can recommend a place (mail order or otherwise) that sells those wire gopher baskets that keep gophers from munching the roots of plants. I have seen them in the past, but don't seem to be able to find them now. I need at least 25 1-gal cages and could probably use a few 5 gal ones as well. Thanks and happy holidays to everyone Nan Sterman San Diego County California Sunset 24, USDA 10b or 11 mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com Subject: ARS News Service Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 08:23:54 -0800 From: Nan Sterman Leo, where do you find the information you publish from the ARS News Service? Nan Sterman mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com Subject: Re: ARS News Service Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 08:27:32 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: Nan Sterman I'm on the mailing list. Visit their webpage: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm for subscription information. Leo Subject: RE: Photograph of "Ginnups" For ID In US (See Photo In OldRFN) Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 17:29:08 -0800 From: scoutdog@pacbell.net To: cdouglass@hotoffice.com Dear Claire, They are also called Mamoncillo, or Spanish Limes. The latin name is Melicoccus bijugatus. They are grown in Florida, but nowhere else in the States that I know of. I've had some seedlings here in southern California for about a year and a half now, but they haven't grown much. They are a relative of the lychee and longan. I hope this helped. Regards, Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net Subject: Re: Rare Fruit News Online - December 15, 1999 Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 20:06:24 -0600 From: Ron Couch (Editor Fruit Gardener) Leo, thanks for the newsletter copy. If it's okay with you, I'd like to sift through it and see if perhaps it contains something appropriate to appear verbatim in a future issue of Fruit Gardener -- or maybe subject matter on which you or one of your contributors might wish to expand in the form of an article. Ron Couch, Editor Fruit Gardener mailto:rcouch@ibm.net [Leo's Note: It's perfectly agreeable with me to use anything I have written. I would guess it is also agreeable others who have written, but it's probably advisable to get their permission before reproducing anything they have contributed their ideas.] Subject: Ripening bananas - How To Facilitate? Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 08:21:48 -0800 From: Nan Sterman Hi Leo - Can one of your readers help our bananas? We cut the cluster down right after our first frost (about two weeks ago) and it has been sitting in a sunny window looking beautiful -- and GREEN. How do we encourage these babies to ripen? Thanks Nan Sterman mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com Sunset 24 Subject: Cherimoyas in Chicago (Finding Fruit of) Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 15:23:26 -0800 From: Bob Holzinger To: Anand Hello Anand, I asked one of the people at Cal Tropics about cherimoya availability in the Chicago area and they suggested checking Dominick's (sp?) Markets. Cal Tropics is one of the major shippers of cherimoyas in California and they said they probably won't ship east until the first of February. As for tropical guavas I don't know of anyone in California who ships them. You could try contacting Brooks Fruits in Florida to see if they ship them to the Chicago area. Sorry I don't have a contact number for them. Happy hunting! Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: "Ginnups" Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 08:55:18 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Claire Hi Claire, The correct spelling of the common name is genip, or genipa, also known as mamoncillo or Spanish lime. The scientific name is Melicoccus bijugatus, which puts it in the same family as the lychee and longan. Genip is grown in Florida and Hawaii, being more tropical than sub-tropical. I doubt that the fruit is available commercially, but you would have to contact someone in Florida, like J. R. Brooks. Hope this helps. Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Mango for wet areas Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 09:02:03 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Cory Hi Cory, I think the answer to your prayers is called 'Repozo' or 'Repoza'. According to Frankie at Frankie's Nursery this cultivar doesn't stop flowering until it sets fruit. A friend of Frankie on Oahu has one that gives him fruit 9 months of the year. If a couple of flushes get anthracnose, then it keeps flowering until it's dry enough that the anthracnose doesn't affect the set. Frankie sells this cultivar, give him a call at 259-8737. Good luck, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Air layer on Guava - How To Prepare? Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 10:30:36 -0800 From: Michael McCright Hi Leo A friend of mine was telling me about a guava tree he had in his back yard that had very large fruit. I would like to get a couple of air layers from his tree as well as a couple from his cherimoya's. Can you give me a couple of tips. Is this a good time to try an air layer on either the guava or the cherimoya's? Do you recommend peeling a band of bark back to the cambium or splitting the branch? I have heard both ways work. I have seen both foil and plastic surrounding the sphagnum moss, what works best in your experience? Thanks Mike McCright mailto:MMcCright@d11.uscg.mil Subject: Re: Air layer on Guava - How To Prepare? Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 19:10:19 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: "McCright, Michael CWO" Hi Mike, I will publish your questions, but here is what I have done with air layers on guava. In period between March and August (earlier is probably better) I select a limb about one half inch in diameter, more or less, and girdle, with parallel knife cuts through the cambium, to completely remove a strip of bark about 3/8 to 1/2 inch in width, and then scrape to be sure the cambium is completely removed. Before you do this, plan carefully so that you allow about an inch below the girdled region to tie the lower part of the plastic bag that will contain the moistened sphagnum moss. What I often do is take an airtight plastic bread wrapper or other plastic bag of similar proportions. Open the closed end so that it's a tube just large enough in diameter to slip over the chosen limb for the air layer, and tie it below the portion of the limb where the strip of bark is to be removed. I usually tie it so that the string of the tie is inside the air layer bag. Tie it rather tightly so the sphagnum moss doesn't dry out. You want to plan it so there is about six inches above the removed bark that is smooth enough to tie the bag (again tightly.) Also, you want to be able to support the weakened branch by tying it to an adjacent branch or to something else. I have recently been adding about a teaspoon of mycorrhizal powder to the moist-but-not-wet sphagnum moss. Sometimes I have added a little peat moss when I needed to stretch my sphagnum supply, and it didn't seem to adversely affect the outcome. The other ingredient you need to increase the probability of success is a rooting hormone - powder or liquid. This is applied especially to the upper portion of the region where the bark was removed. You can mix it into the sphagnum, if you wish, but I haven't seen the need. I usually wrap the bag in enough aluminum foil to keep out the light and reduce the heat. What I've outlined is pretty standard, if I haven't overlooked anything. What I do in addition to all of that is to take a sharp knife and cut one inch long incisions through the bark, beginning at the upper edge of the removed bark, and cutting parallel to the branch. I usually make four such cuts. Whether it improves the odds or not, I don't know, but it doesn't seem to diminish them. Some people prepare ahead of time, several small plastic bags of moist sphagnum moss packed tightly and tied off. Then they prepare the branch by removing the bark, adding the rooting hormone, and then slit one of the bags, enclose the area with the limb in the center of the moss, and wrap with other plastic so that the ball is sealed and won't dry out. I believe that cherimoyas are extremely hard to propagate as air-layers. I would recommend grafting to reproduce cherimoyas. Guavas are relatively easy to propagate as air-layers, however, as are longans For air-layers, I'd wait until spring although it might not hurt to begin earlier. I would guess that nothing will happen until warmer weather comes. Stop by and I'll discuss it more, if you wish. Horticordially, Leo Subject: Strawberry guavas and bananas as container plants Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 11:28:21 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Richard Hi Richard, I think you will need a bigger pot for 2 strawberry guavas. When planted in the ground they can easily reach 15 feet tall and 6-10 feet across, so they will get crowded in a 20 gallon pot unless you prune severely. Of course when 15 feet tall they will bury you with fruit, so keeping them small may fit your fruit needs. As for the dwarf banana choices, you should get the catalog from Going Bananas in Homestead, Florida. There are several cultivars I have grown which will fruit at 6-8 feet in heigth. However they will also pup quite freely and you may be challenged with the pots here also. A good one to look for is 'Goldfinger'. Happy hunting. Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Abiu leaves - Yellow Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 11:36:33 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Phillipe Hello Phillipe, The problem of yellow abiu leaves is most likely a pH problem. I checked in Julia Morton's book and the abiu is the only Sapotaceae listed with a sensitivity to soil pH. The uptake of iron and other micronutrients are difficult at elevated pH's, hence the yellow leaf appearance. This a problem for most sub-tropicals here in California because of our basic soil and water. Either the soil can be amended or you can try a foliar spray of chelated iron and micronutrients. Or both. Good luck! Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Atemoya Trees With Problems - Help! Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 00:10:32 -1000 From: Malone & Dean Hi, I have some ailing Atemoya trees about 1 year old. Do you have any information about soil conditions, fertilizer, and general cultivation? My trees are slowly losing leaves and have not grown much at all. A friend said that Atemoyas lose their leaves in winter but I have not heard this from anyone else. I live in Hawaii (Kauai). It is moist and subtropical. Our soil is well drained even in very rainy periods. We have about 60 in of rain a year and I water the trees in the summer. I suspect either too acid soil or a deficiency in the soil. Any suggestions? Thanks for your help. Dean K. McRaine mailto:beezer@aloha.net Subject: Longan flowering: Effects Of Girdling Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 06:53:22 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: Sainarong Rasananda Hi Sainarong, It is good to hear from you again. Does girdling or cincturing improve the set of fruit on the longan? It would be more labor intensive, in a large grove. Yours, Leo Manuel Subject: Re: Longan flowering: Effects Of Girdling Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 07:33:37 +0700 From: Sainarong Rasananda Girdling is very successful and widely applied for tropical longans, such as Diamond River. When girdling longans, you do not have to take much care at all (unlike many other fruit trees), so it does not take as much time as it would appear.For sub-tropical longans, such as Biew Kiew, Haew, etc,, the result with girdling is not very encouraging. However, it does work, to a slight degree. Sainarong Subject: [Fwd: Longan flowering & Potassium Chlorate] Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 11:24:36 +0700 From: Sainarong Rasananda Your readers should be interested in the attached e-mail. BTW the degree of success of potassium chlorate varies a lot, depending upon the climate. It would appear that the highest rate of success occurs if you apply the chemical about two months before the natural flowering time. Sainarong mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th Subject: Re: Longan flowering & Potassium Chlorate Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 11:53:11 +0700 From: Sainarong Rasananda To: Reg Burgess Reg Burgess wrote: > I should give you an update on my attempts to induce longan flowering > with KClO3(Potassium Chlorate.) At first I treated one tree and part > of another (the Kohala) with a foliar spray of 10gm/litre. This resulted > in 60-80% defoliation a few days after application. No flowering occurred > but a new flush of leaves apeard in due course. Many people have reported unsatisfactory result with foilar application, but the original researcher is admnant that his result was highly satisfactory. I guess more work need to be done. > In August I treated a seedling tree of what I called the "mata kuching" > type, this tree was most unpromising for flowering . Within 5 weeks > panicles emerged on almost every terminal. Many people advise getting rid of about half of the panicles to ensure good-sized fruits, and there is a lot of sense in that. However, I have seen some very well-kept orchards which kept all the panicles and still had a very good crop. Personally, I think that 90% flowering is too much. BTW the degree of success of potassiuim chlorate application appears to vary with the climate. The best time for application appears to be about 2 months before natural flowering. Moreover, widely off-season longans are not as nice as natural longans, while longans which are only a few months off-season are the same as natural longans - to my eyes and mouth at any rate. > I have one query with which you may be able to give me some help - > how does one control bats? My Kohala had only 3 panicles this year and I > lost 2 to the bats I have no problem with bats. However, the growers in the central part of Thailand have problems with bats. To the Australians, bats can be a major menace. I understand that they use a combination of nets and lights, but this is worthwhile only if you have a large orchard and a large crop. Thanks for writing. Sainarong mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th Subject: Re: Growing Longans - Tips Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 20:55:08 +0700 From: Sainarong Rasananda To: Sven Merten I trust all is going well with you. Have a nice X-mas and New Year. Longan is actually a pretty tough tree. The key factors to bear in mind are as follows: Longans do not like very cold weather. It will tolerate about two mild brief periods of frost per year. Longans do not take kindly to long periods of inundation. Longan roots are tiny and rather fragile. As a result, you should not plant the longan saplings deep down in the holes; the roots should be near the surface. Moreover, if you put a lot of earth beneath the longan tree all at once, it may wither and die. If you need to put earth under the longan tree, the trick is to put the earth little by little, and allow the roots to grow to somewhere near the surface before you put more earth. By the way, potassium chlorate seems to work wonders in making longan flower. So far, I have not noticed any serious side effects. However, you have to apply the chemical wisely. Sainarong mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th Subject: Longan Orchard Setup - Recommendations Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 15:22:48 +0700 From: Sainarong Rasananda To: Sven Merten Happy New Year Sven! You must be getting more used to my idiosyncracies by now. Sometimes I write very often, at other times I hardly ever write. I do this to everyone, I cannot offer any good excuse for this. I am just not very well organized. However, I always try to reply, no matter how late. If you really want an answer, you will have to prod me. I do not mind that at all. > You mentioned shaping the trees early on. Any recommendations on how > to do this. I assume you want a more branched tree. When is the best > time to prune young trees? Generally, the idea is to obtain a well-shaped tree with plenty of peripherals, but not too thick. In my climate, a thick tree is a haven for all kinds of insects and fungi. Maybe you do not have the same problem. I have not discovered THE time to prune a young tree. Maybe I do not know enough. > We had the soil tested, I think I have written to you about the ideal soil for longans.The Australians recommends the following soil standard for lychees. pH---------5.0-5.5 (*) Nitrate-----20-40 P-----------20-60 K-----------80-200 Ca--------1200-2000 Mg---------190-380 Fe-----------2-50 Mn-----------2-50 Zn-----------2-15 Cu---------0.3-10 B------------1-5 The units are in ppm. I find that is a pretty good standard for longans as well. Most people in my country, however, prefer pH of 6.0-6.8, I like 6.0 - 6.5 (*) The micro-elements are of extreme importance, and must not be ignored. However, you may be intending to use foilar-spray for these. That is fine. I have strong leaning toward the foilar spray of amino-chelates produced by Albion, a US company, under the trade name of Metalosate. However, I am not going as far as recommending them, as I am still testing them, and they are expensive. The uptakes of micro-elements from the soil are rather complicated due to the interplay among the elements. The ideal result is obtained only if you have a balance of the elements. This is probably why many people prefer foilar-spray which is not so complicated. > I don't think it ever freezes. > I don't think the trees will have a hard time in the winter. That is good. > My only concern is that they won't produce much or very regularly. >But, I guess that will depend as much on how we care for them as it >does on the weather. I do know of several fruitful trees, but >consistency may be a problem. Potassium chlorate and sodium chlotate do produce an abundance of flowers. However, insufficient research has been carried out to-date on this. So, at this moment, I would not yet recommend that you rely on the chemicals entirely. In future, I am sure that we will learn more and more about how to obtain more consistent flowering, but it will never be easy. > Would you like me to forward any letters or information, about longans, to > you? I have many research articles on longans and lychee, Yes, please. I would appreciate that very much. Sainarong Subject: Re: Longan Fruiting - Manipulation To Enhance Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 13:03:46 +0700 From: Sainarong Rasananda To: DALE STENNETT > I was wondering if you may have information on a > recent (1997) book on Lychee published in China? > If you know of this book - would you have the correct name > & ISBN number? No, but I shall try to find out by June 2000. > Also you mentioned the use of Potassium Chlorate used by > longan growers in Thailand to force Kohala to fruit out of season. > Would you have any specifics on the spray concentration & the source of > this information? Do you still need the info? If so, I shall forward one of the e-mails on the subject to you. > I have a small 35 year old Litchi grove here in > Miami--my background is in chemical research--so it is natural for me to > be interested in research projects on Litchi etc.--I'm interested in > investigating the following: getting litchi to fruit out of > season--propagating out of season litchi types--getting litchi to fruit > twice a year (vegatative manipulation) --making rambutan & pulasan cold > hardy for growing in Florida. Any information you could provide would > be greatly appreciated. I shall talk to one of my researcher friends about this and see if they can shed some lights. PS If I do not answer after quite some time, please prod me. PPS Have you subscribe (free) to Leo Manuel's Rare Fruits Newsletter Online? If not, I recomment that you do so rightaway. Sainarong ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time ---Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov--- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm Subject: New Biofungicide Treats Apples and Oranges Alike Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 09:40:46 -0500 Agricultural Research Service, USDA Judy McBride, (301) 504-1628, jmcbride@asrr.arsusda.gov Apples and oranges are all the same to biofungicides. First introduced in the United States four years ago as a result of Agricultural Research Service patents, these nontoxic biological coatings are replacing synthetic chemicals for controlling rot- causing fungi on apples, pears and citrus after harvest. Now, ARS has signed an agreement with Micro-Flo Company of Memphis, Tenn., to finish development of the next generation of biofungicides for fruit packing houses. Micro-Flo expects to have a product on the market within two years. Unlike the earlier biofungicides, the new coating has a kickback effect. It stops fungi that already had a toehold on the fruit, according to ARS' Charles Wilson, who also developed one of the earlier products. Micro-Flo researcher Ahmed El Ghaouth is working with Wilson, who is at ARS' Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, W.Va. The new coating combines two bioactive substances with the yeast Candida saitoana. Innocuous to people, the yeast is a formidable competitor against the fungi that attack fresh fruits. The bioactive substances are chitosan--a naturally occurring fiber found in some weight-loss products--and a synthetic sugar used as a glucose substitute. Chitosan acts as a natural fungicide and turns on defensive enzymes in the fruit itself. It also forms a film on the fruit that holds in carbon dioxide, thus increasing shelf life. The synthetic sugar, on the other hand, tricks the fungi into perceiving it as food, but they can't use it. In several years of tests in commercial packing houses in California and Florida, the new biofungicide proved as effective against rot-causing fungi as the two leading synthetic fungicides. Under the new agreement, Micro-Flo and ARS scientists will optimize its formulation and fine tune its application. ARS is the chief scientific arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Subject: Diatomaceous Earth As Alternative to Chemical Insecticides Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 09:36:15 -0500 Agricultural Research Service, USDA Linda McGraw, (309) 681-6530, lmcgraw@asrr.arsusda.gov Remnants from one of the oldest things on earth--diatomaceous earth (DE)--can help solve one of today's most pressing problems: finding safe alternatives to insecticides to control insects in homes and food processing facilities, according to Agricultural Research Service scientists. DE is dust made from the fossilized skeletons of microscopic aquatic plants. ARS researchers are testing new commercial DE products in laboratory studies. DE is non-toxic to humans, but it kills red flour beetles and confused flour beetles, two of the food processing industry's worst insect pests. DE disrupts the insects' exoskeleton or skin, causing the insects to die from rapid water loss. According to ARS entomologist Frank H. Arthur, DE could be an alternative to methyl bromide, an ozone-depleting fumigant scheduled to be phased out by 2005. Fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity can affect the performance of DE products used to control insects. Adult insects were exposed to DE at various temperatures (70, 80, and 90 degrees F) and relative humidities (40, 57, and 75 percent). Exposure to DE at 80 degrees F. and 57 percent relative humidity for two days killed all red flour beetles, but three days were required to kill 100 percent of the confused flour beetles. DE kills insects quicker at higher temperatures and at lower humidities. Arthur is based at ARS' Grain Marketing and Production Research Center in Manhattan, Kan. His research also focuses on alternatives to insecticides used in raw grain storage. While DE is a good alternative to chemical insecticides, Arthur stresses the importance of combining a product like this with good sanitation. ARS is the chief research agency for the USDA. >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - January 1, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - January 15, 2000 - AKA RFN200001B.txt --Notes In Passing 1. If the information from Sainarong Rasananda about potassium and sodium chlorates to induce longans to flower has been of interest to you, you will be pleased that he has written more on the subject for this issue of Rare Fruit News Online. 2. Are your mangos confused about when to bloom as some of mine are? The yield has been quite low this year and ripening has been significantly delayed for some. ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, Puerto Rico, Heard About Sainarong Rasananda's Article Juan A. Rivero New Subscriber, Florida, A Rare Fruit Newcomer, With Questions.... GeorgeEasterly@webtv.net (George Easterly) New Subscriber, Florida, Says "Sign me up!" Allyson Mitchell New Subscriber, Florida, With Several Questions; Please Help Ed Lin New Subscriber, Siberia, Russia(!) Sergei Moiseev New Subscriber, Nicaragua: "Thinking about growing fruit trees" Conan Witzel New Subscriber, Texas, Wants Growing Information For Japanese Persimmon Warren and Pat Rinehart New Subscriber, San Diego, Has Lots Of Plants Patricia M Holland --Readers Write Atemoya leaf drop - It's Normal! Richard Prior Banana Split: How & When To Remove Banana Pups? Richard Prior Mango Bloom Tease; Julie Blooms But No Fruit Richard Prior Rare Fruit Report--Ecuador and Peru Brandt Maxwell New Mango Reference Recommended Doron Kletter Halocereus undatus Nan Sterman Ripening bananas Ramon Pabon Gopher Baskets and Bananas Holzinger, Bob" Mango Varieties - Some Considerations Holzinger, Bob" Poor Fruit In Stores Holzinger, Bob" Don't confuse chilling and hardiness! Matthew Shugart Genip, Mam—n, Mamoncillo or Quenepa Juan A. Rivero Brown leafs in rambutans and pulasans Juan A. Rivero Longan and mata kucing Juan A. Rivero Re: Longan and mata kucing Leo Manuel To: "Juan A. Rivero" Usage of potassium and sodium chlorates to induce longans to flower Sainarong Rasananda --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List Re: Re: Kaki persimmons for zone 6 [nafex] Digest Number 212 David A. Consolvo" --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Natural Microbial Compounds May Control Strep and Staph Infections ARS News Service" http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: Biodegradable Decoy Reduces Insecticide Use Ben Hardin, (309) 681-6597, bhardin@asrr.arsusda.gov Mouth-Watering Mangos for Mass Marketing Judy McBride, (301) 504-1628, jmcbride@asrr.arsusda.gov ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, Puerto Rico, Heard About Sainarong Rasananda's Article Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2000 22:02:30 -0400 From: "Juan A. Rivero" I have asked information about the use of Potassium chlorate to the CRFG and Eunice Meissner has suggested that I subscribe to your magazine (news letter) as all my questions are answered in the first issue of the year 2000. Any additional requirements for subscription? My snail mail address is Dr. Juan A. Rivero, Biology Dept., University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, PR 00681. Many thanks for your attention Juan A. Rivero mailto:jarivero@caribe.net Subject: New Subscriber, Florida, A Rare Fruit Newcomer, With Questions.... Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2000 09:57:09 -0500 (EST) From: GeorgeEasterly@webtv.net (George Easterly) My name is George Easterly my home address is 4115 lorraine Ave. Naples Fl. 34104 my e-mail address is GeorgeEasterly@webtv.com I am interested in receiving your news letter, and corresponding with someone familar with my area as I am new to growing "rare fruit" as of now I have some mangoes, some citrus, a sappodilla, a white sapote, avocado, rose apple, wax jambo, etc. I am trying to locate a rambutan and a mangoesteen but I haven't had much success, and I am open to any suggestions concerning obtaining some different trees. Thanks George mailto:GeorgeEasterly@webtv.net Subject: New Subscriber, Florida, Says "Sign me up!" Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2000 12:47:08 -0500 From: Allyson Mitchell I would like to receive the rare fruit newsletter. Please. I am Allyson Mitchell, of Plant City - Near Tampa, Florida Fruit trees I'm growing: Lemon, Lime, Orange, Navel, Kumquat, Loquat, Surinam Cherry, Barbados Cherry, Cherry of the Rio Grand, Pineapple Guava (2 kinds), Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Dragon's Breath (bonsai orange tree), Pear, Peach, Plum, Elderberries, Figs, Apples, a very strange pine tree the has edible nuts - I can't remember the name to save myself - just got it, Pecan, Walnut (not doing well), strawberries, herbs (including Stevia) & veggies... Fruit trees I wanna grow: Jackfruit, Coffee, Pommelo, Kiwi, Mango... in fact, anything that isn't an avocado (YUCK!). Any other comments: Did someone say FRUIT??!!!!! Sign me up! Twice! Questions for members: Hmm... My only question right at this moment is: Why don't more people grow fruits or nuts in their back yards???? In my quest for fruit trees, I've found lots of nurseries who no longer sell them because "there's no market for them" - WHY??? Why is this just a hobby when potentially it could better the entire planet?! Call me Ally Appleseed, but it just makes more sense to grow your own - especially when some of the fruits can't be sold in a store because of harvest / shipping problems. Is it because of the expense? Time? I dunno. Allyson Mitchell mailto:saladhead@ij.net Subject: New Subscriber, Florida, With Questions; Please Help Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 14:20:40 EST From: Ed Lin Hello Leo, I am Edward Lin of Sarasota, Florida Fruit trees I am now growing: 1 kumquat (MeiWah), 1 sapodilla (alano), 2 Navel oranges, 2 persimmons (saijo and fuyugaki), 1 cherimoya (Fino de jeta), 1 sweetsop, 3 atemoyas (4826, Priestley and Geffner), 2 mangos (Bailey's marvel & Nam Doc Mai), 2 plums (GulfRed & GulfRuby), 2 figs (conadria and brown turkey), 3 longans (1degelman and 2 kohalas), 2 lychees (peerless and Hak Ip), 2 avocados (Brogdon & choquette) 20 papayas, 2 clumps of sugarcane, jicama and taro. Fruit trees I want to grow: miracle fruit, and more atemoyas. Comments or questions for newsletter readers: Question #1: It is generally acknowledged that the strongest branches that will support a heavy fruit crop are those that are horizontally branched from the main trunk. I would like to graft several high yield atemoya 4826 branches onto the branches (not trunk) of a low yield atemoya Bradley tree. What type (whip graft, cleft graft, best angle of cut, etc.) of graft will result in the strongest union? Question #2 I am looking for a book titled: Custard Apples - Cultivation and Crop Protection by Garth Sanewski of the Queensland Dept of Primary Industries (Australia) Does anyone know where I can order this book? Question #3 Does anyone know of one or more sources/web sites where lots of (or uncommon) books on fruit cultivation are sold? The FAO of WHO (Food & Agric. Organization of the the World Health Organization) publishes a series of well researched books on fruit crops (e.g. Lychee). I briefly came across the one on lychee years ago and was very impressed by it. I have been looking for that as well as other FAO-WHO publications on tropical fruit culture, propagation and protection during the past year. A few weeks ago, while searching the web pages of barnes&noble.com, I came across a FAO-WHO Codex Alimentarius "Tropical Fresh Fruits & Vegetables" Volume 5B. Thinking this would be a book on culture and propagation, I bought it. To my disappointment, this turned out to be a book on food law standards and not at all what I am looking for. Does anyone know where I can obtain a catalog of FAO books that deal with tropical fruit culture, propagation and protection and where I can order these books? I belong to a tropical fruit and nut society and all of the members would be interested to have the above information. I prefer to receive copy of the newsletter copied inside of email (INSTEAD of as an attachment). Thank you, Leo. I am looking forward to receiving your newsletters. If you have the time, please send me a few back issues. At your conveneince, I'd like to know a little about you (gardening profile) as well. What's your last name? I am a physician and live in Osprey, just outside of Sarasota, FL. Best regards, Ed Lin mailto:Link2itc@aol.com Subject: New Subscriber, Siberia, Russia(!) Date: Sun, 26 Dec 1999 02:21:38 PST From: "Sergei Moiseev" Dear Leo, I would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Here comes my personal information. I live in Novosibirsk, Western Siberia, Russia. Fruit I am now growing: pepino, tree tomato, passiflora ligularis, strawberry guava, cherimoya (all indoors) paw paw (asimina triloba) Fruit I want to grow: Naranjilla, casana, salal, crataegus arnoldiana, crataegus submollis. Yours sincerely, Sergei Moiseev mailto:moisserg@hotmail.com Subject: New Subscriber, Nicaragua: "Thinking about growing fruit trees" Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 14:00:52 -0600 From: Conan Witzel I am Conan Witzel, of Managua, Nicaragua Thinking about growing fruit trees. Conan Witzel mailto:cwitzel@ibw.com.ni Subject: New Subscriber, Texas, Wants Information On Japanese Persimmon Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2000 18:28:56 -0600 From: Warren and Pat Rinehart I am Warren Rinehart of Leander, Texas From what I can gather, it appears that growing a non-astringent Fuyu Japanese Persimmon would work best for Central Texas with the hot summers and moderate winters. Does this tree need another Japanese Persimmon for cross pollination? Any specific information on the culture of Japanese Persimmons, especially the Fuyu, would be appreciated. Thank you. Warren and Pat Rinehart mailto:rinehart@prismnet.com Subject: New Subscriber, San Diego, Has Lots Of Plants Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2000 15:45:38 -0800 From: Patricia M Holland Dear Leo and Betty and Fruit News, We are Pat and Leo Holland. We live in low chill coastal San Diego, above a deep canyon. We get fog almost every night. [The trees we have include the following] Macadamia tree; Feijoa sellowana (Beechwood variety); Tropical Guava; Strawberry Guava; Black Sapote; White Sapote (Suebell variety); Brown Turkey Fig; Weeping Mullberry; Thai Papaya and seedling Mexican Papaya; Dr. White Cherimoya; Acerola Cherry (Manoa variety); Mango ; Keiffer Lime; Kiwi; Passion Fruit; Banana (Ice Cream variety); Red Current; varieties of Grape- Golden Muscat being the best; Dwarf Peaches, Tropical Snow Peach; Weeping Santa Rosa Plum; Dwarf Citrus; Pomegranite (Wonderful variety); Stella Cherry; Bush Cherry; Dwarf Pear; Apricot (Katy); Dwarf Almond (Garden Prince); Dwarf Olive; seedlings of Pecan and of Paw Paw; and seedlings of: Date Palm, Tamarind, and Loquat. Has any one gotten a tasty Paw Paw to fruit in low chill areas? What species? What variety? Wishing you all a Fruitful New Millennium! Sincerely, Pat and Leo Holland mailto:pat.holland@juno.com [Leo's Note: I apologize for having to edit extensively in order to get the introductory letter of Pat and Leo into this issue.] -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Atemoya leaf drop - It's Normal! Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 08:24:16 -0500 From: Richard Prior Atemoyas, like all my other annonae, have a dormant time (right now in fact) where the leaves drop. Unlike regular deciduous trees, not all the leaves drop before new buds begin to break. Dormancy is the best time for pruning too. My atemoya is about four years old and is showing buds for the first time on the new growth. Yeah! As for soil, well drained soil with a pH of 6-7 is best. Also a balanced fertilizer is best, like 8-8-8. Good luck! Richard Prior mailto:rprior@furman.edu Subject: Banana Split - How & When To Remove Banana Pups? Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 08:29:38 -0500 From: Richard Prior Does anyone have any handy tips on when and how best to split banana pups from their mother? Richard Prior mailto:rprior@furman.edu Subject: Mango Bloom Tease; Julie Blooms But No Fruit Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 08:35:40 -0500 From: Richard Prior I have a four year old, container grown mango (Julie) which bloomed last year, then again this year, but they were false alarms both times. The tiny flowers open on a spike, the petals fall leaving green balls a little larger than bb's, then then whole thing browns and dries. Does anyone know what's up with that? Richard Prior mailto:rprior@furman.edu Subject: Rare Fruit Report--Ecuador and Peru Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2000 05:20:20 -0800 (PST) From: Brandt Maxwell Hi, Leo, et al... I just thought I'd submit a fun little post about some of the rare fruits that I ate in Ecuador and Peru back in December. I took a fun trip there for a little over 2 weeks and saw a lot (including many different climates anywhere from lowland hot humid rainforest to snow on the slopes of Mt. Cotopaxi in Ecuador, and of course, the Machupicchu in Peru). Overall, Peru had the better quality fruit, and Ecuador had the more exotic fruit, though I might have found this partly because I had access to some American style grocery stores in Ecuador which had more variety (but maybe lower quality due to more shipping/distribution) versus the street vendors in Peru, which were my main access to fruit there. I had definitely the best mangos I've ever tasted in Peru (and I've eaten them fresh in southern Mexico and southeast Asia before, so that's saying a lot). Peru had many varieties of banana, most which were smaller in size that what we see in most US grocery stores. One variety I ate had beautiful pinkish-orange flesh. Fruits there were always sold very ripe (bananas usually were turning brown on the outside). Oranges were generally green there and used a lot for juicing (pineapples, which were double the normal US size, and papayas were also used in juices, often made on the spot by street vendors). Other fruits I often saw in Peru included avocados (and cheap too), peaches and pears (smaller and lower in quality than the US--but these appeared locally grown--which is possible at their higher elevations), pepino melons and figs. I tried a fruit that I didn't know what it was--it looked and tasted like a small cherry (it might have been a variety of cherry--the southern hemisphere December is like our June--cherry season). By the way, I took a small chance with eating unpeeled fruit (though I didn't drink the tap water, of course) and did just fine! Ecuador had the most exciting fruits of anyplace I've visited! I had guanabana (soursop), which was a large (5 lb.), green spiky fruit with a wide creamy inside that tasted like a pineapple/banana/cherimoya cross. There were lots of seeds, but they were large so they weren't an inconvenience. I liked the guanabana, though after about 2-3 pounds of it in one day, my body told me I'd had enough! The passion fruits were far better down there than here, though still they're best for juice, which I had fresh (delicious) at one restaurant. Granadillas were a pleasant surprise--this passion fruit relative was easy to eat with seeds that were quite digestible and surrounded by a clean, sweet, slimy gel. The peel (not edible) looked somewhat like that of an orange. The babacos were moderately sweet there, though not as good as the regular papayas. Blackberries were common there, and at twice the size of US blackberries at 1/10th the price, if even that, they were a treat. Other fruits--tree tomatoes (like a very firm, moderately sweet tomato), taxo (very sour passion-fruit relative--I didn't like taxo), badel (weird fruit--had a mild melon-like shell but with a very strong (too strong) passion-fruit interior with juice--this was a large fruit too--3-5 lbs.), naranjilla (a bit too sour), mamey sapote (tasted almost squash or pumpkin like, except very stringy), cherimoyas (delicious--far better than here) and of course the staples (bananas, papayas, avocados, pineapples, tomatoes, mangos and various melons). There were some "rare vegetables" too--I had melloco (olluco), which was a bit like a mild, yellow radish, but with the juice of okra, and I brought back cans of palm hearts and some dried bolete mushrooms to enjoy at home. Speaking of palms--much to my disappointment, I didn't find any palm fruits (despite my palm field guide which indicated some South American palms that have edible and cultivated fruits). Overall, the fruits were very good and interesting (just like the other aspects of the trip)!!! I certainly recommend Ecuador and Peru for anyone who's at least moderately adventurous, whether or not he or she is a rare fruit affectionado! Next trip---hopefully east Africa! Brandt Maxwell mailto:bmaxwe@sac.san.noaa.gov Subject: New Mango Reference Recommended Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2000 18:39:47 -0800 From: Doron Kletter Hi Leo, I came across a great mango reference that I am sure you'll find interesting: "The Mango: Botany, Production and Uses," edited by R. E. Litz, Tropical Research Center, University of Florida, USA, Published by CAB International, UK, 1997; ISBN 0 85199 127 0. Are you familiar with this book? It is not on the low cost side, but the information in the 600 pages or so is priceless if you need it. I would highly recommend it to anyone seriously involved with this fruit. It is a comprehensive scientific book on all aspects of mango biology, production, and utilization. Written by leading research workers from the USA, India, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, Mexico, UK, France and Israel. Happy New Year, Doron Kletter mailto:kletter@impact.xerox.com Subject: Halocereus undatus Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 08:21:44 -0800 From: Nan Sterman To: EJG@webtv.net Hello Joyce I read your comments about growing halocereus undatus and John Bleck's success in germinating seedlings. I am wondering how to reach John to see if I could purchase/acquire one of those seedlings. I knew John years ago when I was a grad student at UCSB but it has been quite a while since I have had any contact with him. Can you tell me please how to get ahold of him? Also, there are a few websites with info on this plant (commonly referred to as pitahaya or pitajaya). Take a look at: http://www.pronet.net.gt/gweekly/071396/head3.htm http://www.cacti.com/html/hylocereus_undatus_1gal.html This month's CRFG Fruit Grower's article is indeed one of the most informative I've seen on these plants. Thanks Nan Sterman mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com Subject: Ripening bananas Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2000 12:43:16 -0400 From: Ramon Pabon To: nsterman@mindsovermatter.com, To be able to ripen bananas, first of all, they must be mature. Cold conditions will slow the process. The commercial way of doing it is by exposing them to ethylene. The simplest way of doing it at home is by placing the bananas in a bag, plastic or paper, with a few small holes along with ripe fruits or peels that will produce ethylene such as apples, avocados or other ripe bananas. The amount of ethylene required is minimal. It is found also in the exhaust of gas or diesel motors. This is why when we take bananas or plantains from Puerto Rico stateside unless we protect them they will start ripening rapidly in the baggage compartment of the airplane. Please let me know if you are succesful. Ramon Pabon mailto:rpabon@caribe.net Subject: Gopher Baskets and Bananas Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 09:20:15 -0800 From: Holzinger, Bob To: Nan Sternam Hi Nan, I make my gopher baskets out of 1 inch chicken wire. I buy the three foot wide roll and cut two pieces of wire to go into the hole. I lay them in the hole to overlap on the bottom and go up all sides of the hole (i.e. one goes north-south and the other east-west). So far I haven't had a breach of the wire. This also allows you to make the hole as big as you want and still have total coverage. The other question on ripening bananas this time of year is just a matter of patience. If the bananas are mature, then they should eventually ripen. I leave mine in the garage for however long it takes. You could try putting an ethylene source, like apples, in a large box with the bananas to speed the process, but I've never tried it. Usually I wait for the first bananas to turn yellow while the bunch is still on the tree before I cut the bunch off. In the winter the trees can get blown down or can fall down if there is too much rain (not this year!). Then you have to harvest and wait for nature to run its course. Good luck, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Mango Varieties - Some Considerations Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 09:31:21 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Julian Hi Julian, I know of someone in Montecito who has 'Okrung' and would be willing to provide some wood. In fact my friend just called and wanted to know if I wanted some wood to graft, since the 'Okrung' was flushing. One thing you may want to consider when picking mango varieties to try in Thousand Oaks is their flowering habits. If a variety flowers only once and that flowering comes at the wrong time, then you get no fruit that year on that tree. That's what happened to me in Ventura this past year with 'Kent'. On the other hand, my 'Winters' and 'Manila' trees flowered again and I got some fruit set on them. I have heard of another variety to try that won't take "no" for an answer. It flowers and flowers and flowers until it sets fruit. The cultivar is called 'Repoza' or 'Repozo' and the only source I know is Frankie's Nursery on Oahu. I will be talking about Frankie's Nursery in February at the Ventura/Santa Barbara CRFG chapter meeting at Ventura College. Stop by and get some information on ordering from Frankie. Take care, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Poor fruit in stores Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 09:40:58 -0800 From: Holzinger, Bob To: Sven Hi Sven, When it comes to fruit, everything is relative. If you've never had a good fruit, you don't know any different. But once you've tasted fruit right off the tree, bush or vine, then store-bought fruit just doesn't get it. I've stopped buying fruit from stores and even at the Farmer's Markets the stone fruits are usually picked too green to have full flavor. As for the Mamey, the few that I have seen this side of the border were too far gone to do anything except make a shake or smoothy with them. I think Jose was right, go to Tijuana and see what you can find there. But I have to say that the Mamey's I have tasted in TJ were not nearly as good as the 'Pantin' Mamey I had at Frankie's Nursery on Oahu. Of course that was picked ripe right off the tree, but that's what I mean about getting spoiled. I guess you just have to grow everything for yourself or else travel alot to warm climates once a year. Happy growing, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Don't confuse chilling and hardiness! Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2000 16:00:13 -0800 From: Matthew Shugart Greetings. In each of the last two issues of RFNO I have seen different correspondents use "chill hours" in connection with questions about where cold-tolerant subtropicals can be grown. Every fruit-grower should understand that there is only a weak connection between chilling accumulation and minimum temperatures. One could live in a location that gets 500-600 chill hours in the winter without ever experiencing a freezing temperature (or even frost!), and therefore not losing tender subtropicals to freezing weather. The reason is that ideal chilling temperatures are between about 38 and 42 degrees Fahrenheit, and chilling can be accumulated (but a slower rate) even up to the upper 50s. On the other hand, no chill is accumulated when the temperature is below around 34 (precisely the range where one starts worrying about tender plants), and the relation between hours at a given temperature and chill turns negative above 60. Thus some coastal areas can get 500 hours or more, yet never have a frost. On the other hand, some inland areas that have both freezing nights and very warm days might get very low chill accumulations, yet be unable to grow the more tender subtropical plants. For all these reasons, the total chill accumulated is a very poor proxy for how cold (in an absolute sense) your location gets. And USDA zones and other indicators of expected minimum temperatures are almost useless for determining where varieties of deciduous fruits will do well (though that doesn't stop some national catalogues from using them this way!). Matthew Shugart Carlsbad, California mailto:mshugart@ucsd.edu Subject: Genip, Mam—n, Mamoncillo or Quenepa Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2000 09:03:43 -0400 From: Juan A. Rivero Melicoccus bijugatus is known as genip or ginep in the Virgin Islands and in the English trade but this is an unfortunate name as it corresponds more properly to the jagua or genipa, Genipa americana, a tree that belongs to a completele different family. It is possible that genip may be a distortion of quenepa, which is the common name in Puerto Rico, and also in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Guadaloupe (quenette) and French Guiana. Flowers are mostly male and female in different trees (dioecious), a factor to be considered when buying seedlings. There are some excellent varieties and Milton PŽrez, of Jardines Eneida, Box 186, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, ha succeeded in grafting them >( 787)51-5918 > I am not sure if he exports them. Juan A. Rivero mailto:jarivero@caribe.net Subject: Brown leafs in rambutans and pulasans Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2000 09:22:01 -0400 From: "Juan A. Rivero" In Puerto Rico, rambutans and pulasans develop a browning of the leaves. It starts at the tip and continues to about halfway along the leaves, but rarely involves all the blade . No fungicide or bactericide seems to stop it. Potassium doesn't help. Somebody advised a combination of peat moss and sand but it didn't work either. Has anyone had a similar experience? Juan Subject: Longan and mata kucing Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2000 15:37:30 -0400 From: "Juan A. Rivero" I asked a friend from Malaysia to please send me seeds of mata kucing. He sent two batches of seeds, one of a small mata kucing and the other of large one. The small fruited one germinated into what I believe is longan, at least it is not different from the adult longan trees I have. The other one is totally different: the leaves are larger, of a lighter green color and the margins are dentate (they look as if they have well spaced spines along the margins, but there are no spines) and the upper, most tender section of the stem is hairy. I thought this could be the true mata kucing but I am told that the fruit of tha mata kucing is smaller than the longan and according to my friend (who is not too knowledgeable about fruits), this was larger. Can anybody help? Sincerely, Juan A. Rivero mailto:jarivero@caribe.net Subject: Re: Longan and mata kucing Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2000 13:09:38 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: "Juan A. Rivero" Juan, Cornucopia II index shows that on page is a listing for 'mata kuching' and the brief listing says: Nephelium glabrum - Phillipine ryugan, Mata kuching [PL]. The aril of the fruit is sweet and edible. It is thin, juicy, and translucent. Tropical Asia. BURKILL, TUNGGAL; E29, N84 I'll post your question. Leo Subject: Usage of potassium and sodium chlorates to induce longans to flower Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2000 16:51:42 +0700 From: Sainarong Rasananda CC: "CHUNG-RUEY (DR.) YEN" I have received some requests on how to apply potassium chlorate in order to induce longans to flower, so I have decided to write on the topic in some details. If I make some errors or omissions, perhaps Dr. Yen of Taiwan wilkl correct me. Dr. Yen has been working on this before I did, obtained results before I did, and has done more works on this than anyone to-date. Well, here goes... How to apply potsassium or sodium chlorates to the soil in order to induce it to flower. 1. You should apply the chemicals when the new flush of young leaves are fully matured. At the very least, you should wait until the new flush of young leaves are fully expanded before applying the chemicals. To apply the chemicals at other times may not result in a satisfactory result. 2. You should ensure that the soil is fairly dry for about 15 to 30 days before the application. Excess water and nitrogen may result in new flush or an unsatisfactory mixture of new flush and flowering instead of the desired result. Nitrogen uptake is facilitated by the presence of water in the soil. If the tree shows sign of withering, you should apply just enough water to prevent it from withering. 3. Clear the ground beneath the canopy, but do not till the ground. If the soil is too dry, water the soil to make it well-damp a day or two before the application of the chemical. 4. The quantity of the chemical used depends on many factors, such as the purity or concentration of the chemical, the type of soil, the soil moisture, the weather, the size of the canopy, the cultivar, the time of the year, etc. The following recommendations assume a 95% purity of the chemical, sandy, well-irrigated soil, dry weather and soil, a temperature of 14-20 degree celsius, and about one and a half month before the natural flowering period. Canopy Diameter (metres) Quantity (grams) Per Tree 4-5 100-200 5-7 200-400 more than 7 500 5. Dissolve thoroughly the chemical in 80 litres of water. 6. Water the perimeter of the canopy, with the solution, in a ring about half a metre wide. This is the area where there is the highest root density. 7. During the first 10 days after the application, water the soil well to keep it constantly damp. This facilitates the uptake of the chemical, reduces the toxicity of the chemical to the tree and reduces the accumulation of the chemical in the soil. 8. Flowering should begin about 20-30 days after the application, although in some adverse conditions, such as colod weather, it may take longer to flower. Keep the soil damp to facilitate the development of the pannicles. 9. Sufficient water for the entire period of flowering and fruit development is essential. 10. It is recommended that flowering is induced in alternate years to prevent degeneration of the tree. Induced flowering is incredibly profused. 11. Application of an excess amount may be detrimental to the tree. Points To Ponder 1. Do not apply the chemical when the new flush is still expanding. 2. You should apply the chemical to healthy trees only. 3. Sufficient water throughout the entire flowering and fruiting period is a must. 4. Do not mix the chemical with other substance. In some cases or with some cultivars, the quality of the fruit produced by induction is not as good as that produced naturally. We are still trying to correct this. Commercial grades is satisfactory for the purpose. Reagent or laboratory grade is much much more expensive, and is not recommended. Some Properties Of Potasssium Chlorate And Sodium Chlorate 1. May explode when mixed with sulphur. 2. Potassium chlorate is an essential ingredient in the fire works in Thailand. 3. The chemical is not flammable, but can be a catalyst and enhances the flammability propery of other substances. 4. Sodium chlorate is a herbicide. 5. The pure compound is a white powder or clear crystals. 6. The chemicals can dissolve in water and other solvents, such as alcohols, alkalines and glycerols. Caveat - Warnings 1. The chemical can explode if the temperature is very high. 2. Store well away from flammable materials, sparks. 3. Do not mix with sulphur, charcoal, urea, ammonium compounds, sulphate compounds, sugar and organic compounds. The mixture may be highly explosive. Thirty-five people died as a result of an explosion in an illegal potassium chlorate warehouse in Thailand - and this was on a Sunday! Obviously, the details are not clear, but it is surmised that a large amount of potasssium chlorate was being mixed with sulphur, and there was some sparks from a machine nearby. 4. Excessive use of the chemical may be detrimental to the tree. 5. Both chemicals are toxic to human and animals. They should be handled with care. I should perhaps add that, in my opinion, the chemicals are safe, if properly handled, and that is not a difficult task. Another comment. Although there is still a lot of research and experiments to be done, the preliminary results suggest that there are no serious repercussions to humans, trees and the environments, if properly used. I apologize for the length of this article, but I do feel it important to provide sufficient details to prevent misunderstandings. Sainarong Rasananda mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: Natural Microbial Compounds May Control Strep and Staph Infections Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2000 10:07:09 -0500 From: "ARS News Service" ----------- Hank Becker, (301) 504-1624, hbecker@asrr.arsusda.gov January 3, 2000 ----------- Scientists searching for natural compounds to control fungi in plants may have stumbled onto new antibiotics that control Streptococcus and Staphylococcus bacteria. Agricultural Research Service scientists at Lane, Okla., and College Station, Texas, say they have discovered a new family of antibiotic compounds--not related to penicillin--with potent antimicrobial activity. They made their find while looking for microbial compounds to control diseases like root rot of muskmelon and watermelon plants. The discovery and use of antibiotics like penicillin against infectious disease have added about 20 years to the average human life expectancy in developed countries. However, today, up to 80 percent of all strains of Staphylococcus are resistant to penicillin and its derivative forms. Similar resistance to penicillin and other antibiotics has been observed in other bacterial pathogens, like Streptococcus. The scientists have isolated six compounds that they say exhibit some degree of antibiotic activity against a broad spectrum of gram-negative and/or gram-positive bacteria of concern to both agricultural and health professionals. The compounds varied in their selectivity and ability to retard growth or kill important bacterial pathogens. The chemical makeup of the cell wall--one of the several techniques used to classify bacteria--determines whether a bacteria is gram-positive or gram-negative. Agrobacterium, Erwinia and Pseudomonas are gram-negative bacteria. Bacillus, Micrococcus, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus are gram-positive bacteria. Three of the compounds exhibited excellent activity against the genera Staphylococcus and Streptococcus that cause diseases in humans. The scientists say one of the six compounds exhibited strong antibiotic activity against all seven bacterial species tested. Just 10 micrograms per milliliter totally repressed growth of or killed species of gram-positive bacteria within the genera Micrococcus, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus and Bacillus. As pathogens develop resistance, new and different antibiotics must be found to replace those currently available. The scientists say that some of their compounds may be as good as or better than commercial antibiotics at resisting bacterial infections and could be of considerable interest to the pharmaceutical industry. ARS is the chief research arm of USDA. ---------- Scientific contact: Benny Bruton, bbruton-usda@lane-ag.org. ---------- Subject: Biodegradable Decoy Reduces Insecticide Use Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 09:53:04 -0500 Ben Hardin, (309) 681-6597, bhardin@asrr.arsusda.gov January 12, 2000 A biodegradable decoy that "fatally attracts" apple maggot flies or other insect pests has been patented by Agricultural Research Service scientists and cooperators. Hung in trees at the edge of orchards, the spherical decoy--coated with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, latex enamel paint and an insecticide--may provide an alternative to repeated chemical insecticide sprays. If not controlled, 1/4-inch-long, black-and-white-striped adult apple maggot flies can inflict millions of dollars in damage to orchards. They lay eggs just below the apples' skins. Maggots hatch and feed, creating tunnels through the apples, which begin to decay and then drop to the ground. ARS scientists at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research at Peoria, Ill., researched the decoy with colleagues at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Michigan State University at East Lansing; and the Biotechnology Research and Development Corp. at Peoria. The decoy is designed to suit insects' preferences for color, shape, size and surface texture. Apple maggot flies fall for an apple-size sphere painted black which, like a red apple, doesn't reflect ultraviolet light. ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency. Preliminary field tests showed the decoy maintained 70 percent of its insect-killing power after three weeks in Massachusetts orchards. And in other tests, a similar decoy protected apples as well as three applications of the commonly used insecticide azinphosmethyl. Commercial manufacture and sales of the decoys containing registered pesticides for use in the United States would require approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Fruit Spheres Inc., Macomb, Ill., has agreed to produce decoys for large-scale tests on the apple maggot fly and related insects such as the blueberry maggot fly, the cherry fruit fly and the walnut husk fly. An article about the research appears in the January issue of ARS' Agricultural Research magazine, which can be found on the web at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jan00/decoy0100.htm ---------- You can also get the latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - January 15, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - February 1, 2000 - AKA RFN200002A.txt --Notes In Passing For San Diego Locals: I bought more twinwall polycarbonate than I needed for my greenhouse/hotbed project. I paid $48 for each full sheet 48" x 96" which was supposed to be reduced from the usual price. If anyone is interested in buying it from me, I'd like to hear from you, before I store it in the garage. All reasonable offers will be considered. Leo ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, Oregon - What Can I Grow? Darcy Hamilton New Subscriber, CA, With Fruit Questions Art Kohl --Readers Write Renewing Acquaintances Rick Bjorlkund Re: Splitting banana trees Jay Dee To: Richard Re: Ed's Questions Steph To: Ed Lin Sugar Apple Seeds - Where To Buy? Julie Jones" Re: 4826 atemoya Ed To: Steph Banana pups Eunice Messner To: Richard Mangoes - Blooming Out Of Season - Mine Too Geoff Buckner Dragon Fruit Wim Weer Picture-Red Etlingera Flowering See OldRFN Wim Weer Re: Atemoya Doron Kletter To: Edward Lemon Tree Not So Pretty! SabanInc@aol.com Comprehensive reference books on tropical fruits Ed To: Doron Frost protection (using Christmas lights?) Ed Re: Frost protection (using Christmas lights?) Leo Manuel To: Ed Re: Frost protection (using Christmas lights?) Leo Manuel To: Ed This 'n That Leo Manuel To: Bob Holzinger Re: This 'n That Bob Holzinger To: Leo Re: Applying Mycorrhizal fungus to Bananas Darryl Re: FWD: dragon fruit Question Sven Merten Mangos - Our Differing Preferences Eunice Messner To: bholzing@amgen.com Persimmon Pollination - Maybe Desirable - See Web Page Doug Hyers See: Cross Timbers Horticulture at http://www-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/steph/stephn6.html Re: Botanical Gardens Of World - Dead Link! Oscar Jaitt Re: Pawpaw trees surviving and fruiting in warm climates? Patricia M Holland To: Doug Jones --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List Shredded Office Paper - An interesting and effective mulch idea Nikolai@powersurfr.com - [nafex] Digest Number 228 --From NEWCROPS List RE: sapote Anna Whipkey --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Villain Insect Enlisted for Good Deeds (Pollinating Annona) Ben Hardin mailto:bhardin@asrr.arsusda.gov ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, Oregon - What Can I Grow? Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 13:03:57 -0800 From: dhamilton@bco.com To: leom@rarefruit.com Hi, I am Darcy Hamilton, in Ashland, Oregon, with email either leorizen7@aol.com -or- dhamilton@bco.com Interested in growing cherimoya, pawpaw, kiwi, banana, white sapote... I'm not in a place where I can have a large greenhouse, but will be in the future. Right now, I just want to try outside and move indoors when needed. Where can I find trees? What are easier to grow? (Self-pollinating). Thanks for any help you can give. Darcy Hamilton mailto:dhamilton@bco.com Subject: New Subscriber, CA, With Fruit Questions Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 23:58:10 EST From: AKohlPE@aol.com I'm a member of CRFG, a retired chemical engineer, and interested in growing rare fruit as a hobby. My name is Arthur (Art) Kohl; address Woodland Hills, CA, 91367; Email address AKohlPE@AOL.com. Some of the plants in my yard are persimmon (both hachiya and Fuyu), apple (Anna and Dorset), Citrus (orange, oroblanco, mineola tangelo, bears lime, valencia orange, meyer and eureka lemon}, babaco papaya, white sapote, pepino dulce, kei apple, capulin cherry, blueberry, tamarillo, and the usual plums, apricots, and peaches. Woodland Hills seems to be the coldest (and also the hottest) place in the San Fernanco Valley so I have been reluctant to try mango and cheremoya trees. We would be interested in new ideas for fruit to try. Our Sapotes and Oroblancos are delicious, but most of the other rare fruit (i.e. babaco, pepino, kei apple) are edible but not real tasty. Perhaps one of your experts can tell us how to pick and ripen hachiya persimmons properly so that they get soft and sweet without drying up or rotting. Yours truly, Art Kohl mailto:AKohlPE@aol.com -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Renewing Acquaintances Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2000 22:00:05 EST From: PlantguyR1@aol.com To: leom@rarefruit.com Leo, How have you been? My bananas are slowly adjusting to their new home since I've moved, and not liking the cold weather currently very much. Can you give me the info on how to subscribe to your rare fruit newsletter? Thanks, Rick Bjorlkund (Los Angeles) mailto:PlantguyR1@aol.com Subject: Splitting banana trees Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2000 22:25:01 PST From: Jay Dee To: Richard Hi Richard I'm new to growing tropical fruits, but one of the things that I have been growing is bananas. I'm not an expert, I've only been living in sub-tropical florida for about 6 years now and growing fruit trees for the last 3 or 4 years. As you probably know bananas are not really trees and are not woody. (They can be easily cut down with a shovel blade, and I have yet to see a real tree that I can do that to!) But sometimes I call them trees and sometimes plants, I don't mean to confuse you. HOW: From what I have seen and have experienced, bananas are very tough plants to kill. When I purchased mine I went out in the field with the nursery's owner who pointed out the varieties I had asked for and asked what size I wanted. There was every size from ankle high to more then 10 feet high. I pointed out one about hip high, figuring it'll be easier to carry in a car then a ten footer. He then proceeded to split it from the mother tree by using a long, and heavy, straight metal "crow bar" that had a wide flat end on it (but not as wide as a shovel). The wide end was used to cut between the mother tree and the daughter tree (as he called them) simply by slamming the crow bar between the two a couple of times. He then grabbed the trunk of the daughter tree and pulled it out of the ground. He had good soil, no super human forces involved. I purchased mine as a corm and not as rooted. It was cheaper that way, rooted (potted) plants cost more but does have the advantage of taking root faster. So he proceeded to cut the roots off with a knife. Many times removing some of the corm with the roots, when he was done there was not a single trace of roots left. After planting them (the next day) the leaves died off. Both varieties I purchased this way have been growing just fine. After a few weeks new leaves started growing on one and about a month later the other. Although they did take awhile to start growing and more then once thought the slower of the two was dead. But it wasn't. And after 6 months of growing you would not know one was slower to start growing by height. My wife, having seen him doing this, had wondered how difficult it was to do. We have a stand of poor quality bananas (seeds like little stones) by a canal that we had been thinking about hiring someone to remove. But instead she has tried removing several trees herself using a shovel and has found that by first splitting mother/daughter plants and then stepping on the shovel blade to drive it under the corm and then by stepping on the shovel handle the corms pretty much popped out of the ground. But we do have very sandy soil, heavy clay soil might be more difficult. She says that with the couple of plants she had tried it was easy to do. WHEN: As for when. Anytime you wish to, seems to work. We have cut some of the old trees back to the ground and they re-grow right up through the old stump and within a few weeks are head tall again. Seems like they can't be killed. We were given instructions for two methods for growing them. The first was to have three plants growing at one time in the same place. Ideally one full grown that's fruiting, one half grown, and one just starting out of the ground. As a plant is picked cut it back halfway to the ground, then when it turns brown cut it all the way back (supposedly this should kill it, but some old ones by the canal I had done this to didn't). In this way there would be bananas fruiting every couple of months from the "same" plant. Any extra daughter plants should be removed or the plants start to crowd each other too much. (Ideally with enough three plant groupings and good timing you could have ripe bananas all year.) The second method is to remove each daughter plant as it forms and plant it in a separate location. And when the mother plant is picked it then can be removed and discarded. (and It's location replanted.) The problem with the first method is that the daughter plants are in a ring around the central mother plant, then new daughter plants form a ring around the ring of old daughter plants (now mother plants), and newer daughter plants form in a ring around the ring of old daughter plants and so on. This leaves a dead center that gets ever larger, eventually they would have to be all dug up and replanted as single mother plants so the cycle can be restarted. Each banana plant usually produces only one bunch of bananas, even though the plant will keep on growing it is now only taking up space. Generally each plant grows and produces bananas in about 1 to 1.5 years. There is a banana patch behind my house by a canal that has never been cut done in at least 5 years, and I have never seen a bunch of bananas on them. Just remember that bananas are very heavy feeders. The place I bought my banana plants grow only bananas, they recommend 6-2-12 fertilizer "applying 1 pound monthly and increasing up to 3 pounds as more growth occurs". I planted planted mine using two different methods. One I used peat moss, composted manure, and sand (my soil) and the other I removed the sand and replaced it with a large bag of peat moss (not mixed with the soil). The one in peat moss seems to have started growing faster and still seems to have more leaves on it. But not being the same variety this may not be a fair comparison. The nusery does sell plants by mail order and are on the web (http://www.going-bananas.com). The nursery is called "Going Bananas" and is located in Homestead Florida. Going Bananas can also be found as a link from "Zone Ten" nursery (http://www.zoneten.com). Both have good quality plants and both have been a pleasure to shop at. hope this helps some Jay Dee mailto:bolo17@hotmail.com Subject: Re: Ed's Questions Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2000 21:41:22 -1000 From: fruition@shaka.com To: Ed Lin Hi Ed, I'm a small tropical fruit grower (durians!) in Maui. I just had a thought about each of your questions so I thought I'd respond. re: Cleft Grafts I've just used cleft grafts to topwork all tropical fruit trees including Annonas. It's always seemed satisfactory except that during this last storm a graft I did for a neighbor blew over and is now growing straight down. He took the wrapping off a bit soon, but I am reconsidering my techniques. Here in Hawaii we have just two of the atemoya cultivars that I'm aware of, African Pride and Geffner. I'd like to bring in more cultivars. Can you or anyone else send us scionwood of choice atemoya cultivars? I'm unfamiliar with '4826'. Can you or anyone on the list describe this and other atemoya cultivars? re: Book - Custard Apples (Cherimoya): Cultivation & Crop Protection Sanewski, G.; 1991, 103 Pages, Softcover It is available in the US from Fertile Ground Books P.O. Box 2008 Davis, CA 95617-2008 Tel: (800) 540-0170, (530) 297-7879 Fax: (530) 298-2060 http://www.agribooks.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/~fg/st_prod.html?p_prodid=QDP082&sid=13iaN0d or email books@agribooks.com Availibility: Special Order, normally ships in 2-4 weeks. Item#: QDP082, Price: $39.95 or from Australia at Granny Smith Bookshop http://www.aoi.com.au/granny/GFI.htm 520C * CUSTARD APPLES: Cultivation and crop protection. Sanewski (Qld,1991). 103p. Pb. Throrough, well-produced practical book on Annona fruits. Recommended. A$42.45 (=US$28.23) re: Question #3 I've seen the title Litchi Cultivation by Victor Galan Sauco in FAO's Plant Protection and Production series. Try their catalog at: http://www.fao.org/icatalog/inter-e.htm Thanks Leo and all for your contributions, Steph mailto:fruition@shaka.com Subject: Sugar Apple Seeds - Where To Buy? Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 20:06:47 -0700 From: "Julie Jones" I am looking for sugar apple seeds. Anyone growing them with ripe fruit to save seeds? or a nursery to ship seeds? Doug Jones mailto:dj243@lds.net Subject: Re: 4826 atemoya Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 22:34:08 EST From: Link2itc@aol.com To: fruition@shaka.com Hello Steph, I acquired my atemoya 4826 from Bob & Vivian Murray (tree1@strato.net) of Pine Island, FL (near Ft. Myers). They own a sizable tropical fruit nursery. I have had this plant only one year and last fall it gave me 7 large atemoyas, each weighing about 3/4 lb. This is very impressive considering the plant is but 5 feet tall and the main trunk is 3/4 inch in diameter! Compared to my Gefner and Priestley and sweetsop (sugar apple), the 4826 is vastly superior. When fully ripe, The external appearance is only minimally bumpy at the shoulders and smooth in the middle and apex. The color is yellowish green with a hue of pink surrounding each "segment." When the fruit is extremely ripe, it will fall off and still stay as a whole fruit, whereas a sweetsop will disintegrate upon hitting the ground. I harvested my first fruit when I thought for sure it had attained full size. It ripened nicely at room temperature in 3 days. To my surprise, the remaining atemoyas which I thought had also attained full size, got even bigger over the next 3 to 4 weeks. I harvested them when there is a slight hint of softness to finger pressure. Upon opening, the fruit is fragrant with numerous sections of pinkish white, succulent and juicy flesh, many without seeds. Each fruit has but 15-30 seeds, no bigger than the sugar apple seeds, but the pulp to seed ratio is very high. The flavor is very sweet with a definite hint of raspberry. The tiny amount of tartness makes this atemoya refreshingly different in taste. The texture is smooth without the grittiness that you find just under the peel of the sweetsop or the hint of rubberiness of the Gefner. The 4826 appears to be very prolific and productive -- most blossoms resulted in fruits and I lost only one or two to abscission. I plan to graft the 4826 over my unproductive Priestly atemoya. Regarding your cleft graft, it certainly seems suitable when the graft is in the vertical axis. However, I wish to graft my 4826 to horizontal branches of my Priestly atemoya. would that still be satisfactory? I have read the atemoya book by Sanewski and highly recommend it. It has multiple chapters specially for the commercial grower. Steph, thanks for your reply and your helpful sources for getting the above book as well as FAO-WHO books; and thanks too, to Leo for a great newsletter. Ed mailto:Link2itc@aol.com Subject: Banana pups Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 09:33:26 -0800 (PST) From: Eunice Messner To: Richard Richard... After you have a nice clump formed with about three or four stems in various heights (your future crops for consecutive fruit production), then you may start to remove pups when they attain the 'sword' or arrow-shaped leaves. Removing pups before a nice, matted clump is achieved submits them to toppling in high winds. A spade with a flat blade works best as you have to separate the pup closely attached to the mother plant. But first dig around the outer edges of the pup. Sometimes the pseudo-bulb is quite deep so take precaution to obtain some roots. You may remove all but the healthiest leaf and then pot it up in a planting mix that has some nutrients in it. Bananas like Sul-Po-Mag as a fertilizer (sulfur, potassium, magnesium). Eunice Messner mailto:eunicemessner@yahoo.com Subject: Mangoes - Blooming Out Of Season Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 12:51:23 -0800 From: Buckner, Geoff Leo, In response to your mangos, mine are confused as well. Both the Pim Sen Mun and Valencia Pride are in full bloom and the Okrung is flushing out new growth. I have not fertilized since July. I hope it stays warm... Geoff Buckner mailto:gbuckner@brwncald.com Subject: dragon fruit Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 20:50:55 -0800 From: W.N. Veer Hi Leo, First of all let me tell you how I enjoy receiving your newsletter everytime, it is really a unique way of meeting lots of fruit friends. Then I will try to insert a picture of my red etlingera flowering. Everytime I read:" gingers - nothing this time". So now at least a picture. And then the reason of my writing. I got very interested in the "dragon fruit" or pitaya, espec. after reading the article on edible cacti you recommended, from Yozef Mizrahi a.o. Do you, or is there anybody who knows a place where to order some cuttings? As you know I grow rambutans, and so have some male trees who could be made more useful by serving as a base for these tree cacti. Greetings Wim Veer paramaribo, suriname mailto:veerwn@sr.net Subject: picture-red etlingera flowering See OldRFN Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 20:57:19 -0800 From: "W.N. Veer" Subject: Re: Atemoya Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 17:33:04 -0800 From: Doron Kletter To: Edward Hello Edward, You said: > It is generally acknowledged that the strongest branches that will > support a heavy fruit crop are those that are horizontally branched > from the main trunk. I would like to graft several high yield > atemoya 4826 branches onto the branches (not trunk) of a low yield > atemoya Bradley tree. What type (whip graft, cleft graft, best > angle of cut, etc.) of graft will result in the strongest union? I had good success with either Cleft or Whip & Tongue grafts. You might want to graft low onto the mainframe branches. Best time to graft is in late spring (in California) around April / May just prior to the main leaf flush. Things may be different in Florida, though. > I am looking for a book titled: Custard Apples - Cultivation and > Crop Protection by Garth Sanewski of the Queensland Dept of Primary > Industries (Australia) > > Does anyone know where I can order this book? I got my copy from Fertile Ground Bookstore at UC Davis. Here is their address: Fertile Ground Books || P.O. Box 2008 || Davis, CA 95617-2008 Tel: (800) 540-0170 or (530) 297-7879 || Fax: (530) 298-2060 They say: Item#: QDP082, Price: $39.95; Availibility: Special Order: Normally ships in 2-4 weeks. P.S. I like this book. > Does anyone know of one or more sources/web sites where lots of (or > uncommon) books on fruit cultivation are sold? The UC Davis site above is excellent for agriculture material. Let me know if you have additional questions, Best regards, Doron Kletter mailto:kletter@impact.xerox.com San Mateo, CA (near San Francisco) Subject: Lemon Tree Not So Pretty! From: SabanInc@aol.com Date: Thu, Jan 20, 2000, 11:53 PM I am hoping you might be able to help. I purchased my mother a small lemon tree a couple of years ago. She has it in a large pot and has been keeping it in her garage during the cold weather. The plant was doing really well then all of a sudden the leaves turned yellow and almost all of them have fallen off. Could you possibly tell us what she has done wrong and what we can do to rectify the problem. She is very attached to this little tree and I have been unable to find anyone at the local nurseries that I have called who know what to do with it. We would appreciate your help. I see you specialize in grapes but was hoping you could help. We also live in Oregon and with the recent cold and snow that is why it was brought in. Thank you for any advice you can give us. Sassy In Milwaukie mailto:Sabaninc@aol.com Subject: Comprehensive reference books on tropical fruits Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 09:52:35 EST From: Link2itc@aol.com To: kletter@impact.xerox.com Hello Doron, Thank you for your helpful reply on atemoya grafts and book sources. I also find the book, Custard Apples - Cultivation and Crop Protection by Garth Sanewski of the Queensland Dept of Primary Industries (Australia), to be an excellent treatise on the subject. I am looking to add more reference books to my library and would like to buy one or more comprehensive up-to-date "bibles" on tropical fruits. Many may consider Julia Morton's book on Fruits of Warm Climates to fit in that category in that it was clearly an exhaustive and authoritative book when it was published in 1987. However, my problem with it is that it has no info on many of the new and better cultivars introduced since the late 80's. I wonder if you or other members have any comments about the following books which I came across on the Internet: >From Amazon.com: Tropical and Subtropical Fruits (Agriculture and Food Science) by Philip E. Shaw (Editor), Harvey T. Chan (Editor), Steven Nagy (Editor) Price: $89.00 Hardcover (February 1998) Agscience; ISBN: 0963139762 Availability: This title is currently on back order. Fruits of Tropical and Subtropical Origin : Composition, Properties, Uses by Steven Nagy (Editor), Philip E. Shaw (Editor), wi Wardowski Price: $70.00 Hardcover (October 1998) Agscience; ISBN: 0944961002 Availability: This title usually ships within 4-6 weeks. Fruit Breeding : Tree and Tropical Fruits by Jules Janick (Editor), James N. Moore (Editor) Price: $140.00 Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours. Paperback - 632 pages Vol 1 (April 1996) John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 047131014X ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.37 x 9.54 x 6.41 Other Editions: Hardcover >From Barnes&Noble.com Tropical Fruits by Henry Y. Nakasone Robert E. Paull bn.com Price: $55.00 In-Stock: Ships within 24 hours Format: Paperback, 445pp. ISBN: 0851992544 Publisher: CAB International Pub. Date: May 1998 Comments about the book, its breadth and depth of coverage, illustrations, etc., would be greatly appreciated. Ed mailto:Link2itc@aol.com Subject: Frost protection (using Christmas lights) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 09:52:46 EST From: Ed Hello Leo, I would like to direct two questions to our general membership about frost protection. I recently moved to the Gulf coast of FL where the temperature dips close to freezing a few times each winter, and once every few years, a hard frost actually occurs. I have read about various frost protection methods including the use of plastic sheets and heating lamps and light bulbs. Question 1: Under what circumstance (when allowed to contact the plant?) and by what exact mechanism does plastic sheeting cause their damage to plants? Questions 2: I have an idea to use Christmas lights to provide frost protection and wonder if anyone has ever used the tiny (or even the larger quail-egg-sized) Christmas lights strung across their trees as a form of frost protection? In theory, such a setup, especially used in conjunction with a bed-sheet draped on top, would provide gentle diffuse warmth. But how well does it work in reality? Has anyone's plant suffered heat-burn from using heating lamps or larger bulbs? Any feedback would be appreciated. Ed mailto:Link2itc@aol.com Subject: Re: Frost protection (using Christmas lights) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 09:35:20 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: Ed Hi Ed, I will post your question in the next issue. Something that occured to me was to string the soil heating cable around in a tree, or just rely on rising heat and arrange it near the ground, and put a bedsheet or curtain around the tree. I've never tried it, but it might help. Also, putting plastic or glass containers of water around the base of a tree would collect some heat during most days and radiate it at night. I haven't had a need to be concerned for a dozen years or more, so haven't done anything to warm the air around my trees. However, where I lived in San Diego before, we'd get some high 20's occasionally, and I bought several dozen feet of the heavy stucco wire, cut it in lengths to encircle my young trees, attached redwood lath strips to both sides of each end, covered one side with heavy plastic sheet with the plastic flush on one length of the wire but hanging beyond the other length about two feet, so that when the plastic covered wire encircled the tree, the overhang could cover the top of the tree at night. I wired the ends together at the lath, so that I could take them off, flatten them out, and store them during warmer days. I put gallon plastic jugs of water at the bottom of each of these and it all seemed to help. A tent of cloth, old blanket, furniture blankets used in moving (I once found a bunch of those discarded) over the top would hold heat in even better than the plastic. Let's find out what the more active readers suggest. Yours, Leo Subject: This 'n That Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 13:36:37 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: Holzinger, Bob Hi Bob, Talk about an early spring! Almost every one of mango trees is blooming or about to bloom. Most unusual! Did you see any of the lunar eclipse last night? I looked briefly about 8:30 p.m. Very pretty, with a warm orange glow. Until later, Leo Subject: Re: This 'n That Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 14:01:28 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Leo Leo, I missed the eclipse because we were totally fogged in last night--couldn't see any lights down below either. Oh well, I'll catch the next one maybe. Actually I think this is when the mangos flower normally in Florida to get ripe fruit in April and May. Our problem is the relatively low temps and the rain we usually get at this time, it makes fruit set very problematic. Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Re: Frost protection (using Christmas lights) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 20:23:35 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: Ed A soil heating cable appears to be a wire that gets warm, when plugged in, but has a thermostat that keeps it from exceeding some preset temperature. I've use them in hotbeds, to provide bottom heat for sprouting seeds, etc. I'm not sure it would be suitable for your needs. Leo Link2itc@aol.com wrote: > > Hi Leo, > > Thanks for your reply. What is a soil heating cable? > > Have never heard of it. > > Ed Subject: Re: Applying Mycorrhizal fungus to Bananas Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000 01:31:05 -0800 From: Darryl Hello Leo: The answer to your questions is yes (:-). There is no easy way to tell what you are buying from a "microbe" salesman (except tests that would cost far more than the product!). The only thing a small purchaser can do is check the reputation of the supplier. Unfortunately, with a new product (or or more correctly, new "productization") such as this, there often little track record to go on. This creates a lot of opportunity for "snake oil salesman" types. I decided to deal with Don Chapman, after several months of cross communication, several successful trials, (performed personally) using his product, and a bit of feedback from other customers who participated in an organic growers newsgroup. I have also contacted some of the researchers he has cited in his marketing literature. While these persons were not asked to confirm his product claims, I was at least able to establish that he quoted genuine researchers and experts in this field. While there are surely other very good companies selling this product, I don't have time to go through the same verification process repeatedly. My focus is: How can a small organic farmer use this and other smart methods to produce yields superior to those from conventional methods , without dramatically increasing overhead. Don's experience selling his product to large vineyards on the west coast is very valuable in this regard. This is one of the biggest problems I face over on the east coast. When comparing products, please give attention to the variety of species included in the mix. Different mycorrhiza interact with varied levels of interest to different plants. It is probably better to take a "shotgun" approach if you don't have specific knowledge of a species that is attracted to the type of plant you wish to innoculate. This would involve using a Mycorrhiza "cocktail" type product with at least 7 types of spores included. Also, these organisms work better under some conditions than others. Soil chemistry, climate, other microorganism populations/ interactions, freshness of product, etc can all play a role. In some trials I have initiated (much to my embarrasment) there have been clearly negative effects. This result requires a lot of investigation to determine whether it was the mycorrhiza or one of hundreds other factors that caused the setback. Anyone that promises you quick or guarranteed results is probably stretching the truth. The lack of abundant black-or-white answers has been an impediment to the wide scale acceptance of this type product. But, the more people using it, the larger the experience base to draw from. Re: The liquid product you mentioned. Liquid and Gel formulas are popular as root dips in the nursery trade. Dormant Mycorhizza are not activated by moisture, so this is a viable way of packaging product for easy use on a plant by plant basis. Once again, check for guaranteed spore count in minimum spores per unit of weight or volume, in order to compare products between vendors. Unfortunately, I haven't kept up with the density specs of the Bio-Organics products, to help you make a cross vendor comparison. I have not yet reached the point of offering product for sale, as I am still getting feedback from farmers trialing in this area. I know that we offer it in dry, gel, and a powder that is fine enough to be watered in from above ground. I hope some of this helps! Best Regards, Darryl Clark mailto:autores@cliknet.com Leo Manuel wrote: > > Hi Darryl, > > Is there much difference in the quality of the Mycorrhizal products? > > Is the price pretty constant, except for shipping charges? > > I believe I saw a liquid product someplace, months ago. > > Thanks! > > Leo Subject: Re: FWD: dragon fruit Question Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 07:20:38 -0800 From: Sven Merten Hi Wimwim, I have been collecting pitaya cuttings for a little while now. I have a small number of Hylocereus undatus seed that I would be happy to trade for other fruit seed if you are interested. Sending you cuttings is more involved because they have to be inspected first and you may still have problems once they get there. Rainbow Gardens sells several Hylocereus species, but for foreign orders there is a minimum $100 order and an extra $50 for getting the plants inspected before they send them. www.cactus-mall.com/rainbow_gardens. The other problem is that they are selling them for the flowers, so I have no idea if the fruit is any good. Best regards, Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net Subject: mangos Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 16:59:43 -0800 (PST) From: Eunice Messner To: Bob Bob.. My experience with Kent mango is surely different than yours. It bloomed incessantly and, of course, can bloom itself to death. The only way to stop the blooming was to let it set a few pea-sized blooms and then cut off the panicle. Since the tree was small, I didn't want it to set fruit until older. Others have had this experince with Kent in California. It and Tommy Atkins only grow to be a bush in our climate. So far, my best mangos are Thomson, Glenn, Nam dac mai, Pina and Carrie. My seedling Manila is a huge tree but a shy producer and not as tasty as the others. I am grafting it over to other varieties. Would like Okrung and Orr. But this was the worst year ever for mangos because of our long cool summer. And, consequently not a good year to judge them. Eunice Messner mailto:eunicemessner@yahoo.com Subject: Persimmon Pollination - Maybe Desirable Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 16:16:14 -0500 (EST) From: happytobehere@webtv.net (Doug Hyers) See: Cross Timbers Horticulture at http://www-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/steph/stephn6.html Leo, thank you for getting back to me. I would like you to glance at this page I'm sending. Please check under the paragraph fruit and notice the % of fruit reaching maturity. Yes I will expect seed in the fruit and haved observed the best trees in this area do contain seeds but the fruit is superior to that I've sampled from a dozen or so different sources. In speaking with several of the horticultural people around the University of Florida, (I work in the daylily field) and we often trade notes) that if a persimmon is not pollinated it may go more towards vegetative growth and neglect holding fruit. this may account for for the high rate of fruit drop problems here. One year I was told a young tree will drop fruit, next year it was suggested too much nitrogen (but I used 8-12-16),third year maybe it was that off year. I'm trying to cover all bases in trying to get these trees to hold fruit. That way I'll know. I don't want to let another planting season pass. I really appreciate the posts here and have read every one since signing on about a year ago. Was I supposed to e-mail a draft of my post before posting? That was a concern, along with was this a rare enough issue. I also am interested in research about the loquat. Thanks much. Doug Hyers mailto:happytobehere@webtv.net Gainesville, Fl Subject: Re: Rare Fruit News Online - January 15, 2000 - 3 Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 13:10:21 -1000 (HST) From: FruitLovers@webtv.net (Oscar Jaitt) Leo, the link you provided in the last RFNO for botanical gardens of the world does not work. Oscar Jaitt mailto:FruitLovers@webtv.net [Note: Oscar's right, but it was working at that time, and may come back to life. Leo] Subject: Re: Pawpaw trees surviving and fruiting in warm climates? Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 15:19:41 -0800 From: Pat Holland To:Doug Jones Hi Doug! I'm sorry to hear that your paw paw didn't make it. I have a seedling of a paw paw from Oregon Exotics. I bought it at California Rare Friut Growers yearly conference, The Festival of Fruit, last year. If it fruits I'll let you know. Maybe you in Phoenix and I in San Diego have too much heat for Asimina trilobata to fruit. But then, I heard somewhere that someone in CRFG in the Los Angeles area got one to fruit... Patricia M Holland mailto:pat.holland@juno.com On Sun, 16 Jan 2000 19:51:53 -0700 "Doug Jones" writes: > I have tried pawpaw in Phoenix Az area and have not been successful - > too hot? If you do find a low-chill variety please let me know. The > ones I ordered were from Sherwood Greenhouse or Lousiana Greenhouse, > or something like that. Good luck, Doug ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000 19:36:29 -0700 (MST) From: Nikolai@powersurfr.com - [nafex] Digest Number 228 Subject: Shredded Office Paper - An interesting and effective mulch idea I've been experimenting with different mulches in my zone 3/2 orchard of about 200 apple trees. I've used clear cultivation, plastic "infa red transmission" mulches, rotted straw over newspaper, fabric mulches, and wood chips. The main reason for mulches is to conserve moisture as my area gets almost, but not quite enough rainfall to grow apple trees. Edmonton gets 18 inches of precipitation per year, with a June and July maximum. The mulches certainly keep the moisture in, but the plastic mulches absolutely need drip irrigation under the plastic or your tree will die or suffer badly from drought stress. The other reasons for mulches are to keep down the weeds and increase the health of the soil (rotted straw mulches only, possibly wood chips). I recently spoke with Dr. Gene Hogue of the Agriculture Canada Research Station in Summerland, BC. Dr. Hogue has done extensive studying and experimenting with regards to the effect of different kinds of mulches on apple trees in the Okanagan area of BC. The best mulch material according to his experiments is (get ready) ordinary shredded office papers from an ordinary office paper shredder! The office shredders produce long strips of paper that inter-twine when put on the ground and don't blow away. Apparently all inks now used are organic in nature and not at all toxic. You simply put 6 or so inches of this shredded paper around the tree, and wet it down. It forms a sort of crust on the surface and will not blow away. You may have to refresh the mulch every few couple of years or so. Water easily passes through this mulch and the moisture levels are very good. According to Dr. Hogue, tests have shown a very significant increase in earthworms and beneficial microbes after using this type of mulch in the soil around the trees. Cross sectional trunk diameter of fruit trees is up to 35% greater after using this "shredder mulch" vs. unmulched control trees, with about 15% more fruit per tree and increased health and vigor of the trees. The mulch also prevents the top inch or two of soil from "frying" during periods of hot (over 90 F) weather. Without the mulch, temperatures of over 100 F are common in the top few inches of soil. Apparently bags of shredded office paper are easy to obtain at your local "recycling shop" very inexpensively. Dr. Hogue is currently writing a scientific paper on his mulch experiments which will be available in a few months by contacting the Summerland Research Station. I'll certainly be giving "office shredder" mulch a try this spring at my orchard. Bernie Nikolai Edmonton, Alberta mailto:Nikolai@powersurfr.com -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- Subject: RE: sapote Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 09:56:24 -0500 From: "Anna Whipkey" We have Chikoo(zapote) farms which have been infested by a fruit-borer identified as TRYMALITIS-MARGERIAS. Could you please send me some information about its lifecycle and any advice on its control. THANK YOU IN ANTICIPATION OF REPLY "Farzan" NewCrop Archives are available at: http://bluestem.hort.purdue.edu/newcroplistserv/Search.html --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: Villain Insect Enlisted for Good Deeds (Pollinating Annona) Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 16:12:53 -0500 From: "ARS News Service" Ben Hardin mailto:bhardin@asrr.arsusda.gov January 19, 2000 ----------- Blossoms of sugar apple and atemoya have long attracted pollinating sap beetles. The problem is, neither these insects nor others seem to have worked hard enough at their pollination duties. To produce these unusual and tasty fruits for consumers, commercial orchardists resort to hand-pollination. A solution: Give the beetles a whiff of chemical attractants and yeasty-smelling bread dough. ARS scientists at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, Ill., first discovered and synthesized the attractants, called pheromones, that worked well in experiments to monitor and control sap beetles in crops where they are pests. Then, to coax sap beetles to better perform their "good guy" pollination role, University of Florida and ARS scientists loaded pheromones and bread dough into bait stations in flowering sugar apple and atemoya trees. Stymied by screens keeping them out of the stations, the beetles moved on to pollinate blossoms. Atemoya and sugar apple, tropical relatives of the Midwestern native paw paw, are noted for their delicate mango- and vanilla-like flavor and custard-like pulp. The fruits are often eaten from the "shell," cut into pieces for fruit cups or salads or blended and frozen with citrus juices. In the two-year study, pheromone bait stations increased by many times the number of flowers that began to develop and set fruit--a sign of improved pollination. However, stresses kept many of the extra fruits from developing fully. Now, improved growing practices that lessen failed fruit development are helping increase production. The sap beetles--Carpophilus or nitidulid species--that pollinate the trees also sometimes inflict serious damage on many of the world's other "minor" fruit crops. For example, in some years, nitidulids have caused $2.5 million in damage to the California fig crop alone. ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency. You can also get the latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - February 1, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - February 15, 2000 - AKA RFN20002B.txt --Notes In Passing 1. I tried several alternative sites for archiving back issues of this newsletter. All of them seem to require that readers sign up with a password, in order to access the information. What about OldRFN? Does it require that you have a password in order to gain access? 2. The Web Sites section in this issue deals almost exclusively with plant propagation, and seems to be worthy of a glance, at least. The only web page not related to plant propagation is one devoted to banana recipies. ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, CA, From Ecuador, Will Try, Try, Again Ricardo Florez New Subscriber, Florida, See Tree Sale Info 5/21, in Palmetto Peter Ray New Subscriber, GA, Interested In Container Gardening of Rare Fruit Tiffaney Pete New Subscriber, India, Interested In Unexploited Fruit Dr. Chiranjit Parmar --Readers Write In Search Of Kapok Trees (Ceiba pentandra)-A Matter Of Honor! Richard Erickson Fwd By: Lon J. Rombough Re: What can I grow? Sven Merten To: Darcy Frost Protection Richard K. Gross To: Ed Mangoes - Blooming Out Of Season Matthew Shugart Ice cream bananas and disease Barry Moll P. quadrangularis Bob Holzinger To: Bob Pawpaw fruit Bob Holzinger" To:Pat Holland Sabor tree? Sabol? What is name of red-flowering tree? Nan Sterman Re: Sabor tree? Sabol? Dan McKean Pitaya seed W.N. Veer To: sven merten Mangos and more, Puerto Rico mountains Marsha Jackson To: Juan Jagua Juan A. Rivero To: Marsha Looking for low Chill Scion Wood Dan Hemenway --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List Paw Paw Pollination Doreen Howard Re: Paw Paw Pollination Lon J. Rombough" Grafting-Increasing Takes With "Rooting Powder" Nikolai --From NEWCROPS List --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None this time ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, CA, From Ecuador Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2000 16:29:48 PST From: "ricardo florez" Dear Mr. Manuel, I received your webpage thank you. I am interested in receiving the Rare Fruit News Online, so here is my information I am Ricardo Fl—rez San Diego, CA Unsuccessfully I tried to grow: Avocados, Tangerines, Passion Fruit, Apples, Bananas,... But since I believe that miracles do happen, with perseverance. I will try again. Fruits that I want to grow? Mango, Cherimoya, Guava, Oranges, Kiwi and Sapotes for now. Have a nice day. Ricardo Florez mailto:ricardoflorez@hotmail.com Leo's Note: Ricardo and Maggie invited my wife and me to brunch, and they had plantain banana in two different dishes. One was ripe, treated as a dessert, as I had eaten it before, but the other was unripe and used as a vegetable with other ingredients in a delicious soup. My plantain is starting to bloom, so I hope to try it. Subject: New Subscriber, Florida: See Tree Sale Info 5/21, in Palmetto Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2000 21:30:05 EST From: Peter Ray Hi there; please add me to your mailing list. I am Peter C. Ray, Parrish, Florida 34219 (near St. Petersburg) Fruit trees grown: lychee, mango, avocado, fig, persimmon, white sapote, black sapote, peach, plum, pecan, carambola, citrus, grape, papaya, caimito, passion fruit, sapodilla. Special interest: Grafting selected fruits on native rootstock (Japanese persimmon and black sapote on American persimmon; pecan on native hickory, etc. I am vice president of Manatee Rare Fruit Council, a chapter of Rare Fruit Council International, Inc. If you are not too distant, plan to come to our annual Tree Sale, May 21st at the Manatee Civic Center in Palmetto, FL. Peter Ray mailto:Pray0222@cs.com Subject: New Subscriber, GA, Interested In Container Gardening of Rare Fruit Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2000 13:29:38 -0500 From: Tiffaney Pete Hi, I am Tiffaney Pete, in Smyrna--outside of Atlanta, GA. Right now I am growing a pineapple plant. I hope to plant a papaya. Interested to know what kind of fruit can grow in containers/Georgia/indoors. Tiffaney Pete mailto:tiffaney@mindspring.com Subject:New Subscriber, India, Interested In Unexploited Fruit Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 17:20:04 +0530 From: Dr. Chiranjit Parmar I am Dr. Chiranjit Parmar, in Mandi, (Himachal Pradesh province - abbreviated as HP) India The fruit I am now growing: Lesser grown, unexploited wild growing fruits having a potential of being developed as a new fruit crop. I am a member of CRFG for the past several years. Here's my self-introduction: Dear Mr. Manuel, I am, senior horticultural scientist from India. I have been working on wild growing and lesser known , unexploited fruits having a potential for being developed as new commercial crops. My three dozen publications on this subject also include a book, WILD FRUITS OF THE SUB-HIMALSASN REGION. I am a member of CRFG and NAFEX for the past several years. I am also the NAFEX Consultant for Central Asia. Are you connected to the CRFG or its another organization. I hope that our relationship will grow. Best regards, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar mailto:parmarch@ch1.dot.net.in 186/3 Jail Road Mandi HP 175 001 INDIA -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: In Search Of Kapok Trees (Ceiba pentandra)-A Matter Of Honor! Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 13:43:49 -0800 From: Richard Erickson Fwd By: Lon J. Rombough Hi, I have just become a grandfather for the first time. I want to plant a very special tree in her honor. I am looking for the Kapok Tree, Ceiba pentandra. I'm in northern California. Can you help me find a couple? Thanks, Richard Erickson mailto:rgus@manznet.com [Note: Please write directly to Richard as soon as you learn of a source. Leo] Subject: Re: What can I grow? Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2000 08:16:02 -0800 From: scoutdog@pacbell.net To: Darcy Hi Darcy, The Cherimoya and Pawpaw will need to be hand pollinated and the Pawpaw will need cross pollination between two varieties or seedlings. The Kiwi you will need a male and female plant. For more information on the trees you might want to look at www.CRFG.org. You also might consider joining since these fruits are fairly popular and there are usually some articles every year about them. There is a list of nurseries at the CRFG site, some of which ship their plants. I believe there is a nursery called Oregon Exotics that probably has what you are looking for. They have a web site, so if you do a search you should find them. If not let me know. There are several nurseries that sell bananas, just do a web search and you should find several. Good luck. Regards, Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net Subject: Frost Protection Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2000 11:45:17 -0800 From: Richard K. Gross To: Ed Hi, Ed. The text below was used in a recent issue of the Arizona Cultivar of the California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. newsletter. For whatever it is worth, I'll pass it on to you. Phoenix is a different part of the country but I don't believe that frost protection in the 29 to 34 degrees F range in Florida would differ much in technique from that needed in the low desert of Arizona. One variant might be irrigation. If soil drainage is better in your area, root rot might not be a problem and flooding basins could help. When my citrus trees were young, I always flooded them at any sign of freeze and it evidently worked. Most herbaceous plants; in my experience, best keep them on the dry side in cool weather. Regards, Dick Gross, Secretary, Arizona/California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. FROST PROTECTION The Salt River Basin, the Phoenix area--roughly, experienced three episodes of mild frost in December of 1997. 1998 had an almost identical record. 1999 had no frost except for a few "outlying pockets". If you are an OP, ice may have formed on your birdbath. History warns us, however, that killing freezes are possible through March. The seasoned rare fruit grower assumes this "rare" disaster will hit again during the present year and plans accordingly for a worst case scenario. A course of action: Study every plant with a critical eye, determine what precisely needs be done to protect each and record the information in a spiral notebook. Make a list of essential materials. Buy the stuff and be ready to put your plan into action on very short notice. Do for trees and bushes the same thing you would do for yourself if you had to be outside on a cold night; don a warm hat and enough clothing to prevent your body heat from escaping into the atmosphere. Likewise, you must preserve the heat that has soaked into the soil and foliage during the day. The basic strategy for that is to cover all plants that you can reach with a material that can reflect the heat waves back into the mass you are covering; exactly the same mechanism takes place with a cloud cover. There are several types of frost cloth carried by plant nurseries. These, bed sheets, burlap and anything similar can just be placed over the plant to extend all the way to the ground. If the foliage and branches can1t support the weight, put in a stake or a couple of garden tools in the center to hold it up. Plastic covering is okay but it must not touch the foliage. The objective is to conserve the heat that is already there. An extended freeze may kill the foliage anyway, covered or not; a lightbulb under the cover could save it. If you can1t cover the plants, the second line of defense is to import heat from any source available. As a last resort, if you can get the hood of your car under a valued tree, start the engine when the temperature approaches 32 and let it idle until danger passes. But, use any heat source you can find. Electric heaters, Christmas tree lights, any light bulbs, flood lamps, heat and sun tan lights that you can lay or hang safely will help. When it freezes in the Salt River Basin, the air is always dry and electrical shorts generally not a concern. When using electricity, observe all safety precautions. During a freeze, the air is usually still except on slopes where the denser, heavier air seeks a lower level. A third main line of defense is to create air movement with the use of electric fans. Friction created from movement of air molecules generates heat. Direct the wash into the foliage. In most citrus growing areas, trees and crops are protected with large propellers usually powered with diesel fuel or aviation gasoline. Good oscillating industrial shop fans on a stand cost $40 to $80. There are other precautions that hardly need mentioning. Containerized plants can be dragged inside or parked under the dense foliage of another tree. Locate them beneath extended eaves, under a patio or ramada, adjacent to south facing concrete structures. Beware of cold air traps. Remove all mulch. Dry, hard ground and dry foliage--not saturated with water, that is, increase chances of survival according to some horticulturists. Mist systems and overhead, oscillating sprinklers can help but the mechanics need clarification and research. This grower1s only such experience resulted in four adult citrus trees and an area of about 4000 square feet covered with an inch of ice but, except for a couple of broken branches, not a leaf nor a piece of fruit suffered damage. The oscillator eventually seized but the water continued to flow. Most of us grow bananas and papayas having very tender leaves. More than one year old, most are too tall to cover. It1s not apt to get cold enough to damage root systems and I don1t waste time on them. The stems are easily protected with wrappings of blankets, jackets or old sweaters. You can also wrap the trunks with Christmas tree lights. Do anything you can except irrigate. Keep the root systems as dry as possible or rootrot will kill them. If evergreen plants are defoliated by frost, paint the trunks and main branches with white latex to protect against sunburn, even in the winter. Foliage will return when weather warms up. Finally, we need to investigate the new field of anti-transpiration sprays. Richard K. Gross mailto:rkg144@worldnet.att.net Subject: Mangoes - Blooming Out Of Season Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2000 18:13:53 -0800 From: Matthew Shugart RFNOers: One of my mangoes is blooming now, too. The Valencia Pride started blooming some time in December. It has kept having new blooms in January. While I had not previously seen it bloom in December, I cannot call its January blooms "out of season" as it does this every year. Right now it even has some fruit that is setting. The last two years I did not get fruit set until the tree bloomed again in late spring. One of the great things about this variety is its ability to bloom and re-bloom. Even under the adverse conditions of the last two springs (cool, wet), I've had fruit. One is hanging on the tree now and I harvested two huge and wonderfully tasty ones around Christmas. Last year I harvested one in February! My Nam Doc Mai has tried to bloom, but no buds have opened yet that I've noticed and some stalks that would have formed blooms have dried up and dropped off. Cheers, Matthew Shugart Carlsbad, California mailto:mshugart@ucsd.edu Subject: Ice cream bananas Date: Fri, 4 Jan 1980 21:55:40 -0500 From: Barry Moll Didn't I see something about a disease that is hitting the Ice Cream or Blue Java variety of bananas in Florida? What was it exactly? I have have a large stand of them growing for six years and have not had any problems until now. Two of the fruiting stalks have recently shriveled up before reaching half their maturity. Is this a virus which may effect the whole stand? I have four other bunches that are close to ripening which do not seem to have the problem. What should I do with the new trees growing around the effected trees? Could this also be a nutritional deficiency? Barry Moll mailto:mollb.lehighms.cameo@prodigy.net Subject: P. quadrangularis Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 13:18:53 -0800 From: Bob Holzinger To: Bob Hi Bob, I read the notes between you and Oscar Jaitt concerning P. quadrangularis. I think Oscar has P. edulis f. flavicarpa growing around him and this form of P. edulis may pollinate the P. quadrangularis. I use the pollen from P. edulis f. flavicarpa to pollinate a P. quadrangularis x P. alata hybrid with good success, so if you can find it growing around you, give it a try. Other species that could work on P. quadrangularis are P. alata, P. caerulea, P. caerulea 'Constance Eliott', and P. cincinnata. Good luck, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Pawpaw fruit Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 13:24:01 -0800 From: Bob Holzinger To: Pat Holland Hi Patricia, Jim Neitzel once gave me a pawpaw fruit to taste, but I don't know where he got it. Either from his garden or from a friend. He lives in Southeast San Diego, which gets quite warm in the summer time, so I would say you just have to find the right micro-climate for your trees. My friend in Nipomo still gets fruit on his one tree, but was getting much more fruit when he had the second tree to cross pollinate. I have been told that the pawpaw trees need to get a couple years old growing in mostly shade before they can take mostly full sun. If possible I would plant it where the roots are always shaded. Good luck, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Sabor tree? Sabol? What is name of red-flowering tree? Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 20:42:53 -0800 From: Nan Sterman My folks just returned from South America and my mother was taken by a red-flowered tree that she thinks is called "sabor" or "sabol." Anyone familiar with this tree and know its botanical name? Nan Sterman mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com San Diego County California Subject: Re: Sabor tree? Sabol? Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 22:46:53 -0800 From: Dan McKean To: Nan on 2/3/00 8:42 PM, Nan Sterman at nsterman@mindsovermatter.com wrote: > My folks just returned from South America and my mother was taken by a > red-flowered tree that she thinks is called "sabor" or "sabol." Anyone > familiar with this tree and know its botanical name? It's a ceibo tree--the national tree of Argentina. When I was in South America in November, it was in full bloom, a big 20m tall tree with a broad round crown covered in red flowers. A common English name would be coral tree. A picture of the tree can be seen at http://www.marmot.net/danm/adv/cl99/img/99-50-14.jpg. The ceibo trees are the two trees in the background. This picture is from November 14, 1999. The ceibo is planted widely in central Chile, such as in Santiago. I was surprised to see such an unknown tree planted in such a similar climate, especially as I recognized most of the other street and park trees such as jacaranda and liquidambar and the various sycamores (London planetrees). Of course, once I got back to California, I wondered why I hadn't seen the ceibo tree here. Turns out I had--the species name is Erythrina crista-galli, and it grows here mostly as a shrub or really small tree. I wonder why it doesn't get to towering tree height like it does in South America--anyone got any clues? One idea of mine about why the ceibo doesn't grow that large here is that trees don't grow as large in California as they do in Chile. In general, I found the same tree species growing in Chile to be much more narrow and tall than the same species growing in California. Notable trees in this regard were Pinus radiata (Monterey Pine), Maytenus boaria (mayten), and Schinus molle (pepper tree). You can see the very tall radiata pines in the back of the picture at the link above. The only real exception I to this taller-in-Chile rule was ironically a coast redwood (sequoia sempervirens) in a botanical garden in Valdivia. It was short and squat--but with massive limbs that made it more wide than tall! Dan McKean mailto:danm@marmot.net Subject: Pitaya seed Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2000 20:57:30 -0800 From: W.N. Veer To: Sven Merten Hi Sven, Thanks for your reaction. Yes, I should like to receive some pitaya seed (together with an instruction as I never even saw cactus seed). My postal address is below, nothing more (we are a small country). At the moment I have papaja (pawpaw) seed, a delicious long big red variety. Also red and yellow bixa (anato), and if the birds leave some for me a wild passiflora with beautifull blue flowers. So let me know what you want, and also send your postal address. greetings, Wim Veer mailto:veerwn@sr.net Paramaribo, Suriname Subject: Mangos and more, Puerto Rico mountains Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 21:09:22 EST From: Marsha Jackson To: Juan Juan, My husband John and I are also Rare Fruit News subscribers. We live in Maryland but own a house with 5 acres near Lago Dos Bocas. It was planted mostly with plantains but we'll have to see if they came back from the hurricane damage in 1998. Anyway, we'd like some advice about some plant varieties and where to look at and/or purchase good fruit trees in addition to Jardines Eneida. We're planning to go to the Univ. of PR at Mayaguez Agricultural Research and Botanical Gardens in the next few weeks. We have a mature mango tree that produces fruit with small pit, good color, good flavor and no stringiness. Our neighbors call it "pina mango." Any idea what variety that might be? We also have a few small trees including avocado, grapefruit, sweet orange, breadfruit, etc. Any advice about the best fruit for the mountain climate? My husband also wants to learn more about the "jagua" tree you mentioned in your Jan 8 letter to RFNO. (The mother of a friend from Las Carobas had such a tree that was lost in Hurricane Hugo.) Thanks for you help, Marsha Jackson mailto:MSJ1819@aol.com Subject: Jagua Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 00:26:47 -0400 From: Juan A. Rivero Dear Marsha: The best source for fruit trees is Jardines Eneida but you can get a few things at the Esperiment Station (substation) at Santa Isabel. A private collector, Sherry Ballester, Tel. 827-3121, Barrio Anones, Las Mar’as, have many small fruit trees for sale, but I doubt you can get much at the Federal Experiment Station as they are just beginning their collection. The best thing would be if you could come to one of the meetings of the Horticultural Soc. of the West. which are celebrated the first Sunday of every month. Next one will be in Maricao, in a very attractive setting and at elevation which, I suppose, is close to yours. The owner of Jardines Eneida is a member and also fruit expert Eugenio Toro (he can probably tell you abot the mang— pi–a). If you decide to come, please be our guests. My tel. number is 831-7419. Meetings start at 9.30 to 10.00am and they are conducted in Spanish but there are several continental members. The jagua is a large fruit, globular and similar to a sapote but it is not usually eaten fresh. It is cut into small pieces, placed in water in the refrigerator and after a couple of days the drink is consumed, sometimes adding a little sugar. It is said to have medicinal properties, but I don't go for it. My best wishes. Juan mailto:jarivero@caribe.net Subject: Looking for low Chill Scion Wood Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 10:53:29 EST From: Dan Hemenway Hi Leo: I wonder if you will run the following notice in your online newsletter. People should contact me directly as it is sometimes months before I have the chance to catch up on my various downloads. Many thanks, Dan Hemenway We have decided to work with native plants growing wild on our land in North Central Florida, using them as rootstocks. This will help avoid problems in establishment, and in adaptation to soil and rainfall patterns. We are looking for the following scionwood. Varieties that depend on frequent sprays are not useful to us as we will not do it. High yields are not crucial but we are interested in top flavor. Blueberry--Southern types, to graft on Farkleberry. We read about this in old CRFG publications and our first trials last spring worked quite well. We have quite a bit of Farkleberry. Avocado-- This would be for very experimental grafting on Persea bourbonia, which is a common understory shrub here. We can use only the most cold hardy Avocado varieties. Plum -- We have very many Chickasaw plums here and would like to graft many of them to low chill varieties of conventional plum. Our chill factor here probably ranges between 300 and 500 hours, depending on the year. We are also interested in any other Prunus spp. known to be graft-compatible with plum. Persimmon -- We have some American persimmon thickets and would like some kaki persimmon varieties for grafting. We are also quite interested in choice selections of American persimmon. Southern Pecan -- We are interested in a small amount of wood of southern pecan for experimental grafting to mockernut. Mockernut is quite vigorous here, and so we may not have the problem of overgrowth that has been reported to me on other pecan to hickory grafts. Paw Paw, from southern end of range -- We need a small amount of wood from relatively low chill, choice selections of Asimina triloba to graft to Asimina parviflora. FYI, we have a few other opportunities to graft to natives. We are grafting quite a few native oaks of various species to burr oak . We have plenty of scion wood for this already. And we are grafting a number of Ilex americana with Ilex vomitoria scions, so as to have a caffinated tea plant growing on site. (We have a few Camellia sinensis also but they do not seem well adapted here and would take a lot of fuss to yield much.) Of seedlings of exotics we have planted, Loquat is ready to graft. We are looking for choice cultivars of Loquat as scionwood. We only need a little. We are also working with strawberry guava, regular guava (a long-shot here but maybe one of our seedlings will prove to be rather more cold hardy than the others), citrus of course, mayhaws (for land that floods), jujube, quince, hopefully pear (looking for rootstock seed), fig of course, mulberry, etc. We have bits and dabs of other things too. We also have an interest in bamboo, not exactly a rare fruit, but if you live near Gainesville/Ocala area and have Moso and/or Bambusa oldhamii (and maybe a bit of Phyllostachys bambusoides) , we would be interested in working something out. We are willing to pay fair rates for good quality scion wood and/or to swap for some of the native plants mentioned above or some of our permaculture publications. We have only been on site 3 years, so we do not have scion wood to swap at this time. We are looking at persimmon, jujube, and mayhaw for land subject to flooding, and we are giving up on fruit entirely and planning bald cypress for land that is underwater more than half the time. Dan Hemenway Barking Frogs Permaculture Center Sparr Florida USA ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ Message: 5 Digest Number 240 Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 16:36:26 -0600 From: "Doreen Howard" Subject: Paw Paw Pollination The following was in the current issue of the quarterly newsletter from the Illinois Native Plant Society. Why Paw Paw Produce Few Fruit Paw paw (Asiminia triloba) is a quite common woody plant in forests throughout most of Illinois, and specimens are often found in the spring with abundant blossoms. However, paw paw rarely produces many fruit. The reason why paw paw produces few fruits is quite simple. According to Dave Owen, in an article he published in the North Carolina Wild Flower Preservation Society, the primary pollinator of paw paw is a group of small carrion flies. In absence of these insects, paw paw does not produce fruit. Since paw paw is becoming a more important species in the native fruit industry, commercial growers place animal entrails from slaughterhouses on the plants to attract the carrion flies. The result of this practice has been production of large quantities of fruit. Perhaps if you are interested in growing paw paw for the tasty fruit, you should give this method a try. Owen does not suggest this method if you live in or around sensitive neighbors in either rural or urban areas. Doreen Howard mailto:doreen@fgi.net Message: 6 Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 14:43:01 -0800 From: "Lon J. Rombough" Subject: Re: Paw Paw Pollination NAFEX's own Corwin Davis found this out years ago. He put roadkills around for the purpose. Lon J. Rombough mailto:lonrom@hevanet.com Digest Number 243; Message: 14 Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2000 15:54:29 -0700 (MST) From: Nikolai Subject: Grafting-Increasing Takes With "Rooting Powder" For outside grafting, here in zone 3/2, the earliest to start is about April 21. I check the weather forcast and make sure a cold front isn't coming, and then I get to it. I remember a rule of thumb, "if its uncomfortable and too cold for you, don't graft". I'm speaking of grafting apples and plums, not nut trees. It usually freezes 2 or 3C after I graft, but this doesn't seem to stop them from taking. Anything that doesn't take gets regrafted in late May. I dip the scionwood in #1 rooting powder which I've been doing the last three years. It increases my takes, especially on questionable scionwood, by about 25%. With good technique and good scionwood you don't need the rooting powder. The grafting season up here is much longer than people think. As an experiment I kept delaying a few grafts to see how long I could graft into the summer and still get takes. So far my record is June 22. The apple grafts took on a tree I was topworking, but only grew perhaps 7 or 8 inches. The next year they grew normally. This year I may try grafting on the July long weekend and see if I can extend the June 22 record. Bernie Nikolai mailto:Nikolai@powersurfr.com Edmonton, Alberta -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None, this time >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - February 15, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - March 1, 2000 - AKA RFN200003A.txt To see back issues of the newsletter, visit the online group, "OldRFN" OldRFN is at http://www.visto.com/j.html?g=16812838.WDY3NjdX Please keep me advised of trouble with the OldRFN webpage. Note in Passing: 1. Sainarong Rasananda has an extensive discussion entitled "The Effectiveness of Potassium Chlorate" in the Readers Write section. Mr. Sainarong Rasananda is in Thailand and is a commercial grower of longans. 2. My ISP (ABAC aka A+Net) is making life pretty nearly intolerable in sending out newsletters. I hope you will bookmark the OldRFN address (above) so you can rely on that for the newsletter, if and when it doesn't show up. I hate to change providers. I'm lazy and hate going through breaking- in process of configuring to a new provider, but I've gotta do it. They're making me send my almost 400 newsletters 20-25 at a time! It took all day to get the address book lists changed. Leo ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, Israel: How To Grow Citrus & Subtropicals? Michael Tidhar New Subscriber, CA, Has Impressive Fruit List; Wants Lychee Help Gloria Walton New Subscriber, CA; Wants To Learn About Rare Fruit John Ingram --Readers Write Re: Ceibo Tree Dan Hemenway Pi–a Mango Eunice Messner To: Marsha Jackson Antitranspiration as freeze protection Ed To: Richard Re: antitranspiration as freeze protection Richard K. Gross To: Ed Ice Cream Bananas Matthew Shugart Woodrow the cacao man Amy Fernandez Pineapple plant hasn't produced a fruit yet Tiffaney Denise Pete How to grow a papaya in a container? Tiffaney Denise Pete Selecting banana and protecting avocado Nan Sterman OldRFN: It's working again Tiffaney Denise Pete The Effectiveness of Potassium Chlorate Sainarong Rasananda What Is This Fruit? CANEPA? Chris What Time Of Year To Plant Subtropical Fruit Trees Here? Nan Sterman RE: What Time Of Year To Plant Subtropical Fruit Trees Here? From: Leo Manuel To: Nan Sterman --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List Re: Pear Rootstocks Leo Manuel Re: Re: Pear Rootstocks Ed & Pat Fackler Re: Re: Pear Rootstocks Dr. Ethan Natelson Re: Re: Pear Rootstocks Lon J. Rombough --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None, this time ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, Israel: How To Grow Citrus & Subtropicals? Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 09:08:33 +0200 From: Michael Tidhar I would very much like to receive your newsletter (back issues as well). I am Michael Tidhar I have a small place in Israel with some 50 citrus trees and another 40 tropical and subtropical trees planted. Most of my trees are still very young and I had no previous experience so I look forward to being able to pick the brains of anyone willing to help. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks Michael Tidhar mailto:tstid@netvision.net.il Subject: New Subscriber, CA, Has Impressive Fruit List; Wants Lychee Help Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 11:17:57 -0800 (PST) From: Gloria Walton Dear Leo, I am Gloria L.L. Walton, in Montecito (Santa Barbara) Fruit trees I am growing: sapote, apricot, peaches, (a donut) ( a ? started by seed, by my 95 year old auntie ) and an old peach planted in 1917 when my house was built ) fig, star fruit (sri-Kambamga) hylocereus undatus (white flesh) Pitahaya, persimmon,' three mangos, Carrie, and Nam Doc Mi, and a Glenn, a Lychee, that has been in the ground for 7 years, and still no fruit, a longan (Biew Kiew), a Bearss lime, a moro orange, a lemon, a plum, valencia orange, an asian pear, a plumcot,a wax Jambu, a Monstera deliciosa, a Cherimoya, Jaboticaba, I think I've left out a few others. What am I doing wrong, that after 7 years in the ground, my lychee is still not bearing fruit, Last year a pounded a small nail in it to scare it, I've also told it that it will be shoveled pruned if it doesn't produce. It always gets lots of blossoms. Thanks Gloria Walton mailto:gllw@webtv.net Subject: New Subscriber, CA; Wants To Learn About Rare Fruit Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 22:03:57 -0800 From: John Ingram Hi, I am John Ingram, in Los Angeles, CA I am not now growing any fruit trues, but I want to grow: mango, papaya, and many others I've yet to learn I'm a garden designer in the Los Angeles area and wish to include more exotic fruits into my landscape designs that include many tropical plants including palms, cycads, gingers, and large flowering trees. I want to learn about cultural requirements, plant sources, temperature requirements including minimum cold and warm temp. For fruit production, etc. John Ingram mailto:Floralartistry@email.msn.com -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Re: Ceibo Tree Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 11:32:36 EST From: Permacltur@aol.com On 2/15/00 8:25:01 AM, Dan McKean writes: <> Erythrina is a genus with various species throughout the Americas. In the USA, we have a few species that are adapted to recover after being frozen to the ground. The California species may be such. We have E. herbacea (or somethng close) in Florida that routinely gets killed back to ground level. it has a bulb-like swelling inthe stem just be low ground level which is obviously food reserve for regrowth, as in other such organans in herbaceous plants. Species in tropical America grow to large trees in many cases. They are very ornamental and quite TOXIC. The seed is an excellent rat poison. Some species are mentioned for minor food used, but I strongly recommend against it. This is of course a nitrogen-fixing legume. The bright red pulse is often called coral bean, or some variant on that, and the common name covers a number of different Erythrina species. Dan Hemenway mailto:Permacltur@aol.com Sparr, FL Zone 9 Subject: Pi–a Mango Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:32:54 -0800 (PST) From: Eunice Messner To: Marsha Jackson Marsha Jackson.... The Pi–a mango is commonly called the Pineapple mango because of its acidic flavor. Its seed is polyembryonic so one may plant the seed and get multiple trees growing from the one seed. Chances are most will be a clone of the parent tree. The seedlings arising from the one embryo may be separated into several pots. Since this mango is not exceedingly sweet, I find it best dehydrated. It is delicious as a fruit snack. Eunice Messner mailto:eunicemessner@yahoo.com Subject: antitranspiration as freeze protection Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:25:15 EST From: Ed To: Richard Hello Richard, You recently wrote, "... we need to investigate the new field of anti-transpiration sprays." Do you have any info on this? Many thanks. Ed mailto:Link2itc@aol.com Subject: Re: antitranspiration as freeze protection Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:43:14 -0800 From: Richard K. Gross To: Ed Not much, Ed. There are a number of brands I can't recall off the top of my head. They all perform several miracles as I remember the literature. I have tried two with only casual observation and detected no response from their use. Actually, one wouldn't look for response but less stress in cold or excess heat compared to plants that have not been sprayed. What blows my mind is that, somewhere near the end of instructions, you might read something that goes like this, ". . . . all leaf surfaces must be covered . . ." Unless he has a high pressure fogger, the average home owner can't do that. He might get 40% or 50% on a tree or bush with a lot of vegetation but by the time he is finished he himself will be soaked in it. Although it is said to be safe and harmless, I don't particularly like the idea. The "coverage" factor may not be all that important but, if taken at face value, one must coat all surfaces. There is quite a lot of stuff on the Internet but I haven't found the time to study it. What I've suggested is that our Arizona Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers do some home tests with careful data collection to find out if it works well enough to be worth the trouble. I carefully treated several banana plants in 1998. All the leaves froze at about 31F except one plant on which I had focused a cheap $1 yard sale air fan on a stick; not enough information, however, to draw any conclusions. I would very much like to use anti-transpirants if they work. At this point, I just don't know. Perhaps, from Leo Manuel's RFN, we can get some personal success stories and ideas on how to best use the stuff in the home landscape. That, it occurs to me, might be a profitable sideline for some enterprising individuals; to offer treatment to home owners similar to the service offered, for example, by pest exterminators, the likes of which I haven't patronized in 15 years. Best regards, Dick Gross mailto:rkg144@worldnet.att.net Subject: Ice Cream Bananas Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:08:15 -0800 From: Matthew Shugart To: Barry Barry, I saw your message on Ice Cream bananas. Could you describe the problem you are having? I have this variety, too, and three of the last four fruit stalks that have formed have failed to ripen. The bananas turn brownish black and shrivel. I had assumed it was cold weather that was the culprit. Maybe it is something else? I do have one stalk right now that looks OK. Two others from the same stand are history. I'd like to compare notes with your experience. Matthew Shugart mailto:mshugart@ucsd.edu Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:53:40 PST From: Amy Fernandez Subject: Woodrow the cacao man Hi Leo, do you know whatever happened to Woodie Cooke of cacao tree fame? Amy Fernandez mailto:marvlusgrdns@ecom.net zone 10 or 23 Orange County, Calif. www.ecom.net/~jimandmissi/marvelous Subject: Pineapple plant hasn't produced a fruit yet Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 20:06:12 -0500 From: Tiffaney Denise Pete Hi, I planted a pineapple about 2 yrs ago. I placed apple halves around the plant on at least two occassions. I have beautiful green leaves but no pineapple. What am I doing wrong? I live in an apt. in Atlanta so the plant stays inside only when the weather gets cold. In the warmer months, the plant stays on the balcony. Tiffaney Pete mailto:tiffaney@mindspring.com (Atlanta/Smyrna, GA) Subject: How to grow a papaya in a container? Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 20:09:07 -0500 From: Tiffaney Denise Pete Hello, I am attempting to grow a Hawaiian Solo Papaya from seedling in a container. What special preparations are required for its growth? Should I rub the pulp off of the seedlings before planting them or should I let them dry out first? Tiffaney Pete mailto:tiffaney@mindspring.com (Atlanta/Smyrna, GA) Subject: Selecting banana and protecting avocado Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 09:37:05 -0800 From: Nan Sterman Hi Leo and friends... Can anyone recommend a banana who's fruit ripens before November and has good tasting fruit? It doesn't have to be extremely frost hardy, I get a handful of nights around 30 degrees between the end of November and January. Also, I am looking to plant an avocado tree near where I lost a very young one to frost a few years ago. I want to use the avocado to replace an Acacia longifolia and I am thinking of pruning the acacia so that I can plant the avocado into the foliage to protect the avocado in its youth. LIke many of these acacias, this one lies on its side so that the stump of the acacia is actually about 6 feet from where I will plant the avocado though it will be surrounded by leaves and branches. What do you all think? Will the acacia shelter the avocado until it is a big kid? Thanks Nan Sterman mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com Sunset Zone 24 Subject: OldRFN: It's working again Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 21:09:53 -0500 From: Tiffaney Denise Pete Hi Leo, Previously, I could see the list of files but I received the script error message when attempting to download an actual file. I rechecked the website today and I am able to download the files again. I guess the site was under some kind of construction. Many thanks for your help though. Tiffaney Pete mailto:tiffaney@mindspring.com (Atlanta/Smyrna, GA) Subject: The Effectiveness of Potassium Chlorate Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 15:37:48 +0700 From: Sainarong Rasananda We have been using potassium chlorate for about 16 months now. One or two have been using it for more than 5 years. The preliminary results suggest that there is no worrisome effect on the consumers, the trees or the environment provided that it is not used in excess. The explosive properties of the substance are of course always a matter of deep concern. It now appears that, during the first months of its discovery, the conditions were ideal for the application of potassium chlorate. As a result, people thought that the chemical was highly effective for all conditions. Later results suggest that this is not so. The chemical is unbelievably highly effective under ideal conditions. Under less ideal conditions, the results vary from no flowering, flush instead of bloom, late flowering, a very high percentage of male flowers, very poor fruit set, poor-quality fruits, small fruits. The adverse conditions appear to be excess rain, insufficient water, insufficient nutrients, not-fully healthy trees, insufficient sunshine and cold weather at the wrong time. Of all the adverse conditions, cold weather appears to play a major role. Those, familiar with the longan trees, fully appreciate that the trees do not respond well to hormones and other chemicals: the trees respond readily to the weather. And the subtlety of their response to the weather is rather delicate and complicated. A certain change of weather at a certain time, evn if it is for a relatively short period, can make an appreciable difference. I do not think that we are yet aware of all the longan's responses to various changes in the weather. You will no doubt be happy to hear that our longan's Chinese New Year crop this year is of poor quality in general. We think that the cold weather plays a major role in this. However, this year is unusually very cold, and the central part of Thailand is hardly ever cold. On a personal note. My longan trees last year were treated with potassium chlorate. One orchard produced satisfactory good-quality longans. I couild not tell the difference between the KClO3-treated longans and the naturally-produced ones, and I ate a lot of longans daily during the harvest. However, the other orchard produced poor-quality longans. I am doing experiments to find out how to consistently produce good-quality longans all the time. However, I do not think I can overcome the severe adverse weather effect. Sainarong Rasananda mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th Subject: What Is This Fruit? CANEPA? Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 12:39:07 -0500 From: CRMSNTD While living in Puerto Rico, I ate what I believe would be considered a fruit. Green skin, orange (fleshy) inside, single seed (two sometimes) Break the skin and eat the fleshy fruit from the seed. It was usually bought on the side of the road (Luquillo Beach). It grows in groups like grapes. It is larger than a grape yet smaller than a a golf ball. It was called "CANEPA". In season from July-August. Are there other names that it goes by & can they be found in the US? Thanks for your help, Chris mailto:CRMSNTD@concentric.net Subject: What Time Of Year To Plant Subtropical Fruit Trees Here? Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 12:07:03 -0800 From: Nan Sterman Hi Leo, I couldn't find your phone number, so I am emailing you a quick question -- I'd appreciate your response as soon as is convenient as I am working on deadline for this one. Unlike most of my questions, this one is not for my yard -- Are the following tropical plants appropriate to plant in May: citrus, mango, banana, cherimoya, star fruit? Which others can be planted in May and when do we STOP planting tropicals for the year? Thanks Nan Sterman mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com Sunset Zone 24 Subject: re: What Time Of Year To Plant Subtropical Fruit Trees Here? Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 12:14:06 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: Nan Sterman Hi Nan, I believe you can plant subtropicals any time of the year in our subtropical climate, but I'd personally avoid anytime it's likely to be really hot, but even then, you can put shade cloth to screen the hot sun, and it's not a bad idea, anyway. If you lived in an area subject to frost, I'd advise waiting until all danger of frost is over. I'll publish your question. Yours, Leo ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ [nafex] Digest Number 264 Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 05:18:45 -0800 From: Leo Manuel Subject: Re: Pear Rootstocks You probably know that Winter Banana apple can serve as rootstock for pear for a while, at least. I would use it only for short-term, until I got either a pear rootstock or quince (A or C) to transfer it onto. It would be interesting for a young-person project to experiment, using Winter Banana as an interstem, to put together a fruit-salad tree of various apples and pears. Of course, if you use quince, you should use either a compatible pear, or an interstem of a compatible pear. I believe Magness and Comice are two. Horticordially, Leo Manuel mailto:leom@rarefruit.com Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 08:36:43 -0500 From: Ed & Pat Fackler Subject: Re: Re: Pear Rootstocks The above is a great idea (esp. for a young person!). Over the years, I've tried many cvs. of pear on quince (based on Jim Ozzello's article in Pomona some 15 years back). Anyway, the ones which were the most reliable over a ten year period were Maxine, Magness and Warren. Many of these trees are now 12 years old+, average 8-9' in height and very productive. And they have never been irrigated. They are supported. In addition to the fine idea of Leo's, I'd like to see Spur type Winter Banana used as an interstem. Ed & Pat Fackler mailto:rocmdw@aye.net Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 16:46:03 -0500 (EST) From: Dr. Ethan Natelson Subject: Re: Re: Pear Rootstocks Dear Leo, Actually, I did just the project you describe a few years ago (I was younger then) using Superclone as the base plant. This is an apple rootstock which was alleged to support growth of pears too. The problem is that it likes apples better and so those branches get favored growth. Additionally, not all pears were equally compatible. I still have a branch or two of pears on this tree. Now that I am older, I realize it was a bad idea. Regards, Dr. Ethan Natelson mailto:natelson@pipeline.com Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 13:54:07 -0800 From: Lon J. Rombough Subject: Re: Re: Pear Rootstocks This was also done at Oregon State U. Asian pears on M26 with an interstem of Winter Banana. Worked well and gave nice little dwarf trees with good bearing. The experiment ran for about 10 years and no real incompatibility problems showed up. The 1987 NAFEX meeting was at OSU and the group got to see the trees then. Dr. Porter Lombard was the man in charge of the experiment. Lon J. Rombough mailto:lonrom@hevanet.com -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None, this time >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - March 1, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - March 15, 2000 - AKA RFN20003B.txt --Notes In Passing 1. Santol's Tropical Fruit Home Page at http://www.gate.net/~santol/ I forget how much I enjoy this page of Bruce Livingston between the times I visit it. It has an amazing amount of information that is exactly what most of us are looking for. Time to visit it again! 2. Bob Cannon's "rarefruit list" rarefruit@egroups.com had several postings that have been of interest to me. Many of you are subscribers and I recommend it to all of you. 3. The Web Pages section also contains a jumble of Epiphyllum, Hylocereus, and Cactus Fruit Sites. I ran out of time for organizing them better, so I include them with my apologies. 4. FYI: Pacific Coast Tropical Gardens - Menlo Park, CA is having a moving sale. http://www.pctgardens.com/Frame2.html They're moving to Hawaii. (25 - 75% discount on some items.) ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) New Subscriber, CA, With Fruit Care Questions Joyce Greenlund --Readers Write Re: Epi fruits - untapped resource? Roy Dynan RE: What Is This Fruit? CANEPA? Sven To: Chris Epi fruits - untapped resource? Roy Dynan Re: Epi fruit David L Crawford [SMTP:dlcrawford@home.com] Bananas and avocado Eunice Messner To: Nan Sternam Re: Citrumelo / Citrandarin question? Lon J. Rombough & Jeff Re: Papaya/Thank you for the advice Tiffaney Denise Pete To: Tina Siegel Bananas Holzinger, Bob To: Nan Sterman Lychee Eunice Messner To: Gloria Papaya seeds Eunice Messner To: Tiffany Pete Re: Papaya seeds/Thanks Tiffaney Denise Pete To: Eunice Messner Canepa Holzinger, Bob To: Chris Canepa Eunice Messner To: Chris Cultural information for fruits Eunice Messner To: John Ingram Want Tart Crisp Jujube: What's Its Name? Beth Elliott --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) Re: Musa Basjoo Dave Poole --NAFEX List None, this time --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. New Fruit Coatings Help Abate Post-Harvest Fruit Decay Jesœs Garc’a Environmentally Friendly Insecticides Judy McBride ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, CA, With Fruit Care Questions Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 23:51:59 -0800 (PST) From: Joyce Greenlund I am Joyce Greenlund, in Santa Barbara, CA I am now growing mango,longan, deciduous fruits, figs, apples, pummelo, variety of other citrus, papaya, banana, guava, (tropical, strawberry and lemon) Feijoa, macadamia, cherimoya, persimmon (fuyu and hachiya), passiflora edulis, Pitahaya Hylocereus undatus, banana and Sapote and kiwi. Wanting to grow more mango, Longan Sri Chompoo, Star Fruit B10 and Sri Kambamga, Wax Jambu. Will any of these grow and bear successfully in 32" tubs? Banana are not fruiting as well as a number of years ago. Is it because I have cut back on the water? What kind of fertilizer should I be using and when? Joyce Greenlund mailto:EJG@webtv.net> -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Re: Epi fruits - untapped resource? Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 18:43:22 GMT From: roy.dynan@talk21.com Hi Leo, I'm not surprised you haven't heard of 'epi fruits' because epi is the name the growers use for epiphyllum hybrids - and in general they aren't interested in the fruits except as seed pods for new crosses. Their genetic makeup includes epiphytes which are known for fruit but also lots of others which aren't. I haven't yet found anyone documenting them in terms of fruit production. The actual species of pitahaya-bearing epiphytics do crop up occasionally in your pages and the CRFG (not enough - I'd like to see a year of the cactus), but there are very few references to the smaller hybrids anywhere, I first found them in a UK Channel 4 TV book called 'fruity stories'. I think there is a great untapped resource there because many are significantly hardier than the species (40F), they are fruitful (bred for free-flowering), and they are mostly a more manageable size (a big plant fits inside a 1m cube). They are pretty much the ideal windowsill orchard plant. The fact that they are beautiful and open their flowers in daytime for easier pollination makes them even more attractive to me. The fruits are mostly smaller (mini pitahayas?) but there is a wide range of flavour out there. My only mature plant produces a rich berry flavour, but I have heard of melon and kiwi flavours, right through to aniseed and liquorice. I'm sure lychee and papaya are in that gene pool somewhere. There is a slight boiled sweet flavour to mine but I'm hoping that harvesting a few days earlier will reduce that, even so they are plenty good enough to make this an interesting area for research. I would like to be able to recommend a named hybrid and specify its flavour but it is proving difficult. My main plants are a single unnamed clone and the 10 named hybrids I bought last year won't fruit until next spring. I have tried putting requests on the epi growers newsletter, but there's not a lot of interest there - most growers remove the fruit to improve flowering, of the few that keep them for breeding very few have tasted them, and of those I have found none who can name the good ones. Regards. PS. Yes I do seem to have dropped off the list but I keep up via the old RFN site. My preferred address is roy@cthonic.com though I use my work address for off-web letters. Subject: RE: What Is This Fruit? CANEPA? Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2000 18:45:04 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: CRMSNTD@concentric.net Hi Chris, It is a Mamoncillo or Spanish Lime (Melicoccus bijugatus), a relative of the lychee and longan. It is grown in Florida and Hawaii. Best regards, Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net Subject: Epi fruits - untapped resource? Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 16:07:09 GMT From: roy.dynan@talk21.com roy@cthonic.com ? Hi Leo, I've been lurking a bit on Rare Fruit News, but I'm still collecting wisdom on cactus fruits by pumping anyone who mentions them, especially epi's because they seem to be an untapped resource. I'm sending this to you because you might find David L Crawford's letter (#2 of 3) as interesting as I did, and he has agreed I can post it to you. I have included my stuff for context but please feel free to edit it out. I'm using my own email address for web postings to avoid upsetting my employer, it is roy@cthonic.com. I was hoping to get a meaningful domain like yours but the correct spelling had already been taken (one of the disadvantages of sharing a language with the web pioneers). Regards Roy mailto:roy.dynan@talk21.com mailto:roy@cthonic.com -----Original Message----- From: Dynan,Roy Sent: 03 March 2000 14:36 NRN R To: 'David L Crawford' Subject: RE: Epi fruit David, Thank you very much for replying so soon. I'm a similar age (49 soon) and despite only having about 15 apple trees in my back garden (all different heritage types, all small tight cordons), I was somewhat embarrassed recently when I realised that when two lost their labels I couldn't remember which was which - I'm going to have to wait until they both fruit in the same year before I can identify them! Epis are notoriously difficult to name, and I have no idea what my original one is. I suspect the UK epi society could tell me because it is so common - its hardiness is outstanding and you will usually find it on the windowsills of even the most desultory gardeners. UK gardening societies tend to be unbearably stuffy so I'm putting this off as long as possible - the fruit growers are OK of course - something about keeping your feet on the ground. My epi might be of interest to you because it has a fairly intense raspberry/blackberry flavour - not as intense as passionfruit but moreso than mulberry. I wouldn't say it was significantly less sweet than a raspberry but they are so variable. Have you ever tried Pitaya Amarilla? (selenicereus) - they are delicious but fairly subtle, on balance I probably prefer my epi fruit though it does have a hint of 'boiled sweet' about it. I will try harvesting a little earlier even if I have to lose some of the flavours I want. Since tasting my first crop from this unnamed hybrid I have invested in a mixed bag of 10 cuttings from Paul Shirley in Holland, but it will be at least another year before any of them produce. PS. Are you aware of the California Rare Fruit Growers or Leo Manuel's rarefruit newsletter? I think your letter would be of interest to the Leo's friends, and with your permission I would like to forward this 'triple' to it. If you want to look at the setup before agreeing it would be best to start at Leo's website (www.rarefruit.com ). Please say yes. Thanks again. PPS. I find the prospect of anise a bit off-putting too, I can't stand anise drinks and I can only just cope with caraway. Liquorice is sort of OK. -----Original Message----- From: David L Crawford [SMTP:dlcrawford@home.com] Sent: 01 March 2000 07:22 To: roy.dynan Subject: Re: Epi fruit I have a rather checkered past when it comes to the world of epips. I'm 50 last year. Back in my late teens I took over control of my Dads collection of some 30/40 plants that his father had sent to him over many more years than I'd been alive. Over the next ~20 yrs. I built the collection up to over 100 pots. Most of these never had names. Grand dad would use a pin and "brand" the cutting leaf with the name. Eventually that starting leaf would disappear and with it the ID. We also had a friend name of Cactus Max - here in the San Francisco east bay area - that ran a cactus nursery. He loved the epips and had a huge greenhouse where he made hybrids and kept his collection. As he grew too old to take care of the plants, I was given many of his in house hybrids. These are the plants that I played with and which grew my "fruits". Some time in the late 80s there was a terrible Alaskan cold front that dropped down with no advance warning and killed everything. (including most of the eucalyptus tree in the parks around here). The reaction was rather like having a old dog finally dies and to resolve that I'm just not going to go there again! I love to garden and about 6 years ago made a 10 x 10 potting shed that I covered most of the sides with plastic. I have gradually worked my way back up to about a dozen plants that have nearly taken over the shed. So, rather than have the plants get killed again, I have finished the first 20' of a 16 x 40 greenhouse. As soon as the rain stops I'll finish the rest and transfer the pots to their new home. And in what ever more time God allows me to play on this nasty little - every thing is temporary - rock, I'll turn my hand again to the most fun I've ever had working with plants. As I remember the taste always reminded me of a black berry that never developed enough sugar to be called sweet. I had one plant that produced many fruit that matured to the size and color of a Santa Rose plum that I learned to leave on until the fruit split. I remember going out every day and checking them - if left on after they split and rot within hours. They had a unique, wonderful flavor that I looked forward to every year. This was the plant that I hand pollinated every flower to try to produce the fruit. It set a dozen to ~20 every year and although became thin, would regain its strength every year during the late fall and winter. When I'm not in the garden, I work with the bees. Here in the east bay the late summer dry hills grow major acreage of anise. The honey from these hive must be harvested before ANY anise gets added. The flavor is strong and unmistakable! My calibrated taste buds that KNOW the presence of anise from a life time of sampling for it in the honey. I've made no association of the flavor with the epip fruits. Gracious - - didn't mean to turn this into a life history. As with most of us that love our hobbies, I could, given less than half a chance, talk for hours. David L Crawford mailto:dlcrawford@home.com] ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Tuesday, February 29, 2000 8:53 AM Subject: Epi fruit > Hi David, > > Did you see my posting on epi fruit? Can you recommend any varieties for > fruit quality or are you growing the same 'raspberry boiled sweet' that I > am? > > Although ideally I'm looking to put flavours to named hybrids, any hints > from an expert would be helpful.... eg. Alain Jette suggested that hybrids > 'near' a species were best - this will definitely come in handy but how > laborious might it be to trace sires and dams in a consistent way? and a > cross of a cross could still in theory end up very close to the species > (like they're doing with the zebra/quaggas). > > Have you come across any unusual flavours? It was Alain who mentioned the > possibility of anise-type flavours - not that it appeals that much, but > maybe you have to taste it. After all, I very carefully tried mustard > ice-cream in a restaurant last week - and it was delicious! > > Regards. Subject: Bananas and Avocado Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 08:47:57 -0800 (PST) From: Eunice Messner To: Nan Sterman Nan... I'm inclined to think weather and growing conditions determine when a banana will ripen. One would have to know the normal ripening time for a particular variety under the best growing conditions and plant a pup accordingly. As to avocado, have you tried Bacon or Stewart avocado? They will take the most cold. Eunice Messner Eunice Messner mailto:eunicemessner@yahoo.com> From: Jeff Subject: Citrumelo / Citrandarin: How Do They Taste?? Date: Fri, Mar 3, 2000, 1:57 PM Hi, I am interested in citrumelos and Citrandarins. I've seen pictures of the fruit, but have never seen the fruit first hand. As a side note, I have not found Poncirus fruit to taste all that bad. But, I do like sour fruits like lemons. The only citrus type I've tasted that I don't particularly care for are the Lemandarins (otaheite oranges). But anyhow, I am curious as to what the Citrumelo and Citrandarin fruit tastes like?? Could someone on the list give their impression on the flavor/taste on each type. I've heard the bitterness of Poncirus is apparent in the hybrids, but each hybrid must have a certain flavor from the citrus parent. Thank you for your time. Jeff / www.the-banana.com mailto:jeffrey@the-banana.com Please write directly to Jeff, as he is not on the mailing list. Leo Subject: Re: Papaya/Thank you for the advice Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 17:08:34 -0500 From: Tiffaney Denise Pete To: Tina Siegel Thank you so much for the information! :) Tiffaney At 06:23 PM 3/5/00 -0800, you wrote: >Common Solo Payayas grow quite tall before producing fruit. This is why >I grow dwarfs. When my papayas are only 7 feet tall fruit is ripening >only 2 1/2 feet above the ground! Pacific Coast Tropicals has a website >where you can buy 2 types of dwarf seeds. I`ve had good luck with both, >but Honeydew seems to have a higher rate of germination. Good luck! >P.S. http://www.pctgardens.com/instock.html for Pacific Coast page Leo says: By the way, Pacific Coast Tropical Gardens - Menlo Park, CA is having a moving sale! http://www.pctgardens.com/Frame2.html Subject: Bananas Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 14:24:22 -0800 From: Holzinger, Bob To: Nan Sterman Hi Nan, Your question on which banana to plant to get ripe fruit by November implies that you want fruit on a schedule. I know of no banana in our So. California climate that will do that. The varieties with "good tasting fruit" all take at least 18 months from pup to fruit, so it depends on when the pup comes up. The cold you experience could be a problem, 30 degrees is a little cold, but if you have dwarf bananas then you could get some protection from other trees or structures. The two I like are Dwarf Brazilian and Haa Haa. They need no support (unlike Goldfinger), they pup like crazy and the small fruits are quite tasty. Good luck, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Lychee Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 14:30:34 -0800 (PST) From: Eunice Messner To: Gloria Gloria Because of our dry winter up to January and no flush of new growth before the blossoms came on, I am predicting a good year for Lychee. They need the stress of no water preceding bloom and then this cold snap we are having is stressing them again. So, I'm salivating already. Lychee are so tempermental in Southern California. But maybe one of these days we'll get the hang of it. Girdling sometimes helps as does misting the tree. Hope yours is blossoming now. Eunice Messner mailto:eunicemessner@yahoo.com> Subject: Papaya seeds Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 14:47:59 -0800 (PST) From: Eunice Messner To: tiffaney@mindspring.com Tiffany Pete... Either way will work. If you plant the seeds right away you may leave the aril on. If you want to save seeds, then rub the aril off first. Papayas are subject to damp-off (dying at the soil level). Using a planting mix with spagnum peat moss in it helps to prevent it. Also I've been told a thin layer of sand on top of the pot helps. Remember when you set it out that they require excellent drainage. Keep your seedlings warm and on the dry side until the weather warms up. Happy growing, Eunice Messner mailto:eunicemessner@yahoo.com Subject: Re: Papaya seeds/Thanks Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 19:22:46 -0500 From: Tiffaney Denise Pete To: Eunice Messner Many thanks Eunice, as a matter of fact, I was out of the office for a week but I left behind a small pot w/some papaya seeds in it. To my surprise, one of the seeds has started to grow above the soil. It's sitting on top of my cubicle (which has direct access to a flourescent light above it). Unfortunately the seeds at my apt. have not grown as of yet. Thanks for the advice. I'll keep you posted! Tiffaney Pete mailto:tiffaney@mindspring.com Subject: "Canepa" Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 10:11:50 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Chris Hi Chris, I'm sure by now several people have emailed to tell you the fruit you ate in Puerto Rico, which the locals called "canepa", is also known as genip or mamoncillo. The scientific name is Melicoccus bijugatus. This fruit is grown in southern Florida, but most likely isn't available commercially. The trees are dioecious, so you will need a male and a female tree to get fruit of your own. Take care, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Canepa? Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 14:55:09 -0800 (PST) From: Eunice Messner To: CRMSNTD@concentric.net Chris... You were eating genipa (Melicocca bijuga). Also known as Spanish lime. I brought back seeds from Jamaica, but it is not very happy in our subtropical weather. It does require a male and female plant. Good luck! Eunice Messner mailto:eunicemessner@yahoo.com> Subject: Cultural information for fruits Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 14:56:07 -0800 (PST) From: Eunice Messner To: John Ingram John Ingram, Have you been told about the California Rare Fruit Growers webpage ? Everything you need to know is posted there. Going to chapter meetings is also very helpful as you meet people in your climate zone who can relate experiences. I think it was the year 1998 that our Fruit Gardener magazine featured edible palms. You might order back issues. I hope you become famous for your inovative landscape designs. Eunice Messner mailto:eunicemessner@yahoo.com> Subject: Want Tart Crisp Jujube: What's Its Name? Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 15:44:44 PST From: Beth Elliott Hi Leo & everyone! I have missed you. I have been gone but am back with a new e-ddress: bethelliottarts@hotmail.com Beth Elliott in San Pedro, Ca. I am growing 5-6 different varieties of bananas in my yard - 3 or which are in fruit now - one ready to harvest; a pineapple guava, some passion fruit, kiwi, rose apple, and kumquat. I am interested in planting jujube - the more tart & crisp one. Which variety is it? Look forward to hearing from everyone again. Beth Elliott mailto:bethelliottarts@hotmail.com ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ Subject: Re: Musa Basjoo Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 08:10:25 +0000 From: Dave Poole Reply-To: zingiber@onelist.com Ben de Witte wrote: >does anyone whether the bananas of Musa basjoo are edible are not? Do they taste bad or are they poisonous? And other info about this plant. Ben, The fruits of M basjoo are inedible on account of their tough, rather dry, fibrous nature and virtual lack of any sweetness or flavour. It is possibly the hardiest of all Musa species with a 'pseudo-trunk' tolerance of around minus 5C and overall tolerance to around minus 15C. At the lower temperatures the plant acts like an herbaceous perennial, completely dying back to the roots each winter and regrowing from the underground rhizome each spring. In order to get flowers, M. basjoo must have its 'stem' protected in cool areas since the incipient flower bud usually commences to grow up through the enfolding leaf sheathes ('stem') during late autumn/early winter prior to flowering. As with any Musa species, it thrives in a well drained, slightly acid soil that has been heavily manured. Masses of water and additional liquid feeds on a regular basis in summer, will promote very rapid growth. This species is slightly less tolerant of extreme summer heat than its more tropical relatives and growth tends to slow down at 30C and above. The ideal temperature range appears to be between 18 - 28C. although it will make commence growing at 10 - 12C. HTH Dave Poole mailto:dave-poole@ilsham.demon.co.uk TORQUAY UK ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: New Fruit Coatings Help Abate Post-Harvest Fruit Decay Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 09:39:51 -0500 From: Jesœs Garc’a The shine that helps fruits glisten at the local produce stand may soon be only the most visible manifestation of a more natural way to preserve fruit-34 million tons harvested in the U.S. in 1998-while on its way to market. Agricultural Research Service scientists and cooperators have developed fruit coatings made from reformulated shellac and sucrose ester, a compound derived from combining sugar with a fatty acid. These biocontrol coatings help maintain quality by promoting the growth of beneficial bacterial and yeast populations naturally on the fruit. The research is part of a continuing effort to decrease fruit producers' reliance on chemicals to delay post-harvest decay. The chemicals traditionally used to preserve harvested fruit-imazalil, which costs $1,000 per liter, and thiabendazol for Florida grapefruit-have been found to kill beneficial bacterial and yeast populations. These populations help maintain fruit quality by competing more efficiently than pathogens for nutrients, such as sugars and proteins, at a critical early stage in the pathogen's development. In essence, these beneficial bacteria and yeasts starve the pathogens that would otherwise feast on the fruit nutrients and cause decay. Raymond McGuire at ARS' Subtropical Horticulture Research Station in Miami, Fla., and cooperators from Mantrose Haeuser Co Inc. of Westport, Conn., have also tested both reformulated shellac and sucrose ester coatings for their ability to reduce the development of off-flavors caused by the buildup of ethanol. Preliminary test results on grapefruit indicate that both the reformulated shellac and, to a larger extent, sucrose ester coatings prevented off-flavors by allowing for a better exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide than commercial chemicals permit. ARS is the chief research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Subject: Environmentally Friendly Insecticides Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 09:32:56 -0500 From: Judy McBride Environmentally friendly insecticides--an oxymoron? Not these sugar esters tested by Agricultural Research Service and university entomologists around the country. They're lethal to mites and soft-bodied insects--whiteflies, aphids, thrips and pear psylla--almost instantly after contact. Then Mother Nature takes over, degrading the esters into harmless sugars and fatty acids. And they do little harm to insect predators and are completely nontoxic to animals and people. In fact, some are approved as food-grade safe. AVA Chemical Ventures of Portsmouth, N.H., and ARS recently applied for a patent on the sugar esters. AVA hopes to have the first of these compounds on the market by the end of this year, pending registration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The sugar esters can kill up to 100 percent of the soft-bodied insects and mites they contact. And insects are not expected to develop resistance any time soon because of the way the esters work, according to ARS entomologist Gary Puterka at the agency's Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, W.Va. Puterka coordinated the studies nationwide and is co-inventor on the new patent. Throughout four years of tests, the sugar esters have been more--or as-- effective as conventional insecticides against mites and aphids in apple orchards; psylla in pear orchards; whiteflies, thrips and mites on vegetables; and whiteflies on cotton. Pear psylla have become resistant even to newer insecticides, according to Puterka, and mites are becoming resistant. The drawbacks: The esters must come into contact with the insect to be effective, and they don't kill insect eggs. Like insecticidal soaps, sugar esters kill insects by either suffocating them or by dissolving the waxy coating that protects them from drying environments. The concept of using sugar esters as an environmentally friendly insect control started about 10 years ago when ARS scientists in Beltsville, Md., found that the leaf hairs of wild tobacco plants exuded a sugar ester to defend itself against insects and other arthropods. >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - March 15, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - April 1, 2000 - AKA RFN200004A.txt --Notes In Passing 1. Look at the unusual residences of the new subscribers: Russia, France, Colorado, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania. 2. I'm looking for cutting(s) of selenicereus megalanthus (Pitaya Amarilla.) Do you know of a southern California place where I could buy (or trade for) them? In the meantime, I'm getting seeds to try to germinate and grow, but I'd like to get cuttings, also. 3. The last mango (and the only one on my young Nam Doc Mai) fell off the tree this week, but it's still hard and only very slightly colored yellow. Is this normal? ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, Rubstovsk, Russia, Wants To Grow Rare Fruit In Pots.... Alex Kolodejny New Subscriber - Alsace, France - Wants To Know About Hardy Citrus And Other Rare Fruit Philippe Rothgerber Rare Fruit News Online Information Rothgerber Philippe New Subscriber, Colorado, Interested In Whatever Will Grow Hers Dale Langford New Subscriber, Louisiana, Already Growing Bananas, Guavas, Papayas.... Nancy Rowe New Subscriber, PA, Growing Kumquat, Key Lime, White Sapote, Cherimoya,... Dan Sorensen New Subscriber, West Chester, PA, Has Kiwis, Figs, Pawpaws, Citrus.... Roger E. Bove --Readers Write Canepa Juan A. Rivero Hoax... Bananas, With Necrotizing Fasciitis (Flesh-Eating Bacteria) Douglas Lee Schales Pitaya Amarilla: Germination Roy Dynan Growing Passionfruit Incarnata In Russia - Question Alex Kolodejny Re: Growing Passionfruit Incarnata In Russia - Question Holzinger, Bob To: Alex Sapodilla, Mamey sapote, Star apple - In Southern California? Matthew Shugart Moringa Oleifera in Los Angeles Times Gladys Baird Jaboticaba - New Cultivar! Ricardo Barbosa Ice cream bananas Barry Moll Cocoa in the US-sources and variety discussion Barry & Margarita Specialty Crops - Any Suggestions? Steve Schultz Kiwis Sam Franc Re: Kiwis Leo Manuel To: Sam Franc Mangoes - Questions Levoin Vaughn" Re: Mangoes Leo Manuel To: Levoin Vaughn --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time http://www.umass.edu/umext/programs/agro/floriculture/floral_facts/pgzga.htm Moringa oleifera http://hoya.mobot.org/gradstudents/olson/oleifera.html --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List None, this time --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Adding Microbes to Transplant Mix Jesus Garcia, (301) 504-1627, jgarcia@ars-grin.gov ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, Rubstovsk, Russia, Wants To Grow Rare Fruit In Pots.... Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 16:20:52 +0600 From: Alex Kolodejny Hi Leo, I am Alex Kolodejny, in Rubtsovsk (Altay Province) Russia I found your site from California Rare Fruit Growers. I live in Russia in South-West Siberia with its extremally cold winter temperatures. I'm trying to grow some fruits indoor just for my interest and would like to find people with the same interests. Most of that fruits are absolutelly unknown here and most of them are impossible to be found in Russia. Currently I grow loquat, feijoa but they are young to bear yet and pepino. In the fall I could find cherimoya seedling, naranjilla and seeds of strawberry guava, carica quercifolia, raisin tree and now trying to plant them. Fruit trees I am growing: loquat, feijoa, pepino (no cultivars); carica quercifola, strawberry guava, raisin tree (just planted the seeds); naranjilla, cherimoya seedling, solanum scabrum, saracha edulis, strawberry-spinach (I don't know its latin name), passionfruit incarnata - (just made the orders and is waiting for they come). Fruit trees I want to grow: Mango, carambola, chrisophillum (cainito, oliveforme), sapodilla, pouterias, white sapotas, rheedeas (madrono ...), jaboticabas, dwarf banana and any other. I won't write a lot of names, one man told me after reading my list that I better must go and live in Malaysia ;-) Now I'm trying to collect money for somebody was able to help me. You see one good guy from Florida keeping nursery (I knew his nursery from CRFG site) tryed to help me, but money I sent him for he was able to send a parcel lost in the way, now he's waiting again. But my wife is very angry about me because $20 (+ $20 to send it) is very expensive for us ;-) May be sometime in future. Any other comments: No comments Any questions to be answered by newsletter readers: In CRFG site I read that cherimoya is not recomended for containers. May be there are some dwarf anona species to use as a root stock. I heard about some dwarf species in Brazil. May be they are inedible or poisoned I don't know. I don't remember their latin names just now but I can tell them in future. Another question is about its polination. Is there selfpolinating cherimoya cultivars or only they have such tendency? What is an aspirator-type Japanese apple-pollinators recommended for polination of cherimoya in CRFG fruit facts? May be somebody wants anything growing in Russia. I can find quite anything growing in Russia region. To buy it and send is much more easy than sending USD for me. Kind regards, Alex Kolodejny mailto:alex@rub-czn.altai.su Subject: New Subscriber - France - Wants To Know About Hardy Citrus, And.... Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 14:39:29 -0500 From: Philippe Rothgerber Hello ! I'm a fruit grower in Alsace, France, interested in rare fruits. We grow the following trees : -apples (among them red fleshed apples) -peaches -pears -apricots Our farm is near Strasbourg. I was always interested in all kind of fruit trees that could grow in our climate, especially citrus fruits... if any exist. I also have 4 paw paw (Asimina triloba) that should flower this year !) and I have done some documentation research on the actinidia arguta... (see Kiwifruit Enthusiasts Journal) Many thanks for adding me to the "rare fruits" mailing list ! Greetings from Alsace, France Philippe Rothgerber mailto:philippe@pomme.net www.pomme.net Subject: Rare Fruit News Online Information Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 05:38:00 -0500 From: Rothgerber Philippe or To: "INTERNET:leom@rarefruit.com" Hi Leo ! Thanks for your mail ! I'm sorry, KEJ (Kiwifruit Enthusiasts Journal) is not on the web... Earlier it was named "Actinidia Enthusiasts Newsletter". The whole thing was done by Michael Pilarski, Bob Glanzman, Roger Meyer, etc. If there are not too many mails, I would welcome you to use "philippe@pomme.net" for my e-mail address. I can check this e-mail from anywhere in the world, and I get a notification on my cell-phone... and the "pomme.net" looks better for an apple grower !!! Many thanks again & greetings from Alsace Philippe Rothgerber mailto:philippe@pomme.net or mailto:phr@compuserve.com Subject: New Subscriber, Colorado, Interested In Whatever Will Grow In CO Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 15:31:55 EST From: Dale Langford I am Dale Langford, of Northglenn, Colorado I am growing all the common things for this area plus trying paw-paws, persimmon , jujube,etc. on an experimental basis. Also I am a weekly "green-thumb" columnist (newspaper) and welcome information on all things related. Dale Langford mailto:dale3693@aol.com Subject: New Subscriber, Louisiana, Already Growing Bananas, Guavas, Papayas.... Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 14:07:30 -0600 From: Nancy Rowe Attached is the info. requested. I'd be thrilled to receive your newsletter. I am Nancy Anne Rowe, in Lafayette, LA I successfully (for the most part) grow bananas, strawberry and pineapple guavas, papayas (beautiful, beautiful foliage!); am rasslin' with mango, passionfruit. High hopes for persimmons this year, paw-paw someday (have one, just became aware that a second is necessary for pollenation). Also loquat, some dwarf citrus (not too rare). Are there accessible archives for your newsletters? Or perhaps a topic search? My ignorance is boundless; most success achieved by pure dumb luck. Thank you. Nancy Rowe mailto:bspaleo@iamerica.net Subject: Rare Fruit Newsletter Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 19:46:03 -0500 From: Dan Sorensen I am Dan Sorensen, in Russell, PA I am now growing - Meiwa & Nagami Kumquat, Key Lime, White Sapote, Cherimoya and, though not "rare", the related Pawpaw, One papaya seedling, Passionfruit; I've undoubtedly forgotten something. Those I want to grow - Want Miracle fruit, Jaboticaba and Chico Sapote to replace ones I lost in a greenhouse fire a few years ago. Any other comments? I'm interested in almost any fruit culture and usually try anything I can get for at least awhile so I can get familiar with the species. I've also been a member of North American Fruit Explorers and CRFG for many years. Dan Sorensen mailto:dan@penn.com N.W. Pennsylvania USDA Zone 5 Experimental Gardening Website at: http://users.penn.com/~dan/ Pennsylvania State Master Gardener & Ham Radio- WB8VEF Subject: New Subscriber, West Chester, PA, Has Kiwis, Figs, Pawpaws, Citrus.... Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 15:43:42 -0500 From: Roger E. Bove Hi, I am Roger Even Bove, of West Chester, PA Now I am growing Tender and Hardy Kiwis, figs, pawpaws and other stuff that I might admit to when they make it through the winter. In greenhouse - citrus and annonas Roger Even Bove, Ph.D. mailto:rbove@wcupa.edu Associate Professor of Economics West Chester University -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Canepa Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 00:40:54 -0400 From: Juan A. Rivero To: CRMSNTD@concentric.net Hi Chris: The correct name is not canepa but quenepa. I will repeat some of what I said in a previous number of the Rarefruit News Online. The fruit is a native of Northern South America but it occurs throughout the Antilles, the Bahamas, Trinidad, Curacao and is cultivated in Central America, Ecuador, Florida, Bermuda and California. The size and quality of the fruit is very variable. In some varieties the pulp is quite thick and is easily separated from the seed, which may also be relatively small. Others may be as sour as a lime. Some may be as good as the best lychees but with a completely different flavor. The seed may be roasted and is edible and eatable. The common name of the fruit is mamon (with an accent on the o), mamoncillo, limoncillo, quenette, quenepa, ginep, among others. The names genip or genipa, which may be derivations of quenepa, should be avoided as they correspond more properly to the jagua or genipa, Genipa americana, a tree that belongs to the same family as the coffee (Rubiaceae). The quenepa belongs to the Sapindaceae, which also includes the lychee, the rambutan, the longan, the pulasan and the Amrican cotoperiz (which is similar lo the quenepa) Harvest time in Puerto Rico is August, where you can see loaded trees and vendors along roads, especially in the dryer parts of the island. Try them before you buy them. Vendors allow that without offense. As far as I know, the only person who has suceeded in grafting the quenepa and who also has very good selections, is Milton Perez, Jardines Eneida, Box 1086, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico 00623. Best wishes Juan A. Rivero mailto:jarivero@caribe.net Subject: Hoax... Bananas, With Necrotizing Fasciitis (Flesh-Eating Bacteria) Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 18:53:22 -0500 From: Douglas Lee Schales In reply to your message dated: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 17:20:00 CST >>> >>>Several shipments of bananas from Costa Rica have been infected >>> >>>with necrotizing fasciitis, otherwise known as flesh eating >>> >>>bacteria. This is a hoax; details can be found at http://urbanlegends.tqn.com/culture/urbanlegends/library/blbananas.htm This site http://urbanlegends.tqn.com/ is a good place to check up on these... it's an interesting read in a free moment. There are lots of bizarre stories out there... Douglas Lee Schales mailto:schales@watson.ibm.com Subject: Pitaya Amarilla: Germination Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 12:49:57 GMT From: Roy Dynan Hi Leo, I have had no trouble germinating selenicereus and hylocereus in sand, but experts on the epi list recommend moist sphagnum moss for its fungicidal/germicidal properties. Are you also growing cereus peruvianus/validus/jacamaru? I may try these in a polytunnel here - they are supposed to be pretty hardy. Some validus fruits apparently have pink flesh! Roy Dynan mailto:roy.dynan@talk21.com Subject: Growing Passionfruit Incarnata In Russia - Question Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 13:43:03 +0600 From: Alex Kolodejny Dear Leo, I want to try growing passionfruit incarnata outdoor here (course it's too cold here in winters, but we can easily grow grape vines this way). Can anybody tell me about its pollination? Is it self-fertille? I ordered only one plant may be I need to buy another one. Need I to pollinate it by hands or it is selfpollinating? Can it bear fruits from new growings if the top dies in winter? What can you tell me about its quality and keeping characteristics? Is there any experience of growing passionfruits in cold areas? Kind regards, Alex Kolodejny mailto:alex@rub-czn.altai.su Subject: Re: Growing Passionfruit Incarnata In Russia - Question Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 11:53:16 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Alex Hello Alex, Passiflora incarnata dies back each fall, so it always has to flower and fruit on the current years growth. I have not heard of a self-fruitful clone, so you will need to hand pollinate to set fruit, unless the local bees will do it for you. Obviously you need at least two plants and since it's grown from seed, they will be different clones. I think the taste of the fruit will vary from good to very good, but I haven't tasted fruit from the wild plants in the Eastern U.S. People in the colder parts of the U.S. will grow P. incarnata outside successfully by mulching the roots after the stems die back. One more thing you need to know, P. incarnata will spread by root runners, so where you plant it the first year will not necessarily be where it grows the next year and the year after that. Good luck, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Sapodilla, Mamey Sapote, Star Apple - In Southern California? Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2000 16:32:12 -0800 From: Matthew Shugart Dear Leo and RFNO readers: I just returned from a business trip to Miami. While there I managed to sneak away one day to the Redland Fruit and Spice Park and I also stumbled upon a fruit stand called Robert Is Here, which sells many rare fruits. I'm wondering if any of the following fruits that I enjoyed there can be grown in southern California: Sapodilla, Mamey sapote, Star apple (not to be confused with star fruit or sugar apple, etc.; I think it is also known as camito) I don't expect good news here, but maybe someone will know of some success with at least one of these. Thanks in advance. Good growing, Matthew Shugart mailto:mshugart@ucsd.edu Carlsbad, California Subject: Moringa Oleifera in Los Angeles Times Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 19:13:07 -0800 From: Gladys Baird Leo: Hope all is well. Have been admiring the mangoes at the Bucklew property. Were you able to determine which trees are what cultivar? For the newsletter: There was a great article on Moringa oleifera on the front page of today's (Monday, 27 March 2000) Los Angeles Times. Can be seen at http:www.LATimes.com - click on "A common tee with rare powers" which is listed under "Today's Times." This article is similar to one that appeared in the Fruit Gardener last year. Gladys Baird mailto:tokiko@incom.net Subject: Jaboticaba - New Cultivar! Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 01:54:10 -0300 From: Ricardo Barbosa Hi Leo. I finally got an answer from Paulo de S‡. He and his team discovered a new Jaboticaba cultivar that has dark red pulp. This does not surprise me. In Brazil we are still discovering indian tribes in the amazonic region that never contacted white men before. He will send me an air-layered small tree. Thanks for the information. How was your trip to the central state Missouri? I passed february in the beach to run away from the hot days we have here. Keep in contact. Ricardo Barbosa mailto:barbosa@orion.ufrgs.br Subject: Re: Ice cream bananas Date: Fri, 4 Jan 1980 21:55:40 -0500 From: Barry Moll Didn't I see something about a disease that is hitting the Ice Cream or Blue Java variety of bananas in Florida? What was it exactly? I have have a large stand of them growing for six years and have not had any problems until now. Two of the fruiting stalks have recently shriveled up before reaching half their maturity. Is this a virus which may effect the whole stand? I have four other bunches that are close to ripening which do not seem to have the problem. What should I do with the new trees growing around the effected trees? Could this also be a nutritional deficiency? Barry Moll mailto:mollb.lehighms.cameo@prodigy.net Subject: cocoa in the US-sources and variety discussion Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 00:22:38 -0500 From: Barry & Margarita Below is something I asked on the NAFEX listserv. I understand you have a newsletter. How does one access it? thanks for any help... >I would like to grow cocoa in my apartment. Does anyone know of a site >that discusses varieties and such??? also sources???? Barry & Margarita mailto:bmn@iglou.com Subject: Specialty Crops - Any Suggestions? Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 22:17:02 -0800 From: Steve Schultz My wife and I live in the small town of Terra Bella in the central part of the San Juaquin Valley in California - about a 40 minute drive north of Bakersfield. We live on 15 acres of mostly bare ground - we do grow 2 acres of golden nugget (pixy) mandarines and currently are planning to plant 4 acres of quince next spring (my father-in-law has been growing quince for years). We have a son who has some neurological challenges that will make him fairly dependent on us for the rest of his life. My wife and I are searching for specialty crops we could plant on our remaining 7-8 acres to provide a job for him, responsibility, and an income to help pay for his future care, needs, etc. He loves working with me in our little grove, driving the tractor, hoeing weeds, etc. So our intent in all of this is to provide something for him, not us. We live in an area that is overwhelmed with citrus, and we are looking for a specialty crop that we could plant that is not in such over-abundance. Something that has had and will continue to have a consistent return. I know that farming is often a crap-shoot, but we would feel more comfortable with a crop that has some proven consistency or a positive future market. If anyone could recommend crops to research I would greatly appreciate it. I would also like to visit any crops currently in the ground, talk with you about its potential, etc. The crops we will plant will need to be tree fruit that would be irrigated by a drip system (our well does not accomodate gated or sprinkler pipe irrigation, etc.) Any assistance anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated. Steve Schultz mailto:schultz@porterville.k12.ca.us Terra Bella, CA 93270 Subject: Kiwis Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 09:45:22 -0800 From: Sam Franc I know you live in San Diego and all Kiwis grow fine there. I live on the Oregon coast and grow Blake and an unknown variety I got from friends. Here Blake grows as a long narrow fruit, not fat like I see most Haywards in the store. The weather here is quite cool all summer with some frost in the winter and an occasional bad freeze. Lowest I have seen is 9 in 1990 Blake is reported to be self fruitful but I have not found it so/ Another reported self fruitful is Elmwood. It was also recommended for pour climate. Do you have any feelings about the best variety for our climate? Sam Franc mailto:franc@harborside.com Subject: Re: Kiwis Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 15:55:50 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: Sam Franc Hi Sam, We can only grow kiwis that require little winter chill in the mild climate areas near the coast. Hayward will not produce at my home. I don't believe there is a self-fruitful kiwi, but I may be mistaken. What some growers do is graft a female onto a male. The male is often more vigorous growing and must be kept pruned more dramatically. It is important that the male and female have similar chill requirements, in order for them to bloom at the same time. I will publish your letter in the newsletter and possibly others will have more information. Yours, Leo Subject: Mangoes Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 19:18:16 -0500 From: Levoin Vaughn You sent me (Savannah GA) some info on mangoes a few weeks ago. Thanks. I found a Florida source and ordered two mango trees. They are sending me an East Indian Mango that they said I could plant in the ground around June and a Carrie that they said I could keep in a pot if I wanted two. They said it would fruit July each year even in a pot and both can be kept to 8' by pruning in fall. Just trying to get a second opinion and as much info on mangoes as I can. Do you know how tall each of these trees will grow if I plant them both in the ground. Do you have any information (pamplets or brochures) you can send me on the care of the plants, desease treatment, etc. Can I plant the trees within four feet of my house? Levoin Vaughn" mailto:levoin@earthlink.net Subject: Re: Mangoes Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 06:45:54 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: Levoin Vaughn Hi Levoin, It may depend on the rootstock that your Carrie is grafted on, but Carrie at my home hasn't grown over five feet tall, in the ground. It is related to Julie, known to be more dwarfing. Also, my soil may be different. At my previous home, I needed the warmth and protection of my house for planting mango trees. I planted them two feet from the house, and they did well. They did not grow very large, as I kept them pruned. I had mango trees planted along both the west and south walls. I will publish your letter. Horticordially, Leo ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: Adding Microbes to Transplant Mix Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2000 09:51:57 -0500 From: "ARS News Service" Tomato and pepper farmers can now add microbes along with their transplant mix to the arsenal of production practices used to reduce yield losses caused by soilborne pathogens--including root-knot nematodes. The microbe-amended transplant mix is being developed by Agricultural Research Service scientists at the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce, Fla., led by Nancy K. Burelle, in cooperation with Gustafson LLC of Plano, Texas. The transplant mix, called BioYield 213, is amended with two naturally occurring soil microorganisms--Paenobacillus macerans and Bacillus amyloliquefacien. The mix provides the microorganisms with the environment they need to grow on the root surface of seedlings. Once this occurs, the microbes then stimulate vigorous growth and improve the health of the transplanted seedling by triggering the plant's resistance mechanisms. This research is part of an ongoing ARS effort to provide farmers with alternatives to the use of methyl bromide, an ozone-depleting soil fumigant being phased out by 2005. Benefits continue to be observed in seedlings out in the field. Greenhouse producers can expect to grow seedlings in a shorter time period and farmers can anticipate 5 to 20 percent yield increases in tomatoes, bell peppers and even strawberries. The mix will be made commercially available to transplant producers in the fall after grower trials are concluded. This research is helping scientists gauge the effectiveness of other alternatives to methyl bromide. For example, when this technology is combined with alternative soil treatments such as Telone II and PLANTPRO 45, levels of crop productivity approach those achieved with methyl bromide. But results also indicate that combining the new formulations with the commonly used practice of solarization--a process that creates an inhospitable environment for detrimental microbes by covering the soil with plastic to heat it, for 6 to 8 weeks in the summer--does not enhance control of root-knot nematodes. As the phasing out of methyl bromide proceeds, this technology will provide growers with an effective, economical and sustainable alternative component that they can use with existing methods. ARS is the chief research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - April 1, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - April 15, 2000 - AKA RFN200004B.txt --Notes In Passing Leo's Quest For Selenicereus Megalanthus (Pitaya Amarilla) 1. A true friend sent me seeds, some of which are sprouting only a week after planting them. I've got to devise something (maybe with your help) to keep the slugs and snails away from them, without encouraging fungicidal diseases. So far, I'm keeping them enclosed with plastic wrap over the top. 2. I found that Tropical Fruit Trees Nursery, 7341 121st Terrace North, Largo, FL 33773 (813) 539-7527, had seedlings and cuttings to sell, and I received two bare-root plants that are quite nice. Alan doesn't have a webpage, but his email mailto:zambesi@gte.net works fine. His prices were better by far(!) than Dave Silber at Papaya Tree Nursery. You'll find some of the correspondence between Alan and myself, in the "Readers Write" section, below. 3. I've found that cuttings of various Hylocereus and Cereus will root very quickly, given bottom heat, and a little rooting hormone. I keep the planting medium only slightly moist, until after rootlets form, and then water sparingly. 4. You'll find at least everything you want to know about Barbados Cherry in the Web Page section. Also in the same section is an excellent web page, Fruit Trees and Promising Crops of the Amazon. It is in Spanish, but the pictures are great. 5. In a later section is something I found of interest, and I'd like to see feedback from you, if you've used the product, described in "Golden Harvest Fertilizer - With Gibberellic Acid!" ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, Florida, Looking For Star Fruit Tree al pergande New Subscriber, CA, Growing Papayas; Interested In Mangos and Bananas Gus Olson New Subscriber, CA, (Near Salton Sea) Felix Mercado New Subscriber, Moorpark, CA; Too Cold For Some Rare Fruit Michael Zarky New Subscriber, Mountain View, CA; Can I Grow Mango? Keith Lee --Readers Write Re: Still Looking For Surinam Cherry scoutdog@pacbell.net Re: Still Looking For Surinam Cherry Mark Presky Re: Still Looking For Surinam Cherry Eunice Messner Re: Still Looking For Surinam Cherry Mark Presky Pitaya Amarilla (Selenicereus Megalanthus); Have Cuttings To Sell? Leo Manuel To: Alan Re: Pitaya Amarilla (Selenicereus Megalanthus); Have Cuttings To Sell? Alan Smith Re: Pitaya Amarilla (Selenicereus Megalanthus); Have Cuttings To Sell? Alan Smith Re: Pitaya Amarilla (Selenicereus Megalanthus); Have Cuttings To Sell? Alan Smith Horseradish Tree and Noni Alan Smith Help! I Can't View "Rare Fruit News Online" "Bove, Roger E." Re: Help! I Can't View "Rare Fruit News Online" Leo Manuel Bananas Matthew Shugart Moringa Gladys Baird Sapodilla, mamey sapote, caimito "Holzinger, Bob" To: "'mshugart@ucsd.edu'" How big does surinam cherry grow? Nan Sterman Re: How big does surinam cherry grow? Leo Manuel To: Nan Sterman RE: Miracle Fruit Care "Erica Lynne" --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List Rooting hormones nafex@egroups.com "Hortus" Re: Rooting hormones jhecksel@voyager.net Rooting hormones "Hortus" Rooting hormones ... a few more comments "Hortus" --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Spinosad Zaps Mediterranean Fruit Fly "ARS News Service" ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, Florida, Looking For Star Fruit Tree Date: Sun, 02 Apr 2000 01:56:27 -0500 From: al pergande Hi - please add me to your mailing list. I am Al Pergande in Orlando, Fla I have some citrus (Navel & Page Orange, Limequat & lemon), and am looking for a Star Fruit tree, preferable in the Orlando area. I found a place in Miami, but I hate to drive a tree 250 miles on the freeway. Thanks Al Pergande mailto:al@ink19.com Subject: New Subscriber, CA, Growing Papayas; Interested In Mangos and Bananas Date: Sun, 2 Apr 2000 18:42:15 EDT From: Gus Olson Dear Mr. Manuel: I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter. Currently I am growing papayas (Mexican and Solo), Also, I am interested in growing mangoes and bananas. Thanks, Gus Olson mailto:GusOlson@aol.com Subject: New Subscriber, CA, (Near Salton Sea) Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2000 16:50:07 EDT From: Felix Mercado Hi, I am Felix H. Mercado in North Shore, Calif. (Salton Sea area) I am growing: Mango and citrus varieties. Other misc. tropical fruits. Interested in edible landscaping. Desert area, (banana belt). Also interested in edible landscaping for mountain area; San Jacinto mountains, 4500 feet. Felix Mercado mailto:Felmar1@aol.com Subject: New Subscriber, Moorpark, CA; Too Cold For Some Rare Fruit Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 07:14:14 -0700 From: Michael Zarky Hi, I am Michael Zarky, in Moorpark, California Fruit trees I am growing: Jobaticaba; cherimoya; pitanga; Cherry of the Rio Grande; Grumichama; Papaya; Canistel; Passionfruit; Banana; White Sapote; [citrus, pome, and stone fruit] It is a little too cold here for a lot of what I grow. Michael Zarky mailto:mzarky@earthlink.net Subject: New Subscriber, Mountain View, CA; Can I Grow Mango? Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2000 14:08:44 -0700 From: Elaine Lee Dear Leo: Please add me to your mailing list. I am interested in growing kiwi, strawberry guava, and would love to grow mango (is it really possible??). I have planted: Apples, Superfin pear, peaches, avocado, lemon, Buddha's hand citron, and Kaffir lime. Thank you and I look forward to sharing your thoughts about growing rare fruits! Regards, Elaine of Mountain View, California mailto:loulee@sirius.com -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Re: Still Looking For Surinam Cherry Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2000 21:13:44 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: markpresky@worldnet.att.net Hi Mark, I bought one up your way from a nursery, but I don't remember the name. $5 for a 1 gal. You might try calling some of the nurseries listed on the CRFG.org site and see if they know of a nursery near you that would have one. If you ever come to Orange county I have a 1 gal seedling I could give you. Good luck. Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net Mark Presky wrote: Leo, Hello. Several months ago I mentioned that I was having difficulty finding a Surinam Cherry. I'm still interested if someone has a lead for me. I would like to avoid being gouged, and, if possible to find one within an hour's drive of West LA. Thanks for your help. Mark Presky mailto:markpresky@worldnet.att.net Subject: Re: Still Looking For Surinam Cherry Date: Sun, 02 Apr 2000 19:15:25 -0700 From: Mark Presky Leo, Thank you for the reply. A while back I discovered that none of the local nurseries I checked had the Surinam Cherry. I did find one in the San Fernando Valley that wanted $45 for a small, one gallon plant. I would be happy to hear from any members/subscribers who live in my locale (West LA/Santa Monica) who know of a place nearby from which I can obtain the plant at a reasonable price. Thanks. Mark Presky mailto:markpresky@worldnet.att.net Subject: Re: Still Looking For Surinam Cherry Date: Sun, 2 Apr 2000 14:16:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Eunice Messner To: Mark Presky Mark... You may want to consider buying a named variety of Surinam cherry. Seedlings seldom are as desirable as a named cultivar. Two Florida introductions,'Lorver' and 'Vermillion' are orange/red and taste similar to a nectarine. A black California one, more reminiscent of cherries, is "Westree 369'. I have two large fruited, black ones from Hawaii but they most often have that undesirable aftertaste. Have you inquired of Dave Silber at Papaya Tree Nursery? 818 362-3680? He is in Granada Hills. Eunice Messner Eunice Messner mailto:eunicemessner@yahoo.com Subject: Re: Still Looking For Surinam Cherry Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2000 13:35:18 -0700 From: Mark Presky To: scoutdog@pacbell.net Dear All, Thank you for the info. Sven, I will check out the link to nurseries later. Eunice, I did call Papaya Tree Nursery. I had called them for other plants a few years ago, and found them quite expensive. Apparently they haven't changed. I called them yesterday, and was quoted $55 for a 5 gal Surinam Cherry. 5 gal is the only size they have. I won't spend $55 for the Surinam. I trust you all agree. It must be available within 30 minutes of me for less. If you hear of any leads keep me posted. Again, thanks. Mark Presky mailto:markpresky@worldnet.att.net Subject: Pitaya Amarilla (Selenicereus Megalanthus); Have Cuttings To Sell? From: Leo To: Alan Smith To: Good morning Leo, These cuttings are the same price as a plant @$15.00, only shipping will be a little less. I have grown these from seed,purchased in NY. Cordially Alan Smith mailto:zambesi@gte.net Subject: Re: Pitaya Amarilla (Selenicereus Megalanthus); Have Cuttings To Sell? Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 22:59:18 -0700 From: Alan Smith To: Leo Hello Leo, I do not have a Web page and rarely advertise. Cordially Alan Smith mailto:zambesi@gte.net Subject: Re: Pitaya Amarilla (Selenicereus Megalanthus); Have Cuttings To Sell? Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 08:32:43 -0700 From: Alan Smith To: Leo Dear Leo, Thank you, I forgot to mention I have Acacia maidenii (Oz),and new Passionfruit P.edulis from China, "SatinGold",it has a matte shell and the fruit weight is superior to any other I have seen . Regards Alan Smith mailto:zambesi@gte.net Subject: Re: Pitaya Amarilla (Selenicereus Megalanthus); Have Cuttings To Sell? Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 22:59:18 -0700 From: Alan To: Leo Hello Leo, I do not have a Web page and rarely advertise. Cordially Alan Smith mailto:zambesi@gte.net Subject: Horseradish-Noni Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 09:24:51 -0700 From: Alan Smith To: Leo Good morning Leo, Happy to know they arrived sooner than anticipated. I have a few Horseradish trees @$25.00, Noni plants @$20.00 and a new Passiflora Edulis "Satin Gold" from China, it has a Matte Yellow shell and weighs almost 1/3 more than comparative fruits @$20.00. I should have M.Michelia alba latter in the year, also Gingko biloba as I hope to root the cuttings. I also have Thornless Kaffir Limes, Orangelo for NON Citrus producing States. Cordially Alan Smith mailto:zambesi@gte.net Subject: Help! I Can't View "Rare Fruit News Online" Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 09:52:19 -0400 From: Roger E Bove Can't you do something about this character set problem? Here's what my mail reader says: > This message uses a character set that is not supported by the Internet > Service. To view the original message content, open the attached > message. If the text doesn't display correctly, save the attachment to > disk, and then open it using a viewer that can display the original > character set. << File: message.txt >> Roger E Bove mailto: rbove@wcupa.edu Subject: Re: Help! I Can't View "Rare Fruit News Online" Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2000 08:32:32 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: "Bove, Roger E." Hi Roger, I have not had feedback from any of the more than 400 readers that there is a problem in reading the newsletter. I'll send another copy. Leo Subject: Bananas Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 14:23:45 -0700 From: Matthew Shugart In response to Bob's message to Nan, reprinted below, I am surprised to see Goldfinger mentioned as requiring support. I have a nice stand of Goldfinger and the trunks are so stout that they never need support. The location where I have mine gets a good degree of wind, but it's never a problem. Right now I have a stalk with probably 30+ lbs. of fruit about to ripen, and the stalk is leaning no more than maybe 15 degrees or so. I have them near a wall and have put up hooks with which to tie them up, but have never needed to. I do have to keep my Ice Cream tied up, though, or they would wind up in my neighbor's driveway. I'm also surprised that Nan has to worry about 30 degree temperatures. Must be quite a low spot! My 'record" is 33.5. Matthew Shugart mailto:mshugart@ucsd.edu Subject: Moringa Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2000 20:13:18 -0700 From: Gladys Baird More on the Moringa - I guess the original article on the front page of the LA Times has attracted a lot of attention. Below is an article from today's (6 April 2000) edition of the LA Times: Thursday, April 6, 2000 Tree With 'Rare Power' Is a Rarity Here By ROBERT SMAUS, Times Garden Editor The phone hasn't stopped ringing with the question "Where can I get a moringa tree?" since a story, "A Common Tree With Rare Power," appeared in the March 27 edition of The Times. When I went to the nursery this past weekend, the sales staff asked me, "What is this moringa tree that everyone is asking us about?" Also known by its common names of malunggay, drumstick plant, ben tree, benzolive, and horseradish tree, Moringa oleifera--to call it by its proper botanic name--is a common tree, native to northern India and found throughout the tropics. As the Page 1 story pointed out, the tree is used for everything from a coagulant to clearing muddy water to serving as a food and oil source. In developing countries, it is often planted just outside a home's backdoor. On the Web, there are many references to moringa and its uses, including one site, http://www. echonet.org, that offers a cookbook called "Learn to Eat Moringa" (write to ECHO, 17391 Durrance Road, North Ft. Myers, FL 33917-2239) . To answer everyone's questions, there are no local sources of the Moringa oleifolia (oleifolia means the leaves are olive-like) so it's not really a landscape plant. But there is a tree growing at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Seeds have been harvested by Gene Joseph and Jane Evans of Living Stones Nursery, also in Tucson, and they offer seedlings in 3-inch pots, through the mail (each costs about $10). They are on the Web at http://www.lithops.net or write to them at 2936 N. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85705. Evans told me that they grow the moringa as a bonsai subject, because it has a neat swollen base when it is young. She said the full-size tree at the University of Arizona is rather nondescript and the literature suggests it only lives for about 20 years anyway. But I guess if you need to clear muddy water. . . . Gladys Baird mailto:tokiko@incom.net Subject: Sapodilla, mamey sapote, caimito Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2000 15:20:48 -0700 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Matthew Shugarg Hi Matthew, Just a comment on the fruit you tried on your Florida trip. The sapodilla will probably survive So. Calif. winters and is worth trying, but go with a grafted tree, seedlings are rumored to not fruit sometimes. The mamey sapote may survive our winters, but I'm not sure how well it will fruit. The caimito is difficult and I don't think it will survive outside without a really good, frost free spot. One place to get grafted trees is Frankie's Nursery. If you want a price list, Leo should have one, or call Frankie in Waimanolo, Oahu at (808) 259-8737. Good luck, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: How big does surinam cherry grow? Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 22:39:27 -0700 From: Nan Sterman Hi Leo and readers -- I have a couple of vermillion surinam cherry plants that I grew from seed. How large should I expect them to grow? Thanks Nan Sterman San Diego County CA Sunset zone 24, USDA Zone 10b or 11 Subject: Re: How big does surinam cherry grow? Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 05:41:57 -0700 From: Leo To: Nan Sterman Hi Nan, I also have the Vermillion pitanga or surinam cherry, and they will become a small tree, probably 10 - 15 feet, depending on the soil conditions. However, they can be pruned to be kepsmaller, if you wish. I especially like the taste of Vermillion. I will publish your letter for others to respond. Horticordially, Leo Subject: RE: Miracle Fruit Care Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 04:30:51 -0400 From: Erica Lynne To: Leo Hi Leo, I can't remember a discussion of miracle fruit, but I've only been on the list for a year or so. Our local experts, David and Jenny Burd, gave me the following suggestions about miracle fruit: 1. Likes to be root bound, so keep in a pot. 2. Likes acid, so use peat moss. 3. Likes iron, so stick some rusty nails in the soil. Here in the very hot Florida sun, I have noticed that my plant does better in part shade. It gets morning sun. It is about 4 feet tall, flowers profusely and sets fruit well. It is in a 3 gallon pot. I water with town water. I don't know what is in it, but it tastes bad enough that I buy bottled water to drink. It is very slow-growing. It tolerated near-freezing temperatures one night with only slight leaf damage. There isn't a sensitive plant in the world that can exist in my care. I love my plants, trees and gardens, but I am not fussy about care. I even accidentally poured concentrated micro-element solution on the miracle fruit plant and there were no noticable effects. Good luck. Erica -----Original Message From Leo----- Hi Erica, I have a small Miracle Fruit bush and have heard that they are extremely sensitive to soil and water. I was advised to only use rain water or distilled water, for example. San Diego water is hard, and probably somewhat alkiline. I was also advised to keep it in a pot, a short ten gallon size. What is your experience and recommendation? Leo in San Diego ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: Spinosad Zaps Mediterranean Fruit Fly! Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 08:43:39 -0400 From: "ARS News Service" An environmentally friendly insecticide called spinosad may become the weapon of choice for fighting insects such as the Mediterranean fruit fly, one of the world's worst agricultural pests. Medflies can attack more than 200 different kinds of fruits and vegetables and could adapt easily to life in warm-weather states like California, Texas and Florida. Agricultural Research Service entomologist Roger I. Vargas and colleagues in Hawaii are exploring spinosad's potential. They are with the agency's U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center at Hilo. When applied at recommended rates, spinosad poses less risk than most insecticides to mammals, birds, fish and beneficial insects. Furthermore, spinosad is already approved for use on more than 100 crops. In coffee fields in Hawaii, the ARS scientists compared spinosad to malathion insecticide and to phloxine B, a dye that is also a promising alternative to malathion. Though malathion was the most effective, spinosad and phloxine B gave impressive levels of control. In addition, an important natural enemy of medfly--a small wasp known as Fopius arisanus--was significantly less susceptible to spinosad and phloxine B than to malathion. The reddish-brown and black wasp is harmless to humans. Spinosad or phloxine B may need to be applied more frequently than malathion, but the total amount of active ingredient released into the environment using spinosad or phloxine B would be far less, the research indicated. An article in the current issue of the agency's monthly magazine, Agricultural Research, tells more. View it on the World Wide Web at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/apr00/crop0400.htm ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's main research wing. >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - April 15, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - May 1, 2000 - AKA RFN20005A.txt --Notes In Passing I'm off to Missouri on May 1, so this issue of Rare Fruit News Online is being even more hastily assembled than usual. I apologize! Don't expect any quick answers to email written before the tenth of May, as I may not be able to respond before then. I'll be visiting my father, who will be ninety-four this October. ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, CA, Has Cherimoya, White Sapote, etc., Wants Grafting Tips Alex Utas New Subscriber, Oregon, Growing Surprising Array Of Fruit! Brynda Johnstone New Subscriber, CA, Wants To Grow Cherry of the Rio Grande, Jaboticaba.... Akiva Werbalowsky "Akiva" --Readers Write Controlling Snails/Slugs William Evans Controlling Slugs/Snails Donohue, Nancy Surinam Cherry Nan Sterman California Mango Trees - For Florida Richard A. Johnston tisha@peganet.com Subject: Re: California Mango Trees - For Florida Leo Manuel Subject: Re: California Mango Trees - For Florida Richard A. Johnston Re: Richard A. Johnston tisha@peganet.com Leo Manuel Questions about growing seeds of Sorbus and Blueberry Dr. Sandhya Gupta Re: Questions about growing seeds of Sorbus and Blueberry Dr. Sandhya Gupta P. edulis Holzinger, Bob Re: Selenicereus/Hylocereus Kelsay Schroeder Re: Selenicereus megalanthus or Mediocactus coccinea var. xanthocarpa, etc. Kelsay Schroeder Re: Russia George F. Emerich CC: Alex Kolodejny --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) Banana Micropropagation Keith Benson DVM --NAFEX List Tree Size Control - Novel Ideas --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None, this time ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, CA, Has Cherimoya, White Sapote, etc., Wants Grafting Tips Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 20:12:54 -0700 From: Leo Manuel To: leom@rarefruit.com >From Alex Utas Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 21:38:33 -0700 Hi, I am Alex Utas in Venice, CA Fruit trees I am growing are: Cherimoya, White Sapote, Pummelo; also fig, apricot, lemon, orange, grapefruit. I'd like to get Fuyu Persimmon I am a beginning grafter, no success so far. I look forward to receiving the newsletter! Alex Utas mailto:alexutas@mediaone.net Subject: New Subscriber, Oregon, Growing Surprising Array Of Fruit! Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 17:17:14 -0700 From: Brynda Johnstone Hi, My name is Brynda Johnstone. I live in Camas Valley, Oregon. We are located in the coast range at 1000 ft. elevation. We're about 20 miles due west from I-5 freeway, west of Roseburg OR. I am currently growing cold hardy bananas, aronia, loquats, meyer lemons, figs, akebia, elderberry, chestnuts, sea buckthorn, two types of guava, quince, cornelian cherries, pomegranate, honeyberry, goumi, and other more typical fruits. Please include me in your list for the newsletter. Thank you. Brynda Johnstone mailto:angela@wmni.net Subject: New Subscriber, CA, Wants Info on Cherry of the Rio Grande, .... Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 16:36:12 GMT From: Akiva Werbalowsky Hi, I am Akiva Werbalowsky, in Ojai, CA Currently, I am growing mango, sapotes, avocados, prunus, longan, guavas, pomegranites, citrus, surinam cherry, cherry of the rio grande, jaboticaba, palms,... I'd be interested in any info about Cherry of the Rio Grande, jaboticaba, and carambola. I grow almost exclusively organically. Thank you so much! Akiva Werbalowsky mailto:akivaw@hotmail.com -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: snails/ slugs Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 21:14:47 -0700 From: William Evans To: Leo Leo, Have you tried' sluggo'-iron phosphate based slug snail bait that's also a fertilizer. Also a mulch w/ cocoa mulch is a fair deterrent. The sluggo kills em w/i a day or two.... disrupts there chemistry... much better for the soil( and earthworms) than regular snail bait poison.....my only worry would be for deccolate snails-if any are around- which prey on baby snail/slug and eggs.... ..... a midnight foray w/ a flashlight and bucket of soapy water can be most productive(Think Eco Tourism here-"UPick Snail farm just ahead!".... then there's the beer traps ... but what a waste.:> If you get a fifty pound sack thru Peaceful Valley Farm Supply it's much more economical. Two pound size is 17 bucks or so.. worked well at knocking down the numbers last year- we just have a few thousand square foot lot. Bill Evans mailto:williamevans@home.com Poway, California Subject: slugs/snails Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 16:06:27 -0400 From: "Donohue, Nancy" To: Leo Hi, The solution is - Vaseline. I have the same problem, and this works. Slugs + snails will not cross a vaseline border, so put a strip of foil around the bottom of the pot + smear it with vaseline. Don't put it directly on the pot since it will become messy in time and difficult to clean. This idea can be used anywhere, like around the bottom of trees for caterpillars (gypsy moths) just use cloth instead of foil. It's cheap enough so you can use all you want. Nancy Donohue mailto:Nancy.Donohue@medec.com Subject: Surinam Cherry Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 22:36:25 -0700 From: Nan Sterman To: markpresky@worldnet.att.net Mark -- I can't believe anyone would charge $45 or $55 for a surinam cherry!!! I grow them from seed after I eat the fruit. So far, I've got several that have relatively good fruit. They may not be named varieties but they are not $45 either. If you can wait for the current crop to ripen, I'll send you some seed or drop it off next time I go to visit my folks in the S.F. Valley. Just REMIND me cause I do forget what I've promised some times. Nan Sterman mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com San Diego County CA Sunset zone 24, USDA hardiness zone 10b or 11 Subject: Calif. mango tree Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 23:45:19 +400 From: tisha@peganet.com To: leom@rarefruit.com Dear Sirs, I live in Port Charlotte Fl. 100 mi. south of Tampa. I would like to purchase a California Mango tree, type Edgehill. I have been in touch with a Calif. nursery but when it comes to the shipping and cost part they never reply to that part of the e-mail. Could you help me in this matter? Or put me in touch with a reputable person who could. Thank you for any help in this matter. Richard A. Johnston mailto:tisha@peganet.com Subject: Re: Calif. mango tree Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 21:22:40 -0700 From: Leo Manuel To: tisha@peganet.com Hi Richard, I will publish your letter on May 1, and see what replies we get. Why do you particularly want an Edgehill mango? I don't know of anyone who has had it who was pleased with it, overall, including myself. When I moved from my former home to where I am now, I didn't bother to bring a copy of it along. Your best bet, if you really want to try it, is to get graftwood and put it on. You might also check with some Florida people, such as Bruce Livingston or Bob Cannon II And, maybe check more with people who have tried it. What mango varieties do you now have? Most people here think that the 'Valencia Pride' is hard to beat, again, including myself. Sincerely, Leo Manuel, San Diego Subject: Calif. mango tree Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 23:02:24 +400 From: tisha@peganet.com To: leom@rarefruit.com Leo, I chose the Edgehill mango from a book because it ripened in Dec. to Feb. I've never tasted one. I have a Gleen, a Tommy adkins, also a Carrie, and a Keitt. All of these ripen in July, August. And the Keitt ripens in Sept. Oct. What I was looking for was a tree that ripens in Dec. and later so I could enjoy mango most of the year. As for the Santol web site , I got his name from the C.R.F.G org. and he wasn't a lot of help. So just as I was about to log off I typed in www.rarefruit.com and up you popped. My book also shows T-1, Reliable, Thomson, and Villasenor all ripening in Dec. to Jan. Also I've tryed to graft fruit trees in the past. I havn't given up . I've read books and made attempts but not one successful take. I want to thank you for taking the time to answer my e-mail. If you have any more suggestions I'm all ears. Richard A. Johnston mailto:tisha@peganet.com Subject: Re: Calif. mango tree Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 20:46:48 -0700 From: Leo Manuel To: tisha@peganet.com Hi, I think you'll find that it's the weather in California that makes our mangoes ripen later than yours do in Florida. Of those four also mentioned in your book, I like the VillaSenor better than Thomson. The man who introduced Reliable no longer grows it, as he much prefers Valancia Pride. Thomson mango tastes ok, but the fruit is small, and it doesn't bear every year, at least, for me. I haven't tried T-1. Talk to others who grow mangoes in Florida. Check with Bob Cannon Bob Cannon II mailto:tfnews@gate.net for his suggestion as to whether any Florida-grown mango will produce when you want it to. Ask him about his newsletter, also. Yours, Leo Subject: Questions about growing seeds of Sorbus and Blueberry Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 10:38:34 +0530 From: sandhya Hello Leo Though I am a subscriber and a regular reader of Rare Fruit News Online, this is for the first time I am writing to you for expert opinion. I have got some seeds of Sorbus and blue berry. How can I grow them in pots? If I want to grow them in lab condition what precaution or pre-treatment is recommended by you. Growing seeds in lab condition is to check their germination percentage. Looking forward for your reply. Thanks. Dr. Sandhya Gupta mailto:sandhya@nbpgr.delhi.nic.in Scientist, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources New Delhi-110 012, India Subject: Re: One opinion; there may be others, later Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 15:31:14 +0530 From: sandhya Hello Leo Thanks for being so quick to reply. I am looking forward to get more information. Thanks Dr. Sandhya Gupta mailto:sandhya@nbpgr.delhi.nic.in Leo Manuel wrote: > Hi Dr. Gupta > > Below is the response of one person to your query. I will publish your > letter in the next newsletter, and there may be other replies. > > > I don't have my Seeds of Woody Plants right at hand, but I'd pretty much > > rely on a minimum of 90 days cold stratification. I don't know if either is > > among the species that require alternating temperatures. Both are evolved > > to be spread by ingestion by birds, so scarification and or acid treatment > > may work. Don't we have experts in NAFEX for both genera? > > Be sure to caution him regarding the pH of the media in which the > > blueberry is grown. Low pH and high organic content will surely improve > > results. > > > > I've never actually grown either genus from seed. Subject: P. edulis Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 08:40:24 -0700 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: "'bspaleo@iamerica.net'" CC: "'Leo'" Hi Nancy, The passionfruit P. edulis is self-fruitful, but not every flower will set a fruit, unless you hand pollinate. Young plants will have a tendency to be light in their fruit set, but by the third year you should get a descent crop. You can pick the anthers and smear some pollen on the stigmas to get some fruit to set and if one of the ornamental varieties you have is P. caerulea, that pollen can be used also. But eventually the P. edulis will do it all by itself. Good luck, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Re:Selenicereus/Hylocereus Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 08:48:18 +0000 From: Kelsay Schroeder To: leom@rarefruit.com Dear Leo: I received my Selenicereus megalanthus from a private source a couple years ago as a tiny cutting. This cactus authority declared the correct scientific name to be Mediocactus coccinea var. xanthocarpa. He also sent another: Mediocactus coccinea, which as I understand it will have fruit with red skin instead of the yellow as the former has. My problem has been that although surviving outdoors in coastal Southern California where I live, they both seem extremely susceptible to rotting during our winters, unlike Hylocereus sp which do not seem to have as much of a problem. There has been no frost during this time. They are both planted in pots with a well draining soil. My question is does anyone know how to best raise these fruiting cacti? Speaking of Hylocereus, I ordered a new species to me, Hylocereus bronxiensis. The source for this was Bob Smoley's Gardenworld, 4038 Watters Ln. Gibsonia,PA 15044. Their website: www.bobsmoleys.com They are also sources of Hylocereus guatemalensis, H. ocamponis and H. polyrhizus. My question is has anyone heard of H. bronxiensis, what kind of fruit might be expected, its growth habits, etc. The owner at Bob Smoley's said he hadn't a clue but knew it was a species and not some hybrid. Alan Schroeder mailto:kelsay@straphael.sbceo.k12.ca.us Subject: Re: Selenicereus megalanthus or Mediocactus coccinea .... Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2000 07:05:20 +0000 From: Kelsay Schroeder To: Sven Merten My purpose in bringing up possible taxonomic variances regarding yellow pitaya is not to nit-pick but to make you aware of other references on the subject that might be out there and to know that one should know if the plant goes by different scientific names. Two years ago I spoke with Myron Kimnach, emeritus curator of the Huntington Botanical Gardens, who told me of the differences in scientific names and that there was great confusion as to which was which. He stated that it is unlikely we have the actual S. megalanthus as it is from the Amazon headwaters naturally growing in cocaine growing areas of Peru. Very difficult to go down and just collect as he was wanting to do. He thinks we have the Mediocactus species as does his colleague David Hunt of the Royal Botanic Garden Kew. All this is mentioned in the paper "Selenicereus Megalanthus (the Yellow Pitaya) a Climbing Cactus from Colombia and Peru" by Julia Weiss, Scheinvar and Mizrahi in the Sep-Oct 1995 issue of the Cactus and Succulent Journal. Letters to the editor and references even in the article at its end discuss the controversy. My main concern, whatever species we have, is it seems more difficult to grow than Hylocereus. Does anyone have ideas on why and how? Alan Schroeder mailto:kelsay@straphael.sbceo.k12.ca.us Subject: Re: Russia Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 10:03:55 -0700 From: "George F. Emerich" To: leom@rarefruit.com CC: Alex Kolodejny Leo: Thanks for the compliment, but I don't know what variety of cherimoya is pictured on your web page. The cut one might be either Bays or Pierce. I believe the other is not the same variety as the cut one and there a a lot that look like it does. It is extremely difficult to make an identification from a single fruit in any case as there is so much variation from fruit to fruit even on the same limb. Booth is the only one that I can probably identify pretty reliably from one fruit. George Emerich mailto:gemerich@tfb.com Leo Manuel wrote: > Hi Alex, > > I think that I copied the picture from an old magazine article, and have no > idea of what the cultivar is. You are welcome to use it. > > You might contact George Emerich for an opinion > of the cultivar's possible name, although it could be one of several. > He's a specialist in cherimoya, and very easy to approach. > > Yours, > > Leo > > Alex Kolodejny wrote: > > > > Hi Leo, > > > > The picture of cherimoya in your web site looks so appetizing! I have > > retouched it, it is in attached file if you want. Do you know what > > cultivar is it? I'm making the rare fruits web site in russian language. > > May I use this picture with description of cherimoya? > > > > Kind regards, Alex ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ Subject: Banana Micropropagation Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 08:21:12 -0700 From: Keith Benson DVM Reply-To: zingiber@egroups.com To: Home Plant Tissue Culture Ola Gang, I am posting this to both groups as I think many folk in each will be interested. Ian Maguire has put together an excellent webpage with great photos odescribing the micropropagation of banana and he is begining one with heliconia. Check it out: http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~trecweb/rellab/banana.htm Keith PS - I am moving to SC this summer and was wondering if anyone from the lists is in the Columbia Neighborhood. -- Keith G. Benson DVM Resident, Zoological Medicine Service University of California-Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital www.geocities.com/rainforest/2011 ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ Subject: Tree Size Control - Novel Ideas (NAFEX) BARK INVERSION This is an article on Dwarfing trees by other methods than by grafting, but it also talks of it. This article appeared in a gardening magazine on July of1957. I have tried it and believe in it. Gordon C. Nofs Dwarfing Fruit Trees by William Gilman Trees grow and so does the problem of living comfortably with them. Unless your grounds are of sizable proportions, there can be to much of a good thing-even a tree. Plant an infant, and in a few years you are struggling with a lusty usurper, intent on outgrowing the space limitations of your home grounds. Even if you attack with pruning shears, the surgery seems only to stimulate the tree's growth. That is why dwarf trees have been catching our fancy, arousing interest in the home landscaper-and also the fruit farmer who wants trees that bear sooner and are easier to pick. Not until you have seen the dramatic results of research at the Arnold Arboretum, can you realize how near we are getting to trees that are measured to order. Dr. Karl Sax can deftly peel off a three-quarter-inch-high band of bark from completely around an apple tree, then "graft" it back on, but upside down this time. The tree which would normally start producing fruit in its eight year now becomes a six-foot dwarf, bearing at three years of age. Several years later, it resumes growing-and is again dwarfed this way. Or take a shade tree, such as a maple. Invert a two-inch ring of bark when it has grown two thirds of the way up to an overhead power or telephone wire, and research indicates that the tree can be checked in growth before it engulfs the wire. Almost any young tree can be dwarfed by this bark-inversion method, says Dr. Sax. the arboretum's noted botanist-horticulturist and former director. He has done it on trees up to six inches. For even faster results in dwarfing a tree, he can reverse two bands of bark, one above the other. Just what happens? Obviously, this practice is not the same as a mouse or rabbit fatally girdling the tree. The difference is that Dr. Sax replaces the bark, deftly, although admittedly upside down. The dwarfing trick lies in this inversion. Now the sap cannot descend normally. It is retarded, the roots do not get enough nourishment and the trees growth is checked. Plant-growth fluids are manufactured in the leaves, but less of these nutrients can go to the roots. Thus, they accumulate in the top of the tree. It is this condition of growth above that explains earlier bearing and larger fruits. Four for one This is but one of the dwarfing methods used at the arboretum. All told, they add up to dr. Sax's firm conviction that "there is no longer any excuse for planting large fruit trees in the home garden." He sums it up this way. "On a plot that is large enough to grow four standard trees, it is possible to grow sixteen dwarfs. Instead of two standard varieties of apple, a pear and a peach, why not grow four varieties of apple four of peach and four of pear and four plums-with space left over for raspberries and grapes?" Bark inversion is obviously a method for the experienced green thumb. But there are many other dwarfing tricks that DR. Sax plays on trees, several of them not only eye-openers, but within the grasp of ordinary hands. Most curious perhaps is looping. A single loop, called the overhand knot is tied in the stem of a young seedling, in early summer when it is a limber whip. In a couple of years, the tree is a thriving dwarf with a pretzel like bulge in its trunk where the knot was tied. Dr. Sax began this as a quickie method for saving space in his testing orchard where experimental varieties have to spend several years. Three years later the knotted trees were only half the size of normal ones growing nearby. When he budded them with McIntosh buds, they bore fruit earlier than did near by trees of the conventional dwarf type (where dwarfing rootstock had been used). Using radioactive-tracer methods, he found that knotting works somewhat like bark inversion. It is a case of interference with the nutrient sap which does not flow up the loop in the knot easily-an uphill trip. Thus, the roots lose nourishment, and their loss becomes a gain for the fruiting top of the tree The heads of such trees are kept down to a height of about six feet. Actually, dwarf trees are not new. They have been grown by European gardeners for centuries. But only in recent years have they aroused enthusiasm in this country, and they are now on sale by many nurseries. Among standard types, apple trees are dwarfed by grafting on special dwarfing stocks, pears by grafting on quince varieties. The Arnold Arboretum experiments have been modernizing this technique. For instance, Dr. Sax has developed new dwarfing rootstocks for peaches and plums. The basic technique used is budding, the simplest form of grafting. When you learn how to do it, you will open a new way to fun and profit. For example, you can produce you own peaches and plums on trees that fruit quickly and are the right size for growing on a lawn or even in handy tubs which you can switch from lawn to patio. This possibility arises from the unique dwarfing rootstock that Dr. Sax found for peaches and plums. It is the Nanking cherry (Prunus Tomentosa). Hardy and inexpensive, it is a low shrub producing tasty but small sour cherries. Technically, this ornamental is more closely related to the peach and plum than it is to cherry. When you plant its seeds, they sprout like weeds, providing an abundance of seedlings for rootstock. When you bud scions from desired plums or peach on to this stock, they "catch on" easily and start fruiting in their second year. Dr. Sax's three year old peach trees dwarfed this way are only about six feet tall, but bear nearly 100 large peaches per tree after heavy thinning. Three-year-old Stanley plum trees dwarfed on Prunus Tomentosa are laden with fruit, though less than five feet high. Suppose a tree has not been grafted to grow like a midget, and you are timid about inverting the bark or tying knots. Even if the tree is already a few years old, it can be restrained without any grafting know-how, simply by looping its upper branches, or tying them together with string or rubber bands so that they form arches or bridges. Old Balkan Method A version of this method has been practiced in the Balkans for centuries Actually it is an easy and ornamental way to discourage upright growth. According to Dr. Sax this bending the branches into horizontal and upside down positions is another version of sap discouragement. The tree's growth is checked when the flow of nutrients to the roots is retarded. Similarly, you can get results from various methods of the type-tying branches to walls or fences, espalier fashion. Or you can stretch pear's upright branches out horizontally with strings anchored to the ground. -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None, this time >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - May 1, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - May 15, 2000 - AKA RFN200005B.txt --Notes In Passing Selenicereus Megalanthus - From One Fruit I May Get 200 Seedlings! Remember the seeds that I told you were sprouting? Some were much slower to begin growing, but I may get 200 seedlings from seeds sent, all of which came from one fruit! Sven Merten Says: 1. Perlite around plants keeps slugs and snails away. They don't like "walking" on it. [Question: Would diatomaceous earth also work? Leo] 2. When preparing Hylocereus to root cuttings. You can let the cut pieces sit for a week or so to heal the cuts. Then they will root in water (!) or in sand or in various potting soil mixes. Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, Arizona, Wants To Grow Everything Possible Robert Gear --Readers Write Selenicereus megalanthus or Mediocactus coccinea var. xanthocarpa? yossi mizrahi To: Leo Manuel Re: Query: Selenicereus megalanthus or Mediocactus coccinea var. xanthocarpa? Leo Manuel o: yossi mizrahi Re: Query: Selenicereus megalanthus or Mediocactus coccinea var. xanthocarpa? mizrahi@bgumail.bgu.ac.il (Yosef Mizrahi) To: Leo Yellow Pitaya Seed Source Sought Ricardo Barbosa Yellow Pitaya Information Exchange.... Leo Manuel To: Roy Dynan Re: Yellow Pitaya Information Exchange.... Roy Dynan Selenicereus Ben Poirier To: Alan Re: Selenicereus Kelsay Schroeder Re: Rare Fruit News Online - May 1, 2000 - 15 Leo Manuel To: Nan Sterman Cherimoya Grafts scoutdog@pacbell.net To: Leo Manuel Re: Cherimoya Grafts Leo Manuel Re: Cherimoya Grafts scoutdog@pacbell.net To: Leo Growing Mangos Richard K. Gross To: Mango Varieties For Florida Eunice Messner To: Tisha Where do you buy your perlite? Leo Manuel Re: Where do you buy your perlite? Sven Merten Calimoya.com Cherimoyas John Ruskey How Do I Get This Florida Tree 'Copied' To Grow In My Yard??? Jacqueline Bone Marrow Drive for Ning Nandhabiwat Sainarong Rasananda Fruit trees as screens? Nan Sterman Excessive Fruit Drop On My Lychees - How To Prevent It? L Nelson Brunner Anyone Have Success With Cherimoya Fruiting in FL? Edward Lin --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List None, this time --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None, this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Three Wasps from Mexico May Curb New Alien Scale Pest ARS News Service An Environmentally Friendly Pesticide Curtails Cotton Pests "ARS News Service" ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, Arizona, Wants To Grow Everything Possible Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 01:24:40 -0700 From: Robert Gear Hi, I am Robert L. Gear Jr. in Paradise Valley between Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona Fruit trees I am now growing are: Guava, papaya, avocado, banana, apple, peach, pear, plum, apricot, passion fruit, 10 types of citrus, carob, fig, 4 kinds of grape, mesquite, and lots of vegetable and herb types. I want to grow all that I am able to grow. Robert Gear mailto:naturopathicphy@pol.net> -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Selenicereus megalanthus or Mediocactus coccinea var. xanthocarpa? Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 11:46:13 +0300 (IDT) From: yossi mizrahi Dear Friends, I am glad to find more people interested in these interesting cacti. Just to warn you- there is a total chaos in the botanical terms used, and identity of these cacti. We have learnt something about them in the last 16 years of our R&D program to develop them as crops. I am attaching some references dealing with some of the questions you have raised. Also I would like you to know that I have a Ph.D. student (Mrs. Noemi Tel-Zur) who is trying to clarify the taxonomic identity of some of these species by using modern molecular and cytological techniques. We think that Mediocactus are identical to Selenicereus megalanthus. If you can send us some cuttings which we can root, we can identify them by DNA finger printing techniques and let you know their botanical identity. We need fresh roots since other parts of the plants are more difficult to obtain good DNA needed for such analyzes. Tel-Zur, N., Abbo, S., Myslabodski, D. and Mizrahi, Y. (1999). Modified CTAB procedure for DNA isolation from epiphytic cacti of the genera Hylocereus and Selenicereus (Cactaceae). Plant Molecular Biology Reporter17: 249-254. Lichtenzveig, J., Abbo, S., Nerd, A., Tel-Zur, N., & Mizrahi, Y. (2000). Cytology and Mating Systems in the Climbing Cacti Hylocereus and Selenicereus. Amer. J. Bot. (87(6): (in Press). Mizrahi, Y., Nerd, A. and Nobel, P.S. (1997). Cacti as crops. Horticultural Review. 18: 291-320. Nerd, A. and Mizrahi, Y. (1997). Reproductive biology of cactus fruit crops. Horticultural Review. 18: 321-346. Mizrahi, Y. and Nerd, A. (1999). Climbing and Columnar Cacti: New Arid Land Fruit Crops. In: Prespectives in New Crops and New Uses. Janick, J. Ed. 1999 ASHS Press Alexandria, VA pp. 358-366. I do hope that some of these references might help you. Please confrim acceptance of my reply, Sincerely yours, Yossi Mizrahi mailto:mizrahi@bgumail.bgu.ac.il> Department of Life Sciences Institutes for Applied Research Ben Gurion Univ of the Negev http://www.bgu.ac.il/life/mizrahi.html On Tue, 25 Apr 2000, Leo Manuel wrote: > A letter questioning whether it's really Selenicereus Megalanthus > that we have labeled as such. I'd very much like your opinion on > this, and whether you have seen both yellow-fruit pitayas to note > any difference. > > I've read most of what you have co-authored at NewFruit web page, > and appreciate the vast knowledge you have shared. > > And, I'd like to know if you have found Israel's Selenicereus > Megalanthus to be especially hard to keep alive during winter > months, as Mr. Schroeder has, here in Southern California. > > By the way, you may know one of my favorite mango 'persons' who > lives in Israel now, moving from Puerto Rico: > > Moshe Nadler > > Thanks in advance, for any insight you can provide, or for leads to > people who can. > > Horticordially, > > Leo Manuel Subject: Re: Query: Selenicereus megalanthus or Mediocactus coccinea var. xanthocarpa? Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 04:45:05 -0700 From: Leo Manuel To: yossi mizrahi Dear Dr. Mizrahi, Thanks for your response, and I hope you will have no objection if I include it in my free newsletter, Rare Fruit News Online, which will go out on May 15. A reader in Brazil, Ricardo Barbosa wants me to find a commercial seed source for the yellow pitaya, and I am sure many other readers would like to order them as well. If you know of one, would you let me know? Thanks for your help. Sincerely, Leo Manuel Subject: Re: Query: Selenicereus megalanthus or Mediocactus coccinea var. xanthocarpa? Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 15:04:53 +0200 From: mizrahi@bgumail.bgu.ac.il (Yosef Mizrahi) To: leom@rarefruit.com Dear Mr. Manuel, I have no objection of using our papers anywhere. This is why we publish them. As for source of seeds. I would recomend 2 places: 1. Huntignton Botanical Gardens in Pasadena USA; 2. Association of Succulent and Cactus Growers of America. Yours Yossi Yossi Mizrahi mailto:mizrahi@bgumail.bgu.ac.il> Department of Life Sciences Institutes for Applied Research Ben Gurion Univ of the Negev http://www.bgu.ac.il/life/mizrahi.html Subject: Yellow Pitaya Seed Source Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 02:51:08 -0300 From: "Ricardo Barbosa" Hi Leo. Your recent articles on Pitayas excited my interest. (Who sells seeds of the yellow Pitaya?) Good luck. Ricardo mailto:barbosa@orion.ufrgs.br Subject: Yellow Pitaya Information Exchange.... Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 05:00:57 -0700 From: Leo Manuel To: Roy Dynan Hi Roy, I have almost 200 tiny seedlings growing! I'm amazed at the number. Is that unusual? From how many fruit did the seed originate? A few of the early-to-sprout seedlings have tiny hair-like spines coming out at the top. It's exciting to watch them grow.... And I owe it all to you! Thanks again. Sincerely, Leo Subject: Re: Yellow Pitaya Information Exchange.... Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 15:28:22 BST From: roy.dynan@talk21.com Hi Leo, Spines are a good sign! You should see an obvious cactus shape emerge in the next few weeks though the seed leaves will remain visible as nubs on the stem for maybe a year. What I sent you were all the seeds from one fruit - there was roughly as much pulp as an average kiwi fruit though the skin was 3-5mm thick around it so the whole fruit was bigger. When the seeds came out the gel around them was only half the diameter you saw - the rest was water they took up when I washed them. I should have mentioned I owe the rare fruit community several big favours, because shortly after I got on your list (this time last year), Peggy Winter wrote to me out of the blue asking if I wanted anything from California when she visited London. To my eternal chagrin I didn't manage to get my act together to meet her here, but she left me a wonderful package containing a comprehensive pollination group of 5 different hylocereus sp. from a friend of hers (Jim Nietzel), and some very nice loquats too! This leaves me stunned with gratitude - as you can imagine it's an uphill struggle to think of anything you guys need that is available here so I was very pleased to help out with the seeds.... The process of extracting the seeds from the pulp (with a nylon straining bag) is very enjoyable - it's just a pity you can't taste it - a sort of subtle lychee/grape flavour which I can't describe. It's not a flavour that knocks your socks off like durian but one fruit is certainly never enough. The consistency is like ripe kiwi - the only hylocereus I've tasted had a consistency like watermelon - is this your experience too? Anyway, I'll contact Ricardo - I don't mind tasting one or two more, and it's just possible that he can get hold of a fruit himself - maybe I'm imagining it but he sounds like a man who has tasted one. I'll also ask if he can find any way to get the fruit into the US legally - do you import any fruit from Brazil at all? We import stuff from everywhere because we already have most of the problems that Europe does, and most really exotic pests wouldn't survive the winter. Colorado beetle is the main exception and we get the occasional tarantula in our bananas (but people queue up to give them a home). Regards Roy Dynan mailto:roy.dynan@talk21.com> [Note: Now you know from whom I got the seeds of Selenicereus Megalanthus. If you ask Roy for seeds, please offer him something of value in return, as postage isn't cheap. Leo] Subject: Selenicereus Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 16:44:18 -0700 From: Ben Poirier To: Kelsay Schroeder Alan, I am very interested in this difference between the Selenicereus. Over the past year I have obtained plants of S. megalanthus fom two different sources and believe they are two different plants. The spine pattern is different on the two plants, so I doube they are the same species. Don't have any info on how they do planted out as yet, but I plan on putting one in the ground later this year. Various Hylocereus sp. are doing well in the ground at this time. I am located in "avocado country" - northern San Diego county (near Fallbrook). I would be very interested in reading more specifics on the identification of these plants. Do you have any material that you could copy and mail, or email ?? Ben Poirier mailto:benplant@tfb.com Subject: Re: Selenicereus Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 08:26:59 +0000 From: Kelsay Schroeder To: Ben Poirier Dear Ben: I do not have any articles, etc. relating to the possible differences in what are masquerading as Selenicereus other than the ones I've already mentioned. You might try emailing Myron Kimnach, eneritus curator of the Huntington Gardens here in Southern California. He stated he has unpublished drawings/description of the true Selenicereus megalantha "which has very noticable arials and distinctive branches". The type specimen was at the Huntington but died in the freeze of 1990. He doubts we have the true S. megalantha as it is found naturally growing in cocaine areas of Peru, not a very easy place to just walk in and collect. Myron Kimnach's email: mailto:mkimnach@aol.com Sincerely, Alan Schroeder mailto:kelsay@straphael.sbceo.k12.ca.us Subject: Re: Rare Fruit News Online - May 1, 2000 - 15 Subject: Cherimoya Grafts Date: Tue, 02 May 2000 12:49:34 -0700 From: Sven Merten Hi Leo, I hope you had a good trip. I just checked the grafts I did from the scion wood you gave me and most of them have stared to grow already, I think 7 out of 9. Have you ever air-layered cherimoya? I was thinking about air-layering some of the branches I grafted, so that I can plant them on the property. Take care. Regards, Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net Subject: Re: Cherimoya Grafts Date: Sun, 07 May 2000 05:10:08 -0700 From: Leo Manuel Hi Sven, I'm somewhat surprised that the grafts are growing, as the wood had been at my home for long enough that grafts I placed were growing. I haven't checked to see if the airlayers are rooting on my cherimoya trees. It has been done, but apparently is less likely to be successful than are other propagation means. A more-likely-to-succeed plan might be to graft onto seedlings in pots, to plant on your property. If I have any duplicates of varieties on my grafted seedlings, you could have one of them. Yours, Leo Subject: Re: Cherimoya Grafts Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 07:37:49 -0700 From: scoutdog@pacbell.net Hi Leo, It looks like they all took except the Hugo, which is, of course, the one I wanted the most. Even the Hugo started to grow, but once it broke through the parafilm the scions dried out and have stopped growing. So the scion wood was about 2 weeks old and had been stored outside? That is surprising that any of them took. I've got about 20 seedlings (actually from fruit you gave us a year or so ago) that I will be able to graft later in the summer, so maybe I'll get some wood from George and graft those for the property. Take care. Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net Subject: Growing Mangos Date: Tue, 2 May 2000 20:34:46 -0700 From: "Richard K. Gross" To: Johannah Hi, Johannah. My name is Dick Gross. I am the Secretary of the Arizona Rare Fruit Growers and I edit their monthly newsletter. Neither, however, certifies me as a horticulturist. Olin Miller asked me to respond, however, to your question. I have an adult mango tree started from seed and grown in the exact same way that I grow citrus. If you do the same with your own trees, you could not be very wrong. Keep in mind, though, there are many varieties that may vary slightly in characteristics and needs. No one knows, some would claim otherwise, which varieties are best for the Salt River basin. Your note doesn't say where you live. Your main question dealt with chemicals. I have never used anything on my tree except very modest amounts of Amnion Nitrate in February, June and September. It is my understanding that if the nitrogen is equal to the tree's needs, none of the chemical is leached into the ground water but converted chemically into millions of organic compounds that make up the roots, stems, leaves and the fruit you eat. In this climate, the mango appears to be quite disease free with no harmful pests threatening its existence. The tree is easy to foliar feed if you have an aversion to putting fertilizers in the ground. It may suffer when young from our brutal sun but reacts to cuddling. If you are planning an orchard or commercial operation requiring a sizable investment, you should consider hiring a horticulturist having extensive experience growing subtropical in a low desert climate. His advise would include soil analysis to determine accurate data on nutrients already in the soil to determine amendments needed if any. This is, I'm sure, much more than you asked for but simple answers to simple questions can be costly in the field of agriculture. You can find a wealth of information about mangos on the Internet from reliable sources all over the world. Just type the word in any search engine and scroll. But, you likely know that. An excellent source for data on subtropical fruit is the California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. CRFG in any search engine will get au there. Another with world wide participation is http://www.rarefruit.com/ a free service with over 400 members. A question posted there could elicit answers ROM South Africa, India, Australia or Mesa, Arizona. If you need further information the resources are endless but don't be bashful about emailing me with a question. I have a lot to learn also. Answering questions is me best teacher. Regards, Dick Gross mailto:rkg144@worldnet.att.net Subject: Mango Varieties For Florida Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 12:44:04 -0700 (PDT) From: Eunice Messner To: Tisha Tisha.... You really should make your mango selections from a Florida list as the same variety in Florida ripens much later here in California. Your Florida 'Glenn' is one of the first to ripen. 'Palmer' and 'Jehangir' may fruit into September but that is probably the latest you could hope for. FairChild Garden's book on mangos is something all mango lovers should own. (10901 Old Cutler Rd., Miami, Florida 33156 Eunice Messner mailto:eunicemessner@yahoo.com Subject: Where do you buy your perlite? Date: Sun, 07 May 2000 20:52:30 -0700 From: Leo To: "Sven Merten (CA)" Hi Sven, My local Home Depot only sells very small bags of perlite. Where do you buy it? Later, Leo Subject: Re: Where do you buy your perlite? Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 08:07:36 -0700 From: scoutdog@pacbell.net Hi Leo, I have been buying the small bags from Home Depot. If there is a farm supply store near you I'm sure they would have large bags. I'm sure someone in the garden department of Home Depot can order you a large bag if they don't carry it. I think our Home Depot has the large bags. I meant to ask you if you want me to send you a copy of letters like the one about planting holes that I sent to e-groups. I know you get it from that list so didn't see the need to send it to you directly even though I did want to post to both lists. I figured if you thought it was useful you would include it in your newsletter. I am going to try to write a few more with info from the classes, so if you want me to send a copy directly to you let me know. Talk to you later. Regards, Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net? [Note: I found that the San Diego Home Depot on Balboa sells large bags of horticultural perlite, and it's in plastic, rather than paper bags, which stores better outdoors. Leo] Subject: Calimoya.com Cherimoyas Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 17:42:20 -0700 From: John Ruskey To: "leom@rarefruit.com" Greetings Leo, I am happy to be a subscriber to such an outstanding newsletter service and I feel I have something to substantial to contribute to other fellow newsletter subscribers. My name is Jay Ruskey and I own Calimoya Exotic Fruits in the foothills of Goleta, California. Although, I have selection of over 100 subtropical and tropical fruit tree varieties, my main commercial and hobby crop is the cherimoya. I am 27 years old and I have spent my last eight years developing specialized cultivation and niche marketing of my cherimoyas. My two main varieties are "Dr. White" and "Booth" provide me with a prolong season of incredibly delicious fruit. My secret to keeping my customers coming back for more is a combination of a great climate, my unique growing techniques and a strict harvesting guideline. Unfortunately, many of my cherimoya customers have gone outside my reach in distribution. This is why I created my web site Calimoya.com. This is an opportunity for my clientele and other cherimoya lovers from around the United States to order cherimoyas on line and receive fresh cherimoyas at their doorstep. Calimoya.com is also an educational site created to be a unique destination for culinary adventurers and explorers of the exotic. The site offers an orchard tour, fruit facts, recipes and a chance to order fruit directly from the grower. The peak season is right now making it the best time ot visit www.calimoya.com and try a Calimoya cherimoya. Keep up the great work Leo, we are all blessed to have you involved in our industry. With warm regards, John Ruskey Calimoya Exotic Fruits mailto:jruskey@earthlink.net From: Jacqueline Subject: How Do I Get This Florida Tree 'Copied' To Grow In My Yard??? Date: Wed, May 10, 2000, 12:06 PM Good Afternoon Hi My name is Jacqui I live in South Florida and I was wondering if you know how to make a tree grow from an existing tree. My brother-in-law has a big tree with yellow flowers seasonally on it in his front yard I think it is called a Taboubou. And it looks like there is a new tree growing straight up off of one of the branches. If he cut it off for me and I planted it in the ground would it survive? I hope you know the answer. Thank You Jacqueline mailto:Ger71558@aol.com Subject: [Fwd: [Fwd: Fw: Bone Marrow Drive for Ning Nandhabiwat]] Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 08:07:03 +0700 From: Sainarong Rasananda I know that this has absolutely nothing to do with horticulture. However, I know this girl very well. She is a very nice, lively girl, a rare breed. I am sending this message, just in case there is a slim chance......... Sainarong Rasananda mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th Subject: [Fwd: Fw: Bone Marrow Drive for Ning Nandhabiwat] Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 17:52:29 +0700 From: Khunying Chatchani Chatikavanij Dear All, I have been request by a young friend to distribute this. Since the patient is so far far away from Thailand, I don't know if any of us over here can help. Chatchani BONE MARROW DRIVE for Ning NingÍs Friends, The Cammy Lee Foundation and Dana Farber/Partners Cancercare are sponsoring a bone marrow drive for Ning Nandhabiwat. When: Friday, May 26th 2000, from 12-6 p.m. Where: Simmons College, 300 The Fenway, Boston, Faculty/Staff Lounge at the Main Campus Building. The drive was inspired by the plight of SimmonÍs graduate Promlaks (Ning) Nandhabiwat ï89 who has AML Leukemia and will need a perfectly matched bone marrow transplant to save her life. Ning has been unable to find a suitable match among members of her immediate family or in the North American, Asian or European bone marrow registries as of yet. All healthy, willing Asian/ Pacific Island donors between the ages of 18 and 59 , are encouraged to come by and become part of this incredible effort. Organizers of the drive are specifically encouraging the participation of Asian/ Pacific Islanders because Ning is from Thailand and she would most likely match a donor of her same ethnicity. The Dana Farber Cancer Institute also invites African-American, Latino, Native American and mixed race donors to the drive because of their effort to increase the pool of minority donors in the National Bone Marrow Donors Program. The testing process, which takes no more than 15 minutes, involves filling out a form and donating a small blood sample( about 10cc). - IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS DRIVE: Call 1-800 77CAMMY OR (617) 630.2329 Email: rionay@yahoo.com -IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROCESS OF BECOMING A DONOR visit: WWW.BMDW.ORG -IF YOU CANNOT MAKE IT TO THIS DRIVE BUT WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW AND WHERE TO BECOME A DONOR, Call The Cammy Lee Foundation (800. 77CAMMY) email: cllf@juno.com or visit their website at www. cllf.org . Visit the Tzu-Chi Foundation website.www.tzuchi.org. They are the largest Asian registry in the world. Volunteer donors are primarily recruited through local chapters throughout the US. - IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE USA Worldwide registries are listed at The Bone Marrow Donor Registry Worldwide site: www.bmdw.org Thank you, on behalf of Ning and others in desperate need of a life-saving donor. Subject: Fruit trees as screens? Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 09:06:15 -0700 From: Nan Sterman Hi Leo and everyone else! I am in need of a tall, thin screen to screen off my compost pile from the rest of the garden. I am thinking about using fruit trees for an espalier or simply pruning them to be tall, wide, but not terribly deep. I am looking for evergreens (or close to evergreen) and would love to use some of the plants I have sitting in pots waiting for homes -- that would mean citrus, avocado, capulin cherry, carambola... Any of these fit the bill? If not, what do you suggest? Nan Sterman mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com Sunset Zone 24 Subject: Excessive Fruit Drop On My Lychees - How To Prevent It? Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 23:39:44 -0400 From: L Nelson Brunner Hi Leo, Hope your trip was good and your father is doing well. I have a question for the knowledgeable Lychee Subscribers. I am in MIami still and the trees are doing great. Produce every year a great deal of fruit. One tree though has lost most of the fruit. One other tree is losing more than I would like but I know some is normal. I need to know why the one tree has lost its crop so I can try to prevent it next year. How much is too much water etc.? Please Email me if you have any information and I'll answer any other questions you need to know. Thanks and Thanks Leo for being so dedicated to this newsletter. I look forward to each issue. Lory Brunner Miami, Florida mailto:sharkwool@worldnet.att.net Subject: Anyone With Success With Cherimoya Fruiting in FL? Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 14:18:53 EDT From: Ed Lin Hello Leo, I am growing a healthy cherimoya seedling of the cultivar, Fino de Jetta. The seed was from a fruit consumed in Spain and given to me by a friend. The seedling is over a year old and at 3 feet in height. Recently, I heard a lecture by a Univ. of FL fruit specialist who is of the opinion that cherimoya will not fruit in the hot humid FL climate. Since I have far more fruit trees I'd like to grow than I have land for, I must make the painful decision whether to forego this cherimoya tree. I would appreciate hearing from anyone in your readership in FL with their cherimoya growing experience. Specifically, I'd like to know if anyone in FL has been lucky enough to harvest cherimoya from their tree(s). If I graft an atemoya scion to the cherimoya rootstock, what "cherimoya influence", if any, will I get? Many thanks for your assistance. Best regards, Ed Lin mailto:Link2itc@aol.com Subject: Fruiting mulberry? Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 10:35:40 -0700 From: Nan Sterman Hi everyone and happy mother's day to all mommy's in North America (how many countries celebrate mother's day on the second sunday in May?) I have a question about fruiting mulberry -- The birds brought me two mulberry trees -- and since they arrived by seed, I had assumed that they were fruiting mulberries (there was one across the street). The trees are now 2 or 3 years old and about 9 feet tall. Leaves are out but there is no fruit. Will they fruit? When will they fruit? Nan Sterman mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com San Diego County CA Sunset 24, USDA 10b or 11 ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None, this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None, this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None, this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: Wasps May Curb New Alien Scale Pest Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 09:31:24 -0400 From: "ARS News Service" To: "ARS News List" An insect collected from a hibiscus plant in Bradenton, Fla., in July 1998 heads the list of new invasive alien insect pests. Agricultural Research Service entomologist Douglass R. Miller at the Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Beltsville, Md., is the USDA expert on mealybugs. He confirmed that the mystery insect is the papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus. Miller says the Bradenton sample was the first time the papaya mealybug was found in the continental United States. It's considered to be a serious pest of papaya in several of the Caribbean Islands. It's also been reported to cause damage to papaya and cassava in Mexico. Mealybugs damage the papaya plant by sucking its juices and excreting a clear, gooey substance called honeydew. They become so abundant that their bodies and wax color the fruit white, making the papaya unsalable. Miller's research provided USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) details on the pest's hosts and distribution, as well as the means to identify and distinguish it from other scale species. Last June, APHIS sent Miller to Mexico, where he traveled across the country to search for possible controls. There, Miller and Mexican colleagues collected 40 samples of parasites that included three wasps with potential as biocontrol agents. Miller asked his ARS colleague, parasitic wasp expert Michael E. Schauff, to identify and classify the wasps and other possible parasites in the samples. Schauff and a British colleague identified the three wasps as belonging to the same family. They say some may be new to science, but all three cause the mealybug to mummify. Miller also sent live samples of the wasp parasites and other potential biological control agents to ARS entomologist Lawrence R. Ertle in the ARS Beneficial Insects Research Unit, Newark, Del., where the parasites could be reared. ARS is USDA's chief research agency. For more details, see the May issue of Agricultural Research. View it online at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/may00/wasp0500.htm ___________________________________________ This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: An Environmentally Friendly Pesticide Curtails Cotton Pests From: "ARS News Service" Two of cotton's worst enemies are conceding to an environmentally friendly insecticide called spinosad. Approved for use on more than 100 crops--including apples, almonds, citrus, eggplant, tomatoes, cotton, and coffee--spinosad is poised to replace malathion, until now the most widely used insecticide against the Mediterranean fruit fly. Agricultural Research Service scientists in College Station, Texas, have years of expertise developing new tactics to test this new insecticide on commercially-grown cotton. Cotton bollworms and budworms have developed resistance to most commonly used commercial insecticides. As a result, these insects now infest over 75 percent of the U.S. cotton crop. Aerial applications of spinosad were applied with a small droplet size (200 micron) and a 5-gallon spray rate. Commercial cotton treated at this level had fewer damaging bollworm and budworm larvae compared to cotton treated with other pesticides. Larvae found on cotton treated with standard insecticides were more mature, suggesting that spinosad prevented small larvae from becoming larger and more damaging. Typically, spray rates for standard insecticides average about 2 to 3 gallons per acre. The Texas study was conducted through a trust fund cooperative agreement between ARS and the makers of spinosad, Dow AgroSciences LLC, of Indianapolis, Ind. Just as important, these studies established that spinosad is nontoxic to beneficial insects like lady beetles and pirate bugs. More beneficial insects were found on cotton treated with spinosad, but fewer of them survived on cotton treated with standard insecticides. =============================================================== Leo Manuel leom@rarefruit.com http://www.rarefruit.com =============================================================== Rare Fruit News Online - June 1, 2000 - RFN200006A.txt --Notes In Passing Selenicereus Megalanthus - 191 Seedlings, So Far Actually, 191 seedlings may be as many as I'll get, but from only one fruit! The range is from just emerging to three inches in height. The tallest ones have about 1.5 inches of miniature pitaya-shaped plant, covered in soft spines. It's interesting to see them develop. Banana: Dwarf Colorado Blanco - First Fruits Are Delicious! I got this banana from Bob Holzinger in July, 1997 and am eating the first bunch. They are excellent! Stop by soon and I'll share with you. (Thanks, Bob!) Powdery Mildew On Mango Bloom - "Best" Treatment? I am hesitant to use chemical sprays on food crops, so I neglect my mango bloom and new growth that suffers with powdery mildew. What do you recommend? Does dusting sulfur work? Jiffy-7 Peat Pellets; Check Extra Large Size I stumbled across the web page for Jiffy Products and was surprised to learn about a large size, two inches in diameter and 3.75 inches deep. These should be great for starting all but the largest seeds, and transplanting them without disturbing the roots. I've used the smaller ones for years, and transplanted all of the baby selenicereus megalanthus to them. See them at http://www.jiffyproducts.com/progrow/products/pel7.html I ordered them (400+ pellets for $33 + tax) from "Always Grows" at: http://www.alwaysgrows.com Tropical Seeds From Barbadine - Looks Promising http://www.barbadine.com/pages/tropical_seeds.htm Mycorrhizae - I keep a small bottle with a shaker top and apply it to the roots of transplants as often as I think of it. I also use it at the time I place air-layers, in recent months. Whether it helps or not, I can't say, but I have very few failures, with guava and longan. Rooting Hormone Powder - Also in a shaker-topped bottle. I don't waste so much that way, and am less likely to contaminate the rest of the hormone with dirt. Fruiting Jaboticaba - First Time For Me I have a seedling jaboticaba that's maybe ten years old, and still hasn't fruited. It's not in a good location. However, one I got from Nevin Kleege here in San Diego, had fruit for the first time for me, and it's delicious. Size goes from marble size up to one-inch diameter. Thanks Nevin! ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, AZ, Wants To Grow Moringa Pam Senffner New Subscriber, FL: "What's A Sarcocephalus Xamthozylon?" Peter & Betty Kearns New Subscriber, FL, Writing Book About Mangoes Cindy Thuma New Subscriber, CA: "What I Can Grow In Palo Alto?" Randy Anderson New Subscriber, AZ, Wants To Grow Zapota BRIAN GROFF New Subscriber, FL, Wants To Know How To Make Tamarind Paste James Love --Readers Write Perlite Source (The Obvious One!) Holzinger, Bob" Perlite Source - Grangettos Nan Sterman Fruiting Mango in Central Calif Jeff Earl Eleagnus phillipenensis? Information Sought Nan Sterman Plants As Screens Richard K. Gross Central Florida Fruit Questions Andrea Schielka Air-Layering 101 Sven Merten Fruit Trees - Black Sapote Available In Florida? Sandi Vecchione Mango Variety For Near The Coast? Lynn Zimmer Re: Mango Variety For Near The Coast? Leo To: Lynn Zimmer Re: How Are Your Lychees This Year? Leo To: Ronald Lyn Mango Mildew Control Ronald Lyn Michelia champaca seedling/liners Sought Alan --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List Camellia (theaceae) J. Rosano II --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. New Type of Plant Regulator Discovered Kathryn Barry Stelljes, (510) 559-6069, stelljes@asrr.arsusda.gov Mushrooms May Improve Soil Quality Kathryn Barry Stelljes, (510) 559-6069, stelljes@asrr.arsusda.gov New Diet Could Help Trim Crop Pest Populations Jesªs García, (301) 504-1627, jgarcia@ars-grin.gov ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, AZ, Wants To Grow Moringa Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 08:31:21 -0700 From: Pam Senffner Hi I am Pam Senffner in Arizona. Fruit trees I am currently growing are: Mango, Guava, White Sapote, Tarocco Orange, Avocado, Papaya, Jujube and Persimmon among others. One I want to grow is Moringa Where can I purchase a Moringa Tree of reasonable size, let's say 5 gallon? It would need to be shipped to Arizona. Pam Senffner mailto:SenffnerP@immunex.com Subject: New Subscribers, FL: "What's A Sarcocephalus Xamthozylon?" Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 15:20:26 EDT From: BKearns644@aol.com Hi We are Peter and Betty Kearns, in Palmetto, Florida. We are now growing mango, papaya, guava, avocado, mamay & black sapotes, Inga, Imbe, Atamoya, sugar apple, custard apple, surinam cherry, etc. Can you tell me what a sarcocephalus xamthozylon is and about its growing habits and fruit? We would love your newsletter. Thank you for offering. Peter & Betty Kearns mailto:BKearns644@aol.com Subject: New Subscriber, FL, Writing Book About Mangoes Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 16:13:20 -0400 From: Cindy Thuma Organization: Broward Community College Hi I'd love to subscribe to your rare fruits online newsletter I am Cynthia Thuma, in Boca Raton, Fla. cthuma@broward.cc.fl.us OR cindythuma@yahoo.com I grow mangoes, coconuts, jaboticaba, avocado, oranges, tangerines, starfruit, surinam cherries and occasionally, monstera. I'm in the process of writing a book about mangoes that will be released in 2001. I'd love to correspond with others who are mango fanatics as I am, particularly others who have come here from other countries and may have been "addicted" to mangoes in the country of their birth. Thank you! Cindy Thuma mailto:cthuma@email.broward.cc.fl.us Subject: New Subscriber, CA: "What I Can Grow In Palo Alto?" Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 12:06:50 -0700 From: Randy Anderson Hi, I am William "Randy" Anderson, Palo Alto, CA I'd like to grow whatever we can get to grow here :) Randy Anderson mailto:sunander@pacbell.net Subject: New Subscriber, AZ, Wants To Grow Zapota Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 19:51:16 -0700 From: "BRIAN GROFF" Hi, I am Brian Groff, in Phoenix, Arizona. I am now growing the following: AZ Sweet orange, Valencia, Minneola Tangerine, Washington Navel, White Peach, Gala Apple, Pecan, Palmegranite, Thompson grapes and Red Flame grapes Fruit trees I would like to grow: Zapota, Avocado and Mango My wife is from El Salvador and loves the zapota that has a brown skin and orange flesh. I have several seeds but, I am not sure of the best way to start them and how much room I should allow the tree once planted. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Brian Groff mailto:briangroff@prodigy.net Subject: New Subscriber, FL, Wants To Know How To Make Tamarind Paste Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 19:45:30 -0400 From: Jim Love Hi, I am Jim Love, in Cape Coral, Florida. I am now growing: 3 varieties bananas, three varieties mangos, pomegranate, tamarind, macadamia, figs,and many varieties citrus. Fruit trees I want to grow - maybe olives? Can someone tell me how to make tamarind paste? Jim Love mailto:jim.love@worldnet.att.net -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Perlite Source (The Obvious One!) Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 07:34:53 -0700 From: "Holzinger, Bob" Hi Leo & Sven, Saw the discussion on perlite in the latest RFNO and I was surprised that neither of you knew about the best place to get perlite. It's right from the source -- Aztec perllite! They are in San Marcos, at least they were there when I lived in San Diego. They sell the large bags directly to the public, from one to as many as you can carry in a truck. They are only open 8-4:30 or so Monday-Friday, but the price is much less than in a retail store, when you can find it! My local nursery, Green Thumb, carries the large bags (two cubic feet, I think) so that's where I get it. The price there is $12, so Aztec should be able to beat that easily, if they're still in San Marcos. One last item. The large flowered P. vitifolia plants I ordered from Frankie have started to put out new growth. I hope to start distributing them in the next month or so. Take care, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Subject: Perlite Source - Grangettos Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 08:20:30 -0700 From: Nan Sterman Leo I noticed your exchange with Sven about places that sell perlite in large bags. You can buy it from Grangettos which has stores around SD county. Be sure you look for the smallest grade as it comes in different sizes (i.e. the 'grains" are different sizes, not the bags). I once bought the large perlite without intending to and while it works great for potting soil, it is so large that it is too awkward to use for starting cuttings. PS Have you considered transmorgifying the newsletter to make it a listerv? I think it might mean less work for you and would be just as effective for subscribers. [I've thought about it, and may need to make that kind of change eventually, but I tend to be conservative about making changes. Leo] Just a thought. Nan Sterman San Diego County, CA Sunset 24, USDA 10b or 11 mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com Subject: Fruiting Mango in Central Calif Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 11:28:59 -0700 From: Jeff Earl Leo, I have a 7 ft tall seedling Mango that I started from store bought fruit about 5 years ago. (I believe the fruit to be Keitt) I have nursed the tree through several frigid winters. ( Some winters I covered the tree with plastic...Last winter I did not) This spring, I went outside and to my surprise, not only did the tree survive the winter unprotected... the tree has flowered and set fruit! My question is... Coming from a seedling...What are the chances of the fruit being edible? How do you know when a Mango is ready to be picked? Our summers are quite hot here in Modesto. Most winters we see several days with lows a couple of degrees below 32f. This winter our lowest temp was 31f. Jeff Earl mailto:jearl@peoplepc.com Subject: Eleagnus phillipenensis? Information Sought Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 13:30:09 -0700 From: Nan Sterman Can you help me find information on Eleagnus phillipenensis -- that may not be the correct spelling. This Eleagnus forms a large shrub/small tree with nice silvery green leaves and delicious, translucent red berries all along the branches (if I recall correctly). I saw it growing in the home of a friend who is a landscaper but he recently moved and has no plants to spare. I cannot even find any reference to this plant anywhere on the Web. Anyone out there able to help me? Nan Sterman San Diego County, CA Sunset 24, USDA 10b or 11 mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com Subject: Plants As Screens Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 14:50:01 -0700 From: "Richard K. Gross" To: Nan Sterman Nan, I will describe what I have in my yard in case it, or something similar, would fit your own need. One very healthy and happy Sweet Chinese lemon tree stretched to the limit about 30 feet, 3 feet wide and 6 to 8 feet tall shields an alley and a dumpster. If I had this to do over, however, I would have planted two or three trees for faster fill. After you determine the length, I suggest installing a section of 6' chain link fence, with posts in concete of course, to anchor, train and shape the foliage; assuming you want a permanent installation. One or several citrus varieties that have a smallish habit or any evergreen fruiting tree or vine should serve your purpose, I would think, and provide a little nourishment as well to put on your table. I have grafted a couple tangerine scions for variety and will try others, too. Regards, Dick Gross, Arizona Cultivar, CRFG mailto:rkg144@worldnet.att.net Subject: Central Florida Fruit Questions From: Andrea Schielka Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 09:27:11 -0700 Hi everyone, We're close to Orlando and have the toughest weather it seems. My star fruit tree died in the frost, Harden(?) Mango froze but came back. Papaya seedlings all froze to death too. Are there any nurseries near me? I'm afraid to buy from zone 10 because I think I'll lose even more to frost next year. I'm in zone 9 here. The citrus is doing fine, no wonder I'm surrounded by groves. Any suggestions? What is a good avocado variety for this zone? Where can I find the New Zealand type tree tomato? I will go through the archives as well. If these questions have already been asked and answered, I apologise. Andrea Schielka mailto:andiart@mindspring.com Subject: Air-Layering 101 Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 00:00:07 -0700 From: Sven Merten Hi All, I just got home from the Orange County CRFG chapter meeting where Tom del Hotal gave a very good talk on air-layering. I thought I would pass the information along before I forgot it. This is a long technical post, so if you are not interested in air layering I wouldn't bother reading further. [Tom posted a webpage at http://home.att.net/~oc_crfg/airlayer.htm] The following is from Tom's 25 years of experience working for and running nurseries in the San Diego area. -You can put 100-150 air-layers on mature trees without reducing the vigor of the tree. Equipment: 1. Pre-filled air-layer bags: 4"X6" 4 mil clear plastic bags. He buys them from Bradley Plastic (213-923-5556, 213-773-1478, 714-994-2242). Any 4 mil bag will do. Zip locks are 2 mil or less. 2. Foil 3. Pre moistened ground peat or sphagnum moss. Moisten only to the point where when a handful is squeezed you can only get a drop or two out of it. Can also use 80% peat w/ 20% perlite if cool weather is expected. This helps prevent water logging. 4. Rooting hormone in a can with a paint brush or dauber. Use an 8000 ppm solution of IBA for woody plants and 4000 ppm for succulent growth. 5. Pliers to strip off the bark. 6. Hooked linoleum knife to girdle the branch. Any knife will do. -Light prevents root growth, so be sure to cover with foil. -The girdle (strip where bark is removed) should be 1.5"-2" in length. Branch Selection: 1. Upright growing branch is best. The branch tip must be higher than the air-layer. 2. Full exposure to sun is best. If blooming, remove flower stalks. 3. Pick 1/2" to 3" diameter branches. 3/4"-1.5" is best size. 4. It's possible to layer 3 to 6 foot long branches Setting up air-layer: 1. Remove leaves and branches from 1-1.5 feet above layer. 2. Leave 4"-6" of stem below girdle. This is for stability when potting the layer. 3. With a knife, cut through bark, phloem and cambium, entering the white heartwood (xylem) slightly, above and below the girdle. Basically cut down to the center wood. 4. Strip bark off with pliers. Don't be gentil. It will peel off at the cambium layer (green layer between phloem (outer conductive tissue) and xylem (inner conductive tissue). You want to remove all the phloem. 5. Use knife to methodically scrape all remaining cambium (green cells) from all the way around the girdle. You can scrape off a small amount of the xylem (white wood under cambium), but not too deeply. Removing the cambium prevents carbohydrates from traveling down the stem. This build up of nutrients in the upper stem will help rooting. If any cambium is left connecting the bottom phloem with the top, the air-layer will not root. 6. Wound the branch above the girdle. On 3/4" stems use one wound, on 1 1/2" stems use two wounds. Just scrape a small section (~1/4" wide by ~1" long) of bark off, just enough to remove the dead brown bark. Do not go all the way down to the cambium. This will help callus and root formation. 7. Apply hormone to bark and wounds above the girdled section from 2"-4" inches up. Be sure to put some on the bark above the wounds. There is no need to apply hormone to the girdle since the roots will not be generated from that tissue. Liquid hormone is much better. It is usually available at Ag supple stores. 8. Wait 30 seconds and apply air-layer bag, which is pre-tied with heavy twine, leaving one short (~10") end and one long end (maybe 4 or 5 feet long). Attach to branch by slitting the bag from top to bottom on one side and placing over the girdle. Be sure to point the opening down which helps prevent water loss by evaporation. Overlap the plastic at the opening and wrap tightly. Once tied off rotate it so that the opening is also facing down and there is a small portion of the girdle exposed below the bag. This helps prevent the cambium from reconnecting. 9. Cover with foil. Shiny side out if temps are above ~85F and dull side out if below. -Rooting usually takes one and a half to two months in summer. -Almost any tree can be propagated like this except cherimoya and avocado, in Tom's experience. -Roots will tend to grow on the lower side faster. -Don't allow it to get root bound, but you want sufficient roots to hold the moss together. Some trees like guavas have black roots, so check carefully. -May to September is the best time. -You want the bags packed firmly, but still squishy so that you have room to wrap it around the branch when setting up the air-layer. -Usually you don't have to water unless it has to stay over a dry winter. -Beneficial fungus won't help root formation, but may help hardening off. I don't think Tom uses it. Removing and hardening the Layers: 1. Best to put in high (99%) humidity greenhouse. This way you can leave a lot of leaf area. 2. When removing, leave the stub below the root ball. This keeps the roots off the bottom of the pot and helps stabilize the new tree. 3. After removal soak in water, B1 Plus (not regular B1), or Super thrive (anything with Naphthalene Acetic Acid) for at least an hour and up to 8 hours. 4. Carefully remove rope and plastic. The roots break easily, so be careful. 5. Use a 2-3 gal container (no larger) and any well draining commercial potting mix. 6. Put the top of the root ball within 1/2 an inch of the soil surface. Pack soil down from the outside of the pot, not near the root ball which could damage the fragile roots. 7. Stake tree with 2 or 3 stakes placed outside the root ball. What do you mean you don't have a 99% humidity greenhouse? Well, if not: 1. Keep canopy smaller A. Don't remove branch tips since this is where the hormones are produced that help the plant to root. B. Remove some of the leaves, but not all of them. These are what supplies nutrients for the production of new roots. C. Cut leaves down in size by removing the outer leaflets or portion of leaves. D. You can remove some unwanted branches. 2. Use an anti-transpirant on the foliage before removing the air-layer. 3. Keep in partial sun, protected area or a shade house. A mist house is even better. I hope this has helped some of you. I'll be out there this weekend air-layering my Guavas. Wish me luck. Regards, Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net Subject: Fruit Trees - Black Sapote Available In Florida? Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 18:36:12 -0400 From: "SANDIJV" Leo and Betty: I'm from Bradenton,Florida and didn't make it to the Rave Fruit Sale at the Civic Center on May 21st. I'am interested in purchasing a few trees, one I would like is the Black Sapote and not sure of the other choice. Please e-mail me back and let me know where I could get them either in my area or to be shipped to me. Thank-you for your time; Sandi Vecchione mailto:SANDIJV@MSN.COM Subject: Mango Variety For Near The Coast? Date: Mon, 22 May 2000 13:52:15 -0700 From: Lynn Zimmer I have a mango tree in my yard here in pacific beach. It grew from a seed in my compost. It is now about 6 feet tall and about 4 yrs old. What I am wondering is how long it takes a mango to bear fruit or even if one grown from seed will bear fruit. It has had a bit of white fly, but is pretty healthy. The edges of the leaves turn brown. I would certainly appreciate any information or suggestions you might have. Thank you, Lynn Zimmer mailto:lynnzee@pacbell.net Subject: Re: Mango Variety For Near The Coast? Date: Mon, 22 May 2000 20:21:26 -0700 From: Leo To: Lynn Zimmer Hi Lynn, A mango from seed could be excellent, could bear at a young age, or could have fruit of poor quality and not bear until quite a bit older. I think you would be better off to find one that will bear well near the coast. There are two that will, that I know of, but may be hard to locate. One is "Early Gold" that was selected to grow in Encinitas, in view of the ocean, and the other is "Villa Se–or" that is supposed to do well near the coast. Pacific Beach is probably going to make it hard for just any mango to do well, as it is so cool and often foggy. There probably are others, so I'd check with someone at a nursery. Pacific Tree Farms, in Bonita is an excellent resource for information, but the prices are usually high. If you go to the 4th Thursday night meetings of CRFG in Balboa Park, you could talk to Tom Del Hotal, if he happens to attend. He is quite knowledgeable. [He works at Home Depot, Lemon Grove now, telephone (619) 287-2632 Leo] I will publish your questions in the next newsletter. Yours, Leo Subject: Re: How Are Your Lychees This Year? Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 06:10:09 -0700 From: Leo To: Ronald Lyn Hi Ronald, I have only one lychee in the ground, and it's blooming, (Brewster). I haven't had fruit yet on it. It may not be planted in an ideal location, being near and somewhat shaded by other trees. Kohala longan grows and bears like crazy. It gets quite tall, and I think I'll keep the top pruned. Mangoes are my favorite. I have some fungus on the blossom and don't know what's best for that, with as little chemical impact on the environment as possible. Any ideas? Take care, Leo Ronald Lyn wrote: > > How are the lychees doing this year? > > Ronald Subject: Mango Mildew Control Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 08:24:10 -0400 From: "Ronald Lyn" Well we normally don't get most mango varieties to hold fruit where we are (2000 ft above sea level) but most trees in our area have good crops on them. (for our area) Reason being there has been a total change of weather from last September to late February, no rain , our longest drought in decades. This might also be why our lychees flowered like crazy in our area. However most people didn't water after they flowered and panicles simply dried up. Needless to say I watered and we have been picking for the last couple of weeks. (the largest trees are just about ready) Never thought we could get tired of the fruits, but we have been selling fruit for the first time. It is quite common here to have powdery mildew on some of our mangos a friend says that a particular spray will help. Our Bombay tree actually has a couple fruit. I guess we will wait a while before cutting it down. (Bombays usually don't ever bear in the hills) I also have a couple of longan in the ground, but only one of bearing age and it is a seedling. Yes I have heard how inferior the seedlings are but will persevere for a little longer. It fruited for the first time last year however most of the fruit stayed small (1/4 inch or less) Any thoughts on why this is so? Or is it something with the tree being a seedling? It presently has a huge crop on it and am hoping they all grow to normal size. Have watered more than last year and have started adding small amounts of manure to the soil, hope it helps. Ronald Lyn mailto:kanku@mail.infochan.com Subject: Michelia champaca seedling/liners Sought Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 11:21:52 -0700 From: "zambesi" Good morning Leo, I am trying to locate a large quantity of Michelia champaca liners, Do you have any leads please? Regards Alan mailto:zambesi@gte.net ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ Subject: Camellia (theaceae) From: nafex@egroups.com Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 23:04:13 -0400 From: "J. Rosano II" Hi Joel: Most camellia sinensis in production is kept bushy to be able to continue to pick leaves at the first blush or pekoe stage. These bushes are usually kept at about 4 ft as a low type bushy habit. They like acid and shade or diffused sun. They will grow indoors fine as potted plants during winter and then re-introduced back outside during the warmer growing season. If you have a plant now, bring it outside under an understory and give it a pot 3 to 5 times its root ball. Use some muracid, careful at first as it's been repotted. Possibly some pine needles in the mix or pine bark mulch. They respond very well to liquid fertilizers and foliar sprays as the feed continuously... They like moist but not continually soaked medium. Germinating occurs at 75 to 80 degrees at about 4 weeks, although the non-indian or chinese cold hardy Camellia will pop at lower temperatures. Tea is me! Best wishes, John, NH-Z, 5/6 Hortus wrote: What is the result of propagating Camellia tea plant from seed and pot growing (in the house)? regards Joel Rosano II mailto:GIANNI-2@prodigy.net -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: New Type of Plant Regulator Discovered Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 14:09:04 -0700 From: Kathryn Barry Stelljes A newly identified class of compounds helps pea plants defend themselves against pea weevils, one of their most important insect enemies. And it's the weevils themselves that produce the chemicals. A team of scientists led by Agricultural Research Service plant physiologist Robert P. Doss in Corvallis, Ore., and ARS chemist James E. Oliver in Beltsville, Md., report the discovery in tomorrow's edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The compounds, named "bruchins" by the team, come into contact with the plant when the weevil lays eggs on the pea pods. Within a few hours, the plant starts producing a tumor or gall at the egg-laying site. By the time the eggs hatch, a large gall or tumor becomes a barrier to the larvae, so they can't burrow directly into the pod and feed on the peas inside. This is the first time scientists have found chemicals that induce an otherwise healthy plant to form a tumor to resist insect infestation. The team also found that pea plants must possess a certain gene in order to take advantage of the bruchins. In the 1990's, other researchers found that pea plants with a certain genetic sequence, named Np, formed calluses in response to weevil infestations. But this is the first time that scientists have identified specific chemicals involved in the process. Researchers at Oregon State University in Corvallis, KOSAN Biosciences in Hayward, Calif., and the ARS Regional Plant Introduction Station in Pullman, Wash., collaborated on the discovery. Subject: Mushrooms May Improve Soil Quality Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 09:39:27 -0400 From: Kathryn Barry Stelljes Fungi known as basidiomycetes--the same group that produces edible mushrooms-- may play a key role in maintaining and improving soil quality, Agricultural Research Service scientists found. In many basidiomycetes, the underground parts of the fungi--known as filaments and hyphae--produce sugary substances that bind soil particles. This binding together, or aggregation, reduces soil compaction and allows roots, oxygen and water to move through the soil. Mushrooms are typically associated with cool, damp, forested areas where they help to decompose fallen trees. But ARS microbiologist TheCan Caesar found that basidiomycetes are widespread and important components of many types of soils. However, in open environments, the underground filaments may be plentiful without producing above-ground mushrooms, so their role was not well understood. Basidiomycetes are the second largest group of fungi known to science. The fungi survive with or without living plants and thrive on straw, or crop residue, left over after harvest. Caesar found greater numbers of the fungi--and better soil--in land that had been cropped without tilling. So in addition to reducing erosion, no-till practices could help improve soil quality by fostering basidiomycete populations. The presence and number of these fungi may also serve as a good indicator of soil quality. Caesar works at the ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory in Sidney, Mont. ARS breaks ground on May 27 for a new 21,470-square-foot laboratory to expand on the existing four buildings that cover 24,000 square feet at the site. A new 5,863-square-foot insect quarantine lab will also be built to aid in biological control research. Subject: New Diet Could Help Trim Crop Pest Populations From: Jesªs García Date: May 16, 2000 Agricultural Research Service scientists have now applied for a patent on a new insect diet that will make plant bugs and other crop pests unwitting accomplices to their own destruction. The key to mass-rearing these ravenous insects in sufficient numbers is developing a replacement for the plants they feed on. Without these special diets, the rearing of these insects becomes cost prohibitive. The new diet, which consists of cooked chicken eggs, lima bean meal, wheat germ, soy flour, yeast, sugar, vitamins and preservatives, was developed by scientists at ARS' Biological Control and Mass Rearing Research Unit in Mississippi State, Miss. This diet enables researchers to propagate destructive plant bugs as hosts for the production of parasitoids that may eventually help reduce insect pest numbers in the wild. One of these pests, the western tarnished plant bug, Lygus hesperus, accounted for about $71 million worth of cotton crop losses in 1998. One parasitoid, a tiny wasp called Amaphes iole, deposits its own egg into Lygus bug eggs, where it develops into an adult while consuming the Lygus eggs' contents. Once the adult wasp emerges, it is ready to mate. Any female offspring is capable of parasitizing up to 60 Lygus eggs in its 2-4 days of life as an adult. Two other wasps, Peristenus spp. and Leiophron uniformis, deposit their eggs inside Lygus nymphs, where they commence to feed. When the parasitoids reach their prepupal stage, they chew their way out of their devastated hosts. The new diet-fed insects are also used for research on sterile release programs which had never before included Lygus bugs because they could not be reared in sufficient numbers. Sterilized plant bugs reared on the diet may mate and produce sterile eggs in the wild. Most important, the new diet has been found to be an inexpensive and effective way to mass rear insect pests and their natural enemies for biologically based pest management. This technology enhances the agricultural community's ability to mass-produce natural enemies of pests and decreases its dependence on chemicals. ARS is the chief research arm of the USDA. This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: isjd@ars-grin.gov. >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - May 15, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - June 15, 2000 - AKA RFN20006B.txt --Notes In Passing Cherimoya Grafts - Recently More Often Successful I don't understand why grafts I've made this year, over a dozen, have been far more successful than in previous years. I'm not aware of doing anything different, except, possibly, using longer pieces of clear plastic grafting tape on each graft, to get more pressure between the scion and rootstock. Black Sapote Grafts - Very Often Unsuccessful! Do you have trouble getting Black Sapote (Black Persimmon) grafts to take? For the last two years, the only graft that persisted was one onto a Giant Fuyu Persimmon. Those placed on Black Sapote rootstock either haven't taken or have died shortly after beginning to grow. Air Layers - Any Success With Pitanga? Any suggestions for getting air layers to be successful on Pitanga? Or with other plants that are difficult to layer? Have you tried girdling the branch ahead of time? With what results? ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, Australia, Growing Mangoes Ian Bally New Subscriber, Louisiana, Wants To Grow Mangoes, Papaya.... Anita Langhorne --Readers Write Beth Asks: "How Can I Start Guanabana Plants?" BKleinPC@aol.com Zapote Bob Holzinger To: Brian Re: Powdery mildew on mango bloom Matthew Shugart Mangoes - My Experience, Also Near The Coast Matthew Shugart To: lynnzee@pacbell.net Picture - Chinese Sweet Lemon "Richard K. Gross" To: "Nan Sterman" Fungicide For Mango Mildew & S. Cal Blueberry Question "Buckner, Geoff T (PWCSD 980)" Patricks Passaflora Website "Holzinger, Bob" Please Help Identify This Fruit (Annona) "Barry Moll" Black Sapote - Florida Source Nancy --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List None, this time --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com Girdling To Enhance Fruit Production Erica Lynne -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. (ÀRare Fruit?) High-Selenium Broccoli Vs. Colon Cancer Judy McBride New Plum, Apricot Cross Ideal for Southern Growers ----------------New Subscribers------------------ From: Ian Bally Subject: New Subscriber, Australia, Growing Mangoes Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 12:28:06 +1000 Ian Bally, here, of Mareeba near Cairns (Qld) Australia I am now growing mangoes Ian Bally mailto:BallyI@prose.dpi.qld.gov.au Subject: New Subscriber, Louisiana, Wants To Grow Mangoes, Papaya.... Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 19:13:48 -0700 (PDT) From: Anita Langhorne Hi I am Anita Langhorne, in Leesville, Louisiana Fruit I am now growing: apples, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, grapefruit, grapes, lemons, limes, oranges, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapple, satsuma, strawberries, canteloupe, and watermelon I want to grow: avocado, kiwi, mangoes, papaya Thanks Anita Langhorne mailto:artlanghorne@yahoo.com -----------------Readers Write------------------ From: Beth Klein Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 23:59:51 EDT Subject: Beth Asks: "How Can I Start Guanabana Plants?" Do you have any advise on how to start guanabana plants? I am having a heck of a time. Beth Klein mailto:BkleinPC@aol.com From: Bob Holzinger To: Brian Subject: Zapote Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 07:45:18 -0700 Hi Brian, The zapote, Quararibea cordata or Matisia cordata, can grow to a twenty foot tree or higher, in the right environment. The bad news is if the seeds you have are not fresh they will not sprout. Fresh means right out of the fruit and not dried in the least. When fresh the seeds sprout right away. This tree requires quite tropical conditions and it will be a challenge for you in Arizona. Good luck! Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 11:31:58 -0700 From: Matthew Shugart Subject: Re: Powdery mildew on mango bloom Leo, I have had good success using Neem (in its Green Light formulation as Rose Defense or Fruit, Nut, Vegetable Spray) to control powdery mildew on my mango blooms. I also note that my Valencia Pride gets very little mildew, while my Nam Doc Mai gets it a lot, when it blooms (which, unlike the VP, is rarely). Matthew Shugart mailto:mshugart@ucsd.edu Carlsbad, California Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 11:51:26 -0700 To: lynnzee@pacbell.net From: Matthew Shugart Subject: Mangoes - My Experience, Also Near The Coast Lynn, Saw your post on RFNO. I don't know how different your conditions in Pacific Beach might be from mine in Carlsbad. While there is no doubt that growing mangoes close to the ocean is a challenge, I am quite happy with Valencia Pride. My location is about 1.5 mile from the ocean. My average high for July seems to be around 78-80, though I do not have a lot of years of record. The last two years I did not have a lot of fruit, which I attribute to the cold, wet springs we had in both 1998 and 1999. The year before that, my then-five-foot tree (planted in 1996) had about half a dozen fruit, all of good size and exceptional flavor, and all ripening in September and October. The last two years, while I have had only two or three fruits, the mangoes have been huge. With the cool summers, some ripened late (as late as March). I can't say with certainty how typical 1997 was (in my records, it seems to have been somewhat warmer over the summer than other years). I can say that 1998 and especially 1999 were unusually cool. This year, I have a really good bloom and seem to be getting a lot of fruit setting. This spring has been quite a bit warmer and sunnier than the last two. I hope for a nice warm summer! I think this variety is capable of setting good crops as long as the spring is not unusually wet and cold. It blooms several times, and one could probably get multiple crops by having more than one tree of the variety and picking off early fruit on at least one of them. Or, maybe a bigger, more mature tree could have several stages of fruit on it at once. (I don't know if mangoes will do that.) I have never tried the two varieties that Leo recommended (Early Gold and Villasenor), so I can't compare them. I can say that Valencia Pride is much better suited to a coastal climate than Nam Doc Mai, the only other variety I have. Matthew Shugart mailto:mshugart@ucsd.edu Carlsbad, California From: Richard K. Gross To: Nan Sterman Subject: Picture - Chinese Sweet Lemon Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 18:55:03 -0700 This is the small picture, Nan, short download time. I bought the tree 32 years ago from an old, now defunct, family nursery that specialized in citrus. In fact, it was called Ralph's Citrus Nursery. The tag on the tree said Chinese Sweet Lemon. We bought it because of its unusually bright green leaves without a clue about what quality the fruit would have. I have never seen another like it and have had people ask after observing the fruit, "What the heck kind of a tree is that?" The tree is thornless and extremely healthy. I recently budded a very tasty tangerine on one end of it. Probably not the smartest spot because nutrients must travel 15' to get there. But, I guess that's easier than 15' up, it has just occurred to me. Best regards, Dick Gross mailto:rkg144@worldnet.att.net From: "Buckner, Geoff T (PWCSD 980)" Subject: Fungicide For Mango Mildew & S. Cal Blueberry Question Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 14:00:30 -0700 Leo, Here is some input regarding powdery mildew. Living on the west slope of Point Loma I get more than my share of fog and moist, cool marine air which promotes mildew on susceptible plants. I use, with good results, Safer's Fungicide. Consisting of sulfur, I believe it is relatively safe. Interestingly, I have noticed varying resistance to mildew on the mango cultivars I have. For example, Valencia Pride has never had any mildew on either blooms or foliage, however, others require repeated applications. On another note, a couple of years ago a few people on RFNO ordered some blueberries from a supplier back east. I stuck with the varieties that are known to produce well in S. Calif (O'Neal, Cape Fear, and Georgia Gem) . However, I believe others bought some other Rabbiteye and S. Highbush varieties that possibly had not been grown locally before. As my blueberries are now loaded with fruit, I am curious what other varieties are succeeding here in S. Calif? Geoff Buckner mailto:BucknerGT@PWCSD.NAVY.MIL From: Bob Holzinger Subject: Patrick's Passaflora Website Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 14:10:25 -0700 Hello, As promised, here's Patrick Worley's website where his just finished "Passionfruit Cookbook" can be ordered. Also available at this website are other books, cards, mugs, T-shirt iron-ons, and plants (eventually) all based on the beautiful passion flowers. Website: http://chlorophorms.safeshopper.com Take care, Bob mailto:bholzing@amgen.com From: "Barry Moll" Subject: Please Help Identify This Fruit (Annona) Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 01:17:04 -0400 I recently ate the first fruit off a seedling tree I bought at a tropical fruit tree sale in Fort Myers, Florida. I don't remember what it was called. The fruit was dark red, round-oval, with smooth skin. It is in the annona family and the texture of the flesh was pink, creamier than sugar apple or atemoya, sweet but with less flavor. Seeds were typical annona shape and size. The leaves are about 8 to 10 inches long and about 3 inches wide, medium green on both sides, and smooth not fuzzy. They look similar to the custard apple. Somehow the name "soncoya" rings a bell, however, the description of this tree and fruit is quite different. What else is in the annona line that it could be? It is in flower now so I'm crossing it with atemoya, sugar apple, and my sweetest custard apples. The cross takes and sets fruit. Since it only ripened the fruit on memorial day, it seems out of season. My custard apples ripen starting in mid March, atemoya, in November, and most of the sugar apples don't make it past Thanksgiving. Barry mailto:mollb.lehighms.cameo@prodigy.net Date: Sun, 04 Jun 2000 13:09:06 -0700 From: Nancy Subject: Black Sapote - Florida Source Greetings, Leo Sandi had asked about a source for Black Sapote - I ordered/received one from Native Habitat (also in Florida, as is Sandi) - this nursery has a very easy-to-use website, though ordering must be done via mail. Sounds like a case of landscapers with a hobby run amok! I also ordered, from the same nursery, a Miraclefruit and a Starfruit. All arrived well-packed and healthy - and larger than I'd expected! Of course, I am quite excited to have all three, and welcome (and solicit) advice or suggestions. All, I understand, are appropriate for container growing, and will be self-fruitful. Happy growing! Nancy Nancy mailto:bspaleo@iamerica.net Louisiana Gulf Coast, experiencing the worst drought in over 100 years, where the armadilloes destroy my beloved gardens nightly! ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- Reply-To: rarefruit@egroups.com Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 21:25:02 -0400 From: Erica Lynne Subject: Girdling To Enhance Fruit Production Vineet, Last summer I girdled my Edward (4" trunk and 3rd summer in the ground) because it didn't even flower the previous year. I took a razor blade and cut all the way around the circumference into the cambium, the total width of the cut was less than a millimeter ------ like that only not dotted. I did that 3 times over the summer, starting at about 1 ft off the ground, and separated by about 3" each. I did this after I heard a talk at my local fruit club about someone who did this successfully. I figured I didn't have anything to lose, since fruit production was zero and I wasn't going to tolerate a tree that didn't produce. So this year, the Edward flowered profusely - and abundance of blooms. And though many of the baby fruit dropped (I believe normal drop), the remainder of the fruit is just coming ripe. In fact, I ate the first one today. It is still a small tree, but there are about 20 mangoes on it and Edward is supposed to be a shy bearer. -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: (ÀRare Fruit?) High-Selenium Broccoli Vs. Colon Cancer Agricultural Research Service, USDA Judy McBride, (301) 504-1628, jmcbride@asrr.arsusda.gov June 9, 2000 Agricultural Research Service scientists dramatically reduced early stages of colon cancer in rats by feeding the animals broccoli grown in a high-selenium medium. ARS nutritionists John Finley and Cindy Davis drew on reports that the form of selenium in broccoli is more potent against cancer than other food forms or selenium salts. The broccoli form is known as selenium methyl selenocysteine, or SeMSC. The body simply snips the end off this amino acid to produce the anticancer agent called methyl selenol. The form of selenium prevalent in grains and some meats requires several chemical conversions to produce methyl selenol. Selenium salts--the forms used in some supplements--convert more readily. But it's only one step for the form in broccoli to get there. To test its efficacy, the researchers grew broccoli having several thousand times the selenium normally found in the vegetable. They grew the broccoli at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center in North Dakota. Then, in a series of rat studies, they confirmed that differences in selenium metabolism translated to differences in risk of colon cancer. First, they pitted high-selenium broccoli against the selenium salt selenate. And they made sure to control for any beneficial effects of broccoli itself, for the vegetable scores high in antioxidants and contains other substances shown to be active against cancer. After beefing up the rats' selenium levels for several weeks, they injected the animals with a potent carcinogen. High-selenium broccoli always resulted in fewer precancerous lesions than selenate. And the number of precancerous lesions decreased as the dose increased. Then they confirmed the findings using a different salt--selenite--and a higher dose of selenium. They also challenged the animals with a much more potent carcinogen. Although many more precancerous lesions occurred, the rats fed high-selenium broccoli had half as many as the animals getting selenite. More details about these studies appear in the June issue of Agricultural Research magazine online at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jun00/colon0600.htm From: "ARS News Service" Subject: New Plum, Apricot Cross Ideal for Southern Growers Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 09:32:50 -0400 Agricultural Research Service scientists have developed and released a new specialty fruit as luscious as its name. Spring Satin, a cross between a plum and apricot, is now available to nurseries. ARS horticulturist William R. Okie developed the reddish-black-colored fruit. Southeastern fruit growers have trouble growing plums and apricots in that region's climate. This new cultivar is the first plumcot that is well adapted to the medium-high chill areas of the south. Plumcots developed in California haven't done well in the south. Spring Satin produces beautiful white flowers that bloom in mid March. The large, high- quality fruit ripen in early May, a time of year when high-quality fruit is in limited supply. When fully ripe, these fruits have a very good flavor. The short fuzz plumcot is about two inches in diameter. This vibrant beauty has yellow flesh when immature, changing to a yellowish-red when mature. This unique cross is tolerant to major plum diseases, like bacterial spot disease, bacterial canker disease, and plum leaf scald. These diseases make commercial production difficult due to the limited life span of the orchard. Spring Satin trees will be available commercially this winter. Limited amounts of budwood are available from Okie, who is with the ARS Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Laboratory in Byron, Ga. Germplasm from this release is deposited in the NSRP5/IR-2 Fruit Tree collection at Washington State University, Prosser, Wa. Consumers will have to wait to try Spring Satin; the trees take about three years to start producing fruit for large-scale distribution. >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - June 1, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - July 1, 2000 - AKA RFN200007A.txt --Notes In Passing Rose Apple Tree: Air Layer vs Grafting - Air Layer Wins I need to move a Rose Apple tree with larger-than-average fruit, so I tried to both graft and place air layers on it. In my limited number of trials (about four each,) none of the grafts were successful, but so far two of the air layers have been impressive at the number and size of roots. What has been your experience? Cuttings Of Cherimoya May Have Rooted - Why I Am Not Sure In the stranger-than-fiction department, I cut some 3/8 inch branches from a seedling cherimoya to use hold name tags for the contents of a pot. This was 'way back in March or earlier, and the wood has stayed succulent, leafed out, and pushed out bloom buds. I haven't looked down under to see if there are actually roots there, but it's possible! Cuttings Of Mango Did Root, But.... When grafting potted mango trees a few months ago (maybe last summer?) I put some cuttings in the ground around the grafted rootstock. When one or two stayed green and looked very much alive, I pulled one up, not expecting to find any root. However, it had a small brown root, but died, when I put it back into the soil. Mangos With Fungus - Which One(s) Are Worst? I'd be interested in your experiences. Someone commented that Nam Doc Mai was more prone than Valencia Pride, which I'd agree is probably true in my yard, but there is one that seems much more prone to disease, and that is 'Pim Seng Mon.' It's not just mildew, but some brown discoloration on the leaves and stems. Not only that, it doesn't set fruit yet, but is possibly not old enough. Nam Doc Mai, on the other hand, does set fruit, and the one I let ripen last year was not colorful, but delicious. ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber-Wants To Grow: Sugar Apple, Lychee, Atemoya.... Lou Arbolida New Subscriber, Winter Park, Florida: How To Get Passion Fruit? Susan Seifert New Subscriber, Phoenix: How To Grow Theobroma From Seed? Leo A. Martin --Readers Write Blueberry Varieties I Have Matthew Shugart Blueberry Varieties I Have Tried Nan Sterman BucknerGT@PWCSD.NAVY.MIL Blueberry Varieties I Have Gladys Baird To: BucknerGT@PWCSD.NAVY.MIL Blueberry Varieties I Have Tried Holzinger, Bob To: Geoff RE: Blueberry Varieties I Have Tried Buckner, Geoff T To: Holzinger, Bob RE: Please Help Identify This Fruit (Annona) Sven Merten Re: Girdling To Enhance Fruit Production Link2itc@aol.com RE: Girdling To Enhance Fruit Production Erica Lynne To: Dwarf Mango - Information Sought Wael Eissa RE: Copper Sprays For Mango Mildew Erica Lynne RE: Copper Sprays For Mango Mildew Erica Lynne Re: Rixford Pitaya is Red, Grafting & Soil. Sven Merten Rhubarb In San Jose - Source? When To Plant? PGerdts@aol.com How To Germinate Cherimoyas And Achiotes? Amy Papaya Produce Fruits In 4-6 Months From Seed? Alex Kolodejny Dwarf Mango trees - Who Sells Them? Aman Macadamia Nut Commercial Cracker Sought MaryJLight@aol.com --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) Flowering Vine List For Subtropical/Tropical Climates Eric Schmidt --NAFEX List None, this time --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com Reply-To: rarefruit@egroups.com Re: Mango again (Polyembryonic, Which Is Clone?) Warren -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm Green Technology Helps Clean Up Toxic Soils Hank Becker ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber-Wants To Grow: Sugar Apple, Lychee, Atemoya.... Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 00:53:14 EDT From: Lou Arbolida Hi, I am Lou Arbolida, in Wildomar, CA. The fruit trees I am now growing are: Bananas, Longan, Pitomba, Cherry of the Rio Grande, Guava, Feoja, Passion Fruit, Kiwi, Cherimoya, Apricot, Pomegranate, Plum, Peach, Oriental Pear, Apple Pear, Nectarine, Fuyu Persimmon, Fugi Apple, Pigeon Pea, Grapes, and Cherries. Some I want to grow include: Sugar Apple, Lychee, Atemoya, Papaya and Mangos Lou Arbolida mailto:ARBSFRUIT@aol.com Subject: New Subscriber, Winter Park, Florida: How To Get Passion Fruit? Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 13:50:04 -0400 From: Susan Seifert Hi, I am Susan Seifert in Winter Park, Florida I am now growing surinam cherry, papaya, strawberry guava, and want to grow? passion fruit, mango, pineapple guava, chocolate pudding tree Question for newsletter readers - If I buy a plant called "Passion flower" will it produce passion fruit? I found a place that sells passions flowers, but in the description it doesn't say anything about the fruit. This company is located in the northern part of the US. Susan Seifert mailto:mal316@ix.netcom.com Subject: New Subscriber, Phoenix: How To Grow Theobroma From Seed? Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2000 16:45:06 -0400 From: Leo A. Martin Hi, I am Leo A. Martin, of Phoenix, Arizona Now, I am growing: Apple (rare fruit in Phoenix); Banana (3 varieties); Citrus (many); Date (3 varieties, 1 fruiting tree); Galanga (Alpinia galangal) Guava; Cherimoya (Annona cherimola); Hylocereus undatus (cactus); Opuntia ficus-indica (cactus); Papaya; Peach; Persimmon; and Sapote, yellow and white. Seedlings now sprouting: Aegle marmelos; Annona cherimola, muricata, reticulata, squamosa; Antidesma bunius; Various papaya; Various Passiflora; Rollinia deliciosa; Tamarindus indica; and Zizyphus jujube; Lots of other seeds not up yet. I have a ripe fruit of Theobroma cacao and want suggestions for how to sprout the seeds. If it's possible to search past issues online, please let me know how. If it's not possible, I'd appreciate being E-mailed whatever past issues and special supplements you have, but my mailbox won't hold more than 3 megabytes at a time. Leo A. Martin mailto:leo1010@attglobal.net -----------------Readers Write------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 09:28:28 -0700 From: Matthew Shugart Subject: Blueberry Varieties I Have Geoff Buckner asked about blueberry varieties. I have Sunshine Blue and O'Neal. While both produce for me in Carlsbad, Sunshine Blue has heavier crops of better and more flavorful berries. It is also supposed to be self-fertile and more tolerant of alkaline soil, so it may be the best variety for our conditions. I have both varieties growing in a raised bed in pure azalea-camellia planting mix. I feed them with cottonseed meal and mulch them with composted fir (from the Christmas tree that I shred every year). Matthew Shugart mailto:mshugart@ucsd.edu Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 22:33:03 -0700 From: Nan Sterman To: Geoff Buckner Subject: Blueberry Varieties I Have Tried Hello Geoff -- I too grow blueberries -- here in the SD area. About 15 years ago, I experimented with rabbiteye blueberries which produced very well for the first three years or so and then tapered off. About 4 years ago, I planted the S. Highbush blueberries -- O'Neal, Cape Fear, Georgia Gem, Sunshine (a dwarf), and Sierra. I have done very well with all except Sierra (I think they passed on to the great garden in the sky). Only Sunshine produces a full bush in terms of branches and foliage -- the others are a bit scrawny, but I am amazed at how much fruit they put out. We are eating them now and will continue for several months. I suspect that if the bushes were in more sun, they would look better. I was pleased to see these blueberries offered bare root in the nursery last year. In fact, I bought some new plants to augment what I already have. There are probably a dozen bushes or so in corner of my yard under a very tall Torrey Pine so they get high shade. Nan Sterman mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com San Diego County CA Sunset zone 24, USDA zone 10b or 11 Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 18:22:16 -0700 To: BucknerGT@PWCSD.NAVY.MIL From: Gladys Baird Subject: Blueberry Varieties I Have Geoff: About 3 years ago I ordered 'Georgia Gem' and 'Sunshine Blue' (semi-dwarf southern) blueberries with a group of other folks including Dick and Margo Baughman. Our property is about 3 miles inland from the coast and about a mile north of San Elijo Lagoon. In cold years, the temperature drops around Thanksgiving and we may have 2-3 days of light frost. The blueberries were planted in whiskey barrels to control acidity of the soil. Both kinds are doing well with yields large enough to satisfy the cravings of two adults and a 4-year old grandchild. Gladys Baird mailto:tokiko@incom.net From: Holzinger, Bob To: Geoff Subject: Blueberry Varieties I Have Tried Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 07:37:37 -0700 Hi Geoff, I need to comment on your reference to growing blueberries in San Diego. I think I ordered my first blueberry bushes, all rabbiteye, in 1983, when I lived in University City. I got 75 bushes for 17 people and then did a follow-up for a couple of years to see how they were doing. Most of the people did not follow my suggestion to leave the plants in a pot, so they went into the alkaline soil of San Diego County. Needless to say, they didn't do that well. Of the six plants I ordered, four did well. These were Tifblue, Woodard, Brite Blue, and Choice. The first two I would recommend to anyone, since other plants of these cultivars have always performed well for me. The other two did well as single plants at that time. I have moved from San Diego to Ventura and still grow blueberries. I'm not taking the time with them that I did in San Diego, but they still do well if grown in pots. That way the pH can be better controlled and the moisture better monitored. I use at least 75% peatmoss in my pots, the other 25% can be potting soil or other soil-less components. I fertilize with an acid-loving fertilizer designed for azaleas. Just keep moving them up into bigger pots as they grow, which gives them fresh peatmoss every couple of years, and they should do just fine. I've always grown blueberries in full sun, or as full as one can get near the coast with the morning fog. Hope this helps. Happy growing, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com From: Buckner, Geoff T (PWCSD 980) To: Holzinger, Bob Subject: RE: Blueberry Varieties I Have Tried Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 08:44:52 -0700 -----Original Message----- From: Holzinger, Bob [mailto:bholzing@amgen.com] Sent: Monday, June 19, 2000 7:38 AM To: Geoff Subject: Blueberry Varieties I Have Tried Bob, Thank you for your response. To augment my existing selections, I think I will give your suggestions a try. Others also have suggested Sunshine Blue which is allegedly a dwarf variety. I do have my current nine plants in the ground. However, to counter our alkaline conditions, I dug very large planting holes and backfilled them with approximately 90% peat moss. Perhaps, these planting holes will act as pots, just in the ground. So far there has been no sign of chlorosis. I have successfully used this technique for Azaleas and Camellias, I will see if it works for the long haul with the blueberries. Thanks again for you comments. Geoff Buckner mailto:BucknerGT@PWCSD.NAVY.MIL Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 20:22:01 -0700 From: Sven Merten Subject: RE: Please Help Identify This Fruit (Annona) To: mollb.lehighms.cameo@prodigy.net Hi Barry, The Soncoya have large seeds, probably about an inch long and 3/4 of an inch wide. Could it be an Ilama (A. diversifolia)? I know there are red varieties of these. You can usually tell many of the species apart by looking at the seed, but if it is one of the more obscure ones it may be difficult. Did you take any pictures of the fruit? Do you have any of seed left that you might want to trade, it sounds like an interesting fruit? Best regards, Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net From: Ed Lin Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 08:36:55 EDT Subject: Re: Girdling To Enhance Fruit Production Hello Erica, Nice reading about your girdling experiment. You said you did girdling 3x over the summer. How do you decide how far to space the girdling times? What do you watch for? I have a Nam Doc Mai that is almost 3.5" in trunk diameter that after one summer in the ground, gave about 10 fruits last year (all split from rain or eaten by animals) so I never tasted this fruit even for the first time. This year, it flowered profusely with exceptionally long panicles -- but only one teeny fruit formed and that one fell off after a couple of weeks. What do you recommend? Ed Lin mailto:Link2itc@aol.com Sarasota, FL << From: Erica Lynne Subject: Girdling To Enhance Fruit Production Vineet, Last summer I girdled my Edward (4" trunk and 3rd summer in the ground) because it didn't even flower the previous year. I took a razor blade and cut all the way around the circumference into the cambium, the total width of the cut was less than a millimeter ------ like that only not dotted. I did that 3 times over the summer, starting at about 1 ft off the ground, and separated by about 3" each. I did this after I heard a talk at my local fruit club about someone who did this successfully. I figured I didn't have anything to lose, since fruit production was zero and I wasn't going to tolerate a tree that didn't produce. So this year, the Edward flowered profusely - and abundance of blooms. And though many of the baby fruit dropped (I believe normal drop), the remainder of the fruit is just coming ripe. In fact, I ate the first one today. It is still a small tree, but there are about 20 mangoes on it and Edward is supposed to be a shy bearer. >> From: Erica Lynne To: Ed Lin Subject: RE: Girdling To Enhance Fruit Production Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2000 08:02:31 -0400 Hello Ed and Leo, I don't like hurting a tree or any plant, but I have only a residential yard and not enough space to keep a tree that isn't bearing and mangoes are my very favorite fruit, so I was anxious to get some! It is general knowledge that girdling a tree slightly will stimulate flowering/fruiting. The reasoning is that the tree senses the threat to its life and that stimulates reproduction. However, I was not willing to try it until I heard speak a knowledgable man from our fruit club. He had lots of experience and told exactly how he did it and from this I gathered the courage to girdle my Edward. I didn't take notes, however, so what I did was just based on memory. I think Leyman only girdled once in a season, but I was so determined, that I repeated the girdling 3 times over the season. I spaced them about 3 inches apart and that was just my own intuition. My Edward is about 4 inches in diameter and also a young tree (2-3 seasons in the ground). I don't know why your Nam Doc Mai didn't fruit, but here are a couple of possibilities. First, apparently young trees getting established don't set fruit. The idea is that they are too young to bear the stress of reproduction. So it could be all you need is time. Second, you may not have had good pollination. A local mango expert here recommends (and I did this) hanging a rotting fish head in the tree when it is flowering. This attracts the little flies and wasps that like mango flowers. Third, you may have had too much rain, or anthracnose (a fungus), which you would recognize by the flowers turning brown, instead of just fading and falling off. Hope this helps and good luck. Erica Lynne mailto:ericalynne@mindspring.com Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2000 11:53:29 -0700 (PDT) From: Wael Eissa Subject: Dwarf Mango - Information Sought I own an aricultural land and want to grow dwarf mango in it, and would like to gather more information about this plant.Here are some of the questions that i am concerned about: 1. What is the most appropriate whether for the growth of the drawf mango? 2. How many tonnes of mango are produced per unit area? 3. I am from Egypt so from which country can i import this plant from? 4. What is cost of one nursling of this plant? 5. Who are the producing countries of this plant? Thank for your concern Wael Eissa mailto:bigbossweissa@yahoo.com From: Erica Lynne Subject: RE: Copper Sprays For Mango Mildew Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 19:37:35 -0400 Hi Leo, I just bought whatever brand was in the garden shop...neutral copper...it's a blue powder and it does not mix well with water. I add Joy detergent. (Joy has a neutral pH, I believe and not damaging as other detergents.) I used all of it up this spring and threw the bottle away, so I don't know what brand it was. Mostly now I am using the Safer Soap, which is copper plus emulsifier and is easier to mix and spray and I get that from Gardens Alive. BTW, when I say "spray," I just use a "garden-variety" plastic jar sprayer that attaches to the water hose. Well, that's why I sent a bunch of cuttings. I usually get twice or more what I think I need when I am getting plants, because of a certain mortality rate. I ordered 5 chocolate seeds, got 4 seedlings and then just this week, 2 of them succumbed to a fungus. Once the yucca gets going, you can't hardly stop it, so you'll have plenty. I'm glad they grew well for you. I have been trying to germinate my miracle fruit seeds, with no progress so far. Have you ever grown miracle fruit from seed? I don't need another plant, but sometimes people ask for the seeds and I want to be sure I'm giving them something that works. Erica Lynne mailto:ericalynne@mindspring.com -----Original Message----- From: Leo Manuel [mailto:leom@rarefruit.com] Sent: Sunday, June 18, 2000 8:36 AM To: Erica Lynne Subject: RE: Copper Sprays For Mango Mildew Hi Erica, Are all copper sprays pretty much the same, or are some better? What brand do you use? Sincerely, Leo -----Original Message----- From: Erica Lynne Subject: Copper Sprays For Mango Mildew Hi Leo, I use copper spray. There is a neutral copper spray, which was recommended by the fruit club people and I used that say, 2-3 times this year during flowering, especially right after rain because that's when the fungus sets in. The problem with neutral copper is that it is hard to emulsify and is messy. For maintenance fungicide, I use "Soap Shield" which is a flowable copper fungicide from Gardens Alive. I think they have a website. If you need more info to find them, let me know. As fungicides go, copper is not very toxic. I don't like to put any poisons on my yard at all, because I have butterfly gardens, and human food and in general think it is a bad idea. But there is so much fungal trouble in south Florida - some things I just can't grown, like cucumbers - and others that need just a hit or two of the copper so they get growing enough to resist the fungi on their own. Anthracnose on mangoes is a real problem and I think you have to have a resistant variety or spray in order to get fruit, at least around here. I think that, with fungi, getting a little in sooner, rather than delaying, is better, because it doesn't take as much or as nasty poison to knock it out when it is just beginning to infect the tree. Horticordially , Erica Lynne mailto:ericalynne@mindspring.com From: Erica Lynne Subject: RE: Copper Sprays For Mango Mildew Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 17:52:07 -0400 Hi Leo, A Gardens Alive catalogue arrived today. The product I have been using is called "Soap-Shield" and is copper combined with a fatty acid to make a soap that sticks better and longer and you use less. They claim it is biodegradable into things plants use. I don't order much from these people, because the stuff is expensive, but what I have ordered has worked as well or better than they claim. Also their catalog is full of pictures of various plant diseases and insect attacks which I have found helpful in diagnosing in my own garden. www.gardens-alive.com Good luck, Erica Lynne mailto:ericalynne@mindspring.com Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 21:43:12 -0700 From: scoutdog@pacbell.net Subject: Re: Rixford Pitaya is Red, Grafting & Soil. Hi Leo, You are right. The Rixford is a red fruit. I got some more plants from Paul today and I asked him about it. Sorry about the mix up. That is a good idea grafting the yellow pitaya to the Opuntia, or even to a Hylocereus might help. I'm not sure how they do it, but I will try to stop by some time and ask. I think it is fairly easy with most cacti. I think Paul has done some grafting of the Hylocereus. I checked today and there are several more blooms developing on the cuttings from George as well as one on a small cutting I just picked up in Irvine. Hopefully it will set fruit since I have no idea what the fruit is going to be like. I was also taking to Paul today and we both thought the pitaya do better in the sandy soil from our property as opposed to a potting soil or something more fertile. For me they seem to do the worst in a mix with a high organic percentage, like compost or mulch. I've been mixing half soil from the property with half a cacti mix called Black Magic (Home Depot) and the plants seem to be growing very well. It seems like they prefer soil that packs together and gets rock hard when dry. On Tuesday I'm heading up the the Bay area for a week, so I'll be out of touch. Take care. Best regards, Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net From: PGerdts@aol.com Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2000 14:13:57 EDT Subject: Rhubarb In San Jose - Source? When To Plant? How can I get a rhubarb plant? and when do I plant? Maybe one of your contacts know. My home is in San Jose, California. Thanks mailto:PGerdts@aol.com From: Amy Subject: How To Germinate Cherimoyas And Achiotes? Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2000 17:47:22 -0700 I have a question: What is the best way to germinate cherimoyas and achiotes? Thanks Amy Fernandez mailto:MarvelousGardens@1stconnect.com From: Alex Kolodejny Subject: Papaya Produce Fruits In 4-6 Months From Seed? Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 10:35:31 +0600 Hello Leo, How are you? May I ask you one more question? I read somewhere that some papaya cultivars can begin to produce fruits in 4-6 months from seed. Is it true? If so I think it may be grown the same as tomato plants in temperate climate regions. Do you know something about it? Can you tell me what is the most dwarf and fast to bear papaya known? With best wishes, Alex Kolodejny mailto:alexkl@newmail.ru From: Aman Subject: Dwarf Mango trees - Who Sells Them? Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 12:50:33 -0700 Dear Sirs, I am looking to buy dwarf mango tree seedlings. Can you help me with the list of suppliers. Aman mailto:aman@avana.net 800 288 3358 404 931-6592 Subject: Macadamia Nut Commercial Cracker Sought Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 14:00:56 EDT From: MaryJLight@aol.com Leo I have a huge macadamia tree. It produces fruit the year round. Do you know of any commercial factory that has large cracking machines where I might get 50 to 100 lbs. of nuts cracked. I have a good cracker but that I ordered from New Zeland, but I can't keep up with cracking all my nuts and they become stale and rancid. If I can get them cracked I can freeze the nuts so they will not get old. Thank you if you can help me with this information. Mary J. Light mailto:MaryJLight@aol.com ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ From: Eric Schmidt Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 17:10:21 -0000 Subject: Flowering Vine List For Subtropical/Tropical Climates I have started a new mailing list for the discussion of cultivating flowering and ornamental vines in subtropical and tropical locations. To join: mailto:tropvines-subscribe@egroups.com Eric Schmidt mailto:Eric.Schmidt@ci.orlando.fl.us ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- Reply-To: rarefruit@egroups.com Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 07:30:03 PDT From: Warren Reply-To: rarefruit@egroups.com Subject: Re: Mango again (Polyembryonic, Which Is Clone?) Richard, What you have is a polyembrionic seedling, assuming that you only planted one seed. With polyembrionic seeds, you often get three or more seedling sprout. Only one of these is the result of pollination. The others are growing directly from the nucellar tissue, thus they will be clones of the mother plant. The problem comes in determining which sprout is the "clone" and which is the result of pollination. There are various schools of thought regarding differentiating between the two. It becomes a little easier if you have three or more shoots but even then, there are no guarantees. Normally, you can improve your odds of selecting the clone by culling out the shoot that is different, ie. larger, smaller, different leaf pattern, etc. As you only have two shoots, I would separate them and let Nature take its course. There is a chance that the pollinated shoot will produce a new, improved variety. If so, you get the naming rights. If not, it can always be used as a rootstalk for grafting. Fruitful growing, Warren mailto:wpc728@hotmail.com -----Original Message----- From: Richard Himbarger Reply-To: rarefruit@egroups.com Subject: Re: [rarefruit] Mango again Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 15:02:44 -0700 I started a mango from seed, and 2 stems came up. One of the stems is twice as thick as the other stem and has 3 leaves while the thin stem has only 1 leaf. I am wondering if I should let both stems grow or if I should cut 1 of them, and which one should I cut off? Richard None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm From: ARS News Service Subject: Green Technology Helps Clean Up Toxic Soils Hank Becker, (301) 504-1624, hbecker@asrr.arsusda.gov June 19, 2000 When it comes to cleaning up soils contaminated with heavy and toxic metals, Mother Nature has Agricultural Research Service plant physiologist Leon V. Kochian to thank. Thirteen years of research at the U.S. Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory at Ithaca, N.Y., makes Kochian an authority on how certain plants take up essential mineral nutrients and toxic heavy metals--like zinc, cadmium and nickel--from soils. He has also characterized strategies some plants use to withstand toxic soils. Kochian's pioneering research shows how plant species grow on marginal and toxic-metal-laden soils. He's an international expert on plant responses to environmental stress, plant mineral nutrition, and how they clean up soils contaminated with heavy metals and radioisotopes. Contaminated soil and water pose major environmental, agricultural and human health problems that may be partially solved by a new technology called phytoremediation. It uses green plants to remove pollutants or render them harmless. Current engineering-based technologies--such as transporting contaminated topsoil to landfills--are costly and dramatically disturb the landscape. Kochian's "green technology" is a cost-effective, plant-based approach. It uses certain plant species--known as metal hyperaccumulators--to "vacuum up" heavy metals through their roots and store them in above-ground plant tissue. Once concentrated in the easily harvested plant stems and leaves, these elements can be stored for later use. Kochian is clarifying how the complex trait of metal hyperaccumulation involves several different transport and tolerance mechanisms within the plant. He's working with plants like Thlaspi caerulescens, which thrives on soils contaminated with high levels of zinc and cadmium, and Amaranthus retroflexus, which removes up to 40 times more radiocesium from soil than other plant species tested. For more details of this research, see the June issue of Agricultural Research. It can be viewed online at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jun00/soil0600.htm ARS is USDA's chief research agency. >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - July 1, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - July 15, 2000 - AKA RFN200007B.txt --Notes In Passing Mango Trees Acquired But About Which I Am Largely Ignorant I recently acquired five mango trees (actually, scions for five, but they're all growing) and don't know anything much about four of them. They are Julie, Zill, Saigon, and Florigon. They were with the Early Gold trees on Captain Bucklew's place, and I brought them along with the Early Gold scions. Some of what were labeled as 'Early Gold' probably were not, since there seemed to be a variation in the look of a few of them. If you have any recommendation for a source for those as well as for Early Gold, I'd be most grateful. Posters - Pictures and Information For Banana and Mango I've ordered one each of these two posters, as shown in the Photo section of OldRFN or at http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~trecweb/Announce.htm One poster is $10, two for $18, with $4 handling charge, making my cost for the two at $22. E-mail Virus - No Attachments Necessary To Cause Its Spread! Read about it in the Zingiber List. ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Reader, Near Tampa Florida, With Fertilizer Question Randy Grantham New Reader, Santa Monica, CA, With Copper (Dormant) Spray Question Charles Portney" New Subscriber, Mexico City, Wants To Grow Black Sapote Humberto Trejo New Reader, Manhattan Beach, CA, With Beach-Area Mango Question Mickey Fine New Reader, Missouri; Desires "Dragon Fruit" Information Tien Tran --Readers Write http://www.fruitlovers.com - What a great web page! Leo Manuel Re: http://www.fruitlovers.com - What a great web page! Oscar Jaitt Blueberries - Using Pine Needles To Acidify Soil Nan Sterman To: BucknerGT@PWCSD.NAVY.MIL Rhubarb Availability Nan Sterman To: PGerdts@aol.com Macadamia Cracking For Hire Eunice Messner CC: MaryJLight@aol.com Miracle Fruit From Seed - My Experience JON VERDICK To: In Search Of Panache Fig and XX3 Avocado Nan Sterman Re: Rooting in water - Epiphyllum scoutdog@pacbell.net Fungus Resistance in Mangos - and Phytoremediation "Buckner, Geoff T (PWCSD 980)" SURINAM CHERRIES - Trees Free IF You Dig "Cobbe,John" --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) Potential 'e-mail' virus threat Jody Haynes Reply-To: zingiber@egroups.com Re: Potential 'e-mail' virus threat "K Hayward" Reply-To: zingiber@egroups.com --NAFEX List None, this time --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None, this time --From Epi Group Main Page: http://www.egroups.com/group/epi Hylocereus As Rootstock For Epiphyllum (And Selenicereus?) Herb Barringer -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None, this time ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, Near Tampa Florida, With Fertilizer Question Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2000 21:39:33 EDT From: Randy Grantham Hi, I am Randall Grantham, near Tampa FL, now growing: lychee, carambola, sugar apple, fig, mango, and various citrus I have two questions: Should fertilizer be added to the water in a hole before transplanting a potted tree? How much sun is really necessaryy for plants that need sun vs. shade? Will filtered sun do? Thanks Randy Subject: New Reader, Santa Monica, CA, With Copper (Dormant) Spray Question Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 20:22:53 -0700 From: "C. Portney" Hi, I am Charles W. Portney, Santa Monica, CA, USA Fruit now growing: Apples, pears, jaboticaba, grumichama, guavas (tropical, magenta, pineapple, strawberry, lemon), roseapple, blueberries, allspice, capers, eggfruit, leucma, pitanga, wax jambu, macadamia, paw-paw, starfruit, jujubes, kumquat, mamey sapote, lemons, grapes, bannanas, che, tamarillo, jelly palm, lime, blackberries(multiple including boys., marion, logan, tayberry, etc.), alpine strawberies, persimmons, white sapote, golden sapote, cherimoya, chilean guava, costarican guava, carob, naranjilla, tangerines, key lime, blood orange, mulberries, passionfruits, loquat, fig, japanese raisin tree, capulin cherry, doughnut peach, nectarine, plums, coffee, tea, babaco papaya, longan, black sapote, bay laurel (for leaf), cinammon, ice cream bean, mangoes, cape gooseberry, ground cherries, goumi, cornelian cherries, pineapples, kiwi, pepinos, elderberries, etc. in the ground and/or pots with varying degrees of successs. Please advise if anyone knows what plants copper dormant spray should NOT be used on besides apricots. Charles Subject: New Subscriber, Mexico City, Wants To Grow Black Sapote Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 21:36:47 -0600 From: Humberto Trejo Hi, I am Humberto Trejo in Mexico City (DF) Mexico Now, I am growing Mango, papaya, cherimoya, and want to grow Black sapote My small farm is 50 miles from Mexico City in a warm tropical weather, altitude 3000 ft. Humberto Subject: New Reader, Manhattan Beach, CA, With Beach-Area Mango Question Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 00:19:38 EDT From: Onemaestro@aol.com Dear Mr. Manuel My name is Mickey Fine, I just bought my first home and am anxious to put a few fruit trees in and enjoy them. I don't have a whole lot of space, so many of the trees will have to be dwarfs or grafts? I live in Manhattan Beach California. My Email address is "onemaestro@aol.com". I currently have dwarf navel, valencia and satsuma trees along with a lemon and grapefruit. The grapefruit is real sour and it takes up alot of space. Is there anything you suggest? I was told they don't do well in southern california. My favorite fruit is the Mango- I just love them. Would a dwarf do well in my neck of the woods? If so, do you know where I can get one? I'm anxious to hear back from you and look forward to reading your newsletter. Thank you. Mickey Fine Subject: New Reader, Missouri; Desires "Dragon Fruit" Information Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 10:22:22 -0700 (PDT) From: Tien Tran Hi, Roy (Dynan*) introduced me to your newsletter, I came from VN, a tropical country, so it seems that all of my favorite fruits are "rare" in the US! Here some info about me: Name: Tien Tran City: St. Louis, MO Rare fruits wanted to know more: dragon fruit or similar Thanks, Tien -----------------Readers Write------------------ Oscar Jaitt Subject: http://www.fruitlovers.com - What a great web page! Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 16:16:50 -0700 Hi Oscar, What a great web page! If I saw it before, I had totally forgotten about it. Take care, Leo in San Diego Subject: Re: What a great web page! Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 19:08:38 HST From: Oscar Jaitt Thanks for the compliment Leo. Often I find interesting links in your newsletter and add them to my links page. If you have any suggestions for improvement on my page I would be very glad to hear them as I am still actively working on it. Fruitfully yours, Oscar Subject: Another point on blueberries Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 21:52:45 -0700 From: Nan Sterman To: Geoff Like Bob and Geoff, I have experimenedt with ways to keep the soil around blueberries appropriately acidic in San Diego's alkaline soils. I grow my blueberries beneath a huge Torrey Pine tree. I leave the needles in place and they seem to acidify the soil sufficiently that I have not had to augment the plants with any peat moss in addition to what they were planted in several years ago. Nan Sterman San Diego, CA Sunset 24, USDA 10b or 11 Subject: Rhubarb Availability Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 21:56:26 -0700 From: Nan Sterman To: PGerdts@aol.com Rhubarb is generally available with the bare root plants that are in nurseries starting in late fall. In addition, I have ordered them from Bay Laurel Nursery in Paso Robles www.baylaurelnursery.com. They have excellent plants and very good customer service. Good prices too. Nan Sterman San Diego, CA Sunset 24, USDA 10b or 11 Subject: Macadamia cracking Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2000 14:41:57 -0700 (PDT) From: Eunice Messner To: Mary Mary... Tom Cooper of Rancho Nuez Nursery, 1378 Willow Glen Rd in Fallbrook, CA 92028 does commercial cracking. Ph: 760 728-6407 Eunice Messner Subject: Miracle Fruit From Seed - My Experience Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 14:49:58 -0700 (PDT) From: JON VERDICK To: Erica I have two growing in pots which are 5 years old, which grew from seed from the CRFG or RFCI seed bank. They had bottom heat in my little table top greenhouse, but otherwise nothing special. Jon Verdick Subject: In Search Of Panache fig and XX3 avocado Date: Tue, 4 Jul 2000 11:48:22 -0700 From: Nan Sterman Can anyone in Southern California (preferably San Diego area) tell me where I can find * A Panache fig * Scion wood of XX3 avocado and a person who can graft it for me Thanks! Nan Sterman San Diego, CA Sunset 24, USDA zone 10b or 11 Subject: Re: Rooting in water - Epiphyllum Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2000 07:58:32 -0700 From: Sven Merten Hi Leo, Thanks for this information. The main advantage to starting the cuttings in water is when they are very small cuttings that will dry out before rooting in soil (3 inches or less). I haven't noticed a big lag when moving from water rooted cuttings to soil. I'm sure it is easier to produce regular roots from a water rooted cutting than from a dry cut and the cuttings are healthier in that they have not dried out at all. I have rooted larger cuttings this way, but they would have just as easily been rooted in soil. One other thing I noticed is that the pitaya grow much faster when they have something to cling to. I have some plants at home that are against the house, and the branches (if that is what you would call them) that were against the house developed aerial roots on the shady side and clung to the stucco. These have grown about 6 feet while all the other branches that were hanging free have only grown a foot or so. Same goes for all the plants down at the property. I wonder if shading one side stimulates them to produce the aerial roots. I hope you had a good fourth. Regards, Sven Leo Manuel forwarded: From: "Phil Peck" Hi Don.. There was a discussion here a bit back re: water rooting. Since I didn't put my 2 cents in then, but I will do so now. In my opinion, 'water roots' are very different than normal growth epi roots. They lack the fine cilia that 'normal' epi roots have. The fine ciliar roots are not necessary in a submerged environment. Eventually, the epi's started in this manner will rot and die. This method can be helpful in a few stubborn varieties and species. The problem can appear when you attempt to 'wean' these plants to normal epi soil. The plants must produce these 'normal' roots without other adverse effects on the plant. Sometimes the plant can't do this and simply dries and expires. The transition can be difficult and generally sets the plants back beyond a plant that is started in the usual fashion. Phil Peck Don Wrote: About 4 weeks ago, I took some cuttings of my Epiphyllum cartegense and set them aside for the cuts to harden over. About 1 week ago, I noticed that they were beginning to shrivel just a bit, so knowing that I was going to be away for a few days, I stuck them in a glass of water, hoping that they would "plump up" a bit. Imagine my surprise when I returned, examined the cuttings and found that the cuttings had a significant degree of rooting - see photo below: Do all epiphyllums root this easily in water? I've lost a number of cuttings to rot that wasn't visible because a portion of the cutting was beneath the surface of the medium. Comments, anyone? -- Don Martinson Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mailto:llmen@execpc.com And, Don Says Further From: Don Martinson This has been discussed in other groups as well, and I, too, believe he may have some basis in fact. Thus, care should be exercised in the transition from one medium to another. I wonder if this issue has ever been studied scientifically. If not, it would make a great graduate student thesis ("Medium Dependent Changes in Root and Root Hair Development and Morphology"). Don And, Diane Says: From: Diane Solomon Hi All: I have rooted many things in water, and yes, they do seem to have a bit different root system as stated by another subscriber. A tip I'd like to offer about "weaning" these water rooted plants/epies is to slowly add a bit of potting medium to the container of water....I usually move them to a plastic cup of water when I begin this method. When you gradually (over a period of weeks, not days) get the cup filled with soil/medium, you then keep it fairly damp for a week, providing less moisture thereafter until you have a plant rooted in potting medium. I then carefully remove (or cut down the sides of the plastic cup) the plant with the root ball and plant in a regular pot. This has worked very well for me with difficult epies and other plants for many years. I don't start all epi cuttings in this manner, but have done some that were being difficult to root in potting medium (rot). Oh, I put a tiny drop of disinfecting dish- washing liquid in the water...this seems to help prevent rot. I've even added some very diluted fertilizer to the water with some plants after they acquire some roots...not sure if this helps or not, but it sure makes me happy! :-) Diane in Tennessee Subject: Fungus Resistance in Mangos - And Phytoremediation Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2000 10:01:45 -0700 From: "Buckner, Geoff T (PWCSD 980)" Leo, I have Valencia Pride, Okrung, Pim Seng Mon, and Nam Doc Mai. Like your experience, the PSM appears to be much less resistant to fungus and disease than the others. With the coastal environment, it consistently gets mildew on the blooms regardless of the weather. After it was first planted It also had brown/black discoloration's on some of the leaves and one of the stems. The stem that had the discoloration died. I wondered at the time if it was a problem that Eunice Messner possibly diagnosed for other growers that affects mangos in pots. I have not had any further signs of this problem since it has been in the ground. In fact, this variety appears to be a very strong grower. Much stronger growth flushes than the others. It has also had a very good fruit set this year. I am anxious to taste them. For me, the Nam Doc has the next poorest fungus resistance, followed by the Okrung, and finally the VP with no problems at all. On another note, I would like to add some info to your article on phytoremediation. This technology has been used for several years now for remediating shallow soils for many inorganic and organic contaminants, not just metals. For those that are interested, here are a couple of EPA pages with more info. Good general Information: http://clu-in.org/remed1.htm Click on Publications and scroll down to "A Citizen's Guide to Phytoremediation" Click on View Guide. More technical information: http://www.epa.gov/swertio1/ Click on Remediation then click on Publications. Scroll down to "Introduction to Phytoremediation" and download the PDF file. There are also several other documents on phytoremediation on this page. Geoff Buckner Email: bucknergt@pwcsd.navy.mil Subject: Surinam Cherries - Trees Free IF You Dig Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2000 12:45:13 -0700 From: "Cobbe,John" Hi all My name is John Cobbe and I live in the Lake Hodges area of Escondido. I have a number of Surinam Cherry bushes (5 or 6) that i would like to remove and was wondering if any of your readers would be interested in taking them off my hands. They have been in the ground for between 2 and 3 years and vary in size from 3 to 7 foot tall. I have also contacted the local chapter of the CRFG If anyone is interested I can be reached at 760 741 4190 or: jcobbe@worldnet.att.net or jcobbe@dtwc.com ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ Subject: Potential 'e-mail' virus threat Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 07:44:59 -0400 From: Jody Haynes Reply-To: zingiber@egroups.com Dear all, I am writing a generic e-mail to every egroup that I belong to as a warning against a potential virus threat. Two days ago my wife received an e-mail message from someone on an egroup to which she subscribes. She read the e-mail and thought nothing of it. A few minutes later, she received a call from a friend who is also on that particular egroup saying that the message contained the Wscript.KakWorm virus. My wife promptly updated her Norton Antivirus definitions and scanned the hard drive. Norton found the virus and quarantined the file, but for some reason could not repair it. The e-mail DID NOT CONTAIN AN ATTACHMENT! I am telling you all about this because this is the first time I have known anyone that received a virus attached to an e-mail and that infected a computer *without* opening any attachments. This particular virus utilizes a known Microsoft Outlook Express security hole so that a viral file is created on the system without having to run any attachment. Simply reading the received email message will cause the virus to be placed on the system. This Wscript.KakWorm (a.k.a., VBS.KakWorm or Kagou-Anti-Krosoft) spreads by attaching itself to all outgoing messages via the Signature feature of Outlook Express and Internet Explorer newsgroup reader. The good news is that Microsoft has a patch for older versions of Outlook Express that will fill this security hole. If you are using Outlook Express as your e-mail software, I strongly urge you to get the patch. If you know anyone that is using Outlook Express, I urge you to tell them about this virus and to get the patch. The address for the patch (at Microsoft) is as follows: You may wonder why this patch is for attachments with long file names... Well, this is a security hole that the virus uses to propagate itself through users of Outlook Express. For more information on this virus, please read the following page on the Norton Antivirus website: Sorry for the long post. This is a potential problem for anyone using e-mail! If it had not happened to me I would not have believed it. But it did... So please be cautious and make sure you update your virus definitions regulary (at least monthly). And if you are using Outlook Express, please download the patch. Thank you all for your patience. Kindest regards, Jody Haynes Subject: Re: Potential 'e-mail' virus threat Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 22:22:22 +0100 From: "K Hayward" Reply-To: zingiber@egroups.com Jody and all I sent a lengthy warning to this group about the KAK Worm computer virus on 17th April. That message, which tells how to detect it and how to remove it, is attached. We've had it distributed twice on canna@ which I run. It caught a few of us out the first time around, but I was ready for it the second time, and let the person who spread it know to clean up his machine. As Jody says, it hides in the signature of the e-mail. It writes a signature which calls up a whole load of Visual Basic in the body of the message. It can only be spread via HTML messages (which can carry Visual Basic coding transparent to the reader). However, you can see it in all its gory detail if you look at the source code of the message. On Canna@ we recommend subscribers only sending messages in Plain Text, and then everybody is safe. As you say, you catch it when you simply read the e-mail. It then sends itself out in every HTML message that you send. It doesn't do any harm to your computer (except to prevent you booting on the 1st of the month), but it sure is embarrassing when you have passed it on to others. Removing it is dead easy, just edit out 1 line in Autoexec.bat, and delete a couple of files in Windows. The MS patch is very useful, because it gives an alert whenever you receive a message that contains the virus. It also enables you to go back through your old messages to see who it was that sent it to you. The patch is about 100kb, and I'm happy to send it to anyone who wants it. Keith Hayward mailto:hayward@farnborough.u-net.com ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None, this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None, this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None, this time --- From Epi Group Main Page: http://www.egroups.com/group/epi --- Date: Tue, 04 Jul 2000 18:23:24 -1000 From: Herb Barringer Subject: Hylocereus As Rootstock For Epiphyllum (And Selenicereus?) Ruth Mary: Commercial growers graft epis onto Opuntia stock in order to get large plants quickly. It is the only way large growers can keep up with demand. Grafting is also used to bring seedlings to maturity quickly. On their own, seedlings may take three to five years or more to reach maturity, but the time can be decreased to one or two years by grafting. This is a great help to developers of new cultivars, because they must wait for flowers to see if seedlings are worth keeping. The downside is that some new hybrids grow beautifully on Opuntia stock, but are not very healthy on their own roots. If you were to look at old catalogues of growers, from the '50s on, you would notice that many. (if not most) epi hybrids die off after five or ten years. Many just do not do very well on their own roots. I suggested using Hylocereus as stock because it is smaller than mature Opuntia, and better suited to baskets. Growers with limited space may not be able to accommodate large Opuntia plants, and smaller specimens are not good for grafting. I might add that Hylocereus undatus grows wild all over Hawaii, so it is free and easy to obtain here. I use grafts to start new seedlings, but also to grow "difficult" hybrids. I have been able to grow Tassel, Gladyce Jones, Duchess of Windsor, and many others much more reliably on grafts than on their own roots. It should be pointed out. though, that not all hybrids do well grafted. Grace Ann likes to grown on its own roots, thank you. Also, I occasionally receive really ratty cuttings from nurseries. I usually save them from certain oblivion by grafting. How to graft requires some pictures, I think. Grafting onto Hylocereus entails cutting a slot into the midrib of the stock, from the top, and then inserting an epi stem the base of which has been cut down on both sides to the midrib. This V-shaped cutting is then inserted into the hylocereus midrib. (Sharp) knives must be disinfected with alcohol for this operation. The scion is usually held in place temporarily with long cactus spines. More than you wanted to know? Ruth Mary wrote: Herb: How do you graft epis? And when and why? Thanks, Ruth Mary -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None, this time >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - July 15, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - August 1, 2000 - AKA RFN200008A.txt --Notes In Passing 1. Make Your Own Chinese Tea, by Francis Zee On the OldRFN web page, I have put the article by Dr. Zee. I have his permission to pass along his method of making "partially-fermented tea." Also, the article is below, in the 2. I needed to repot some very prickly hybrid seedlings of h. undatus and h. polyrhizus, and wore some thin "rubber" (Nitrile) gloves (disposable) that I had ordered from Gempler's ( http://www.gemplers.com ) - thin - but not easily penetrated. They were exactly what I had hoped, and I enthusiastically recommend them to anyone who needs to handle prickly plants, such as roses, briar berries, and some weeks. They were designed for use in chemical and medical labs where it's imperative that the user's skin NOT come in contact with hazardous chemical products and/or hyperdermic needles. 3. Remember the many Megalanthus Selenicereus seedlings from one fruit? I've decided that I need more room for other plants, so I'm going to sell or trade most of them. At the moment, they're still in the small peat pellets in which they sprouted, but I could put them in one-gallon containers. I'll sell them for $2.00 each, if you'll pick them up. Let me know soon, please. Just putting all of those in one-gallon pots will take more room than I can spare, to say nothing of making provision for individual watering. 4. I asked a user's group about replacing peat moss with cocoa mulch in soil mixes, and received several interesting responses, including recommendations for coconut fiber and one for buckwheat hulls. Does anyone in Southern California know where to buy either? >Have you seen a product similar to peat moss called coir fibre or >coconut fibre ? It comes in tightly compressed bricks in a couple of >sizes, expands in warm water about 8-9 times its' original size. >Peat moss, is an endangered resource that will eventually be gone >altogether like so many other things. >Being Canadian, and watching them strip our bogs for peat, I feel a >bit strongly about it. I have used coir very successfully in place >of peat moss and like it better. It also holds moisture, as peat >does, and drains well too. I have even used it plain for cuttings, >with some success. I have only a few epi's myself, my interest is >more in rhipsalis epiphytes, though there is no denying the beauty >of the flowers on the usual epi's. >I hope others will take note of the peat moss problem as well, and >try to find alternates like the coconut bricks. They are an >infinitely renewable resource. Peat bogs, once stripped, in >practical terms are gone forever, because the process that produces >peat is so very slow. It would be thousands of generations before >any of it could regenerate, and we need the bogs as they are, for >the plants and creatures that can live nowhere else, and to clean >our water. Bogs do that better than treatment plants do. .... >Compressed cocosfiber is a excellent replace to peat moss. The >reason I switched to it was mainly that I had problems with the >peatmoss drying out to quick, especially during my dry winter >conditions. Have used it for a year now and so far it's just >positive. I was a little worried about the high potash content but >haven't seen any bad effects do far. Very handy to bring home these >compact bricks and just wet up the amount you need. .... >Maybe you want to try what's called Coir (in the USA). Coir is >based on coconut husks. I've been mixing it with Scott's Profile (or >Turface) which looks just like kitty litter (but isn't). Lucky for >me the local Wal-mart has 40 pound (1.3 cu ft) bags of Profile for >$6.50. The coir wets much better than peat. The coir mix I got has >no peat - but it has horticultural vermiculite. It's all ground very >fine. The coir mix is by Scotts, called Metromix. It's a commercial >mix in a big bag. I can't remember which specific number of Metromix >I got - make sure you specify coir based or you're likely to get >peat. 5. Do you have any labor-saving ideas for mixing soil? I've been using a shovel and a large trash can, but it doesn't really get admendments mixed thoroughly, and it's hard work for a hot day! Paul Thomson has a plaster mixing machine that works well, but it's expensive, unless you find a used one.... 6. In the "rarefruit" users group, there are numerous letters with both questions and answers to the problems of growing pineapple fruit. I found them to explain several things I wasn't doing properly at home. ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Reader, Florida, Has Some But Wants More Rare Fruit Tom Hirt New Reader, Florida, Wants Info On 'Key West' Mamoncillo Kyle Melkonian New Reader, San Diego, Wants Macadamia-Source And Variety Denise Woo New Reader, Berkeley, CA, Wants Fruit Recommendation For Area Veronica Savage New Reader, Florida; What About Commercial Blueberry Grove? Rick & Kim Hunt New Reader, Arizona: How To Grow Japanese Persimmon In Extreme Heat? Yi-Cheng Chang (r47482) New Reader, CA, Wants Help Controlling Growth Of Raisin Tree Dennis Luby New Reader, Australia, Steven Burke --Readers Write Use of potassium chlorate in sapindaceans Juan A. Rivero Panache Fig George F. Emerich To: nsterman@mindsovermatter.com Puerto Rico Fruit - Identity and Source Sought Greg_M_Hunt@Dell.com Juicer Recommendations Sought L. Warren "Egg Tree" - Information Sought Laurie aspinall Re: Cherimoya question George F. Emerich To: Alex Kolodejny Grafting Longan - How To?? Ronald Lyn --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List None, this time --From NEWCROPS List Proposed USDA/APHIS/PPQ Regulations? Bob Batson --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. American Mayapple Yields Anti-Cancer Extract ARS News Service Hank Becker, (301) 504-1624, hbecker@asrr.arsusda.gov ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Reader, Florida, Has Some But Wants More Rare Fruit Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 20:54:56 -0400 From: Tom Hirt Please include me in your newsletter mailing. My name is Dr. Tom Hirt, Haines City, Fl. My email address is tomjan@artlover.com. We presently have several citrus, Naval, Mandarin, grapefruit, key lime, limes, lemons, avocado and mango. Our problems have been minimal, but we do occasionally have problems. Would like to grow some papaya and other rare fruits. We have about 2 acres and have a lot of space for the trees. Look forward to your newsletter and I may have some questions regarding starting trees from seed. Dr. Tom Hirt mailto:tomjan@artlover.com Subject: New Reader, Florida, Wants Info On 'Key West' Mamoncillo Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 10:08:27 -0400 From: Kyle Melkonian Hi, I am Kyle Melkonian, in Miami, Florida Fruit trees: Growing Lychees - Brewster & Mauritius; Longans - Kohala, Diamond River, Biew Kiew; I want to grow Mamoncillo (Melicoccus bijugatus) - Key West. It is a large green fruit, 1 1/2 inches in diameter, that I am told tastes like a Lychee. Kyle mailto:araxi@bellsouth.net Subject: New Reader, San Diego, Wants Macadamia-Source And Variety Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 14:30:17 EDT From: Denise Woo Hi, I am Denise Woo, in San Diego (Rancho Penasquitos area) I am now growing 14 citrus some planted 2 in a hole, 4 apple trees espaliered, apricot, 1 white peach 2 yellow peach 1 white nectarine all in one hole, 1 genetic dwarf yellow peach. 4 varieties of banana plants, acerola cherry, tropical cherry, guava, avocado, verte fig, jabatocaba and Fuju persimmon. Where is a good place to get a Macadamia tree at a reasonable price? What variety is good for San Diego? Are there any special tips I should know before planting one. Thank you for your help. Denise Woo mailto:Dmshuck@aol.com Subject: New Reader, Berkeley, CA, Wants Fruit Recommendation For Area Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 13:33:39 -0700 From: Veronica Savage Hi, I am Veronica Savage, in Berkeley, CA. I am now growing : Buddha's hand, dwarf grapefruit, banana, kumquat, plum, egg tree, loquat. I'd like additional recommendations for any tropical fruit! Veronica Savage mailto:vsavage@earthlink.net Subject: New Reader, Florida; What About Commercial Blueberry Grove? Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 23:31:04 -0500 From: Rick & Kim Hunt My name is Rick Hunt and I live near Tampa, Florida. My e-mail is hunto@worldnet.att.net. I'm growing persimmon, oranges, tangelos, grapefruit, tangerines, asian pear, plum, pineapple, surinam cherry, carombola, lychee, longan, feijoa, pomegranate, and a boatload of small plants in pots. I also have a few plants at my sisters 100 miles south; mango, mamey sapote, miracle fruit, sapodilla, canistel, black sapote, rose apple and jac. Most plants are small with few flowering and fewer fruiting,but next year? Please fwd back issues as I'm always looking for info. I'm looking for a few acres on Pine Island, near Ft.Myers, Fl to turn into a retirement grove. Any readers down there? Anyone with a commercial outfit there? When my orange grove here finally freezes out I'm thinking of a blueberry operation. Any comments/suggestions from the readership? Rick and Kim mailto:HUNTO@worldnet.att.net Subject: New Reader, Arizona: How To Grow Japanese Persimmon In Extreme Heat? Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 15:27:42 -0700 From: Yi-Cheng Chang (r47482)" Hi: My name is Kevin Chang; I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I would like to receive your newletter. Currently, I have several 'rare' fruits at my backyard: Japanese Persimmon, Mango, Loquat, Jujube, Cherimoya, and Jackfruit. Most of them are new plants that I got from the local nurseries. However, among these trees, my persimmon hasn't done anything since I planted it in May, not even a new leaf. Now the temperature is getting even hotter and the tree is in really bad shape. The leaves look sun-burnt and crispy. I can tell the leaves are dropping everyday. Although I planted it under a frame of sun filter, it doesn't look good. I also tried to deep water the tree to reduce the salt problem at the root. Because the tree is not doing good, I don't apply any fertilizer to it. Is there anything I can do? Thanks Kevin mailto:r47482@email.sps.mot.com Subject: New Reader, CA, Wants Help Controlling Growth Of Raisin Tree Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 17:00:52 -0700 From: Dennis Luby Hi, I am Dennis Luby, in Huntington Beach, CA. I am growing Citrus Salad (3 different citrus grafted lime Grapefruit and ?) 3 Avocado (Gwen, Pinkerton, & Fuetra), Fingered citron, Bing Cherry, Mandarinquat Plum, Satsumi & Santa rosa, Ponderosa Lemon, Nectarine, Moro Blood orange, 2 Cherimoya, Pink Lemon, Limequat, 2 Dwarf Banana (Brazilian & cavindish) Variegated calamondin, Chandler Pummola, Dandy tangerine, White sapote, Kumquat, Raisin Tree, Macadamia nut, Longan, Jabutacaba, Chico Sapote, Miracle bush, 2 Lichi from seeds and 5 Passiflora Edulis (1 Golden Giant, 4 Brazilian, & Red and Purple Giant not yet germinated) As for what I'd like to grow, I'm open for suggestions I have limited space in Huntington Beach most of my trees are only 3-4 years old. My White sapote it 2 years old and I just looped it today to see of I could keep it a size to fit my garden. Here's my problem now. I have a Japanese Raisin Tree that is 2 years old. It had fruit when I put it in the ground but nothing since I took it out of the pot. It is getting big fast and I would like to try bark inversion. Can I do it now or what is the best time? Where can I find a short description on how to do it? If I don't do something soon I fear I will lose a friendly neighbor. Thanks, Dennis mailto:HBLubys@bigvalley.net Subject: New Reader, Australia, With Mango, Jabotacaba, etc. Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 14:29:27 +0930 From: Richard Taylor Hi, I just surfed on to your page, if you could add my email address for your newsletter I would be chuffed. Look forward to your next publication. See Ya! Richard mailto:tods@picknowl.com.au -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Use of potassium chlorate in sapindaceans Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 21:22:05 -0400 From: "Juan A. Rivero" Following instructions from Dr. Rasananda, potassium chlorate was used experimentally in four species of Sapindaceae in Puerto Rico. The chlorate used was 98% pure. The results were as follows: Quenepa, Melicoccus bijugatus, Var. Pabon---400mg. Litchi, Var. Kaimana------------------------200mg. Lanson--------------------------------------200mg. Longan, Var. Kohala-------------------------400mg. Longan, Var. Champoo------------------------200mg. Forty two days after the application there was profuse flowering and an abundance of little fruits shortly afterwards, but only in the longans. The other Sapindaceae did not respond to the treatment. Warm regards Juan A. Rivero mailto:jarivero@caribe.net Subject: Panache Fig From: George F. Emerich To: nsterman@mindsovermatter.com Subject: Panache fig Nan: I can provide you with Panache figs in season or a tree. My place is in Fallbrook, you might enjoy a visit here. George mailto:gemerich@tfb.com Subject: Puerto Rico Fruit - Identity and Source Sought Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 09:04:10 -0500 From: Gregory M. Hunt I am looking for the name of a fruit that I had when visiting Puerto Rico several years ago. This fruit is a small dark green (leathery thick skin), pink meat, with a very large seed. Each piece of fruit was about the size of a very small Key Lime. I purchased this fruit at both an open air market in San Juan and at a road side fruit stand in south central Puerto Rico. Do you know what the name of this fruit is and if and where I might be able to purchase it here in the US? Thanks, Gregory M. Hunt mailto:Greg_M_Hunt@Dell.com Subject: Juicer Recommendations Sought Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2000 17:01:06 -0700 From: L. Warren Dear Leo, Does anyone have any good juicer recommendations for such things as guavas, strawberry guavas, blackberries, and the like? Is there a system that can separate the juice AND the pulp from the seeds? What about juicing citrus? Is there one juicer that can do it all, or is a separate juicer necessary for citrus? (Ease of cleaning is an important consideration for us.) Thanks, Les and Linda Warren mailto:bf948@lafn.org From: Laurie aspinall Subject: Egg Tree Information Sought Date: Sun, Jul 30, 2000, 7:53 AM Hello, Years ago my Mom had a plant called an egg tree The fruit it bore looked like a small chicken egg. When opened you could eat the fruit or replant the seeds inside. Does any one know of such a plant, or where I could get seeds to start my own plant. Thank you, and sincerely, Laurie aspinall mailto:ljaspinall@aol.com Note: Forwarded by Lon Ronbough with a comment: If the tree was tropical, it may have been Pouteria campechiana. Can anyone help this person? Subject: Re: Cherimoya question Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 21:41:03 -0700 From: "George F. Emerich" To: Alex Kolodejny Alex: Cherimoyas are not deciduous in the normal sense. They are sometimes called semi deciduous because they must lose their leaves in order for the new growth to emerge but they do not go dormant. The petiole of the old leaf locks the new bud in place until the leaf is removed or is forced off by the tree's desire to grow. I am afraid that short of having a good greenhouse, you may have to give up on Cherimoya. In our climate (San Diego California), blooming last from early May until mid October and the fruit ripens from November to May. Fruit development takes from six to eight months depending on the heat. The Cherimoya is native to the Andean highlands (~ 7000 feet) and requires essentially a frost free environment with warm days, not hot, and cool nights. They do not do well, usually do not fruit, in tropical lowlands There is an Annonaceae that is deciduous and will grow pretty far to the north. It is what we call Pawpaw (Asimina triloba). You can get more information on Pawpaw at: http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/pawpaw.html George mailto:gemerich@tfb.com Alex Kolodejny wrote: Hello George, Leo Manuel gave me your address as a specialist in cherimoya. George, could you help me with some question please? I heard cherimoya is deciduous. So it's interesting to me if I can grow it outdoor in pots and put to the cellar in winter. In my region there are about 6 months of warm weather. But how much time cherimoya needs to produce ripe fruit from flower and when flowers appears from beginning of new foliage growing. In the all literature I could read about seasons only but not time needed. Kindest wishes, Alex Subject: Grafting Longan - How To?? Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 20:34:29 -0400 From: "Ronald Lyn" Hi Leo, What are the widest used methods of grafting longan? Any pointers from those with experience would be appreciated. Ronald mailto:kanku@mail.infochan.com ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ Subject: Kaolin (Clay!) Material - New Pest Control Product "Surround" Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 09:53:50 -0700 http://www.goodfruit.com/archive/Mar15-99/special1.html Kaolin material should be available this season By Melissa Hansen A white, clay-like material has been under examination the last two years by researchers and growers in field trials across the Pacific Northwest and East Coast. While many wish this to be "Tinkerbell's magic dust" for the tree fruit industry, further research is needed to determine how it fits in pest management programs. What is this material? Who makes it? How does it work? Background information about the product, its manufacturer, and plans for commercialization of the new technology are presented in this article. Using dust-like particles for pest control may be politically correct in today's era of softer, less toxic chemicals; however, the concept isn't new. Reference to dust research has been found dating back to 1928 in which scientists studied talcum dust, mica dust, and kaolin. The kaolin material was developed jointly by Drs. Michael Glenn and Gary Puterka and Engelhard Corporation during their search to find alternative crop protectants. Glenn and Puterka are scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and are located at the Agricultural Research Service fruit station in Kearneysville, West Virginia. Engelhard, with headquarters in New Jersey, is an international company with expertise in surface chemistry and materials science. Product lines include catalysts, pigments, and agricultural products like pesticide carriers and stabilizing agents, fertilizer additives, and animal feed stabilizers. Engelhard has trademarked the particle film technology and named it HPF Technology. The kaolin product will be sold under the name Surround Crop Protectant and is the first HPF technology product to be launched, according to John Mosko, marketing manager of Engelhard's crop protectants. How it works HPF technology uses engineered microscopic particulates to form a barrier film that can protect against pest and solar damage. The particulates link together to create a semicontinuous porous particle film. Engineered kaolin was chosen as the active ingredient for the particle film technology, because it met size and shape specifications, had low toxicity, and had specific light-reflectance properties. Surround works as a crop protectant by coating plant surfaces with a white particle barrier film. The compound is sprayed on plants with common spray equipment. Thorough coverage is important; coverage usually must be in place before pest infestation. Spray intervals are generally 7 to 14 days. A specific spreader/sticker designed for Surround has been developed by Engelhard and is supplied with the product. Mosko said commercial spreader/ stickers are not made for particle film deposition and often lead to poor film formation that can dramatically reduce efficacy. The material may be useful in protecting against sunburn and heat stress and improve or enhance fruit coloring and finish in addition to its value as a protectant against insect damage. The particle film is designed to allow photosynthetically active radiation through, while blocking or reflecting harmful radiation that can cause sunburn and heat stress. Surround treatments keep the foliage and fruit cooler and can reduce heat stress and improve fruit color, stated Mosko. Relief from heat stress can lead to larger fruit size under certain conditions. Repellent When sprayed on plant surfaces, the protective barrier creates an unfamiliar and hostile environment to pests. Some insects are repelled by the bright white appearance of the plant surface; while, in other cases, insects and mites don't recognize the host because it feels different. Also, particles adhere to the insect or mite and act as a strong irritant, causing them to abandon the treated surface. Some pests have difficulty gripping the loosely bound particles and fall from the plant surface. Prolonged exposure to the film increases particle attachment to the insects, leading to confusion, disorientation, and excessive grooming, Mosko explained. "This ultimately leads to lack of feeding and egg laying," he said. Data are still being collected on Surround's effect on beneficials and parasites. Lady beetles and green lacewings appear to operate well against aphids in particle film-treated apple orchards, he said, adding that honeybees and other pollinators do not appear to be affected by the particle films. Particle film products are made up of ingredients with low mammalian toxicity and minimal environmental risks. All ingredients are exempt from residue tolerance requirements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The reentry interval established by the EPA is expected to be four hours from time of application, with a preharvest interval requirement of ten days. Mosko believes normal fruit washing is sufficient to remove the film from most smooth-skinned fruits like apples and pears. However, peaches may require additional fruit washing material to remove the film. Most of the work thus far has focused on tree fruits, primarily apples and pears. Research and development on stone fruit, nuts, and some vegetable crops will continue in 1999. In apples, the material is claimed by Engelhard to control leafrollers and leafhoppers and suppress codling moth, plum curculio, apple sucker, stink bugs, apple maggot, thrips, and mites. Pear psylla control has been achieved by Surround in pears. Other pear pests that are suppressed include thrips, leafhoppers, codling moth, stink bug, and mites. Applications on peaches and nectarines have provided control of Japanese beetles and suppressed pests like Oriental fruit moth, thrips, and stink bugs. Registration expected Though Mosko expects the product to be registered by the EPA in the first half of 1999, commercial sales and distribution will be limited this year. He explained that Engelhard has worked with research collaborators in controlled settings to develop efficacy data, as well as working directly with growers to gather "real world" data. Most of the material in 1999 will be used by Northwest growers in small demonstration trials to generate informal grower information. Mosko believes the material will be a useful component in resistance management programs, particularly as a rotational material for pear psylla. ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- Subject: [New Crops List] Proposed USDA/APHIS/PPQ Regulations? Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2000 11:43:13 -0500 From: Bob Batson Can anyone tell me how the USDA/APHIS/PPQ Safeguarding Recommendations (also known as the white list will affect the New Crops community? The proposal has a web-page at http://www.safeguarding.org It's been reported at http://www.geocities.com/nowhitelist/whtlist.html that "The White List (or "clean list") is proposed legislation which will extend government and corporate control over the possession, importation and movement of anything that is alive - plants, animals fungi, microorganisms, everything. Under current law, the government controls or prohibits a limited list of pest species - agricultural weeds, insect pests, dangerous pathogens, etc. Only species known to cause problems are controlled. Under the White List, the government will draw up a limited list of species it deems "safe", which will continue to be legal to possess, move or import. All other species, an estimated 99.75% of the Earth's biota will be considered "guilty until proven innocent", presumed harmful or dangerous, and will be prohibited." If this is correct, it sounds like this is a step toward a EU common catalog. Bob Batson mailto:rcb@kc.rr.com NewCrop Archives are available at: http://bluestem.hort.purdue.edu/newcroplistserv/Search.html --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: American Mayapple Yields Anti-Cancer Extract Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 09:53:37 -0400 From: "ARS News Service" Hank Becker, (301) 504-1624, hbecker@asrr.arsusda.gov WASHINGTON, July 17, 2000--A common weed called mayapple may offer an alternative to an Asian plant that's been harvested almost to extinction for an anti-cancer extract, Agricultural Research Service administrator Floyd Horn announced today. "Besides providing a dependable, long-term supply of the anti-cancer drug, the new extraction method--if adopted--could turn the American mayapple into a new alternative crop for U.S. growers," Horn said. ARS and University of Mississippi scientists developed the new extraction method. The near-extinct Asian plant, Podophyllyum emodi, is a cousin of the mayapple weed found in the United States. The Asian plant makes a compound called podophyllotoxin, used in manufacturing the cancer drug etoposide, the active ingredient in a drug used for treating lung and testicular cancer. In chemotherapy, the drug has been shown to inhibit the activity of an enzyme essential for the replication of cancer cells, preventing their spread. But shrinking supplies of the P. emodi plant in India have resulted in export restrictions. Since synthesis of etoposide from simple building blocks requires a costly multi step process, many attempts have been made to develop alternative natural sources of this compound. Working with University of Mississippi researchers, plant physiologists Camilo Canel and Frank Dayan with the ARS Natural Products Utilization Research Unit at Oxford, Miss., discovered and developed the new method of extracting podophyllotoxin. With it, they've shown that leaves of the mayapple, P. peltatum, can yield a readily available, plentiful and renewable source of stored podophyllotoxins. Given the acute toxicity of podophyllotoxin, the scientists think that both species produce the compound as a form of protection from insects and other herbivores. The ARS-Mississippi team found an efficient way to extract the compound, which the mayapple stores in the form of glucosides. The plant adds a glucose molecule to podophyllotoxins so the compound can be safely stored until the plant is attacked. The key to their extraction is removing podophyllotoxin's "safety-seal." For more details, see the July issue of Agricultural Research >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - August 1, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - August 15, 2000 - AKA RFN200008B.txt --Notes In Passing 1. Mango scions of 'R2E2' (Is that the correct designation) Sought. I've heard that this variety is rated very well in Australia and Hawaii, so I'd like to try it as well. Are any of you in Southern California either growing it or know some one who is, or do you know of a local nursery selling it? The time to successfully graft this summer will end soon, and I'd like to get it going.... Unless you can tell me why it's not recommended for here. 2. 'Valencia Pride' is a recommended variety to use as rootstock for mango. (See Tropical Fruit News, August, 2000.) 3. Mango Crop Light This Year For Me. 4. Coconut Coir - Rooting Medium that "Resists bacterial mode and fungal growth." I found that at "Down To Earth" in Eugene Oregon, compressed bricks were $1.95 each, that shipping is free (some restrictions) if the order exceeds $50, and there is no sales tax. The medium is made from the waste husks of coconut, most definitely a renewable resource, unlike spagnum peat moss, and is use widely in some growing circles. Do you know of any down side? Sounds too good to be true. Bricks are compressed from approximately 1/3 cubic foot, and is supposed to be very easy to use, as when wet, they crumble and wet easily, unlike peat. 5. Reading Tips: Tropical Fruit News, Aug. 2000 (Monthly Newsletter of Florida's RFCI) Several excellent tips: 1. Pruning Methodology To Increase Yields for Mango Trees - probably valid for all trees growing in warm-weather country. 2. President Harold Cornett says 'Valencia Pride' is preferred variety of rootstock for Florida. 3. Naranjilla (Solanum quitoense), spiny tomato relative, is discussed, as is the Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa) for rare fruit affecianados. 4. Mamey Sapota (Pouteria sapota) with 'Pantin' and 'Magaa,' being the primary cultivars. Difficulties in propagating are discussed, and rootstock makes a big difference in the long-term health of grafted trees. Various techniques were discussed in grafting that improves the success rate. 6. 'Raja Puri' banana has been described as a workhorse, and it seems as it is to me. I planted the original pup in 1998. It bore in 1999, has one bunch about ready to eat, and another very large bloom just beginning. It's a dwarf banana, not as tasty as 'Monty' or 'Dwarf Colorado Blanco' but about the same as most of the others. I need to thin it out some, so if you want a start - and will dig it yourself pretty soon, then come over - after setting a mutually agreeable time. ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Reader, Florida James Adkins New Reader, Oregon, Wants Suggestions For Fruiting In Greenhouse Marlene Rohme New Reader, CA, Wants Suggestions For Growing In L.A. Ditko, Mark S --Readers Write Puerto Rico Fruit - Identity and Source Moshe Nadler Compressed Coco Coir In S. California Nan Sterman Change of Email Alan Schroeder List Of Florida Commercial Longan And Lychee Operations Sought Suvichar --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider FW: heliconia Holzinger, Bob --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) Dwarf Cavendish (Banana) Ben Dewitte Re: Dwarf Cavendish David Constantine --NAFEX List Bark Inversion (For Fruit Tree Dwarfing) Jack Wigal Re: Bark Inversion jim Re: Bark Inversion Gordon C. Nofs --From NEWCROPS List Re: Proposed USDA/APHIS/PPQ Regulations? Lon J. Rombough Re: Proposed USDA/APHIS/PPQ Regulations? vidaverde Re: Proposed USDA/APHIS/PPQ Regulations? Jeremy Cherfas --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None, this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None, this time ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Reader, Florida Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2000 16:26:46 -0400 From: Jim Adkins Hi, I'd like to subscribe to the newsletter. I am Jim Adkins, of Melbourne, Florida. What am I growing: Mangos, avocadoes, lychee, longan, strawberry guava, chocolate pudding fruit(?), macadamia and citrus. Jim mailto:junglejimsplants1@mac.com Subject: New Reader, Oregon, Wants Suggestions For Fruiting In Greenhouse Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2000 21:37:43 -0000 From: Marlene Rohme Hi, I am Marlene Rohme in Amity, Oregon. In my greenhouse I am growing passiflora, starfruit, guava, and banana. I would like to get what I have to fruit and also try some different fruit, if anyone has a suggestion. Thank You Marlene Rohme mailto:rohme@viclink.com Subject: New Reader, CA, Wants Suggestions For Growing In L.A. Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 21:51:04 -0500 From: Mark Ditko Hello !! I was doing some searching on the internet and came across your site. I am Mark Ditko, in Sylmar, (near Los Angeles) CA My wife & I just bought this home in November of last year and have been going through the process of fixing it up. The backyard is complete with the exception of our much desired fruit trees. I am a fruitarian in that before about 1 pm I eat nothing but fruit. I love ALL kinds of fruit and luckily living in CA has given me access to an abundant selection. We are at this moment ready to purchase and plant our backyard fruit trees. We have been talking about what we would like to plant for about 10 months now, ... and now it is finally time. Some of our favorite fruits are Mangos, Papayas, Avocados, Sapotes, & Figs. But of course we also like the basics like Apples, Bananas, Citrus, Plums, Peaches, Cherries, ... and on and on. Our backyard is currently void of any trees and we think we have room for about 5 nice size trees. We would REALLY like to have an Apple, Fig, Avocado, Papaya, Mango, and maybe a Citrus. I was VERY happy to see that it appears possible to grow Papaya & Mangos. I initially didn't think that we could. I would love to hear your comments on what you have experienced with your Mango, Papaya, Avocado, & Fig. We had a fabulous fig tree in Phoenix about 10 years ago and miss it incredibly. I really have no idea how I can acquire these trees and how much they would cost. Where would I buy such trees that are of good quality? I would be very curious if anyone else in the Los Angeles area knows where I can obtain some good trees and what they have had success with, or not. Thanks for any feedback !! Mark mailto:msditko@ingr.com -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Puerto Rico Fruit - Identity and Source Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 16:05:04 -0700 (PDT) From: Moshe Nadler Hi Leo, Long time no see... I have been busy traveling, mainly to Mexico. But still get your mails and read them carefully. Saw this question and since I lived 3 years in Puerto Rico had to send the answer... The fruit is from the same family of the Litchi, the Sapindaceaeand and it is called - Quenepa. Also known as Spanish Lime and Mamoncillo. In fact I had a huge tree in my garden in Puerto Rico but it was a male tree. This fruit is very popular in Puerto Rico and the West Indies, but since nothing was done in order to improve the quality of it still it is the same - small fruit with huge seed and practicaly not much to eat. Best regards, Moshe mailto:nadler_m@yahoo.com Gregory M. Hunt wrote, on July 18, 2000: I am looking for the name of a fruit that I had when visiting Puerto Rico several years ago. This fruit is a small dark green (leathery thick skin), pink meat, with a very large seed. Each piece of fruit was about the size of a very small Key Lime. I purchased this fruit at both an open air market in San Juan and at a road side fruit stand in south central Puerto Rico. Do you know what the name of this fruit is and if and where I might be able to purchase it here in the US? Thanks, Greg Subject: Compressed Coco Coir In S. California Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 21:08:41 -0700 From: Nan Sterman Leo -- Blocks of compressed coco coir are available at most larger nurseries -- I think I've seen it a Armstrongs, Walter Anderson's, Anderson's La Costa, and certainly at Grangettos. Nan mailto:nsterman@mindsovermatter.com San Diego County CA Sunset 24, USDA hardiness zone 10b or 11 Subject: Change of Email Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 07:44:40 -0700 From: Alan Schroeder Dear Leo: I have changed my email address to: arschroeder@home.com All of my future RFNO mailings should go to that address. Thank you, Alan Schroeder mailto:arschroeder@home.comroeder Santa Barbara, CA Subject: List Of Florida Commercial Longan And Lychee Operations Sought Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 13:03:53 EDT From: Bme00@aol.com Hi, I am Suvichar, of Homestead, Florida Where would I be able to find a complete list of all the commerical longan and lychee farms in South Florida? Suvichar mailto:Bme00@aol.com ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ Subject: Heliconia - Butterfly Thrives on a Poison Vine Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 07:10:26 -0700 From: Holzinger, Bob By NICHOLAS WADE Heliconius butterflies live in the tropical forests of Central and South America aside from one species, Heliconius zebra, which has taken a liking to Florida. The adults have distinctive rounded wings with colorful stripes. Most butterflies fly at full speed to escape predators. But heliconians saunter from flower to flower, flaunting their bright hues, as if they hadn't an enemy in the world. The adult butterflies favor flowers known as forest cucumbers but as caterpillars they feed on the leaves of a family of vines that produce one of the most gorgeous flowers next to orchids, the passion flowers. In the forest, everything that is strikingly beautiful is sinister. The creatures that dare display themselves have hidden defenses. The Heliconius butterflies can afford to be nonchalant because their tissues are stuffed with cyanide. A curious fact is that the passion vines on which they feed are also packed with cyanide-laden chemicals known as cyanogens, although of a different kind than the cyanogens the butterflies make. As soon as hungry mouths start chewing the vine's leaves, its cells release an enzyme that breaks out the cyanide. Cyanide is a universal poison that interferes with cells' respiration. A common interest in the poisoner's art is just one of many links that bind the insect and the vine together. Dr. Lawrence E. Gilbert of the University of Texas, has been studying Heliconius and passion flowers since 1969 and has explored many features of their interactive biology. He and two colleagues, Dr. Helene S. Engler and Dr. Kevin C. Spencer, have now begun to work out the chemical interaction between the two. They reported in Nature last month that one species, Heliconius sara, can convert the principal cyanogen of its food plant to a source of nutrition. Biologists suspect that the vigorous interaction between the vine and the butterfly over millions of years may have been a driving force in each group's evolution. There are some 600 species of passion vine in the New World, and 40 species of Heliconius. It may be that the vines diversified first, buttressed by their cyanide defense mechanism against the usual plant eaters. Then the butterflies broke the cyanide code and found they had a rich range of food plants to themselves. "The standard pattern is that a plant develops a novel chemical defense and does well for a while, diversifying, and then some lucky group of insects is able to overcome that defense, which allows them to undergo a parallel radiation," said Dr. Andrew V. Z. Brower, an entomologist at Oregon State University. Even though its prime defense was breached by the butterfly, the passion vines fought back in other ways. Dr. Gilbert has found their leaves are very variable in shape, as if to disguise themselves from hunting heliconians. Most remarkably, some species of vine have developed a defense system of faux eggs. Female butterflies, if they see what appears to be an egg on a new stem, will avoid it and lay elsewhere. The false eggs, essentially yellow bumps on a leaf, exploit a dark feature of Heliconius butterfly: its caterpillars are cannibals. Since they eat only the vine's young shoots, which are large enough to support only one larva to maturity, the first caterpillar to hatch will eat all the other eggs on its shoot. The vines have developed the faux eggs by adapting another defense mechanism, nectar-dispensing glands that encourage ants to move onto the leaves and repel intruders. The vines may be smart but the heliconians, to hear Dr. Gilbert describing his favorite insect, are veritable Einsteins among lepidoptera. Most butterflies lead what may seem pretty pointless lives: they munch away furiously as caterpillars, hoping to turn into pupae before birds or the dreaded ichneumon wasp discover them, but live just a few days as adults. Apart from sipping nectar, they are incapable of feeding. The heliconians have transcended this pointless life through a simple but revolutionary advance. The butterflies have learned to feed on pollen by sucking it into their tongues and secreting an enzyme that digests the nutritious grains. This means they can live for months. It also allows them to transfer much feeding effort forward from the vulnerable caterpillar stage to adulthood. If they can find enough pollen, female butterflies will keep laying eggs until their skin and wings fray. Not for heliconians the nectar-sex-and-hedonism routine of other butterflies. These are busy insects. They stake out home territories, which they patrol every day, checking out every vine in the neighborhood. The females look for any new shoots produced by the passion vines. Both sexes search for the brief-lived flowers of another sort of vine, the forest cucumber, which provides the pollen. "They are very effective at learning their habitat," Dr. Gilbert said. "Pollen feeding gives them a long life span, so once they find a host plant they can relocate it. You see Heliconius butterflies cruise in as if they know exactly where they are going. So we'll see the same individual butterfly checking out the same host plant for months." Though no one knows too much about the organization of insect brains, Heliconines have a larger than usual "mushroom body," a region of the brain thought to be involved with memory. The male butterflies have put their minds to at least one reprehensible purpose -- cradle-snatching. They have even invented to a new crime, which might be called cradle rape. The butterflies are so eager to find mates that they locate female pupae and perch on them, sometimes four males to a pupa, until the female emerges, obliged in her first instants of adult life to manage mating at the same time as she is trying to unfurl her wings. Some species of heliconians have taken this aggressive suitorship to a further extreme: they probe into the pupa and fertilize the female before she has even emerged. These attentions are lethal for females of heliconian species that do not practice pupal mating, and have the useful result of preventing other species from sharing the same food plant. Pollen feeding has been exploited by heliconians for more than just nutrition. Long ago, maybe, the butterflies learned how to convert the amino acids from the digested pollen into chemicals known as aliphatic cyanogens. Dr. Spencer, a plant toxin chemist who is now senior scientific adviser for the Safeway supermarket chain in Britain, said this might have been the breakthrough that enabled the butterflies to feed on the otherwise poisonous passion vines. In developing their own cyanogen metabolism, they were somehow able to neutralize the different kind of cyanogens produced by the vines, Dr. Spencer suggested. If so, this may explain another key step in the butterfly's evolutionary past, its development of mimicry. The heliconians may first have mimicked a poisonous species in a related family of butterflies without being poisonous themselves, an imitation known as Batesian mimicry. Once they learned how to brew cyanide from pollen, they made their own tissues toxic and developed the higher art of Mullerian mimicry, in which poisonous species resemble one another. Many Heliconine species exist as pairs that mimic one another. The presumed advantage of Mullerian mimicry is that fewer individuals are expended in teaching predators the virtues of avoidance. While evolving the narcissistic art of mimicking one another, the heliconians have also been engaged in a furious evolutionary arms race with the passion vines. The vines have evolved a witch's brew of different cyanogens to fend off the butterflies, and each new chemical may have required the heliconians to develop a new stratagem to cope with it. One species of passion vine, Passiflora auriculata, produces no fewer than five different cyanogens, a perilous cocktail for the caterpillars of Heliconius sara, the species that has learned how to eat the plant. Dr. Engler has now found that the caterpillars can detoxify the principle cyanogen, a complex chemical called epivolkenin, and convert its cyanide into useful nitrogen. Each step in this intricate chemical battle, Dr. Spencer says, has evolved as a tit-for-tat escalation between each species of heliconian and the passion vine species that is its host plant. This relentless chemical warfare may have been a factor in the present profusion of species on each side. Dr. Gilbert, who has spent 30 years studying the visible biology of the Heliconines and passion vines, hopes a whole new level of interaction will emerge from study of the chemistry and genetics of the system. ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ Subject: Dwarf Cavendish Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2000 18:35:51 +0200 From: Ben Dewitte Reply-To: zingiber@egroups.com Hello, Is it true what they say at www.seedman.com/banana.htm? The say that Musa xparadisiaca the same is as Musa 'Dwarf Cavendish'. Yesterday I read that Musa nan is also the same. What's the truth? Ben mailto:ben.dewitte@pandora.be Subject: Re: Dwarf Cavendish Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 17:29:46 -0000 From: David Constantine Reply-To: zingiber@egroups.com Musa paradisiaca = 'Dwarf Cavendish'? No. Musa paradisiaca = Musa nana? No. 'Dwarf Cavendish' = Musa nana? Hmmm, well, sort of. The "truth" about the nomenclature of cultivated bananas is that it is very simple. Just stop trying to give them Linnean binomials. Linnean binomials are fine for dealing with Musa species but are absolutely hopeless for cultivated banana varieties that are more or less complex hybrids. In the 1950's the nomenclature systems of banana species and banana cultivars were separated. Linnean names continued to be used for species but a genome nomenclature system was adopted for cultivars. This led to marvellous clarity, or rather it would do if people followed it. Unfortunately hardly any horticultural writers do and to this day most of them persist in trying to shoehorn cultivated bananas into unsuitable Linnean names some of which they seem to make up themselves. This leads to all sorts of confusion and also to nonsensical synonymy such as the examples you have just found, Ben. Musa paradisiaca is the Linnean "type" of the genus Musa (ignore the "x", it is irrelevant) and it was used as the basis of a failed attempt to classify cultivated bananas. The name implies the plant is a species but it is not, it is a rather complex hybrid. Linnaeus made an honest mistake. The plant Linnaeus named Musa paradisiaca has been identified as the cultivar Musa (AAB group) 'French' plantain. Using the same system 'Dwarf Cavendish' is Musa (AAA group) 'Dwarf Cavendish'. So you can see that Musa paradisiaca and 'Dwarf Cavendish' are very definitely not the same, they have different genomes. Using the genome nomenclature system immediately makes it obvious that they differ and how they differ at least in broad genetic terms. The Musa nana/'Dwarf Cavendish' story is a bit less clear cut. 'Dwarf Cavendish' is not a single thing. There are lots of different forms of dwarf banana that today we know in general terms as 'Dwarf Cavendish'. The first form to be described, from China, was also thought to be a distinct species at the time and named Musa nana by chap called Joao de Loureiro in 1790. In 1836 the name Musa cavendishii was given to a different form of 'Dwarf Cavendish' also from China. Other names, Musa sinensis and Musa chinensis, were given to still other forms of 'Dwarf Cavendish'. Now, some people maintain that Musa nana can be applied only to the form of 'Dwarf Cavendish' found by Loureiro and not to any others. Others maintain that Musa nana was the first name published for a form of 'Dwarf Cavendish' and it is thus the proper name for all forms of 'Dwarf Cavendish'. One could say that Musa nana is a type of 'Dwarf Cavendish' but not all 'Dwarf Cavendish' is Musa nana. Then again, after 210 years no-one has a clue which precise form of 'Dwarf Cavendish' Loureiro called Musa nana anyway. All this could be argued back and forth until the cows come home but ultimately it would be a complete waste of time. The best thing to do is simply to forget about Musa paradisiaca, Musa nana and Musa cavendishii other than as interesting historical footnotes. They are completely irrelevant today. Use the genome- based nomenclature system devised by Simmonds and Shepherd and the "truth" about banana cultivars will shine through! Well, most of it will anyway. David Constantine mailto:drc@globalnet.co.uk ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2000 16:02:50 -0400 Subject: Bark Inversion - (For Dwarfing Fruit Trees) From: Jack Wigal Fellow Nafexers, Several months ago Gordon Nofs published an interesting article about dwarfing trees. I was especially interested in the part about bark inversion and would like to know when is the best time of year to do it? Jack Wigal mailto:kr8z@citynet.net Washington, WV Z-6 Subject: Re: Bark Inversion Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2000 16:37:14 +0000 From: Jim Jack, I would prefer June or July, although it should be possible whenever the bark is slipping freely. The broader the band inverted, the greater the dwarfing effect . Remember that the cambium is several cells thick, and then when you pull off the bark, some cambium adheres to the bark and some to the wood. That adhering to the wood carries the original polarity and will very soon begin producing new phloem cells. This will quite soon wipe out the effects of inversion. To avoid this, scrape the wood before replacing your bark. Jim Cummins mailto:jmc1@epix.net Geneva Subject: Re: Bark Inversion Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2000 22:29:22 EDT From: Gordon C. Nofs Jack Any time the back will slip - which is any time the tree starts to leaf. I have never done any scraping. The thing is 1 1/2 times the diameter in height. Unless you are doing a 4 inch tree or larger. Which I have. The power co. was going to cut down a couple of trees of an ENT doctor years ago. I told him about it, and he's done it every 4 years until he died. They never reach the power lines. Gordon mailto:gcnofs@hotmail.com -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- Subject: Re: Proposed USDA/APHIS/PPQ Regulations? Date: Tue, 01 Aug 2000 18:16:54 -0700 From: Lon J. Rombough I've seen it, and if it does go through, it would be the stone stupidest piece of law ever. Besides the fact that it would curtail a huge list of plant material, it's going to be darn near impossible to enforce and will create more hassles than ever. People will start smuggling plant material to get things they want and any control over disease will go out the window. The plum pox scare in PA will look like nothing - people will bring in anything they can sneak in, from any kind of diseased source rather than at least try to go to reasonably safe sources, since they will be blocked from getting things there. Why go to a botanical garden or research station to get something if you know they can't send it? Find it from any backalley dealer who will send it and who doesn't care what the source is if he makes his money from the buyer. Lon J. Rombough mailto:lonrom@hevanet.com ---------- Bob Batson mailto:rcb@kc.rr.com wrote, on August 1, 2000: Can anyone tell me how the USDA/APHIS/PPQ Safeguarding Recommendations (also known as the white list will affect the New Crops community? The proposal has a web-page at http://www.safeguarding.org It's been reported at http://www.geocities.com/nowhitelist/whtlist.html that "The White List (or "clean list") is proposed legislation which will extend government and corporate control over the possession, importation and movement of anything that is alive - plants, animals fungi, microorganisms, everything. Under current law, the government controls or prohibits a limited list of pest species - agricultural weeds, insect pests, dangerous pathogens, etc. Only species known to cause problems are controlled. Under the White List, the government will draw up a limited list of species it deems "safe", which will continue to be legal to possess, move or import. All other species, an estimated 99.75% of the Earth's biota will be considered "guilty until proven innocent", presumed harmful or dangerous, and will be prohibited." If this is correct, it sounds like this is a step toward a EU common catalog. Bob Batson Subject: Re: Proposed USDA/APHIS/PPQ Regulations? Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 21:39:20 +0100 From: vidaverde If I understand correctly, I think this is many, many times worse than the EU List Scheme. Here in the EU, there is a relatively short list of what are officially deemed 'vegetables'. If a plant is on this list, then it is illegal to sell _seed_ of unregistered varieties. I believe varities of these official 'vegetables' cost several hundred dollars a year to register, so only types suitable for large-scale agribusiness are kept, hence the massive loss of heirlooms in Europe. While I oppose the EU system, note that other varieties and other plants are not "banned". The concern is to do with maintaining varietal purity and registering cultivar names, but the law has been clumsily drafted. Import and export of plants on & off the list is governed by other rules, with the usual requirements for phyto. certification as in many other countries. Ben Gabel mailto:vidaverde@arrakis.es Subject: Re: Proposed USDA/APHIS/PPQ Regulations? Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 07:34:42 +0100 From: Jeremy Cherfas Ben said: While I oppose the EU system, note that other varieties and other plants are not "banned". The concern is to do with maintaining varietal purity and registering cultivar names, but the law has been clumsily drafted. Import and export of plants on & off the list is governed by other rules, with the usual requirements for phyto. certification as in many other countries. (These) do not go far enough. While it is true that there is a list of "official" vegetables, all varieties of those must be on a national list in order to be marketed. Plant health regs cover a much wider range of species than the National Lists, which as Ben says are mostly to do with varietal purity. Jeremy mailto:jcherfas@cix.co.uk --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - August 15, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - September 1, 2000 - AKA RFN200009A.txt --Notes In Passing 1. One of the two airlayer attempts on my seedling cherimoya trees has been a success. The other one had fewer roots. The rose apple layers were all successful. However, there isn't evidence that the cherry of the Rio Grande or a pitanga will make it. 2. Valencia Pride seems determined to hold more than last year. And Nam Doc Mai keeps blooming and setting fruit. However, several of the larger ones have split and fallen off. The unripe fruit is not nearly as tart as other varieties. 3. I may open my yard for a tour with some plants to sell in a few weeks. For sales to CRFG members, I will donate at least 25% of the proceeds to our San Diego chapter. I will let the local CRFG chapters know when I can get time to put it together. There will likely be airlayers of Rose Apple, of Kohala Longan; of Taiwan and Brazilian Pear (both tropical guava). Other plants including banana plants (Monthan, Raja Puri, Gold Finger, Dwarf Jamaican Red, San Jose, Enano Gigante, and Kru); Allspice in 20 gallon pot (I never could decide where to plant it); Pitaya, Yellow Pitaya; seedlings of three "good" pitangas; etc. (I honestly don't yet know what exactly.) If you want more information or to be informed when the date is set, let me know. mailto:leom@rarefruit.com ------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Reader, Leucadia, CA Steve Ashley New Reader, Texas, Wants To Grow Longan and Lychee Cindy Chu New Reader, New Orleans, Louisiana, Interested In Avocado Nicholas Del Giudice New Reader, FL, Interested In Atemoya and Mangosteen Keith Gore New Reader, Fallbrook, CA, Seeks Chocolate Persimmon Answer Elizabeth Monacelli New Reader, Hana (Maui) Hawaii, Has Public Garden JOLOYCE@aol.com New Reader, Richmond, CA, Has Questions About Getting Started Jane Evans New Reader, La Jolla, CA Needs Improved Luck With Mangoes Paul Ulrich New Reader, England - How To Winterize Potted Rare Fruit? phil/jan --Readers Write New cactus fruit on the market. Roy Dynan Re: Do you ship plants or only sell at your home nursery? Sand Miller Also See: Leucadia, California Banana Man Re: What Tool Works Well For Digging Bananas - Other Than Shovel? Sand Miller" Perlite Releasing Salts - Causes Miracle Fruit Damage Dick Snow Floridian Looking for FRUIT - Cherimoyas and Lucumas Ilse Aranibar Oca - Will It Grow In Puerto Rico? Ramon Pabon --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) Trading Banana Plants Phoenix1@peganet.net --NAFEX List None, this time --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. National Scope of Noxious Weeds Now on World Wide Web ARS News Service Kathryn Barry Stelljes Pomological Watercolors Depict Beauty and Detail - See Web Site ARS News Service Marcia Wood ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Reader, Leucadia, CA Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 14:44:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Steve Ashley Dear Leo; It was good to see you at the CRFG meeting at Quail Gardens last month. I hope to get on the list. I have a place in Leucadia with many kinds of plants including the following: Banana, persimmon, sapote, rose apple, guava, citrus, Asimina triloba, fig, avocado, and a collection of succulents. Steve Ashley mailto:tebantani@yahoo.com -------------------------------- Subject: New Reader, Texas, Wants To Grow Longan and Lychee Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 16:57:47 -0500 From: Cindy Chu My name is CINDY CHU. My address is 16410 CONCORD FALLS LANE SUGAR LAND TX 77478 USA. I'm growing apple and pear trees. I would like to grow longan and lychee but I don't know where to buy the plants in usa and the price is very high. I want to try them in seedling but people said start from seedling is not true from fruit. I would like to hear more information. Cindy Chu mailto:yukchu@earthlink.net -------------------------------- Subject: New Reader, New Orleans, Louisiana, Interested In Avocado Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 14:42:46 EDT From: Nicholas Del Giudice Hi, I am Nicholas Del Giudice near New Orleans, Louisiana I am trying to locate a grafted dwarf avocado. Any growing tips would be appreciated. I would love to hear readers experience with avocados. Thanks, Nicholas Del Giudice mailto: N12cky@aol.com -------------------------------- Subject: New Reader, FL, Interested In Atemoya and Mangosteen From: Keith Gore Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2000 20:51:05 EDT Hi - Please subscribe me to your Rare Fruit Newsletter. Keith Gore, Ft Lauderdale, FL I am growing Yellow Passion Fruit and Atemoya. Would like to know (1) if anyone has pictures they can email me or a website I can access pictures of the different Atemoya fruit varieties. I already have pictures of "Gefner" and "African Pride" and (2) if anyone has known anyone to have any sucess growing a Mangosteen in a container. Thank you Keith mailto:Going2tvl@aol.com -------------------------------- From: Elizabeth Monacelli Date: 29 Aug 2000 Subject: New Reader, Fallbrook, CA, Seeks Chocolate Persimmon Answer Hi Leo, It was nice to meet you yesterday at the CRFG field trip. I wish your daughter great luck with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra. I am writing to sign up for the news letter. Here is my info Elizabeth Monacelli, in Fallbrook, CA 92028 I am growing: orange, lemon, lime citron, grapefruit, pumelo, apple, fig, olive, pommegranite, nectarine, apricot, guava, white sapote, black sapote, banana, jackfruit, starfruit, lychee, avacado, jujube, loquat I want to grow a durian! Here is a question for you. One of the fruits from my chocolate persimmon (NOT black sapote) fell off pre-maturely yestrday, AND I looked at the inside. It was ORANGE!! Is this normal for that kind of tree, or did they sell me the wrong variety? It is supposed to be dark brown on the inside! Again, it was nice to meet you and all the other members yesterday. I am looking forward to our next meeting! Take Care, Elizabeth Monacelli mailto:violin@sprintmail.com -------------------------------- Subject: New Reader, Hana (Maui) Hawaii, Has Public Garden Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 15:19:58 EDT From: JOLOYCE@aol.com Hi, I am JoLoyce Kaia, of Hana, Maui We are most blessed to be living in an ideal environment for the rare fruits you write about. Mango, Coconut, Banana, Avocado, Carambola (starfruit), Mountain Apple, Cherimoya (doesn't fruit at sea level), Atamoya, Pomegranate, Acerola cherry, Surinam cherry, Litchi, Rambutan, Jabaticaba, Macadamia nut, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit, Orange, Tangerine, Tangelo, Breadfruit, Mulberry, Loquat, Guava, Strawberry quava, Cashew nut, just planted 2 different white sapote. Most of these trees we planted 20 yrs. ago. My kumquat recently died. Some I want to grow are Star Apple, Jackfruit, Cocoa, Really enjoyed your site. I'm a new learner on the Internet and use it with a radio phone and solar electricity, so I am a bit slow. So kind of you to share your knowledge. Even thought I am fortunate to be able have these wonderful trees, I am not that knowledgeable nor give them the right care. We have started our own public garden now with a new name. "Hana Maui Botanical Gardens". JoLoyce mailto:JOLOYCE@aol.com [Do you have a web page? Leo] -------------------------------- Subject: New Reader, Richmond, CA, Has Questions About Getting Started Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 09:09:27 -0700 From: Jane Evans Dear Leo: Now that I've finished salivating over what you're able to grow in San Diego and have mastered my envy (hmm... maybe not), I'd like to ask that you put me on your mailing list to receive your newsletter. Here is the information: I am Jane Evans, of Richmond, California Now I am growing unspecified, unbearing apricots, apple, peach and plum (just moved, no tags.) As for fruit trees I want to grow - this would run to several pages. all the usual and some of the less well known. this will be ho-hum to you, but I'm excited that I've managed to start a Babaco cutting from a fellow member of the local CRFG chapter. Will my Surinam cherry survive. I would love to grow Mangos. Like you, I love them. I am very interested in propagation. Right now, I have some Longan seeds and some Cherimoya and Custard Apple seeds. What's the best way to start them? (and keep the seedlings going?) Thanks, Jane mailto:catta@pacbell.net -------------------------------- Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 11:16:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Paul Ulrich Subject: New Reader, La Jolla, CA Needs Improved Luck With Mangoes Hi Leo, I am Paul Ulrich of La Jolla, CA We are now growing over 100 various trees It was a great trip and I enjoyed meeting and talking to you on the bus. I bought 15 more so have a lot more work to do. I've had no luck with my mango Paul mailto:ptulri@yahoo.com -------------------------------- Subject: New Reader, England - How To Winterize Potted Rare Fruit? Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 15:53:03 +0100 From: phil/jan I am Phil Readymartcher, Kingston Upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England I am at the moment trying to grow some fruit trees from seed. Cherimoya have reached 5" Paw paw (Papaya to Yanks) have reached 7" and Passiflora edulis has shot away to 36" I would like advice on how to care for these plants with winter coming on. Also the type of soil they should have, size of pots in fact anything to keep them alive. I look forward to hearing from you. Tek care o'thesel Phil mailto:floyd@limetree.karoo.co.uk -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: New cactus fruit on the market. Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 12:57:14 BST From: Roy Dynan Hi Leo, I'm quite excited by this - I was in one of our biggest supermarkets yesterday and I found a fruit called a kubo - the label said cut in half and spoon out the flesh and edible seeds. I thought oho! tough fleshy skin too and a pronounced cavity at the flower end - this looks like a cactus fruit! They were 7 or 8cm by 5 or 6cm and only cost 69p (a dollar?) so I bought two. Sure enough they look exactly like a h.undatus fruit inside - flavour possibly more perfumed. I started scraping the surface to get some clean seeds and found that the pulp created was significantly sweeter than the flavour from chewing chunks. The outside doesn't have the bright red matt colouration of h.undatus, nor does it have the little bracts or whatever. It is completely shiny smooth and actually looks very like a smallish mango - lopsided in the same way with a green/maroon flush. Do you know the botanical name? It isn't in CRFG or Purdue U. I found a reference in a cookery book but nothing on the parent plant - damned book didn't even mention cacti! It came from central America so I doubt it is from a terrestrial cactus. I may go back and get some more. Regards, P.S. A quick update - I did another search and I did find something - a reference in Spanish to kubo as pitahaya, but with a picture of a typical h. undatus dragon fruit. My Spanish is really just schoolboy French plus an overactive imagination but it looks like they attribute the name to Rarefruit correspondent Dr Yossi Mizrahi. However, the fruit I bought still looks completely different from hylocereus or selenicereus - like none I have seen before - no bracts no lobes no arioles - nada. Roy mailto:roy.dynan@talk21.com -------------------------------- Subject: Re: Do you ship plants or only sell at your home nursery? Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 19:29:34 -0700 From: Sand Miller Leo, you said: > Hi, > > I was part of the CRFG bus group that descended on your sale > yesterday. > > I planned to let readers of my online email publication know > about your operation. > > > Do you ship banana plants? No, I am a simple home/hobby grower and have no facilities to do shipping. > > Sell at your nursery home on an occasional or regular basis? I used to have an annual sale of my potted plants but the one you attended was the last one. That's why you were able to buy such large plants for only $5.00. It was kind of a going out of business sale. The pots alone cost me nearly that much. I will still sell bare root pups to your members on a pre-ordered basis. They can contact me via email (there's a link on my website at www.banana-man.com) and I will make arrangements with them as to what they want and when they can come pick them up. The cost will be $15.00 per pup, any variety. I will consider discounts for orders of ten or more plants all being picked up by the same person. Please see the text file attached to this email describing which varieties I do have. Also, please mention in your online publication that I do not have every variety that there is information about on the banana-man website, only the ones in the attached file. > > Do you want customers to contact you in advance of showing up? Yes, this is a must. (see above) > It was very interesting and I hope you continue and do well. Thank you. It was a real treat to see all of you and that huge bus! Sincerely Sand Miller mailto:sand@sand-miller.com P.S. Here is a list of the varieties I have with descriptions: VARIETAL DESCRIPTIONS BRAZILIAN Hawaiian apple. A rapid growing plant to 25 feet bearing medium bunches of small but deliciously different tasting fruit. One of the better tasting varieties. Plant is decidedly ornamental due to its vigor and stature and a distinctive whitish bloom on the trunk and leaf petioles. 15 - 18 months from planting until harvest. BLUE JAVA An extremely vigorous and healthy banana which bears a medium bunch of delicious bananas that are a distinct silvery blue before ripening. Mature height under optimal conditions 15 to 20 feet. Time from planting until harvest 18-24 months. Bananas are delicious fresh or cooked. COCOS Mature height of 14 to 16 feet makes this variety more windproof and easier to sight in a sheltered spot. The plant itself is beautiful with black and ivory contrasting in the coloration of the trunk. ELEELE A distinctive Hawaiian variety giving to its almost black leaf sheathes, petioles, and midribs. The latter two used in weaving hats and other articles. The plants are 20 to 25 feet tall and produce large bunches of orange fleshed cooking bananas of good flavor. GREEN RED Strong vigorous plant produces medium bunches of bananas which are a brilliant red and gold on ripening with aromatic cream colored pulp. If the Jamaican Red is the Queen of bananas this variety is King. One of the most beautiful banana fruits in this world. Mature height 24 to 28 feet. Time to bear 20-30 months, 1 year cycle thereafter. JAMAICAN RED Truly nobility among banana cultivars. The plant is extremely vigorous, producing its delicious crop in 30 months time. Mature height is 25 feet. The trunk, leaf petioles, midribs, and the fruit are varying shades of red. The pulp is cream orange colored, very aromatic and has a wonderful taste. MANZANO This vigorous plant is one of the most rapid producers of both fruit and an ornamental clump. Time from planting until harvest is about 15 months. The bunch is small with the individual bananas 3 to 6-inches long. The fruit must be allowed to ripen thoroughly before eating or it is quite astringent. Once ripe, however, it is quite delicious and sweet with a distinct apple flavor. The flesh itself is drier than most other bananas. Eaten fresh or cooked. A favorite in the tropics. MYSORE A tall vigorous variety with reddish purple coloring in the trunk, and the underside of the leaf. Produces heavy bunches of very sweet flavorful bananas 3 to 5-inches long. Widely grown in India and one of the favorite dessert bananas there 15 to 18 feet tall. 20 months until harvest. Very ornamental and a good producer of quality bananas. POPOULU Is a well liked Hawaiian variety whose name translates "Ball Shaped Like Breadfruit" and refers to the plump, individual fruits which may be eaten fresh or cooked. The flesh is salmon pink and has a pleasing slight acid apple-like flavor. The plant itself is slender 14 feet tall at maturity and likes a protected location in filtered light with ample moisture. RAJAPURI A vigorous dessert variety from India which withstands wind, cold, adverse conditions, and provides small to medium bunches of sweet, fine flavored fruit. Mature height 8 to 10 feet. For both its adaptability and the quality of the fruit, this is an outstanding variety. RED IHOLENA One of the most beautiful banana plants due to its vigorous appearance and attractive coloring with red and ivory in the trunk and reddish purple undersides on the leaves. The fruit itself is delicious and has pink flesh. A favorite Hawaiian variety eaten fresh or cooked. Very rapid growing to a height of 25 feet VALERY A Cavendish cultivar, semi-dwarf in stature, that produces very large bunches of delicious fruit. Widely planted as a commercial banana in the tropics it appears to be vigorous and a strong performer in Southern California. Shorter than Williams. WILLIAMS This is the main commercial variety in Australia and increasingly popular in South Africa. It is a taller, heavier producing form of the Cavendish or Dwarf Chinese banana. The plant needs more protection from the wind and the larger bunches require propping, but it withstands cool winter temperatures better than many and is not susceptible to cold weather fruiting disorders. -------------------------------- Subject: Re: What Tool Works Well For Digging Bananas - Other Than Shovel? Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 20:12:43 -0700 From: Sand Miller Go to www.gemplers.com and do a search for D404. This is a "Groundshark" shovel which is perfect for pup removal. If you uncover sufficient dirt though, it really shouldn't take too much "muscle" to cut through the pulpy root. It's really kind of like a big turnip. Sand Miller mailto:sand@sand-miller.com You said: > Hi > > I enjoyed seeing your place Saturday! > > Everytime I need to dig banana pups, I wish I had something I could > muscle down into the ground. I have tried to use the hammer on the > shovel, and the shovel couldn't take it. > > What would you recommend? > > Thanks in advance! > > Leo in San Diego -------------------------------- Subject: Perlite Releasing Salts - Causes Miracle Fruit Damage Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 01:29:17 EDT From: Dick Snow Leo Alice trimmed up our miracle berry plants and they look pretty good. Hope they make it. If you hear anything about perlite releasing salts into the soil, let us know. That is what they said is what happened to the miracle berry plants we bought (the perlite in the soil caused salt to kill/stunt the plants). Take care. Dick -------------------------------- Subject: Floridian Looking for FRUIT - Cherimoyas and Lucumas Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 21:49:32 EDT From: Ilse Aranibar Hi, I am Ilse Aranibar, in West Palm Beach, Florida, 45 minutes north of Miami. My reason for contacting you is because I am looking to find a grower of Cherimoyas and Lucumas in Miami. I need to purchase on regular basis these fruits for my business. Any help would be appreciated. Ilse Aranibar mailto:Cuqui19@aol.com [Note: Please contact Mr. Aranibar directly if you have a suggestion.] -------------------------------- Subject: Oca - Will It Grow In Puerto Rico? Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 16:35:22 -0300 From: Ramon Pabon Recently I brought to Puerto Rico oca tubers [Oxalis tuberosa] as a curiosity. I planted them. I wonder whether they will grow in a tropical climate near sea level. Any expert? Ramon Pabon mailto:rpabon@caribe.net ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ Subject: Trading Banana Plants Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 13:44:58 -0000 From: Phoenix1@peganet.net Reply-To: zingiber@egroups.com If anyone is interested in Possibly Trading Banana Plants, Please visit my web site at www.geocities.com/PhoenixOne_98 I started the site about 3 mos. ago and have had a great response. I have traded with about 1/2 of all the members signed up and have always received what was promised me. It had been a ton of fun and a good way to expand your Banana collection. I also have a seed trader page, but I have not had too much response to that. If you would like to sign up, please e-mail me at Phoenix1@peganet.net Andy mailto:Phoenix1@peganet.net ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm Subject: National Scope of Noxious Weeds Now on World Wide Web Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 10:00:15 -0400 From: "ARS News Service" Kathryn Barry Stelljes For the first time, land managers can compare noxious weed lists from the lower 48 United States and six Canadian provinces by logging on to a new section of the University of Montana's "Invaders" website. Researchers with USDA's Agricultural Research Service developed the new noxious weed section at the website. To view the noxious weed information, go to: http://invader.dbs.umt.edu/Noxious_Weeds Researchers at the ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory in Sidney, Mont., compiled the new section containing official federal, state and provincial noxious weed lists. The new section also includes a national ranking of weeds based on the number of states where they are designated noxious. This tool will help decision makers prioritize control and research efforts at the local and national levels. In addition, they can use the system to predict potential future problems by examining lists from neighboring states or regions. Since it takes 10 to 20 years to discover and introduce new biological control agents, significant money and effort could be saved by managing invasive weeds while infestations are still small. "Invaders" also provides historical weed distribution data for five states in the Northwest: Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. The database has been used to support environmental impact statements, risk assessments and weed management programs. The ARS researchers' next step is to look at weed distributions and how alien weeds have spread over time. For example, spotted knapweed first entered the Pacific Northwest around 1893. The weed began to spread more rapidly in the 1950s, but distribution exploded from 60 counties in 1985 to at least 175 counties today. The researchers hope to identify reasons for such expansions, as well as trends that can help identify which alien plants pose the most risk for future expansion. -------------------------------- Subject: Pomological Watercolors Depict Beauty and Detail http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/collect/water.html Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 10:00:05 -0400 From: ARS News Service Marcia Wood A treasure trove of more than 6,000 splendid watercolors of apples, blackberries, cherries, grapes, persimmons and other fruits is safeguarded in the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection. This array of original prints and related materials is one of the treasures of the National Agricultural Library, which is managed by USDA's Agricultural Research Service at Beltsville, Md. The collection makes up one of the world's most unique holdings of late 19th- and early 20th-century American botanical illustrations. Described as a "priceless but little known legacy for all Americans," many of these beautiful drawings resulted from USDA scientists' need to depict new varieties that they had developed, or had gathered during overseas plant-collecting expeditions. Many of the prints were featured in early USDA publications, including bulletins and circulars for farmers, as well as annual reports. Today, the drawings are a boon to horticulturists, historians, artists and publishers, according to Susan H. Fugate, head of special collections at the National Agricultural Library. Fugate said these specialists-- and others--rely on the illustrations as an invaluable source of information about the history of fruit culture in the United States. Today, horticultural research continues to be a key part of the USDA research mission carried out by scientists in the Agricultural Research Service. For more information on ARS research programs that impact horticulture, visit the web page for ARS Crop Production, Product Value and Safety national programs at: http://www.nps.ars.usda.gov/programs/cppvs.htm Examples of the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection can be viewed at the National Agricultural Library's website, located on the World Wide Web at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/collect/water.html >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - September 1, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - September 15, 2000 - AKA RFN200009B.txt --Notes In Passing 1. Richard Langdon - Lychee/Longan Expert - Died last week of a heart attack. Richard was not as active in recent years, but for several years he was the one to ask questions about Lychee or Longan in Southern California. He was kind, shy, generous.... and he gave me my first longan - variety 'Aup.' Those of us who knew him will remember him fondly and miss the opportunity to visit him again. There will be a memorial at his home, hosted by his wife and daughter, at 3:00 p.m. on September 23. That's the day of the yard tour and plant sale at my home, so I will probably not be able to attend. (See "In Memorium" in Announcements.) 2. Yard Tour/Plant Sale September 23, 7 A.M. to 6 P.M. See Announcements section for additional information. ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, Uruguay, Wants To Trade Seed Jose_Luis_Cappuccio New Subscriber, Puerto Rico, Growing Mango, Annona Muricata, .... John Rullan New Subscriber, LAX, Off To A Running Start At New Home harryg@pacbell.net New Subscriber, Florida: How to Winterize Mango Trees? "Dann L. McKee" --Readers Write Looking For Desert-Hardy Banana GusOlson@aol.com Protecting Fruit Trees In Winter - How We Do It "Helga and Bert Dunn" To: Phil Readymartcher Kubo Is Cereus Peruvianus Roy Dynan Re: ... c. validus is very similar (with) pink-fleshed fruit scoutdog@pacbell.net Legionnaire's transmitted through potting soil Skip Dwarfing My Mango: How To Make It Happen? Jeff Gould Tell Me About Musa Basjoo "Hardy Banana" Robert Cantor --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider In Memorium - Richard Dana Langdon: November 20, 1924 - September 6, 2000 Margaret Langdon and Loni Leo's Yard Tour & Plant Sale Leo Manuel TROPICAL FRUIT CLASSES 3 September, 2000 Leo Manuel http://www.gate.net/~santol/nclas.html DPI Notes - Horticulture - Tropical Fruit - Mango: R2E2 Leo Manuel http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/dpinotes/hortic/tropfruit/h98004.html Grafting Mango Leo Manuel --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) Super Dwarf Cavendish Banana & Maroon Blotches "Val" Musa sapporo David Constantine Re: general bannana questions eken@bellsouth.net --NAFEX List Parafilm - What's In It? John Bunker mailto:jbunker@palermo.org Re: Parafilm - What's In It? Tom Volkening mailto:volkenin@mail.lib.msu.edu Parafilm - Where To Buy It Gordon C. Nofs mailto:gcnofs@hotmail.com Re: Re: Bud Grafting Lucky Pittman mailto:Lucky.Pittman@murraystate.edu --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None, this time ----------------New Subscribers------------------ From: Jose_Luis_Cappuccio Subject: New Subscriber, Uruguay, Wants To Trade Seed Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2000 19:33:14 -0300 Dear Leo: I am a little farmer of Uruguay and your page is very interesting. My name: Jose Luis Cappuccio, Ciudad de la Costa, Dpto de Canelones, Uruguay I'm growing Anona Cherimola, Carica papaya, Averrhoa carambola, Passiflora Coerulea, Actinidia sinensis, Punica granatum, native fruit trees and several trees from temperate zones. I would like grow white and black sapote, Crataegus arnoldiana, jujube and Amelanchier alnifolia but is very difficult for me obtain these seeds. I think may be possible exchange seeds with others readers, if they are agree. Sincerely, Jose mailto:prosopis@adinet.com.uy -------------------------------- Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2000 20:40:33 -0400 From: John Rullan Subject: New Subscriber, Puerto Rico, Growing Mango, Annona Muricata, .... I would like to subscribe to the Rare Fruit News Online. I'm currently growing avocado, mango, guava, annona muricata, citrus, coconut, passion fruit, banana. Thank You! John Rullan mailto:john.rullan@prw.net San Juan, Puerto Rico -------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 18:38:57 -0700 From: harryg@pacbell.net Subject: New Subscriber, LAX, Off To A Running Start At New Home Hello Leo, et al-- This is Harry Gilbert, writing from the Westchester area of Los Angeles, CA, USA, two miles in from the Pacific and just north of Los Angeles Int'l. Airport (LAX.) My preferred email address is this present one: harryg@pacbell.net. Though I've lived & gardened in Los Angeles about twenty years, we moved to this house only 18 months ago, and I am enjoying setting up a new fruit garden. Here's a list of my fruiting plants, with comments. 1. Now fruiting/has fruited: --"Meyer" lemon: established bush; very productive in this setting in full sun. It had one huge crop developing when we moved in, but with thinning of newly set fruit, it now produces year round. --Lemon guava (Psidium cattleianum lucidum): small tree, also well established; sets many, many fruit that need heavy thinning to only one per branchtip to size up better; fruit are slow to ripen due to its locale against NNW side of house. Its selfsown seedlings have provided giveaway plants, plus seeds for the CRFG seedbank, already-- a very happy plant here! --Strawberry guava (P. cattleianum longipes): one I raised from seed and moved to the new garden. Also suffers from its NNW house side location, plus remoteness from water sources. This will change, as its fruit (when heavily thinned) are so good. --"Anna" apple: planted bare root last spring, and went right into bloom (picked off.) This year I let twenty fruit set (excellent taste, like Jonathan.) Now reblooming and setting its second crop of the season! --"Cape Fear" Southern Highbush blueberry: planted from bare roots this spring, the two plants flowered immediately. I let a few blooms set from a subsequent bloom; they are wonderfully tasty. Now growing strongly, still fruiting in September and setting many fat fruit buds; if winter chill is sufficient, next year's crop should be amazing! --"Bababerry" raspberry: also bareroot planted this spring, these two plants also burst immmediately into bloom on the first sprigs of new growth. I allowed a few later blooms to set to test the flavor (excellent!) Still fruiting and blooming in September. The interiors of many leaves have been chewed into lace by an as-yet-unseen pest, though I've looked at all hours of days and night (looks like grasshopper damage, though we have very few of those here, and the snail & slugs seem only interested in the berries-- what mystery bug can I have?) --Babaco papaya: multiplied from cuttings, these are in pots still. One plant has three large fruits coming to ripeness. I've had them die of root rot before; I hope this sandy soil here will allow them to thrive in the ground, but I'll keep one in a pot nonetheless. 2. Not yet fruiting: --"Nagami" kumquat: now putting forth a few blooms, but has been slow to establish here at my new dooryard, perhaps interfered with by roots of neighboring plants. --"Washington" Navel orange (dwarf?) overwhelmed by a neighboring pelargonium, this has begun to recover, but not bloom yet. --Mixed citrus: four trees planted together, trunks 18" apart. The "Oroblanco" grapefruit & "Pixie" mandarin, which (I hope) should grow taller, are set to the north of the "Minneola" tangelo & "Moro" blood orange, which should grow broader. At least, that's the plan... --"Elephant Heart" plum: not a rarefruit, you say? We'll see if it fruits (or, now in its second year, even flowers) first... 3. Awaiting planting: --Pitaya(?) (Cereus peruvianus): a cutting from my old, productive plant in Hollywood, this produced its first fruit here this summer while still in a pot. I look forward to many more. --Pitahaya (Hylocereus undatus(?)) procured from donated cuttings at a CRFG meeting this spring. Apparently I'll need another related kind to produce fruit? In the meantime, the cactus is doing nicely. --Loquat: 3-yr seedlings (two) of local tree with large fruit resembling "Big Jim" variety. Will its fruit be as good? --"Dwarf Cavendish" banana: won at a CRFG plant raffle, this has subsisted prettily in a large pot for years; now I'm preparing a good place for it in the ground. --Jaboticaba: also a pretty potted tree, bonsai-like, it let me know it liked its new sunnier locale last summer by fruiting (on branchtips, not its trunk!) for the first time in the dozen years I've owned it, a performance not repeated this year, perhaps due to watering irreglarities. --Chilean hazelnut (Gevuina avellana): purchased on vacation last year that included a visit to Heronswood Nursery, (now online at http://www.heronswood.com/) the plant has quadrupled in size with just one repotting, as I dither on where best to place its shallow-rooted self. --Pindo palm (Butia capitata): --"Maroon" guava (P. guajava): --Surinam cherry (Eugenia uniflora): these three, purchased this spring from Jerry D. Anderson's nursery in rural San Diego county (email him at jdapalms@earthlink.net for a catalog), are holding (& growing) well in their pots. I wasn't looking for a tropical guava, but upon tasting this one, sweet and crunchy, had have it! --Capulin cherry (Prunus salicifiolia): seedling tree bought @ Trader Joes, a local gourmet grocerystore! It was drought stressed, and some branchlets have turned black and died. I'm hoping this is not fireblight... 3. Planned additions (if there's any room left) --Cherimoya: I miss the Thompson Spain I had in my garden in Hollywood, and want one here soon. --some kind of grape that will do well in Sunset Zone 24... That's more than plenty for now (didn't know I had so many fruitplants!); I look forward to participating here. Fruitfully yours, Harry mailto:harryg@pacbell.net -------------------------------- From: "Dann L. McKee" Subject: New Subscriber, Florida: How to Winterize Mango Trees? Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 22:35:40 -0400 I would like to begin getting your email newsletter. My name is Dann McKee, I live in Orlando, Florida. My email address is dmckee@cfl.rr.com. I currently have growing the following: several citrus trees: of which 3 are cocktail: one has Meyer lemon and Orlando tangelo grafted onto one tree, one has Navel orange, Star Ruby grapefruit and Minneola tangelo on same tree, the other has Valencia orange and Ruby Red grapefruit on it. I have one other citrus tree which is a Page (I'm not sure if it is classed as a tangerine or a tangelo. I also have a Day avocado which I wish to establish. Also a Kent & Glen mango. I have a Julie & Mallika mango planted in containers by my pool. I plan on planting a Supreme guava and a red cattely guava soon. I have the following bananas: ice cream, gold finger, raja puri, and dwarf cavendish. I am looking for an Ettinger Avocado. I am also looking for ideas to get my mangos (the Kent & Glen) through the winter. In Florida, the furtherest north mangos reliably grow is south Merritt Island, although they can be seen even in downtown Orlando. But I will need some ideas..... Thanks! Dann L. McKee mailto:dmckee@cfl.rr.com -----------------Readers Write------------------ From: GusOlson@aol.com Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 22:31:40 EDT Subject: Looking For Desert-Hardy Banana I am looking for a desert hardy banana. Do you have any recommendation? Gus Olson mailto:GusOlson@aol.com -------------------------------- From: "Helga and Bert Dunn" To: Phil Readymartcher Subject: Protecting Fruit Trees In Winter - How We Do It Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2000 11:10:02 -0400 Hello Phil I overwinter (winters are cold here in Canada!) banana, nespoli, guava, passionfruit, inside a poorly heated (52'F), poorly lit, unused protion of our home. About every 10 days I give them a small touch of water - keep 'em dry, remove any foliage which has turned fully brown and wait for spring. So far only passionfruit & guave have fruited - banana & nespoli likely never here. Our 13 varieties of figs are put in a 40¼ F garage (poorly lit) after foliage drops in the fall, also water very sparingly. Eating fresh figs right now Bert Dunn RR4 Tottenham Ont zone 4b www.hardygrapes.tottenham.on.ca mailto:helbert@idirect.com > I am Phil Readymartcher, Kingston Upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, > England > > I am at the moment trying to grow some fruit trees from -------------------------------- From: Roy Dynan Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2000 19:06:40 BST Subject: Kubo Is Cereus Peruvianus Hi Leo, Thanks for the quick response. I think cereus peruvianus is dead right - it is too unlike epiphytic fruits and the 'lopsided mango' look corresponds perfectly to a fruit growing out the side of a vertical columnar cactus. In fact the picture on Dr Yossi's own webpage looks identical (though it shows the whole 6 foot cactus so the fruit are pretty small). Well, it may not be quite as unusual as I thought but it means we have a source of seed vetted for fruit production, sugar levels etc. so I'm still chuffed to find it. I'm going to be tied up for the next week or two but as this is a desert cactus there's no problem keeping the seeds in a dry state - if you're still interested I'll pop some in the post. PS. I don't have a digital camera, but Dr Yossi's photo doesn't miss much - they are amazingly featureless fruit! PPS. did I mention a NZ contact who says that c. validus is very similar and occasionally sports pink-fleshed fruit? Roy Dynan mailto:roy.dynan@talk21.com -------------------------------- Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2000 17:38:30 -0700 From: scoutdog@pacbell.net Subject: Re: ... c. validus is very similar (with) pink-fleshed fruit Hi Leo, I don't see too much of a reason to get the Kubo seeds other than genetic diversity. It is always possible that the fruit is from an exceptional variety and therefore worth growing, but if not we have many here. I'd be happy to sprout some if you do get any and you have extra. I am not familiar with Cereus validus. I have a picture in a book and it looks like a small version of the C. peruvianus with bigger spines. I have no idea what the fruit is like. Red flesh is always interesting though. I met a guy at the OC fair who says he got a red fleshed Cereus peruvianus fruit from Mexico and is now growing about 20 seedlings. I assume it is probably a different species, but it will be interesting to see what kind of fruit he gets from them. There are probably many other species of cacti with good edible fruit, we just need to collect them and see which are worth growing. I'm concentrating on the Hylocereus, but I would like to start collecting other species once I get a little more organized, it's just hard to know which ones will produce edible fruit. Regards, Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net -------------------------------- Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2000 12:56:50 -0700 From: Skip Subject: Legionnaire's transmitted through potting soil August 31 5:40 PM ET By Emma Patten-Hitt ATLANTA (Reuters Health) - Legionnaire's disease, an infection that closely resembles pneumonia in its symptoms, has apparently been transmitted from potting soil to people for the first time in the United States. Since the disease was first reported in 1976, outbreaks have been associated with airborne transmission of Legionella bacteria through cooling towers, showers and other devices. Now, a strain of the Legionella bacteria called Legionella longbeachae, has been transmitted through the handling of potting soil. In May and June of this year, residents of three states, California, Oregon, and Washington, were diagnosed with Legionnaire's disease and in two of the three cases, potting soil handled by the victims, was confirmed to contain Legionella longbeachae. The cases are described in the September 1st issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. ``This association between Legionnaire's disease and potting soil had been previously reported in Australia and Japan but this is the first time we have recognized it in the United States,'' said Dr. Michael Martin, officer with the Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer for the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Infectious Disease. ``It's probably premature to make that recommendation (to avoid potting soil) right now. We don't really know enough at this point,'' Martin told Reuters Health. ``We don't know quite yet the risk factors and behaviors that might be involved with infection.'' SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2000;49:777-778. -------------------------------- From: Jeff Gould Subject: Dwarfing My Mango: How To Make It Happen? Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2000 16:19:04 -0400 Saw your name on a post. I started a mango from seed and would like to keep small to facilitate moving indoors and out due to weather. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Jeff mailto:undo@mindspring.com -------------------------------- From: "Robert Cantor" Subject: Tell Me About Musa Basjoo "Hardy Banana" Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2000 16:24:23 -0500 A local nursery had what they called a hardy banana labeled musa basjoo. Naturally I couldn't resist. It's supposed to survive our zone 5 winters, growing 18 feet tall. Anyone have any further info? Fruit quality and time to fruit? I grow a variety of figs and citrus in containers. Anyone have any unusual fruits they grow and enjoy? What are your favorite container fruits? Thanks for any input. Bob C. mailto:rcantor@att.net -------------------------------- Subject: Sources for Hawaii Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000 09:21:48 -0700 From: Holzinger, Bob To: Joloyce Hi Joloyce, For your fruit tree needs in Hana, the best source for information and plants is Frankie's Nursery on Oahu. Frankie is very knowledgeable and has a good selection of plants, usually several cultivars of each type of fruit tree. He can be contacted by writing or calling: Frankie's Nursery 41-999 Mahiku Place Waimanalo, Hawaii 96795 (808) 259-8737 Happy growing, Bob Holzinger -------------------------------- Subject: Lychee and longan Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000 09:40:55 -0700 From: Holzinger, Bob To: Cindy Hi Cindy, The seeds you have for lychee and longan will probably sprout and grow slowly for you. If you really want to grow these fruit trees to get fruit, you are better off starting with airlayered plants. You are right, these plants are not cheap, no matter which source you use. There are several nurseries in Florida who could ship to you. The source I am familiar with is in Hawaii, Frankie's Nursery. His phone number is (808) 259-8737. He has several cultivars of longan to choose from, and since this is the hardier tree, I would suggest starting with one of these before trying a lychee. But if you live in a frost-free area, go ahead and try them both. Best of luck, Bob Holzinger ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ In Memorium - Richard Dana Langdon November 20, 1924 - September 6, 2000 From: Margaret Langdon and Loni Please join us to celebrate Dick's life. Saturday, September 23, 3:00 p.m. At the Langdon home: 6405 Scimitar Drive, San Diego CA 92114 In the spirit of Dick, this will be an informal gathering of family and friends. Please bring a potluck dish to share with others. Additionally, we would like to create a memorial album of Dick 's life. Your personal additions of memories through pictures and words would be greatly appreciated. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Dollars for Scholars Hoover High School 4474 El Cajon Blvd. San Diego, CA 92115 Hope to see you on the 23rd. /signed/ Love, Loni & Margaret Loni Margaret 619-527-2321 619-262-6496 llangdon@sd.zet.com mlangdon@ucsd. edu -------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 21:01:33 -0700 From: Leo Manuel Subject: Leo's Yard Tour & Plant Sale Leo's Yard Tour & Plant Sale Saturday, September 23, 7 A.M. to 6 P.M. (Call for alternative day/time: (858) 484-9280) Come early for best selection. (Donating 25% of proceeds to CRFG for sales to CRFG members.) Leo Manuel, 9028 Sundance Court, San Diego 92129 (Rancho PeF1asquitos) Air-layered or Cutting Grown: Guavas (Large white "Taiwan" & "Benjamin"), "Brazilian Pear," etc. Rose Apple (From a tree with larger-than-usual fruit size), Longan: " Kohala" & "Aup," Passion Fruit: "Frederick" and Pass. Vitafolia; Sugar Cane: "Madam Pele's Fire," & "Ko-Honomalino;" Bananas: Raja Puri, Monthan, Dwarf Jamaican Red, Dwarf Cavendish, Plantain, Gold Finger, Dwarf Colorado Blanco, Kru, Enano Gigante, Friend's Dwarf, "Super Dwarf," "Dwarfed Tropical Red." Grafted: One Cherimoya "Fine de Jete" (very young); apple: "Maayan," "Beanie's Choice," and "Pink Lady;" Macadamia nut: "Lois" from Tom Cooper's nursery. Seedlings of 'named' pitangas: #369, Vermillion, Lolita Other Seedlings: All Spice, JackFruit, Cherry of the Rio Grande, Yellow Strawberry Guava (fruit larger, seed smaller than usual), Carombola "Blanca," Cherimoya, Rose Apple, Kei Apple, White Sapote, Black Walnut, Apricot, Nectarine, longan, ..... Pitaya: Hylocereus Undatus (Some self pollinating); Selenicereus Megalanthus (small), & possibly others. Directions: Freeway 15 to Highway 56, West on, Right on Black Mountain Road, Immediate left on Twin Trails, First right on Sundance Street, First left on Sundance Court. Top of hill on right, Green Ford Ranger usually in driveway. Note: I will have a more nearly definitive list closer to the date, Sep. 23. ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ From: Val Date: Sat, 2 Sep 2000 13:50:02 -0400 Reply-To: zingiber@egroups.com Subject: Super Dwarf Cavendish Banana & Maroon Blotches Hi, everyone! I received two of these from Stokes and they are very small and have maroon blotches all over the leaves, like a bloodleaf banana. I emailed asking if they sent the wrong plants and the reply is the blotches disappear as the plant gets bigger. Is this true? They are now about a foot tall with 6-8 leaves each. Every leaf has the same coloration of maroon. Thanks! Val mailto:vfurlon1@tampabay.rr.com -------------------------------- From: David Constantine Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2000 09:27:50 -0000MIME-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: zingiber@egroups.com Subject: Musa sapporo I had not put "Musa sapporo" on my website because I had not heard of it until I saw the recent postings on this list. For what it is worth I agree with JeffreyP that the photograph at http://www.tropengarten.de/musa-saporro.html looks just like a young plant of Musa basjoo. Although Musa basjoo is a Chinese species it was introduced into the Ryukyu Islands many years ago and has since spread northwards in Japan. I would guess that "Musa sapporo" is simply a form of Musa basjoo collected at Sapporo, Hokkaido. I doubt that Tropengarten really meant to suggest that it is a new species. Musa basjoo seems to have spread even further north than Hokkaido since there is a form available in the UK called 'Sakhalin' and supposedly collected there. 'Sakhalin' is reputedly hardier than "normal" M. basjoo but in other respects seems to be pretty much indistinguishable and whether it really deserves the status of a cultivar name is a moot point. There is presumably variation in M. basjoo as in other species. Some forms may be hardier than others although one can never be sure that a plant growing unexpectedly in an otherwise cold place is not benefitting from a particularly favourable microclimate. David Constantine mailto:drc@globalnet.co.uk -------------------------------- Subject: Re: general banana questions Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000 11:53:10 -0000 From: eken@bellsouth.net "Debra Warp" wrote: >New to this group and while browsing through many postings, much >seems over my head. My wife and I are hooked on bananas although we >haven't had any fruit yet. We just learned about the importance of >freeze protection from a show on HGTV. We live in southern GA, >about 20 minutes north of Jacksonville, Fl, What would be the best >method of freeze protection? Cuttting the stalk about a foot off >the ground and burying in mulch or cutting of the top and wrapping >the stalk in layers of burlap? Also, being mid-September, is now a >good time to plant new varieties or should I wait for the spring? We >have no clue what the plants we have now are as we got them from a >neighbor but sure are beautiful. We are looking forward to adding >other varieties, starting with the most cold-hardy. Looking forward >to your replies. > >Bill and Debi Stephen is right on the money with his method of wrapping bananas for winter protection. You will have a good chance of having fruit on your plants in your area using that method. You do have two other options. You can cut the plants back to six inches from the ground, lightly mulch, and forget about them; they are hardy without any extra protection. You will only get foliage with this method. The best method I have found is to trim off the leaves and leave the stalk standing. This is less work and not quite as unsightly as wrapping. After a mild winter, you will get fruit, but a harsh winter will kill the stalk to the ground and you will only have foliage the following year. If you haven't visited Stokes Tropicals, check them out. They have a good selection of bananas. http://www.stokestropicals.com ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ Subject: Parafilm - What's In It? Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 05:55:46 -0700 From: john bunker Does anyone know what Parafilm is actually made of? John Bunker -------------------------------- Subject: Re: Parafilm - What's In It? Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 08:43:03 -0400 From: Tom Volkening This information about the composition of Parafilm is from the web site of a supply company that sells Parafilm. http://www.2spi.com/catalog/supp/supp4b3.html Parafilm M ¨ Laboratory Sealing Film Physical properties Parafilm M ¨ is a semi-transparent, flexible thermoplastic, and in its final form is a highly water proof and water resistant sheet material. It is practically colorless, odorless, tasteless and approximately 0.005" (e.g. 5 mils/ 127 µm) in thickness. The density of the film is reported to be 0.767 gms/cc. The unique properties of Parafilm M.¨ make it ideal and adaptable for many important laboratory uses and techniques. It molds and seals itself tightly around test tubes, flasks, and various instruments and objects with irregular surfaces. The actual composition of Parafilm M is not actually released by the manufacturer, however it is described as being a "blend of olefin-type materials". From our own experience using the product quite extensively in our own laboratory environment, we have generally perceived it to be close in description to that of a very low molecular weight polyethyelene with perhaps some additional wax like materials. That is our own interpretion of its composition and not that of the manufacturer. In any case, the maximum use temperature seems to be on the order of 54¡ C/130¡ F which happens to be very consistent with with a material described both by the manufactuer and also our own additional perception of its composition. Tom Volkening mailto:volkenin@mail.lib.msu.edu -------------------------------- Subject: Parafilm - Where To Buy It From: "Gordon C. Nofs" Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 09:56:16 EDT Also try: http://www.parafilm.com and http://www.2spi.com/catalog/supp Spi listed prices for 2" X 250' for $16 4" X 250' for $26 4" X 125' for $16 www.parafilm.com has 12" rolls, 1" rolls, 4" X 125, 4" X 250, 2" X 250, 20" x 50' They list as nursery, and medical (WWW.floraview.com) info@floratape.com is the e-mail for info and prices. Gordon C. Nofs -------------------------------- Subject: Re: Re: Bud Grafting From: Lucky Pittman Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 09:02:57 -0500 At 07:16 PM 09/13/2000 -0700, Derry wrote: >What do you mean by a 'coin purse' bud for nuts? "Coin purse" is just a type of shield budding, so named because, rather than a 'T' incision, you make a single vertical incision in the stock, lift the bark, bend the stock, and insert the shield of budwood. The gaping edges of the vertical incision look somewhat like one of those little oblong, plastic coin purses folks used to carry - you'd flex 'em a bit to open. This one's gotta be done while the bark is slipping - depending on rainfall, that can be anywhere from mid-June to mid-September, here. Choose spot where you intend to place bud, bend stock in that vicinity(seems to help loosen the bark), make vertical incision, gently lift bark at the bottom of the incision. Remove a good bud from your budwood stick, I usually leave the petiole attached, with 2 to 4 leaflets remaining - shield should be 2-3 inches long, somewhat oval, tapered at the ends. Notch the base of the petiole so that the stock bark will lie flat once the bud is inserted. Shave the edges of the bud shield so that cambium is exposed all along the edge. Bend to stock to cause the incision to gap open, insert bud. Wrap tightly with rubber budding strips. Tape petiole to stock. Loosely wrap plastic(I cut up the plastic grocery bags that I have so many of) around the budded portion to create a mini-greenhouse/humidity chamber. Secure plastic at the top with a budding strip, close at the bottom with tape. I don't open for 3-4 weeks (or longer). Lucky Pittman USDA Zone 6 Hopkinsville, KY -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None this time >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - September 15, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - October 1, 2000 - AKA RFN200010A.txt --Notes In Passing Autumn Signals - Ripening Mango and Fuyu Persimmon 'Glenn' mango had one ripe so far. It's deep orange flesh must mean that it's high in Vitamin A. It has good taste, as well, but it's not my favorite. Its size is above average. 'Carrie' may not be far behind.... Fuyu persimmon is getting that fall color. Apples I Enjoy Growing And Eating Magnum Bonum, Giant Astrachan, Mollie's Delicious, Luster Elstar, Fugi, Jonagold, and Red Jonagold are some of the most striking in appearance and taste. Magnum Bonum was sent by someone from the east coast, as I recall. I would like to know, so I could tell him how much I like it. All of those seem to get enough chilling hours to produce on the north slope of my yard, but some years produce more than others. There's almost never a frost. ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, Oregon: How To Propagate Yellow Strawbery Guava? "Steve Brosh" New Subscriber, Wisconsin: Wants Information About Pass. Incarnata Christopher McGuire New Subscriber, Louisiana: How To Grow Rare Fruit Here? Sarah Jumel New Subscribers, San Diego, From Michigan; Need Suggestions.... Jena Piccirillo --Readers Write Fruit of Cereus Peruvianus-What Can I Do With It? nancy Dwarfing a mango Eunice Messner To: Jeff Re: Fruit Fruit You've Eaten And Ranked Sven Merten Mangosteen Bob Holzinger To: Keith Overwintering plants Bob Holzinger To: Phil Re: Pitaya pollen - How long does it keep? Sven Merten Allspice Now Bearing: What Next? Ben Poirier --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List None, this time --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, Oregon: How To Propagate Yellow Strawbery Guava? Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 20:22:23 -0700 From: "Steve Brosh" Hi, I'm Steve Brosh, Salem, Oregon I raise a number of plants in a heated greenhouse including bananas(now loaded with fruit) pineapples, guavas, citris, hibiscus, lychee, taro, ginger, plumeria and many more. Would appreciate any help on the propagation of a yellow skinned strawberry guava. Thanks Steve mailto:stb@navicom.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, Wisconsin: Wants Info About Pass. Incarnata Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 13:55:17 -0500 From: Christopher McGuire Hello, I would like to join rare fruit news online. If it's not too much, I would like to receive all of the back issues as well (I've heard such good things about it!). My information is below. Thanks, Chris Chris McGuire Madison, WI, USA mailto:cmmcguire@students.wisc.edu I am growing Passiflora incarnata, and I am primarily interested in this species and related species. I think P. incarnata has delicious fruit, but not much work seems to have been done with this species. I'm interested in learning anything about P. incarnata, including the following: Genetic variation: There seems to be a lot of variation in fruit size and shape, flower color, fruit flavor, and other traits. I'd be interested in learning about clones with particularly good fruits or other desirable characteristics. I'm not aware of any named varieties, except possibly for 'Alba', which just seems to refer to any white-flowered clone and not to a true variety. Cold-hardiness. What are the lowest winter temperatures that P. incarnata can withstand, and what cultural techniques increase its hardiness? Pollination: In my experience, only carpenter bees are good pollinators, but they have not always been abundant in my plantings. Are other pollinators effective? Fruit processing: What's the best way to extract the juice from the fruits? I've done it by pressing the pulp through a wire mesh, which seperates the juice from the seeds and other solids. This can be a bit arduous. And what are good recipes for using the juice? I've always drunk the juice as it is, or used it to flavor hot cereal or yogurt. Chris McGuire Madison, WI, mailto:cmmcguire@students.wisc.edu --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, Louisiana: How To Grow Rare Fruit Here? Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 20:54:16 -0500 From: Sarah Jumel I am Sarah Jumel, New Orleans, Louisiana, drasaid@bellsouth.net; I am growing mango (in container), cherimoya & capulin cherry (seedlings), various passion vines. Want to grow Myrtus Ugni, but it's supposed to be out of my zone, & Black Sapote too, maybe. Sarah mailto:drasaid@bellsouth.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscribers, San Diego, From Michigan; Need Suggestions.... Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 05:26:04 -0700 From: Jena Piccirillo Hi, We are Jena Piccirillo & Mike Conner, in San Diego (Rancho Penasquitos) j_piccirillo@yahoo.com Fruit trees we are growing: Lime, Grapefruit, and Lemon I would love to try an avocado tree. We are very new to the CA area and need a referal for a local nursery to identify the types of lemon, lime and grapefruit trees we have in our yard. We also have questions about proper watering and fertilization of our trees. How often, how much, etc.? In Michigan we had several gardening challenges and want to learn more about gardening in this wonderful climate. Your input would be helpful! Mike Conner & Jena mailto:j_piccirillo@yahoo.com -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Fruit of Cereus Peruvianus-What Can I Do With It? Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 14:51:52 -0700 (PDT) From: nancy Hello Leo and other Fruit Growers - I saw several letters in the mid-September issue which mentioned the fruit of Cereus Peruvianus; I've had one for many years, which of course does flower and fruit. I have tasted the fruit (though only out of the same curiosity which leads me to try many other non-foods), but have never been aware of it actually grown for fruit. Those who do so - what, exactly, might one (such as myself) do with this fruit? My grandma, years ago, used to make a confection from the pads of prickly pear cactus; her methods are lost in time. Thanks Nancy mailto:platotoldhim@yahoo.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Dwarfing a mango Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 16:50:37 -0700 (PDT) From: Eunice Messner To: Jeff Jeff... You can dwarf a mango by using your fingernails to nip out the center of each leaf stem. That will make it branch into 5 new branches and thus shorten the internodes. Eunice Messner mailto:eunicemessner@yahoo.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Fruit Fruit You've Eaten And Ranked Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 17:36:58 -0700 From: Sven Merten Hi Leo, Together I tried Paul's 3S, 1 (Rixford), 9S, and G2. And to me this was the order of quality, 3S being the best. 3S, 1 and 9S were all similar and good, but I felt G2 was significantly lower quality although it wasn't bad. I just sent you some pictures of the fruit we trie which Ed took. I tried one from George's plant last year and from memory I think it had less sugar than the ones above, but it is hard to say without trying them side by side. I'd say these are much better than the columnar Cereus sp. I have tried. These are dryer and not as sweet although every once in a while you will find one fruit that is very good. I am definitely not an expert and I've only been able to try these few so far. Next year I am hoping to try some off of my plants. I have only been able to set one fruit so far and it was on George's clone and it is pathetically small. Yes Rixford is the same as #1. I have heard that most of the Vietnamese clones are self fertile, but you can't really tell until they start setting fruit. I've got 6 or 7 varieties that are supposed to be self fertile. It will be interesting to see how many actually are. Paul has even more I think. See you soon, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net Leo Manuel wrote: > Hi Sven, > > Sometime I'd like to see a ranking by taste of the pitaya fruit you've > eaten. > > Have you had fruit set on many? How about on George Emerich's non-self- > pollinating one? > > Did you use any special bloom stimulating fertilizer on yours? > > I have Paul's #9, #3 Seedling, and 'Rixford' (Is it also a numbered one?) > Also a Vietnamese (I think he called it Qui Do, which probably is the > name of the sender) from him and one he had labeled as "AllRed" - I > don't remember its source. I don't have any others, that I know of. > > Are the Vietnamese self-pollinating, as far as you know? > > Take care, > > Leo --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Mangosteen Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 11:11:01 -0700 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Keith Hello Keith, You were interesting in finding someone who grew mangosteen in a container successfully. I have a friend living in Central California who has several plants in five gallon pots. They may have even been moved into 15 gallon pots, since they are several feet tall. He's growing them in a greenhouse that was kept at 60 degrees minimum for a couple of years until this year. We'll see what they do this winter when the temperature may be lower. If you have any specific questions, email me and I'll give you his email address. Good luck, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Overwintering plants Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 11:18:04 -0700 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Phil Hello Phil, To successfully overwinter your cherimoya, P. edulis, and papaya I would recommend having them all in a soilless potting mix. The biggest problem for sub-tropicals in the winter is cold, wet soil. So drainage is critical, especially for the papaya. The mix I use is peat moss:perlite:vermiculite at a mix of 4:2:1. This could stay too wet for your greenhouse. You could try using less peat moss, possibly a 2:2:1 mix. All three of these plants can take 4 C over the winter if they have proper drainage and adequate sunlight, but now necessarily direct sun. Good luck, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Pitaya pollen - How long does it keep? Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 07:09:51 -0700 From: Sven Merten Hi Leo, George and Paul tell me the pollen will last about 1 week if you cut the pollen out of the flower and put them in an air tight jar in the refrigerator. Ed just told me the other day that it will last much longer, up to a month, if you cut the whole flower off and store it in a zip lock in the fridge. See you tomorrow. Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Allspice Now Bearing: What Next? Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 08:54:15 -0700 From: Ben Poirier Well, after a couple years of blooming, one of the allspice trees has some fruit. So I am up to the saying - Now that you got it, what are you going to do with it? Does anyone know how one turns these berries into the spice ?Are they picked green or ripe ? Is the seed removed or left with the berry ? I assume it is dried, then ground (but could be wrong) Thanks for the help Ben Poirier mailto:benplant@tfb.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Super Dwarf Cavendish Banana & Maroon Blotches Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 23:38:58 -0700 From: Amy Fernandez Val. I have been growing one of Stokes Tropicals superdwarf cavendish for many months now and the maroon blotches are becoming more faint on the newer leaves. The newest leaf does not have any blotches at all. Amy Fernandez mailto:marvelousgardens@earthlink.net Val wrote: Hi, everyone! I received two of these from Stokes and they are very small and have maroon blotches all over the leaves, like a bloodleaf banana. I emailed asking if they sent the wrong plants and the reply is the blotches disappear as the plant gets bigger. Is this true? They are now about a foot tall with 6-8 leaves each. Every leaf has the same coloration of maroon. Thanks! Val mailto:vfurlon1@tampabay.rr.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Rare Fruit Nurseries in Southern California Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 23:38:58 -0700 From: Amy Fernandez To: J. Harris J. Harris There is Aloha Tropicals in San Diego County. Check alohatropicals.com Amy J. Harris wrote: Anyone in the Southern California area (Orange Co. and San Diego area) know of any rarefruit nurseries? If so e-mail me. J. Harris mailto:jharris1@core.com ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None this time >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - October 1, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - October 15, 2000 - AKA RFN200010B.txt --Note In Passing Bruce Livingston's New URL For Web Page: http://www.santol.01webhosting.com/index.html I've often recommended his page for the help available there. You may want to change your bookmark. ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, AU: Where To Find Nurseries In North Queensland? Û Liisa Hobler mailto:liisa_hobler@globalfreeway.com.au New Subscriber, CA, Needs Help; Citrus Now Dying! Û David Schorr New Subscriber, CA, Grows Pitahayas Edgar Valdivia Edgar: Pitahaya Pictures Edgar Valdivia New Subscriber, Cairns (Queensland) Australia "Miller, Julie" New Subscriber, Oakland, CA Elizabeth Waterman --Readers Write RE IMPORTANT MESSAGE (Wobbler Virus) Fred Nagahori Case Of The Wobbly Wobbler MSJ1819@aol.com OnLine Rare Fruit Class Sven Merten Great Source for references on most species! Sven Merten Transplanting banana trees indoors in zone 7 Cavender, Bill Re: Transplanting banana trees indoors in zone 7 Leo Manuel To: Cavender, Bill Santol's Tropical Fruit Home Page: New URL Bruce Livingston RE: Aussie Looking For North Queensland Nurseries - Can You Help? Gavin ATKINSON To: Liisa Hobler --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List None, this time --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Mites--New Technology Aids Identification Hank Becker, "ARS News Service" ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, AU: Where To Find Nurseries In North Queensland? Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 15:07:21 +1000 ÛFrom: Liisa Hobler I am interested in growing tropical fruits in Vanuatu and would like to receive your Rare Fruits Online Newsletter. Could you please give me the names of nurseries in North Queensland which sell tropical fruit and nut trees? Yours thankfully in anticipation. Liisa Hobler PO Box 120 North Tamborine, Qld 4272 Phone 07 5545 0773 mailto:liisa_hobler@globalfreeway.com.au --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, CA, Needs Help; Citrus Now Dying! Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 06:54:45 -0700 ÛFrom: David Schorr Hi, I am David Schorr: Mar Vista (near Santa Monica) California Fruit trees I am growing: Over 40 trees of you name it in my back yard. It's getting to be a jungle. All kinds of berries, peach, pear, medlar, acerola, surinam cherry, sapotes, lots of citrus, apple, mulberry, wax jambu, grumichama, cherry of the rio grande, persimmon, pomegranate, figs, passion fruit, cherimoya, guavas, macadamia, longon, wampi, bannana, jujube, pineapple, cape gooseberry, gooseberry, pepino dulce, plum, apricot and loquat, to name a few. Help! I am having a terrible problem with my citrus. I live in Mar Vista, CA. I have a blood orange tree which was happily motoring along until about a month ago when the leaves began drying up. The small fruit which had recently set began to yellow and drop. The tree is in serious decline. The tree has been in the ground about 5 years. This happened to it once before, about 3 years ago. I lost a grapefruit tree to these same symptoms a while back. Interestingly enough, I lost a beautiful star fruit tree to the same symptoms. It dried up and died within a week! All my trees get regular, deep watering. I use a modified drip system with sprayers. There is no evidence of gophers. I'm thinking nematodes or some infection or something. The base of trunk does not look abnormal. What's going on? Thanks for your help. David Schorr mailto:rack12@earthlink.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, CA, Grows Pitahayas Date: Mon, 02 Oct 2000 16:28:52 -0700 From: Edgar Valdivia Dear Leo, I received your email and am glad to hear you're growing so many types of pitahaya. Sounds very interesting. When I get a chance, I'd like to come visit you. I'll call ahead of time to be sure you're home. Go right ahead and use the 3 pictures however you wish. by the way, I would like to receive your newsletter. Please put me on your list. Sincerely, Edgar Valdivia mailto:bd907@lafn.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Edgar: Pitahaya Pictures Date: Mon, 02 Oct 2000 09:40:46 -0700 From: Edgar Valdivia Dear Leo, I sent you three photos of pitahayas. I hope you like it and that they will serve the purpose that you wanted. My experience with the pitahaya is that it needs a little bit of shade. So growing the plant onto a tree is a good idea, but in the long run the pitahaya will overtake the tree. The tree will die as a result, and later will fall; destroying both the tree and the pitahaya. One example of this happening is the problem George had with his plant. My recommendation is if you are planning on growing pitahaya do it in the same manner as you would grapes. Using metal supports to hold the weight in the long term will leave the plant at the height of one's hand, so it would be easy to do hand-pollination. (the pitahaya needs crosss pollination to be able to bear fruit.) I published an article about pitahaya in the magazine "Fruit Gardener" volume 32 number 1 of month January/February 2000. I hope that this will help the lives of your future plants. Sincerely, Edgar Valdivia mailto:bd907@lafn.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, Cairns (Queensland) Australia Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 09:52:10 +1000 From: "Miller, Julie" Hi, I am Julie Miller, of Cairns (Queensland) Australia. I'd like to be on the mailing list. Regards, Julie Miller mailto:MillerJA@prose.dpi.qld.gov.au Mareeba Dept. of Primary Industries --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, Oakland, CA Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 13:22:02 -0700 From: Elizabeth Waterman Hi, I am Liz Waterman of Oakland, CA Fruit trees I am growing: Fejoa (3), a couple of small figs, Calamansi, seedless blackberry and loganberry, Olympic berry (an old boysenberry type), a small cherimoya, ugni, raji puri banana, and a few others small things that I can't think of right now. There's also one I want to grow - Flavor queen pluot I am a CRFG member GG chapter. I just heard of the newsletter and would like to see a couple of back copies. Thanks Liz mailto:lizwaterman@california.net -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: RE IMPORTANT MESSAGE Date: Sat, 20 May 2000 21:56:25 -0700 (PDT) From: Fred Nagahori A few days ago I sent you and friends a warning about the Klingerman Virus. My son wrote back with this message: Hi Dad, Check out this link. This site also has great references to ANY type of e-mail that you may have received regarding the rumors about EVERYTHING. For as much as I am involved in the internet and related technologies I question everything. http://www.urbanlegends.com/ulz/klingerman.html Ryan mailto:fnagahori@yahoo.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Case Of The Wobbly Wobbler Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2000 12:58:46 EDT From: MSJ1819@aol.com In a message dated 10/1/2000 10:28:34 AM Eastern Daylight Time, leom@rarefruit.com writes: > There is a new virus - WOBBLER. Leo, FYI I checked this supposed virus out on the Symantec Virus Hoax web site. (I do this to confirm ALL virus reports before passing them on.) WOBBLER is a hoax that has been going around the internet for more than a year. If you want to check them all out yourself, go to: http://www.symantec.com/sarc/avcenter/hoax.html Thanks for all your hard work on the RFNO. We look forward to each newsletter. Marsha Jackson mailto:MSJ1819@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: OnLine Rare Fruit Class Date: Thu, 05 Oct 2000 07:13:19 -0700 From: Sven Merten Hi All, Just thought I would pass this information along. Bruce Livingston is going to be teaching an online rare fruit class starting October 24th. He is going to cover close to 100 fruits and the information looks like it will be quite good. I've been wanting to take his class for a couple of years now, but since he is in Florida and I am in California I have not been able to. His class comes highly recommended from a friend on mine in Florida who has been taking his classes for a few years now. There is more information at http://www.gate.net/~santol/ I'm not affiliated with Bruce other than to be taking the class, I just thought some of you might be interested in taking the class too. Best regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Great Source for references on most species! Date: Thu, 05 Oct 2000 18:37:11 -0700 From: Sven Merten Hi all, The following site is amazing: http://www.ipni.org/ Click on plant names and search for any genus you may be interested in and it will give you a list of many different references for information on whatever species you might be looking for. I hope you all find it as useful as I think it will be for me. Best regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Transplanting banana trees indoors in zone 7 Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2000 14:34:47 -0400 From: "Cavender, Bill" Greetings from the rapidly cooling Mid-Atlantic. I have two banana trees that need to come inside. They are planted in the ground out back, the last two winters they were small enough to get in a pot fairly easily. They grew lots this summer and are now about 7-8 feet tall with a trunk 6-8 inches across. There are also 2-4 "babies" around each. What are recommendations for storing these plants over the winter. What about the babies, I'd like to save some of them too. Any suggestions on root structure and how to dig them properly is much appreciated. Hoping to have fruit on them next year. Regards, Bill Cavender mailto:CaveB@cof.org Alexandria, VA --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Transplanting banana trees indoors in zone 7 Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2000 16:42:36 -0700 From: Leo Manuel To: "Cavender, Bill" Hi Bill, Moving a banana plant as large as yours will be more work than you will want to exert. It can be done, but one answer is really to start them in a pot you can move in and out as required. Another answer is to get one of the super dwarf banana trees that are not taller than about four feet as adults, when they perform as expected. Home Depot sells them here, but there are other places you can get them. If you do move them, you'll want to keep them pretty dry until time to bring them back out. (I'm assuming you're not moving them into a greenhouse.) You should use a light weight planting mix, to make it easier. You may decide to sacrifice the tallest one by cutting it off near the ground, and then the weight of it and its pups will be much more manageable. The cut-off stump may very well grow back and produce later. If not, it will have additional pups come up around it. I'll put your question in the newsletter for others to answer. Horticordially, Leo --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Santol's Tropical Fruit Home Page: New URL Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2000 20:22:13 -0400 From: Bruce Livingston Hello, Please excuse the form letter, but I am trying to inform all visitors to my web site, Santol's Tropical Fruit Home Page, that I have changed the URL to a new location. The new URL is: http://www.santol.01webhosting.com/index.html Please change your bookmarks accordingly, and I'll see you at the new location. Santol Bruce Livingston mailto:santol@gate.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: RE: Aussie Looking For North Queensland Nurseries - Can You Help? Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 11:06:14 +1000 From: Gavin ATKINSON To: Liisa Hobler Hi Leo I'm in Brisbane, which is only about 50 miles north of Tamborine where Liisa lives. North Queensland is about another 500-600 miles north again. As I've never been to North Queensland (let along know any nurseries that way), I don't think I can help out this time. Regards Gavin Atkinson mailto:Gavin.Atkinson@premiers.qld.gov.au http://www.thevegetablepatch.com ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: Mites--New Technology Aids Identification Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2000 09:41:14 -0400 From: "ARS News Service" Hank Becker, (301) 504-1624, hbecker@ars.usda.gov The 200-year-old study of mites--the science called acarology--is being transformed. Agricultural Research Service experts on mites are using state-of-the-art technology to study these microscopic insects. Recently, ARS scientists from the Systematic Entomology Laboratory, working with colleagues at the Nematology Laboratory--both at the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville (Md.) Agricultural Research Center--applied newly developed technology, called low- temperature-scanning electron microscopy (LT-SEM), to study mites. Because of their small size--some no bigger than the point of a needle--mites are difficult to study biologically. They have many sensory organs, mouth parts and other body parts so complex that systematists have difficulty comparing those of closely related species. Unlike conventional microscopes, LT-SEM images of a specimen are formed and magnified by electrons passing through a magnetic field that functions as a lens. The images can be displayed, and thus recorded, on a cathode ray tube similar to a TV screen. The LT-SEM was used to obtain, for the first time, clear, three-dimensional images magnified more than 50,000 times. These reveal delicate structural forms and intricate details of intact mites and how they interact with and attack plant and insect hosts. Such information helps scientists to better understand mites' behavior and how different parts of their body structure actually function. It is also used to name and classify them. Often, a lack of detailed information about mites' correct identity, biology and ecology causes serious consequences to U.S. agriculture. More than 6,000 mite species infest nearly every agronomic and horticultural plant important to agriculture. They cause annual economic losses estimated in the billions of dollars from decreased food, fiber and ornamental production. For more details, see the October issue of Agricultural Research, available online at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/oct00/form1000.htm >>>>>>>>End: Rare Fruit News Online - October 15, 2000<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - November 1, 2000 - AKA RFN200011A.txt --Notes In Passing Festival of Fruit - 2000 - See You There? Ends weekend of 11/18/2000 California State University, Fullerton, CA. See http://home.att.net/~oc_crfg/anulmtg.htm for more details. My Emperor Lychee Fruit - Large, Delicious, But Skin Not As Red This is the first year my Emperor lychee has had fruit. It's young and still in a pot. There were about a dozen fruit. They were quite large and less smooth skinned than other lychees I've eaten, more flavorful but less sweet, and the skin was mottled but not solid red. How does this compare with Emperor lychees you have known? Thailand Longan/Lychee Expert - Sainarong Rasananda - Writes Again. [See "Tropical Lychee"] If you find his writing to be helpful, let him know, so he will continue to contribute. See "Announcements/Web Sites" Section for unusual information on: None this time ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, Southern California Ralph Laughlin New Subscriber, FL, Grows Everything, Has Noni Question Pat McGauley New Subscriber, So CA, Starting Over Nancy Mueller New Subscriber, CA: How To Winterize My Sacramento Area Mango? Dave Martz New Subscriber, CA, Professional Horticulturist.... MARSHALL CHROSTOWSKI --Readers Write Easy and Fast Seed Starting Denise Woo Transplanting banana trees indoors in zone 7 Leo A. Martin To: Bill Transplanting banana trees indoors in zone 7 Mitch C. Amiano To: Bill By Popular Demand: Sainarong on Lychees and Longans Ronald Lyn To: Rasananda, Sainarong Carambola Seedling: How Long Before It Fruits? Nigel Thomas What's A Good Late-Season Mango For Florida? James Love Of Longans And Lychees Sainarong Rasananda Tropical Lychee Sainarong Rasananda --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List Re: Meyers Lemon (Indoors) Ginda Fisher ReplyTo: nafex@egroups.co --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Minus-Ceralure: Better Baiting for the Medfly Tactics for Producing Plump, Perfect Peaches Scrutinized ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, Southern California Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 23:53:04 EDT From: Ralph Laughlin Hi Leo I am Ralph Laughlin and live in Carlsbad. Nan Sterman gave me your name and e-mail address because we have similar interests in backyard fruit trees. Is it possible for me to subscribe to your semi-weekly on-line discussions about fruit? Ralph Laughlin mailto:RalphAUCMG@aol.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, FL, Grows Everything, Has Noni Question Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 00:13:03 -0400 From: Pat McGauley Hi Leo, I am Pat McGauley, of Lakeland, Florida 33813 Am a happy member of RFCI, Tampa Bay chapter and am currently harvesting wonderfully sweet, juicy, giant carambolas from back yard, also papayas (year round), bananas (same). Guava season is over; have many varieties both tropical and semitropical, including pineapple guava. Also have mulberry, persimmon, mangos, red sugar apple, soursop, cardamon (does that count ?), jabotacaba, acerola, pigeon peas (do they count?), jak fruit, and several citrus including satsuma, meyer lemon, pommelo, ugli fruit, and several other mandarins. There are also pineapple, monstera deliciosa, 1 red and 1 yellow passion fruit, surinam cherry, and muscadines. The list may be actually longer than my memory....Oh, I lost my kiwi plants in the drought this spring. Had 2 females and 1 male vine. I didn't remember to water them until too late. Have just become proud caretaker of a noni or Indian mulberry (Morinda citrifolia). Some advice, please. I know to plant it far from windows of house because of foul smelling fruit dropping in about 3 years. Besides care, am interested in medicinal use of my fruit-to-be. Am a totally organic gardener, have birds, butterflies and friendly insects. Also have squirrels. Want to swap recipes? :) Please sign me up for your newsletter. Thanks. Pat mailto:patmc@ithink.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, So CA, Starting Over Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 17:09:24 EDT From: Nancy Mueller Hi, I am Nancy Mueller, of Fallbrook, CA We are just starting our garden at our new home, which came with cherimoya, macadamia, avocado, various citrus, and banana. We had 25+ fruit trees at our prior home in Santa Ana and plan at least that many here. Nancy Mueller mailto:NMMueller@aol.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, CA: How To Winterize My Sacramento Area Mango? Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 11:53:48 -0700 From: Dave Martz Hi, I am David Martz and live in Folsom, CA, growing mango, lemon, cherry, plum. I am especially interested in learning about the care of Mango trees in the winter for the Folsom/Sacramento area David mailto:dmartz@metalinkdsl.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, CA, Professional Horticulturist.... Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 17:43:13 -0700 From: MARSHALL CHROSTOWSKI Hi, I am Marshall Chrostowski, in Santa Barbara, CA 93105 I am a professional horticulturist and small organic farmer. My major client is the Pacifica Graduate Institute (Carpinteria) where we have already developed a low-chill deciduous fruit orchard and are in the planning stages of a rare fruit (nut and berry) orchard. I am also a volunteer compiler of a subtropical and cool tropical fruit, nut and berry database for the Seed Savers Exchange which plans to expand future editions of its FRUIT, NUT AND BERRY INVENTORY, a compilation of retail and whole sources for these edibles for the purpose of tracking commercial availaabilty. Those traditional and heirloom cultivars in danger of abandonment would be identified and steps taken toward conservation. Marshall mailto:mcfarm@silcom.com -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Easy and Fast Seed Starting - Using Kelp Extract Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 03:15:47 EST From: Denise Woo Hi Leo, For anyone who starts their own seeds I hope you find this as interesting as I do. After reading about kelp products and how beneficial they are I wanted to find out for myself so I have been trying out some different Kelp products over the last several years. I have found the Kel-Ex 616 from American Kelp is the most effective product I have used. Here are the details on how I have started all of my seeds for the last 2 years. I start with the Park's Bio Dome Seed Starter. It is a small (15" X 10" X 2") tray that includes a clear plastic top with vents in it along with a Styrofoam insert that has 60 pre drilled holes. I put 1 Park's Bio Sponge in each hole. The Bio Sponges have a small hole in the top so all that I have to do is place the seeds in the hole. After the insert is filled, I water it once with Kel Ex 616 Kelp solution just enough to make the sponges wet. With my experience in 2-3 days most of the seeds germinate. The warm season plants like Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Squash, Okra, Corn and Melons I use bottom heat from heat mats. Cool season plants like Broccoli, Cauliflower, Bok Choy, Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts etc. I don't use the heat mats. The Papaya seeds I started last week came up in 3 days. In 4 days they were 1 inch tall. Starting the seeds in this manner I have had a very high success rate. The seedlings are ready to be transplanted in 2-3 weeks outside in the garden or to a larger container. After they are transplanted I spray the seedlings with a foliar kelp spray called Kel Ex 991. The germination rate is remarkable and I haven't lost a single seedling using this method. If anyone is interested in getting the Kelp products you can call American Kelp at 619-239-5357 or log onto their web site http://www.amkel.com/main.htm. American Kelp is located in San Diego, Calif. They also have several other kelp products. The Bio Dome is from Park Seed at 800-845-3369 or http://www.parkseed.com. Happy Gardening, Denise mailto:Dmshuck@aol.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Transplanting banana trees indoors in zone 7 Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 06:34:13 -0400 From: Leo A. Martin To: Bill Hello Bill, When I lived in St Louis there were quite a few people who grew banana plants. (They didn't get any fruit for reasons described below.) When fall came, they carefully dug up the entire clump, pushed it onto a tarpaulin, and hauled it downstairs into the basement. There it sat without water and without light until the next spring. The plants didn't mind this at all. When weather warmed up the clump would be hauled out and replanted. All this often invovled a work party with several friends, because some of those clumps were so large they needed to be tipped sideways to get through doors. Most people cut the stems off near the ground to make the clump lighter. This plus the fact they let the clumps make as many stems as possible prevented fruiting. The one person I knew who got fruit one year cut his stems off at about 6 feet. Leo mailto:leo1010@attglobal.net Phoenix, Arizona ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Transplanting banana trees indoors in zone 7 Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 09:50:41 -0400 From: Mitch C. Amiano To: Bill If the banana has several pups, you might consider simply taking the risk of leaving it out, but cut off a few of small pups for taking indoors. Mitch mailto:nop@ipass.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: By Popular Demand: Sainarong on Lychees and Longans Date: Sun, 8 Oct 2000 16:57:54 -0400 From: Ronald Lyn To: Rasananda, Sainarong" Hi Leo, Would love to hear about any new developments in Thailand from Sainarong on Lychees and longans. Always looked forward to those. Thanks again. Ronald mailto:kanku@mail.infochan.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Carambola Seedling: How Long Before It Fruits? Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 16:23:24 -0700 (PDT) From: Nigel Thomas Dear Rarefruit Group, I have a CARAMBOLA growing from seed that's about 1-1/2 years old. I believe that the seeds came from a very sweet-fruit producing grafted plant. Can you tell me how long it will be before I see some fruit on it? I plan to keep it's size controlled and within a 40 gallon pot until I can plant it permanently. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to email me directly at annonasquamosa@yahoo.com Thanks, Nigel ------------------------------------------------ Subject: What's A Good Late-Season Mango For Florida? Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 22:37:09 -0400 From: James Love Need advice on a late season mango variety for Florida. Anyone have any suggestions?? James mailto:jim.love@worldnet.att.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Of Longans And Lychees Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 14:33:42 +0700 From: Sainarong Rasananda Some of the RFNO readers have written to ask why I have not written about longans and lychees recently. The reasons are threefold as follows: 1. I notice that most of the new members of RFNO do not grow longans and lychees. 2. Most of the recent RFNO correspondence are not about the two fruits. 3. As the readership of RFNO ranges from the novices to the very keen, experienced amateurs to the professionals, I am not sure what to write about, whether my topics will be of interest. If the reader asks me questions, either directly or via RFNO, it would me much easier for me to write. Anyway, in the future RFNOs, I shall write about the papers presented at the 1st International Symposium on Litchi and Longan, held in Guangzhou, China in June 2000. Please tell me what you think of them. Sainarong mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th [I personally have found that all articles written by you are more than appropriate for this newsletter. Of course, there are quite a few readers that do not live in a climate where they can grow lychee and longan, but for those of us who do, we find them to be excellent and will be referred to often in the future. Thanks for taking time to write. Sincerely, Leo] ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Tropical Lychee Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 14:51:02 +0700 From: Sainarong Rasananda Most people think, correctly so, that lychee is a subtropical fruit, and are not aware that there are lychee cultivars which are very much tropical. In Thailand, there are quite a few tropical lychee cultivars, the most well-known of which is called 'Korm', a Thai name which means 'Hunch-Backed'. Don't ask me why it is called thus. These tropical lychee cultivars probably mutated from the normal subtropical cultivars, and have adapted well to the tropical climate of central Thailand. They have adapted so well that they do not fruit well in the subtropical climate of the North of Thailand! These tropical lychees do not bear abundant fruits, and still require a brief spell of slightly cool weather (about 17 degree celsius) for flowering. Yet, the tropical lychees provide very satisfactory income for the growers, as, being an early-season fruit, they fetch a higher price than the subtropical varieties. As a matter of fact, some Thai people prefer the tropical cultivars to the subtropical ones, as they are sweeter with less hints of sourness. Personally, I find them very succulent and nice. Do you have any tropical lychees in Central or South America? Sainarong mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ ReplyTo: nafex@egroups.co Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2000 12:30:49 -0500 From: Ginda Fisher Subject: Re: Meyers Lemon (Indoors) Thanks Gianni, > you may want to see if your soil is coolish, if so, possibly > put it over a register or a heating pad to warm the pot. I have baseboard heating, right next to the pot. Maybe that's another reason it does better in the winter? > Water is OK to really give it a good soaking all the way down to the > pan and let it sit with the water for a couple of hours and then dump > the excess. But it cannot stand to be wet for any length of duration. > If you have a really dry environment indoors maybe the once a week > water is OK, but while your into the later months and the tree is now > primarily indoors I would try to stretch the water to every 2 weeks or > until you know when the pot is really, Really dry. The leaves will > curl and droop when it's asking to be watered. Okay, I lied. I intend to water all the houseplants weekly, but I often miss a week. I will stop worrying about this for the lemon. > Citrus also hates re-potting and you wanna try to choose a pot that is only > 1/3 larger than the root mass, they actually respond well to some crowding. It's been in the same pot since I got it (3 years ago) and seems happy. I didn't intend to repot it any time soon. (So I'm ignoring your advice about soil for now.) I have been wondering when/if it ought to be repotted. From your comments, I think, not too soon. > I would hold back on the weekly feedings as this may be a problem > since you dropped leaves and may not be able to process the nutrients. It hasn't dropped any leaves since last fall, when I brought it indoors. Once it started to grow again, it grew nicely over the winter, and while it stopped growing, it didn't lose any leaves this summer. It seems to be stirring again (warm roots and sunlight, you know). Does this advice still hold? > I strongly suggest using an endomycorrhizal fungus especially with > potting as this process nearly always seems to thrive with potted > plants/trees and just about everything else too. The "Myco" takes > stress of the tree as it works in unison with the root ball and helps > deliver microscopic nutrients to the plant allowing it to get to the > business of growing and producing. I have found immeasurable benefit > from using this in all my potted trees/plants. And once the myco has > become well established, any amendments or fertilizers you use seem to > be readily absorbed. I bought some endomycorrhizal fungus starter two years ago, and have used it on my outdoor plantings. I didn't notice any difference from what I would have expected - in either direction. I think I put a bit of it in the pot last spring (or maybe last fall) and scratched it in a bit, but I wouldn't swear to it. Would you try again? Would you recommend a particular source? Thanks. A friend who used to have a full sized Meyers lemon outside says that they seem to hold their quality well long after they are ripe, which argues for holding out a bit longer. When the second one turns completely yellow, I'm going to try it. I think it's very exciting that I might be able to grow my own citrus in Massachusetts!! (Being poorly situated to shoot the squirrels, I plant to keep it indoors from now on.) Ginda Fisher mailto:ginda@concentric.net Eastern Mass. Zone 6 -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: Minus-Ceralure: Better Baiting for the Medfly Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 09:57:11 -0400 From: "ARS News Service" Judy McBride, (301) 504-1628, jmcbride@ars.usda.gov BELTSVILLE, Md., Oct. 23--Scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service are pleased with early results of a new attractant for the Mediterranean fruit fly, one of the most serious agricultural pests worldwide. The new attractant captures more hapless male fruit flies--an asset that would make medfly monitoring programs more foolproof. It was developed by former ARS chemist Andre Raw in Beltsville, Md., and entomologist Eric B. Jang in Hilo, Hawaii. Nicknamed "minus-ceralure," the attractant stays potent in traps about three to four times longer than trimedlure, the most widely used commercial attractant, said Jang. More importantly, "minus-ceralure is about four to nine times more attractive to medflies," said Jang. He coordinates field testing from the agency's laboratory in Hawaii, where the medfly is established. "Minus-ceralure ranks as the best medfly attractant yet reported," said ARS Administrator Floyd Horn, noting that its parent compound--ceralure--was also developed by ARS scientists in Beltsville and Hilo in 1988. "With help from today's improved technology, Dr. Raw was able to extract the most active compounds in ceralure and purify a large enough quantity to test on the insects." Threat of medflies invading the U.S. mainland musters hundreds of state and federal agents to annually deploy some 150,000 traps baited with trimedlure. If some medflies should sneak into the country and wind up in a trap, thousands more traps are deployed to help keep the six-legged pests confined to an area where they can be snuffed out. With minus-ceralure, "it's more likely the first invaders would be captured before the infestation could become established," said Raw. And the attractant is powerful enough that it could potentially be used for mass-trapping to eradicate the flies. Traps baited with an attractant such as minus-ceralure "are more environmentally sound than spraying insecticides and may be less expensive than releasing sterile-male medflies," Raw added. Jang's tests are aimed at finding the least amount of chemical that can be used for the longest-lasting trap. "Cost-effectiveness is particularly important with minus-ceralure because--for now, anyway--it costs significantly more to produce than trimedlure," Jang said. ARS has applied for a U.S. patent on the new attractant, formally known as minus- ceralure B1. The agency is seeking a cooperative agreement with industry to develop a more efficient synthesis for larger-scale testing and, ultimately, for commercial production of the attractant. In relatively quiet years, more than a million trimedlure dispensers are sold in the United States alone to keep the monitoring traps effective. The medfly is also a major agricultural pest in Europe, Africa, Australia, Pacific areas, and in Central and South America. A story about the research appears in the October issue of Agricultural Research magazine and on the web at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/oct00/bait1000.htm ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Tactics for Producing Plump, Perfect Peaches Scrutinized Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 10:05:28 -0400 From: "ARS News Service" Marcia Wood, (510) 559-6070, MarciaWood@ars.usda.gov Some of the sweetest, juiciest peaches in the world come from the sunny orchards of California's central valley. A three-year study being conducted by Agricultural Research Service scientists and their university colleagues may help California growers cut back the amount of water and fertilizer currently used to produce the luscious fruit. Researchers are varying the timing and amount of water and nitrogen fertilizer that they apply to about 1,800 young peach trees in an experimental orchard at Parlier, Calif. They're looking for differences in growth that result from delivering varying amounts of water through furrows, sprayers called microjets, or drip-irrigation tubing. The scientists fitted the orchard with more than 500 probes and sensors to monitor the amount of water in the soil and the supply of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The researchers also are using a miniature video camera to scrutinize root growth. The study, now in its second year, focuses on young peach trees because very little is known about their water and nutrient needs. That's according to ARS plant physiologist David R. Bryla at Fresno, Calif. He leads the investigation. Findings should be applicable not only to peaches, but also to orchards of other stone fruits, including nectarines, apricots and plums. California produces more of those crops than any other state. The research is funded in part by a grant from California State University, Fresno. Bryla will describe the investigation today to guests at a dedication ceremony for the new ARS San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, a 125-acre complex that includes the experimental orchard. The nearly completed research campus, built at a cost of about $22 million, has 80,000 square feet of lab and office buildings, greenhouses and other facilities. Plans call for the 86 scientists, technicians and others currently based at the ARS Water Management Research Laboratory and ARS Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory in Fresno--about 25 miles away--to move to the new complex early next year. End: Rare Fruit News Online - November 1, 2000 --Notes In Passing Festival Of Fruit 2000 - Fullerton, CA - This Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I'm going at least Saturday. See you then? Leo Giant Whitefly Control With Biologicals - Gary Bender says it's happening! Two names to remember: Idioporus affinis LaSalle & Polaszek (Pteromalidae) - and Encarsiella noyesii Hayat (Aphelinidae) Checking Mangoes - There were fewer total number of mangoes, but all trees had at least a few. "Thomson" had a larger-than-usual set for me, and the fruit was larger size. "Nam Doc Mai" continues to bloom, even in the middle of November. Several trees want to set fruit, but not to grow. This is especially true of my "Carrie" and "Kent" and "Keitt." Harvesting mangoes is a high point for my fruit growing pleasure! How about for you? Looking For A Wire Basket - Or Something Similar - Suggestion? I would like to have something like a wire basket with bail to hang up under macadamia nut trees and put the nuts in them to air dry for a while. It needs to permit air circulation so the nuts won't mold, and have a mesh small enough so nuts won't fall through, and strong enough to hold several gallons, if possible. Leo Alternative Archive for Rare Fruit News Online Sought. There are several web sites that will let you store information (for free) and permit others to view and download, but none that I've found, so far, will let non-members access those files. That's a nuisance that I'd like to eliminate. Do any of you know of a place that lets you store files and also let anyone access them without first signing up with screen name and password? ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers Who Will Ship Tropical Fruit Trees Into Oklahoma? Floyd Markland New Subscriber, Florida: Has Ackee, Banana, Malay Apple, .... Julie Cox --Readers Write Lychee and Longan: Request For Additional Articles Oscar Jaitt To: sainaron@loxinfo.co.th, Tropical Longans - Part 1 of 3 Sainarong Rasananda Re: Tell me again, please, about using those kelp products.... Denise To: Leo Jak fruit Eunice Messner Re: Jak fruit Leo To: Eunice Messner Pomello Joel Moskowitz Pitaya and steel supports Sven Merten Loquat Blooms (Profusely!) Matthew Shugart 'Idioporus' - Giant White Fly "Bugs" From UCR George F. Emerich" Re: Carambola Ben Poirier To: Nigel Looking For Text, Published In Lima, Peru, in 1996 Brett Portman --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List Neem Oil To Control Brown Rot In Peaches? Ward Barnes ReplyTo: nafex@egroups.com Re: Neem Oil To Control Brown Rot In Peaches? Doreen Howard ReplyTo: nafex@egroups.com Re: Neem Oil To Control Brown Rot In Peaches? Gianni ReplyTo: nafex@egroups.com --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Mineral Coating Could Cut Chemical Use Agricultural Research Service, USDA Judy McBride, (301) 504-1628, jmcbride@ars.usda.gov ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: Who Will Ship Tropical Fruit Trees Into Oklahoma? Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 13:33:22 -0800 From: Floyd Markland Hello Could you please send me an e-mail address of a nursery in the US that will ship rare tropical fruit trees. There is one in California that sells to the public but will not ship. I live in Oklahoma an would prefer to have the trees shipped rather than driving to CA and hasseling with the agricultural inspection stations. Thank you and please reply Floyd Markland mailto:lonestar@oknet1.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, Florida: Has Ackee, Banana, Malay Apple, .... Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2000 22:22:56 -0800 From: Julie Cox Please include in me in your newsletter: I am Julie Cox, in Jupiter, Florida Fruit trees I am growing - Ackee, Avocado, Banana, Plantain, Bermuda Cherry, Coconut palms Jaboticaba, Malay Apple, Monstera delocia sp?, Mamoncillo, Dot Mango, Pineapple. I'd like to grow any other subtropical/tropical fruits hardy in this zone. Thank you for your website! Julie Cox mailto:chickenorbeef@hotmail.com -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Lychee and Longan: Request For Additional Articles Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2000 20:20:46 HST From: Oscar Jaitt To: sainaron@loxinfo.co.th, Mr. Rasananda, I have read all your articles in the RFNO with interest and encourage you to continue writing about Lychee and Longan. I live in Hawaii and am a nurseryman. I think there are other members in Hawaii that can and do grow these fruits. Also I believe that members in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Samoa, Jamaica, Bahamas, to name a few would be interested. (Perhaps people in tropical areas are just more lazy to write in to the newsletter.) Also as you know, there are small commercial groves in Florida and Hawaii producing lychee. Personally I would like to hear also about Rambutan, Pulasan, and Korlan if you are familiar with them. Are there sweet types of Korlan? I was not aware of the tropical lychee you call "Korm". Here we have a problem with poor fruit sets as the winters do not get cool enough, and where I live it is quite rainy throughout the year. The favorite variety for Hawaii is Kaimana, because it is a more consistent bearing lychee developed here. But I would not consider it a tropical lychee. Are there many other varieties besides "Korm" that are tropical? How do you rate them? What is the size of the trees? Where in Thailand can these trees be puchased? Can you recommend some nurserymen there? Thank you for your help and your regular articles, Oscar Jaitt mailto:fruitlovers@hotmail.com Fruit Lover's Nursery --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Tropical Longans - Part 1 of 3 Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 11:49:57 +0700 From: "Sainarong Rasananda" Tropical longans are even more common than tropical lychees. There are many cultivars of tropical longans. Tropical longans are found in the South-East Asian peninsula and islands, namely Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Some of these, particularly those found in South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Central Thailand, are readily recognizable as longans, and belong to the familiar sub-species, Dimocarpus longan sub-species longan (which includes all the subtropical longan cultivars). Others mainly found in Southern Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, look like close cousins to longans, and belong to other sub-species, such as Dimocarpus longan sub-species malesianus Leenh.; some may even belong to other species of the Sapindaceae family. It is generally accepted that the subtropical varieties of Dimorcarpus longan sub-species longan are better-tasting than all the tropical longans. It is also generally accepted that the tropical varieties of Dimorcarpus longan sub-species longan are better tasting than the other tropical cousins. I know that all this sounds rather confusing. That is why I have divided this article into 3 short parts. Sainarong mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Tell me again, please, about using those kelp products.... Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 20:38:58 EST From: Dmshuck@aol.com To: Leo Hi Leo, I would like to thank you for the wonderful tour you gave Ashley and I last week. Ashley was telling everyone about your dog for a few days afterwards. I have been out of touch because our computer died so it was out of commission for several days. We lost all of the information we had in it since it froze and we had to reinstall windows. Fel-Ex 991 is the foliar spray. Mix 2-4 oz to 1 gallon of water. I put it in a hose end sprayer I bought at Home Depot. The sprayer mixes it for you. It is recommended to spray the leaves top and bottom on plants of any kind 1-2 times a year on mature trees. On newer plantings I like to spray about once a month for the first year through the growing season. Spraying a foliar works best early morning or late afternoon. The leaves are more receptive during those times. Some avocado groves in Fallbrook have had the avocados stay on up to 18 months since they started using the 991. It seems to make the stem stronger. Kelp has been proven to help some plants to be more cold tolerant. Fruit also stays on the plant longer has a better taste and longer shelf life. I have been spraying my Hawaiian Papayas once a week starting 2 weeks ago this year to see if it helps them through the winter. I sprayed my 4 apple trees and 4 out of 6 of my grape vines with the 991 last spring through summer about once a month. The apples and the 4 grape vines had 2 flushes of blooms on them. I ended up with 2 crops of grapes and apples in the same year. The other 2 grape vines only had one blooming cycle. Since I am new at this I don't know if it is normal to have two flushes of blooms considering they haven't done it before. Do your apple trees bloom twice in a year? I spray the citrus trees with 991 about once a month. Sometimes I get busy and forget to spray then I notice the aphids sucking so I go out and spray once a week for 2-3 weeks. That will take care of the aphids. If you have a particular plant that aphids like then it is a good idea to make sure to spray once a month with the 991 to keep the aphids away. I have sprayed the Surinam cherry and the sugar cane you kindly gave me. The Surinam cherry looks happy I haven't seen any differences on the sugar cane. Fel-Ex 661 and Fel-Ex 764 are the ground treatments. You mix 2-4 oz. of each one to 1 gallon of water and spray the ground 1-2 times a year. The 661 is kelp and the 764 is saponin. The saponin helps the water penetrate the soil so the plants can use the water and any available nutrients more efficiently. Kelp has the micronutrients. After a few times of spraying the soil you will be able to use less water. Worms also like kelp. I also use the 661 for seed starting and the 764 for powdery mildew control. None of the products will burn plants or do any other harm. It is safe for animals, fish and people. Kelp is very concentrated so it doesn't take much for it to work. I hope this helps you. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me. Happy Gardening, Denise mailto:Dmshuck@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Jak fruit Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 15:06:18 -0800 (PST) From: Eunice Messner Leo... Have you heard of anyone fruiting Jak fruit in So. Calif? Had a call today from someone in Bel Air who says his is starting to form fruit (Of course it could fall off as it is a first time - but he has a very special niche in which he fruits many tropicals. Eunice Messner mailto:eunicemessner@yahoo.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Jak fruit Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2000 21:14:21 -0800 From: Leo To: Eunice Messner Hi Eunice, I saw a seedling Jak fruit in a nursery a few weeks ago in Vista with two fruit. It surprised the proprietor, and the fruit was 6-8 inches in length, as I recall. I believe others may have done it as well. I'll publish your letter in the newsletter. See you in a few weeks. Leo --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Pomello Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2000 23:42:09 -0500 (EST) From: Joel Moskowitz Wonder if there is an art to the proper dissection and eating of Pomello? Are there any recipies where Pomellos are the main ingrediant? Appreciate the information. Joel Moskowitz in San Diego, CA mailto:jamoskowitzmd@pol.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Pitaya and steel supports Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2000 06:40:34 -0800 From: Sven Merten Hi Everyone, I finally planted about 130 pitaya a few months ago. I only have one problem that I thought I would pass along to you. I used steel stakes to support the trellis wire and I tied each plant to one of the stakes. For some reason in most cases where the pitaya touch the rusting steel they start to discolor and rot (especially younger stems). It isn't killing any plants and maybe is annoying more than detrimental. In the future I will use fewer stakes and plant in between them, supporting the plants with wood stakes until they are tall enough to reach the trellis wire. Best regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Loquat blooms Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 08:05:28 -0800 From: Matthew Shugart Dear RFNO readers: As I write this (Nov. 7), I am looking out my window at my loquat tree that is absolutely covered with blooms. I have never seen such a heavy bloom on the tree. I wonder if other readers in southern California who have loquats are noting an unusually heavy bloom this year, or if this is a quirk of my tree. Does anyone have insights into the climatic conditions that loquats most like? My tree is a seedling, I believe, and is probably about 15 years old. It has had fruit every year, but tends to bear alternately. However, its crop in 2000 was heavier than usual, and extended over a longer time than usual. If this current bloom is any indication, the crop will be even heavier (and possibly longer) next year. My tree also tends to be late bearing relative to most other loquats that I know of. It is white-fleshed and very sweet. Matthew Shugart Carlsbad, California mailto:mshugart@ucsd.edu --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 'Idioporus' - Giant White Fly "Control Bugs" From UCR Date: Tue, 07 Nov 2000 10:51:00 -0800 From: "George F. Emerich" To: leom@rarefruit.com Leo: I got the bugs for the white flies from UCR (Gary Bender) They are called 'Idioporus' , I think. He brought me 8 vials containing 60 bugs each (allegedly). They were so tiny that I assume they prey on the eggs or larvae. George mailto:gemerich@tfb.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Carambola Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 18:03:24 -0800 From: Ben Poirier To: Nigel Hi Nigel Part of the answer to your question about the time for a seedling Carambola to fruit depends on your location. I have heard reports that in Florida they can bear fruit in as little as three years ! My experience in Southern California is a bit different. I have planted out about 25 seedlings of sweeter varieties from Florida seed under the shelter of large avocado trees (young trees don't do well in the full sun here). A couple of older trees have been fruiting for about three years now and another six or seven have fruit on now. I am evaluating these in hopes of getting a sweet variety that will do well here. In my experience it takes about seven years to begin fruiting. Trees will be about three to five feet tall at this time. Early growth is slow for this plant, but really takes off at this size Ben Poirier mailto:benplant@tfb.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Looking For Text, Published In Lima, Peru, in 1996 Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 13:49:38 AST From: Brett Portman Some time ago I found a site on the web (www.spt-tca.org) that had the complete text of "Frutales y hortalizas promisorios de la Amazonia" by Hugo Villachica published in Lima, Peru by Secretaria Pro-Tempore in 1996. The site has now disappeared. Does anyone have the contents of the site downloaded or know where I can get a copy of the original book? Yours, Brett Portman mailto:airenwei@hotmail.com ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ Subject: Neem Oil To Control Brown Rot In Peaches? ReplyTo: nafex@egroups.com Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 14:13:44 GMT From: Ward Barnes Gianni Will neem oil control brown rot in peaches? I had the crop of 16 peach trees destroyed by brown rot this year. This included older trees that are in decline as well as new trees planted to replace the older ones. While I'm thinking about peaches is there anything I can do to increase the flavor/sweetness in the fruit? Ward Barnes mailto:ward_p_barnes@hotmail.com coastal zone 7 Wake, VA --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Neem Oil To Control Brown Rot In Peaches? Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 10:31:42 -0600 ReplyTo: nafex@egroups.com From: "Doreen Howard" Ward, Let me wade in on this one. I had four peach trees in Texas where the humidity and constant rainfall and heat were perfect incubators for all kinds of fungal diseases and rot. I started spraying with neem oil after losing most of the peach crop to rot. It was pitiful. The problem was so bad that it stressed the trees to the point where they defoliated early and bloomed in the fall. Here is what I did. Starting early in the season--a week or two after the last frost and before the buds broke, I sprayed with neem seed oil. I waited until blossom fall and then sprayed every 10 days to 2 weeks for two months. I also sprayed the mulched ground under the trees. The fruit set was heavy--I had to thin--and all the peaches ripened beautifully. After fruit was picked I sprayed the trees again. I followed this regime for the other two seasons I lived in Texas. BTW, since neem seed oil is totally organic, you can spray up until you pick fruit. Neem seed oil is used to make tooth paste and soap in India. The best way to produce sweet peaches is to make sure all developing fruit gets sunshine all day. Prune so the branches spread wide letting in the sun. I don't think anything else makes much difference, other than to be sure there is adequate nutrients in the soil. Some people say that clay soil is best for stone fruits, because clay contains and holds (nothing gets leached) many trace elements and phosphorous. If you don't have clay soil, maybe a spray or two with something like MaxiCrop or liquid kelp would help to add micro-nutrients. I'd think 2 to 3 sprayings during fruit development might help. These are just guesses. Doreen Howard mailto:doreenh@ticon.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 15:11:35 -0500 From: "Gianni" Subject: Re: Neem Oil To Control Brown Rot In Peaches? Hi Ward: A couple of years ago I was having probs with my peaches with rot and premature leaf drop and the pits splitting. Over a year ago I learned about endomycorrhizae inoculant and this spring I probed holes of the peaches and added myco. As insurance, just after flower drop I started using Sea-kelp spray and also Neem oil spray. My subsoil is sand and shale and everything that tends to go through quite fast. The myco latches onto the main roots and forms an underground carpet, drawing in unavailable "locked" nutrients as Donna stated. As Doreen said Sea-kelp helps to build tissue, whether it's leaf or fruit tissue this stimulates the above ground tree and any run- off now goes directly into your spongy absorbing underground carpet of roots. I neemed 3 or 4 times this season as the oil is a surfactant and sticks for a while and you don't really need a tremendous amount for it to do it's job, just gotta get it underside of the leaves and the curly barked trunk. The majority of the fruit was Baseball sized with a few bordering softballs.... I can tell you this, If you use a good myco and you can reach your feeder and taproots that whether you use a topdressing of compost or phosphates or whatever. When your roots are working a lot less harder to drag in micronutrients, this seems to allow the plant/trees health to better ward of stress and pests through it's own self defense mechanisms because when everything underground is optimum and flourishing, the tree/plant above ground can get on with the business of producing as it is freed-up from defense and can withstand almost any onslaught of it's own. Neem oil spray may be a good deterrent to all your ills, thinning your crowns out a bit too should help to let some light and air in. Besides peach love thinning anyway! Any fertilizer, amendments, kelps, cides etc is readily absorbed rapidly through your roots being multiplied 10 to 100 times with any good myco..... Myco is a little pricey, but Lon, Doreen and I swear by it, try a little on a few trees and do a test just be sure to get it to reach the dripline and tap/feeder roots, you'll double your crop. See for yourself.... http://search.megaspider.com/XP.html?Mycorrhizae Best wishes John S. NH Z-5/6 mailto:GIANNI-2@prodigy.net -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto::rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto::ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: Mineral Coating Could Cut Chemical Use Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 09:41:49 -0500 Agricultural Research Service, USDA Judy McBride, (301) 504-1628, jmcbride@ars.usda.gov KEARNEYSVILLE, W.Va., Nov. 1--Tomorrow's orchards and vineyards--even row crops--may have a ghostly appearance, based on studies spearheaded by Agricultural Research Service scientists. Researchers at ARS's Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, W. Va., and collaborators have controlled insects and diseases and prevented sunburn and heat stress by covering fruit trees, vines or vegetable crops with a white, reflective coating of a specially processed kaolin--a type of clay. "Cooperative research and development between ARS and Engelhard Corporation of Iselin, N.J., is producing kaolin-based products that could turn out to be among the most versatile agricultural products ever to hit the market," said ARS administrator Floyd P. Horn. The agency is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief research arm. And uses for kaolin films don't end here, according to ARS soil scientist Michael Glenn who conceived of many of their agricultural applications and initiated the cooperation with Engelhard. He and coinventor Gary Puterka see kaolin's potential as a carrier for just about any chemical used on the farm--pesticide, herbicide or pheromone. "It can serve as a matrix to hold chemicals on the plant or soil and get more even distribution," said Puterka, an entomologist. "You may be able to reduce the active ingredient by 50 percent or more." The latest patent application jointly filed by ARS and Engelhard covers this use of kaolin. The first commercial product--Surround Crop Protectant--went on the market in 1999 after pear growers learned that it controlled pear psylla, a devastating insect that is becoming pesticide resistant. This year, Engelhard upgraded it to a wetable powder formulation called Surround WP. Since kaolin is a physical barrier, it must be reapplied to cover new growth or after a heavy rain, which limits its feasibility in rainy areas. However, the severe mid-Atlantic drought of 1999 proved another advantage of the kaolin film in orchards. Treated Empire trees produced apples averaging 17 percent larger than fruit from untreated trees--even trees that were irrigated, said Glenn. And there was no loss in number of fruit. Sekel pears reacted a little differently: Film- covered trees doubled the number of fruit with no loss in fruit size. Glenn explained that the specially processed kaolin coat reflects the heating infrared wavelengths, as well as the burning ultraviolet rays. It's the ability to keep the tree cooler under a blazing sun that increases yield. On the West Coast, kaolin film prevented sunburn on apples and walnuts, Glenn added. Sunburn damage makes a perfect niche for rot organisms. So packers pay bottom dollar for produce with blemished skin or shells, or reject it altogether. In studies here and in South America, South Africa, and Australia/New Zealand--"the kaolin- based product has cut sunburn damage on apples in half, on average," Glenn said. Around the country, kaolin film has controlled well over a dozen species of insects and mites. Studies to evaluate it against the glassywing sharpshooter in California vineyards are in progress, and results so far look encouraging. According to Puterka, the specially formulated kaolin particles "have the potential to work against almost any insect. The key is getting good coverage of the crop." And with some changes in formulation, Glenn and Kearneysville colleague Michael Wisniewski are demonstrating that the films have potential to control diseases in orchards or keep vegetable crops viable several degrees below their normal threshold for frost damage. Read more about kaolin's agricultural applications in the November issue of Agricultural Research magazine at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/nov00/white1100.htm >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>End of RFN200011B.txt<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - December 1, 2000 - AKA RFN200012A.txt --Notes In Passing Continuing Our Longan Education - Read Tropical Longans (Part 2 of 3) by the specialist, Sainarong Rasananda, in Readers Write. Dwarf Jamaican Red Banana - Fruit splits if allowed to stay on too long. It is a delicious fruit, but I should have cut the stalk as soon as the fruit showed a little softness. Failing that, I should have cut it when the first fruit split. What's your experience? Festival of Fruit - 2000 Would you like to pass along information that you found of interest? Feel free to expand on and correct my fuzzy recollections, below. Maybe Too Stimulating? I rummaged around the internet, following leads generated by the speakers at the Festival of Fruit, and consequently, this newsletter is 'way too long. The problem is that I didn't have the time to winnow out duplicate information. Sessions I attended: David's Noel (Australia) "Riches of Australian Flora." He referred to a book, "Fruits of the Rain Forest." Also, he indicated that a California source for some Australian plants is "Center for Earth Concerns," in Ojai. One web page to check is that of ACOTANC, http://www.aoi.com.au/acotanc/Acotanc2001.htm John Prince from New Zealand "Pushing Edge of Subtropical Envelope" was of great interest, but the lights were turned off during the presentation, making it very difficult to take notes. His webpage, htt://www.helensville.co.nz/nestlebrae.htm should be of interest. He uses Root Control Bags (see Web Sites To Consider) extensively. At the time I thought it was something to get more information about, I did, but I have forgotten the main thrust of what he does with them. Can you fill me in, please? Linden Anderson, California grower of mangoes in the desert, had a great presentation. They have hundreds of acres planted mostly in Keitt mango variety, grafted on Turpentine mango rootstock. In September, they topwork the rootstock when it reaches about three inch diameter, and graft fairly high up from the ground on several limbs. They use cleft grafts, parafilm, and cover the graft with aluminum foil. The desert heat makes white paint necessary on the exposed limbs, while waiting for the top to leaf out. The mangoes are picked usually on September 25, but the fruit should not show ANY softness. I think he said that the date is determined when a few of the fruit are beginning to get soft, but none of those are sent to market. Mango trees are pruned immediately after picking is finished. He stressed the need to remove the skirts and to thin the interior of the trees. They fertilize with a 12-2-6 liquid in the water, and foliar spray for deficiencies of iron, manganese, and magnesium. Elaine Ingham, "Soil Food Web" from the Soil Quality Institute mentioned Soil Biology Primer, as noted in the Web Sites section: http://www.statlab.iastate.edu/survey/SQI/SoilBiologyPrimer/index.htm I do recommend that you read the text, as it is loaded with information. She stressed the benefits of Compost Tea (also noted in the Web Sites section) but she didn't give away much information on preparing it. However, she had a telephone number where you could purchase the information for making it. Free information for making this Compost Tea is available from several web pages, and I have included some of them in that section. Also, one compares and contrasts Compost Tea vs Manure Tea. You will be amazed - and probably skeptical - at the claims made for Compost Tea. Just about every plant fungus or disease may be eliminated by its use, say the proponents. Edmundo Rivera "Development of Tropical Fruit Crops" was interesting. He said that the lychee has a 100-200 hour chill requirement, but that the longan has none; and that the carombola is grafted on Golden Star Rootstock. Jerry Andersen "Bananas" was not available, but Dave Silber did an excellent job of covering the topic. One thing I noted that he has a way to make his bananas bloom and bear before winter. I wish I had made more careful notes, but as I recall, he removes all pups that come along, until one begins in very early spring. That's the one he allows to grow, and it will bloom early in the following spring, and ripen before the winter cold. Again, please tell us what you remember. I hope that several of you will write of your experiences. Stephen Facciola's Cornucopia - Lead Article In San Diego Reader Nov. 27 Stephen Facciola's Cornucopia - Lead Article In the Nov. 27 issue of the San Diego Reader at least in the North County (San Diego) Edition. I haven't had time to finish it, but it's probably one you will want to read, if any are still around. Please Help New Subscribers - There are a lot of them, most with questions, and most of you have the experience and knowledge to help them. Lets make them feel welcome! Suggestion Box: You undoubtedly have suggestions for improving the newsletter - format, content or whatever. I would like to see them. From my point of view, I'd like to see more letters sent with questions, comments, lists of recommended references (books, TV or radio programs, web pages, newsletters.... Have you seen the most recent web page? http://www.rarefruit.com Comment? ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers New Subscriber, San Diego, American Kelp Corporation Patrick Osio New Subscriber, San Diego: Where To Find Citron (citrus medica)? Ellary New Subscriber, Santa Maria Wants To Grow More Rare Fruit John Krause New Subscriber, Vista, CA: Would Like To Grow Star Fruit.... Richard Callahan New Subscriber-Spring Valley-Lucuna & Pepino Dulce Questions Ken Lamb New Subscriber: What is English Name for Cidra and Visperos? Jackie New Subscribers, Fremont, CA, Have Kiwi, Citrus, Cherimoya.... Shiz Harada New Subscriber, El Monte, CA, Wants To Grow Mangosteen.... Conne Chung New Subscriber, Oregon: What More Can We Grow Here? George Spady New Subscriber, San Marcos, CA: Trying To Grow JakFruit Ben Pierce --Readers Write Tropical Longans (Part 2 of 3) Sainarong Rasananda How To Germinate Seeds Of Certain Rare Fruit? Alex Kolodejny Re: How To Germinate Seeds Of Certain Rare Fruit? Sven Merten To: Alex Permaculture Center - Annual Letter and Web Site Dan Hemenway What's This Black Stuff On Leaves Of My Lime and Sugar Apple? Ricardo MŽndez Matta Gophers - How To Get Rid Of Them? Joel Moskowitz Frutales y Hortalizas Promisorias de la Amazonia Oscar Jaitt To: Brett Carambola Alan Schroeder To: Ben Poirier Mango harvest Matthew Shugart Where To Buy Seeds For Green sapote? (Pouteria viride) Holzinger, Bob Plum Tree: Healthy, Suckers Heavily, No Fruit; What To Do? Keith Lee Re: Plum Tree: Healthy, Suckers Heavily, No Fruit; What To Do? Leo Manuel To: Elaine Re: Plum Tree: Healthy, Suckers Heavily, No Fruit; What To Do? Keith Lee Rare fruit in Britain Roy Dynan --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List None, this time --From NEWCROPS List None, this time --From rarefruit list - rarefruit@egroups.com None, this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Fire Ants to Lose Their Heads Jan Suszkiw, (301) 504-1630, jsuszkiw@ars.usda.gov Cleaner Water: No Simple Matter Ben Hardin, (309) 681-6597, bhardin@ars.usda.gov ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, San Diego, American Kelp Corporation Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 15:41:16 EST From: Patrick Osio I've heard that you put out a very informative newsletter. My friend, Denise Woo, thought that I would be interested. Could you please add me to your mailing list please. Patrick Osio mailto:AmKelCorp@aol.com The American Kelp Corporation --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, San Diego: Where To Find Citron (citrus medica)? Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 13:46:52 EST From: Ellary I live in San Diego, east. I would like to recieve the newsletter. I am currently growing avacado(doesn't bear), drawf pomagranet (produces exactly 2 fruits per year), carissa (love the fruit juiced mixed with carrot), lime, lemon (softball sized fruit). I would like to grow one of every fruit on earth. I know thats not possible so I at this time would like to grow millions of avacados, passion fruit, figs, bush berries, lg. pomegranite. I have a question: I want a citron (citrus medica). Mainly for curiositys sake. I dont know if I could expect edible fruit but thats ok. Could you direct me to a source? Ellary mailto:Ellary1214@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, Santa Maria Wants To Grow More Rare Fruit Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 13:56:48 EST From: John Krause My name is John Krause and live in Santa Maria, California with my wife Susie Morton. Our daughter just graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, with a BSN and is now working there in a hospital as an O. B. nurse. Our son lives in Huntington beach and work for an awning repair company and planted most of the blooming flowers that surround our home. We are currently growing apple, pear apple, orange, lemon, banana and would like to grow more exotic fruits. We do have some frost and three years ago lost an avocado and pomegranate. But that was an exceptionally cold year. I don't know what I would like to grow but would appreciate some suggestions. Maybe a date palm would be fun since I love dates. Currently my only distinction is that I have grown the tallest Queen Palms in our subdivision. Thank you. John mailto:QTQTRN@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, Vista, CA: Would Like To Grow Star Fruit.... Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 22:04:00 EST From: Richard Callahan Dear Leo, My name is Richard Callahan and I Live in Vista, Ca. I am currently growing guavas, cherimoya, asian pear, apples, oranges, tangerines, figs, pears, avacados, plums, apricots, and mandrins. I would like to grow star fruit, and other wierd varieties. I look forward to contributing and learning from your group. Thank You, Richard mailto:RICHWON@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber-Spring Valley-Lucuna & Pepino Dulce Questions Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 21:34:38 -0800 From: Ken Lamb Hi My name is Ken Lamb. I live in Spring Valley just east of Lemon Grove and heard of your Website on Bruce Asakawa's Gardening Program last Saturday. I have been building up a collection of Rare Fruits & Trees while working as a school teacher since 1970ish, but since I have now retired I am seeking other varieties which I before did not have the time or place to grow. Checking out the list of rare fruits on the rarefruit.com listing I have all the plants listed there except Pitanga, Cherry-of-the-Grande, Jakfruit, Carmbola,Atemoya and Capulin Cherry. also grow many of the common fruits including cherries, pomegranates, raspberries, pears; several varieties of nuts and 7 varieties of avocados. I was given a gift of a Pepino Dulce shrub by a friend who could not tell me anything about it except that it was a rare plant. Does this plant belong to the rare fruit family, and if so, what are its growing habits? So far it has grown 5 feet and produced purple & white flowers. The other plant I have been give is Lucuna with the common name of "Inca Gold". I know nothing about it either although I have searched somewhat on the Internet. I am interested in getting to know something about the plants named in the 2nd paragragh, including growing habits, taste value of the fruit, place(s) where they may be secured, and estimated costs. I would also like to secure a Starfruit Plant. Ken Lamb mailto:Klamb@lutheranschool.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber: What is English Name for Cidra and Visperos? Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 11:41:19 -0800 From: Jackie Hi leo, My name is Jackie Z and I live in P Q in San Diego. My neighbor Denise recommended that I register to your newsletter. I am a fan of rare fruits. I am presently growing Hawaian papaya, guava , plumelo, Mexican lime, bananas, tamarind, blueberries and other citrus trees. Denise and I went to the CRFG annual conference and had a great time. I bought the tamarind and a red lady papaya that I do not know if I should wait to plant it. I want to grow lychees, miracle fruit, star fruit and a couple of fruits that I am yet to find out what they are called in English (Cidra a type of lemon-lime and visperos). Jackie mailto:jzwielic@san.rr.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscribers, Fremont, CA, Have Kiwi, Citrus, Cherimoya.... Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2000 21:11:09 -0800 From: Shiz My brother, Fred Nagahori , who lives in Orange County, sent me a copy of your article on KAKI and suggested that we should subscribe to your bulletin. We live in Fremont, Ca. and have fun trying to raise different fruits, such as Kiwi, Fuji Apples, fig, orange, tangelo, lime, cheremoya, Asian Pears, loquats, Zutano avocado, and several varieties of persimmons. ( have had very good dried kaki every year) Living in the Bay Area, our temperature is moderate so we can raise lots of vegetables and berries too. Shall look forward to hearing from you. Shiz and Bessie Harada mailto:besshiz@home.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, El Monte, CA, Wants To Grow Mangosteen.... Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2000 13:13:03 -0800 From: Conne Chung Hi there, I am Conne Chung. Mid-June this year I moved to El Monte, California in the San Gabriel Valley with my husband and two little girls. I have planted dwarf bananas (two in ground and 4 in containers), loquat, papaya, kumquat, lemon, kaffir lime, Mexican lime, passion fruit vines, white peach, guava, figs (containers) and a star fruit tree. I would like to try mangosteen, cornelian and Nanking cherry, pawpaws, and Russian olive. The would probably mean taking the sledge hammer to eliminate some concrete. Will mangosteen fruit where I live? Frozen mangosteen just does not taste the same. Thanks so much. Conne Chung mailto:edeniteconne@juno.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, Oregon: What More Can We Grow Here? Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2000 07:45:18 -0800 From: George Spady I am George Spady, in West Linn, Oregon. Fruit trees I am now growing are Hardy Citrus, pawpaw, asian pear, kaki, pear, apple, plum, strawberry. Some I want to grow are alpine strawberry, Nanking Cherries, and as many more as possible in this Cold Climate. Comments: Keep up the good work on the newsletter. I enjoyed reading the past issues. George Spady West Linn, OR 97068 mailto:stampeder@home.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, San Marcos, CA: Trying To Grow JakFruit Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 19:35:56 -0800 From: Ben Pierce Hello, I would like to sign up for your newsletter. My name is Ben Pierce. I live in San Marcos California. My email address I would like to have the newsletter sent to is mariposafamily@hotmail.com I grow the following: Citrus, Avocados, Guava, Bananas, Cherimoya, Mango, and some of the Eugenia family. I am trying to grow some Jak fruit as well. Thanks Ben mailto:mariposafamily@hotmail.com -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Tropical Longans (Part 2 of 3) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 08:58:15 +0700 From: "Sainarong Rasananda" The tropical longans are more hardy than their more popular subtropical cousins. They are easier to propagate, grow, take care of, can be forced to flower quite easily, and flower at least twice a year. Girdling or cincturing is the common method of forcing tropical longans to flower. Nevertheless, when left alone to the whim of nature, tropical longans still need a whiff of cool weather to flower. There are some notable horticulturists who consider all longans to be tropical, rather than subtropical in nature. They observe that, apart from requiring cool weather for flowering initiation, the rest of the time (including vegetative growth, flower growth, blossoming and fruit development), all longans prefer a tropical climate. These horticulturists hypothesise that, when internal conditions are favorable, longans need some external stimuli and/or stress to startle/shock them into flowering. A prolonged period of cool weather is merely one of these stimuli, albeit one of the most effective ones. However, other stimuli (such as water stress, high carbon level, low nitrogen level, potassium chlorate), which have nothing to do with cool weather, may perform the task, although not as well. In the detailed analysis, these stimuli probably both increase and decrease the productions of certain hormones relevant to flower initiation. In the next issue, I shall describe the best tropical logan cultivar I know, called Xuong com Vang vt20. BTW, thank you for all your nice e-mails. Sainarong mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: How To Germinate Seeds Of Certain Rare Fruit? Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 09:52:23 +0600 From: Alex Kolodejny Dear Leo, I have received a few seeds of annona cherimola, squamosa, muricata, montana and purpurea, sapodilla and chrysophyllum cainito. But I don't know what I should do to germinate them. I heared annona and sapodilla seeds can be kept for a few years. I also read the seeds are germinating in a few weeks. But my seeds are not germinating for about 2 or 3 months! I put them in the wet sand to the warm place and covered with plastic bag. Ony one seed of annona muricata have germinated, some seeds have spoiled. I wonder if those seeds need some startification. So not long ago I put them to the refrigerator in not too cool position, but I don't know if I'm right. Can you give me some advice? With kindest regards, Alex mailto:alexkl@newmail.ru --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: How To Germinate Seeds Of Certain Rare Fruit? Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 07:06:03 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: Alex Dear Alex, Neither the Annonas or the sapodilla need cold stratification as far as I know. Depending on the temperature they can be variable in the amount of time it takes for germination. The sapodilla will take longer than the Annonas although you probably should have had more success after 3 months. The seeds will last a year, but the sooner you plant them the better. All of those seeds tend to have poor germination rates or at least around 50% or less. I've never planted in sand, but as long as you kept them moist, but not too moist they should have germinated. Do you know how old the seed are? I wouldn't give up yet, you may still get some more to sprout. I use heat mats at 85 F and it sometimes takes seed at least several months to sprout. If your temperatures are lower it can take much longer. Good luck with them. Best regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Permaculture Center - Annual Letter and Web Site Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 09:58:38 EST From: Dan Hemenway Hi Leo: We have a new web site: http://barkingfrogspc.tripod.com/frames.html Also,for a copy of Barking Frogs Permaculture Center's annual letter, just issued, email us at BarkingFrogsPC@aol.com I don't know if the letter would be appropriate in your newsletter. Dan Hemenway mailto:Permacltur@aol.com [See Web Page Section for partial copy of Permaculture Center's letter. Leo] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: What's This Black Stuff On Leaves Of My Lime and Sugar Apple? Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 17:44:18 -0800 From: Ricardo MŽndez Matta I have twenty or so fruit trees in my small West Hollywood backyard, among them a small sweet lime tree, and a sugar apple tree (grafted on a cherimoya root stock). They both consistently develop what looks like black dust/soot/mold on some of its leaves. It brushes off by hand quite easily, and the leaf appears unharmed underneath it. But if I don't remove it, it can get quite heavy. Anyone know what it may be? Is it a disease? Ricardo Matta mailto:rocopolis@earthlink.net L.A., CA --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Gophers - How To Get Rid Of Them? Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 23:16:08 -0500 (EST) From: Joel Moskowitz Thanks for your fine Newsletter, I received responses to my inquiry about Pomello. On another subject entirely, gophers. I had forgotten that the system before the internet was called 'gopher' so when I began to search the Web I was referred to early internet. My question relates to four legged root eating burrowing pesky invaders called "gophers". Short of stryknine, and catching them one by one, would any of your newsletter readers have some effective ideas about ridding your orchard of these creatures. There is a device called "Gopher-it" which boasts that although there is no scientific evidence for it, it works. The mechanism is said that this stake, a stainless or aluminum cylinder about 18 inches long and which contains four batteries, emits an annoying sound which discourages gophers. One has to put one every l5 to 50 feet? depending on soil density etc. Has anyone any experience with this device? Or any other? Appreciation, Joel Moskowitz mailto:jamoskowitzmd@pol.net in San Diego, CA --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Frutales y Hortalizas Promisorias de la Amazonia Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 21:27:26 HST From: Oscar Jaitt To: Brett Brett, I downloaded the site you refer to, www.spt-tca.org. Unfortunately I did not save the images, so if you find anyone who saved them let me know. I saved the text in 7 parts. The first page is at http://www.geocities.com/oscarrj/frutales.html The second page at http://www.geocities.com/oscarrj/frutales2.html and so on. I found this site incredibly informative, and was sorry to see it go down. Oscar Jaitt mailto:fruitlovers@hotmail.com [Readers, one way to translate: Go to "Translate The Internet" at http://www.t-mail.com/ Leo] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Carambola Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 08:48:54 -0800 From: Alan Schroeder To: Ben Poirier Dear Ben: I read with interest your comment that in Southern California it takes about seven years for carambola to fruit from seed. I purchased a grafted variety 'Florita' about six or so years ago. It was about one foot tall at the time and is now six feet tall and looks healthy enough but it has never flowered. It grows in a semi shaded area that is protected from wind. I do nothing for it except mulch it with straw or alfalfa. My residence is in Southern California (Santa Barbara) and I know there are some carambola fruiting in this area. Any comments? How can I get it to flower and fruit? Alan Schroeder mailto:arschroeder@home.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Mango Harvest Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 16:41:03 -0800 From: Matthew Shugart Leo and RFNO readers: I agree, yes, harvesting mangoes is one of the great pleasures of fruit-growing! My Valencia Pride had a pretty good set this year, and I just ate the first of this year's crop last week! Outstanding. Several more remain on the tree. This is a very small tree. I need to find space to plant a few more! My Nam Doc Mai has not grown much since I planted it in the spring of 1999. I wonder why? It has bloomed a bit, but not set. Matthew Shugart mailto:mshugart@ucsd.edu Carlsbad, CA --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Where To Buy Seeds For Green Sapote? (Pouteria viride) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 15:57:49 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" Hi Leo, Here's a question for the members: I'm looking for a source of seeds of the green sapote, Pouteria viride. I have been told that the plants growing in Florida are from seed collected at the top end (altitude) of their range. This would be a good source for California growers, so my question is this-- are there any growers with green sapote trees in Florida willing to sell seeds to me? Thanks Leo. Good seeing you on Saturday, Bob mailto:bholzing@amgen.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Plum Tree: Healthy, Suckers Heavily, No Fruit; What To Do? Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 07:17:09 -0800 From: Keith Lee Dear Leo: I have a technical question that other more experienced members may be able to advise. We have in our small yard a 20' non-fruiting, reasonably healthy plum tree. It provides shade and a good amount of green in our yard. Unfortunately, it has suckers galore which have spread to the nearby lawn. The worse is that we suspect, but have not confirmed, that its roots may be uplifting our concrete patio. At any rate, it is in need of a decent pruning as the branches are lanky and prone to break off. We are trying to decide what of the following would be more fruitful in the long run. 1/ Severely prune the tree and graft onto it the plums and cherries of our choice. (Previous owners grafted on an apricot, which provided three apricots last year). OR, 2/ Start from scratch and remove the tree altogether and replace it with a semi-dwarf tree Thanks much!! Elaine Lou Lee, Mountain View, CA mailto:loulee@sirius.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Plum Tree: Healthy, Suckers Heavily, No Fruit; What To Do? Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 09:56:23 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: Elaine Hi Elaine, I will publish your letter, but also give you my opinion. I would remove the tree and as much of the roots as you can, as it's going to keep sprouting forever. You may want to use a herbicide, such as Roundup, on the sprouts, but it's probably better to dig each one up as soon as it appears, getting as much of the root as possible. Not all plums are grafted onto such a rootstock, and you may want to be sure that the replacement plum is grafted onto peach, or some non-suckering plum rootstock. The nursery people should help you find what you need. I would guess that your non-fruiting plum requires a climate that you don't have - probably a lot more winter chill than you get. Again, the nursery can advise you as to what will succeed where you are. There are hundreds of plums that will do well, and if you buy a tree that is already grafted, you may be getting fruit in a couple of years. Do you know what variety of plum that you have that is not bearing? Has it ever had fruit, to your knowledge? If it wasn't for the severe sucker problem, I would keep the tree, cut it back, and graft onto the new sprouts, or else top-work it. However, that sucker problem is so bad and going to continue to plague you, so I would remove it as quickly as possible. We'll see what the other readers say. I hope they will respond. In what climate zone are you located? You can check Sunset Garden book (sold in bookstores and nurseries) to find out, if you don't already know, and also look up to see what plums do well there. Burgundy plum is one I like very well. Take care, Leo in San Diego --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Plum Tree: Healthy, Suckers Heavily, No Fruit; What To Do? Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 19:57:30 -0800 From: "Keith Lee" Dear Leo: Sorry I didn't see you at the CRFG Festival last Saturday--it was my first and was sorry I couldn't stay for all the events. Can't wait for the next CRFG Festival! Thanks much for your valuable and thoughtful advice. I have no info on this plum tree, which came w/ the house. It is located about 15' from the northside of the house, causing the house to cast a bit of a shadow on the lower half of the tree. Perhaps it best that I consider a replacement fruit tree, suitable for zone 15. (I have a 3/1 peach elsewhere that might be able to take a plum and cherry graft). *If you have any recommendations (or suggested reading) for a fruit tree that will fruit happily w/ 3/4 sun, please do share. Best regards, Elaine Lou Lee Mountain View, CA --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Rare fruit in Britain Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 19:13:09 GMT From: Roy Dynan Hi Leo, I've been lurking for a while but the mention of water columns made me sit up. Unrestricted downward movement of water is even more important in the monotously cold damp winters I have to put up with. Citrus are particularly tricky. Pots with crocks require daily monitoring, on the other hand I eliminated the work and doubt and significantly reduced my losses of citrus by using plastic pots on capillary matting - but the reservoir has to be at least an inch or two below the bottom of the pot. I used to lose 5% of my citrus from underwatering and 5% from overwatering before I started this method. You can vary the dampness of the compost by varying this height - less than half an inch is dangerous in winter (but useful in summer). Cooler conditions require more height - depending on the mat - if too much is exposed so it dries out or shows salt then cover the 'wicking' part with plastic film - clingfilm (US saran wrap) works well. PS. for European readers CliveSimms.com is an unusual nursery with a new website worth a look - I wish I could be sure the hand-sized fig was on an adult hand. Roy mailto:roy.dynan@talk21.com [Note: I couldn't find a web page address for Clive Simms, but there were numerous references for their address in England. - Leo] ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ None this time -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- None this time --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: Fire Ants to Lose Their Heads Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 08:12:23 -0500 From: Jan Suszkiw, (301) 504-1630, jsuszkiw@ars.usda.gov November 15, 2000 CORAL GABLES, Fla., Nov. 15--Phorid flies, parasites that decapitate imported fire ants, will be mass-reared beginning this spring for release in fire-ant-infested southern states in a new biological control initiative. The campaign pitting fly against fire ant is part of a five-year program involving the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS); USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). Starting in spring 2001, the FDACS Division of Plant Industry (DPI) will begin mass-rearing Pseudacteon tricuspis, the top candidate of nearly 20 phorid fly species known to parasitize fire ants. The flies then will be shipped to field sites for release in southern states including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Scientists from APHIS' Gulfport, Miss., facilities will oversee the releases and assist the states in monitoring field sites. Fire ants originally arrived in the United States from South America sometime in the 1930s, escaping their natural enemies in the process. Now established on 310 million acres in the South, the pest causes billions of dollars in agricultural losses, ecological damage and chemical control costs. A burning sting and aggressive nature make the pest dangerous to humans, livestock, pets and wildlife. Phorid flies are fierce enemies of fire ants. First, a female fly injects an egg into the fire ant's body. The larva that hatches burrows into the ant's head, where it grows and eventually releases enzymes that cause the ant head to fall off. Inside the decapitated head, the larva pupates and emerges as a mature fly. Phorid flies attack only fire ants, and aren't dangerous to other ant species or mammals. APHIS, which manages programs to use biological control for invasive species, approached ARS earlier this year about increasing phorid fly production to facilitate reuniting these two insect adversaries. Another objective is to establish other biocontrols that will complement the flies, including a smaller, cooler-climate phorid fly species, a parasitic ant and Thelohania solenopsae, a fire ant pathogen that causes disease in U.S. populations of the pest. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Cleaner Water: No Simple Matter Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 07:02:30 -0500 From: Ben Hardin, (309) 681-6597, bhardin@ars.usda.gov November 17, 2000 How much herbicide or fertilizer runs off farm fields to pollute streams and rivers may depend less on the amount of the chemicals applied and more on other factors such as soil characteristics, farming systems, and how soon it rains after the chemicals are applied, according to studies by Agricultural Research Service scientists. For example, ARS scientists at Columbia, Mo., found that heavy rains that often fall on Midwest claypan soil soon after fertilizer application may pose the greatest risk for nitrogen losses in the forms of nitrate and ammonium. That's why, in the five-year study on the claypan soil that is representative of 10 million acres, 75 percent of such losses occurred within six weeks of application. Fertilizer was also more susceptible to runoff when it was spread evenly and then incorporated into the soil by tilling than when it was knifed into the soil surface in narrow bands. And the herbicides atrazine and alachlor were more prone to runoff in a no-till farming system than when they were incorporated into the soil in a minimum-tillage system. In another watershed study with different soil characteristics and amounts of row cropping, the influences of agricultural chemicals on water quality were nearly the opposite. The scientists found that herbicide concentrations were much lower in streamwater from watersheds with soils having good structure and pore space. However, nitrate concentrations were higher because farmers in such watersheds typically rotate soybeans and corn and apply more nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrate moves easily with percolating water heading toward the stream. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>End of RFN200012A.txt<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - December 15, 2000 - AKA RFN200012B.txt --Notes In Passing You'll Want To Read Tropical Longans - Part 3 of 3 (the Best Cultivar) by the specialist, Sainarong Rasananda, in "Readers Write." Mango Fruit Still Trickling In There are at least a dozen fruit, mostly Keitt and Valencia Pride. None of these have shown any softening - the clue, for me, that it's a good time to pick them. Also, there are a couple each of Nam Doc Mai, Peggy Winters Seedling, that I know of. Nam Doc Mai has borne well for me, blooming almost year around. The largest fruit weighed 20 ounces and was about 7 inches long. Skin color is pale yellow-to-orange over green, with flesh a golden yellow. It is sweeter than any of my other mango fruit. It isn't my favorite, but I'm happy to have it. Seedling Of The Seedling Of Peggy Winters - produced only one fruit this year - the first year it has borne - and both Jim Neitzel and I thought that it was superior to the mother tree. It's too soon to conclude that that will happen again, or how heavily it will produce, later. Sainarong Rasananda wrote about a problem with his computer, and when I forwarded the concern to you, most sent personal letters of condolence to me, thinking I had the problem. I am sorry that I didn't make it clear. There are a number of letters included in the second part of the "Announcements" section. You'll see that the first letter is from Sainarong Rasananda saying that he had received numerous letters of help (thanks to you.) I forwarded most of the email I received on the topic to him. I appreciate the helpful letters many of you have written to readers with questions. I don't have many answers. I see my role here as one of bringing questioners and answerers together. If you stop providing answers, then the newsletter will cease to be of interest. ---------Table Of Contents - Headers; (Letters Follow Table Of Contents) --New Subscribers Looking For Name Of Citrus Grandmother Used For Marmalade Jackie Zwielich New Subscribers, Sunnyvale, CA (Near San Francisco, CA) Irwin Sobil New Subscribers, Caribbean Island of Dominica, Wants Apricot "Denise" New Subscriber, Florida, has Mango, Coconut, Guanabana, ... Harold Goutier --Readers Write Tropical Longans - Part 3 of 3 (the Best Cultivar) "Sainaron Rasananda" To: "Longan Research" RE: Stephen Facciola's Cornucopia Ben Poirier Clarifying David Noel's Presentation at CRFG "Alan Schroeder" Re: I Can't Find "CliveSimms.com" What Is Its Address? roy.dynan@talk21.com Potential New Member "Harold Goutier" Passion fruit not setting fruit "Holzinger, Bob" To: Harold Pepino and "lucuna" "Holzinger, Bob" To: Ken Mangosteen "Holzinger, Bob" To: Conne Kelp Fertilizer Sven Merten To: AmKelCorp@aol.com Re: Kelp Fertilizer Patrick To: Sven Pepino and Lucuma Sven Merten To: Klamb@lutheranschool.org RE: What's This Black Stuff On Leaves Of My Lime and Sugar Apple? Sven Merten To: rocopolis@earthlink.net RE: Gophers - How To Get Rid Of Them? Sven Merten To: jamoskowitzmd@pol.net RE: Rare fruit in Britain Sven Merten To: roy.dynan@talk21.com Re: RE: Rare fruit in Britain roy.dynan@talk21.com Root control bags and their use in New Zealand - Clarification Sven Merten To: Leo Manuel Mango Tree Pruning Questions Link2itc@aol.com Re: Mango Tree Pruning Questions Leo Manuel To: Link2itc@aol.com Mango skirt Link2itc@aol.com Pepino dulce Eunice Messner Nam Doc Mai Mango Eunice Messner To: mshugart@ucsd.edu Passion Fruit/Guava - Who Can Ship Fruit To Michigan? Linda Revis Source for passionfruit and guavas "Holzinger, Bob" To: Linda Re: Ship Passion Fruit and/or Guava Fruit To Michigan? Suggestions? "George F. Emerich" Aribica Coffee Tree - Where To Buy? lindajp@webtv.net (Linda) T --Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider None this time --Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) None, this time --NAFEX List Enhancing of root mass of banana - How to? "Hortus" ReplyTo: nafex@egroups.com Re: Enhancing of root mass of banana - How to? "Doreen Howard" Re: banana Claude Sweet --From NEWCROPS List Acerola "joaline pardo" --From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@egroups.com None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov -- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None, this time ----------------New Subscribers------------------ Subject: Looking For Name Of Citrus Grandmother Used For Marmalade Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 17:55:37 -0800 From: Jackie Zwielich Hi Leo, I'm sorry that it took me this long to reply but I have been very busy with work. My name is Jackie Zwielich I live in Rancho Penasquitos, California Fruits that I have: Tangelo tree, guava, Lady Finger banana, Plummelo, Kumquats, Tamarind , Papaya Red Lady and Hawaiian. Fruit I would like to grow: Star fruit, Lychee, "visperos", Miracle fruit and a citrus that I have yet to find in the US. Comments: I haven't planted my Red Lady papaya and it is loosing some leaves, I don't know if I should plant it or wait until spring. Has anyone ever seen a Lemon/lime fruit about the size of a grapefruit. It has a thick skin, my grandmother use to make marmalade with it. It is not a Plummelo or a grapefruit. Leo please sign me in for the newsletter thank you. Jackie Zwielich mailto:jzwielic@san.rr.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscribers, Sunnyvale, CA (Near San Francisco, CA) Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 18:40:36 -0800 From: Irwin Sobil Hi I was at the Santa Clara Valley Calif. Rare Fruit Growers meeting today (I'm a member) and heard about your web site. My name is Bea (Beatrice) A. Sobil, My husband and I are retirees, and live in Sunnyvale, CA in a mobile home park (about 1-1/2 miles from San Francisco Bay) on a large lot with an 8'x12' unheated greenhouse. I have two cherry trees, an apricot, plum and peach. I also grow (in large containers) a Hovenia Dulcis, a cherimoya, a white sapote, a jaboticaba, and several varieties of bananas. Unbelievably, (considering we do have some winter chill, and very strong bay breezes in summer), two of the bananas have fruited in February!! The other "rare" fruit trees have not fruited as yet, but all are good-sized. I also have about ten bamboo varieties several gingers, and many other unusual flowers, succulents, etc. Although I and my family lived in San Diego for eight years, I worked full-time and was not involved in much gardening. I'd really like to receive back issues of your Rare Fruit News. Sincerely, Bea Sobil mailto:irvbea@earthlink.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscribers, Caribbean Island of Dominica, Wants Apricot Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2000 21:44:52 -0400 From: "Denise" Hi Leo and Betty, My wife Denise and I are farming in Dominica, an island in the Caribbean. We are interested in planting as many rare fruit trees as is possible. Currently we grow a large number, and are looking forward to increasing the number. We in particular would like to grow Apricot. Below you will find the list of fruit trees we currently have. My full name is Ellingworth Edwards. I live in West Coast of Salisbury in Dominica (not Dominican Republic). Please send electronic mail to Deniseedwards@mailcity.com Looking forward to hearing from you. Ellingworth Edwards mailto:deniseedwards@mailcity.com Local Name Scientific Name (Other) Avocadoes, Dominica Select Persea Banana, Apple Musa Banana, Fig siquiye Musa Banana, Mistere Musa Cane Saccharum officinarum Carambola, Sweet Cherry, Local Cherry, Puerto Rican Cherry, West Indian Malpighia punicifolia or (Barbados Cherry) Cinnamon (laurel family) Cinnamomum zeylanicum (CINNAMUN VERUM PRESL) Coconut Cocos nucifera Entawak Gooseberry Granadilla Babadine Grapefruit, Marsh seedless Grapefruit, Red Ruby Guava, Table Lime, Local Lime, West Indian Mango Noonie Nut, Paradise Orange, Ortanic Orange, Tangerine Orange, Valencia Orange, Washington Navel Pineapple, Cayenne Pineapple, # 4 Ananas comosus Tamawen Desen Tapang Tropical Pear Golden Apple Aegle Marmelos (Pomme si terre) Nut, Molucas Aleurites Moluccana Aleurite; Candle Nut Mountain Soursop (Thomson) Annona Montana Soursop Annona Muricata Custard Apple Annona Reticulata Cherry, Herbert River Antidesma Dallachyanum Breadfruit Artocarpus Communis Jack Fruit Artocarpus Integrifolia Marang Artocarpus Odoratissimus Carambola, Sour Averrhoa Carambola Breadnut Brosium Alicastrum Papaya Carica Papaya (Pawpaw) Nut, Kola Cola initida (Goora Nut) Cherry, Suriname Eugenia Uniflora Fig Ficus carica Governor Plum Flacourtia Indica (Siwees) Mango Stain Garcinia Mangostana Langstat Lansium Domesticum Cherry, West Indian Malpigghia Emarginata >Mammee Apple Mammea Americana (Apricot)< Sapodilla Manilkara Zapota (Chapotee) Nutmeg Mysristica Fragrans Fijian Longan Pometia Pinnata Guava, Cherry Psidium Cattleanum (Strawberry guava) Miracle Fruit Synsepalum Dulcificum Malay Apple Syzygium Malaccense (Pomrac) Honey Tamarind Tamarindus Indica Cocoa Theobroma Cacao [Note: Mammee Apple (above) is not what I think of as Apricot] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Subscriber, Florida, has Mango, Coconut, Guanabana, ... Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 15:01:31 -0500 From: Harold Goutier Hi Leo My name is Harold Goutier. I Live in Tamarac, Fl, a city situated to the west wing of the well known Fort Lauderdale. Married for 19 years to a real sweetheart. Our two ideal children; one daughter and one son, completed our "picture-perfect family". I remarked that, other than our passion for gardening, both; You and I have chidren that play classical music. Both of my children play piano. My daughter, 18, is a freshman at UF (UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA) and my son, 15, sophomore in high school. I would want to be a part of your group not because that I own a significant size of garden but because I share with you and other members the same love for those fascinating things created by God for our pleasure: Trees and flowers. One would be surprise to see how I managed to have mango, avocado, coconut, soursop (guanabana), Caribbean cherry (called barbedos cherry), June plum sweetsop, carambola, ciruela; closely related to mombin, lucmo (pouteria lucuma) and pineapples in my garden. Because of the relative miniscule size of the property, some of the trees are in quasi-espalier style. I also had, until last August, a beautiful and healthy citrus (10' H) with two different types of fruits and two others graft size in pot that the state destroyed as a preventive measure against citrus canker. It was my first grafting work and a subject of pride in my garden. Anyway, I lost my trees to protect the economy of the STATE and the commercial citrus growers. Before I close I would want to thank you and Bob Holzinger for your prompt response concerning my purple passion fruit vines that, contrary to my yellow ones, refuse to set fruit. Thanks again Harold Goutier mailto:hgoutier@mediaone.net -----------------Readers Write------------------ Subject: Tropical Longans - Part 3 of 3 (the Best Cultivar) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 23:36:13 +0700 From: "Sainaron Rasananda" To: "Longan Research" , The best tropical longan, in my humble opinion, is a Vietnamese cultivar called 'Xuong com Vang VT20', which means 'Yellow Flesh'. Xuong com Vang won the top prize in Vietnam for the best tropical longan for three consecutive years. Its properties are as follows: small seed with relatively dry, thick, yellow flesh/aril. One of its major undesirable properties, like that of most tropical longans, is the fact that its flesh/aril is not as firm and crunchy as those of its better-known subtropiucal cousins. However, its most outstanding characteristic is its large size. Xuong com Vang has about 18 fruits per pound, which makes it the largest longan I know. Why, then, isn't Xuong com Vang well-known outside Vietnam? I think it is simply due to the fact that most people do not know very much about Vietnam. However, Xuong com Vang is currently enjoying some degree of popularity in Thailand under the Thai name of 'Ping Pong' and 'Kratum Ban'. Its original, and correct, name is still Xuong com Vang. By the way, longan production in Vietnam is now increasing by leaps and bounds. I feel that Xuong com Vang should prosper in the tropical areas of Central and South Americas. Do you have any xuong com Vang in such areas? Do you know what the number one longan, in term of production, is? Take a guess. I shall provide the answer in my Christmas e-mail. Sainarong mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: RE: Stephen Facciola's Cornucopia Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 15:56:48 -0800 From: Ben Poirier Hi Leo, I've been trying to get a copy - Where can I find it in North San Diego County? Steve and the author were out here when they were gathering information for it. Ben mailto:benplant@tfb.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Clarifying David Noel's Presentation at CRFG Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 15:19:51 -0800 From: "Alan Schroeder" Dear Leo: Regarding David Noel's presentation at the CRFG annual meeting on 'Riches of Australian Flora', I would like to clarify his statement on sources of Australian plants here in Southern California. He received his information from a member of our CRFG Ventura/Santa Barbara chapter and in the process got the information garbled up. The Center for Earth Concerns in Ojai does not sell any plants. It is among other things one of the most astounding gardens in Southern California, especially in April and May when the Australian and South African sections are in the heighth of their glory. It is open to the public by appointment only. Call 805.649.3535 for information. Australian plants are available at Australian horticulturalist Jo O'Connell's nursery in Casitas Springs, near Ventura. No mail order. She has an outstanding array of mostly ornamental plants but a few edibles including Davidson's Plum, Midyimberry and Riberry. I hope to see her supply more in the future. The web address of her Australian Native Plants Nursery is: http://www.australianplants.com Sincerely, Alan Schroeder mailto:arschroeder@home.com Santa Barbara, CA --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: I Can't Find "CliveSimms.com" What Is Its Address? Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 17:43:24 GMT From: Roy Dynan Hi Leo, Sorry, the full address that works for me is http://www.clivesimms.com/ Alternatively, as this is just a front anyway, the real site is on the less memorable: http://website.lineone.net/~clive_simms/ Regards Roy mailto:roy.dynan@talk21.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Passion fruit not setting fruit (Potential New Member) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 10:20:15 -0500 From: "Harold Goutier" After reading this morning, only, the 1996 newsletters, I felt the need to ask you to add my e-mail address to your members list. Just one question please:I have two purple passion fruits planted from seed. They bloom a lot but never set fruit. Contrary to my two yellow fruits vine, I'm unsuccesfull in using hand pollination. I got some information in your 1996 back letters about the need for cross-pollination; but the author didn't give any specific variety that could used. Can you help me have beautiful purple passion fruits in my "Townhouse Garden"? Thank you. Harold Goutier mailto:hgoutier@mediaone.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: re: Passion fruit not setting fruit Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 11:54:49 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Harold Hello Harold, Leo Manuel passed on your note about passion fruit to me. First, the purple passion fruit, P. edulis, is always self fruitful, so if you grew it from seed, then it isn't P. edulis. Second, except in tropical settings, the yellow passion fruit, P. edulis f. flavicarpa, is not self fruitful. Now, the two can be distinguished by the fact that P. edulis f. flavicarpa has darker filaments on the flowers, dark stem tips and tendrils, larger fruit that aren't always round, and yellow fruit when they are mature. The two plants can cross pollinated each other, but of course the P. edulis won't need it. If you could send me pictures of the flowers or fruits via email, I could identify them for you. Good growing, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Pepino and "lucuna" Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 13:12:20 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Ken Hello Ken, You asked for a little information on the pepino and the "lucuna". I think the later is probably the lucuma, Pouteria lucuma. The pepino, Solanum muricatum, is in the tomato family and has a very tasty fruit. The better varieties have a sweet, musk mellon taste. The skin is sometimes thick, but is quite edible. Grow this plant just as you would a tomato, i.e. give it support, fertilize with a balanced fertilizer several times during the warmer part of the year, and water on a schedule to keep it from wilting. The plant will fruit for several years if protected from frost. It should be self fruitful, but that may depend on the amount of bee visits it gets. The lucuma is in the sapote family and is from Central America. >From seed it will take many years to flower and set fruit, but a grafted tree will bear in five years or so. The tree will require regular watering and fertilizing and probably will take a little frost, but not a good freeze. The one fruit I have tasted reminded me of butterscotch. Possibly by searching the internet with the scientific names above you can find more information on these interesting plants. Good growing, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Mangosteen Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 15:02:44 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Conne Hello Conne, Growing mangosteen in El Monte will only be possible in a well regulated greenhouse. I think the humidity will be as important as the temperature. A friend of mine has been successful in growing mangosteen in a greenhouse in Nipomo, so you could probably do it in El Monte. But outside would be impossible. It has been written that mangosteen takes 10-12 years to flower from seed, so you could be in for a long wait if you do try it. Good luck, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Kelp Fertilizer Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 10:24:09 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: Patrick Dear Patrick, I'm a member of the Rare Fruit Newsletter and when I noticed you work for The American Kelp Corporation I thought I would write you. Do you produce any fertilizers from the by products of your kelp extraction process? If so can you tell me about them. I have heard they are high in salt, do you know how much they contain. Thank you. Best regards, Sven Merten mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Kelp Fertilizer Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 14:42:59 EST From: Patrick To: Sven Dear Sven: I am including a link to our website with a complete list of our products, descriptions and some useful information on Organic Gardening and legislation. http://www.Americankelp.com In regard to the salt content, the levels are low. The majority of salts on kelp or seaweed are from the ocean and are mostly on the surface of the plant. This is washed off prior to processing. Attached, you will find a chemical analysis of our products. Average Chemical Analysis of Kelp [Note: See "Announcements" for text of analysis. Leo] Patrick mailto:AmKelCorp@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Pepino and Lucuma Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 10:53:21 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: Ken Dear Ken, The pepino is a small shrub if trained on a support or it will grow almost like a tall ground cover if you let it. They seem to bloom most of the year, but set fruit mainly in the spring. It is an egg shaped fruit that turns yellow with purple stripes when ripe. They are very similar to a melon although less sweet. They are very juicy and refreshing. You can also eat them as a vegetable when they are under ripe, although I have never tried this. They tend to get spider mites and if the fruit are allowed to lay on the ground the snails will eat them. I've had some fruit that were easily over a pound, but most are smaller, maybe between 1/2 and 3/4 of a pound. I would say it is a rare fruit. I've seen them selling for about $7 a pound in the store. The lucuma is a fruit from Chile and Peru. It is in the Sapotaceae family, but the fruits are not usually eaten out of hand. They tend to be very astringent until very ripe and even then they are a little astringent, but the flavor is very good. Even after the fruit falls from the tree you have to let them ripen for a week or two on the counter. It has a very dry flesh supposedly like the canistel sapote although I have never tried one of these. They don't really rot because they are so dry, so they will last quite a while. The lucuma is mostly used for making ice cream and for baking. They sometimes produce a powder or flour from the fruit which can be used. I tried some ice creme a few weeks ago and it was very very good and amazingly rich. The trees are slow growing and slow to produce and the fruit seem to get slightly larger as the tree gets older. There are two "types" one is green from Chile and one is yellow when ripe from Peru. I have a friend from Peru and a friend from Chile and they are both certain their type is better. I get the impression that the green ones are better when eaten out of hand, but I have never tasted a yellow one, so I am not sure. It probably also depends on the variety. Inca Gold sounds like it would be the Peruvian type, but I can't be sure. Not too many people have these, so this one is definitely a rare fruit. Good luck with them. Best regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: RE: What's This Black Stuff On Leaves Of My Lime and Sugar Apple? Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 11:22:39 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: Ricardo Dear Ricardo, That's a mold which is not really hurting the tree except to block out some of the light reaching the leaves. It's usually caused by sucking or rasping insects that are on the underside of the leaf above. These insects live off the sugars in the sap they extract from the leaves. Their excrement or honeydew also contains some sugar and this usually drops on the leaf below which in turn favors mold growth. Ants will also harvest the honeydew and spread the insects. Look for miniature scale (this is what does is on my trees) or spider mites or some other pest on the under side of the leaves. I haven't sprayed in years and even though I have some of these problems on most of my citrus it never becomes a major problem. I think insecticidal soap will kill spider mites, but if it is scale you may have to use a horticultural oil. Once you get rid of the insects the mold problem will go away. Best regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: RE: Gophers - How To Get Rid Of Them? Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 11:30:03 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: Joel Dear Joel, I've been told the only effective way to get rid of them is with the Macabee (sp?) trap. They only burrow about 18" deep, so what you can do is bury chicken wire 2 feet deep and have it stick up 2 feet and this will prevent the gophers from entering your property. This isn't really feasible if you have 10 acres, but if you have a few important trees to protect it may come in handy. Good luck. Best regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net PS I always wondered why someone doesn't breed gopher snakes to sell as a gopher control. I don't know how effective they would be. I have a friend that breeds snakes, I should ask him about it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: RE: Rare fruit in Britain Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 11:42:15 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: Roy Dear Roy, I was wondering if you can explain your capillary matting system in more detail. It might be useful for the more tropical trees that don't like the cool moist soils in the winter here in southern California. Thank you. Best regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: RE: Rare fruit in Britain Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 17:33:38 GMT From: Roy Hi Sven, I can't say I do anything much with capillary matting beyond what it says on the packet. The only twist if you can call it that, is that I use it in the Winter too. Most people buy it to water plants while they are away on Summer holidays (I did). However it does provide pretty much what those CRFG articles describe as an uninterrupted 'water column' (though they are referring to soil above a water table), and as the water moves freely in and out it is less likely to build up and exclude air. That's not to say that free draining compost isn't needed, it's just that it is possible to compensate to a small extent by lowering the reservoir level and so increasing the height of the water column. If the mat dries out you've gone too far but covering exposed matting can help a bit. The main value in Winter is for containerised plants that prefer not to be entirely dry even when it is pretty cold. Citrus are a good example and other Mediterranean species would probably qualify. Plants that can survive the Winter months in an apparently bone dry state are probably better off without, and at the other end of the spectrum, potted figs don't seem to mind English Winters even outside in the rain. There is some evaporation from the exposed mat so soft or rain water is best to avoid salt buildup. It's also worth getting the thin porous cover sheet usually sold with the mat - it stops roots getting through. It seems identical to the porous membrane used outdoors for suppressing weeds - thin, tough, black, felted artificial fibre. At the risk of showing my granny how to suck eggs I'll outline a couple of variations - please ignore or edit at will. 1) My most ambitious installation is a trough 8 feet long the same width as the mat (a shelf with sides nailed on lined with thick plastic). A 'table' (marine plywood) fills the width of the trough and to within 4 inches (100mm) of each end. It is supported at least an inch above the water level (on seed trays etc.), and the mat covers it and dips over the end into the water. You need the gap to see the water level and I usually place inverted rigid plastic bottles full of water into it to maintain the level (cut a vee into the open neck or support at an angle). The gaps described will accommodate four inverted 5L bottles, each of which will maintain the level for four days in (temperate) Summer or a month in Winter. 2) In my (cold) greenhouse I've lined the floor with thick plastic and covered it with an inch thick layer of peat to act as the 'mat'. The 'water column' was produced by sinking a reservoir plus channel/ trench into the floor (dug in the soil and the plastic fell in). The peat meets the water in the channel which leads to the reservoir but has pebbles at the end to stop the peat escaping. I use a float valve to maintain the level but I lost a few plants one winter when I forgot to reset it another inch down. Roy mailto:roy.dynan@talk21.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Root control bags and their use in New Zealand - Clarification Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 11:53:23 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: Leo Manuel Hi Leo, John uses these bags to keep the trees smaller for his tent growing area and also to promote earlier flowering. They control the main roots while allowing the feeder roots to enter the soil. Sorry about all the e-mails, but there were a lot of people to write to this time. Regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Mango Tree Pruning Questions Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 09:05:50 EST From: Link2itc@aol.com Hi Leo, You reported in a recent issue of RFN (within the past 45 days), that a California Keitt mango grower (nursery in the desert) stated the following at a seminar you attended: "Mango trees are pruned immediately after picking is finished. He stressed the need to remove the skirts and to thin the interior of the trees. They fertilize with a 12-2-6 liquid in the water, and foliar spray for deficiencies of iron, manganese, and magnesium." What are "skirts?" What's the purpose of thinning the interior of trees? Thank you for your clarification. Ed Lin --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Mango Tree Pruning Questions Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 06:59:28 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: Link2itc@aol.com Hi Ed, I'll submit your questions to the readers who also attended the Fullerton meeting, to get other interpretations of what was meant, and also tell you what I think. The skirt of a tree would mean the lowest growing limbs that would reach the ground, if not pruned. I would assume that a commercial grower uses various pieces of equipment around the orchard, that would necessitate keeping the lowest branches pruned back to enable them to get quite close to the center of the tree. Also, I could imagine that weed control might easier, if workers could access around the base of the tree. It is possible that more air circulation around the base of the tree is the objective, to keep down fungi and other plant diseases. Thinning the interior of the trees may be done for several reasons. Permitting more light to reach the interior of the trees may improve the color and quality of the fruit. Picking the fruit may be easier, if the interior limbs are not crowded. Limbs that cross may rub, causing wounds that permit disease organisms to create problems. Remember that these were commercial groves and in the desert. Other growers might tend their trees differently. Horticordially, Leo --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Mango skirt Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 19:06:15 EST From: Link2itc@aol.com Hello Leo, Thank you for your quick and thoughtful response. I do appreciate your time and also want to thank you for all the effort you put into a first-rate newsletter that benefits so many people. Before I got your reply, I thought the "skirt" was the ring of leaves that is found at the base of each panicle. If you think of the panicle as being the equivalent of the torso and upper limb, the ring of leaves at the base does bear some resemblance to a "skirt." Apparently I'm way off the mark. After harvest, I typically prune each branch to the very base of the panicle. Based on my initial understanding/misunderstanding, I'd then need to prune more in order to "remove the skirt." Hence my need for clarification of this important point. Thanks again. Ed --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Pepino dulce Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 08:07:47 -0800 (PST) From: Eunice Messner Ken.. Pepino dulce is not rare but it is not commonly planted because it is quite subject to spider mites in the heat of summer. It is commercially grown in northern CA. I grow at lest 10 plants as we find it delightful in our vegetable salad each night and great on sandwiches. The variety Golden Splendor would not set fruit for me without a pollinator, but all other varieties are fine. I enjoy "Temptation" It is so easy to propagate pepinos. Just break off a piece, strip the bottom leaves and bury it on a slant in the ground, water and cover with a bottomless plastic milk container. Viola! a new plant in about a week. Now is the best time to do this. Eunice Messner --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Nam Doc Mai Mango Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 08:20:14 -0800 (PST) From: Eunice Messner To: mshugart@ucsd.edu Matthew... I have a semi-vigorous Nam doc Mai mango that can't seem to adjust to our seasons. It blooms at the wrong time of the year (like now). Kent and Tommy Atkins are two other mangos that don't grow to any size in Calif. Try Thomson, Glenn, Keitt for dependable fruiting. I do hope you haven't stunted your Valencia Pride by letting it fruit on a very small tree. Eunice Messner --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Passion Fruit/Guava - Who Can Ship Fruit To Michigan? Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 08:18:02 -0500 (EST) From: Linda Revis Hi! Leo, My name is Linda and I'm from Michigan and I have been looking everywhere for these fruits and can not find them to buy! Because of where I live I can not grow them so I'm trying to find some growers that would be willing to sell them to me. Is there any way you can help me? We would really appreciate it! Thank you so very much and Happy Holidays! Linda Revis lindaii@earthlink.net --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Source for passionfruit and guavas Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 09:59:25 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Linda Hello Linda, Leo Manuel forwarded to me your request for sources of fruit for you. I am a backyard grower and don't sell my passionfruit. I know some commercial growers/packers and I could possibly get the name of a retail outlet in Michigan from them. The ship passionfruit where ever under their name, Cal Tropics, and under the Frieda Caplan name. As for guavas, I know of people who sell the fruit in Farmers Markets in the area, but I doubt that they do any shipping, since the guava is so perishable. Happy hunting, Bob Holzinger --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Ship Passion Fruit and/or Guava Fruit To Michigan? Suggestions? Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 14:36:41 -0800 From: "George F. Emerich" Leo: I do not know of anybody who can ship these products in small quantities. I have done it as a special favor on some occasions. Usually the the packing, handling and shipping is worth many times the value of the fruit. George Emerich --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Aribica Coffee Tree - Where To Buy? Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 16:50:01 -0500 (EST) From: lindajp@webtv.net (Linda) I am inquiring as to where I can purchase an Aribica Coffee Tree. I live in Naples Florida Thank you Linda Parker ------------------Announcements And Web Pages To Consider------------------ None this time --Computer Drive Problems - Letters of Sympathy and Helpful Hints Subject: Re: E-Disaster - Sainarong Rasananda Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2000 16:30:10 +0700 From: "Sainaron Rasananda" I have received over 10 e-mails, giving me valuable advice on my computer problem. It just goes to show what I have suspected all along - that horticulture affectionadoes are wonderful people to have as friends! My sincere thanks to everyone of you, and an early Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year to boot. Sainarong --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: E-Disaster - Sainarong Rasananda Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 10:03:18 -0800 From: Sven Merten Hi Leo, I sent a note to Sainarong referring him to Mark Copper who is the new seed bank manager. He has a data recovery business where he recovers data from damaged hard drives. He will also probably be able to give him some advice on backing up his hard drive. Regards, Sven --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: RE: E-Disaster - Sainarong Rasananda Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 10:33:42 -0500 From: "Donohue, Nancy" Hi, I just loaded the following which is very easy to use + has all top ratings. This is for WIN98 but each OS has it's own version. Hope it helps. http://superwin.com/rescue98.htm nancy --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: RE: E-Disaster - Sainarong Rasananda Date: Fri, 01 Dec 2000 08:28:38 -0800 From: John Austin Yes, go to "backup.com", they can do back up over the net. Also, there are services that can retrieve data from your hard drive. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: E-Disaster - Sainarong Rasananda Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 19:14:49 -0500 (EST) From: "Robert Gear Jr." A little more expensive but a very safe way is to have two discs the same size make and configuration. Buy a mirror image program and have both discs make identical entrys. You will always be backed up exactly with each keystroke. If your #1 disc fails then just buy a new one and copy the good old one to it. Robert Gear --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: E-Disaster - Sainarong Rasananda Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 10:51:02 -0500 From: "Martin Nemzow" 1. Have 2 drives in your computer (20 GB each for under $90 at TigerDirect or CompUSA) 2. Have laplink or similar product (about $100 which does differential file copies... that is, only what is new) 3. Copy drive C: to drive D: (with laplink etc.) 4. Have CD/RW drive (available for under $100 and media is now 100 pieces for $19 at TigerDirect or CompUSA) 5. Make backups (laplink works just fine for that) to CD. 6. Install you operating system and applications on drive c: and data on drive d: That way when drive crashes as is frequent with Windows, your data is still safe on D: and your windows backup is also copied onto D: and that CD. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: RE: E-Disaster - Sainarong Rasananda Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 09:30:11 -0800 From: "Chris Marrs" The data on your disk is probably still recoverable if you go to one of those services (see ads in Microtimes) Back up to cd-rom is the way to go --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: E-Disaster - Sainarong Rasananda Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 16:02:19 -0800 From: George Spady Tape backup is the cheapest way to safeguard your data. You should use different tapes for different days of the week and one for each Saturday that you archive(file away on the bookshelf) . Another way is to build fault tolerance into your computer that you use. . You can set that up to have 2 hard dirves (called mirrored hard drives where you write the data to each) therefore if one goes bad the other is ready to take over temporarily- this is usually used on servers where fault tolerance needs to be close to zero. George Spady --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: E-Disaster - Sainarong Rasananda Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2000 19:30:46 EST From: LUTZLAW@aol.com Leo So sorry about the hard drive. I have a compaq that partitions a part of the main drive and you can carbon copy your drive to it and restore at will. Good luck --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: E-Disaster Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2000 20:22:58 -0800 From: Keith Harold Hi Leo: Sorry about your computer problems but I am a real "know nothing" in this area. I was told when I took a class that you can use a CD ROM backup but don't know how it works. Also Dave Guggenheim told me that you can use some part of the hard drive for back up but, again, I don't know how. Maybe call Dave? Happy Holidays, Keith --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: E-Disaster - Sainarong Rasananda Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2000 08:58:51 -0500 From: "Barry Nichols" Unfortunately, there is no way of safeguarding info on a hard drive. The only way to ensure safety is to do backups frequently. I'm really good about telling other people...but not so good about doing it at home! BTW, I see you've come along well with the webpage. Are you still having any problems in that area? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: E-Disaster - Sainarong Rasananda Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2000 19:45:08 -0500 From: Jim Adkins Sorry to take so iong to get back. What we at Jungle Jim's did was get an external hard drive and save to it. We were told we could partition the internal drive but they could not say for sure if the drive crashed that it would be safe. We found a 40 gig drive for about $150.00 (for a Mac) Jim --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: E-Disaster - Sainarong Rasananda Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 07:00:05 EST From: BKearns644@aol.com Purchase an external tape backup or zip drive to save your files to or install a second hard drive and keep all files on both drives. Sorry to hear about your loss, but believe me it has happened to the best of us. Sure do enjoy those newsletters and Merry Christmas to you. Betty Kearns ------------------Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers)------------------ None this time ------------------NAFEX List ------------------ ReplyTo: nafex@egroups.com Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 20:06:09 -0500 From: "Hortus" Subject: Enhancing of root mass of banana - How to? BANANA Does anyone have information on the enhancement of root mass banana (musacaea, musa) using auxins or biostimulants (proported snake oil users need not apply). I am especially interested in methods which have already been accepted by commercial growers. regards Joel --------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 20:00:58 -0600 From: "Doreen Howard" Subject: Re: banana Joel, I have practical experience to share. I spent 8-1/2 years on the Gulf Coast of Texas where bananas grow well. I had three varieties in my backyard. As you already know, bananas reproduce by throwing pups--in layman's terms. Off sets from the main bulbous root, actually. You separate the pups from the maturing and dying main plant with a sharp shovel. Either pot them up or replant in another area. Any pups left form a thick stand of new plants. Bananas are pretty prolific about throwing pups if there is plenty of organic material in the surrounding soil. As far as root mass--I always inoculated my pups with mycorrhizal fungi, and they performed magnificently. The plants put on plenty of growth and usually flowered with 18 months. Stalks of bananas were large, and fruits were filled out well. What else can you ask for? I brought a banana pup with me when I moved north. In fact, it's in a 20-inch tub in my bedroom and is 5 feet tall. This pup was also inoculated with mycorrhizae, and even in the Arctic chill here, the plant is still putting out new leaves indoor in a west window. I expect it to fruit early next summer. As has been discussed on this list in depth, mycorrhizae does not increase root mass, but it grows hypae that mine the soil for nutrients. The hypae are far more efficient in this task then are roots, in my opinion. Doreen Howard, In Blizzard-land Wisconsin under a foot of the white stuff --------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 18:02:18 -0800 From: Claude Sweet Subject: Re: banana Joel, I have several large clumps of edible bananas growing in my back yard. In a rich soil supplied with copious amounts of water, the bananas produce so many roots that driving a spade into the ground is impossible, I have to drive a sharpen flat bladed shovel into the ground and remove thin slices as opposed to trenching around a large corm. In general I recommend composting all banana leaves to use a mulch around the base of the banana clumps. In addition I would feed a 15/15/15 commercial fertilizer as they are very heavy feeders. Bananas are primarily grown commercially for fruit in the tropics where they have very shallow soils and lots of rainfall. I am not aware of any such natural or manufactured biostimulants. CLaude Sweet San Diego, CA -------Discussion list for New Crops ------- Subject: Acerola Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2000 09:30:02 From: "joaline pardo" Hi! There's been this big boom recently about the acerola fruit, or Malpighia punicifolia in the naturist market, due to its high vitamin c containings. A friend of mine, who lives in California, wants the seed, in order to produce his own fruit, for self consume. I am making a trip to Oaxaca (Mexico) in these days. does anyone on this list know if it is possible to get this fruit in this state or near it, or else, where can this person find the seed (just a very small quantity)? It would also be useful to know any other local names so I can ask for it, or the kind of vegetation where it grows. Thank you and regards, Joaline Pardo Nu–ez Asesoria y Desarrollo Rural A.C NewCrop Archives are available at: http://bluestem.hort.purdue.edu/newcroplistserv/Search.html --------From "rarefruit list" - mailto:rarefruit@egroups.com-------- None this time -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars-news@arsgrin.gov --- http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None this time =============================================================== Leo Manuel leom@rarefruit.com http://www.rarefruit.com ===============================================================