========================================== Rare Fruit News Online - All Year for 2002 ========================================== Rare Fruit News Online - January 1, 2002 - AKA RFN200202A.txt Notes In Passing - Leo Small Hotbed - Quick and Easy I just finished building a smaller hotbed, using one 4' x 8' sheet of twin-wall polycarbonate, measuring 2' x 2' x 4'. The 4' x 8' sheet was first cut into four pieces, each 2' x 4', and then one of those four divided in half, for the ends of the box. The three larger ones were used for the back, top, and front. The bottom is open, the top hinged. 2 x 2 redwood was used to frame the box, and to attach the polycarbonate skin. The bottom has a two-inch thick styrofoam sheet cut to fit, on top of which is the heating pad. The automatic heating pad measured 22 by 48 inches, a trifle long, but it works fine. I got the heating pad at City Farmers Nursery, San Diego. I used hardware to attach redwood frames together, and two hinges for the top. >>>> New Subscribers <<<< New Subscriber, Oklahoma, Looking For Something Special "Barbara O`Rourke" New Subscriber, Michigan, With Jamaica Cherry Question John Wheeler >>>>>> Readers Write <<<<<<< Re: Israeli Pitaya Hybrid Information Doron Kletter Israeli Pitaya Hybrid Information Sought Leo Manuel "Kletter (CA), Doron" Wolf Berry (fructus lycium) - Use Outside China? "William Chow" Looking For These Passifloras: p. popenovii, .... gilbert Spondias cytherea L. = Golden Apple Michael Zarky Shawn.Hannon@efi.com Care Regimen 4 Multi-Cultivar Grafted Trees Ed Richard Ed Mathew Shugart's Mystery Fruit is "Capuacu" Mike Re: Mathew Shugart's Mystery Fruit is "Capuacu" Matthew Shugart Information Wanted: "Vexator" and Miracle Fruit Harve Stewart PawPaw in Southern California & Espalier Cherimoya? Todd Abel Oro Mango "Michael" "Paul Fisher" Downtown San Diego - Where To Buy Sapote Fruit? "Barbara DeWitt" Can We Have A Message Board? "Ronald Lyn" "Leo Manuel" Re: message board? Leo Manuel Ronald Lyn Stratification Information Sought Edward & Althia Musgrave Growing Dates In Central Illinois - Information Sought Sapadilla Fruit ? "Edward & Althia Musgrave" >>>> Mailbag of Sainarong Rasananda mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th <<<< Re: Fertilizer Requirements For Longan (And Other Fruit Trees) "Sainarong Siripen Rasananda" Fertilizer Just Before Blooming "Sainarong Siripen Rasananda" >>>> Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider <<<< http://www.geocities.com/leo92129/ - Mirror Site For Rarefruit.com http://www.geocities.com/leo92129/ SBLD - Fruits of Warm Climates-Free Online Version Of Great Book! "Lon J. Rombough" Leo Manuel http://newcrop.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/ Permaculture Links - (Plants For A Future) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pfaf/files/Links_4.html Plants For A Future - 7000 useful plants http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/ Mycorrhiza (Ecto) Improves Mulberry Rooting thehindu@admin.hinduonnet.com http://www.hinduonnet.com Avinoam Nerd Web Page - (Israeli Crop Researcher) http://www.bgu.ac.il/IAR/NERD.htm >>>> Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) <<<< None, this time >>>> NAFEX List <<<< None, this time >>>> From NEWCROPS List mailto:newcrops@purdue.edu <<<< None, this time >>>> From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@yahoogroups.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, Oklahoma, Looking For Something Special Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 19:06:45 -0600 From: "Barbara O`Rourke" What a delight. At 73 I do much of my gardening on the computer or in front of the TV. Your site is very interesting. I am sure I will learn much after the Holiday. I have a small number of plum, apple, apricot, and a cherry trees. Two hazel nut trees and three almond and three Black Locust trees. Hazel nut, almond and Locust were started from seeds. The others were purchased. Going to try to start some pecan and hazel nuts this winter. Guess being from Kansas you may have grown okra? Nothing I have is rare but a joy to watch grow. Have two starts of Bamboo. Perhaps after reading your news letters, I will find something I must try. I expect to have a tiny garden in the Spring, must have okra. Trying to find different types of onions also. Have a start of E. Walking onions. Looking forward to your news letter. I am Barbara O`Rourke, I live in Oklahoma. about forty five minutes from Tulsa. Barbara O`Rourke mailto:BarbaraAshORourke@msn.com ------------------------------------------------ Merry Christmas and Happy NEW YEAR. Subject: New Subscriber, Michigan, With Jamaica Cherry Question Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 22:51:47 -0500 (EST) From: John Wheeler I saw your web site and wanted to subscribe to your newsletter. My name is John Wheeler and I live in Wixom, MI. I am currently growing banana plants, citrus trees, a miracle fruit tree, and a guava tree. Next summer, I'm thinking of getting a Jamaica cherry tree (muntingia calabura) but was wondering how long they live. I've read conflicting information - one source says they don't live very long and another says they do. If you could clear the matter for me I would appreciate it. John Wheeler mailto:Selenite@webtv.net >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Readers Write<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Subject: Re: Israeli Pitaya Hybrid Information Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2001 09:09:59 -0800 From: Doron Kletter Hi Leo, Always glad to hear from you. Dr. Avinoam Nerd is with Ben Gurion University, which is located in the Negev area (the southern desert part of Israel). He works closely with Prof. Yossi Mizrahi, whom you may have met in one of his visits to the CRFG. The following excerpt is from the university newsletter: "Fruits from the desert sweeten life: Loaded with vitamins and minerals and elements that can prevent heart disease, BGU's Marula fruit could help fight hunger and save lives. The Marula is one of a number of wild fruits from around the world Professor Yossi Mizrahi and Dr. Avinoam Nerd of the Department of Life Sciences and the Institutes for Applied Research brought to Beer-Sheva. For more than 15 years, Mizrahi, Nerd and their team studied and developed these fruits, which today they raise in orchards that flourish in minimum amounts of saline water. They have also established similar orchards in African countries where the fruits provide desperately needed food and income. In Israel, the Marula and other exotic fruit provide farmers with a unique crop for export to the European market." More specific to your question (this one is from 1998): (note the Israeli market names of Eden and Koubo) | NEW ARID LAND FRUIT CROPS Yosef Mizrahi and Avinoam Nerd Ben | Gurion University of The Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer Sheva 84105, | Israel | | "The Israeli Negev Desert is the only place where further | agriculture industry can be developed. Due to market competition, | very high input prices, and scarcity of water, common crops cannot | serve as the future agricultural crops in Israeli. Thus, many wild | and rare fruit trees were introduced into various locations in the | Negev Desert, which are varied in their environmental conditions. | Among the introductions, two cacti have already made their way | into the European market. | | Two genera of climbing cacti from the tropical and subtropical | shady habitat were developed to grow either in greenhouses to | avoid subfreezing temperatures or under shade-houses to avoid | damaging photon flux densities. These cacti are Selenicereus | megalanthus, (known in Colombia as yellow pitaya) or Hylocereus | undatus, H. polyrhizus, and unidentified species H. sp. (known as | red pitayas). They were sold in local markets and in Europe for | the first time in 1996 and 1997. Total exported yields were 10 and | 25 tons in 1996 and 1997 respectively, with the highest prices | ever obtained from exported fruits in Israel. To enable efficient | production, studies of all aspects of horticulture including | irrigation and breeding are carried on at BGU. The Israeli name of | these fruits is EDEN fruits. | | Cereus peruvianus, a columnar, outdoor-grown cactus, went through | a similar domestication process. Its fruit was sold for the first | time in Europe in 1997 under the name Koubo. The farm-gate-price | of 7 US$/kg was far beyond any common fruit crop prices exported | from Israel. The names Koubu and Eden were given to avoid the use | of the name pitaya, which covers many species and genera. These | pitayas differ from each other like peach from apple and pear. | These new developments support the hypothesis that new crops can | serve as a remedy to the troubled Israeli export market and that a | viable agriculture industry is feasible under the harsh conditions | of the Negev Desert of Israel." See also: http://desertagriculture.org/index.html http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/01/18/News/News.1402.html http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/IALC/PF/ppfrt-s9.html http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-toc.html For direct contact, see: http://www.bgu.ac.il/IAR/NERD.htm I think you may want to use cuttings, as seed may not come true. Best Regards, and Happy Holidays, Doron mailto:kletter@impact.xerox.com P.S. Thank again for the Petrea volubilis plant (at least that's what I think it is) - it has recovered nicely, though hasn't flowered again. Subject: Israeli Pitaya Hybrid Information Sought Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2001 10:19:27 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: "Kletter (CA), Doron" |Hi Doron, | |I recently heard that someone in Israel has developed a hybrid |of Selenicereus Megalanthus and a Hylocereus species, |with very nice fruit. A name of Nerd was mentioned, if I |understood correctly. | |I would like to get seed from such a cross, if you have any |information about where to get it. | |Also seeds from other pitaya hybrids, especially any with |sweeter and colored flesh (other than white) and self fruitful |(that may be too much to expect, so self fruitful isn't |necessary.) | |I don't know if you have familiarity with Israeli pitaya, but |I thought just possibly you might. | |How have you been? | |Take care, | |Leo ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Hybrid of Selenicereus Megalanthus and Hylocereus spp. Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2001 15:30:29 +0530 From: Avinoam Nerd Dear Leo We have hybrids of Selenicereus megalanthus and Hylocereus polyrhizus. The plant and the fruit are the "average" of the parents - also the flowering time. Sincerely Avinoam (Bachur Kaerez) mailto:aavi@bgumail.bgu.ac.il ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Wolf Berry (fructus lycium) - Used Outside China? Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 19:00:46 -0800 From: "William Chow" Hi Leo, The wolf berry is identified with China just like the Ginkgo and bamboo. I don't know why the bamboo is oriental because it is native to so many places. The medical name for wolf berry is "fructus lycium". It looks a lot like a forsythia. It grows in a clump with 3 feet long whips arching in each direction. The flower is small and purple (like the society garlic). Each whip has 30 to 40 berries. The berries look like a miniture olive and is deep orange red. So the berries are very eye catching. The berries taste like carrots. It is mildly sweet and full of vitamin A and is very good for the eye. The reason is similar to the carrot. My father soak the berry in hot water and drink that like a tea. He had eye problem since 25 years ago. He drinks at least 2 pounds a week. I am not sure that has helped his eyes. But this is a very common herb and you can cook that in sweet soups. I picked the fresh berries and gave that to all the kids that visit me. Most people find it quite enjoyable. It is a lot easier to chew than a carrot. I found the wolf berry incredibly easy to propagate. Just cut the vines in 4 inch length and stick that in the soil. It seems to root by itself in less than 2 weeks. Almost 100% success with very little work. We also put the leaves in chicken soup and egg fuyung soup. This is not recommended for people who have not acquired the taste. The leaves are slightly bitter. I have a cookbook that shows this berry in a rice dish. Also great in soups with the jujube. I wonder if you can find any reference for this shrub in US literature. Do you grow a vegetable garden ? I think there is a good feel when I produce my own food. I like to go vegetarian. So tending a garden help me to connect to nature and to the cycle of life. If I have more time, I like to get one or 2 acres in coastal North County and really grow a lot of edible stuff. Cheers ! William mailto:wchow@znet.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Looking For These Passifloras: p. popenovii, .... Date: Mon, 27 Aug 1956 20:50:55 -0700 From: gilbert Leo and everyone Rare Fruit News Online - hello I am looking for several varieties of fruiting passion flower and have been unable to find plants or seeds. does anyone know a source for Passiflora Pinnatistipula, p.popenovii, p.rosea, and p.sclimiana?? Aaron Gilbert mailto:gilbertaa@earthlink.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Spondias cytherea L. = Golden Apple Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 06:56:09 -0800 From: Michael Zarky To: Shawn.Hannon@efi.com Shawn, it says on the page you linked to that it is Spondias cytherea L.; perhaps your eye skipped over it as mine did at first. Julia Morton says golden apple is one colloquial name of Ambarella but she says it is Spondias cytherea Sonn. So that is getting close... Michael Zarky mailto:mzarky@earthlink.net Moorpark, CA 93021 ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Care Regimen 4 Multi-Cultivar Grafted Trees Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 15:04:47 EST From: Ed To: Richard Hello Dick and Leo, In the last issue of RFN, Dick mentioned that he has a "tangelo that now boasts seven varieties and [he is] still working it." I also like to graft multiple cultivars onto one tree and have done so with citrus, atemoya and mango this past summer. I have grafted onto a navel seedling, two other cultivars of navel and 3 types of tangerine. My citrus trees are barely old enough to begin bearing so I hope you can give me some insight into a question I have. Since citrus varieties ripen over a wide span of time, what is the effect on a mother tree that has a number of rather different budwood? How is the fertilization and care regimen complicated by the fact that post-harvest fertilization for one cultivar is midbloom fertilization for another? Wouldn't that increase abscission? Does the yield suffer on a tree that is multi-cultivar grafted? Thank you for your comments. Ed mailto:Link2itc@aol.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Care regimen 4 multi-cultivar grafted trees Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 23:05:20 -0800 From: "Richard K. Gross" To: Ed It is my understanding, Ed, that a clone does not know it is on a different root stock and will be identical to the mother tree in every respect. The clone will, however, respond to stresses of one kind or another imposed upon the root stock in the same way it would have on the mother tree. The healthy root stock of a particular cocktail tree is capable of holding a fixed amount of fruit and I would guess the quantity it sheds naturally after fruit set would be about the same irrespective of the number of varieties grafted upon it. The amount of each reaching maturity would vary, I'm sure, with the extent of its foliage. A branch of pommelo would surely hold a lesser number of fruit than a tangerine branch of equal size. In Arizona, we fertilize routinely with equal amounts in March, June and September without regard to the variety. On the same root stock, a dozen varieties should respond individually to feeding the same as they would have on the mother tree. Now, I must dispute my own beliefs. A Washington naval and a tangerine grafted on my tangelo are presently blooming profusely. Neither of the mother trees 30+ years old have ever bloomed in December. Never! Some citrus varieties may, to some extent, all year but not these. I have no explanation. They do not appear to be setting any fruit but it is a little early to say for sure. Regards, Dick mailto:rkgross3@home.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Mathew Shugart's Mystery Fruit is "Capuacu" Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 12:45:57 -0800 From: Mike Hi Leo, I was looking thru the 12/14/01 edition of the rare fruit news online and saw the posting listed below from mathew Shugart regarding a Brazilian fruit that he had in a San Diego restaurant. The correct local name of the fruit is "capuacu", with the second "c" pronounced like an "s", and with the accent on the final syllable. This fruit has a very unique flavor, making a wonderfully exotic and different tasting juice. I have only come across it in the Brazilian state of "Para", although it probably occurs in some of the other northeastern Brazilian states. So far, I've had no luck germinating/growing it here in California. Mike mailto:mnm@tstonramp.com (909) 941 1060 Tropical Oasis Nursery Subject: What Is This Mystery Brazilian Fruit Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 18:09:49 -0800 From: Matthew Shugart | Dear Leo and RFNO readers: | | I was in a Brazilian restaurant earlier and had the juice of a | fruit with a Portuguese name something like Capuasso. The server | did not know the English (let alone the Latin) name, but she said | it was from northeastern Brazil. The juice was slightly tart and | almost white. Based on this limited information, can anyone | identify what it was? ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Mathew Shugart's Mystery Fruit is "Capuacu" Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 17:24:44 -0800 From: Matthew Shugart Hi Leo, I knew someone among your readers would know what that fruit was! Thanks for forwarding the messages. Matthew mailto:mshugart@ucsd.edu ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Information Wanted: "Vexator" and Miracle Fruit Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 19:37:57 -0800 From: Harve Stewart I have just returned from a working trip to Pearl Harbor and I ordered a "Vexator" from a certified (to ship to mainland) grower. It appears to be a fruiting tropical myrtle? Anyone have any more information? Is the "miracle fruit" hardly in San Diego zone 23- (edge of Montezuma Mesa with canyon to drain off cold air.) Cheers to all Harve Stewart mailto:sandiegodude@home.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: PawPaw in Southern California & Espalier Cherimoya? Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 09:12:53 -0800 From: Todd Abel Leo, I traded plants with a nice gentleman named William Chow from San Diego. His website on the net (geocities) is very good, complete with pics. I have told him about the rarefruit magazine and CRFG. His collection is very good with such as Longan and Rose Apple, in addition to being 100% organic. I gave him Pitahaya and he gave me a PawPaw and a Longan Seedlings. The PawPaw is about 2 ft high. I have never had the fruit, but I am intrigued as it is said to be a native American fruit. Will the Pawpaw survive the So Cal heat? Should I put it in full shade? Do you know of anyone growing the Pawpaw? What's you input on the Pawpaw and Socal. I will keep in a 7 gal container as long as possible, and keep you updated. On a side note. With the space almost but gone on my residential lot, I am thinking about an espalier of Cherimoya against a wall. The wall I am thinking of does not get the hot afternoon sun. Is that a good site. I have another Cherimoya in the ground in full sun, but the winds can get to it. Todd Abel mailto:tabel@statek.com Orange, CA 92867 ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Oro Mango Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 19:06:39 -0800 From: "Michael" To: "Paul Fisher" I was reading an old issue of fruit gardener (Jan 97) as was pretty impressed by the apparent vigor of the Oro Mango. Paul, I have heard you praise it tremendously and would like to raise some of her children and see how they did for me. Do you know where I could get about a half dozen of her seeds? Thanks Mike McCright mailto:mike-mccright@home.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Downtown San Diego - Where To Buy Sapote Fruit? Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 22:08:31 -0800 From: "Barbara DeWitt" Dear Leo, I have a friend that is 82 and all she talks about are Sapote's and how she wishes she could find one. I would be thrilled if I could give her a sapote. I do not have a yard as I live in downtown San Diego. I only wish to purchase the fruit for my friend. Please include me in your mailer. My address is 500 W. Harbor Dr. #1121 Dan Diego, CA 92101 I will be out of town until Jan. 1. Sincerely, Bsarbara De Witt mailto:barbarajdewitt@hotmail.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Can We Have A Message Board? Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 16:58:17 -0500 From: "Ronald Lyn" To: "Leo Manuel" Hi Leo, Merry Xmas from Jamaica. Lychees seem to be flowering well so far, hoping for good crop next year. ( If they don't steal half of them like this year) Leo I was wondering, have you ever thaught of hosting on your site a message board? Don't know just thought it would be great and also have quicker responses to questions. Thanks again and all the best. Ronald mailto:kanku@cwjamaica.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: message board? Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 18:34:45 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: Ronald Lyn Hi Ronald, I have no idea how to incorporate a message board on my webpage. Do you have any experience with that? I do try to circulate questions among those readers whom I know to have answers, so the questioner often have responses before the newsletter comes out. I wouldn't want to have to tinker with the webpage daily. Thanks for writing, and I'd like to see your lychees. Take care, Leo ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Stratification Information Sought From: Edward & Althia Musgrave Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2001 7:16 AM Hi Leo I need some information of stratification on Cornelious Cherries. I live in a warm climate but want to grow Cornelelious Cherrys . I have fresh seeds but they won't grow for me . Ed Musgrave mailto:eamusg@quixnet.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Growing Dates In Central Illinois - Information Sought Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2001 22:49:08 EST From: Chrisoyer@aol.com Hi, Found your website - we're looking for information on how best to plant and grow the seed/pit from large dates sent to us from California - they have no preservatives, and we would like to grow the plant. We don't necessarily care to get fruit from it. We live in Central Illinois. Can you give us any information? Thanks very much! mailto:Chrisoyer@aol.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Sapadilla Fruit ? Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2001 22:31:25 -0500 From: "Edward & Althia Musgrave" Hi I have a sapadilla fruit on my tree, but when is the fruit RIPE ! It bloomed in middle of summer grew to full size in late November it is now end of December. It has not changed any for over a month and I don't know when to pick it. No one in my area has any fruit. Does anyone know the answer to my dilema Ed mailto:eamusg@quixnet.net >>>> Mailbag of Sainarong Rasananda mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th <<<< Subject: Re: Fertilizer Requirements For Longan (And Other Fruit Trees) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 08:41:55 +0700 From: "Sainarong Siripen Rasananda" To: Mark Mark - So basically you just add what is needed at the time. Do you do a lot of foliar feeding or ground feeding? Sainarong - After trying out many methods, this is what I now do. I make sure that the physcical properties of my soil are good. The water retention properties are good, not too much not too little. The soil is not compact; I till my soil regularly. I water my soil regularly and sufficiently.I find this simple rule of prime importance. I try hard to make the environment microbe-friendly. Now on to the chemical properties: I check the amount of organic matter and the pH carefully, and try very hard and very carefully to bring these two to the desired levels. As for the various nutrients, I add either on a needed basis or if the soil does not have a sufficient amount. This sounds organic, doesn't it. I guess it does, but I did not start out this way, I started by using a lot of chemicals, but my search for a better long-term solution led me towards this path. I would say that I am semi-organic. Mark - I know your soil is different, we are a ph of around 8 on calcareous rock. The organic here aren't to good. I have friends that brought in better soil or added a lot of mulch and they seem to get away with less fertilizer. Their trees seem to take it up better. Sainarong - You and I appear to be on the same learning curve; We look at the successful orchards and try to figure out what they do which is important. Mark - Last year I started incorporating seaweed, fish and humus type of fertilizers in with my regular fertilizer. Iam hoping this will eventually improve my soil and overall condition of the tree. Sainarong - Cost is another factor I always need to bear in mind. Enjoy Yourselves! Sainarong mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Fertilizer - Just Before Blooming? Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2001 19:16:23 +0700 From: "Sainarong Siripen Rasananda" To: Mark Question Have you heard of using 10 - 52 - 8 foliar applied fertilizer to help things along just before blooming on Longan. If so do you think it would help or hurt using this after you have applied the potassium chlorate? Answer All of my horticultural, academic friends are adamnant that the fertilizer does not encourage flowering in fruit trees, not just longan. However, the particularfertilizer speeds up the maturation process of the new leaves and slows down the new flush, I seem to recall. So, under certain conditions, the fertilizer can indirectly promote blooming. If you apply potassium chlorate correctly, the afore-mentioned fertilizer should have no effect either way. Have Fun! Sainarong mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Announcements And Web Pages To Consider <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Subject: http://www.geocities.com/leo92129/ http://www.geocities.com/leo92129/ Mirror Site For Rarefruit.com but a bit more up-to-date. Home of Leo & Betty Manuel, And - Free Newsletter - Since 1996 Rare Fruit News Online! Back Issues Of Rare Fruit News Online ------------------------------------------------ Subject: SBLD - Fruits of Warm Climates-Free Online Version Of Great Book! Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 14:19:15 -0800 From: "Lon J. Rombough" Fruits of Warm Climates http://newcrop.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/ This site is an online version of the print text "Fruits of Warm Climates" -- an ethnobotanical classic from 1987 by Julia F. Morton. With over 120 species (and countless varieties) in 36 families, this presents a wealth of information about flowering plant fruit crops. Each species includes descriptions, origin & distribution, varieties, pollination, climate, soil, propagation, culture, yield, harvesting & ripening, keeping quality, pests & diseases, food uses, toxicity and other uses. This includes oranges, bananas, guava, dates, figs, other familiar fruits, and some fruits that may yet prove useful as new crops. An excellent fruit reference site by the Center for New Crops & Plant Products, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. (****) -S ======================================================================== *BOT-LINX Home Delivery sends you the Botanical Link-of-the-Day from Scott's Botanical Link site at URL: http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/bot-linx/ *To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit the listserv site at URL: http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/bot-linx/listserv.shtml or contact me by email: mailto:srussell@ou.edu Archived since 1996 at URL: http://lists.ou.edu/archives/botlinx.html ======================================================================== ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Permaculture Links - Plants For A Future http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pfaf/files/Links_4.html Botany, Database and Pictures Want to find out more about a particular plant, then have a look at the following links. On this page: Ethnobotany The study of the uses of plants world wide. Databases More information than you could possible dream of. Photos and pictures So what do all these wonderful plants look like? On other pages: Main Links Page Including: Permaculture, Sustainable Agriculture, Other Systems, Organics, General Gardening, Rare Plants/Heritage Seeds, Interesting Plants, Books Stores, Herbs and Medicinal Plants, Soaps, dyes and the uses of plants, Wild plants, Communities and Eco-villages, Vegan Stuff, Genetics, Green Building, Green and Environmental, Other interesting sites. News Groups and Mailing Lists One of the best ways for finding answers to specific queries is to ask others on the Internet, Theres a lot of knowledgeable people out there. Databases, Botany and Photos Various places where you can find more information about specific plants: Ethnobotany, Databases, Photos and pictures. UK Permaculture Organisations Offline Lots of addresses of useful UK groups. Suppliers Places world wide where you can find interesting plants ( [french] Fournisseurs de Plantes, Francais rather out of data). Other Links Other Links to non plant related sites, and reciprocal links. New Links Recient additions to the links page. Dr Dick's Home Page My own home page has links to UK eco-activist, Taoism, Tai-Chi and Feng-Shou and maths. And if you really want more links the Internet Directory for Botany has nearly 3000. The Internet mining company has two interesting and comprehensive sections: Botany and Herbs For Health. The AgriSurf! Agricultural Web Index looks promising, a searchable index to over 6000 agricultural sites. And if you can't find what your after try asking on one of the News Groups and Mailing Lists. ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Plants For A Future - 7000 useful plants http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/ Plants For A Future is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Charity No. 1057719, Company No. 3204567, Reg. office 131 Spencer Place, Leeds, LS7 4DU, England. There is also a workers co-op who carry out many of the day to day tasks. All the information on the web-site is Copyright (C) Plants For A Future, 1996-2000. Web-sites Theres now a confusing array of web sites for the project: * www.pfaf.org - Our own domain name. This just redirect to the Leeds sites below. * www.pfaf.org.uk - An alternative domain name. * www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/ - The actual site where the pages are hosted. * www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/ - An alias for comp.leeds.ac.uk. This used to be our main URL. * www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/ - The US mirror of the database. * www.permacult.com.au/pfaf.html - The Australian mirror of the database. When referring to the whole web-site you should use www.pfaf.org if you want to refer to particular page you need to use www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/ followed by the name of the page, for example www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/D_search.html is the main database search page. If pfaf.org sites wrap the whole site in a big frame and you don't get to see the full URL's for each page. If you want to see the full URL click on this link which remove the surrounding frame. The School of Computer Science at Leeds recently changed its name to School of Computing hence the change from scs.leeds to comp.leeds old urls referring to scs.leeds will still be valid but its better to use comp.leeds. ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Mycorrhiza (Ecto) Improves Mulberry Rooting Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2001 19:56:57 +0530 From: thehindu@admin.hinduonnet.com Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com) Novel approach to mulberry cultivation MULBERRY () is a woody tree. Mulberry leaf protein is the only source for silkworm to biosynthesise the silk, which is made up of two proteins namely fibroin and sericin. It has been cultivated widely in India for sericulture. Mulberry is cultivated in upland areas where water availability is less. Now a days drought and saline prone soils are also targeted for its cultivation. The success rate is very less due to poor rooting of the cuttings. This can be overcome by using ectomycorrhizal species at the nursery stage itself. Ectomycorrhizal species viz. and were used at the Entomology Research Institute (ERI) to study their efficacy on the nursery seedling and establishment. was found to be the best partner for mulberry in semi-arid conditions. The inoculated plant stand was good and proved to be beneficial. The saplings even produced axillary buds, more number of leaves, increased leaf length, and increased biomass, which are absent or less in control plants. The root length and root number also increased due to ectomycorrhizal activity. This increased production can be attributed to the capacity of the ectomycorrhiza to translocate the required nutrients and minerals from soil to the plants and to produce large amount of auxin and cytokinins. For inoculation, one gram of sorghum grain based inocula can be used per plastic bag/mulberry cutting. Application of up to 10 grams of rock phosphate/bag encourages the fungal establishment. Other fertiliser application can be deferred in the initial stages. This inoculation technology can be adopted in large-scale production of mulberry. K. Kathiravan, S. Seshadri & S. Ignacimuthu Copyrights: 1995 - 2001 The Hindu ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Avinoam Nerd Web Page - (Israeli Crop Researcher) http://www.bgu.ac.il/IAR/NERD.htm AVINOAM NERD Born October 1937, Haifa, Israel Address (home) Ofek 11/1, Arad 89048 Tel: 07- 9950392 Address (work) The Institutes for Applied Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel Tel: 07-6461966(930) FAX: 07-6472984 E-mail: aavi@bgumail.bgu.ac.il M.Sc. (Horticulture), Faculty of Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot. Ph.D., Department of Biology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Thesis: Effect of water regimes on water relations, growth and assimilate partitioning in jojoba(Simmondsia chinensis (Link) Schneider). Research grade A Fields of interest Development of new fruit and nut crops with emphasis on cacti, argan (argania spinosa) and marula (Sclerocarya caffra). Crop physiology. Achievements in Applied Research Selection of a jojoba clones outstanding for their high yield based on morphological principles. Development of an agrotechnique for the production of out-of-season prickly pear fruits, winter and spring. Development pitaya (cacti) cultivation in Israel. Recent publications Nerd, A., Eteshola, E., Borowy, N. and Mizrahi, Y. 1994. Growth and oil production of argan in the Negev desert of Israel. Ind. Crop. Prod. 2:89-95. Weiss, A., Nerd, A. and Mizrahi, Y. 1994. Pollination requirements of Cereus peruvianus cultivated in Israel. Israel J. Plant Sci. 42:149-158. Nerd, A. and Mizrahi, Y. 1994. Effect of nitrogen fertilization and organ removal on rebudding in Opuntia ficus indica (L.) Miller. Scientia Hort. 53:115-122. Weiss J., Nerd, A. and Mizrahi, Y. 1994. Flowering behavior and pollination requirements in climbing cacti with fruit crop potential. HortScience 29:1487-1492. Nerd, A., and Mizrahi,Y. 1995. The effect of low winter temperatures on bud break in Opuntia ficus indica. Adv. Hort. Sci. 9: 188-191. Nerd, A., and Nobel, P. S. 1995. Accumulation, partitioning, and assimilation of nitrate in Opuntia ficus indica. J. Plant Nutr. 18: 2533-2549. Nerd, A., Dumoutier, M. Mizrahi,Y. 1997. Properties and post harvest behavior of the vegetable cactus Nopalea cochenillifera. Postharvest Biol. and Tech. 10: 135-143. Nerd, A., V. Irijimovitch, V. and Mizrahi,Y. 1998. Phenology breeding system and fruit development of argan (Argania spinosa). Econ. Botany 51 (1). Chapters in collective volumes Nerd, A. and Mizrahi,Y. 1995. Reproductive biology of the cactus pear opuntia ficus indica.. p 67-77 In: G. Barbera. P. Inglese and E. Pimienta- Barrios (eds), Agroecology, Cultivation and Uses of Cactus pear Opuntia sp., FAO, Rome. Pasternak, D. and Nerd, A. 1995. Research and utilization of halophytes in Israel. p 325-348 In: R. Chouker -Allal (ed), Halophyte and Biosaline Agriculture, Marcell Decker, New york. Mizrahi, Y., Nerd, A. and Nobel, P. S. 1997. Cacti as crops. Hort. Rev. 18: 291-320. Nerd, A. and Mizrahi, Y. 1997. Reproductive biology of cactus fruit crops. Hort. Rev. 18: 321-346. Raveh, E., Nerd, A. and Mizrahi, Y. 1997. Responses of climbing cacti to different levels of shade and to carbon dioxide enrichment. Acta Hort. 434: 271-278. ------------------------------------------------ Subject: KYSU Pawpaw Home Page http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/ Kentucky State University Pawpaw Research Project Atwood Research Facility Frankfort, KY 40601 Table of Contents Pawpaw research at KYSU, KYSU annual report 2000, Pawpaw FAQ, Description of fruit, Pawpaw recipes, Nutritional information, Guide to growing, Cultivars, Where to buy, Photos, Audio & video, the PawPaw Foundation, Bibliography, Links to other pawpaw sites, Links to other horticultural and botanical sites, Report on the Pawpaw Regional Variety Trials, Pawpaw events Pawpaw song and dance Coming up: 2nd International Pawpaw Conference! Postdoctoral position available This site is a comprehensive source of information on Pawpaw (Asimina triloba), a temperate fruit that is native to North America. Pawpaw photograph by Scott Bauer. The development of this web site was supported by the 1890 Capacity Building Grants Program (award No. 95-38814-1721) of the United States Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. This page was updated February 26, 2001 Questions about pawpaws? Contact Dr. Kirk Pomper at: kpomper@dcr.net or telephone # 502-597-5942 To the KYSU Home Page Webmaster: snakej@mis.net >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< None this time >>>>>> NAFEX List See: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nafex <<<<<< None this time >>> Discussion list for New Crops <<< None this time >>> [rarefruit] List - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rarefruit <<< None this time >> Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars << http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. None this time >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>End of RFN2000201A.txt<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - January 15, 2002 - RFN200201B.txt Notes In Passing - Leo San Diego Area - Scion Exchange - Two In January North County Scion Exchange: Friday 1/18/02 - AND San Diego City Chapter Scion Exchange: Thursday 1/24/02 North County Chapter: Meetings are usually the 3rd Friday, 7 pm at Mira Costa College Hort. Bldg. 7A, One Barnard Dr., Oceanside (Park in Lot 3E-no permit required.) Officers and Contact Information for North County:: Sven Merton, Chair 714.531.9404 scoutdog@pacbell.net Sally Sanderson, Treasurer 760.749.6995 vcwillow@cs.com Dan Kinnard, Secretary/Newsletter Editor 760.414.9636 dkinnard@exo.com San Diego City Chapter of CRFG: Meetings: (7pm) 4th Thursday of the month (3rd Thursday during Nov. & Dec.); Casa del Prado (Rm.101), Balboa Park. Chair: Bill Burson mailto:bill.burson@crfgsandiego.org Newsletter Editor: Michael McCright mailto:mike-mccright@home.com> Mike Davis, Treasurer (619) 286-7520 See http://www.crfgsandiego.org/ ------------------------------------------------ New Web page for Ong Nursery: http://www.geocities.com/quangong2/ It shows address, telephone, email address, and hours for the ONG Rare Plant Nursery, in San Diego. Later it will show names of plants being carried, but you will always be more aware of what Quang Ong carries if you visit his nursery on weekends (as he has a full-time job during the week.) Beautiful Book With Great Pictures - And Priced Accordingly Five Decades With Tropical Fruit- A Personal Journey by William F. Whitman Published by Quisqualis Books in cooperation with Fairchild Tropical Garden Printed by Southeastern Printing Company Stuart, Florida, U.S.A. 476 pages with many pictures in full color. ------------------------------------------------ Regal Plastics For Twin-Wall Polycarbonate Regal Plastics 8651 Production Avenue, San Diego 92121 (Near Miramar Road) 858 549-5150 has 6mm 4' x 8' sheets for $54 per sheet or $58.05 with tax. (Where I got my hotbed skin.) ------------------------------------------------ Epiphyllum Pollen (Sometimes, At Least) Works For Hylocereus spp Jack Skeels, of the San Diego area, had blossoms on a Hylocereus undatus. He tried pollen from an epiphyllum (wish I knew its name) and ate the white fleshed fruit a few days ago. A bit later, his Hylocereus polyrhizus bloomed, and lacking any other source, again used pollen from the same epiphyllum, and just yesterday (1/12/2002) I saw the fruit, ate some, and, of course, saved seed. The epiphyllum has long paper-thin 'leaves' that are 2-3 inches wide. The epiphyllum has respectable fruit, white flesh somewhat transluscent, length about 3 inches, and diameter in middle about 1.5 inches. I have rooted cuttings of it. >>>> New Subscribers <<<< New Subscriber, San Diego, Look At His Web Pages! "William Chow" New Subscriber, Arizona - What A Plant List! Chris Marshall New Subscriber, Australia Has Pitaya Questions Graeme Orr RE: New Subscriber, Australia Has Pitaya Questions Sven Merten To: Graeme Orr >> Readers Write << What Is This Fruit Tree - And How Do I Care For It? "Jack" Re: Rare Fruit News Online - January 1, 2002 - 5 Trudy Eagan Re: Growing Dates In Central Illinois "Leo A. Martin" To: Chrisoyer@aol.com Pawpaw "Amy of Marvelous Gardens" To: Todd Abel pawpaw Michael Zarky To: Todd Abel RE: Sapadilla Fruit ? Sven Merten To: Ed Musgrave Sapodilla ripeness Ed Lin To: Edward RE: PawPaw in Southern California & Espalier Cherimoya? Sven Merten To: Todd Abel Re: Passiflora Gilbert RE: pitaya Sven Merten To: Pitahaya Cold Tolerance? "McCright, Michael CWO" Dragon Fruit book John Picone Re: Dragon Fruit book Leo Manuel Cedar Toxicity, Mychorrhizal Treatments - Questions WAYNE COUGLE RE: Pitahaya "McCright, Michael CWO" Passiflora in Arizona "Holzinger, Bob" RE: Passiflora in Arizona "McCright, Michael CWO" To: Bob Holzinger Re: FWD: Pitahaya - Which Ones Tolerate How Much Frost? Sven Merten To: Mike My Experience With Paw Paw To: Todd Blue Fan Palm Seeds-Will Trade For Polytail or Sago Palm Seeds "William Chow" Successfully Bringing Seeds Through Airports Todd Abel Re: Successfully Bringing Seeds Through Airports Sven Merten To: Todd Abel Re: Wanted Seeds Of Hylocereus spp. Sven Merten Importing Israeli Fruit Trees Question Joel Moskowitz To: Jose RE: Importing Israeli Fruit Trees Question "Jose Miguel Gallego" To: Joel Moskowitz Vexator To: Harvey Capuasu To: Matthew Avocados dropping early "Niki Wessels" Kokum Fruit - In "Little India" Grocery Michael Zarky Weeping Santa Rosa Have Same Pollinating Skills As Non-Weeping? "MIZE, KURT (PB)" RE: Weeping Santa Rosa Have Same Pollinating Skills As Non-Weeping? Leo Manuel To: "MIZE, KURT (PB)" >>>> Mailbag of Sainarong Rasananda mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th <<<< None, this time >>>> Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider <<<< Dragon fruit, Pitaya, Hylocereus Undatus, Pitahaya, night-blooming Cereus http://www.geocities.com/wenjin92014/foto2001/dragon.htm ----- Pitaya Discussion Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PitayaFruit/ ----- Article sent from The Hindu Recommended by Ray Gerlach ( bananarayis@home.com ) ----- Marula (Sclerocarya birrea subsp. Caffra) as a New Crop for the Negev Desert of Israel http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-496.html ----- Marula - Uses http://www.knet.co.za/herbs/marula.htm ----- http://barkingfrogspc.tripod.com/frames.html Permacltur@aol.com >>>> Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) <<<< None, this time >>>> NAFEX List <<<< None, this time >>>> From NEWCROPS List mailto:newcrops@purdue.edu <<<< None, this time >>>> From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@yahoogroups.com <<<< None, this time >> Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars>news@arsgrin.gov << http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm Better Mosquito, Tick Repellents in the Wind? "ARS News Service" Judy McBride New Nest Egg: Poultry Litter Ash as a Fertilizer "ARS News Service" Lupe Chavez >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> New Subscribers <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Subject: New Subscriber, San Diego, Look At His Web Pages! Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 21:24:09 -0800 From: "William Chow" Hi Leo, I am someone who has an interest in photography. I like to photograph bountiful crops on nice fruit trees. [Leo, you can use the webpage with your Cherimoya yard photo, http://www.geocities.com/wenjin92014/foto2001/Leo12-01.htm] I am willing to help people with webpages if I have time. I sell a few things and buy a few things on eBay. These days I am just overwhelmed with my new job and with a 9 month old baby. I plant trees at my father's house and my sister's house in Irvine. I like to get everyone to have a food supply in their own backyard. I am constantly passing out trees to my friends at work and to my wife's office friends. I used to grow apples and pears in Illinois. These days, I am growing rare fruits because I can buy fresh apples and oranges cheaper. The backyard is too small for me. When I retire, I will get a big backyard to grow as many tree as I can handle. I am with the Pacific Beach Community Garden. I enjoy trading seeds and trees. Cheers ! William mailto:wchow@znet.com http://www.geocities.com/wenjin92014/foto2001/ToddAbel.htm http://www.geocities.com/wenjin92014/foto2001/dragon.htm http://www.geocities.com/wenjin92014/gardeng/gardeng.htm http://www.geocities.com/wenjin92014/gardeng/jungle.htm http://www.znet.com/~wchow http://www.geocities.com/williamwchow/botany/fruit.htm ------------------------------------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, Arizona - What A Plant List! Date: Fri, 04 Jan 2002 15:19:26 +0000 From: Chris Marshall Dear Leo, I would like to subscribe to your newsletter on rare fruits. I was referred to you by the Snows whom I met through family in Tucson. I am a member of CRFG and have about a hundred fruiting plants as well as many other exotics. Looking forward to future issues, [Chris, I get fruit from my Passiflora vitafolia when I use pollen from almost any other Passiflora, but I hand pollinate. -Leo Manuel] Here's my plant list (16K): [Too long to include in this overly-lengthy newsletter. I'll email it to anyone who asks, or write to Chris. It's an impressive list! -Leo Manuel] Chris Marshall, Tucson, AZ mailto:christopher.marshall@att.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, Australia Has Pitaya Questions Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 19:07:11 +1000 From: Graeme Orr Hi My name's Graeme. We live in Brisbane, Australia. Just a small yard, but we put in a Pitomba a few years back, and some Pitaya recently. We're also growing a pair of pawpaws/papaya (though they are very common in these latititudes) and gooseberries (more common in the higher country west of here). Any information about Pitaya? I was told the fruit would be like small, furry pineapples (in appearance). It's obviously a succulent, but the tropical nursery had it in the same moist environment as all the other plants. Does it like certain soils/waterings? It is shooting up, with a second, thin and seemingly unstable shoot, vertically off the one central 'trunk' - should it be tethered? It's 1.2m high now after a very short time! Graeme Orr mailto:g.orr@mailbox.gu.edu.au ------------------------------------------------ Subject: RE: New Subscriber, Australia Has Pitaya Questions Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 07:34:33 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: Graeme Orr Graeme, From your description, "small, furry pineapples" I am assuming you have a yellow pitaya (Selenicereus megalanthus) and not the more common (at least here) Hylocereus undatus. The yellow pitaya are more frost sensitive and seem to be a little more prone to rotting out during wet winters. You want to use a soil that drains well. A sandy soil seems to work the best as they don't seem to do as well in looser potting soils. Even though they need good drainage they still like a lot of water. They are an under story plant from the rain forest, so they do like water and definitely need more than a desert type of cactus. It is a good idea to give them some kind of support. They will climb up trees or walls, or you can grow them on a trellis. One other thing to mention they do not like full sun. I grow mine under 30% shade cloth. The yellow pitaya seem to be especially sensitive to full sun. I hope this has helped. Regards, Sven [Some growers recommend cutting off all side shoots lower than whatever level you want them to fruit. This supposedly will cause them to bear sooner and the plant growth may be more manageable. Of course, you can root any shoots you cut off. -Leo Manuel] >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Readers Write<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Subject: What Is This Fruit Tree - And How Do I Care For It? Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2001 17:20:31 -0700 From: "Jack" Hello I am trying to find out some information on a fruit tree that A fellow planted in our back yard it is a cross tasting fruit (between a pineapple and a guava) it came from Brazil if you have any information on such a tree that would tell me how much water it sould get and a good ferrite. Last year we had blossoms and fruit this year we got small flowers and no fruit. Please advise of anything which would help me get this tree growing right to producing fruit. Thanks a lot, Jack Tessier mailto:jacktessier44@hotmail.com Westlake Village Ca. 91361 ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Rare Fruit News Online - January 1, 2002 - 5 Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2001 18:45:23 -0500 (EST) From: Trudy Eagan Just a note concerning trees blooming/fruiting out of season. It's been a very strange year. I have plums ripening in Dec. About 6 months off! No chill needed obviously for that Aug bloom. At present I have a peach with small peaches and buds about to burst into bloom. Again no chill needed and months off. We did have some cool weather in Oct. though. More cool now. Also have bloom on some citrus, at least a month early and orchid trees and tabebuias are blooming weeks early. This is in Florida. I think the note in this newsletter regarded early bloom on citrus in California. It appears to be a widespread phenomenon then. Trudy mailto:trudye@webtv.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Growing Dates In Central Illinois Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2001 18:55:12 -0500 From: "Leo A. Martin" To: Chrisoyer@aol.com Hello, On Sun, 23 Dec 2001 Chrisoyer@aol.com wrote | we're looking for information on how best to | plant and grow the seed/pit from large dates | sent to us from California - they have no | preservatives, and we would like to grow | the plant. We don't necessarily care to get | fruit from it. We live in Central Illinois. Date palms are very easy to sprout if you can provide enough heat. Dates are the fruit of a palm tree, Phoenix dactylifera. The mature tree has feather type leaves, with a central leaf stalk and leaflets coming off the sides (pinnate) as opposed to fan palm leaves (palmate.) Genus Phoenix can be identified by the leaflets held in a V from the central stalk, with each leaflet folded down the center and also held in a V. The palm is thought native to desert oases in the India through Middle East area. It loves extreme summer heat (as hot as it ever gets in any desert.) It will tolerate night frosts down to near zero Fahrenheit so long as the temperature gets above freezing the next day. Dates will not survive a typical Midwestern winter, however. Dates need lots of water during warm weather. Remember they grow right next to the water in oases. They will survive underwatering but will not grow. They also enjoy lots and lots of fertilizer during active growth. Date palms are highly susceptible to fungal rots in areas with high summer humidity. They are only cropped regularly in areas of the US with high summer heat and low humidity--Arizona and eastern California. They survive and grow in other areas with low summer humidity like southern California but don't do well in the South. The seeds sprout well in hot weather. I wouldn't try now unless you can give new seedlings the equivalent of full sun all day and temperatures around 80 degrees or higher. Wait until next summer. The seeds are good for several years. If you can't give the seeds temperatures of at least 80 degrees round the clock you will get very poor germination rates. To sprout the seeds, first soak them in a 10% bleach solution for an hour to kill fungus spores on the surface. Then soak them in plain water for a week, changing the water and rinsing well daily. Some may start to sprout. Then put them into a jar with a tightly sealed lid or into a ziplock baggie, together with a little damp sphagnum moss, peat moss, coconut fiber (coir), vermiculite, perlite, or pumice, depending on what you have at hand. It needs to be damp but not dripping so fungus will not become established. That said, even when the inside of the bag molds, the date sprouts are not affected. I have also sprouted them by leaving them in a glass of water kept over 85 degrees (Phoenix in the summer.) I changed the water daily. Almost all the seeds sprouted. If you have a warm aquarium you could float a sealed baggie or jar with seeds, water, and air in it. But remember to change the water daily or it will become very smelly. (I found this out.) Keep the jar or baggie in a hot place, the hotter the better so long as they don't cook. 90 degrees or above is best. I don't think on top of a hot water heater is hot enough. I just leave them outside when the weather is hot here in Phoenix. In Illinois you might put them in a box with a light bulb, or in a sunny window, or keep the baggie on your dashboard. If you can keep a pot hot enough, you can also put the seeds straight into a sprouting pot with soil from outside after the initial week's soak. But you have to keep the pot, soil and all, at least 90 Fahrenheit round the clock. It takes about 4-6 weeks for the seeds to sprout after putting them into heat and moisture. They will start to sprout from the middle of the long seed. You can expect almost every seed to sprout with proper heat and moisture. A small white shoot will emerge. When the shoots are about 1/2 inch long, carefully transplant to a community pot. Keep the soil moist and keep the pot hot. When the shoots emerge they will require full sun all day. Keep them well-watered and they will grow. The growing season is short in Illinois for palms, but you will have a nice potted outdoor palm. In the winter, move the plants to the warmest, sunniest window you have, and water just enough to keep from drying up completely. You don't want them growing during the cold, dark winter or the shoots will become elongated, pale, and unhealthy. When they get bigger, be careful of the sharp lower leaflets. They are like ice picks or daggers. Those who grow the trees for fruit cut off these sharp lower leaflets whenever working up in the trees so as not to lose an eye or have one run through a hand or arm. You won't get any fruit unless you have a large greenhouse. Even then, one of each sex is needed. Dates, like many palms, are half male and half female from seed. You can't tell which is which until they flower. Here in the US hand pollination is needed to ensure good fruit set. I can just reach the flowers of my largest palm while standing on an 18 foot ladder, holding a 6 foot broomstick with a long feather duster tied to the end. The neighbors think I'm strange. Leo Martin -- mailto:leo1010@attglobal.net Phoenix, Arizona, USA Like cactus and succulents? Central Arizona Cactus and Succulent Society http://www.centralarizonacactus.org ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Pawpaw Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2001 19:56:50 -0800 From: "Amy of Marvelous Gardens" To: Todd Abel Todd, I've read that you need 2 pawpaws for cross pollination to bear fruit. As for climate here in So. Calif., you would be thinking of getting enough chill for it. Climate The pawpaw is a tree of temperate humid growing zones, requiring warm to hot summers, mild to cold winters, and a minimum of 32 inches (81 cm) of rainfall spread rather evenly throughout the year, with the majority falling in spring and summer. It can be grown successfully in USDA plant hardiness zones 5 (-15o F/-26o C) through 8 (15o F/-9o C). Pawpaws grow wild over a wide range of latitude, from the Gulf Coastal plain to southern Michigan. However, the trees may not receive adequate chilling hours if planted too close to the Gulf Coast. Most named cultivars originated in the Midwest, which is the northern portion of the pawpaw's range. A national regional variety trial is underway to determine which varieties perform best in different parts of the country, and results should become available in the next several years. In the meantime, for best results, choose cultivars that were selected in a climatic zone and latitude similar to the area where they will be planted. Site, soils, and habitat Although the pawpaw is capable of fruiting in the shade, optimum yields are obtained in open exposure, with some protection from wind (on account of the large leaves). Germinating seedlings, however, will not survive under those conditions because they are extremely sensitive to full sunlight, which can kill them. (Containerized seedlings may be grown without shade in a greenhouse.) Shading for the first year, and sometimes the second, is normally required outside, and it is for this reason that pawpaws are almost always found in nature as an understory tree. The soil should be slightly acid (pH 5.5-7), deep, fertile, and well-drained. Good drainage is essential to success. Pawpaws will not thrive in heavy soil or waterlogged soil. In habit it is a small tree, seldom taller than 25 feet. Grown in full sun, the pawpaw tree develops a narrowly pyramidal shape with dense, drooping foliage down to the ground level. In the shade it has a more open branching habit with few lower limbs and horizontally held leaves. Pollination can be a limiting factor in pawpaw fruit set. The flowers are protogynous, meaning that the stigma (the female receptive organ) ripens before the pollen, and is no longer receptive when the pollen is shed. Thus the flower is designed not to be self-pollinated. In addition, pawpaw trees are self-incompatible, usually requiring pollen from a genetically different tree in order to be fertilized. Finally, the natural pollinators of the pawpaw--various species of flies and beetles--are not efficient or dependable. Although it requires a little extra labor, hand pollination to ensure fruit set can be well worth the effort and can be done as follows: Using a small, flexible artist's brush, transfer a quantity of fresh pollen from the anthers of the flower of one clone to the ripe stigma of the flower of another clone. There is more at http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/ Amy mailto:marvelousgardens@mediaone.net http://people.we.mediaone.net/marvelousgardens ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Paw-Paw Date: Tue, 01 Jan 2002 06:36:54 -0800 From: Michael Zarky To: Todd Abel Hi Todd, I've had some success, some failure with pawpaw. When it is young you are suggested to give it shade - for a few years I put a large tomato cage around, and draped shade cloth. In the wild they come up as an understory tree. But they are said to fruit better in sun so the artificial shade is a good approach. I can't think that the summer heat is much of a problem - SE USA is equally hot, although it is generally much more humid. Mostly you need cross-pollination, so if you are strapped for space get some other cultivar and graft so you have multiple varieties on your tree. Maybe ask at the next CRFG meeting in your area, which is usually a scion-wood exchange. Pawpaws like acid soil (which means they are not too happy here in Ventura County with our alkaline water) and even moisture - mulch would help. Authors are pretty vague on the amount of chill needed, so you will just have to wait and see, but it isn't impossible. Michael Zarky mailto:mzarky@earthlink.net Moorpark, CA 93021 USA ------------------------------------------------ Subject: RE: Sapadilla Fruit ? Date: Tue, 01 Jan 2002 08:49:35 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: Ed Musgrave Hi Ed, I had one on my tree last year and I didn't pick it until it got soft. I actually forgot about it and it was so soft I thought it was rotten, but it was absolutely wonderful. Apparently you can scrape off some of the brown and if the skin underneath has turned from green to a yellowish color they are mature and you can pick them and they will ripen. What variety(s) do you have and where are you growing them? I've got about 7 varieties and about 70 trees that I will plant and see if I can get them to produce enough to sell. Most of my trees are pretty small. Regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@postoffice.pacbell.net "Edward & Althia Musgrave" wrote: | Hi | | I have a sapadilla fruit on my tree, but when is the fruit RIPE ! | It bloomed in middle of summer grew to full size in late November | it is now end of December. It has not changed any for over a | month and I don't know when to pick it. No one in my area has any | fruit. Does anyone know the answer to my dilema | | Ed mailto:eamusg@quixnet.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Sapodilla ripeness Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002 23:54:58 EST From: Ed Lin To: Edward Hi Ed, I have occasionally seen Sapodilla fruit on my alano tree take as long as 7 to 10 months to ripen. Stresses to the tree and anatomical defect (such as premature calyx separation -- partial separation of the fruit from its stalk) are often the underlying cause of the delayed ripening. A tip-off would be wrinkling of the surface of the fruit while it is still on the tree; if you see this, chances are it will drop off prematurely and soon. Once you get acquainted with your particular cultivar, you'll know by looking at the size when the fruit has attained maturity. In general however, it is unlikely the fruit is ready unless it has reached AT LEAST hen-egg size (and more likely two to three times that size). To check a sapodilla for ripeness, use your fingernail to scratch off a thin short strip of the brown fuzzy coat. If the color below is green, the fruit is not ready. If it is tan or light brown, it is mature enough to ripen off the tree. Bury the fruit in uncooked rice or place in paper bag for 2 to 4 days until it yields to pressure (like ripe peach) and it's ready to eat. Ed Lin mailto:Link2itc@aol.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: RE: PawPaw in Southern California & Espalier Cherimoya? Date: Tue, 01 Jan 2002 09:06:58 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: tabel@statek.com Hi Todd, Seedling pawpaws have done quite well for me here in full sun. A lot of people say they need partial shade when young, but I haven't had a problem. I suspect they just sunburn very easily, so they are hard to move from shade to full sun. Don't let them run out of water as that can also cause sunburn. My largest is about 7 foot. It has been blooming for several years, but no fruit yet since I haven't had a second tree to pollinate it. Next spring my second largest tree should bloom a lot so I may finally get fruit. There is an older tree at the Fullerton Arboretum that produces every year. Up until about a year ago my trees were in pots in Fountain Valley (near Hutington Beach) and now they are in the ground in Rainbow (near Fallbrook). I have some grafted trees, but they seem much less hardy and grow very slowly. If I can get some bud wood I will try grafting some named varieties onto my larger seedlings. I have seen one espaliered cherimoya at Ong Nursery in San Diego. It looked like it was working very well. Just an opinion, but I would think the cherimoya would do all right without the hot afternoon sun, but the only trees I have seen are in full sun. Regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Passiflora Date: Tue, 01 Jan 2002 19:36:02 -0800 From: Gilbert To: Edmond Lanclos Web Pages Recommended To Edmond Lanclos By Gilbert http://patula.ciat.cgiar.org/ipgri/fruits_from_americas/frutales/species%20Passiflora.htm http://patula.ciat.cgiar.org/ipgri/fruits_from_americas/frutales/intro%20Passiflora.htm ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Marula fruit From: "Niki Wessels" Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2002 21:50:09 +0200 Hi Leo I found Doron Kletter's news about the work done by Prof. Mizrahi and Dr Nerd in Israel very interesting - especially as far as marula is concerned. It is good to know that someone is working on this fruit, which is native to South Africa and some other African countries. I wondered how many readers of the newsletter have ever heard of the marula? The marula (Sclerocarya birrea) is a deciduous tropical to sub-tropical forest tree of the mango family, Anacardiaceae. The round fruit is yellow-skinned with white, translucent pulp and a large stone. It is juicy and wonderfully refreshing, both sweet and sour, with a taste all its own. The stone contains two delicious edible seeds, rather like soft almonds. The most important commercial use is in a popular local cream liqueur called Amarula, but the flesh is also eaten raw, used to brew an African beer, or made into jam or jelly. The nuts are eaten, and the bark yields anti-diarheal medicine, antihistamines and a brown dye. The wood is also useful. Trees tend to be extremely prolific. Unfortunately there are drawbacks: Like several of Africa's most promising fruit trees this species is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate trees. Add to that the fact that a plant may take years to reach fruit-bearing age, and breeding it becomes a somewhat less attractive prospect. In addition, the pulp is a thin layer compared with the stone, and the nuts are rather difficult to remove. For these and other reasons marulas are seldom seen in stores, though bags are often sold by roadside vendors in January and February. It would be very interesting to see how far the breeders in Israel have progressed in overcoming these problems, as I would love to sink my teeth into a marula that is as delicious as the wild fruit, but more user-friendly! Cheers Niki Wessels mailto:mynah@cis.co.za ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Israeli pitaya's Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2002 09:57:36 EST From: CrisLWest@aol.com Good Morning Leo, For more info on the hybrid pitayas you were asking Doron about you may want to contact: American Associates Ben-Gurion University of the Negev 9911 W. Pico Blvd. Suite 170 Los Angeles, CA 90035 800-222-4839 www.aabgu.org Have a great day! Cris mailto:CrisLWest@aol.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: RE: pitaya Date: Wed, 02 Jan 2002 07:25:42 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: Anees Dear Anees, Leo forwarded your letter to me. I've been growing pitaya for about 3 years now, but I know several people here in California that have been cultivating them for at least 10 years. I've heard of people using them for juice and in ice cream and I've also heard that some people eat the flowers as a vegetable. The largest grower of pitaya is Vietnam where they call it Dragon Fruit. Israel also has started producing them commercially for export to Europe. There are only a few of us here in California that are planting them on a commercial scale, most are grown by hobbyists. I do believe this will be an easy fruit to market especially in Asian communities where they are familiar with the fruit. They are very attractive and the better varieties are very good to eat. There are two main "types" of pitaya. The most common is just called pitaya or dragon fruit and comes from plants in the Hylocereus genus, with Hylocereus undatus being the most common. They are red or pink skinned with white to deep red flesh depending on the species. The other type is called the yellow pitaya from Selenicereus megalanthus. This plant is less common. The fruit is yellow skinned with white flesh. It is more frost sensitive so harder to grow and fruit. I hope this answered some of your questions. Best regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net | Hi | | My name is Anees, and I wanted to know more about pitaya: | | * How long have you been producing this product? | * What other uses of the product except eating it? (Juice, etc.) | * Are you the only country that produce this product? | * Do you think that the product have good potential? | * How many kinds there are for the pitaya? and what is the most | popular? | | Anees mailto:aies32@ardom.ardom.co.il ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Pitahaya Cold Tolerance? Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2002 13:16:32 -0800 From: "McCright, Michael CWO" Hi Leo, just a quick question, will Pitahaya take some frost? If so, do you know how much? Mike mailto:MMcCright@d11.uscg.mil ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Dragon Fruit book Date: Fri, 04 Jan 2002 14:37:31 +1000 From: John Picone Dear Leo, My name is John Picone & i live in Far northern New South Wales, Australia. I have been growing the Red Fleshed Dragon Fuit commercially since 1999 in our sub-tropical climate. October last year (2001) I was able to acquire plants from Vietnam of the White Fleshed Dragon fruit through quarantine, I wont know if I got the right one till I have fruit. Here's hoping. I would like to purchase the book Pitahaya - a promising new fruit crop. Could you please tell me the cost & the best way to go about it e.g. send you a money order ? Look to your reply. Yours sincerely, John Picone mailto:picone@spot.com.au ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Dragon Fruit book Date: Fri, 04 Jan 2002 05:32:50 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: John Hi John, I have not shipped any books to anyone, and have no idea what's involved, but I have a suggestion: Send me $12 US and I will send a copy of the book on a CD as it was printed, and you can print it there. If you don't have a printer for it, there should be places that can do it for you. I can include some pictures and other information as to sources of information. I will take $10 of your $12 and give it to Paul Thomson who wrote the book, but who is too infirm to drive to the post office. The only copies I have sold, so far, have been to people in San Diego. Leo ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Cedar Toxicity, Mychorrhizal Treatments - Questions Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 06:11:52 -0800 (PST) From: WAYNE COUGLE Leo: I have access to "roadside cleanup" mulch comprised of leaves and wood. It also contains some cedar wood. Would the cedar be harmful to citrus, guava, or blueberry? Also, does anyone have any knowledge of mycorrhizal treatments for highbush blueberries? availability etc? I am in central Florida. Thanks much, Wayne Cougle mailto:wayle45@yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: RE: Pitahaya Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 06:45:30 -0800 From: "McCright, Michael CWO" I was wondering if they would grow under shade cloth in the desert in Arizona, Where I was thinking usually hit upper 20's most years and has a lower limit of about 22 degrees. It is usually sunny and warm in the day, even in winter (hot in the summer) but gets cold at night. On a different note, I was at your house about a year and a half a couple of years ago and a guy had a slide show of his trip to Hawaii, I recall that he mentioned that he had a passion for passion flowers. Do you know his name and number? I have a friend who also is very interested in passion flowers/fruits and would like to mee him and share plant material. Thanks Mike mailto:MMcCright@d11.uscg.mil ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Passiflora in Arizona Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 13:50:14 -0800 From: "Holzinger, Bob" To: Mike McCright Hello Mike, I assume you are interested in growing the fruiting passifloras in Arizona. If you consistently get lows in the 20's in winter, then your chances of keeping them alive are slim. If you want to just grow some for the flowers, then there are a few that will survive that climate. But an equal challenge will be keeping the plants happy in the summer because it's so dry in Arizona. As to the speaker at Leo's, that was me. If you have a friend who wants to contact me, just have him drop me a line at bholzing@amgen.com. If I can't help him with his questions, I'm sure I know someone who can. Regards, Bob Holzinger mailto:bholzing@amgen.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: RE: Passiflora in Arizona Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 14:34:22 -0800 From: "McCright, Michael CWO" To: Holzinger, Bob I'm not interested in Passifloras in AZ, but I have a friend, Isis Meade, who works at Exotica Nursery in Vista. She expressed interest in getting some passiflora plant material, and I thought of you. I remember that you grew many varieties, and as I recall were looking for places to grow even more. Mike mailto:MMcCright@d11.uscg.mil ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: FWD: Pitahaya - Which Ones Tolerate How Much Frost? Date: Sat, 05 Jan 2002 07:06:27 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: Mike Hi Mike, The quotes below are from Paul Tompsons book on pitaya. "Do not plant where temperatures will drop below 28 degrees." "a low of 28 degrees for even a short time may seriously damage or possibly kill a weakened plant." It got down to 29 degrees (measured at ground level, not the standard 3 meters) on my property last winter and I had a small amount of damage on most of my plants, and only one variety (species) was killed. I grow mine under 30% shade cloth which gives some protection. So to answer your question, yes they can take a little frost. Best regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: My Experience With Paw Paw Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002 23:54:56 EST From: Ed Lin To: Todd Hello Todd, When I lived in Ohio, I planted two paw paw trees which bore about a dozen fruits each, after about 3 to 5 years, when the trees were barely 5 feet tall. It has elongated glossy tropical-looking leaves but thrived in spite of the harsh Ohio winters. The paw paw is also known as Nebraska banana. The ovoid fruits range in size from 3 to 5 inches in length. The flesh is yellow and creamy with a sweet custard like taste, and a good number of shiny black seeds comparable in size and appearance to custard apple seeds. Your paw paws should grow fine in San Diego but I don't know if it needs chill hours to fruit. As for the longan seedling, you'll probably want to get it grafted. It may take many years for a longan seedling to bear fruit. I have grafted longans using the same technique (wedge graft) for grafting mangos and the results were good. Ed Lin mailto:Link2itc@aol.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Blue Fan Palm Seeds-Will Trade For Polytail or Sago Palm Seeds Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 18:21:49 -0800 From: "William Chow" Hi Leo, I collected some seeds from Mexican Blue Fan Palm. I wonder if anyone wants to trade that for Ponytail palm or sago palm seeds. Can you post that in your newsletter? Cheers ! William mailto:wchow@znet.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Successfully Bringing Seeds Through Airports Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2002 12:23:50 -0800 From: Todd Abel Leo, What is the procedure for taking seeds on the plane from somewhere like Philliphines? Do you have to declare them when back in US? Do they have to be cleaned and sterilized? Todd Abel mailto:tabel@statek.com Orange, CA 92867 ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Successfully Bringing Seeds Through Airports Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 06:45:25 -0800 From: Sven Merten To: Todd Abel Hi Todd (and Leo), The seeds do have to be cleaned of all flesh, but not sterilized. You do have to declare them, if you don't and they find them I believe you can get some steep fines. Certain seeds are not allowed in no matter what, such as citrus and avocado seeds. To bring anything back you need an import permit which is fairly easy to get, but you have to list everything you will be bringing back before you leave. I've been told it can be a real pain dealing with the inspectors at the airport. There is some good information in the following article: http://www.tropfruit.com/bringemback.html. There was also an article in the Fruit Gardener a few years ago about bringing things back. Now the best way in my opinion is to pack them up the day you leave and send them home through the mail. Some people say to send half in the mail and bring half on the airplane, that way you should get something home. I know that most seeds do not usually even get inspected, let alone confiscated when sent through the mail. I've only had one package confiscated (out of hundreds) and that was because they sent the whole fruit. I hope this has helped. If you find yourself with extra seeds when you get back, I'm sure Leo and I would be happy to help you out and take them off your hands. : ) Best regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Wanted Seeds Of Hylocereus spp. Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 06:29:24 -0800 From: Sven Merten Hi Leo, I have all three, but I don't have seed for any of them. I may be able to get seed from them in september or so, but it may be a cross with another species since I only have one clone of each. I don't know anyone that sells the seed. Rainbow Gardens sells cuttings of H. ocamponis and H. guatemalensis. Regards, Sven mailto:scoutdog@pacbell.net Leo Manuel wrote: | John in Australia asks: | | Would you know where I could get seeds of Hylocereus ocamponis? I | believe it has a mauve coloured flesh. | | Do you know anything about it or other varities? Please let | me know. | | Also, Hylocereus costaricensis & guaemalensis. ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Importing Israeli Fruit Trees Question Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2002 23:08:17 -0500 (EST) From: Joel Moskowitz To: jmgallego@home.com What Israeli fruit trees (names, varieties) are legally imported into the United States. If you don't know, who would. Thanks, Joel Moskowitz mailto:jamoskowitzmd@pol.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: RE: Importing Israeli Fruit Trees Question Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2002 19:36:21 -0800 From: "Jose Miguel Gallego" To: Joel Moskowitz Let me find my importation permit and see what it says. If I find I could send/fax you a copy. When is the plant material expected to be brought in? You could use my permit too; I just need to be there when they arrive. Jose mailto:jmgallego@home.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Vexator Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2002 13:15:22 GMT From: Juan To: Harvey Hi Harve: The vexator you are refering to is Myrciaria (or Plinia) vexator, a Myrtaceae from Brazil. It is a small tree, up to 20 ft. high, with dense foliage and a peeling cortex. It is related to the common jaboticaba (M. cauliflora) and the fruit is similar, about one inch in diameter, rounded, bluish purple when mature (the common name in English is Blue Grape) and with a gelatinous whitish and sweet pulp and very large seeds. The skin is very astringent. The correct way to eat it is by cutting it with the teeth, squeeze it into the moth, discard the skin, and spit the seeds. Best wishes Juan mailto:jarivero@caribe.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Capuasu Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2002 13:52:21 GMT From: Juan To: Matthew Hi Matthew: The fruit known as capuassu in Brazil (copuasu, with accent in the u in Spanish) is Theobroma grandiflorum, of the family Sterculariaceae. Originally from the south of Para and the western part of Manaos, it is now widely distributed throughout Amazonia. It is a fast growing tree, but requires rich soils (as the related cacao). The fruits are brown drupes that may be as large as 40 cm long by 16 in diameter. The pulp is white, fleshy, semi- acid, aromatic and edible, but it is better in juices, sherbets etc. The seeds, which may be as many as sixty, may be used to prepare a home chocolate in the same way as the common cacao (Theobroma cacao) Best wishes Juan mailto:jarivero@caribe.net ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Avocados dropping early Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 15:27:20 +0200 From: "Niki Wessels" Hi everyone Over the past few days our avocado tree has lost a number of immature (1 - 3 inch) fruit. We're currently experiencing normal hot South African summer weather, although from early November until late December we had much more rain than usual. We had a hailstorm last week, but it was not particularly severe and the fruit did not start dropping until several days afterwards. The tree has not been fed recently. I'm not sure of the variety, but the fruit are large and green-skinned, and normally mature in winter. Can anyone help, please? Cheers Niki ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Kokum Fruit - In "Little India" Grocery Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 11:34:10 -0800 From: Michael Zarky Dear Leo, While I was browsing through some Indian groceries in Little India, I came across some bags of a dried fruit called "kokum"; one example was pretty dry like tamarind, another much more moist than regular dried fruit. I was curious about it and found the following on the internet; the pages might be of interest, even if only purely intellectually. http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/kokum.html and as a peripheral to a report on Mango research... http://news.indiainfo.com/2001/06/07/07mango.html Michael Zarky 10963 Citrus Drive Moorpark, CA 93021 USA [Also known as Cocum, Kokam Butter Tree. Garcinia indica "Purple fruits are eaten raw or made into jelly, syrup.... Dried fruits are used for flavoring beverages. P. 79 Cornucopia II. - Leo Manuel] ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Weeping Santa Rosa Have Same Pollinating Skills As Non-Weeping? Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 15:30:54 -0800 From: "MIZE, KURT (PB)" Hi, Leo. This may be a bit off-topic, but I'll run it by you anyway. I have a couple of backyard fruit trees (an "Elephant Heart" plum, and a "Flavor Supreme" pluot) that have never been very productive. I believe "Santa Rosa" is recommended as a pollenizer for both. The problem is, I don't have room for a full-sized (or even a semi-dwarf) Santa Rosa. I've come across an "Ultra-dwarf Weeping Santa Rosa" plum at a local nursery that might work, but I don't know if it has the same pollenizing characteristics as Santa Rosa. Any ideas on where I could go to find out that little tidbit of information? I'd like to find out soon, as bare-root season ends in a few weeks. Thanks in advance. Kurt Mize mailto:km1542@sbc.com Stockton, CA USDA Zone 9 ------------------------------------------------ Subject: RE:Weeping Santa Rosa Have Same Pollinating Skills As Non-Weeping? Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 17:22:28 -0800 From: Leo Manuel To: "MIZE, KURT (PB)" Hi Kurt, I would expect that the Weeping Santa Rosa would have the same pollen characteristics. Jim Bathgate knows a lot about stone fruit: mailto:jlbathgate@worldnet.com You might consider grafting a standard Santa Rosa onto one of your other trees. If you starting from scratch, you can plant two (or three) trees in almost the same hole, getting more varieties of fruit in the same space. Good luck, Leo Manuel >>>>> Mailbag of Sainarong Rasananda mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th <<<<< None, this time >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Announcements And Web Pages To Consider <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Subject: Dragon fruit, Pitaya, Hylocereus Undatus, Pitahaya, .... http://www.geocities.com/wenjin92014/foto2001/dragon.htm More images on the plant William, Jason and Pitahaya Paul Thomson's book on Pitahaya Ask Leo Manuel Questions Leo Manuel's Awesome Cherimoya ------------------------------------------------ Pitaya Discussion Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PitayaFruit/ Topics Covered: Pitaya, Pitahaya, and other synonyms for Hylocereus undatus, H. Polyrhizus, and other H. spp. are raised for their delicious and attractive fruit. These and more are climbing cacti. Columnar cactus may be raised for fruit, such as Cereus Peruvianus, and its close relatives. Let's talk about techniques, varieties, problems, solutions, availability, and whatever interests you. (Started January 14, 2002, so give it a few days....) Group Email Addresses Post message: PitayaFruit@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: PitayaFruit-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: PitayaFruit-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com List owner: (Leo Manuel) PitayaFruit-owner@yahoogroups.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Large Sapota For Arid Areas - Sent from The Hindu Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2002 08:49:51 +0530 From: thehindu@admin.hinduonnet.com ============================================================== This is emailed by Ray Gerlach ( bananarayis@home.com ) ============================================================== Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com) Large sapota variety for arid tracts By Our Agriculture Correspondent The large-fruit variety performs well in arid and semi-arid tracts. AMONG THE sapota varieties, the large-fruit `Cricket Ball' is a promising variety reigning supreme for the last three decades. This variety produces larges globular fruits of 8-10 cm in diameter. Each fruit weighs between 100 g and 150 g. ``Though this variety is not a precocious bearer as certain other varieties, it is still preferred because of its good performance in the arid and semi-arid belts. Because of its large size, the number of fruits per tree is less. A well tended tree of 10 years age will produce about 500 fruits in a year,'' says Mr. K. Thanigaimani, an horticultural expert in Chennai. Healthy grafts should be planted in pits of 60 cm by 60 cm by 60 cm at a spacing of 7 m x 7 m. About 200 plants can be accommodated in a hectare. The pits should be filled up with liberal quantities of ripe farmyard manure, powdered neem cake, vermi-compost and coir-pith compost. Application of bio fertilizers such a phosphobacterium, and VAM () would be beneficial. The plants should be watered initially. Being a hardy variety, it is disease free, and only a few pests such as leaf-miner, mealy bug and stem-borer are found to attack the plants. By following simple integrated pest management strategies and by spraying with botanical insecticides, vermi-wash and cow's urine the pests can be kept at bay, according to Mr. Thanigaimani. A variety of legumes, vegetables, groundnut, sunflower and other annual crops can be raised in the interspaces in the first four to five years of planting sapota. The variety responds particularly well to organic nutrition. The fruits are generally as sweet as other popular varieties, but when raised with organic nutrition the fruits turn sweeter. The fruits harvested in summer tend to be sweeter than the ones picked in other seasons. ``Flowers generally appear in several flushes at short intervals all through the year. Fruits will mature in about four months after flowering. The fruits should not be allowed to ripen in the tree, and they have to pluck when they are full grown. In the Deccan plateau, the fruits are harvested in two distinctive seasons from February-June and September-October,'' explains Mr. Thanigaimani. The bearing starts in the fourth year of planting, and in the first two to three years of bearing about 150 fruits can be got from a tree. The yield increases gradually to stabilise at 500 fruits a year from the 15 th year. The economic bearing age of the tree is about 30 years, according to Mr. Thanigaimani. The fruits will have to be packed in bamboo baskets to stand long distance transportation. The fruits have good market acceptance, and the growers can be assured of an average price of Rs. 8 per kg at the farm-gate, according to Mr. Thanigaimani. ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Marula (Sclerocarya birrea subsp. Caffra) as a New Crop for the Negev Desert of Israel http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-496.html [This excellent site for those interested in growing Marula was too lengthy to include.] ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Marula - Uses http://www.knet.co.za/herbs/marula.htm The Marula FRUIT is very juicy and aromatic and is the size of a small plum. It may be eaten fresh and the flesh has an extremely high vitamin C content. It may also be cooked to produce jam, juices and alcoholic beverages. NUT: Inside the flesh is one or two very small tasty nuts which are rich in protein. OIL: used as a skin cosmetic. MEDICINAL : for fever take a tincture in brandy, or swallow powdered bark. GREEN LEAVES: eaten to relieve heartburn. BARK: The bark contains antihistamines and is also used for cleansing by steeping in boiling water and inhaling the steam. A piece of bark is crushed into a pulp, mixed with cold water and swallowed in the treatment of dysentery and diarrhoea. The bark also is used as a malaria prophylactic. Marula Uses The Marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra) - is a member of the mango family. It is a large, dioecious, deciduous tree which grows wild in northern South Africa and parts of eastern Botswana. ------------------------------------------------ Subject: http://barkingfrogspc.tripod.com/frames.html Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 08:00:15 EST From: Permacltur@aol.com Permaculture News - Online Course Expanded Elfin Permaculture has added another 6-month segment to its online course to accommodate more students and to reduce the time one must wait for a new course cycle to begin. Willem Smuts of South Africa will lead a course March 15 to Sept. 15, 2002. Dan Hemenway, course founder and designer, will lead the course beginning Sept. 15, 2002. He will also review and critique all designs from the earlier course and pass on ultimate certification of students. The new session has been developed because the course was reaching the limit for the number of certificate students that it can process. Now students from each session will see designs done by students in the previous session. Seeing student designs and the instructor‰Ûªs review early in the course cycle helps guide students in their own design projects, a major component of the online course. For more detail, visit http://barkingfrogspc.tripod.com/frames.html to review or download the course protocol, the course reading list, and the course assignment schedule. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< None this time >>>>>> NAFEX List See: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nafex <<<<<< None this time >>> Discussion list for New Crops <<< None this time >>> [rarefruit] List - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rarefruit <<< None this time >> Agricultural Research Service (ARS) mailto:ars << http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. Subject: Better Mosquito, Tick Repellents in the Wind? Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2002 09:48:23 -0500 From: "ARS News Service" Judy McBride Slap, slap . . . scratch, scratch. It's a familiar aggravation for billions of people who live with mosquitos. But effective repellents to keep those pests from biting--and possibly transmitting serious diseases--have been few and far between. Now, the Agricultural Research Service is seeking a patent on a method for selecting the most effective version of a repellent discovered by ARS researchers more than 20 years ago. Using the method, ARS entomologist Jerome Klun recently identified one version that is three to four times more effective at preventing yellow-fever-transmitting mosquitos from biting than the original repellent. It's also the optimal version against the species that transmits West Nile virus. The original repellent, called 220 for short, is based on piperidine, a hexagonally-shaped molecule found in trace amounts in black pepper. Two other chemical groups are attached to this hexagon, but each can attach at two different angles. So the repellent can appear in four different versions, known as optical isomers, that can be identified by the way they bend light rays. The number of potential repellents is not limited to these four optical isomers. Other chemical groups can attach to the piperidine scaffold at various locations and angles, yielding dozens of candidates for testing, according to Klun, at ARS' Chemicals Affecting Insect Behavior Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. http://www.barc.usda.gov/psi/caib Interested companies could license the new method to select the most effective piperidine-based isomers against ticks and other disease-transmitting arthropods, as well as mosquitos. Unlike DEET--the principal mosquito repellent for half a century--piperidine-based repellents don't dissolve plastics, such as sunglass lenses or auto paint. And early reports from an interested company suggest they easily formulate into creams. The original piperidine-based repellent has undergone toxicological testing in a U.S. Army laboratory and passed muster for experimental use on people. Also, a related repellent is being sold overseas by the pharmaceutical company Bayer. However, products intended for commercial sale in the United States would have to undergo additional toxicological testing required by the Environmental Protection Agency. ARS is the chief scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ------------------------------------------------ Subject: New Nest Egg: Poultry Litter Ash as a Fertilizer Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 15:06:10 -0500 From: "ARS News Service" Lupe Chavez Medieval alchemists might have failed at finding a recipe for making gold, but an Agricultural Research Service scientist changed poultry litter ash into money. The potential profits from this transformation could bring a change of luck for farmers. Eton Codling, a soil scientist with the Agricultural Research Service's Henry A. Wallace Beltsville (Maryland) Agricultural Research Center, in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, discovered that ash from power plants burning poultry litter for electricity makes a good fertilizer. This alternative for handling poultry litter could help the environment, promote better plant growth and reduce costs for farmers. In experiments at the Animal Manure and By-Products Laboratory, ARS researchers grew wheat in limed and non-limed soils fertilized with poultry ash and potassium phosphate. Plants grown in soils treated with ash fertilizer had higher amounts of phosphorous in plant tissue, meaning the nutrient was readily available for uptake by roots. This research was stimulated by the Maryland Water Quality Act of 1998, which limits poultry litter use on farmland. Excess phosphorous in soils can result in storm water runoff and drainage waters dangerous to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The law encourages alternative uses for poultry manure, including burning it to produce electricity. Codling began his research by asking a simple question at a power plant burning poultry litter: "What are you going to do with the ash?" Litter ash has interesting characteristics, beginning with its low solubility in water. The ash has a higher total concentration of phosphorous than poultry manure because the burning process removes organic matter and water. The ash also reduces farmers' costs because it is lighter than chicken litter and easier to transport to areas where such fertilizer is needed. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal levels of litter ash for wheat production and to establish the economic value to farmers. If these studies with wheat are successful, other crops will be considered for similar research. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>End of RFN2000201B.txt<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Rare Fruit News Online - February 1, 2002 - AKA RFN200202A.txt Notes In Passing - Leo TEMPORARY Email address for RFNO: mailto:rarefruit@abac.com This newsletter is much smaller than usual, probably because email to me at the former email address did not reach me (since about 1/17/02). If you have written, you may want to send again - mailto:rarefruit@abac.com Tips On Grafting Guava Sought By Me. I have never even tried to graft guava, believing it was very difficult to get successful takes. However, I have a chance to get a scion of one I'd like to graft - IF I can learn to maximize my chances. Should I bud or graft? Which method to use? How should I prepare the rootstock to increase the liklihood of success? Pitaya Fruit Newsgroup - Seven Members, And Growing http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PitayaFruit/ There's a new Newsgroup called Pitaya Fruit. I am the moderator, but anyone can join and view the files, pictures, and bookmarks (links.) It began about three weeks ago, but has a membership of seven already. If pitaya fruit interests you, you may want to check it out. Leo mailto:rarefruit@abac.com >>>> New Subscribers <<<< New Subscriber, Portugal, Wants European Plant Suppliers konakane@clix.pt New Subscriber, CA, Wants Cold-Hardy Rare Fruit James Chambers >> Readers Write << Bare root trees Received At Nurseries Michael Sapote - Seedling vs Grafted - Question James Chambers Temperature ranges - Question For Arizona McCright, Michael CWO To: Chris RE: Weeping Santa Rosa Same ... As Non-Weeping? Matthew Shugart To: Kurt Carambola (Starfruit) Under Ant Attack Todd Abel Re: Selenicereus Megalanthus - Skin/Flesh Color Combinations Yosef Mizrahi Re: Sprouting Marula Seeds - How To? Rachel Saunders Re: How To Sprout Marula Seeds? Niki Wessels Re: Marula Seeds - How To Sprout Them? Chris >>>> Mailbag of Sainarong Rasananda mailto:sainaron@loxinfo.co.th <<<< None, this time >>>> Announcements and / or Web Sites To Consider <<<< Arkansas Berry & Plant Farm - Blackberry Plants APACHE (thornless) http://www.alcasoft.com/arkansas/blackberry.html Marula Net: (Marula Is An Important African Tree) http://www.icraf.cgiar.org/treessd/marula/members.htm Marula Images: (Trees, Fruit, Nuts - Lots Of Pictures) http://www.icraf.cgiar.org/treessd/marula/images.htm# People and Plants Online-The African Ethnobotany Network 1 Review of ethnobotanical literature from eastern and southern Africa http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/peopleplants/regions/africa/aen1/review.htm >>>> Zingiber List (Bananas, Gingers) <<<< None, this time >>>> NAFEX List <<<< None, this time >>>> From NEWCROPS List mailto:newcrops@purdue.edu <<<< None, this time >>>> From "rarefruit list" - rarefruit@yahoogroups.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, Portugal, Wants European Plant Suppliers Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 23:24:18 GMT From: "konakane@clix.pt" Aloha, I am Henri de Mendonca, originally from Terceira, Azores, (Portugal) then California, then Kona/Hawai'i and now back to Terceira. I am highly interested in finding rare fruit suppliers in the European Community. Presently I have started some jaboticaba, yellow garnadilla and "poka" a reddish variety of passion fruit that grows on high elevations in Hawai'i. I just moved back from Kona to Terceira and would like to start many rare fruit plants here. If you can give any advice it would be greatly appreciated. Aloha nui loa, Henri mailto:konakane@clix.pt ------------------------------------------------ Subject: New Subscriber, CA, Wants Cold-Hardy Rare Fruit Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 05:25:29 -0800 From: James Chambers Hello! My name is James Chambers and I live in Valley Center, CA. We currently have 6 fig trees, 3 varieties, 3 types of peaches, 7 types of apples , 3 types of apricots, 3 types of cherries (1 Surinam), 3 types of tangerines, 3 types of Asian pears, 2 pomegranates, 2 types of plums, 2 sapotes (Suebelle),2 types of avocados, 3 pistachios, an Italian prune, 3 types of guavas, an almond, 2 types of pecans, a walnut, a persimmon, 2 types of nectarines, 2 types of grapes, blackberries, a loquat, blueberries, raspberries, black raspberries, 4 types of bananas, grapefruit, oranges, limes and lemons! We'd like to grow Cherimoyas and anything else that is unusual and cold hardy. We've also started a cold hardy palm nursery at our home. So that's our story for now! James Chambers mailto:chambejf@songs.sce.com >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Readers Write<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Subject: Bare root trees Received At Nurseries Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 07:55:47 -0800 From: "Michael" FYI, Clausen's Nursery received their bare root stock yesterday. They have great prices, $14 - $15 for most trees, they also carry some low chill blueberries. I think their supplier is L. E. Cooke. If you have been waiting for bare root trees from another nursery that uses that company, they probably have their stock in too. Mike McCright mailto:mike-mccright@home.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Sapote - Seedling vs Grafted - Question Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 23:02:26 -0800 From: James Hello! I have a question about Sapotes. I have one that my mother planted from seed and it is currently pruned back to about 8' high and 7 feet across. It is about 7 or 8 years old but it has never bloomed or set a flower. Is there a minimum age before the tree will produce fruit? I have another grafted tree that is 2' tall and it has already had flowers but no fruit. Can you help me with some Sapote information? I've read a ton on the internet, including history, but no real hands on info. Thanks!! James Chambers mailto:chambejf@songs.sce.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Temperature ranges Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2002 07:16:12 -0800 From: "McCright, Michael CWO" To: Chris Hello Christopher I am Mike McCright at rare fruit enthusiast living in Oceanside, CA. I go to Tucson a couple of times a year to Tucson to visit family. Leo did not publish your plant list as it is apparently very large. Do you grow tropicals? Can you get away with mangos? Do you grow pitaya? What are the temperature ranges where you live? I have thought of moving back to Tucson/Casa Grande area, but one of the drawbacks was that I had to give up growing many of the plants I now grow. I would enjoy hearing what you are growing and how you have overcome the winter lows. Mike McCright mailto:mike-mccright@home.com ------------------------------------------------ Subject: RE:Weeping Santa Rosa Have Same ... As Non-Weeping? Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2002 17:36:52 -0800 From: Matthew Shugart To: Kurt Dear Kurt, Although I cannot say for certain, I will second Leo's belief that Weeping Santa Rosa would be just as good a pollinator as ordinary Santa Rosa. I think it does bloom slightly later, but only slightly. It is also a beautiful small tree. But if you are very pressed for space, grafting Santa Rosa and other cultivars on to one of your existing trees is probably an even better way to go. I am not a very good grafter, but even I can get plums to take! Plums that require cross-pollination can be iffy if you have just two or three varieties, because the exact bloom sequence is not the same from year to year, so the more varieties you can get in the same area, the better your luck at getting production will be. Santa Rosa is an excellent all-around pollen source for other plums, as is Beauty. Matthew Shugart Carlsbad, California mailto:mshugart@ucsd.edu ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Carambola and Starfruit Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 08:24:10 -0800 From: Todd Abel Leo, Just something strange to report. The ants have attacked the Carambola (Fwang Tung) fruit, but they are only eating the inside seed area. The fruit itself is still very good, but the ants have eaten out the center. I will keep the ants off the next crop, but they are only 3 fruit left now. The fruit is good, and almost taste like a green grape. I just cut away the center. Todd Abel Orange,