Видео

I am getting sick of bots leaving comments

You may recall a video I did featuring an impressive seed-grown (but fruitless) avocado tree at a house in East Grinstead. Well, the guy has a greenhouse with an array of seedling carobs and persimmons, in addition to seedling raspberry grapes. He kindly offered me some seedlings. The seedling raspberry grape 'kicked the bucket' within a week (the shock of being taken out of a warm glasshouse), but the carob and persimmon seedlings have remained alive. I should have said to him that unless he does not mind waiting a good number of years, he'd be better off obtaining grafted or airlayered carobs and persimmons. Or, find scions to graft onto his seedlings.

Well, given that almost every branch had flower buds forming, I was hoping for a good handful of 'cherries' to eventually form. As opposed to a meagre two (which, still, is an improvement on last year's 1). The difference is that, last year only two flowers formed (giving a 'bountiful' yield of 1 coffee berry), while this year, following a pot-up into a substantial planter, I had flower buds on almost every branch. It is a shame that most of the flower buds withered due to, as I say, periods of water scarcity. Being a rainforest species, it loves water. I could never grow a Coffea (or, for that matter, many plants) in compost, coir or peat, for they'd succumb to root rot.

@@garycard1456 I knew you'd have to slip that in at the end 🤣🤣

Thanks, Louise. They do well near a window and under a growlight. Being an understorey rainforest species, they do not need the high light levels of, say, citrus or mango. They do grow better with a humidity level at least 75%. I have a 13 litre 'RAM' humidifier I bought from a hydroponics store. It workd wonders for increasing the humidity. With the humidifer off, humidity levels drop to around 50%. With the humidifier running at the lowest setting I can get a humidity of 80%. At the highest setting the humidity quickly exceeds 98% and the room becomes all fogged up to the degree that it's like being in a high altitude cloud forest!

Cheers, Peter. Yes, being an understorey rainforest species they do not require direct sun like citrus or mango do. Humidification and growlights help a great deal. Give the 'New Safety Tread' (calcined molar clay granules similar to Seramis) a try. A bag works out about the same as perlite. It makes a great mix when mixed with some peat, sand and coconuty husk chips.

4 or 5 years wait? I hope not! 😂 I think you are right about the pitangatuba. With that being said, my sapodilla put out new foliage throughout last winter. Usually, tropicals stop growing altogether until the longer days of spring arrive.

Cheers, Peter. Up until about 1 month ago I had it indoors, and the only light it had was from a West-facing window and my two LED growlight panels (SpiderFarmer). It has taken to outdoor conditions very well (aside from the UV damage on a few leaves, which was my fault for wrongly assuming that the sun is now weak enough to do away with the shadecloth). It is in such a fast-draining mix that it is nigh on impossible to overwater (rootball being depleted of oxygen due to displacement of air by lingering water; there is no such thing as 'overwatering'). The aggregate particles become evenly coated with a thin film of water, and all excess water freely drains away out of the drainage holes. Keeping organic matter (bark or coir) to a minimum also helps to minimize root rot risk. In actual loam-type soil (sand, silt, clay) there is very little organic matter. Organic matter is limited to a thin humus layer (dead plant and animal matter) on the soil's surface. While the bacterial and fungal activity in the organic humus layer provides a slow-release of water-soluble nutrients, the roots prefer to avoid sitting in readily decomposable organic matter. I try to replicate the largely mineral nature of loamy soil by the aggregate mix I use in my potted plants. [ I WILL STOP RIGHT HERE SO AS TO AVOID GOING INTO ONE OF MY LENGTHY AGGREGATE ESSAYS 😂].

Thankyou Louise. On average I water it about once a week. As frequently as once a day in the height of summer. Up until about 1 month ago I had it indoors, with natural light from a West-facing window, in addition to two full-spectrum LED growlights. Humidity supplemented by a humidifier. Right now it is outdoors, but under a 40% shadecloth. It has taken to outdoor conditions very well. Humidity will obviously vary, but right now it is pouring down with rain, so the humidity will be very high, I imagine! It is in such a fast-draining mix that it is nigh on impossible to overwater. Since it has waxy leaves, it can tolerate dry conditions well, but a higher humidity does facilitate the formation of new leaf buds.

@garycard1456 thankyou for the info, just one more question as you said it's outside, what sort of temperatures is it tolerating?

@@louiseahmedtropicalplantgr5000 It is taking occasional overnight lows of 3 degrees C without damage. Although, if there's a real chance of frost it will be sheltered indoors until the next morning.

Our often-unpredictable weather can certainly 'trick' plants, but I find that some citrus species and varieties flower throughout the year- even in the middle of winter. When they flower in the middle of winter and the temperatures and light levels are not quite adequate, the embryonic fruits may be shed by the plant. Spring and summer give the best chances of successful pollination and fruit development past the early embryonic stage.

I think you are being generous, Peter. Not quite a tree yet 😂 All of mine are outdoors, too. I just brought it in momentarily this evening, for a short video clip on its progress. I've had my seedlings (including the Eugenias) under the shadecloth all throught the spring and summer. Did you grow yours from a seed or did you manage to acquire a seedling plant? How does the foliage of mine compare to yours? I just need to satisfy myself that it's E. pyriformis and that it is not some other species of Eugenia. The seller I bought the seeds from obtained the seeds from his own trees, so I have no reason to doubt that I was sold E. pyriformis.

@@garycard1456 I got both of mine from Jurassic Plants. They look just like Brett's that he featured earlier. Similar to yours in terms of leaf shape. Of course, Jurassic plants could have got theirs labelled incorrectly for all we know lol 😂

Cheers, Dom. By the way: your pitangatuba seedlings are looking very healthy. I've got two strains of E. selloi growing: the 'regular' one, and one with 'elongated' fruits. I wonder if the 'elongated fruits' one is actually a strain of E. selloi and not some other Eugenia species entirely?

I hope it's pyriformis. At least that's what I've been led to believe the seeds were. There's so many different Eugenias, so there's scope for misnaming. I guess I will have to wait to see what the fruit looks like.

It's doing well under the shadecloth, which cuts out 40% of the intense summer UV. I find that the species to be problem-free and a non-fussy grower. Far easier to grow than, say, a carambola. No pest issues; the slugs are put off by the numerous and somewhat nettle-like hairs on the leaves and stem (the hairs do not sting like a nettle, BTW).

The shadecloth helps, too. I once took it out from under the shadecloth and put it in full sun. Some leaves became discoloured and took on a dry, leathery appearance. New leaf formation stoppped altogether. So, I promptly put the plant back under the shadecloth. Immediately the dekopon responded by a flush of tender new growth.

I have a golden nugget loquat that has done the same thing. Fortunately because it's in a container I can spin it. After about 2 weeks so it gets sunburned and dry. I might keep it under the shade cloth next year

I think that the curl is a feature of this particular citrus cultivar. With that being said, it could be that the intense middday sun (on the couple of sunny days we've had) is too much for it, so some of the upper leaves appear a bit 'baked' (disorted from the intense UV). The eastern aspect is obstructed by a building, so by the time the plant gets full sun, it is already midday, by which time the sun is very strong. It never gets exposure to the gentle morning sunlight as the sun rises in the east. Rather, a sudden 'blast' of strong sun from about 12 o clock onwards, when the sun is in the south and high in the sky. Many of my plants fare better under the 40% shadecloth, which cuts out intense UV but still allows ample light through. My Dekopon is one such example.

I'd up the potassium and phosphorus

Definitely interesting, and I like the way the flowers and fruits grow out of the main stem (cauliflory). Of course, mine has to mature before it will flower.

One of my more vigorous and prolific citrus

No obvious graft union. Although, in some cases it is not easy to tell. I got it from Frutales Tropicales back in 2018.

@@garycard1456 Hmm, yeah, you'd imagine it would have flowered by now. I think I remember both Brett & Dom's grafted white sapotes flowering quite soon after they got them.

​@@garycard1456 I guess if it flowered now, it might even be because the seedling has reached maturity 😂

Yes, it is something I am sure yourself, Dom, Brett and others are familiar with: plants doing next to nothing throughout the spring and summer, only to start flowering or putting out new leaf buds when we are into autumn/fall 😂 I don't know whether you can discern from the video (which turned out 'wonky', for some reason), but there are a few tiny, tiny flower buds, too.

@@garycard1456 Haha, yeah it's always the case every year. A plant just starts getting going and then winter arrives 😂

On the lawn

They come over from the adjacent countryside

I lay down a little banquet every night

They are such noisy eaters