April 2020

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• Put a large black plastic drum (or a 44 gallon drum painted black) under each fruit tree and fill the container with water.
   
• During the day the drum will heat up and throw off enough radiation at night stopping the frost from settling.
   
• You can also espalier dwarf fruit trees against a north facing brick wall of your house then strawberries can be planted at the base facing the wall.
   
• According to a NZ company who sells specialist frost protection equipment, the good ones sell for around $1800. But the bottom line is that that when the alarm goes off, they do not rely on the sprinklers coming on automatically – they get up at whatever hour to make sure that all is working as it should. I also spoke to the owner of a vineyard and they have just installed 2 propellers at $55,000 each which use 300 ltrs of diesel per night and around the base of the propeller they put 10 smokepots which generate a hit of heat that is taken up by the propeller. He said that the problem with the overhead watering system is that by the time the frost arrives, the pipes are frozen Ref: Sheryl Backhouse
   
• Increase plant carbohydrate levels because higher levels of carbohydrates in plants during a frost event means less leakage, hence damage during thawing. Biological farmers measure “Brix levels” with a refractometer. Crops with a higher sugar content (high Brix) will also have a lower freezing point, with an associated protection against frost damage. The soil forms a heat bank, and we want warm soil for warm air rise at night to minimize frost risk. A high Brix reading means higher sugar and mineral content, higher true protein content, a greater specific gravity or density, and a lower nitrate and water content for better storage characteristics. The key to achieving high carbohydrate levels are canopy management and avoiding a high nitrogen status. The crop canopy will trap cold air on top, so a dense canopy is not necessarily desirable. Strategies for pulses evolve around these principles, and crop choice. Crops deficient or marginal in potassium and copper are likely to be more susceptible to frost damage, and this may also be the case for molybdenum. Foliar copper, zinc or manganese will only be effective if the crop is deficient in the element applied. Canopy management is important. In cereals, frost sits on top of the canopy when the cold air is trapped, and so damages the upper parts of the plant. Sowing in wider rows enables frost to get to ground level, and the inter-row soil is more exposed. The open canopy does not trap cold air. Wide rows require the soil to be moist to trap the heat in the soil during the day. With wide or paired rows and a wide gap, the heat can radiate up. Wide rows can be used to channel cold air by aligning the rows downhill. Channel air flow away from the susceptible crop by using wide rows aligned up and down the hill or slope. In some areas in WA, apparently a 3m wide “moat” is used to channel the cold air. A sacrifice area may be required where the cold air settles. Claying or delving sandy soils increase the ability of the soil to absorb and hold heat by making the soil colour darker, and retaining moisture nearer the surface. Claying can be an expensive practice and requires careful costing before treating large areas. Learn from vineyard experiences: In 2006 the vineyard experiences in the SE of South Australia (“Limestone Coast’) with severe frosts was that the only successful measure was use of frost sprinklers. Air movement through frost fans was inadequate apart from a few metres from the fan. Air did channel down the vine rows into low spots where worst damage occurred. Smoke was useless, and inter-row practices of little benefit in such a severe frost year. Ref:  Wayne Hawthorne
   
• I protected my cold sensitive plants this past winter by putting step ladders over them and then draping the ladders with quilts. Over smaller plants I upended wastebaskets and trash cans. If your plant is particularly sensitive, you can string Christmas lights inside your protective covering and the minimal heat from the lights may very well keep the temperature inside above freezing. Be careful with plastic. It can cook the plants underneath if the sun comes out the next day.  Ref: Di Bauer
   
• Frost protection cloth (or even the bed sheets over the plants) works by holding in the warmer air the earth radiates all of the time. That is why it is important to have the material go all of the way to the ground. If you just cover the tree branches themselves, there is no reservoir of heat to help protect the plant. It doesn’t work well, but if you are needing only 1-3 degrees F of protection, they are available to help. You should have covered all frost sensitive plants with at least bedsheets. Be sure they go from somewhat above the tallest part of the plant down to the soil itself. This seeems to give about 3 degrees F of protection. They also make a frost protection cloth but that is expensive. The sheets can remain on the plants for several weeks as enough sunlight gets through for photosynthesis to continue. Without protection, Surinam cherry and Cherry of the Rio Grande will survive to about 22 F. Kwai Muk will survive 28 F. Roger Meyer, southern California.
   
• I am growing White Sapotes here in the Katy, Texas area. I have never protected my trees and they have survived, so far the following low temps 22, 24 and 25 degrees. The main thing I do here is try to make sure they are not putting on new growth when the freezes come thru here. I do not fertilize them from autumn and do not fertilize again until early spring. This seems to get them through the winter in pretty good shape.

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• Fruit Trees that are flowering but not setting fruit. Ray Johnson says a grower gave him some CaB to try out, which is a Calcium Boron mix and where once he got very few Grumichama, his tree is now loaded. Spray it on all your flowering fruit trees.
   
• Colin Campbell says that if you are using organic fertilisers exclusively, they do tend to raise the pH more than chemical fertilisers so sprinkle a little sulphur around every second year.
   
• Bruce Benson the President of the Capricorn Club says they’ve had a few problems following the heavy summer rains which has resulted in the leaching of Boron and Molybdenum. Boron helps move calcium through the plant and improves the viability of pollen and setting of fruit. Best way to apply boron is to use 5gms of Solubor or a level teaspoon dissolved in a 10 litre watering can per medium sized tree and applied around the dripline. Calcium improves the internal quality of the fruit. Apply these trace elements to all your fruit trees this year prior to the commencement of flowering. These elements are only required in small amounts – don’t apply too much as you risk injuring your plants. Molybdenum aids in the plants uptake of Nitrogen. A shortage of this trace element is not very noticeable in tree crops but in short lived small crops such as curcurbits, it is very critical. Molybdenum (Sodium Molybdate) can be applied in the same manner.With the cool weather this winter, most fruit trees should flower well so get your trees ready now while they are resting. He’s found the best organic fungicide spray “Eco-carb” combined with copper hydroxide. This combination works two ways. The Eco-carb which is activated Potassium bicarbonate, is very alkaline and consequently kills the fungi. Copper Hydroxide is a protectant fungicide and is to be used as a covering to prevent the entry of the fungi. This combination works well on flowers and fruit as when it is dry, the Eco-carb provides a good source of Potassium.
• With many trees, Calcium and Boron and Zinc are also important for fruit set and retention.
   
• One of our members reports that the use of CaB on early flowering fruit trees has dramatically increased fruit set. This product consists of Calcium sucrose 10.0% & boric acid 1.0% in a liquid form that appears to be rapidly taken up by the trees.
   
• We use Cracker Dust – It’s a blue metal and we mix this with fowl dung (about 3:1) but you can change it as there’s no rules but it has a number of advantages. There was an ABC programme on it. There are a lot of minerals in it and its pH is about 9 so it’s nearly as good as putting lime on the ground so you mineralise your ground.  Sheryl What’s the difference between Cracker Dust and Blue Metal?Bob   Fineness. Blue Metal is too course. I’ve found that just by putting it around trees, that the roots come up into it and it’s very inexpensive. You can use it instead of top soil because it’s easier to spread and the grass will green up where you’ve put it – put it on at anytime of the year.   Ref:  Bob Brinsmead – Tropical Fruit World
   
• We were told of the use of Boron and Nitrogen many years ago by Peter Young, a spray of 1gm of Borax, 1 gm of Urea to 1 litre of water.  This had to be sprayed at very early flower bud stage.  The Boron aids the pollination and seed set of the plant.  It also is important for sugar production in the fruit and if overdone makes a great soil steriliser, nothing grows for years
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• With any crop it’s usually applied at the 1st major flush and there’s usually a window of opportunity from flushing to flowering so during that time, try and push them as much as possible.   Ref:  Ben Waddelow
   
• Nitrogen fertiliser will burn away all your organic carbon in the soil so whenever you add nitrogen fertiliser in any form, you need to add a carbon source – either humic or fulvic acid, or compost at the same time – it helps to balance out – it doesn’t draw out nitrogen out of the soil. Nitrogen is a gas and you want to lock it up in the soil. Having a carbon source holds it into the soil. Just having pure ammonium or even pure fish fertiliser within a day or two, the nitrogen will just evaporate. I use foliar fertiliser in the main growing season when there’s new growth – it’s very weak – do it at regular fortnightly intervals. You’re building your brix levels up. You can feed the trees a lot more and by doing that and spraying small droplets over a leaf, it becomes rapidly absorbed into the tree within an hour or two and you can actually see changes in the plant within 4 hours. When they talk about flushing, it either means putting a lot of fertiliser and a lot of water to get that growth happening. If a tree is healthy it will ward off pests and diseases so keep fertilising small amounts which is better than large amounts as the plant can deal with it a lot better. Use stone mulch about 2½” thick white quartz $40.00 per tonne and paramagnetic basalt fines – $100.00 a tonne. Put the basalt fines down first and the quartz on top then compost around the outer ring of rocks – about 3-4 large shovels per tree and you can put it right up to the trunk. As the tree gets bigger, we can extend the ring of stone mulch. I set up a trial over about 20 different trees and I put a whole lot of different materials down as mulch: different rock sizes/particles, different wood mulches, straw, different types of sand then put the water on and let it sit for a day or two then came back and did the finger test and I was very surprised to see the difference – then when it rained, I did another finger test and its amazing how there’s such a big difference between the different types of mulches. The one that held the most amount of moisture was a combination of large 8ml quartz and very fine basalt rock. We expected other mulches to do a lot better but that one was the most effective for us. I’m an Arborist and can get wood mulch but found it broke down after a year and it had to be reapplied so putting down the stone, it didn’t break down. We found with a lot of other mulches in very dry conditions, it won’t allow penetration of a small shower of rain so if you have wood chips, it becomes a barrier so when the water rains on that spot, it will run off elsewhere. Straw mulch will soak up a lot of water but if you do the finger test, under the soil is still very dry. Some of the growth rates we’ve had by pushing the trees hard – we only had sticks when we started – no more than 300mm – and now after 3-4 months, they are up to chest height so we’re hoping that by the end of the season they will be pushing well over head height and fruiting 2-3kgs per tree so it really helps to do your fertigation through your lines and do foliar feeding. We use NTS products.  An Indian scientist I talked to spoke about having a lot of plant vigour – they believe more in pruning so they push their plants with as much fertiliser and water as possible then they’ll go through and prune very heavily so the plant doesn’t lose any vigour but it will shock the tree and it will then fruit very heavily.  Ref: Ben Waddelow
   
• For those that do not have access to cheap urea, you can use ammonium sulfate, but use twice more amount per gallon than what Doc Alexis is using (ammonium sulfate is 21% N, about half than that of urea’s N). You can also mix together with iron chelates and other soluble micronutrients or seaweed based organic fertilizers and apply foliarly after mildly water stressing the tree (ie, no watering until you see the leaves start to slightly roll), and follow up with normal watering.   Ref: Joe Real

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• I saw a new technique for growing them which looks excellent. They used a coco coir pole.  Using this method, dragon fruit roots absorb more nutrients in the coir poles when being fertilized instead of cement poles. (Coir is the outer husk of the Coconut). Ref:  Sheryl Backhouse
   
• Dragon Fruit can last for up to 2-3 weeks in a plastic bag if kept in the refrigerator. You can also freeze dragon fruit but the texture will be altered and it will best be used in a sauce or sorbet.
   
• In Vietnam Pitaya are grown on square concrete posts 1½ mtrs above ground, 25cms thick, 3 mtrs apart and cuttings are grown on all four sides and then taped to the post. With this particular variety when they reach the top, they just trail down. There are no wires between the posts for them to climb along.  Ref: Sheryl Backhouse
   
• Yellow Pitaya:  At the last meeting, Jim Wyman bought in some yellow Pitaya which were so sweet!  I asked him what he did and he said:  “I have clay soil, give them a little Nitrophoska in spring, a handful of Potash when fruiting, they like lots of horse and cow manure and I just brush off the spines when the fruit look ripe on the plant”.  Ref: Sheryl Backhouse
   
• Graham Reinders mentions that to achieve higher brix levels in Pitaya, try bumping the sulphur content of your nutrient up a bit. It is the main flavour giver. Bumping CO2 is not a good idea unless you maximize all the other plant inputs. I have bumped the CO2 up to 1500 ppm in a high yield greenhouse and can get about 30% yield increase, however the plant only does as well as the LIMITING input of the 20 or so required, so any one lacking negates all the other good work.
    
• When do you pick Pithaya?  If it is for your own consumption, the right time will be when the bud (the end where the flowery part drops off) has begun to show signs of a crack. This means the fruit is ripe. If you leave this be, the fruit will start showing signs of cracking in the middle part. This is sign of the final stage of fruit development in terms of ripeness. Sweetness is dependent not only on ripeness but variety/species and type of nutrient uptake. If you have all the N, P, K, Mr, Trace Elements and Humic Acid at par – adding a little bit of Sulphur based plant nutrient will improve the Brix index.     Ref:  Surjan Singh Kuala Lumpur
   
• Bob Cosgrove reports that he’s had great success in getting his Pitaya to come into flowering by hanging a stocking over the plant with two handfuls of fowl manure and 1dsp of potassium inside so when it rains, it’s getting fertilised!
   
• Besides the Cracker Dust and Fowl Manure we give them an NPK dressing every 6 weeks so after the water and  fertiliser, these will really start to bud everywhere in 2-3 weeks. They need a heavy structure to support them. Large upright posts and a post-rail on top and perhaps put in 2 rows a metre apart so they can go over each side. When they get too large, just go through with a cane knife and hack them off.   Ref: Bob Brinsmead – Tropical Fruit World
   
• Overwatering or excessive rainfall can cause the flowers to drop and fruit to rot. Birds can be a nuisance. The bacterium Xanthomonas campestris causes the stems to rot. Dothiorella fungi can cause brown spots on the fruit, but this is not common.   Ref:  Wikipedia
   
• Pitahaya flowering but not fruiting. There is a tendency for young fruit or flowers to turn yellow and drop off after rain. This can be reduced or prevented using minerals like calcium or plant vitamins to bolster health.  You might try placing an iron additive around the base of a few to see if that cures the “yellow” condition…
   
• We had a bad case of rust which took 3 months spraying every 3 weeks with mancozeb to clear. Anyone that needs help with rust it is the only product that worked with white oil to stop pests.   Ref:  Roslyn
   
• Pitaya in Pots  I initially went the “60cm basin” route and after a few years I had to move. I had 2¼ mtr bamboo posts stayed to the rim of the basin and four plants in each. After my move I kept them in pots and all their lives they did better than those I planted in the ground because I had used a “light” mix of growing medium, no sand or clay. Remember in their native condition they are feeding from the leaves and detritus off the trees they grow under, not heavy soils. The roots are fibrous with no tap roots and they never go deeper than what hypothetically would be the detritus layer, may 8 -12 inches. Moving them was heavy and difficult but not impossible. As soon as you get a permanent place, take very long cuttings off the basin plants and you will have an orchard in no time.   Ref: Graham Reindeer
   
• To remove prickles on the Yellow Pitaya:   Get an old kitchen brush and the prickles all fall out. The prickles will even go through leather gloves!
   

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• Don’t let your dog eat avocado, macadamias, grapes, raisins, onions, garlic and hops. Details on the www.
• The berries of the very common hedging plant Sheena’s Gold (Duranta erecta/repens/plumieri) are also poisonous to dogs.

 
Food, Glorious Food;   Glorious To Us  – But Not To Your Pet!     by Samford Valley Vets The foods we love to eat that are actually very good for us can sometimes be very dangerous to our dogs. Some items on the following list you may be familiar with but others will surprise you.So are there any other foods to avoid; There sure is. Here’s a quick hit list! caffeine, potato peelings, rhubarb leaves, tomato leaves & stems, broccoli, kernels/pips of apples, plums, pears, peaches & apricots, yeast dough, lollies with the artificial sweetener Xylitol. AVOCADO  Avocado skin, flesh & the seed is toxic to our pets. The offending nasty in the avocado is persin & it can cause some terrible problems. Everything from gastric upset to deadly fluid build-ups in the abdomen, chest & around the heart. CHOCOLATE   For people, chocolate, especially dark chocolate has more health benefits. Alas once again NOT FOR DOGS! The offending ingredient in chocolate is theobromine & it is found in higher concentrations in dark chocolate & cocoa powder.( i.e cooking chocolate, dark chocolate pieces, chocolate cakes, cookies & chocolate icing!) And the darker the chocolate the worse the effects. Milk chocolate is the least toxic (most dogs need to eat more than a 250g block of milk chocolate to be effected ) but the smaller the dog the smaller amount needed to cause toxic effects. These effects do not necessarily show straight away & a few hours later can cause anything from vomiting & diarrhoea, to death due to effects on the heart. So best to stick with dog chocs which are carob based. Carob is a chocolate substitute which has no caffeine or no theobromine. GARLIC  Because it is in the same family as the onion, garlic will still cause the same problems given a big enough dose. Yes, that’s right, rupturing red blood cells within the vessels. You can use small amounts of garlic, unlike onion but BE CAREFUL. GRAPES & RAISINS  Another NO NO!  Grapes are deadly to dogs causing kidneys to fail. It’s not really known what causes the problem but it has been suggested that a mycotoxin in the grape is responsible. And dogs can get a taste for this sweet nasty. It will initially cause vomiting & or diarrhoea, followed by lethargy, increased thirst & gut pain and ultimately death from damaged kidneys. Remember raisins are even more toxic being a dried but concentrated form of the fresh grape. The most common method of toxicity is the family dog catching the fruit cake or biscuit crumbs from the kids; beware! MACADAMIA NUTS  Macadamia nut oil is touted as having even more benefits to us humans than olive oil. All that wonderful omega this & omega that. But unfortunately again, not for our pets. In fact macadamia nuts are nasty in 2 ways. Firstly the nut itself without the shell seems to cause mobility issues. This was discovered by a Qld Vet toxic specialist no less. The ingredient that causes the problems in the nut hasn’t been isolated but it will cause everything from limb weakness to leg swelling & stiffness & pain. Secondly the nut with the shell intact causes gut obstruction that always requires surgical removal from the small intestine. And how many dogs swallow a macadamia nut whole? You would be surprised! We regularly retrieve macadamia nuts from the intestine. That hard outer shell is not affected by digestive enzymes at all & will completely block the gut & will cause death unless removed. ONIONS   Onions are a big NO NO for your pets. Onions contain thiosulphate & this causes rupturing of the red blood cells within the vessels. Now it’s unlikely that anyone would feed their pet an onion on its own & even more unlikely that they would eat it that way (although never say never). But onions are often fed to pets unwittingly in leftovers; all those yummy things we love like left over spag bog sauce, risottos, chicken stuffing, pizza etc. They can vomit & get diarrhoea soon after eating a large amount of onion but they will then get quiet & lethargic, followed by breathing difficulties. Sometimes blood will pass in the urine reflecting the rupture of the red blood cells. The effect of onion toxicity is also cumulative; that means if you they only get small doses of onion but get it consistently they will still have toxic effects. So what about that relative of the onion that has so many health benefits for us humans, garlic? So are there any other foods to avoid; There sure is. Here’s a quick hit list! caffeine, potato peelings, rhubarb leaves, tomato leaves & stems, broccoli, kernels/pips of apples, plums, pears, peaches & apricots, yeast dough, lollies with the artificial sweetener Xylitol.

So you can see that just because something is good for us, it does not necessarily hold true for your pet. In fact they can kill or at the very least, make your pet feel very sick. Always stick to treats specifically made for dogs or cats & even then the one rule that holds true for both humans & pets stands firm.

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• Are there any “rules of thumb” to determine when citrus is ripe? Is rind colour a good indication of ripeness? According to Will Wardowski, Florida Science Source, Agricultural Books peel colour is not an indicator of maturity in citrus.  Peel colour is affected by several factors including nutrition and especially cool nights. That is why citrus from California usually has great peel colour.  Citrus from Florida may have a green peel and be very sweet. In Florida citrus can degreen on the tree in the cool winter months and regreen as the weather warms up in the spring to summer, even though the fruit continue to get sweeter.  Your test would be simply tasting sample fruit. Maturity in commercial citrus is determined by selecting representative fruit samples for testing. The tests include TSS or total soluble solids (about 85% sugar), acid, and juice content. The TSS:acid ratio is a number used to meet legal maturity standards. The University of Florida put out a 24 page book SP99 titled Quality Tests for Florida Citrus for $4.00 plus shipping.
   
• Ben Waddelow foliar sprays citrus with fulvic acid to bring up the brix levels.
   
• One of our members reports that the use of CaB on early flowering fruit trees has dramatically increased fruit set. This product consists of Calcium sucrose 10.0% & boric acid 1.0% in a liquid form that appears to be rapidly taken up by the trees. 
   
• Lemon trees as well as papaw develop brown bitter patches in the flesh are bitter and not sweet. These symptoms in fruit show that when the deficiencies are very severe the affect on seed set and calcium utilisation is very advanced by this point. Leaf analysis is the only accurate way of knowing what is happening but it is prohibitively expensive for hobby growers so observation of the symptoms is for us the second best solution.  It takes experience to identify the problems, especially when there is more than one deficiency affecting the plant. It would be useful if someone could write a program that would diagnose the problems when the observed affects were inputted. It would be a basic tool for small gardeners, any volunteers?
   
• Carambola and Grapefruit – drug interactions  Like the grapefruit, carambola is considered to be a potent inhibitor of seven cytochrome P450 isoforms. These enzymes are significant in the first-pass elimination of many medicines, and, thus, the consumption of carambola or its juice in combination with certain medications can significantly increase their effective dosage within the body. Research into grapefruit juice has identified a number of common medications affected, including statins, which are commonly used to treat cardiovascular illness and benzodiazepines (a tranquilizer family including diazepam).  Ref: Wikipedia
   
• In NZ, Tahitian Lime and Meyer Lemon are cutting grown.
   
• Mineola Tangelo:  When the colour starts to fade, the acid levels have dropped and that is when to pick it. Also needs lots of Potash.  Ref:  Ian Tolley
   
• Citrus info from the Philippines.   Marcotted trees tend to remain dwarf but weakly anchored, but it depends on the type of cultivar. For example, the marcotted rough lemons and Lisbon lemons could develop extensive root system as strong as grafted trees. This I know because I marcotted and grafted them and they performed the same, but not true with mandarins and oranges, the marcotted ones are poorly anchored. With Calamansi, the marcotted ones are not as good as the grafted ones, but they remain smaller. If smaller trees are good for you in wind-sheltered areas, marcotted trees could suit your needs. If you want bigger trees that are well   anchored, marcotted trees are not generally for you. One big advantage of marcotted citrus trees is that they bear quality fruits much earlier than grafted ones. Those citruses grafted unto seedling rootstocks would develop quality fruits 3 to 7 years after planting. They could produce fruits right away, but the quality won’t   be as good until the tree reaches proper size. The marcotted trees will have good quality fruits right away. This is because with grafted trees, some of the juvenility in the rootstock is passed on to the grafted cultivar. If the rootstock is very old, like a mature tree, then you get quality fruits right away, but if the rootstock is a young seedling, expect 3 years at the fastest for a nice quality fruits.   Ref:  Joe Real
   
• Red Grapefruit   Was talking with the owner of the Big Orange in Gayndah and he was telling me that the Red Grapefruit like Texas Star Ruby will hang on the tree for 6 months! Then it will keep in cold storage for another 6 months!
   
• Chironja   An Orangelo or orange × grapefruit cross. Seemingly spontaneous hybrid – “round to pear-shaped, necked, equal to grapefruit in size; peel a brilliant yellow, slightly adherent, easy to remove; the inner peel non-bitter; pulp yellow orange, with 9-13 segments having tender walls and much juice; the mild flavor reminiscent of both orange and grapefruit, hardly acid or bitter even when immature.”  (For the complete article see Morton, J. 1987. Orangelo. p. 160. In: Fruits of warm climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL., http://www.hort.purdue.edu  22Feb 2013.)  Sheryl:  I first tasted Chironja at Ian Tolley’s place in Renmark, South Australia and thought I must have one of these – great taste.
• The Webbing Caterpillar affects Fingerlimes and feeds on the foliage of most of the smaller-leaf species, matting the leaves together with webbing and filling it with their droppings. This can cause complete defoliation in small plants and may even cause death. The easiest and safest means of control, if the problem is found early enough, is to remove the mass of grubs, webbing and frass with the fingers and squash it. If spraying is considered necessary, a systemic spray must be used, as contact sprays are mostly ineffective.

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As I have supplied several seedlings of this tree for the Club’s raffle, I therefore presume people may be wanting cultural information.
We planted our Canistel almost immediately after purchasing it from Daleys in 2004, along with another unknown variety I received from work colleague. The first flowers appeared in 2008, and first fruit in 2009. Both trees are in our north facing front garden on a shallow soil over medium clay, in an area which is low on the block, and tends to get very wet when we have heavy rain, often taking several days to drain. I haven’t had a strict watering regime, and the last couple of years of sudden rain have caused the fruit to split. The fruit must be eaten (or frozen) immediately they become ripe, as they lose vitality very quickly – 24 hours, the skin become darker and they start to give off a smell of rotting fruit. I have eaten them out of hand, or made a sort of bread or cake (which was provided to the Club’s supper table). It is very difficult to tell when fruit will become ripe, the colour is fairly consistent through ripening, and the fruit does not give to the touch until completely (the day it is) ripe. The only apparent pests on our tree are ants which bring scale and aphids to the fruit and fruit bearing branches. I usually try and hose these pests off with some success (not the scale). Our tree is fairly small, my aim is to keep it that way by judicious pruning. There is a very large specimen in the Brisbane Mount Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha to remind me just how big they can get. The following information is a selection taken from http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/ab777e/ab777e06.htm (9 Feb 2012) Our tree’s growth habit pretty much conforms to this information. The uses section was very welcome. 
The synonym of this species is Lucuma nervosa A. DC.  Ref:  Russell Reinhardt

This fruit tree belongs to the Sapotaceae family. It is a native of Mexico and has been introduced into the Philippines and later to other Southeast Asian countries including Thailand where it has been found growing as a collectors plant in home gardens in some villages in the North and Northeastern regions.

3.1 Vernacular names
The English names are canistel, egg-fruit, and yellow sapote. Tiesa, canistel, (Philippines); lamut khamen, khe maa, to maa (Thailand).

3.2 General description
Lamut khamen is a medium sized evergreen tree 12-20 m tall and with a 25-60 cm wide trunk. The dark grey bark is finely ribbed and 4-5 mm thick. It is rich in white gummy latex in every part of the tree. The branches are mainly horizontal. The leaves whorl at the tips of the branches, are obovate-elliptic, 6-25 × 2.5-8 cm in size, glossy, bright green, and tapering towards both ends. The petioles are 5-25 cm long. Flowers are axillary borne in the lower leaves. They are solitary or clustered and fragrant. The pedicel is 5-12 mm long. The fruit is a spindle shaped to ovoid, obovoid or subglobose berry, often beaked at the apex with a thin, tough, waxy smooth, yellow skin. The flesh is more or less musky aromatic, moist or dryish, mealy and very sweet with 1-5 seeds. The glossy brown seeds are ovoid and 4-5 × 1.5-2 cm in size.

3.3 Propagation and Agronomy
Lamut khamen is usually propagated from seeds. The seeds lose viability quickly and should be germinated within a few days after removal from the fruit. Seedlings grow fast and may produce fruit in 3-4 years. Vegetative propagation such as grafting can be done and the grafted plants can produce fruit in 2-3 years. Trees tend to flower over an extended period, as the dry season progresses in the tropics. In some areas the trees may flower intermittently throughout the year. Fruit ripens 5-6 months after bloom.

3.4 Uses After removal of the skin and seeds, the fruit may be eaten as a sweet fruit, or as a vegetable with salt and pepper, lemon juice or mayonnaise. Blended with milk and nutmeg, it makes a highly nutritious cold beverage. It may be added to custards and to ice-cream before freezing. The flesh can be dehydrated, powdered and employed as a rich food additive. The edible portion constitutes up to 70 percent of fruit weight, the fruit is rich in carbohydrates, carotene and niacin.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/ab777e/ab777e06.htm (9 Feb 2012) 

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• I put both foil layers on tightly. Main danger here is rain getting in and rotting the air layer so it has to be put on in a way that keeps the water out. Also try to put the foil on so the seam is on the bottom of the branch. Air layers put on during the active growing season are going to grow and do a lot better than ones put on during winter, especially outside of the tropics. Another very important factor is air layering branches that are in the full sun. Branches that don’t get sun will not produce roots. Ref: Oscar – Hawaii
   
• Choice of wrapping for air layers depends on climate and personal preference. In the tropics I find that transparent wrap is not so good because if the sun hits it can bake the roots. I like to use two layers of aluminium foil, very easy to apply and no ties necessary. The reason I use two layers of foil is I found if I use only one layer sometimes the birds will peck a hole, but no problem with two. I don’t use any tape or any other tie. Just counter twist the foil on top and bottom. Some birds are definitely more bothersome than others. We don’t have crows here, which I remember do seem to get into everything. Only 3 main types of birds here: mynah, cardinals, and japanese white eye. Another option if you can’t get foil is to use one layer transparent plastic and another layer opaque, or if you can get very thick poly just use one layer opaque. Sapodilla can be grafted when about 30cms or more, but is easiest to graft when they are almost pencil thickness. Chikoo is the Indian name for chico (probably a transliteration), or sapodilla. It is possible to air layer them, but they take a very long time, up to one year, and have low rate of success. Ref: Oscar – Hawaii
   
• I don’t have experience with longans, but this is what I do with hard to root species: – Make a cut all around and strip the bark and put little bit of powdered rooting hormone on the cut. – Wrap in sphagnum that was soaked and then squeezed. – Wrap in translucent plastic and tie on top and bottom. – Wrap the whole thing in black plastic or foil so the roots won’t be bothered by light. – Check if the roots are growing by unwrapping the outer layer (black plastic or foil) only. I do this on the upper branches only because they are more into growing and I first thin some branches around so the nutrients relay flow where they are needed. Even if this fails then I’ll try to grow a strong low branch and bend it into soil and out, and wound it where its going to be under the soil. Stake it to the ground or put a rock over it (and soil over the rock so it won’t heat up from sun too much. Ref: Vladimir – Hawaii
• Citrus info from the Philippines. Marcotted trees tend to remain dwarf but weakly anchored, but it depends on the type of cultivar. For example, the marcotted rough lemons and lisbon lemons could develop extensive root system as strong as grafted trees. This I know because I marcotted and grafted them and they performed the same, but not true with mandarins and oranges, the marcotted ones are poorly anchored. With Calamansi, the marcotted ones are not as good as the grafted ones, but they remain smaller. If smaller trees are good for you in wind-sheltered areas, marcotted trees could suit your needs. If you want bigger trees that are well anchored, marcotted trees are not generally for you. One big advantage of marcotted citrus trees is that they bear quality fruits much earlier than grafted ones. Those citruses grafted unto seedling rootstocks would develop quality fruits 3 to 7 years after planting. They could produce fruits right away, but the quality won’t be as good until the tree reaches proper size. The marcotted trees will have good quality fruits right away. This is because with grafted trees, some of the juvenility in the rootstock is passed on to the grafted cultivar. If the rootstock is very old, like a mature tree, then you get quality fruits right away, but if the rootstock is a young seedling, expect 3 years at the fastest for a nice quality fruits. Ref: Joe Real