2020

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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

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• Imbe    The fruit is good if you leave it long enough on the tree. Simply picking after it turns yellow is not good enough. The fruits need to be more orange coloured and this takes some patience.   Ref: Peter Kring
   
• Luc Vleeracker: My single plant once produced lots of fruit, that was when I bought it (in flower and surrounded by a lot more Imbes). Since then had only one or two fruits all the rest aborted (hundreds and hundreds 5 mm fruits.
    
• Oscar Jaitt:  That might be why your lone Imbe produces very acid fruits. You are only getting fruit from occasional hermaphrodite flowers. Usually the fruits are formed through cross pollination, male and female. Not sure if that affects taste, just my guess.  Here’s a third, and still different description, somewhere in between the other two: sweet with a bit of tartness. It’s pleasant, but not to die for. I find it has a bit of a strange aftertaste. I have 3 trees about 4 mtrs tall, 2 males and a female. They were extremely slow growing at first, grow a bit faster after about 1¼ mtrs  tall. I planted them in the worst part of my land, 100% pure lava rock, and they still grew fine although they tend to fall over very easily so I had to stake them. Very strange looking shaped plant. Also strange that they can handle high rainfall as they come from very dry areas. How to get them to grow faster: either build a time machine, or work on having extreme patience! Fertilizing regularly would of course also help. http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11879&page=291
   
• Jaime: The Imbe I’ve had has not been acid, just a very good, sweet flavour.
    
• Adam Shafran:  Fruits vary in flavour; there are even selected varieties in Africa…some are quite sweet…good thing I’ve got a nice diverse batch of plants about to fruit soon!! My lone fruiting specimen as of now, produced a very nice acid/sweet fruit…only problem, very small amount of tasty flesh, big seeds…oh well…fresh garcinia fruit in Florida is a rarity at least Central Florida and it will fetch a high dollar per fruit.  In the literature I have read Imbe has been improperly described as male / female only, sometimes but Lorenzi got it right in his book, Brazilian Fruits, they are either male, or androgynous/female…presence of both helps set more fruits but Imbe, Mammea, and Cherapu are all plants with different habits and histories. Don’t think you can make assumptions based on those relatives… if there was a plant capable of producing fruit by itself, it would be cloned and popularized. Also knowing Zill, he probably had a worker who knew very well that grafting branches of male and female would make all five trees fruit and wouldn’t be surprised (being Zill is most likely adept at grafting or employs a bunch of workers who are as well)…it is common knowledge that this has been practiced by many growers.

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• I met Mr. Zahar who works at the Agricultural Park in Kuantan, Malaysia and has a fruit tree nursery. With Jackfruit he prepares the rootstock in the morning and waits 3 hours before he joins the new scion wood to the rootstock. Remove all the leaves off the rootstock. It is wedge grafted when the buds start shooting. One day before they graft, he will make some scars on the trunk of the rootstock. His sharpening tool is a warm stone, quite chalky – it comes off white in your fingers. Ref: Sheryl Backhouse
   
• You can root by cuttings and also by airlayers.
   
• Non fruiting trees   I visited one of our member’s properties and although nearly all of the trees looked great and grew well, a lot of them produced very few fruit. Some such as the Black Sapote and Grumichama had heavy crops; I was asked if I knew the solution. I have been told many times that zinc is critical for cell division and flowering, but although it might help I didn’t believe this was the main issue. I did notice that the Jackfruit were malformed which is an indication of poor pollination. I remember that Peter Young had told us all many years ago that boron increased seed set, so I suggested that increasing the amount available to the plants by ground application or by foliar spraying should be effective. Boron is toxic to plants at quite low amounts so its application needs to be carefully controlled. The soil application rate using Borax is about 2 grams per square metre. Custard apples when deficient can be given up to 5 g/m2 , though care must be taken to ensure that the spreading is even. Below are quotes from Plant Nutrient Disorders 2 Tropical Fruit and Nut Crops, which we used to have in the library. “The fruit of boron-deficient Pawpaw are deformed and bumpy due to the irregular fertilisation and development of seeds within the fruit. Ripening is uneven and the developing fruit secrete pinkish white to brown latex. Heavy premature shedding of deficient male tree flowers and impaired pollen tube development can lead to poor set in the fruit-bearing female trees.” “Deficient avocado trees produce small misshapen fruit, usually twisted to one side giving them a dumpy, lop-sided and bulbous shape. An indented blemish sometimes appears on the concave side of these fruit.”  Ref:  George Allen
• I tried propagating cuttings of Arto. species in Fiji and Arto. hetero. in Israel and it works but it takes a long time as the roots break easily so each cutting should be placed in a small pot and not in a rooting bed. I used apical cuttings only of 15-20 cms long leaving a few cut-halved leaves with bottom heat of 30 celsius.   Ref: Ariel in Israel
   
• Unfortunately Jackfruit in my experience are as bad as apples for not resembling the parents. I fruited 32 seedlings of a particularly nice red-fleshed one I got in Hawaii and the 31st to fruit was the only red one – but a real winner. Number 32 has its first fruit hanging right now – I’ll know in a couple of months what it is like. So far, out of 32, only 2 are worth propagating.   Ref: Stephen Brady
   
• Leaf Shapes – Young jackfruits can have rounded or lobed leaves but when they are mature the leaves are more uniformly elongated.
   
• Guinness Book of Records – A Black Gold grown in Hawaii weighed in at just over 34kgs.
   
• Ross Dickson from the Fraser Coast Sub-Tropical Fruit Club in Maryborough says:
  Effort is required to process the seeds and this is what I found to be the best method. Remember the outer husk of the seed has to be removed but NOT the brown inner skin which is edible. I allow the fresh seeds to dry overnight after rinsing and this makes the outer husk clearly visible but mainly so that you can then grip the previously very slippery seed without risk of cutting your fingers when processing. I first cut my seed lengthways and this is more difficult but gives a much better result when peeling. Simply cutting across the seed in the middle makes peeling off the outer skin slow and laborious. Boil in salty water for about 20 to 25 minutes. Take a few out and you will soon learn if they are cooked enough. Allow the nuts to cool and dry and this will clearly show the outer husk as separate and a different colour. A lot of the nuts will have lost their skin when cooking if cut lengthways and the remaining skins are easily removed by using a serrated edged steak knife to improve your grip on the outer skin. It doesn’t matter which side you cut from but you will find one side of the nut fairly flat and much easier to grip when cutting. The other side is very rounded and prone to move around risking a cut finger.
   
• Several members purchased Kwai Muk trees from Kaspar Schnyder. For those unfamiliar with this tree, here’s a few facts. Kwai Muk (Artocarpus lingnanensis or A. hypargyrea) is closely related to Jak Fruit. It is native to Southern China, where it grows above 150 metres altitude. It is a slow-growing, erect tree to 10 metres, with attractive long slender leaves. Its dark green foliage makes it an attractive landscaping tree. Kwai Muk produces small round fruits which have a velvety, yellow-brown skin, and orange to red flesh. The fruit may range from seedless to about 7 small seeds. These fruits are about 2.5 – 5 cm across (golf ball sized) and are acid to subacid and said to be refreshing and of excellent flavor. They can be eaten fresh when fully ripe, or can be dried, or preserved. The trees can be propagated from seed. In Queensland, the fruit ripens from February to April. Tiny yellow male and female flowers are produced on the same tree, the females in globular clusters about 1cm long. Two trees may be needed for good fruit production. It is similar to mango and jak fruit in cold hardiness, with mature trees being able to survive about -4°C. It is relatively wind hardy.

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(Pronounced Hicama) The Jicama plant is a vine which grows to a length of 6 mtrs or more. Plant produces tall climbing vines and a white turnip shaped root that tastes like water chestnuts. The large tuberous roots can be eaten raw or cooked and are used as a source of starch. The roots are light brown in colour, and may weigh up to 50 pounds. Most of those on the market will weigh between three to five pounds. Only one root forms per plant. Store in cool dry place after harvest.

Planting Instructions: Soak seeds overnight in warm water (8 to 15 hours). Plant seeds 1″ deep every 2 ½ feet. Requires sunny area in garden and allow room for vines to spread. Requires a well prepared soil. Use general purpose fertilizer when preparing soil. Seeds require warmth to germinate. Germination: 12-18 days at 21°C. Recipes:  Terry from Mexico reports: They make a fruit salad using pineapple, jicama and very fresh coconut meat. Nothing else – great taste. Another is “jicama dulce”, jicama boiled in molasses syrup. Very different but very tasty – would have added some spices to the syrup though.

Sheryl:  Jicama is worth growing/buying. Look for it at Chinese Supermarkets. I prefer it raw.

Below is some information from http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/  It’s hard to find jicama, even though it’s sometimes available in Asian suburbs. It’s called “yam” by the Vietnamese. However through research I’ve found an Australian substitute – baby boab tubers. No kidding. This is not spam. 1 kg from Astrids Bush Tucker is $16.00. Since jicama can be used for raw mock potato salad, raw mock mashed potatoes, raw fries, and raw “garlic bread rounds”, I’m excited!!! Most of these indigenous herbs, fruits and spices are ancient superfoods in their own right, in addition to being sustainable and wild crafted and hand harvested. Most often by indigenous people in their own communities out in the desert but they only grow with exactly the right conditions.http://astridsbushtucker.com/abtnews…roducts_id=106

For more information about boab tubers: http://www.boabsinthekimberley.com.a…2march2006.pdf  Baby boabs are the seedling stage of the large boab trees found in the Kimberley region. The seed of the fruit found in pods attached to the tree is planted and then grown for approximately 16 weeks depending on the season. This produces a tuber up to 30 centimetres long, with fresh, succulent, edible leaves on top. The boab tubers are very versatile and can be used in most dishes both raw and cooked. The texture of the tubers are crisp and crunchy like that of a water chestnut but with a refreshing taste that can adapt to the other flavours of any recipe. The leaves have a nutty flavour unlike that of any other salad vegetable and can be used in salads or a garnish. Nutritionally the boab tubers are high in iron and potassium, with a high level of protein (for a vegetable) and fibre and a relatively low fat content. The boab leaves are high in vitamins A & C.   Ref: Carla