wiltznucs
| Favorite team: | South Florida  |
| Location: | Apollo Beach, FL |
| Biography: | |
| Interests: | |
| Occupation: | |
| Number of Posts: | 9316 |
| Registered on: | 9/23/2005 |
| Online Status: | Not Online |
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How long can I leave it in this before planting?
A few days tops. If the bag is clear/transparent keep it out of direct sunlight as it will act like a greenhouse and potentially cook the roots.
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Things grow big FAST.
Definitely a consideration. The grower says with a hard prune every Summer she’s been able to keep them around 6 feet tall. If left to their own devices she says it’s gonna be 12-15 feet tall in 2-3 years. So they’ll definitely get a haircut. I’m mostly worried about pests and bird pressure. We’ll see…. Excited to see how they do; odds are I’ll be giving some away.
re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted by wiltznucs on 2/12/26 at 3:55 pm to LanierSpots
New tree escapades starting today. Looking at more cold hardy varieties to add to the grove. Been investigating mulberries recently and there’s lots of varieties to choose from. Settled on a relatively new variety to the US called the Black Austurkey. Known for vigorous growth; abundant fruit set with large tasty berries. So I contacted the person credited with bringing them to the US who happens to live here in the Tampa Bay Area. She assured me that they grow readily from cuttings; so I ordered 5 cuttings her Etsy shop. She sent me almost 20 of them! So I hit them with some rooting hormone and put them in some amended potting mix. They say I should see growth in 2-3 weeks. We’ll see!
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How's everyone's citrus?
Hard here in Central Florida with HLB… My Sugarbelle has flowers; but, has grown really minimally over the past two years. Hasn’t gave me fruit yet. This may be the year. My Persian Lime and Meyer Lemon are toast. I’ve had decent luck with UF SunLimes. Sort of impractical for eating beyond using the caviar for tacos, as a garnish or for cocktails. I have one in the ground I’m about to yank and put it back in a pot. This recent Florida freeze has me rethinking my strategy a bit. Moving forward I think I’m going to throw some more cold hardy varieties in the mix. Got in contact with a local mulberry aficionado recently. Have some cuttings coming and will try them out.
New achievement unlocked.
Bacon Ribs!
I’ve seen variations of this technique online several times and finally decided to give it a try. The idea is to cure the pork much like you would a pork belly for bacon before smoking it. Giving a flavor more consistent with bacon or a cured ham.
St. Louis cut spareribs brined/cured for 48 hours in a mix of Salt, Prague Powder, Bay Leaves, Whole Cloves, Cracked Peppercorns and honey.
Then rinsed and dried before being topped with cracked black pepper and a splash of crushed Sichuan peppercorns. A little extra heat to contrast against the sweet.
4 hours at 250° over oak, pecan and hickory coals. Then foiled with brown sugar and unsalted butter before heading back on the pit.
After an hour; remove the foil and let the meat dry and glaze set in the pit. About 45 minutes. Looking for an internal temp of 195-200. Probably could have pulled them at 180.
Great flavor; a more firm bite and super juicy. Glad we made two racks. Served with fresh coleslaw and red potato salad. Will totally do it again.
I may try it with Baby Backs next time as they’ll be a bit meatier.
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Let me assure you, the bananas are fine. They don't die die even here.
That’s what I’m counting on. They look bad; but, they aren’t nuked just yet. I got 3 bundles from it this year with another still on the vine. Been rolling since 21’; hoping it will bounce back in 27’.
re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted by wiltznucs on 2/3/26 at 8:09 pm to LanierSpots
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Where are you located?
Apollo Beach; right off Big Bend in Southern Hillsborough County.
re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted by wiltznucs on 2/3/26 at 6:40 pm to LanierSpots
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Do you think some of those are going to recover? Those Banana look burnt.
I think I’ll have a better handle on the damage once we get to late March and April. I’m pretty doubtful about a few of the mango trees. Especially the small young ones. Some of the larger more mature trees may bounce back. I’m not expecting any fruit from the mangoes this year. Perhaps I’ll get lucky with a few that haven’t bloomed yet.
The bananas have a corm/psuedostem underneath which I’m hoping survived due to proximity to my house and perhaps a bit of radiant heat. I’m somewhat optimistic about it.
Only time will tell. There’s a lot of wrecked trees in my area. Areca palms got smoked. Papayas are toast. At the same time; my neighbors Sapote took it like a champ; no visible damage. Same with his guava.
Pics from the murder scene…
Namwah Banana
Simmonds Avocado
Orange Sherbet Mango
Lemon Zest Mango
P22 Mango
Still too early to determine if the damage will prove fatal. Early signs are the uppermost part of the canopy got the worst of it. Hopefully the root and trunks survive. Some trees seem to have endured better than others; only time will tell. Will get them some water tomorrow after it warms a bit.
Namwah Banana
Simmonds Avocado
Orange Sherbet Mango
Lemon Zest Mango
P22 Mango
Still too early to determine if the damage will prove fatal. Early signs are the uppermost part of the canopy got the worst of it. Hopefully the root and trunks survive. Some trees seem to have endured better than others; only time will tell. Will get them some water tomorrow after it warms a bit.
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They’re not just competing with other airlines they are also competing with a functional rail system that will drop you off on the central part of town.
This right here^^^
The competitive landscape for travel in Europe is vastly different than the US/Americas.
re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted by wiltznucs on 2/2/26 at 10:19 am to LanierSpots
Last night was rough. We got down to 28-29. Walked the fruit trees this morning. Not good. Definitely got frost and the damage looks pretty severe. Bananas are likely toast. My Simmonds avocado has only a few leaves remaining. A few of the mangos look really bad too. Will need another week or more for the damage to truly show itself; but, I’m expecting the worst for some.
re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted by wiltznucs on 2/1/26 at 5:47 pm to LanierSpots
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Iguanas everywhere. One of my neighbors have collected about 50 of them and is taking them to FWC
Fortunately; they haven’t found their way this far north yet. Seems like only a matter of time. Good on them for collecting them and the FWC for coordinating a roundup. They are a menace in some parts of Florida. The population needs a big setback.
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Lol fwiw we've hit the teens every year in South GA (17, 18, 13.2, 19) since being promoted to 9A
LOL. Definitely seems off.
Our move from 9B to 10A sort of made sense at the time. But it’s really odd to have coastal Tampa in the same zone as West Palm Beach. We see nearly the same summer highs; but, the winter lows here are much more consistent with Zone 9.
re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted by wiltznucs on 2/1/26 at 10:35 am to LanierSpots
Some of the images on the FB Florida Mango growers page look really bad. Trees absolutely covered in ice. Won’t know how bad it hit me for a few weeks. Tonight’s cold front is worrisome; at least with the high winds we avoided frost last night. Tonight may be a different story. My mangoes, bananas and pineapples aren’t built to handle these conditions for sure. One of my avocados looks rough too. I wouldn’t be surprised if the USDA moves us back to 9A after this.
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Honestly that's a decent outcome considering the alternate possibilities
Agreed; being relatively close to the coastline helped keep the worst of it from me. Light snow was seen in the areas north and east of Tampa. I suspect what fruit remains on the trees will likely abort in the coming weeks. With a bit of luck we’ll get another bloom. Let’s just hope that we don’t get another freeze. In years past we always tend to get one late cold spell as February draws to a close or even in early March. That being said; this year has been unlike anything I’ve seen in the past 20 years here. Record heat and drought during most of 25’ followed by near record lows and continued drought to start 26’.
I don’t mind starfruit; but, you are absolutely right that the varietal matters. Fwang Tung is an excellent one too. The trouble is they grow like wildfire here and produce super heavy. I just can’t eat enough of them and keep up with the trees. The running joke in Florida is that starfruit trees are the only variety you need exactly one of. More than that is a burden.
I also try to remind people that the sour varieties of carambola are quite high in oxalic acid. People with even mild kidney disease should probably avoid them.
I also try to remind people that the sour varieties of carambola are quite high in oxalic acid. People with even mild kidney disease should probably avoid them.
Checking in from Apollo Beach here. It only got down to 31; but, the winds were the story here. Gusts in excess of 40+mph were recorded at my local weather station.
Just did a quick visual assessment. Most of the panicles have been wiped clean of any fruit set on my mango trees. A few are still hanging on. We won’t know the true extent of the damage for a few more days I suppose.
The interior part of the State got into the low 20’s. Likely to be catastrophic for many tropical tree growers. Decorative palms will be toast. Sadly; it’s expected to be even colder tonight.
Just did a quick visual assessment. Most of the panicles have been wiped clean of any fruit set on my mango trees. A few are still hanging on. We won’t know the true extent of the damage for a few more days I suppose.
The interior part of the State got into the low 20’s. Likely to be catastrophic for many tropical tree growers. Decorative palms will be toast. Sadly; it’s expected to be even colder tonight.
re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted by wiltznucs on 1/30/26 at 6:13 pm to LanierSpots
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it will be hard to find a palm tree anywhere for sale this summer/
Expecting the same for many tropical fruit trees too. People will be looking to offload cold burned and damaged trees in the coming days. May be some deals to be had. I’ve already lost two. My potted Mahachanok and Pineapple Pleasure mangos bit the dust after the last cold front. Moving my few remaining inside the house tomorrow.
I visited my local fruit tree nursery yesterday afternoon. They’ve had a really rough go of it over the last year or so. The nursery is on a small lake which flooded during Hurricane Milton and had saltwater intrusion. She lost quite a few trees on the lowest part of the property after that.
More recently, the near freezing temperatures have done a number on the mangoes, lychees, papayas and bananas. I suspect the next week or so is going to be brutal for them. They’ve got 1,000+ trees in pots ranging from 3 gallon all the way up to 60 gallons covering several acres. There’s just no really practical way to protect them all. They are busy trying to lay them all down and protect them with sheets; but, leaf burn is already present on many and there’s lots of trees without leaves already which will almost assuredly die.
They are calling for an outside chance of snow here Saturday night. Wild times.
More recently, the near freezing temperatures have done a number on the mangoes, lychees, papayas and bananas. I suspect the next week or so is going to be brutal for them. They’ve got 1,000+ trees in pots ranging from 3 gallon all the way up to 60 gallons covering several acres. There’s just no really practical way to protect them all. They are busy trying to lay them all down and protect them with sheets; but, leaf burn is already present on many and there’s lots of trees without leaves already which will almost assuredly die.
They are calling for an outside chance of snow here Saturday night. Wild times.
Fingers crossed. I’m taking an “only the strong survive” approach at the moment. We’re expecting to drop to 29-31 overnight here in my part of Tampa Bay both Sunday and Monday mornings.
It won’t stay there for long as it will warm up after a couple of hours. Hopefully we get spared the worst of it. 28 is when I start getting really concerned.
The central part of the state is going into the low to mid 20’s. It’s going to kill a lot of tropical fruit trees, potentially some citrus and lots of decorative palms, etc.
It won’t stay there for long as it will warm up after a couple of hours. Hopefully we get spared the worst of it. 28 is when I start getting really concerned.
The central part of the state is going into the low to mid 20’s. It’s going to kill a lot of tropical fruit trees, potentially some citrus and lots of decorative palms, etc.
re: Name The Three Most Beautiful Large Cities You’ve Visited & One You Were A Little Let Down
Posted by wiltznucs on 1/27/26 at 5:16 pm to LuckyTiger
Prague - simply gorgeous. My all time favorite European city. Architecture is amazing. The people are warm and inviting.
Rio de Janeiro - not without its issues in terms of crime and safety; but, Ipanema, Copacabana, Leblon, Christ the Redeemer are all pretty awesome. It’s a little slice of paradise with a city thrown on it.
Tokyo - the sheer scale of it is still mindblowing to me. Very clean with a cool mix of modern buildings and ancient shrines and castles. It’s a different sort of beauty compared to places in Europe.
Let down…
Beijing - don’t get me wrong; I had a blast; but, it doesn’t take long to get away from the modern buildings and into some pretty dirty slums. The air quality issues and pollution are very apparent. Glad to have visited; won’t ever go back.
Rio de Janeiro - not without its issues in terms of crime and safety; but, Ipanema, Copacabana, Leblon, Christ the Redeemer are all pretty awesome. It’s a little slice of paradise with a city thrown on it.
Tokyo - the sheer scale of it is still mindblowing to me. Very clean with a cool mix of modern buildings and ancient shrines and castles. It’s a different sort of beauty compared to places in Europe.
Let down…
Beijing - don’t get me wrong; I had a blast; but, it doesn’t take long to get away from the modern buildings and into some pretty dirty slums. The air quality issues and pollution are very apparent. Glad to have visited; won’t ever go back.
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