wiltznucs

Market volatility due to people taking into consideration the recent job losses, AI pullout continues, economists expecting slow retail holiday spending and the likelihood that the Fed may not cut rates in December.

If you have time and are looking for a memorable meal; be sure to hit up Fogon Asado…

quote:

---

That 150k number isn’t jobs lost — it’s planned layoffs. Net employment fell by maybe 9k. Always check what the stat actually measures before declaring a collapse.

---

My point remains the same. Employers boosting paper profits by layoffs as a means to disguise no actual growth combined with less people earning money which they can spend. What kind of NewsMax hot take is this shite? Mass layoffs be it planned or otherwise are harmful if your countries GDP is effectively entirely dependent on consumer spending as ours is?

quote:

---

The S&P is up 17%. How is every thing struggling?

---

Many of those beats are almost entirely the result of layoffs/payroll reduction. Not actual growth.

The $USD is down 10-11%. Most say that by time you consider that devaluation the market is only up 3-4.5% on the year. Making it the weakest positive gain in a decade?

Without reading the article; I’ll simply say that having lived through the Dot-Com bubble of 95-00’ this all feels very familiar.

I was fresh out of college, earning more than my parents combined and watched all of my 401K contributions disappear in no time flat because tech was hot and I dumped all my money into it.

My best friend’s wife worked for WorldCom. A company playing fast and loose with their data and reporting. She was paid very well and they were living the good life. Until they weren’t; her bonuses and wealth were largely in company stock. When the company went bankrupt they were left effectively destitute. She ultimately committed suicide a few years later leaving her toddler daughter and pre-school aged son without a mother.

I’m certainly not saying that’s what’s going to happen here; but, if it does I won’t be at all surprised.

Some high winds over the weekend had one Nanwah tree snap under its own weight and hit the ground overnight. Two days later and they are ripening up beautifully.

Banana season is officially upon us.

I tried a few different softnecks last year. Creole Red, Lorz, Themodrone and Blanco Piacenza.

First time growing garlic. From the reading it seemed like it would be easy enough.

I vernalized them in the fridge for 6-8 weeks as the seed cloves arrived. In hindsight; longer may have been better.

They grew; but, overall it was a massive disappointment. I probably didn’t feed them enough and the soil in the raised bed was a bit compact too. They are apparently nutrient hogs. Most failed to produce multiple cloves and instead grew like an onion with one single bulb. All were quite small.

The Thermadrone and Creole Red varieties did much better than the others. Larger and better developed.

I’m about to plant elephant garlic next week. Keep in mind it’s actually a member of the leek family and not a true garlic. In order to develop multiple cloves it takes two full years in most growing zones.

There’s dozens of different banana types out there. Some edible species and some that are decorative. Identifying them based on the flower and leaves is nearly impossible.

If it does produce fruit; you can often narrow it down based on their color, size and the way bunches are distributed.

I’ve got three Namwahs holding fruit right now! Ready for them to be ready. Probably 2-3 weeks away from ripening. Will post pics tomorrow.

My Lemon Zest mango has really exploded with new growth after a year of doing absolutely nothing. Hopeful that 26’ gives me fruit for the first time. The Sri Lankan weevils have gave it hell. Killing them on a daily basis right now.

Orange Sherbet gave me fruit this year; but, had issues with insects. Ants absolutely attacked that particular tree. They find a small fissure in the fruit and wear them out before they are ripe.

The mango tree that has really exploded is CAC. I planted it as a modest 15g tree last Summer and it’s now easily 8 feet tall and equally wide. It’s going to be a problem without judicious pruning next year.

My Cecilove has grown perhaps 2 inches in the past two years. I’m debating ripping it out and replacing it with Coconut Cream.

With some luck I’ll get more mangoes next year than this year. I’ll let a few trees produce that I held back this year.

I’m hopeful that two years later my avocados will finally produce. The Simmonds and Brogdon are now 4-6’ tall and should be ready.

quote:

---

Have you tried out any true lemons, like Lisbon or Eureka? Meyer has too much mandarin DNA and gets killed by HLB.

---

I’m honestly having very little luck with citrus. The Sun Limes have done okay. The one in the pic is in the ground and gets irrigation. It has a less dense and more leggy canopy which produces fewer fruits but of larger and better quality than its counterpart in a 15g pot. The potted one is very dense and produces lots of fruit; albeit much smaller. They are nutrient hogs and like lots of nitrogen.

My Giant Australian Fingerlime died within a few months. In its native territory; those things are basically weeds. Growing in arid understory conditions. I theorize the intense Florida sun and often windy conditions where it was planted proved too much for mine.

I have a Persian Lime and a Dwarf Meyer. Both in pots. The Meyer has fared better of the two. About 3 feet tall and neither has produced fruit. Leaf miners and greening likely an issue.

I have a SugarBelle in the ground. I planted it as a 15g tree about one year ago. About 4 feet tall. It’s really not shown much vegetative growth. Transplant shock is a thing; I’m hoping 26’ kicks it into action. They are delicious and have shown very good HLB resistance.

HLB is a real problem here in Florida. Some new data suggests injecting the trees with Oxytetracycline offers some relief and produces better fruit. An older commercial orange breed known as the Donaldson has also shown good resistance and is making a comeback.

I’m afraid the damage is largely already done. Citrus has declined so much here; the old groves are worth more for residential/commercial development and imported citrus is both cheaper and often better. I don’t see it making a meaningful comeback.

On a more fun note; I sourced a Red Dacca banana tree today to fill the spot left by the dead papaya tree. So new stuff going in soon.