[Food] Production - Trees Pt. 2

[furrybill]

Does anyone have experience with paw-paw trees? I ordered a couple this past winter and one of them showed up DOA. Or so I thought. I happened to leave it in a bucket with some water and a couple weeks ago a little shoot came up! So I transplanted it to a 5 gallon bucket, gave it some shady light and kept watering it. Now there are 2 more shoots coming up. Here's my question - I'm going to overwinter these in our heated garage and hopefully move them outside next spring. But do I now have 3 paw-paw trees in this bucket, i.e. can I somehow split them apart and plant separately or will the shock of pulling apart the roots kill all of them? Do I HAVE to clip the 2 smallest shoots to guarantee at least one of them survives? Anyone run into this before?

[PeakOiler]

Soon I will set up some bird netting around two of my pecan trees. I have to install some temporary fence posts around each tree and tie the netting up between the posts and the trunk of the tree. I want to impede any raccoons or other starving critters from getting to the nuts forming on the trees.

I moved the potted avocado tree under the eave of the roof of the house so it will only get direct sunlight part of the day. The nearly constant blue skies, temperatures over 100 F in the last few weeks, low humidity, all has been tough on that little tree. It is losing some leaves and putting out some new leaves at the same time.

[papa moose]

.
We have avocado trees here ( Latitude 33 /50 South )
they grow fine and fruit most years but the fruits never rippen
be careful too , Avocado tree can grow huge

Sparky what's the deal with them not ripening, do you know?
Our neighbours have a huge avocado which over hangs our block and drops a lot of fruit which never seem to ripen.
I've tried keeping on the kitchen bench for a few weeks to no avail.
I'd ask the neighbours but it is a rental property and tenants have just recently moved in.

[yeahbut]

Sparky what's the deal with them not ripening, do you know?
Our neighbours have a huge avocado which over hangs our block and drops a lot of fruit which never seem to ripen.
I've tried keeping on the kitchen bench for a few weeks to no avail.
I'd ask the neighbours but it is a rental property and tenants have just recently moved in.

Hey pm, g'day from NZ. Avocados don't ripen on the tree, they must be picked in order to ripen. However, if they are picked too early they won't ripen, so that is probably what has happened in your case- try again in a couple of weeks. It is a bit strange that the tree is dropping so much fruit, they don't usually do that, has it been really dry or something where you are? The property of not ripening on the tree is actually a great feature of avocados, because it means you can use the tree as a storage larder. Unfortunately they are a favourite of rats, but a broad metal band around the trunk of the tree will stop the little buggers getting up and helping themselves.

[PrestonSturges]

Does anyone have experience with paw-paw trees? I ordered a couple this past winter and one of them showed up DOA. Or so I thought. I happened to leave it in a bucket with some water and a couple weeks ago a little shoot came up! So I transplanted it to a 5 gallon bucket, gave it some shady light and kept watering it. Now there are 2 more shoots coming up. Here's my question - I'm going to overwinter these in our heated garage and hopefully move them outside next spring. But do I now have 3 paw-paw trees in this bucket, i.e. can I somehow split them apart and plant separately or will the shock of pulling apart the roots kill all of them? Do I HAVE to clip the 2 smallest shoots to guarantee at least one of them survives? Anyone run into this before?

American paw-paw (A. triloba) ?

If so, just leave it be. Their roots are a fine mesh that generally don't like to be disturbed. A multistemmed paw-paw patch can be like a bamboo grove. It needs >50% sun to get tall, but may require shade in year one.

[papa moose]

Sparky what's the deal with them not ripening, do you know?
Our neighbours have a huge avocado which over hangs our block and drops a lot of fruit which never seem to ripen.
I've tried keeping on the kitchen bench for a few weeks to no avail.
I'd ask the neighbours but it is a rental property and tenants have just recently moved in.

Hey pm, g'day from NZ. Avocados don't ripen on the tree, they must be picked in order to ripen. However, if they are picked too early they won't ripen, so that is probably what has happened in your case- try again in a couple of weeks. It is a bit strange that the tree is dropping so much fruit, they don't usually do that, has it been really dry or something where you are? The property of not ripening on the tree is actually a great feature of avocados, because it means you can use the tree as a storage larder. Unfortunately they are a favourite of rats, but a broad metal band around the trunk of the tree will stop the little buggers getting up and helping themselves.

Okay thanks for the advice.
It is pretty dry here in Perth. I believe we are into our 32 year of official drought, which is kind of weird as it has been raining most of the week, but you know the saying about lies, damn lies and statistics.
When i say it's dropping a lot of fruit that's probably a very vague measurement considering i've never seen an avocado tree before this one and this one is a pretty darn big tree.

[yeahbut]

Okay thanks for the advice.
It is pretty dry here in Perth. I believe we are into our 32 year of official drought, which is kind of weird as it has been raining most of the week, but you know the saying about lies, damn lies and statistics.
When i say it's dropping a lot of fruit that's probably a very vague measurement considering i've never seen an avocado tree before this one and this one is a pretty darn big tree.

32 years!?! When does it stop being a drought and become the new normal?

That's a great sounding tree your neighbours have got there. I've seen some big avos up north, they say that the fruit can actually number in the thousands when they get to that size. Quite a good survival resource if it came down to it.

[Shaved Monkey]

Try putting an avo in a paper bag with a ripe banana
That should ripen it.
Once ripe they will keep in the fridge for a few weeks
But they wont ripen in the fridge.

[RedStateGreen]

I have recently planted a Brown Turkey fig, a pomegranate, and two banana trees. Also, my potted Meyeri Lemon has set two lemons after several years of nothing. I think it's finally got itself sorted out.

[PeakOiler]

Today I dug a couple more shallow post holes and finished putting in some temporary 4' posts for supporting some netting tied around the trunks of two young pecan trees. I'm trying to impede a squirrel I recently spotted from eating the not-quite-ready pecans.

A few of the nuts have begun falling from the trees, but the hulls have not opened yet. Pecans are best when the hulls have split open while they're still on the tree, dropping the nuts. The netting around one tree has caught some of the nuts.

The pecans generally look smaller this year because of the drought. Four of six pecan trees did not produce any nuts this year.

Shelled pecans have a caloric value of about 6.9 calories per gram, one of the most energy dense foods I have come across.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

Nuts, pecans  (1)
Refuse: 47%  (Shells)
Scientific Name:  Carya illinoinensis
(Nutrient values and weights are for edible portion)

Nutrient Units
Value per 100 grams
Energy: 691 kcal

[Pretorian]

Hi, I wonder if pecan's wood is of any value? Were your trees grafted or not, and how much care do you give them in terms of time and $?

[PeakOiler]

Hi, I wonder if pecan's wood is of any value? Were your trees grafted or not, and how much care do you give them in terms of time and $?

See

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecan

There are some good pictures of pecan trees at the reference above.

In addition to the pecan nut, the wood is also used in making furniture, in wood flooring, as well as flavoring fuel for smoking meats.

A review of this thread will give you more details of the efforts I've put into the pecan trees. I bought 5 of 6 of the trees at the Home Depot and I think they were all grafted trees. Installing (burying) the 3/4" PVC irrigation pipe from the rainwater collection system was a lot of work. I just wish I had some rainwater! Using the city's water for irrigation reduces the EROEI from the trees.

[PrestonSturges]

I have about 30 apples on the Arkansas Black tree and about 60 Jiro persimmons, with both trees in the 3rd year of bearing. That's over $100 worth of fruit.

I thinned the Asian persimmon fruit about 20% early in the year, probably should have thinned it more. Even a large tree is supposed to bear about 300 fruit max, so this one is overloaded. But it's staked up with heavy wall conduit, so there's no danger of it falling over.

The Meader persimmon finally got growing this year after doing almost nothing for two seasons. It has about 30 fruit which are much better quality than previous years.

The So jujube finally came through with about 80 fruit an inch across.

I should look into getting another apple tree, something earlier.

[PeakOiler]

...And here's a picture of the west side of the house... ("I certainly didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!"):



Note the blue skies which have been nearly continuous for six months or more. The grass and weeds are brown and crunchy, essentially dead from the record heat and drought, except for right around the base of each tree. You can see the posts that have black netting tied to them and secured to the chain link fence. You can't see the netting in the shadows though.

There are some pecans (still in their husks) and will be harvested in the next 3-4 weeks if the tree doesn't drop them prematurely and the squirrel doesn't get them. There are a few dozen on this tree.



Meanwhile, some of the satsuma (tangerines) are hanging in there:



About a dozen are on this little tree. If they survive, the tangerines will be harvested before Thanksgiving.

[PrestonSturges]

Hang in there PeakOiler! The drought will eventually end, and what does not kill your trees will make them stronger. As they get older, they will need a lot less care. And there's probably not any insect pests left in a hundred miles

[PeakOiler]

I'm sad to report that my pecan tree shown above was raided by, I suspect, raccoons. They took nearly all the pecans off the tree in just one night in an apparent raid. They're starving critters. I guess I should buy some traps since the netting wasn't enough to stop the varmints from stealing my pecans!

Coupled with the drought, the pecan harvest this year will be nearly a complete bust for my six young pecans trees.

[Shaved Monkey]

All my citrus are in flower right now
It smells fantastic when you walk past
The most flower I've ever seen
Lets hope it converts to fruit

[PeakOiler]

Good luck with your citrus, Shaved Monkey. I've been enjoying the satsuma mandarins lately. I've learned that I can have one per day without spiking my glucose.

Meanwhile, I came across this article:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/08/markets/pecan_prices_increase/index.htm

Pecan prices set to pop 22%

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- You might have to pay more for your pecan pie this Thanksgiving holiday. The tasty tree nuts are in tight supply in the U.S. thanks to a crop-damaging drought and a jump in demand from Chinese consumers.
Pecan prices are expected to hit $11 per pound or more this year in supermarkets, according to Jeff Worn, vice president of South Georgia Pecan Company. That's up 22% from 2010. And prices have soared 57% percent since 2009, when pecans retailed for $7 per pound, Worn explained.

I wish the critters hadn't stolen the few dozen pecans from my trees...

[Shaved Monkey]

My Pecan is still too small to have any nuts,my macadamias usually have a few,but they take a few years to really get going too.
I have planted well over 100 pecan trees for a friend down the road, his should start producing in a few years too. Its a good area for Pecans here.
I just ordered a truck load off Sugar cane mulch and a pallet load of mushroom compost to be delivered next week. Both cane and mushroom farms are an hour south of here.
I will put a few mushroom bags under the house and pick some mushrooms first, which will almost pay for the bags just on savings
If this combined with the 4 tonne of cow manure and crushed granite dust, doesn't turn my block into the most productive orchard in the area I don't know what will.
I will be preparing the ground for my next fruit tree purchases
A Rollinia
http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/fruit%20p ... llinia.htm
A few Cherry of the Rio Grande
http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/fruit%20p ... yofrio.htm
a Panama berry
http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/fruit%20pages/panama.htm
and a tropical pear
http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/plant/Tropical-Pear.htm
and tropical apple.
http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/plant/Apple-Tropical.htm

[PrestonSturges]

I picked all my Jiro persimmons, got about 20 lbs. I think the tree was grafted 4 years ago.