High density fruit tree planting and zone pushing

i was thinking of interplanting bananas and moringa throughout the backyard mainly for chop and drop, would provide good nutrients for the other trees. people plant banana circles here in Florida but i think they are better interplanted throughout the yard.

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looks like a lot of work, wouldnā€™t shielding interfere with the radiofrequency signals the sensors have to transmit?

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I donā€™t think it makes much sense trying to add shielding to the sensors that you are using, but the more high-end/professional weather stations all include shielding on their thermometers for this reason. I think for your existing setup, itā€™s more just that you should be aware of this possible source of inaccurate readings on clear/cold nights.

In my case, itā€™s a DIY setup where I started with a little electronic chip without any kind of housing, so I just designed it with shielding in mind when I decided how to enclose it. Hereā€™s the thread with details for my setup:

The actual computer that is transmitting the readings is on the other side of the wall, with wires running out to the temperature chip.

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Richard, you might be overestimating it.


Seconded!

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Rose apples, star fruit?

Also, checkout this guy on Etsy. He sells some interesting tropicals and based in Florida.I have purchased a few plants from him and they have done well.https://www.etsy.com/shop/GrowerJim

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Does this mean VdB doesnā€™t respond with vigorous growth when pruned heavily unlike other figs?

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My VdB has been a very slow grower and seems to be the most prone to frost damage. I rooted a cutting 2 years ago and itā€™s still barely more than a few sticks, after getting frost-pruned last year and it looks like itā€™s lost the growing tips again this year. Iā€™ll try feeding it more this year to see if that helps, but I do agree itā€™s my slowest growing fig out of about a dozen varieties I started from cuttings at that same time.

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I have a friend with a VDB tree, it was huge and she had it cut to nothing couple of years back. It has come back nicely.

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Iā€™m glad to hear they can be vigorous! To show you what I mean about my one anecdotal situation, hereā€™s the VdB that I planted about 2 years ago after rooting indoors over the winter:

By contrast, this buried 64 gal tub has three other fig varieties in it that were planted at the same time, you can see the slight difference in vigor:

Those are RdB, Olympian, and Parise Purple.

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interesting, I canā€™t explain how her tree grew that big (you can see the chopped trunk in the picture). I think the old one was 15-20 yrs old, the new trunk you see in the picture is 2 yrs old.

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Could be misidentified, or maybe just made it to a sufficient size of root ball to support more vigorous growth.

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Chilean guava would likely do well for you.

How about some loquats?

Amongst your citrus do you have sudachi? Itā€™s very good, small floral lime. Very cold hardy. Some sources say a few seeds but so far mine produce seedless fruit. No idea why.

i was looking into ugni molinae and luma apiculata but a few Floridians said it does not grow here due to the high humidity. i have loquats. and lots of citrus, most citrus do well here.

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i have a potted kari star fruit, will possibly plant it in the ground in the future.

I struggle with Chilean guava but I finally have two established, I think for warm east coast climates the key is plenty of water especially during the heat. Also definitely they cannot handle our full sun, if you can tuck them away in a wet partial shade spot and baby them during the summers, you can likely get them established. I think they are much more easily suited for the pnw and uk type climates, however this isnā€™t the rule. I think you can make most things work in a lot of climates (within reason) but it depends how much effort youā€™re willing to put into it (winter/summer protections, watering schedules, structures built around them, soil amendments or changing even) but most people want to be able to plant something and it thrive or die in whatever conditions you have.

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They enjoy the humidity, itā€™s the heat that kills them. You have to treat them like bananas with water in the heat, in my short term experience with them. But I think our climates are pretty comparable. They wonā€™t have an issue in any season with summer being the hurdle, maybe keep one potted and move it around the yard until it seems happy and plant it there? Morning sun afternoon shade seems to be the sweet spot for me

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what zone and state are you in? seems like you are growing things similar to me?

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found two different dates where it went to the upper teens (again average low, other areas could have been colder) in Fort Walton Beach & Navarre, both towns have similar temps, both considered 9a.
Navarre January 18, 2018 Historical Weather (Florida, United States) - Weather Spark Fort Walton Beach December 24, 2022 Historical Weather (Florida, United States) - Weather Spark

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North Carolina also newly upgraded to 9a from 8b with the Atlantic Ocean to my east and smaller body of water to my west. The Gulf Stream goes really close to the shore here causing this strip of barrier islands be the warmest location in the state. My bananas didnā€™t do well this year due to our unseasonably cold spring and really limited rainfall for the area. I will go back to protecting them next winter to try to get a few harvests, but I was pretty discouraged this year as they didnā€™t grow fast at all. I have dwarf cavendish, Orinoco, Kokopo and Blue Java. If they underperform again Iā€™ll likely give up on bananas as they take up too much of my limited space to be so unproductive. We only had two dips into the 20s which didnā€™t last long at all. Only a couple frosts but pretty normal winter, lots of wind and 50s

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Itā€™s pretty funny the range of places that have that honor. I think I might win (lose?) as the coldest ā€œnew 9aā€ climate, though.

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