Introducing myself to Scott's forum

Thanks JCT!

Right now I’ve got:
Angie, Cogshall, and Edward Mango; Oliver Loquat; Lara Starfruit; Sweetheart Lychee; Variegated Lemon; Thai Lessard Sugar Apple; Fuyu Persimmon (about to be removed for zero fruit production here in 10b); Surinam Cherry; and a zillion figs including I258, Galicia Negra, JH Adriatic, Smith, Black Madeira KK, and on and on and on.

I also have a relative relocating to a cool winter climate for retirement (here in South Florida, we don’t really have winter) and I’ve been asked to help with the new, small backyard orchard. So, I’m particularly interested in the appropriate techniques for such a climate, as well as any and all info regarding stuff I can’t really grow down this far south like pomegranates, nectarines, peaches, feijoas, etc.

Of course, when it comes to tropicals and figs, I’ll help where I can. I’ve still got tons to learn.

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Hi Levar! I’m from Miami . . . grew up in Opa-Locka, actually - in the 1960s. It was sort of the ‘end of the world’ back then, in Miami. We had moved there from Chicago, and my dad immediately put a loquat tree, a grapefruit, and an orange tree in our backyard. That was simply amazing to us, coming from the north.
I left - as soon as I could - (!) right after high school . . . and headed to U of F. South Florida was already getting so crowded - and I wanted to be in a place with, what I called, REAL DIRT.
Was wondering . . .
Have you tried to grow Passion Fruit vines? My mother in law had some of those and they were simply gorgeous and had wonderful fruit, too. We have managed to keep a loquat tree alive, up here in Va, in our yard. It is close to the house . . . and is doing well, actually. I doubt that we will get fruit. But, my son has one, near the ocean in VA Beach . . . not far from my house - and he had fruit on his! I say ‘had’ . . . because the fruit was there in the morning. Then the birds showed up. And all the fruit was gone gone gone!
Glad to have a Florida guy, here on the forum! - Karen in Virginia

Hey Karen,

I completely understand your move to VA. Here, if it’s not limestone, it’s dirty sand. “Sandy soil” doesn’t quite cut it.

But yes! Passion Fruits grow exceptionally well in Miami and I was growing two: my favorite (Purple Possum), which died recently, and another monster grower which I had to remove. It bore huge yellow, sour fruits and had out of control vines about and inch and a half thick. It was beeeaaautiful but absolutely unmanageable.

What are some of your favorites for VA?

Well . . . I have tried to grow lots of different things, here in VA. Vegetables, of course. Those have dwindled to a small list of things that do well, without it being a ‘fight to the finish’. We grow tomatoes. Cucumbers. Maybe some peppers. We play with potatoes - a treasure hunt if things go well! So much fun.

As far as fruit ‘attempts’. Oh boy. Peaches. Plums. Nectarines. Watermelon & Canteloupe. Raspberries / Blueberries / Blackberries / Scuppernong Grapes. It takes spray to keep the bug-a-boos at bay, with stone fruit. And fungus is a battle, at times, with others. But the most successful and gratifying fruit crop for me, has been pomegranates.

It is nothing short of magical, to pick your own pomegranate off of your own tree! There were many false starts. Diebacks and just flat-out-deaths. But, finally 2 ‘bushes’ took off. One is a Wonderful (like in the stores) and the other, which does even better - a variety called Grenada.
So - this year, I decided to go further with the pomegranates . . . and ordered over a dozen varieties that are ‘supposed’ to do well in my climate. Right now I am obsessing over preparing the ‘holes’ with amendments and drainage help - so that when my plants are ready to be planted, in April - all I will have to do is ‘tuck them in’.

Being part of this forum has taught me so much, and introduced me to new ‘friends’, who share my Pomegranate Craziness. We are trading shoots, to propagate - and not always having to buy plants (at high prices) from nurseries . Many people have been very generous - and patient! They are more evolved in their journey with pomegranates - and I enjoy hearing about their successes.
It has been a lot of fun! I hope that you will find some more people, with similar climates and plant interests.

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Hello everyone, I’m new to the forum and just wanted to say thanks for all of your contributions, I really like the site and hope to be contributing some good content in the future as well!

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Welcome Bop, yes, it is a very nice forum, I have learned lots in the almost two years I’ve been on here.

Would you mind telling us a little about yourself? What part of the country are you, and maybe what kind of stuff you’re growing, and/or planning on growing?

Enjoy your time here!

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He’s our new closest friend

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Thanks, sure thing! I’m from WV, around the Huntington area, zone 6B here too. I love growing just about anything, but for the last year or two I’ve been focusing most of my time on cold hardy varieties of figs, pomegranates, and citrus in particular. I’m big into carnivorous plants, apples/pears/prunus spp. and mycology as well. Hillbillyhort recommended this site to me a week or so ago, and in that week or two I think I may have bookmarked more topics than I’ll be able to read in a few months - a really good problem to have!

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OK, cool, so the three of us are almost neighbors. It takes us about an hour to get to Huntington from here, about 50 miles.

We’re also growing a bunch of apples, and a few pears and peaches here in NE Kentucky. This year I’m concentrating on adding berry plants, mostly rasps, and thornless blackberries.

This time two years ago, we had ZERO new fruit plants/trees, just some real old apple, cherry and persimmon trees. Now, well, you can see on my profile what we have now. I may need help…

@speedster1 is another WV guy on here, he’s up close to Morgantown. @BobC is in SE Ohio, so he’s relatively closeby.

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Welcome. Glad to see another WV fruit grower here! Even if you are in herd territory :wink:

I’m interested in hearing about your Poms. Are you growing them in-ground or in pots? I’ve tossed around the idea of getting the most cold hardy pom I can find and planting it in-ground. I’ve had enough of pot culture with my figs. What pom varieties have you grown and what do you recommend?

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YES! Another pom person! Welcome to the forum! :grin: It’s so beautiful out where you live, near Huntington.

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’Herd’? . . . . didn’t you meant to say ‘NERD’?!?!?!?!? Well, I’ve been accused of worse! And I’ll never come close to my husband, who is into coins&stamps! I like to refer to my gardening obsessions as a Healthy Addiction.

You guys are lucky to have other fruit forum people nearby. @JustAnne4 and I are the only ones out here in this eastern part of VA. I think the next closest person is about 5 hours from us. We wish there was a way to get together and do a ‘meet&greet’ and be able to swap plants, etc.

Question for everybody:
Does anyone else keep getting that message to put all your comments in one post? Quite frankly, I don’t see others doing that. I ‘glumped’ all my reactions to the few previous posts together this time . . . cause I’m ‘one of those kids who always at least tries to follow the rules’. I don’t really see the point, on this one, though.

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Welcome aboard, you will find this place to be a very friendly and informative site!

Bob
S.E. Ohio

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“Herd territory” refers to Marshall University in Huntington. They’re referred to as the “Rumbling Herd”, as in buffaloes or similar.

@speedster1 is in “Neer territory”, as in WVU Mountaineers, in Morgantown.

Altho, we are all kinda fruit nerds as well…

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“wish there was a way to get together and do a ‘meet&greet’ and be able to swap plants, etc.”
Love this idea !

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Poms are in pots so far, I plan on eventually getting some in the ground when they’re a good bit bigger. I have a cold frame I use to house all of the figs and poms right now while they are smaller. I have a radiant heater set up in the cold frame to supplement the heat when it gets down to the low 20’s. So far, they’re too small for me to really evaluate, but I’m guessing ‘Favorite’ will be a good one. I plan on putting in an order at Green Sea for a bunch more of the Iranian and Russian ones sometime this year, I’ve got a list of about 15 or 20 to narrow down haha…

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Ah come on Bob. It’s “EERS”, not “NEERS”… :smile:

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@Hillbillyhort, and @bopcrane, do y’all watch WSAZ (NBC channel 3)? Their home and garden guy John Marra has a lot of useful tips on fruit trees/plants, lawns and veggies. He’s usually on the noontime broadcast.

OK, alright.

Although Sat night it was Wildcat territory…

I watched the game, secretly rooting against UK as my wife is a big Cat fan. I just like to be a contrarian. I shouldn’t be like that, she knows I’m a huge Sooners fan, and she’s become since we got married.

Yeah! At work the TV is always on WSAZ. I sent John Marra a few emails and he seems like a genuinely nice guy

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