Welcome to the Manatee County Rare Fruit Council Website.

I had been given a small pond apple tree (Annona Glabra) and wasn't quite sure what to do with it.  Pond apple is a native in Florida and, while some people eat them, it is not highly regarded compared to its delicious relatives Atemoya (a hybrid between cherimoya and sugar apple) and cherimoya (Annona Cherimola).  I decided it could be happy in a ditch that drains overflow from my little pond, so planted it there.  The tree really took off, and in a few years was bearing and had a six inch trunk.  Since I didn't like the fruit, I decided to try grafting a cherimoya onto it.

Grafting better annonas onto pond apple has met with mixed results.  Sometimes, the grafted tree will wilt and die after a seemingly good start.  I cut away the major trunks of the tree and left only a single branch about an inch in diameter to graft to.  I used an approach graft, in which the scion is left attached to its source, the potted cherimoya sat beneath the pond apple.  After about four weeks, the graft had taken, and the potted scion plant was cut away.  So far, so good.  The scion has put on about a foot of growth and looks quite healthy.  In the current wet weather, the pond apple trunk is actually submerged, but a pond apple has no problem with that.  The battle to forbid new growth on the rootstock will continue for a time until the cherimoya is clearly dominant.

If this graft survives, I will quickly have a large bearing cherimoya, pushed by the massive root system of the old pond apple.  Stay tuned.

Pete Ray

I recently got an email which has been around for a while, espousing the benefits of Bounce brand fabric softener sheets for 22 uses, other than use in a dryer to soften fabrics.  Snopes.com published an evaluation by some non-expert which asserted that it didn't work for most of these uses.  The official Bounce website doesn't confirm nor deny that it works for these uses. Several of the suggested uses  claimed  that it would repel insects, so I decided to look for myself.

First, I wanted to see if it would have any effect on fire ants, the claim being that ants would be driven away if a sheet was laid nearby.  I carefully laid a sheet atop a fire ant mound, being careful not to disturb them.  Next morning, I returned, hoping to find that the mound had been abandoned.  The ants had buried the sheet and incorporated it into the mound.

Next question was whether it might keep ants from biting me.  Results here were uncertain, but not entirely negative.  I slipped a sheet into my shoe, and put my foot on a mound for about thirty seconds.  The ants crawled on my shoe, my sock and the sheet, but when I removed my foot and brushed away the ants as quickly as I could, I was only bitten a couple of times.  Next day, without the Bounce, I inadvertently stepped on a mound.  I was bitten lots of times, but didn't start trying to get rid of them until the chief ant had given the bite signal.  So, an uncertain result, but probably not worth the trouble.  Keeping your eyes open and staying out of mounds is a better bet.

Another claim was that it repels mosquitoes.  Mosquitoes are here, but at the moment not a major problem for me.  Right now, the deer fly population is winding down, and no see ums only bother me in the cooler months.  The bug of the moment is gnats, who want to enter my ear and explore my brain.  I put a bounce sheet in my cap and was working with a helper who didn't have Bounce.  My helper seemed to generally notice more mosquitoes, gnats and deer flies than I, but it really wasn't a very buggy day.  This I would say might be worth the bother, as I experienced almost no bug problems.  I intend to try this from time to time when there is more of a bug problem.  If it can discourage no see ums on a cool still day when they can be unbearable, I would much prefer it to a DEET based repellent (e.g.Off!), or Avon Skin-so-Soft.  The latter really works, but that aroma would repel anything.

Pete Ray

When .the Emperor Lychee was introduced in South Florida by Bill Whitman, the legendary plantsman, there was great enthusiasm.  This cultivar has a dwarf growth habit, larger size fruit, and a somewhat later season than most other varieties.  The season, like that of all lychees, is short, and it does have a rather large seed along with the large fruit.

The tree was rather a disappointment in South Florida.  It didn't do well, probably because it was unhappy in the alkaline limestone soils found there.  But here in Southwest Florida, it is nicely adapted.  It does well as a container plant, being of small stature.  As lychees go, it has cold tolerance about as good as other varieties.  My three emperors survived the hard winter just passed, though with some damage.  In South Florida, lychees are seldom damaged by freezing weather, but there often is not enough cold to stimulate fruiting.  Here, they fruit nicely, but the price is often freeze damage.

In the opinion of some, Emperor is inferior in flavor to other varieties.  I don't find this to be so.  Left on the tree, Emperors will develop a beautiful red color.  However, best flavor is obtained by harvesting a week or so before maximum color happens.  Of course, it's a great advantage that Emperors usually are ready after most other varieties are finished for the year.

Pete Ray

Our September 2010 Newsletter is available (in pdf format) online. members receive printed versions as well. Find out what went on at the last MRFC meeting, and what events we have in store this year.
 

Annual Tree Sale — May 16th 2010

Manatee Civic Center
Haben Blvd. and US 41/301 Palmetto
click here for more details

MRFC is getting a new website design, including fresh content, and features. Keeping our club connected and sharing current information is paramount. Please send your website comments and suggestions to us by Clicking Here.

* Please note: During this transition time some features may be unavailable.

Manatee County IFAS now has a website. Click here to view. This website is a rich resource for news, and articles pertaining to our tropical fruit tree hobby.

New Membership Form: We have updated our membership form, please note the dues changes. Click here.

Past years newsletters are now available for online reading. Please take a moment to browse this wealth of information. Click here.

Notice: Fruitilizer for Sale!
Contact Al Semago at (941) 725-3273 to arrange to pick it up.