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Tropical Fruit Club Newsletter
September 2007
Officers:
President: Ervin Jannsen Vice President: Abe White Treasurer: Lincoln Lai Secretaries: Joann Maynard,
Pete von Lersner, Heidi Flinchbaugh, Glenda Haskell Newsletter & Mailing: Pam Flesher
Refreshments: Yolanda Curtis Librarian: Shirley Silvasy
Program: Tony Owen, one of the managers at the Sunniland Corporation in Sanford, will be speaking on plant nutrition.
Tropical Fruit Fest
It was an event that said, “Welcome” in every way. The white linen tables were decorated beautifully with centerpieces of colorful tropical fruit in a basket or bowel set on top of a large Monastera Leaf. The fruit consisted of Pineapples, Finger Bananas, 2 different Florida Avocados, (the huge long one was a Russell Avocado),
a Papaya, Key Limes, a Navel Orange, Longans from Glenda Haskell’s tree, Tamarinds, a Mango and a pretty pink Dragon Fruit.
The tasting table food was provided by the club and club members.There was Jackfruit, Lychees, Mangosteen, Musacdine Grapes and much more. It was like Christmas in August.
Visitors included the Brevard Rare Fruit Council and the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Rare Fruit Council.
The speakers were Bill Heitting, a world-class pickler and Eric Teitig of Pine Island Nursery, Miami.
There were displays by Peter von Lersner on grafting and Norman “Toppy” Feil on tools and fertilizers.
Pam Flesher had displays of the July 2007 International Mango Festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and pictures she had taken of the Tropical Fruit Club at Ed Ensey’s Mango Farm.
The raffle yielded a variety of plants and baked goods, with everyone anxious to win something.
Special thanks to Shirley Silvasy, Pam Flesher, Glenda Haskell, Lincoln and Daphne Lai, Delores Taylor,
Virgil Morar, Yolanda Curtis, Ben Shaddrick, George Sucura and everyone else who helped make this a fantastic and enjoyable event.
Sincerely Submitted, Joann Maynard, Secretary
The Perfect Pickler
For anyone who missed our Sunday meeting on August 19th, we learned about pickling tropical fruits from Bill Hettig. He has a well defined website www.perfectpickler.com with recipes including Green Papaya Slaw, Tropical Fruit Kimchi, and Pickled Fennel and Oranges that he made at the meeting. He has a unique kitchen appliance called "the Perfect Pickler" that makes small batches of pickles using Old World recipes. If you would like to order one there is a special member price of $25.00 (tax included for the unit).
To order, contact Shirley Silvasy at
silvasy@aol.com or 407-482-0042. Please
visit his site at:
www.PerfectPickler.com or contact him at:
bill@perfectpickler.com
It is that time of year again when Persimmons are ripe and ready. My tree is full of fruit. How about yours? Below is an article on Persimmons I thought you would enjoy reading. It is a large article so this will be Persimmons Part One and next month will be Part Two.
Oriental Persimmons in Florida1 E. P. Miller and T. E. Crocker2
HISTORY: Oriental persimmons Diospyros kaki L., have been grown in Florida for many years. At one time there were commercial plantings of astringent types numbering about 22,750 trees. Because of marketing difficulties, this industry ceased. Currently plantings of non-astringent types are increasing and both types of oriental persimmon are a popular dooryard fruit in Florida. Trees grow and fruit best in central and northern Florida and can produce high yields of quality fruit. In south Florida fruit quality is better with astringent types than with the non-astringent ones.
Oriental persimmons were introduced into this country by Commander M. C. Perry in 1856. The U.S. Department of Agriculture imported many trees in the 1870s and planted them in the southern United States. Professor Harold Hume of the University of Florida was one of the first to study the oriental persimmon in America. He developed a classification system in the early 1900s which is the basis for those used today. Hume, along with George Tabor of Glen St. Mary's Nursery, also worked with breeding and cultivar evaluations. Judge Ware and Dr. Robert Dunstan, during the 1960s and 70s, imported and evaluated many important Japanese cultivars. Professor Ralph Sharpe, with the University of Florida, tested, evaluated, and published information on persimmons. During the 1980's newer cultivars, especially non-astringent types, were introduced from Japan and studied in the department of Fruit Crops at the university. Florida has a rich history with oriental persimmons and has been a prominent state for cultivar evaluations.
Many persimmon cultivars exist in Florida from both importations and seedling grown trees. Persimmon names often represent an approximation of the Asiatic names by which the original imported trees were designated. Today, we have a number of cultivars with Asiatic or pseudo-Asiatic names and meanings, as well as some with truly American names. Some of the oriental words used have the following meanings: Kaki or Gaki - persimmon, Wase - early, Hana - flower of, Tanenashi - without seed, Fuyu - winter, Saijo - best, Gosho - imperial palace, Ichi - number one, and Ki - life.
PERSIMMON FRUIT CHARACTERISTICS: Classification: Persimmons are classified into two types based on fruit characteristics. The first classification is of the astringent and non-astringent cultivars. Astringent fruit must be soft or artificially treated before astringency is removed and they are suitable for eating. Fruit of the non-astringent types lose astringency while still hard and can be eaten hard or soft. The second classification relates to fruit flesh color when seeds are present. In pollination-variant types, the flesh is dark and streaked around the seeds, but clear orange when seedless. Pollination-constant types lack the dark streaking regardless of seed set.
In astringent cultivars of the pollination-variant type, the dark flesh is non-astringent even when hard; therefore, seeded, pollination-variant, astringent cultivars perform as non-astringent types. The amount of dark flesh coloration around the seeds varies with cultivars. In most areas of the world, astringent pollination variant types, which have a great degree of dark flesh, are classified as non-astringent cultivars. However, typically in Florida, these persimmons are grown without pollinators and their seedless astringent fruit necessitates classifying them as astringent types. Some dark specks can be found in the flesh of`Fuyu' and other non-astringent cultivars. This is not linked to seed set, and has no significance to the variant-constant classification system.
Ripening: Harvest season for astringent persimmon fruit is just prior to and through the soft stage of fruit development. If picked during this time, the fruit is either soft or will become soft and the astringent tannins are coagulated, making the fruit suitable for eating. Generally, fruit can be picked and softened at room temperature about 7 to 10 days before it would be softening on the tree. The time varies slightly with cultivars, and is about the same for both astringent and non-astringent types. Not all fruit in the crop load develop to this state at the same time. The softening process will be less effective and take longer to occur the earlier the fruit is picked.
Choosing the proper harvest season for non-astringent persimmons is less complicated than for the astringent types, because they can be eaten firm. The astringent tannins are broken down earlier in the fruit development period at a time when the fruit is still hard. They are easier to harvest, store, and market than astringent types, and are very popular in many parts of the world. Fruit are harvested by color and can be rated for ripeness by a color chart. The elimination of green by the increasing development of yellow and/or orange to orange-red is a general indication of marketable fruit.
Softening and astringency removal can be induced by covering the fruit with uncooked dry rice for 3-5 days. Freezing the fruit for 24 hours will have similar results. Ethylene gas can be used to speed up the ripening process and develop more fruit color. Environmental injury, such as picking by birds or scoring by wind, and fruit imperfections such as tip-end cracks, calyx separations, or apical growth rings, will also induce softening. Generally, the further the fruit is from the soft state when the openings or splits occur, the more localized the ripening spot is on the fruit. With growth ring cracks and tip splits the fruit ripen and develop color from the apical end upwards with the opposite true for calyx separations.
Marketing and Use: Marketing astringent persimmons in this country is often difficult. Soft fruit are hard to handle and spoil quickly. Many commercially marketed California astringent persimmons, although attractive, have been picked too early. This does not allow the fruit to lose astringency without treatment, and gives consumers a bad experience, such that they will be reluctant to eat persimmons again. In Japan, to remove astringency, fruit are sprayed with 35-40% ethyl alcohol and placed in a sealed container for 10 days at 69°F.The firm product is of good quality, is easily marketed, and will soon soften.
In this country, the ideal use of astringent persimmons is home consumption, drying, and u-pick operations. In oriental homes, fruit from the garden persimmon tree are pealed, strung or skewered, then hung to dry. Dried fruit are sweet and delicious with the sugar often crystallized on the fruit surface, making the product white and attractive. The dried peal is used as a dyeing agent. In Florida, sun drying of halved or sliced fruit in a glass or polyethylene chamber or commercial food dryer produces a delicious product, ready in 3 to 7 days. The fruit may be sulfur fumigated for better appearance and storage. Drying naturally removes all astringency.
Non-astringent fruit are good for fresh eating and are excellent with pears, dates, apples, citrus, raisins, and/or coconut in salads. They have distinct advantages in marketing and handling because they can be picked earlier and have a longer shelf life. Consumer acceptance is greater because they do not have to be eaten in the "gooey-drippy" state which is objectionable to many people.
Storage: Generally, since astringent persimmons must be soft, or near that state at harvest, they do not store well; however, non-astringent types can store up to 30 days at room temperature. Colors will increase somewhat, sugar will remain the same, and weight will decline 7 to 10%. Only fruit without imperfections store well over a long period. Generally, the early maturing cultivars such as `Izu' have a shorter shelf life than late season ones like `Fuyu'. In Japan, fruit are individually wrapped in thin polyethylene and stored at 32°F for 4-5 months. The fruit will still be of good quality when removed from storage.
Texture: The flesh texture of soft astringent and non-astringent fruit varies considerably. Some fruit like `Saijo' are juicy with a high jelly consistency in the flesh and a translucent, deep-orange appearance. Other fruit like `Great Wall' and `Tanenashi' are pasty, somewhat dry, and opaque. Non-astringent fruit are of best quality when crisp like an apple with juicy, orange flesh and a small jelly area in and around the carpels. Some cultivars are quite stringy with fibers that attach to the calyx and go vertically around the carpel section towards the apical end. They are apparent when fruit are soft-ripe. Peel thickness also varies among cultivars, with `Hiratanenashi' having a thick peel, `Tanenashi' a medium one, and `Saijo' a relative thin one.
Physiological Fruit Imperfections: The most common physiological fruit disorder of astringent types occurs on cultivars with conic or round-conic fruit. The disorder is concentric growth rings that appear as small dark lines around the apical end of the fruit. Uneven ripening occurs when these rings split open in the later stages of fruit development. Separation of the calyx from the flesh section of the fruit is a disorder that appears more commonly on non-astringent than astringent types. A cavity develops in the fruit as the calyx ceases to grow in July, while the flesh section continues to enlarge up to harvest. The cavity forms on one side of the calyx and causes uneven ripening, poor storage and a site for disease infection. Fruit that have a large calyx relative to the size of the fruit at the time of flowering are less likely to develop the disorder.
Splitting at the apical end of the fruit is found on large-fruited, mainly non-astringent, types. The splits enlarge and crack during the last month of ripening. They are formed because fusion of the base of the stigma, during flowering and early development, is incomplete. This disorder is cultivar specific.
Fruit Season: The harvest season, especially for commercially grown non-astringent types, is generally the earliest time when the crop has enough color to be marketed. The crop can remain on the tree a month longer becoming softer with greater colors and sugar. Early fall defoliation will delay and sometime cease crop ripening. Type of rootstocks and certain physiological and environmental conditions may also affect ripening times.
PERSIMMON FRUIT AND TREE DIMENSIONS : Fruit Shape: Three general fruit shapes are: conic (cone-shaped), roundish (round and sometimes pointed at the apex like an acorn), and oblate (flattened like a large standard tomato). Other noticeable characteristics occur such as an indented ring around the fruit of `Midia' and `Tamopan'. Four sides will sometimes be apparent on fruit of `Great Wall' or `Saijo'. Distinctly lobed sections are present on `Sheng' and `Peiping'. Some cultivars are tucked or folded in at the calyx like `Suruga'. Fruit Size: Fruit size is affected by crop loads. The lighter the crop set, the larger the fruit. Small fruit generally weigh 3.5 to 4.5 oz, medium from 5.5 to 7.0 oz., and large 8 to 14 oz. Tree Size and Shape: Semi-dwarf plants reach a height of around 6 to 8 ft and have a rounded spreading top. `Makawa Jiro' and `Ichikikei-Jiro' are examples of this type. Trees with medium size tend to be taller with more upright shoots. Their limbs are usually spread with crop loads. By far, most persimmon trees fall into this category. Trees in the tall class are upright and often have small fruit. Generally, tree size is reduced as trees are grown south of Gainesville to south Florida.
DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME NON-ASTRINGENT CULTIVARS: Early Season Cultivars: Izu is the earliest ripening non-astringent cultivar. The tree regulates crop loads well, producing large fruit which are generally blemish-free. The tree is not as vigorous or precocious as Fuyu are and it will come into production about 5 years from planting. Soluble solids, between 15 to 17%, are not as high as later maturing cultivars. Mid-Season Cultivars: `Matsumoto Wase Fuyu' is an earlier ripening bud sport of `Fuyu' discovered by Mr. Matsumoto. The tree sets many flowers and produces heavy clustered crops. The clusters should be thinned to prevent bent limbs with excessive fruit loads. The tree is moderately vigorous and of medium size. Soluble solids range from 16 to 19% which is generally true for most mid-season types. `Ichikikei Jiro' is a bud sport from Jiro. The tree is comparatively smaller than most and regulates its crop loads well. It will mature seedless crops and is a good homeowner cultivar. Apical end splitting usually occurs in a percentage of the fruit. The tree is around 7 days later than most cultivars to begin growing in the spring. This sometimes helps it to escape spring freeze injury. `Hana Fuyu', also known as `Yotsundani', or `Giant Fuyu' regulates crop loads well and is of medium vigor. The fruit are slightly larger than most, generally free of imperfections and may be slow to lose astringency. The tree is a good homeowner cultivar. `Hanagosho' is a large tree with vigorous upright growth and a strong scaffold system. The tree will usually have a small amount of male flowering every year and crop regulation is good. The fruit and leaves are slightly more susceptible to late season pathogens than most cultivars. `Hanagosho' is a large tree and a good homeowner cultivar. `Shogatsu' is similar to `Hanogosho' in tree habit, however, more problems with fruit end splitting and leaf spots occur. `Jiro' can be erratic in cropping when the tree is young. Older trees have a good, well spreading shape and produce quality crops of mid-season fruit. Some apical end fruit splitting will occur. `Midia' is the largest of the non-astringent types with fruit often weighing ¾ of a pound. An indented ring forms around the top half of the fruit. The tree is an inconsistent cropper, and seems more susceptible to tree decline than other cultivars. Late Season Cultivars: `Fuyu', also known as Fuyugaki, is the most popular non-astringent tree in Florida and is the most widely grown persimmon cultivar in the world. Fruit thinning is usually necessary to ensure large fruit, prevent clustering and regulate crop loads. Incidence of fruit imperfections are low, yields are good, and the tree is generally well adapted. Soluble solids average 18 to 19%. Many different cultivars with the name `Fuyu' or `Fuyugaki' exist. The best cultivar is the one commonly available in Florida. `Suruga' is the sweetest of the non-astringent types with soluble solids often over 20%. Red coloration in mature fruit is strong, and fruit imperfections are infrequent. Seeded crop loads must be thinned to prevent over production. The cultivar seems to have more problems with leaf defoliating pathogens than other cultivars.
Recommended Commercial Cultivars: Plantings of non-astringent persimmons can be made to include cultivars that will ripen fruit from late September to early December. The cultivars recommended seem to produce the highest percent of marketable fruit. `Izu' is the choice for the early season, `Matsumoto Wase Fuyu' for the mid-season, and `Fuyu' for the late season. Fuyu is the most readily available and is generally considered the best commercial nonastringent cultivar in Florida.
DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME ASTRINGENT CULTIVARS: Early Season Cultivars: `Nishumura Wase' is an early cultivar, ripening its first fruit in early August. It is pollination variant and must be fully seeded to be non-astringent. It consistently sets male flowers. The fruit have soluble solids around 13% to 15% and are somewhat watery. The tree is well-spreading, somewhat vigorous and a good annual cropper. `Saijo' is considered one of the sweetest persimmons although traces of astringency sometimes remain when the fruit is soft. Fruit ripen early to mid-season and are relatively small with a long conic shape, and a translucent orange jelly type flesh. Soluble solids range from 16 to 22%. The large, upright, vigorous tree is capable of producing heavy yields. It is a good homeowner type. `Giombo' is similar to `Saijo' in fruit quality, although the fruit are much larger and begin ripening 2 weeks later. Fruit are light translucent orange and thin pealed with a sweet, juicy, jelly type flesh. `Giombo' fruit are a connoisseur's choice. The tree is early to start growth in the spring and is sometimes injured by freezing temperatures.
Mid-Season Cultivars: `Tanenashi', the most popular astringent cultivar in Florida, matures heavy crops without pollination and will seldom set seed even if pollinated. It is usually desirable to thin the fruit to obtain some vegetative growth during the year. The fruit, often large, 3½" across, can weigh over ¾ of a pound. Skin color is deep yellow to orange when mature. The flesh is orange, pasty, comparatively dry, and of acceptable quality. Soluble solids average 16%. Harvest duration may extend from September through November. It is a good tree for homeowners. `Hachiya' is a commercial cultivar in California. Ability to set and hold fruit is sometimes a problem if this cultivar is propagated onto Diospyros virginiana rootstock. The fruit are high quality and jelly-fleshed with an attractive red skin coloration. Fruit will often have concentric ring cracking at the apical end and will ripen unevenly starting from these points. Perhaps more than one cultivar shares this name. `Hiratanenashi' is a widely grown commercial cultivar in Japan. The fruit have a thick peel and a long shelf life. The flesh is juicy, somewhat watery and almost always seedless. The astringency is sometimes difficult to remove after the fruit have been harvested unless they are artificially treated. `Sheng' is a well spreading tree with large fruit having lobed sections looking somewhat like a 4 or 6 leaf clover from the top. Fruit have a high jelly content, are bright orange, and when pollinated will set many seed. `Great Wall' is a strong growing, upright tree having small 4-sided fruit. The flesh is dry, similar to `Tanenashi', but of excellent quality. `Tamopan' is a cultivar with large fruit having a circular depression around the top 1/3 nearest the stem. The fruit is juicy, watery and stringy, with a thick peel. More than one cultivar of this tree exists, some of which have better fruit than the one described. `Yomato Hyakume' is a pollination variant type, but will not have a great deal of dark flesh around the seeds. The fruit are large with a deep orange-red color. Concentric ring cracking often occurs. This cultivar is a heavy annual cropper with good fall leaf retention. It is excellent for dried fruit and is one of the best astringent types. `Eureka' has been widely propagated by southern nurseries and is a common cultivar in Texas. It has a large, round, flat-shaped, pollination variant fruit with a medium amount of dark flesh around the seed. `Gailey' is the standard pollinating cultivar and has small to medium size fruit. Concentric ring cracking is common and its pollination variant fruit are very dark-fleshed, even with small seed numbers. `Ormond' is sometimes called the Christmas persimmon. Fruit are long, conic and are often harvested in January. The tree begins growing early in the spring which increases chances for freeze injury.
Recommended Astringent Cultivars: Cultivars with good performance can be selected to represent a ripening season from mid-August to late December. They are `Nishumura Wase', `Saijo', `Tanenashi', `Yamato Hyakume', `Sheng', and `Ormond'. `Nishumura Wase' and `Ormond' are the early and late fruits. `Saijo', `Yamato Hyacume' and `Sheng' have clear flesh, high jelly content fruit with top sugar readings. `Tanenashi' is the most widely planted cultivar and generally has consistent production of large medium quality fruit.
PERSIMMON CULTURE: Propagation Rootstock: Most of the oriental persimmon trees grown in Florida are propagated onto the common native persimmon, Diospyros virginiana. It is distributed from Connecticut to Florida and as far west as Kansas and Texas. The fruit are small, seedy and astringent until fully soft with a delicious nutty flavor. This rootstock is desirable because of its adaptability in Florida. Its vast root system forages well and will handle both flooding and drought conditions. For seed production, both male and female trees should be selected for vigor and fall leaf retention. D. kaki seedlings are used widely in other areas, but are not generally available in Florida. The root systems are more compact than D. virginiana making transplanting easier. Some seedling susceptibility to nematodes has been observed. This stock will provide tree resistance to Cephalosporium wilt which will kill D. virginiana. D. lotus is not recommended as a rootstock due to graft incompatibility in later years with some cultivars. Rootstocks of D. virginiana are grown from seed that have been taken from mature fruit. Ripening dates for native trees vary from late August to December. The fruit are collected for seed as they ripen. The pulp is squashed, rinsed and floated off to separate it from the seed. Clean, damp seed are dusted with a fungicide such as Thiram, sealed in a plastic bag and stored in refrigeration (35-45°F). The seeds are planted usually January-February. The root shoot will emerge in 1 to 6 weeks and leaves will push off the seed coat 1 month later. Seeds can be sprouted between wet newspaper and then planted. D. kaki seeds should be treated in the same manner. It is important that persimmon seeds not be dried down as this reduces viability.
Chip Budding: Trees can be chip budded a few weeks before foliation in the spring to a month before the leaves become inactive in the fall. Chip budding is the easiest and most versatile technique for propagation. The most successful time is just before the rootstock pushes in spring and continuing for a month after full leaf. Generally, it is important to make a shallow cut on the stock to reduce bleeding. The cut should only penetrate into the green-yellow, slick layers, which should be thick and juicy indicating an actively growing, healthy tree. Only a little to none of the white xylem area in the middle of the cut should be exposed in chip budding after the stock is active. Chip budding is often used from late August into October on 5-7 month-old seedling nursery trees. Fall frosts must not occur within 6 weeks of budding to allow for sufficient callousing. The bud is forced in spring. For optimum bud take, rootstocks should be growing and full of leaves that are free from fungal spot. Buds should be placed in smooth bark 1-6 inches from the ground. Bud take will decrease in rough, thick, more mature bark and on trees with leaves that are dropping or heavily spotted. Callous will be slow late in the fall and on trees that are hardened off or have reddish purple leaves. The dark, softer root area below the ground surface may also be chip budded. The budded portion is covered up with soil until callousing is complete. All chip buds are wrapped with plastic grafting tape, which covers the bud and cut surface. Linkup will occur in 2 to 6 weeks, and there will be enough callous to enable unwrapping 3 to 12 weeks after budding. The stock is cut off above the bud to force the shoot. The bud will green up in a few days and push leaves 1 to 1½ weeks later. To force fall buds in the spring the stock is usually allowed to form leaves before forcing. The longer wait minimizes chances of freeze damage. Shoots should be staked to prevent the rapidly-growing, tender shoot from breaking off in the wind.
Whip Grafting: Whip grafting is mainly done in the spring from a month before stock foliation to just after leaves emerge. The graft union can be placed below the soil line and then covered to increase take. Trees can also be grafted low and a soil bank heeled up around the union, or the union placed 3-4" high and not covered with soil. Whip grafts can be preformed through the growing season with limited success. Both burying the union and waxing the scion will increase chances of take. Bark Grafting: Trees are bark grafted successfully from just after full leaf, usually late April, through May and perhaps even later into the summer. The tree trunk or a large limb is sawed off leaving a flat surface from one to several inches in diameter. A few feeder limbs can be left below the cut for more rapid growth. A long, sloping cut is made on the scion leaving 2-4 buds. The same width and length cut is made on the stock starting at the top of the sawed off portion and going downward. The scion is inserted between the two layers that will easily slip from each other. The strip of stock bark will peal back and cover the back side of the scion as it is pushed down to the top of its cut. Two to four scions are inserted around the sawed-off trunk on the flattest portions available. They are then wrapped tightly around the stock with wide flagging or grafting tape. Aluminum foil is placed on the stock top to reflect light. A clear plastic bag covers the whole union and cut area with the scions poking through. It is sealed to the tree and around the base of the scions with plastic budding or flagging tape. The scions can be waxed to prevent drying. Growth will begin in 2 to 4 weeks, and it will be rapid and strong making stakes necessary.
Other Propagation Methods: T-budding can be successful on persimmons when the bark will slip in the spring. Propagation material is dormant winter wood. Summer T-budding may also be successful and fresh wood with well developed buds is used. The xylem can be left intact on the scion bud or it can be removed. In the spring the buds are wrapped with a budding rubber and the bud is left exposed. Summer buds are covered with tape. The cleft graft can be used on large trees by cutting the tree off in the spring a month before and up until bud break. The stock is split by pounding a large knife or grafting tool approximately 1 inch into the top. The tool is removed and the cut is wedged open. Scions with two sloping cuts on each side forming a V are inserted on each end of the tree where the cambial layers will match. When the wedge is removed the scions will be held tight. All cut surfaces are then coated with wax or thick latex paint.
Budwood: Budwood can be collected in August for fall propagation. For spring budding or grafting, wood is usually cut in February or March before any bud swelling occurs. It is stored dry at 35-45° in a closed plastic bag and checked monthly for any signs of dehydration. If wood shriveling occurs, a small amount of moisture may be added to the bag. Winter budwood can be kept for 7 months and often be successfully propagated.
Tree Planting: The trees should be planted on moderate to well drained soil. It is advisable to select a site that allows for good air drainage or protection to reduce the possibility of freeze damage. Plant bare-root trees December through February, keeping the roots moist when out of the ground. Prune the tree back to 2/3 the original height at planting. Trees purchased in containers can be planted any time of the year, but water must be applied often during establishment since the container medium will dry out quickly. If the tree has been growing in the container for over 6 months, it is best planted when dormant by shaking off the potting soil and spreading out the roots which have grown around in the container. Transplanted trees can be staked for support. The planting holes should be large enough so the root system is neither crowded nor bent. Badly broken roots should be pruned before planting. The graft union should be at or slightly below ground level, usually 2-4" below where it was planted before. It is advisable to put a small amount of soil into the hole, pack it around the roots, and repeat this procedure until the hole is full of soil and the plant firmly in place. After planting, make a soil ring around the edge of the hole to form a reservoir for water. This reservoir should be completely filled with water to settle the soil around the roots. The soil should not dry out, and when the tree starts growth watering 1 to 2 times per week during dry weather is essential for the first growing season. The tree need not be fertilized at planting, but should have light monthly applications April through August for the first year. An area approximately 2-3 feet from the trunk of the tree should be mulched, herbicided, or shallow cultivated to control weeds.
Look for Persimmons Part Two in the October newsletter.
September 22 Orchid Auction at Harry P. Leu Gardens in the Magnolia Room. Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. or until gone. Hundreds of beautiful Orchids and Orchid related items up for bid. Add to your collection or start a new one. Hourly raffles. Free admission to the auction only. Free parking and refreshments.
Presented by Central Florida Orchid Society www.cflorchidsociety.org
Calendar continued:
September 30 Sarasota Fruit & Nut Society Annual Rare Fruit Tree Sale. Huge selection, expert advice.
Free admission and parking. Hours: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. No credit cards.
Phillippi Estate Park, 5500 S.Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Contact information: (941) 966-4377 or www.sfns.net
October 20 Jungle Tour & Lunch at the home of Richard and Ronita Smith, 4209 Lake Lockhart Dr., Orlando. From: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Lunch will be provided but if you would like to bring a tropical dessert that would be fine. Iced tea and coffee will also be provided, if you want something else to drink bring it with you.
Adults only please. Maps with directions will be available at the meeting.
RSVP Richard by October 5th at 407-298-2620.
Summer 2008
Clyde and Phyllis may lead another trip
in 2008 after schools are out and before the hurricane season. The trip will be
about a week in southwest Costa Rica off the usual tourist trail. We will visit
3 kinds of tropical gardens, pineapple farms, oil palm operations, a coffee
farm, stone balls of ancient peoples, and the old banana port of Golfito and
area. Plans are not final but if a limit of 20 people are interested, we hope to
show you something different in Costa Rica. Hopefully, we will have time for a
city tour of San Jose. As usual, this will be a fun bunch, so groaners and
complainers need not apply.
We are in Panama now and will see you at the November meeting. Saludos, Clyde
and Phyllis
August Tasting Table Donations: Thank you to everyone who brought in food. It was very good!
August Raffle Table Donations: Thank you to everyone who brought in plants and items for the raffle. We had some great prizes.
Volunteers Needed
Soon it will be time to elect new officers. Please think about what position you would like to serve. A volunteer is needed to help print and mail the newsletter. Pam will continue to do the newsletter but needs someone to get it printed and mailed. A volunteer to keep the club roster up to date is also needed.