Big Yearend Garden Update, 2013

The further adventures of living in USDA Zone 11 where you can grow stuff literally  year round.  As of this week, I’ve added 13 new sprouts of 5 species to the ‘collection’

The new additions are:

3 African Medlar, Vangueria infausta (had none)

1 Rainforest Plum, Eugenia candolleana (had 2)

2 South Am. Nance, Byrsonima crassifolia (had 6)

3 rare Atemoya ‘X’, Annona Squamosa X Cherimoia (had 5)

4 Jackal Berry or African Ebony, Diospyros mespiliformis (had 1)

When it comes to potting sprouts, I use a mix of 1/3 commercial loam, 1/3 commercial potting soil and 1/3 of our soil, all sifted to remove rocks and debris. I do adjust it for certain plant types, but that’s the basic formula. Seeds are started in a much lighter mix of shredded Coconut husk (coir) and Sphagnum moss. That’s what I use in the donut trays.

There are other new things in pots as well..

Among these- Casabanana vine, Sacha Peanut vine, Jacana, Jacket Plum, Argan Oil tree, Meyer lemon (seeds from store bought fruit), Blackberry Jam, Surinam cherry, Yellow Plum (Ximenia americana), Marula, Kepel, Naranjilla, Monkey Jack, Menteng (Baccaurea racemosa), Dwarf Coffee and Italian Tree Tomato.

RATS…

From an open starter tray, rats had chewed off 3 of 8 Jackal Berry sprouts and they got one of my 2 Jacket Plum starts so I’ll be scoring more of those seeds in the very near future. Jacket Plum are male, female trees so I needed more than the 2 I had to insure fruit set. It is a relative of Litchi, but more adaptable to drier climates like what we experience on our part of the island. A 2nd Kepel start has recovered from having been chewed off at ground level by rats. I thought it was a goner. I’m glad I didn’t toss it out. They got one of the Rainforest plum too, but it has produced a new sprout as well. Along with a new Rainforest plum sprout, that gives me a total of 4. The rats and mice are an ongoing problem.

They keep getting into the downstairs area. They are resourceful critters. We live on the upper level so none of our pets have access to downstairs. I use the downstairs closed off back porch for the new starts and seed trays.

It is possible they are jumping off the Flamboyans to gain entry. I’ve seen them do that to the open deck on the upper level. The dogs go crazy, every time they show up.

We scored some fresh Rambutan fruit a couple months back so now I have 6 of those coming up, but they have issues… browning at the tips of the leaves. This is my 3rd attempt at Rambutan… I have a new idea on how the keep the early plantings watered. If they get that far, I’ll elaborate.

I will not be planting all of these or the more than 286 other potted things in my collection. Being an obsessive compulsive has it’s disadvantages.

That number does not include the new bamboo either. I’ve been busy giving away some of the duplicates. Recently, I gave a nice assortment to our auto mechanic. He does house calls. How cool is that?

I’ve shifted part of my gardening focus to African fruiting and nut bearing trees as they tend to thrive under adverse conditions, plus most never get very big. Argan oil, Jacket Plum, Marula, Yellow Plum, Monkey Jack and Imbe are part of that group. Basically, plant and forget. More about these as time goes by.

There are also the 3 species of edible fruiting Palms which I’ve spoken of before- Medjool Date, Acai Berry and Salak fruit Palm. These new starts are also doing quite well. They will go into the ground this coming Spring. A nice addition to the inland Coconut we already have. Besides these 3 species, I also have 4 African Oil Palms I started from seed, 2 years ago. These seeds were picked up off the ground at the Mayagüez Ag Research Center. The have a very old, very huge example between the visitors parking lot and the main building. A majestic palm. Of the 4, one is in the ground, I’ll plant one more and give away the other two. We just don’t have the room for 4 of them. They would be perfect flanking a long driveway or the centerpiece of a large yard. It takes years to get that big, but when they do, they dominate the landscape.

I don’t write much about flowers as they are not my primary focus, but I did score some Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) seeds. They flowered in the pot before I could get around to planting them. They produce a beautiful flower and are quite prolific. It’s a very unique plant with many industrial applications, similar to Hemp. Yes, they resemble Pot seeds, but it’s NOT psychoactive.

On the bamboo front, the 89 Burmese Timber bamboo seeds (out of 102) that survived their initial ‘burst’ of growth after being treated with Gibberellic acid are doing well (Bambusa nutans, AKA- Nepal bamboo). I should have only treated half of them with the germination stimulant. All of those ‘spindly’ shoots are now tossing out new ‘normal’ shoots. My experience with bamboo seeds has been very sporadic. These 25 pots of 89 starts are the only variety of 4 that actually prospered. The other 3 seed types were split into two sets each- half treated with Gibberellic acid and the rest soaked in filtered rain water. NONE of those sprouted. Something north of 200 seeds. So at this point, I have 5 cultivars of unique bamboo plus the local one. I should count my blessings and move on. Anyone have room for some serious bamboo? I’ll be lucky if I manage to plant a third of what I have.

Someday I’ll build a bamboo bridge… someday.

Another thing I’ve been trying to grow from seed is some type of blackberry or raspberry. I know they grow here since we have seen them growing wild along the road up in the mountains. I’m on my 3rd attempt from seed. Turns out, most berry seeds need to be ‘cold treated’ before trying to germinate. These new seed starter trays include a blackberry, black raspberry and loganberry. They came from a source in South Africa. Most berries of this type will adapt to a new environment given time. If all else fails, Bryan Brunner said I could come score some cuttings from his vines. I may take him up on that yet.

In addition to the 3 berry types, there is another 16+ trays of assorted tropical seeds that have yet to sprout (yea, yea, obsessive compulsive). Each variety was researched and prepared as directed. It is a little bit cooler at night now so that might be contributing to their slow germination. I check them daily and make sure they don’t dry out. But I’m not holding my breath on this last set of trays.

Setting Paths…

As mentioned in my last post, we acquired a well used Thomas ‘Bobcat’ type excavator. I’ll be using it to set a few paths around the property. That’s after I make it safe to ‘sit in’.

I had to put the veggie garden and peanut effort on hold until I have an easier way to get around the ‘farm’.

A couple months back, I tore out the ‘rows’ and put in a set of giant planters made from split 55 gallon plastic drums. Since this shot, I added 2×6 treated boards to secure the terrace work. As the shot demonstrates, I did plant some veggies, but it all went to seed as I cannot check on it everyday like I need to. The planters are at a much more convenient height to work so I will be getting back to them at some point.

For now, the ‘new and improved’ peanut bed box has been re-purposed for pineapple plants as they require almost no attention. I put in a total of 8 Pineapple plants’.  One was a new top to my first plant (they do that), then there were 2 in pots and 4 in water that had grown serious root balls.  The 8th one was courtesy Brian and is a local tropical cultivar.  My ‘peanut experiment’ was a great success so I’ll be doing more of those, but peanuts require watering on a regular basis. Those peanuts came from a bag of Tropical Bird Seed. I had great success with the Sunflower, Corn and Sorghum seeds too!

In the upper right corner of the peanut planter shot is my first Pineapple. It was so ripe, it almost fell off it’s stalk. This was the first time I had ever experienced garden ripe pineapple and it was ‘to die for’. The difference is really night and day versus the ones they pick green for shipping to other places… like Alaska.

I also added 3 of the red flesh Pitaya to the 2 white flesh versions I already have growing. You can see how well the original Pitaya plants are doing from the update shot.

The Mantis tiller is my most favorite ‘go-to’ garden tool.

Our government owned water and waste-water Utility Co. has more than doubled everyone’s rates since the new Governor took office. This has inspired me to step up my effort at recovering rainwater. I now have the the pieces I need to build a rainwater collection system. It will be based on grouping 2- 55 gallon plastic barrels on a shoulder high stand. If this works well, I’ll build a 2nd one. Photos will follow.

That reminds me of the fact that I finally built a real nice heavy-duty composting machine from another 55 gallon plastic drum. There are 4 tubes running through the middle with a bunch of little holes in them to assist in aerating the compost. I’m glad I ‘over-built’ it as it get’s quite heavy, once you start loading it up. Wish I had built this 3 years ago.

Did I mention I found a real good source for cheap, food grade plastic 55 gallon drums and it’s close to home?

One last thing-
I scored a nifty tool for removing the husk from Coconuts. I nick-named it the ‘Husk Buster’… works real good too. Mine is for ‘lefties’. If you have ever tried to cut off the outside husk, you know what a pain it is. It was made by hand in Hawaii and they come in several colors. Here’s a link to the guy’s Website. I’ll be recycling the shredded husk for growing media.

To wrap up this ramble, my primary concern is extending my ability to get around and plant a ‘few’ things before they go bad. I’m still on track to do that. The tree planting effort is taking longer than I thought, but I’m a noob when it comes to gardening and growing stuff. Some things need to be much farther along before planting.

What a fun and fantastic learning experience this has been.

Seriously, I love it!

Please note, as of this post, I will no longer be putting up larger photos on the Scurvy Dog’s Facebook page. Facebook Corporate has changed how dedicated FB pages are ranked and posted to folks who already ‘like’ a page.
I refuse to ‘pay’ to promote my FB page to those who are already familiar with it. I consider this tantamount to extortion. Especially since I generate no income from my FB page. It is not enough that I provide them with fresh, original content that serves as a vehicle for their advertising.  So I will be moving all those images over to my Flicker account over the next couple of months. Once I have done that, the FB page will be token link back to my main page. You are welcome to go grab any of the images you like before then. Social Media’s marketing value is grossly over-rated. Updates with links will follow.

ARRG, S. Dog