Fruits and veggies?

[Fuerte Rav]

I'm a bit late to the party! Only just seen this thread. It's been very enjoyable reading what others have been growing and harvesting. I grew all my own veg and most of my fruit when I lived in the UK, now I have had to change my ideas completely as my current climate is so different and harsh.

Someone mentioned the Surinam cherry. In my first garden here I had a lot of success with it. I had 3 large bushes which grew from small plants very quickly and gave loads of dark, sweet fruit. They seem to like the heat and plenty of water. Heat is not a problem for me but water is! I'm about to plant 3 new bushes in this garden.

In my current (and final - I'm not moving ever again!) garden I have a tall Cavendish banana. This variety was a mistake as it is too windy here and I've had to prop it up from all directions. It's fruiting at the moment (205 bananas nearly ready for picking!) but then I am going to replace it with Canarian bananas which are a lot shorter.

I have 12 pineapple plants growing well but they only went in this year so no fruit yet - I have great hopes for next year.

My friends and I all grow different varieties of chillies and then share them. I do the Habanero chilli, 11 on the Scoville scale, rubber gloves a must for picking and preparing!

I can grow garlic all year and it's done well this year.

Papaya tree produced 120kg of fruit and then rotted through at the base but I have several more grown from seed ready to go in to replace it.

Pitahaya - haven't seen anyone mention that? I had a great crop and then I had to cut the plant back to near ground level so my garden wall could be repaired. May be a couple of years before I get more than 1 or 2 fruit again.

Figs - didn't get many this year but what I had were scrumptious. The tree has never been very happy so I'm going to replace it shortly.

Citrus - I have oranges, a mandarin, a lemon and 3 limes. The limes have been amazing this year. I've been making lime marmalade and key lime pies. The other trees are very new.

Pomegranate - planted this year, hopeful for fruit next year.

Mulberry - due to be planted shortly.

Mangoes - still in pots, will be planted in ground soon.

Maracuya - passionfruit - my first plant in this garden grew well with plenty of bloom but not one ever produced a fruit. I planted a new vine this year and it has 6 fruit developing which I'm looking forward to tasting. I think my original was a cultivar grown for the flowers rather than the fruit.

Herbs: basil grows like a weed, sage has had a good year and not been attacked by whitefly, rosemary grows like triffids, 3 varieties of chives all do well, especially the garlic chive. Parsley & Thyme I've given up on.

Tomatoes - I didn't even bother this year, so many bugs last year. Same with cucumbers, courgettes, beans.

When we first moved here getting a variety of fresh vegetables was almost impossible but we now have several supermarket chains on the islands who import regularly from mainland Spain and our diet has improved enormously.

[Leafmite]

I have noticed a fairly large Ponderosa lemon, a pomegranate, some passion fruits and figs (I am already eating figs...just a few left to ripen).

[DirtyCoconuts]

Fuerte Ray- great stuff. I cannot imagine the winds you have to contend with. For bananas I recommend that you get a few Brazilian dwarf or Hawaiian dwarf apple bananas. Apple bananas have a slightly different taste and are much smaller. I am a big fan and have the Brazilian mixed in with my dwarf cavendish and purple sugar cane

Is pitaya the same as dragonfruit? I like to eat it but I have not fruited it ever. I have had a few plants but limited success

Welcome to the thread. I’m always hungry when I finish

[Fuerte Rav]

Hi DC
Yes, Pitahaya is the same as Dragonfruit. My plant produces the red juiced fruit, the white fruit tastes much the same but looks a bit insipid. I have to pollenate by hand, we don't have the right moths in my garden! I check if at least 2 flowers are opening in the evening and then set my alarm for dawn to get out there with an adapted feather duster and the stepladder before the blooms die! Labour of love and then I go back to bed! My dog gets all excited at an early start and isn't very impressed when it's back to bed instead of a walk.





Helping me in the garden by digging out my recent delivery of soil:


I've also been 'growing' Monarch butterflies. I've turned 1 purchased Milkweed into about 30 plants and I estimate about 100 butterflies have been raised in my garden this year.

[DirtyCoconuts]

very cool- the one i grew was Haley's Comet...i have eaten it and it would have been nice to grow it LOL

[kvet]

@Fuerte Rav, wow, amazing

I have read that there are ways to collect and preserve the pollen from dragon fruit flowers to aid in pollination. In some cases, though, you have to beat the bees to it.

[WaterWitchin]

What a beautiful bloom it is! And your excavator seems very adept. Is it a cairn terrier? Sure looks similar.

[Fuerte Rav]

She's a rescue so we'll never know for sure. The vet thinks probably a cross between a West Highland White terrier and a Yorkshire terrier. Her face is very similar to the Westie we had previously.



Pitahaya flowers - they might all be identical but I have a big grin on my face as I spot each one, so beautiful. Bit like getting flowers on orchids

[WaterWitchin]

She's a beauty! The terrier personality is always such a hoot. Never a dull moment, right?

I had never heard of dragon fruit until a week ago. My grandkids were visiting, and requested one for breakfast... Ummmm, nope, don't have any dragon fruit in the fridge. Apple anyone? Had to go google it. Darn sophisticated grandkids.

[kvet]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

I had never heard of dragon fruit until a week ago. My grandkids were visiting, and requested one for breakfast... Ummmm, nope, don't have any dragon fruit in the fridge. Apple anyone? Had to go google it. Darn sophisticated grandkids.

The ones at my local grocery stores began very bland, but in the last year they have improved. They seem like a really fun plant to grow, especially if you get a lot of sunshine, and don't need much care.. only issue is proper trellising if you want to have several to harvest.

While inspecting my plants this morning, was quite creeped out to see my blueberry plant (that gave me the bumper crop for the pie here) covered in this weird whispy stuff and some bugs on bottom. White fly? Mealy bug? Spider mites?

Oddly enough, I sprayed last night with my own soap, neem oil and btk mix as weekly preventative care without even noticing this, and clearly I missed a spot. ?!