- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted on 2/1/26 at 10:06 am to wiltznucs
Posted on 2/1/26 at 10:06 am to wiltznucs
I have a feeling this happened just in time for Florida to have a later than average mango season. Won't be like last year, which was exceptionally good.
Never had Fwang Tung but Kari had been excellent and easy to manage the size in a 20g pot.
Never had Fwang Tung but Kari had been excellent and easy to manage the size in a 20g pot.
This post was edited on 2/1/26 at 10:07 am
0
Posted on 2/1/26 at 10:22 am to wiltznucs
quote:
Agreed; being relatively close to the coastline helped keep the worst of it from me. Light snow was seen in the areas north and east of Tampa.
People on Anna Maria Island were posting videos last night of flurries on the island. That is some crazy shite.
quote:
Let’s just hope that we don’t get another freeze. In years past we always tend to get one late cold spell as February draws to a close or even in early March.
Man I am hoping it is over this year. I am hoping this is it. The forecast is getting better for us over the next two weeks as I am seeing more 70 deg days coming up.
quote:
That being said; this year has been unlike anything I’ve seen in the past 20 years here. Record heat and drought during most of 25’ followed by near record lows and continued drought to start 26’.
Agree. It wasnt the heat this past summer but the drought. I am in one of the hardest hit areas. I dont even remember what the numbers were but it basically didnt rain a drop at our place in about 5 months.
Tonight is going to be colder and less clouds and wind. Its going to drop like crazy after only reaching 46 today in Sarasota. Which is really odd.
I took the plastic bags off my pots on the front porch and those things were nice and warm in there. Had plenty of humity in there too as I heavily watered them two days ago. IM going to put the bags back on tonight and maybe tomorrow night. Leaving all the potted stuff inside until Tuesday morning then taking it all back out
I heard it froze pretty hard inland. The damage will be extensive
Posted on 2/1/26 at 10:35 am to LanierSpots
Some of the images on the FB Florida Mango growers page look really bad. Trees absolutely covered in ice. Won’t know how bad it hit me for a few weeks. Tonight’s cold front is worrisome; at least with the high winds we avoided frost last night. Tonight may be a different story. My mangoes, bananas and pineapples aren’t built to handle these conditions for sure. One of my avocados looks rough too. I wouldn’t be surprised if the USDA moves us back to 9A after this.
This post was edited on 2/1/26 at 10:36 am
Posted on 2/1/26 at 12:08 pm to wiltznucs
quote:
I wouldn’t be surprised if the USDA moves us back to 9A after this.
Lol fwiw we've hit the teens every year in South GA (17, 18, 13.2, 19) since being promoted to 9A
Posted on 2/1/26 at 12:43 pm to Bigdawgb
quote:
Lol fwiw we've hit the teens every year in South GA (17, 18, 13.2, 19) since being promoted to 9A
LOL. Definitely seems off.
Our move from 9B to 10A sort of made sense at the time. But it’s really odd to have coastal Tampa in the same zone as West Palm Beach. We see nearly the same summer highs; but, the winter lows here are much more consistent with Zone 9.
Posted on 2/1/26 at 1:53 pm to Bigdawgb
quote:
Lol fwiw we've hit the teens every year in South GA (17, 18, 13.2, 19) since being promoted to 9A
Same in south Louisiana except this is year 7. Can't be 9A if you are below 20F more years than not. They are updated every 10-15 years so it will be interesting to see how well their projection holds up.
Back in 2023 when this one came out they were openly talking about how "climate change has made everyone warmer." Even if that's true it has nothing to do with the zone thresholds. The only thing that matters is the lowest temps each year and then averaging that data. We don't care if the summers are hotter. We're mad that everything keeps freezing every year when you say they shouldn't. We have been solid 8b for 7 straight years and even 8a for the winter of 2024-2025.
Posted on 2/1/26 at 4:08 pm to Tigerlaff
He go sleepy time
I did a walk around and none of my stuff looks terrible. None of my trees are a green as they were a few weeks back but that is understandable. Going to keep with my plan tonight and even tomorrow night. Then Tuesday morning, I put everything back outside.
I have lights and a bed sheet over my 7'tall Christmas palm and just lights over my big triple christmas palm. I think we may survive this. If any of my trees dont look good, its one of my double foxtails. I have two that are the same size, planted at the same time and one of them is a little off today. Hope it is ok
Iguanas everywhere. One of my neighbors have collected about 50 of them and is taking them to FWC
I did a walk around and none of my stuff looks terrible. None of my trees are a green as they were a few weeks back but that is understandable. Going to keep with my plan tonight and even tomorrow night. Then Tuesday morning, I put everything back outside.
I have lights and a bed sheet over my 7'tall Christmas palm and just lights over my big triple christmas palm. I think we may survive this. If any of my trees dont look good, its one of my double foxtails. I have two that are the same size, planted at the same time and one of them is a little off today. Hope it is ok
Iguanas everywhere. One of my neighbors have collected about 50 of them and is taking them to FWC
Posted on 2/1/26 at 4:24 pm to LanierSpots
quote:first you make a roux
Iguanas everywhere. One of my neighbors have collected about 50 of them
Posted on 2/1/26 at 5:03 pm to LanierSpots
I'm gonna look exactly like that iguana tomorrow after the last freeze tonight. Should only be 29F, so nothing to worry about. Actually found 2 green anoles asleep outside this morning in the cold. Tossed 'em in the greenhouse and they perked right up after getting warm. That's my Louisiana falling iguana story lol.
ETA: Boom 25F hard freeze. That's why you never trust them.
ETA: Boom 25F hard freeze. That's why you never trust them.
This post was edited on 2/2/26 at 7:38 am
Posted on 2/1/26 at 5:38 pm to Tigerlaff
LOL. I did wrap up my two christmas palms the best I could with what I had. Some incandescent mini lights on both and wrapped with what we had.
Posted on 2/1/26 at 5:47 pm to LanierSpots
quote:
Iguanas everywhere. One of my neighbors have collected about 50 of them and is taking them to FWC
Fortunately; they haven’t found their way this far north yet. Seems like only a matter of time. Good on them for collecting them and the FWC for coordinating a roundup. They are a menace in some parts of Florida. The population needs a big setback.
Posted on 2/1/26 at 8:15 pm to LanierSpots
Wraps look good. Fingers crossed for you.
Posted on 2/2/26 at 7:38 am to Tigerlaff
Official says it got down to 34 last night here but I measured 32 at my weather station outside. Though only for a short time. Had Ice on the cars this morning. Uncovered my small tree and it looks fine. I will uncover my big Christmas palm here shortly. Only suppose to get to 39 tonight so I may remove everything and let things get back to normal. Tomorrow Im taking my pots back outside.
Hope you guys survived.
Hope you guys survived.
Posted on 2/2/26 at 10:19 am to LanierSpots
Last night was rough. We got down to 28-29. Walked the fruit trees this morning. Not good. Definitely got frost and the damage looks pretty severe. Bananas are likely toast. My Simmonds avocado has only a few leaves remaining. A few of the mangos look really bad too. Will need another week or more for the damage to truly show itself; but, I’m expecting the worst for some.
Posted on 2/2/26 at 4:01 pm to wiltznucs
quote:
Wiltz
It's all about survival for you man. Anything that results in your trees living through this event is a win. Sucks but this is a unique circumstance.
I had some interesting things get zapped and not zapped. Low was 18.5F and we had stretches below freezing of about 16 hours. Everything you would think would get smoked without protection did, but so far I haven't seen anything that is killed to the roots. My pink oleanders took moderate damage but the hardy red variety doesn't have a scratch on it. Even the Ti plants survived with mulch and just the top leaves burning.
There were two notable performers this time: rajapuri banana and lemon cattley guava. The banana was wrapped in C9 lights, then two very large long frost cloths wrapped around the whole pseudostem. The leaves of course got fried, but the psudostem is ALREADY pushing new growth. It was 25F last night. Very very tough and vigorous dessert banana.
As for the cattley guava, I've been pimping that thing in this thread for a year. C9 lights and a single Amazon frost bag on top. Zero (and I mean zero) damage. It didn't even drop fruit. I can now safely say that cattley guava is hardier than Meyer lemons and navel oranges and probably some mandarins. This is extremely basic protection for anything in the Psidium genus. If you have neighbors with orange trees, you can grow lemon guava. It even took no damage whatsoever in the mid 20s with no protection.
Obvious tanks that laughed at 18.5F: loquat and feijoa (pineapple guava). They didn't even know anything was different.
Most disappointing: veinte cohol banana. This thing is very very cold sensitive and the pseudostem melted in half despite C9 lights, a frost bag, and a trash bag on top of that along with a ton of mulch. I'm sure the corm is still alive and it will come back, but I'm a lot less optimistic about ever harvesting fruit now. Dwarf namwah, tall namwah, and rajapuri put it to shame.
Posted on 2/2/26 at 4:06 pm to Tigerlaff
quote:ive many of both in the ground and in pots, didnt bother to try to protect them and they are unscathed. thats good info on the guava, i'll try and find one this spring and get one in the ground.
Obvious tanks that laughed at 18.5F: loquat and feijoa (pineapple guava)
Posted on 2/2/26 at 4:36 pm to cgrand
I've got 5 lemon guava seedlings going in cups. About 8 inches tall each. If you can't find one hit me up. I'd recommend trying to get a larger one to get a head start before next winter. Maybe the easiest fruit tree I've ever grown. Loves all soil, even wet clay. Loves being in a pot its entire life if necessary. Takes hard pruning without blinking. Will grow in the shade. Just make sure you get the yellow kind. I don't like the red ones. Too astringent.
This post was edited on 2/2/26 at 8:44 pm
Posted on 2/3/26 at 7:35 am to Tigerlaff
Where did you initially purchase the catley guava ?
Wouldn’t mind adding it to the show if it’s a good tropical performer with minimal
Downsides !
Wouldn’t mind adding it to the show if it’s a good tropical performer with minimal
Downsides !
Posted on 2/3/26 at 7:55 am to DickTater
Small one from Logees online and big one from Etsy. I put the small one in the ground and up potted the big one into a 20g. I'll post some pics of purchase size and current size so you can get an idea.
This post was edited on 2/3/26 at 8:35 pm
Posted on 2/3/26 at 9:09 am to Tigerlaff
Pics from the murder scene…
Namwah Banana
Simmonds Avocado
Orange Sherbet Mango
Lemon Zest Mango
P22 Mango
Still too early to determine if the damage will prove fatal. Early signs are the uppermost part of the canopy got the worst of it. Hopefully the root and trunks survive. Some trees seem to have endured better than others; only time will tell. Will get them some water tomorrow after it warms a bit.
Namwah Banana
Simmonds Avocado
Orange Sherbet Mango
Lemon Zest Mango
P22 Mango
Still too early to determine if the damage will prove fatal. Early signs are the uppermost part of the canopy got the worst of it. Hopefully the root and trunks survive. Some trees seem to have endured better than others; only time will tell. Will get them some water tomorrow after it warms a bit.
Page 60 of 72
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News