No Plant is an Island

I've been trying for weeks not to pollinate my Annona flowers. I collect pollen in a medicine bottle, save it in the fridge, and then wait for the next flower to crack. The lapse between any flower opening in male form to the next opening in female has been more than 24 hours. The general concensus seems to be that stored pollen isn't much good after that, but that hasn't stopped me from trying. And it seems like one of my attempts finally paid off. It's tiny, there's a long way to go, but it's something. I have a tiny little Atemoya 'Island Gem' fruit. Now to keep it hanging on until maturity.

Comfortable and Cozy

I was cleaning out my home including the linen closet, such as it is, and I came across some bed skirts and European pillow covers in a comforter bag. 'I haven't used these ever and I've had them for years...trash.' So I tossed the lot in a pile, and I nearly took them out to cans when I realized that the comforter bag, was clear plastic like a grow tent, and about 2'x2'x2' with a zipper opening. Eureka! I had a mini grow tent and didn't even realize it. So I build a tiny armature out of PVC that I had lying around from another project and in about 10 minutes I had some weak plants in it, under a 24 hour light. It should have been so obvious, and maybe someone has already realized this, but jeez it's the perfect table top humidity controlling tent for suffering plants.

Nom-acado and Mo'

Today was a plant trade day. I picked up a bunch of large plants for which I barely have space.

• Plinia edulis (Cambuca)
• Eugenia luschnathiana (Pitomba)
• Moris alba (White Mulberry), Persian, and Pakistani - grafted Mulberry
• Pouteria hypoglauca (Cinnamon apple)
• Persea americana (Red Russell Avocado)
• Persea americana (Greene Russell Avocado)

In addition to these last two avocados. I recently came to possess 9 Nabal avocados. They're legendary for their size and richness, but I have yet to taste them. They're ripening right now, and you know I will plant them afterword.

Nom-acado and Mo'

Today was a plant trade day. I picked up a bunch of large plants for which I barely have space.

• Plinia edulis (Cambuca)
• Eugenia luschnathiana (Pitomba)
• Moris alba (White Mulberry), Persian, and Pakistani - grafted Mulberry
• Pouteria hypoglauca (Cinnamon apple)
• Persea americana (Red Russell Avocado)
• Persea americana (Greene Russell Avocado)

In addition to these last two avocados. I recently came to possess 9 Nabal avocados. They're legendary for their size and richness, but I have yet to taste them. They're ripening right now, and you know I will plant them afterword.

Exotic (Expensive) Experiments

I posted awhile back about all the unusual seeds and plants that I was getting. Here's what I have in plant form. I shouldn't count my seeds before they germinate. I purchased a couple of Abiu from Puerto Rico and they're really bushy and about 2 feet tall. I really like them, and I hope to just hold on to them and the Pulasan while I'm in this house, because they probably can't survive in their pots outside. The black sapote do really well here, so let's see what those can do in time. The Eugenia are really skinny, and I have no idea what to expect from them. And the achacha is one of the few garcinia that I'll be trying to collect. It should do fine here.

• Pouteria caimito (Abiu)
• Diospyros nigra (Black Sapote)
• Synsepalum dulcificum (Miracle Fruit)
• Eugenia selloi (Pitangatuba)
• Eugenia candolleana (Rainforest Plum)
• Eugenia uniflora x E. selloi (Pintangatuba)
• Nephelium mutabile (Pulasan)
• Garcinia humilis (Achacha)

Anona-mess

The first time I had anything from the genus Anona was in Bali. There I tasted a soursop (A. muricata) and it was delicious. Something like a creamy green apple flavor, but the flesh was really fibrous and it was somewhat hard to eat because of it. Since then, back in California, I've had a few chermoyas (A. chermimola), and they are even better. The flesh of the fruit is more consistent, and the only annoying part is the large seeds (which are ill advised to swallow). Still, I could eat many of them because the taste is so great. How have I not eaten these before moving to CA? Avocados don't grow in other parts of the country, yet you can find those in grocery stores everywhere. Maybe it's only a matter of time for cherimoyas.

Well, now I'm the owner of a few Anona plants, the grafted ones are flowering which of course bring the possibility of fruit. But, these aren't just cherimoyas, these are mostly atemoyas (A. chermola x A. squamosa aka Sugar Apple) and they're said to be even better. To the point where cherimoyas taste bad in comparison! The flowers are hermaphroditic; female in the morning and male in the evening. After the first one bloomed, I collected and pollen and stored it in the fridge for the next flower. Here's hoping it's still good when the next flower opens!

Here's my inventory:

• A. cherimola x A. squamosa; Atemoya 'Bradley' - grafted
• A. diversifolia (Ilama) 'Rosada' - grafted
• A. squamosa (Sugar Apple) 'Super Atis' - grafted
• A. cherimola x A. squamosa; Atemoya 'Island Gem' - grafted
• A. cherimola x A. squamosa; Atemoya 'Phat Pakchong' aka 'PPC' - grafted
• A. cherimola x A. squamosa; Atemoya 'Randhir' - grafted
• A. cherimola x A. cherimola
• A. diversifolia (Ilama) x (A. cherimola x A. squamosa; Atemoya)

Banana Fanna Foe Fanna

I recently acquired a few Musa cultivars. I've never grown bananas, but they're giant herbs so how hard can it be. I have a pair of each of the following:

• M. 'Thousand Fingers'
• M. 'Gros Michel'
• M. 'Dwarf Iholena'

They're little ones, but they seem to be growing already just after potting them, so who knows what they'll turn in to and how fast they'll do it. I think I'll be up potting in no time.

Then I picked up one more that is quite large, and it's a dwarf variety. I don't know what it is, but it's a Thai cultivar.