Shade Tee Pees

So I wanted to move my Imbe (Garcinia livingstonei) seedlings last week. And, I needed a way to protect them from full sunlight to give them a chance to get established. I could have built some elaborate structure, but instead I employed a method that I first saw my friend Jay's in-laws use, you can see the pictures here http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b358/ohiojay/Our%20land%20in%20Thailand/Garden023.jpg. This may be a common practice used in Thailand and Southeast Asia, but I have never seen it used here, and I wanted to share it with you. What I did was cut some dead bamboo out of my stands and stripped them clean. If you don't grow bamboo you can buy bamboo stakes at Home Depot or use straight branches from something that you do grow. I cut them into about eight foot lengths. I used three pieces on each plant at the bottom I have about a three foot diameter. I only drove the bottom of the stakes in about a foot. I pulled the top together and tied it with twine. I covered the "tee-pee" with screening or shade cloth which I tied at the top with some twine, as well. They are very sturdy at this point. Once the plant becomes established I'll be able to remove the "tee-pee" and use it for the next tree I plant out! This little bit of extra attention may be just the boost some of these tropical fruits need to excel!!!

Jackfruit Seedlings Planting Out

These are the Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) seeds that I started back in November. I did a post in January about starting these seeds, you can read that post here http://ilikerareplants.blogspot.com/2009/01/jackfruit-seedlings.html Back to the seedlings though, they are about 24 inches tall with a nicely developed root system. I dug a deep hole about 3 feet in diameter and 3 feet deep and soaked the hole.. I mixed all of that material in my wheelbarrow then built the hole back up to a proper depth and planted my seedlings. I gave each seedling a nice shower of water and, using bamboo stakes from my bamboo plants I secured each little plant. I planted three trees in a nice triangle shape that should look really nice as the trees mature and, I hope to increase fruit set by having more than one tree. I'll be feeding them an organic fertilizer once they get established and I plan to mulch, too. I hope to have fruits in less then five years, let's see how well I can grow!!! I'll be documenting their progress with photos.

Tropical Fruit Inventory Update

I acquired more rare fruit species two more Garcinia spp.; G. macrophylla & G. lateriflora, as well as two Psidium spp.; P. friedrichsthalianum & P.littorale. I'll be adding more species as the year goes on stay tuned. Here is the complete list. http://ilikerareplants.blogspot.com/2008/12/tropical-fruit-inventory.html