Green with, well, something, anyway
Thursday September 15th 2016, 11:13 pm
Filed under: Garden

I got quite wrapped up in a new book that came today, “Grow Fruit Naturally,” by Lee Reich, that I ordered in part because it includes a section on mangoes, and let me tell you, there’s not a lot of information out there on how to take care of a mango tree. It even mentions Alphonsos. Especially given that mine flowered in February when it was a few months old last year, which was a warmer season, and didn’t at all during this chilly spring, that 55F+ for fruit set was worth the price of the book.

I have a large Gardman Fruit Cage I can set up over it; I just wish I knew how to find that size of greenhouse-type material to fit over it instead of/in addition to its birdnetting.

Seaberry and Medlar fruits, if you’ve never heard of them that’s okay, they’re new to me, too.

And now I finally know that that weird little fruit in my neighbor’s yard is a pineapple guava.

Who knew that some kinds of citrus turn color as they ripen–and then under certain conditions turn green again? (And why did the author leave me dangling with that little bit of information without an explanation for the how and why of it?)

I loved his take on the best way to grow plums without a lot of pest or disease problems. Half joking half not: “Move to California or the Mediterranean.”

Well then.


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Here’s the part I’m not making up – citrus fruit need cooler temps to color up. Chlorophyll production slows or ceases, and the underlying pigments become visible, much as in autumn leaves. I gleaned this from Wikipedia and a couple other sites quickly found via searching on “citrus fruit color change”.

What if the temperature then goes back up? Could the chlorophyll production get turned back on, thereby re-greening the fruit? Just a hypothesis, mind you, but one possible explanation!

Just catching up after a long absence – good to “hear” your voice again.

Comment by twinsetellen 09.16.16 @ 9:47 am



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