Meditating Mallika

The Mallika mango still has not begun to put out new growth.  I can tell the buds are still plumping.  For an impatient persong like me, the process seems to be taking forever.  The plant arrived on November 11, 2015.  I have seen evidence of swelling buds for weeks now.  Still no new stems yet.  Perhaps by Christmas.</p>

Mallika Mango Making Moves

The buds of my little Mallika continue to swell.  I even spotted a fourth bud swelling that was hidden behind a leaf scar.  If all the buds continue, I will have four new branches soon.  That will be a great start to make a bushy canopy.

Pickering Mango

On Saturday, Novembe 28, I recieved a grafted Pickering mango plant from Plantogram.  She is a beautiful little tree.  I tip most of the stems to encourage busy new growth.  Judging from the slightly larger caliper of the trunk, the tree is probably 6 months to 1 year older than my Mallika.

Mystery Dragon Fruit Growth

The mystery dragon fruit appears to have slowed its growth.  It has put on a great deal of mass considering that it has been growing indoors for 1.5 months.  I read a document titled "Morphometric Analysis of 21 Pitahaya,"  which tries to discern identifying characteristics of pitahaya varieties.  According to the infomation provided in that document, I believe the most likely color of the frit will be magenta.  I hope it fruits this summer, and I hope the fruit is delicious.

Mystery Dragon Fruit Growth

I brought my tropicals indoors on October 17. Most times, my plants don't grow well indoors despite being in front of a south-facing window. I decided to ditch my 5000K lights and get 6500K lights. I also placed more lights on each plant. As a result, my mystery dragon fruit plant has grown greatly even though it is indoors. Below is a before-and-after picture on 10/17 and 11/24.

Mango Mania

I started buying freeze-dried mango chips from my grocer. Man! Those things are expensive but good. I regularly buy fresh mangoes from the market, but they taste bland at best. I decided to try growing my own.

My Mallika mango pictured below arrived November 11, 2015. I pruned it pretty severely because I must train it to stay small and compact. It was about 5' tall when it arrived. It's been about 2 weeks, and I am anxiously awaiting to see when it will flush new vegetative growth. I am using a water meter to test the soil before watering. If my meter reads wet or even moist, I don't water. If it reads dry, I water. Since it is late fall and nearly winter, I must keep the tree indoors. I have it positioned at a south-facing window and I am running 2 grow lights. I just ordered a Pickering mango, and it should arrive Saturday.

Dragging Dragon's Inside

I brought my plants inside.   The nighttime temps are going to be near freezing.  God willing, I cannot wait to see what next spring and summer will bring.  Hopefully fruit.
 

Dragon fruits, getting big

The hylocereus plants have grown nicely this summer.  I hope that I get some fruit from Lowe's.   It had deep purple flesh and tasted like a beet.  I hope my fruit from my plants will be much better.

Talinum fruticosum perhaps?

I have no clue what this is.

Dragon Summer Flush

All of my dragons are growing new shoots at present.  I hope the biggest one will flower.  There is still time.  If it doesn't flower within the next month, it will run out of warm weather to ripen the fruit.

Potted Dragons

I finished repotting the last and largest plant around 9:30 last night.  I like view uniform the poles look.

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New Support Trellis for Dragon Fruit Plants

<\p>Two days ago an Asian gentleman knocked on my door. He wanted to by my large aloe and dragon fruit plants. He said his had died because he left them outdoors during the winter. Well I sold him some "thanh long" as he called it. He suggested that I use a 4x4 beam as a trellis. I had already began to think about changing the trellising. The ladder trellises that I was using kept blowing over with the breeze. It seems he solved my problem for me. My only concern is that I could not find non-pressure-treated lumber. I hope those chemicals don't leach into my dragon fruit. Additionally, I planted an extra pot of dragon fruit just in case someone knocks on my door next year. I'll be ready.