First dragon fruit flower bud

Thank God!  I have my first indication that my physical graffiti hylocereus (green pot) is officially mature.  I found a small flower bud.  The plant is 2.5 years old.  I have 3.5 years invested in growing dragon fruit.  The first PG plant froze during the harsh winter of 2013.

Red Seedling Dragon Fruit

The little seedling has put on a lot of mass this winter.

Wurtz Avocado

The little Wurtz has finally recovered from shipping and transplanting stress.  It has a multitude of swollen buds that are starting to produce little leaves.  This is the first sign of vigor I have seen in the three months it has been here.  I have tried to take extra care with this plant--using fast draining soil, applying foliar sprays, feeding with organic fish emulsion, maintaining constant and comfortable ambient temps and humidity, and lighting with lamps.

Mallika Mango

Mallika still has not flushed yet.  I have found evidence of more plumping buds. Altogether I see seven buds that are swelling.  I hope the plant will have a lot of vegetative growth.  If it flushes flower panicles, I will most likely have to cut them off.

Wurtz Avocado

I ordered a Wurtz avocado this week from Ebay.  It arrived Wednesday, December 9, 2015.  I am suprised at how non-compact it is.  Wurtz is supposed to be a dwarf tree.  I was kind of expecting more branching along the trunk of the tree and a little less scraggliness.  It is not a bad little tree, it just needs to shape up a bit.  Many of the stems of the tree are covered by a black substance that reminds me of sooty mold.  I'm not sure if this is something I should be concerned with.  Some of the leaves and limbs look a little droopy and dehydrated.  I suppose the plant suffered shock in the shipping process.  I pruned some of the floppy limbs, and I am trying to make it happy so that it will perk up.  A good thing about the plant is the number of buds it has.  The limbs seem to be coved with apical buds.  Whenever the tree recovers or when the spring arrives, it will be interesting to see if all those buds develop.  If so, then it should be one beautiful little tree.  For right now, I have a Charllie Brown tree, which is fitting because it is almost Christmas.</p>

Seedling Red Dragon Fruit

I ate my first dragon fruit this summer.  Unfortunately, it wasn't the best.  It tasted like, had the consistency of, and was the color of a pickled beet.  The sugar content was non-existent.  The fruit came from Nicaragua, so I suspect it was picked before it was totally ripe.  The red varieties grown there are Lisa, Sin Espinas, San Ignacio, Cebra, and Rosa, Orejona.  My little plant will most likely yield fruit similar to these varieties.  At present, the plant is loaded with spines, so it is unlikely to be a Sin Espinas.  I kind of wonder why the people of Nicaragua mostly grow the red varities as opposed to the white and magenta flesh.  The fruit is on top of the Physical Graffiti dragon

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.