Observations After Planting

It's been a couple weeks now since I got the trees in the ground. I've noticed a couple little things:

The older leaves on the mango have turned brown and dry along the edges as well as some of the new growth showing the little leaves curling lengthwise. Those new growth leaves that curled also drop off at the slightest touch. At this point, I'm not too concerned as the rest of the plant looks fine and the other new growth seems to be coming in fine. I'm chalking it up to transplant "shock".

The banana tree shows its leaves a little yellow along the edges. I was also scared that the leaves were folding up and drooping a bit during the day. A little research showed me that banana trees do that. I've also noticed a new shoot popping up the middle to the tune of about 3" a day!!

Yesterday and the day before gave us our first little bout of rain since May 5th and now, 10/19, the Santa Anas have started. All of the plants are staked well but the banana, with it's large leaves, doesn't do well in the wind. I've thought about putting yard chairs around it to cut down the wind but I've decided against it. Let's see how it does.

I read an article about bananas that they like to be grown together in a bunch with multiple trees as close together as 2 meters. With that in mind, I may get another to plant where my old apple tree was - if I can get the stump ripped out first.

Planting Time!!

Sunday October 9th was when I got the mango tree in the ground. As instructed by Alex at Papaya Tree Nursery, I checked for proper drainage ahead of time. I didn't think it would be an issue as our ground is fairly porous but you never know. The instructions state to dig a hole twice as wide and slightly shallower then the root mass and then tamp the soil at the bottom. After that, I filled the hole with water and let it drain. Once drained, I filled it again and checked to make sure it drained within 12 hours. If it didn't, I would've had to dealt with inadequate drainage for my mango tree.

Link to Transplanting Guide for Rare Fruit Trees

As instructed, I had Kellogg's brand Palm & Cactus potting soil to mix 50/50 with my soil for back-fill around the root ball. On top of that, I circled the tree with Kellogg's brand Organic Mulch to about 3" deep - keeping the mulch about 6" from the tree-trunk. I gave it a good watering and stood back to check my masterpiece.

On the following Monday, I planted the banana tree following the same protocol. The banana tree was planted on the west side of my lot in-between my fence and the walkway around my pool. I'm hoping that the moisture from the pool, as well as the heat the water stores, contributes to helping the banana survive the winters here. Worst case scenario, I could heat the pool if it looks like it's going to be a particularly cold night.

On Saturday, 10/15, I finally got the passionfruit vines in the ground. I created a trellis, of sorts, along the fence using jute twine but the more I've read about passionfruit vines, the more I think I'll need to change to a wire or something different. We'll see how well the twine holds the vines up.

Tropical Fruit Porn

Well that certainly is a catchy title, isn't it? I was surfing so many websites for information regarding tropical fruits that would grow in SoCal, that I came to refer to my obsession as "fruit tree porn".

Finally, on October 2nd, 2016, I visited Papaya Tree Nursery in Granada Hills to meet with Alex and purchase my first round of tropical plants. He was an amazing resource and I felt confident with the purchases I made:

2 - "Big Red" passionfruit vines. About 3' tall with lots of new growth.

1 - "Goldfinger" banana tree. About 2.5' tall.

1 - "Kensington Pride" mango tree. About 4' tall and showing lots of new growth.

All the plants seemed to do well after transport. Now to figure out where to put them.