Gardening with Tropical Fruit

September 2005

By Gene Joyner, Extension Agent
Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service

If you’re one of these individuals who has been upset about the wet summer conditions, you don’t have to worry about it too much longer. Usually October officially begins our dry season which will run until mid May of next year.

It is important though that tropical fruits receive enough moisture for normal growth and this month that shouldn’t be a problem since September historically has been the wettest month of the year with an average of over nine inches of rain. Hopefully this year won’t see a repeat of last fall’s hurricanes either which did severe damage to many private landscapes as well as commercial groves.

This time of year most tropical fruits in the landscape shouldn’t have much problem. If you had a lot of leaching from earlier rains though, you might wish to apply a light fertilization, especially on young trees. This is also a good time for setting out container trees and they should establish quickly with our good growing conditions.

If you have trees that need pruning, it’s OK to do pruning this time of year, too, and pruning actually is best done throughout the year in small amounts rather than one or two heavy prunings. The only time we don’t encourage heavy pruning on most fruits is during the winter months when regrowth can be damaged by low temperatures.

If you’re doing propagation, this should be a good time of year for all forms of propagation such as budding, grafting, air layering or rooting cuttings. Seeds also germinate quickly this time of year, but make sure they are in areas that receive bright sunlight to speed germination.

Some people are still reporting heavy insect infestations, particularly on container trees and small trees in the landscape. It’s a good idea to check the landscape weekly for signs of insects or disease problems and then determine a corrective measure if it’s warranted.

If you have questions about taking care of your fruit trees this time of year, check with fellow members at monthly meetings or contact your local office of the Extension Service.