North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Scott Breneman <sbreneman@yourgoodwill.org>]

When I first got the fruit bug I tried to grow everything. (including 
planting non-viable embryos from grocery store bananas)

After a decade of wins and losses I conclude that I'm only going grow potted 
subtropicals which are fairly likely to fruit and whose fruit is not readily 
available at the store for a dollar :-) 

the winners:
kumquats
Meyer lemons
pomegranate (but cheap at the store)
so called condo mango 
guava
loquat--beautiful, tasty fruit, cold hardiness.

The maybe:
condo mango (haven't had a fruit grow to ripeness yet) 
white sapote 10 years and no flowers or fruit (but a half-cord of firewood 
pruned off it...;-0)
jaboticaba --beautiful exfoliating bark and lovely foliage.  No flowers or 
fruit yet. 
bananas--beautiful, impressive, but never fruited yet for me.
cherimoya-- 8 years, no fruit, pollination assistance required

Not worth it (to me) 
citrus I can get at the store
true tropicals--they die when chilly or looked at crossly.
strawberry guava--not tasty 
pineapple guava--never fruited. 
pineapple--too easy to lose an eye and excellent large fruit at the store.


Scott