Mangosteens in Hawaii

[Manolitus]

ALL:

Can anyone please point me in the right direction ? I am looking for a tropical fruit nursery that sells Mangosteen and that will ship to Florida.

PLEASE post any and all possibilities !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks in advnance.

Manny

[Ken Johnson]

you built a hot house too?

[Manolitus]

you built a hot house too?

I am going to be full of surprises this summer.

People, I need responses here !!!!!!

Manny

[Peter]

You can try Frankie's-not sure if they have mangosteen or ship to Fla. but worth a look.

[paulgila]

mangosteen are notoriously difficult to grow,even in tropical places. are you sure its do-able in your area?

[Donald Sanders]

Aloha, I may be wrong but I am under the impression that the mangosteens sold here on the Big Island are grafted plants. Thus they have to be a substantial size to graft. Here on one really wants to buy a small plant so almost all the trees I've seen for sale are of a substantial size that are difficult and very expensive to ship. Add to that that any plants shipped off of the island must be inspected and shipped bare root.

I have been asked to investigate the possibility of shipping these and I have never found a way to do this.

I don't know if you can grow them from seeds. Sorry I can't help.

Good luck. Maybe when you get here in the summer you may find a way to do this.

Aloha, Don Sanders

[paulgila]

i plan on eating ALOT of mangosteen when i'm in bali in a few weeks--i'll save ya some seed.

[Manolitus]

mangosteen are notoriously difficult to grow,even in tropical places. are you sure its do-able in your area?

"Do-able" is a relative term. But to be more technical, crazy people have gotten mangosteens to fruit in south Florida. And I use the term crazy in the most flattering way possible.

So it is very very difficult to do, but not impossible. Durians are impossible. I don't believe that there has ever been a fruiting durian tree ever in Florida. Rambutans are really really tough as well.

So of the most difficult of difficult, mangosteens are "do-able."

Manny

[Manolitus]

Aloha, I may be wrong but I am under the impression that the mangosteens sold here on the Big Island are grafted plants. Thus they have to be a substantial size to graft. Here on one really wants to buy a small plant so almost all the trees I've seen for sale are of a substantial size that are difficult and very expensive to ship. Add to that that any plants shipped off of the island must be inspected and shipped bare root.

I have been asked to investigate the possibility of shipping these and I have never found a way to do this.

I don't know if you can grow them from seeds. Sorry I can't help.

Good luck. Maybe when you get here in the summer you may find a way to do this.

Aloha, Don Sanders

Don,

Thanks for the response. There has to be a way. If other nurseries, particularly palm nurseries, sell regularly to the main land, why can't someone else. But yes Don, when I get there in the summer, I may very well have some time to do some shipping !!!!

Certainly you can grow from seed, but it just takes so long to get them big enough to fruit..........

Manny

[Manolitus]

i plan on eating ALOT of mangosteen when i'm in bali in a few weeks--i'll save ya some seed.

I'll pass on your seeds

Manny

[paulgila]

ok,but i'm still gonna eat ALOT!

[siafu]

Hi,

Have you tried Bryan Brunner, MontosoGardens.com, in Puerto Rico?

They list mangosteens and are a reliable source for exotics.

[paulgila]

i see mangosteen listed in available plants on the efa(exotic fruits association) website...

[MattyB]

Did you just get the internet Paul?

[Manolitus]

Hi,

Have you tried Bryan Brunner, MontosoGardens.com, in Puerto Rico?

They list mangosteens and are a reliable source for exotics.

Hi.

I sent them an email earlier this morning. I tried another organic rare fruit nursery called Gordhavan in PR. I actually bought from them in the past, but they are just so small and the travel is really tough on them.

Trying to get the biggest one and willing to PAY !!!!!

Manny

[Manolitus]

i see mangosteen listed in available plants on the efa(exotic fruits association) website...

Hey,

What's the link to the sight your seeing ? Cant find it.

Manny

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

http://excaliburfruittrees.com/Main.aspx?tp=F

Did you try Richard Wilson in Lake Worth?

[Manolitus]

http://excaliburfruittrees.com/Main.aspx?tp=F

Did you try Richard Wilson in Lake Worth?

Jerry,

Thanks for the note. I go to Excalibur about once a year for my fruit tree fix. He is the only person I know of who has sold Mangosteen, rambutan and even Durian in past years.

The issue is that they are tiny and expensive. I want to try to get something bigger and stronger that gives it a better shot of living long term.

Otherwise, Excalibur is probably the best fruit tree nursery in South Florida.

Manny

[rprimbs]

How about Hulabrothers.com? They ship pretty nice trees.

[aussiearoids]

Dream on Manny , its just to cold for anyone to get one to survive to any size ... what about my poor mate up the road that had the top 3m ripped out of dozens of mature trees ??

[Manolitus]

How about Hulabrothers.com? They ship pretty nice trees.

Richard,

Thanks for the heads up. I had gone on their sister web site but could not find anything...when I went to Hula, they have them there for sale !!!

Wow, I am psyched, Let's see what happens. I don't have a pay pal account set up so I will try to call them later in the day and see if I can order via CC.

Thanks again.

Manny

[Alan_Tampa]

Bryan Brunner in PR. Montasso Gardens or something. I have killed dozens of mangosteens. Bill Whitman and Adolf Grimal did it in Florida, had excellent sites, but no reason a conservatory or novel pot culture shouldn't succeed eventually.

I had better luck getting from PR than Hawaii.

Alan

[Alan_Tampa]

Seeds of mangosteen are some kind of weird seed like thing thing, not really a seed, a clone dealy. There are few if any male mangosteen trees, all girls. Really nifty and my Holy Grail of fruit trees.

Also, try some of the other Garcinia. I find Garcnia xanthochymus to be hardy as nails, growing in the ground in Tampa, went through all crappy winters like champs.

Alan

[ariscott]

Good luck!!! I have been told the grafted ones aren't as hardy as seed grown one....

[Manolitus]

Alan and Ari,

Thanks for the replies.

Alan- I knew of both Montoso and, in my opinion, a slightly better nursery in PR call Govardhan Gardens. I bought a purple sugar apple tree from the former and it is doing super well. I did buy a Mangosteen from them too that eventually croaked. Neither had any this time around.

I mentioned before that there was a local guy up in Palm Beach that had them but he was out as well when I phoned the other day.

So thanks to this thread, I have communicated with Frankie's and with Hula on the Big Island. They both have little trees in stock and both ship to Miami.

I will be buying one or two trees soon and will keep you guys up to date.

Thank you all for your help.

Manny

[Eric in Orlando]

Garcinia benthamii and G. intermedia are also fairly hardy, survivng the last 2 gold winters here in Orlando when nearby lychee, mango and carambola had foliar damage and minor stem dieback.