Acerola Cherry

This Acerola tree bloomed four times this year (April, May, June, July) and produced over 6kg (13lbs), and it's flowering again (August) for the fifth time.   

 

Bitter Melon (Goya,Nigauri)

I've never tracked precisely how long it takes a Goya to mature, so will start tracking this tiny Goya. It is about 4-5 days old.

(09/01)

(09/09)

(09/15)

Guava

Got one red Guava and a few Strawberry Guava today. It's nice to be able to eat fresh fruit everyday; unfortunately, this is the last fruit for the season if I fail with the Dragon Fruit. I have many citrus trees that I hope will bloom next year. If so, I will have more fruit next year for a longer period.

 

Dragon Fruit

I do not have experience growing Dragon Fruit and not sure what a maturing Dragon Fruit looks like and not sure if this fruit will make it or not, but will keep an eye on it.

This bud is growing quickly.

This is the second flower that failed, so I suspect this is the type of Dragon Fruit that needs a cross pollinator. 

Bitter Melon (Goya,Nigauri)

I picked two Goya. They are in good condition and are a good size. I plan to make Goya Champuru. 

Aloe

This Aloe flower is starting to bloom, but quite surprised to see how tall the stem is.

Green Peppers (Piman)

I started these plants from seed last May and transplanted them in June of last year. They were pretty productive earlier this year, but got infected with Stink Bugs that suck the sap from the leaves and stress the plant. After I removed all the bugs, I trimmed the plant back and added fertilizer. It has now bounced back and starting to flower again.

This is a third plant located in a tower. It also had a problem with stink bugs, but after removing them it bounced back and started to produce peppers.

Bitter Melon (Goya,Nigauri)

These Goya are ready to pick anytime.

(08/28)

This Goya is from the picture above. It was getting pretty large and decided to pick it on 6 September. I found a few more small Goya, so believe this plant will be quite productive this year.

Lizard Buddy

I found one of my Lizard Buddies hanging out in one of my Papaya trees. This green Lizard is shy, so did not get too close. The brown one lets me get closer and I can touch its tail.  

 

Japanese Sweet Potato (Beni Imo)

These Beni Imo slips were planted on 1 January and harvested on 22 August, which means they were neary 9 months old. I have another container of Beni Imo and will not plant Beni Imo slips in this container again; instead, I will plant standard purple Satsumaimo slips.

I turned over the container and could immediately see tubers.

This container produced some pretty nice sized tubers. Well worth the 9-month wait. Also, I got one purple Satsumaimo (haha). A vine must have crossed over from another container. It is at the bottom right. 

2kg (4.6 lbs)

Need to lay them out in a cool dry location to cure for 10-14 days.

Added some new soil (10kg), fertilizer (4-6 hand fulls) and some nutrients specific for potatoes, carrots, Onions and other similar vegetables. Then I made slips from purple Satsumaimo vines I have in another container. I will harvest these next May.

These slips have grown quite well in just two weeks. I moved the container so the vines can grow through the rails of my second floor balcony. They will hang down to my first floor and provide a little shade, while at the same time get lots of sun. 

Banana Tree

This Banana tree is doing great. I feed it about 10 days ago and it looks like it is getting wider. The pups are doing fine too. I suspect I will get Bananas from this next year. I hope it produces a lot of pups so I can move them.

 

Bitter Melon (Goya,Nigauri)

These Goya are growing in the back around the Dragon Fruit plant. They are self seeding and have been growing back for the past 2-3 years. The Goya I have in planters keep exploding, but these do not. I suspect they can grow deep roots and not affected by the lack of water like the plants in the planters.

Another Goya.

This Goya is hanging from the Dragon Fruit. It used the Dragon Fruit like a trellis.  

Today's Harvest

(08/26) I've not been showing what I've been getting recently, so wanted to share. These are from today. The largest Guava at the top weighed 177 grams.

(08/25)

(08/24) Starting top left, Passion Fruit, Guava, Myoga, Strawberry Guava.

(08/23) Not the best looking, but they taste great. The stems died back and I was going to leave them, but decided to pull them. Some were bad, but these are just fine.

Dragon Fruit

(08/21) The last Dragon Fruit flower did not make it, but hoping for better luck with this one.

08/22 (2pm)

08/22 (5pm) The flower will generally bloom within 8 hours from the time the white pedals can be seen through the pod.

08/22 (8pm)

08/22 (9pm) I prefer the flower drop like this. The pollen is large and will fall on the Stigma naturally. But, I did help it out using a tooth brush.

08/22 (9pm) Dragon Fruit flowers bloom at night and smell like honeysuckle. 

(08/23) The next day the pedals start to dry up and the wonderful honeysuckle aroma is gone. The base of the flower connecting to the branch will develop into a fruit if successfully pollinated. The fruit will be ready to harvest in about 35 days from the day it is pollinated.

(08/23) As I was checking the flower, I noticed more flower buds. I found a few, but will track this one since they are all about the same size. They grow quickly.

(08/24)

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(08/25)

(08/26)

Agave

My son-in-law gave me two small Agave plants. I delayed planting them, so lost one; however, this plant is doing fine. I do not know what verity it is, but will be able to determine once it gets a little larger.

 

Seahorse Leaf

I thought I found a Seahorse on my balcony. It was just an old leaf. Lol

 

Basil

Basil grows year around and grows like weeds in my region. I did not plant any of these, but rather I removed the seedlings from different planters as they popup and transplanted them here. I will take this planter to my first floor balcony to make it easier to pick when needed.

 

Today's Harvest

Today I got two red Guava, one strawberry Guava, a handful of Acerola Cherries and a few Okra, but forgot to add the Okra. 

Tomato

These Tomato plants are really doing well; however, all are self seeded seedlings. so not sure if they are Cherry Tomatoes or beef steak. Only time will tell.

13 planters containing seedlings I transplanted.

These plants are looking really healthy.

I got most of the seedlings from this container that I transplanted. Obviously many fruit dropped from past seasons, because I tilled and added new soil and fertilized, yet seedlings are still pooping up. The largest plant is starting to flower, so I should start getting Tomatoes in 5-8 weeks depending on the weather.

There is a small group of seedlings that sprouted in the black planter, so I transplanted them today.