Top 10 Tropical Fruit Trees You Must Grow if You Live in the Tropics

Alright! This is John Kohler with growingyourgreens. com ! Today we have another exciting episode foryou.  And where we’re at today is a special place here in Lake Worth, Florida in SouthFlorida.  So if you live in South Florida, you’re going to want to come to this placeto buy your fruit trees and some other very important crops that you will want to growin your home garden.  And so I’ve been to this place, Excalibur Fruit Trees, probablylike 10 years ago when my friend who lives in the area was buying some trees.  And I camewith them and I really loved the place back then.  But I don’t think I was making anyvideos then. But I’m back here today to share with you guys what Excalibur Fruit Tree Nursery does,because it’s a lot different than most of the nurseries that you may, you know, seein in ad or over on Craig’s list or here or there or whatever, you know.  And I alwaysencourage you guys to support local family owned businesses and Excalibur nursery, fruittree nursery, is a family owned business.  Now the other thing that is cool about Excaliburis that they’ve been doing this for 35 years now.  So that’s a long time.  They have specialgenetics of different fruit trees that you’re really not going to find anywhere else.  Inaddition, one of the things that I like about Excalibur is that you could come here andactually buy the fruit, and to try it before you buy the tree.  And they also have somesamples available too.  And they are open basically every day except Sunday, from 8 to 4.  AndI always encourage you guys to get, you know, to one of these places early because you don’twant to be coming at 3:45 because this place you know, is large, they’re going to showyou around, give you a personal tour and help you select the right plants for you. One of the questions i get a lot is, John what fruit trees do I buy? So in this episode,what I’m going to share with you guys is my 10 top favorite fruit trees I would buyif I lived here in Florida, South Florida, to plant and to grow.  And I have very specificreasons for the ones I’m choosing that you’ll learn about in just a little bit.  So onceyou get here, this is like a residential house with the nursery attached.  You’re goingto park against the rock wall.  It says Excalibur Parking.  Once you park you’re going to getout your car and then you’re going to walk up over to the tent.  So once you get hereyou walk across the street from the parking area, you’re going to walk actually intothis tent and there’ll be a person hanging out there ready to answer all you questionsand help you out.  They also have some golf carts ready and waiting so that you can jumpon the golf cart and be taken to the different fruit trees you’re interested in. Now it’s very important that you know what you’re interested in, because they, theywill be helpful and help you select the right ones, but it’s always best to know whatyou want so they could take you there to it and they could show you the different treesthat are available.  They have many different sizes and the costs vary depending on, youknow, the size and the specific variety of tree. What I want to do next is actually really cool.  We’re going to go ahead and go intothe tent and show you guys some of the fruits that they have available this time of yearso that you could buy some to eat for later before your fruit trees start actually fruiting. So one of the cool things about Excalibur Fruit Tree Nursery is that they will offersome fruits during different times of the year, you know.  The fruits that they’reoffering here are all grown on the site and actually they’re from some of the treesthat you would buy if you came here.  I mean, some of the trees and small pots are alreadyproducing, you know, and that’s really important because this is going to save you time.  Soyou could be eating sooner off the fruit trees you’re growing instead of later.  So at thistime of the year right now they got some of these guys.  These are known as black sapote’s. And these are related to the persimmons.  They’re just black and dark inside.  They also have,of course, the jackfruit, which I love a lot, as well as some avocados and some papayas. And, you know, the fruits that they sell here, both the fresh fruits and also the trees,you know, they taste way different than the store one.  You go buy produce at the store,say you’re buying papayas.  You’re getting papayas that are, you know, picked unripe,they’re shipped unripe, you know, and the flavor is greatly diminished and the varietiesyou’re buying in a store are very limited, you know.  Many papaya varieties are grownbecause they store and ship well.  And when you grow ones at home you have a wider selectionthat you could choose from because they may not store as well.  But let me tell you, they’regoing to taste much better. So what I’m going to do next actually I’m going to go ahead and get on a little golfcart, get a tour.  And I’m going to share with you guys my top 10 fruit trees that Iwould buy if I lived in this area.  But also we’re going to go ahead before we do thefruit trees, we’re going to do 3 bonus plants that you guys should grow even before youstart growing the fruit trees. So now I’m with Rudy and he’s my personal chauffeur or tour guide today at Excalibur. And whenever you come to Excalibur, each one of you guys is going to get a personal tourof the place to get the trees that you want.  So we’re going to go ahead and take offon this golf cart that’s actually powered by electricity, electric baby. So before I get into the fruit trees that I’m going to recommend to you guys and theones that I would actually plant, I want to talk about this plant first.  And actuallyit’s coming up first because it’s actually the most important plant you need to purchaseand grow if you own a place here in South Florida.  This is known as the Katuk.  Theymight mispronounce it here in the South called kay-tack or kay-tuk or something, but it’skatuk.  And it’s also known as Sauropus.  And it’s quite a delicious edible leafygreen vegetable.  So you guys could see this is in a 3 gallon pot and these guys are standing,I don’t know, like four feet, four and a half feet tall, really nice.  This would begreat to make a hedge out of.  So just plant a bunch, you know, I don’t know, about everyfour feet and it will actually fill out.  You could actually take cuttings of this, stickit back in the ground or stick in water.  It will root out, and you could actually havesome more.  They’ve done al the hard work for you.  So you just got to come here, pluckdown your catch and take these babies home.  So this is the standard green katuk here. And you could just basically just pick and eat the leaves off these guys.  And if youdo that, what you’re going to be rewarded with is like, it’s like the leafy greendoesn’t taste like lettuce, it kind of tastes like peanut butter, and I’m not kidding. This is so incredible.  So like if you’re making a salad, you could use like, I don’tknow, 50% lettuce, 50% of this, and it’s going to taste like you got peanut butterlettuce.  So the green katuk that they have here is a standard variety.  But, you know,here at Excalibur they’ve got all kinds of cool different varieties that you can’tfind anywhere else, you know.  Matter of fact, all the trees and plants that they’re offeringhere, they propagate here except for the citrus.  I guess there’s special requirements forcitrus.  But they do it all in house.  So that’s actually quite unique and rare, because youknow, most nurseries these days are just simply resellers. So I’m going to go ahead and show you two more different kinds of katuk that they havehere that you’re not going to find anywhere else.  And I’ve actually never seen themanywhere else myself. So the special kind of katuk that they have here that you’re not going to see anywhereelse is actually a beautiful katuk.  Well, they’re all beautiful.  But they have actuallytwo different kinds of variegated katuk, you know.  You get it over in South East Asia oryou could get it here.  And I think it’s a lot easier to just buy your plants hereinstead of going all the way to Asia to smuggle these guys back.  So I’m glad they have these. I’ve never seen them anywhere else.  And I saw these like first like ten years ago. And since all my travels I’ve never seen the variegated anywhere else.  So that’sdefinitely really cool.  The variegated, you know, it’s just you know the leaves area little bit different.  They have two different variegated kinds.  They have like a stronglyvariegated, you know, mostly variegated or mostly white, and then they have a generallyor mild variegated kind.  And let me tell you, mmm, they both taste like peanut butter. So the next plant I want to share with you guys that you guys should also grow if youlive here in South Florida like for sure, is this guy.  This guy is known as the MalabarSpinach.  And there’s a green malabar spinach, they also have a red malabar spinach.  I actuallygrew the red malabar this past year, and the berries are just simple amazing.  They’relike super rich in antioxidants.  And yeah I’ll post a link down below to a video Idid when I juiced my Malabar Spinach berries.  And this guy also is going to do great here,even in the summer heat, no problem.  I mean, this guy took a hundred plus degree weatherin my garden.  And I’m sure it will be fine here.  The thing it doesn’t like is the frost. Another one that I’m not showing today that they also may have here is also known as thewater spinach, another leafy green you guys should grow as well.  It’s going to do amazingin this climate. So the third bonus plant I want you guys to plant if you have space available.  Like ifyou’re on a small residential lot don’t plant this one.  But if you got acreage, thisis something you’re definitely going to want to plant in your space.  Because it’sgoing to provide you guys a year round food source.  And it’s one of the most deliciousthings in the world.  It’s these guys.  It’s a grass.  And it’s known as Sugarcane.  Sugarcanegrows in the tropics.  It takes about, I don’t know, 18 months to fully mature.  So when I’vegrown it in a non-tropical environment, it really hasn’t produced well for me.  Buthere it’s going to be great.  Invest in a sugarcane juicer once you’ve got a lot ofcane going on, and you’re going to thank me for it.  Because it’s going to be oneof the best things you ever did.  Now the sugarcane because it is a grass, can absorb up to 90different trace minerals.  So it’s very nutritious.  Plus there’s other plant polyphenols andantioxidants in there that there’s a lot of research on.  And it’s actually quitehealthy for you.  And one of the latest crazes these days is going on like a sugarcane juicedetox, right.  And if you might think, but John you’re drinking sugar water man whenyou drink the sugarcane juice right? Well, let me tell you guys.  You guys probably hadfor breakfast something that had more sugar in it than the sugarcane juice you’d make. The orange juice has way more sugar than the sugarcane juice.  Because sugarcane juice,unlike refined white sugar, is mostly water, with some added sugar but also a lot of extranutrition.  And that’s why it’s really good for you and you guys should include someevery day if you had a you know, cane orchard.  And if you do get one, you get a juicer, letme know when you’re at full production, I’ll come down and visit you. So now I’m going to go ahead and share with you guys the fruit trees that I would geton my property here in South Florida, right.  And the first tree is actually not a treeat all.  It’s a papaya plant.  It’s not really a tree because it’s not really woodhere.  But the papaya is an amazing fruit.  And the variety I would get in this area isthis guy.  This is known as the Red Lady.  They also have different varieties.  But I likethe Red Lady because it’s a nice deep dark rich red flesh.  It’s actually quite sweet. Actually I had one for lunch today.  And the papayas they’ll basically produce year roundfor you, you know.  And this will serve a purpose for me because I need to eat every day.  Thepapayas are going to produce all the time.  So, you know, get a couple dozen papaya plantsand always have a papaya ripening and going off, so that you have it available to eat. So yeah, grow some papaya. Now, I’m getting specifically the red lady variety because it is from Thailand.  So youcould eat actually Thai tropical fruits here in South Florida without having to go to Thailand. They have many other varieties.  Of course you could take papaya seeds from a grocerystore, buy a papaya, and sprout those and grow those.  But then the quality of the fruitmay not be that good.  And Excalibur nursery fruit tree nursery, has gone through a lotof links to get, you know, some of the best tasting best fruit trees around. So the next fruit that I would grow is not a tree at all.  It’s a banana.  And a bananais an herbaceous shrub, not a tree, but people call them banana trees.  But they’re notreally a tree, they’re just like the papaya.  But this is another one that I would grow,because you know, they’re going to produce year round for you.  And here they have, Idon’t know, at least over a dozen different varieties of bananas.  And the one that I personallywould get is actually called the Lakatan.  And this is a special banana from the Philippinesthat actually is high in beta carotene , and also I’ve heard has an excellent taste. I haven’t yet tasted that one.  But, you know, I want to encourage you guys to justgrow anything but the kind you get in the store.  Because those taste terrible, right. And when you grow your own bananas they’re going to taste amazing, right.  There’s likeice-cream bananas and so many different kinds.  They also have a red skin banana.  That’sprobably another one that I’d get, it’s a dwarf red skin variety.  And the skin islike really almost like black before you eat it.  And then the skin has like a tinge oflike reddish pigments.  And I really want to encourage you guys to grow fruit trees thatactually have high antioxidant properties because I think they can and are healthierthan just like standard white banana fruits. So the next tree that I would actually grow is right here.  This is known as the blacksapote.  It’s related to the persimmon.  But these guys are quite unique.  This is in a3 gallon, as you guys could see, it’s already, actually already fruiting.  And they got largersizes that have lots of fruits on the tree.  And I always want to encourage you guys toget the largest size pot that you can afford.  And then when you get that size pot, thenpick out the largest tree, the healthiest looking tree, the tree that has the most fruits,you know, in that pot size.  So you’re going to get the best value, right.  And you know,by buying a tree that’s actually larger, you know, you’re going to be more bountifuland it’s going to produce fruit sooner for you.  Now the black sapote, you know, one ofthe things about it is it’s not necessarily a sweet fruit, right.  But this can be a goodthing.  I mean, people are really concerned about sugar and all these things these days. And, you know to me, because it’s not as sweet, it’s more of a wild type fruit.  Andone of the things that you get when you buy your black sapote at Excalibur Fruit TreeNursery, is you’re going to get the variety called Excalibur.  And this is their specialvariety that in the first of the season it may have some seeds.  But later in the seasonthese will be seedless fruits so that you guys don’t have to deal with it.  So that’sreally cool.  But yeah, grow some black sapotes if you live here in South Florida, and youcould make some amazing puddings with like black sapote fruit blended up with some dates. That stuff is real good. So the next fruit tree I would grow is actually not a fruit, it’s a berry.  I guess berriesare fruits too, let’s not discriminate here.  But this guy is the Thai dwarf everbearingmulberry.  So everbearing means produces all year round.  So to me, you know, producingall year round is better than producing like once a year.  And that’s what you’re goingto get with the Thai dwarf mulberry here.  And as you guys could see, here’s actuallya little mulberry right here.  Mulberries are really great because this is one of the foodsactually that money can’t buy.  It’s very rare to find mulberries for sale in the store. You might find it at a farmer’s market occasionally.  But most of the time if you don’t have yourown tree, the bird get them, the birds get them.  And you know, to get have optimal ripeness,you know, you need to really grow them yourself and pick them yourself at peak ripeness, otherwisethey’re just not going to be the same.  It’s like store bought raspberries versus homegrown raspberries, you know, major difference.  Yeah so grow some mulberries for the deeprich highly pigmented delicious fruit. So the next fruit tree I would grow is probably because of my girlfriend.  This is one of hertop favorite fruits, as it is mine.  I love this fruit and I wish I could just grow itinstead of having to keep buying it.  But this is actually known as the jackfruit.  Now thesetrees look small now but they’ll get gigantic.  And jackfruits, certain varieties can getto a 100 pounds in one fruit.  That might weigh more than your baby.  Well, it will weigh morethan your baby, maybe more than you.  But it can make an incredible amounts of fruit.  Andthey have some very special varieties here.  Besides the standard, you know, yellow andorange kind of jackfruit on the inside, they have red varieties.  And that’s the kindI would encourage you to buy, because it has a rich deep red pigment.  I really like toget unique fruits, you know.  Most people have seen like a yellow jackfruit.  Maybe some peoplehave seen an orange.  But it’s very rare to see the red jackfruit.  And it’s moreof a crunchy kind, the varieties here, the morning.  And it’s really sweet and superdelicious.  So that’s the one I would get.  I’d get a red jackfruit, quite rare, quiteunique, available here at Excalibur Fruit Tree Nursery. So the next fruit tree that I personally would get is this guy right here.  And it’s alsobecause of my girlfriend.  She loves this fruit, probably even more than me.  This is knownas Mamey Sapote.  And the particular variety I would get is known as the Pantin.  And itactually has a nice dark deep rich orange color.  And actually the fruits are ratherlarge.  And they have almost a dozen different varieties of the Mamey Sapotes.  And I thinkone of the things that’s really sad is when you go to the store and buy the mamey sapote,it’s just labelled mamey sapote, and you don’t know what variety.  And each varietyis unique and tastes different than the other.  Plus some may grow better.  And they will havedifferent characteristics than others, you know.  Some are like kind of like long andskinny, and some are kind of like shorter and fatter, you know.  They’re kind of likedropping off all over the ground here because I think they’re like immature fruits.  Butsome of these trees, even in just the pots, are like twenty feet tall and have a bunchof mameys on there already.  So yeah come during mamey season, i’m sure they’ll have samplesout, so you could try all the different varieties. So the next fruit that I would grow is this guy right here.  This is known as Sapodillaor Chico Sapote.  And I just talked about the Mamey Sapote, which I didn’t describe howit tastes actually.  A ripe mamey sapote tastes like pumpkin pie.  Like the pumpkin pie youhad on Thanksgiving, that’s what it tastes like but in a fruit that’s naturally ripened,you know.  They do need to be soft and ripened to perfection for them to taste good. Now these guy, the sapodilla or chico sapote, you know, these are also known as brown sugarfruit.  And actually they have a variety of the chico sapote called Brown Sugar.  But thevariety I would get is actually known as the Alano, and that’s this guy right here.  Andthis produces a nice sized, fairly large, fairly sweet fruit with nice like dark browntexture on the inside.  And there is some sap in the sapodillas , and you know, which isknown as chiclete or like it’s like chewing gum.  But that stuff when you eat it, it willget stuck to the top of your mouth and then you won’t be able to get it off.  So it’sprobably best not to eat the white sap.  And these guys also once again, they need to beripened to perfection, you know.  Many places I go to buy the chico sapotes, it’s quiteunfortunate that actually they pick the fruits too early.  And when they do that, the fruitwill never get the optimal level of ripeness , it will never get the optimal level of sugarcontent. .  And it’s just to going to taste as good as it should.  So just yet anotherreason to buy your own fruit tree.  So that you could grow it yourself and harvest themwhen they’re completely ripe. So another fruit that actually I would plant is not a tree either.  It’s this guy.  Thisis called the Jade Pineapple.  It’s a white pineapple that the core that you normallycut out and discard is edible because it’s nice and soft.  So I had a variety in Hawaiithat was actually like this, you know.  It was amazing.  So maybe this is the same variety. On this guy, you know, there’s no serrated edges on the edge.  So it’s a smooth kind. So it’s not quite as dangerous as standard pineapples.  And I’d probably have like awhole patch of pineapples because let me tell you, the pineapples you get in the store halfthe time they’re not even ripe.  And you know, these sweet white pines are absolutelydelicious.  I have videos where I show and sample white pines, you know, on the cameraand they taste like nothing else.  So yeah grow one of these guys.  You won’t regretit.  And once you got one going, you could just take the top off and then replant itand you know, get a whole patch sooner or later. So the next fruit tree that I’d plant is once again not a tree at all.  I like thesenon-tree fruits.  But it’s these guys right here.  They’re palm, and palms are not trees. But this palm is known as the Acai berry palm.  And if you guys, you know, go to your localhealth food store you could get like Acai berry powder or frozen Acai.  It’s actuallyvery high in antioxidants.  And this is why I would grow it.  It probably is going to makea million little small berries and you just can’t find these guys fresh, because theyare highly perishable.  But here at Excalibur they offer really rare things that you’renot going to find anywhere else like the Acai.  So get one so you can be antioxidant richand have your own fresh Acai berries. So now I’m going to share with you guys the last fruit tree that I would purchase. And of course it has to be the Mango.  Here at Excalibur Fruit Tree Nursery they havenearly a 100 different unique varieties of mangoes.  Mangoes is something that’s veryeasy to grow here.  And it’s something I think everybody should grow.  And there’smany different kinds.  And the kinds unfortunately the handful of varieties you could buy inthe store and the ones from the store are usually imported, and they’re hot waterdipped and they’re picked unripe.  So you just don’t get the full flavor on how amango should taste.  And some of them taste amazing.  The one that I would choose, althoughit’s very difficult and I haven’t tasted them all.  But of the ones I have tasted todate, this is one of my favorites.  It’s actually called the Namdokmai.  And actuallyhas a really floral kind of flavor instead of just like an overwhelming sweetness.  Andit’s just like it trips you out when you eat it because you do not think that you’reactually eating a mango.  But yeah, I’m sure they have, you know, ripe mangoes in seasonso that can try them and also go to a mango tasting.  I think they do have one here inSouth Florida and it’s on my list to get to a mango tasting so I could taste all thedifferent varieties of mangoes. So now that you guys heard all my ten fruits that I would buy if I had a place here inSouth Florida, you know.  One of the things you might be thinking, John why didn’t yousay citrus,why won’t you grow citrus fruits man? Well, like to me citrus is like a semior sub-tropical tree and actually I’d prefer to grow full on tropicals.  Because I haveeaten enough citrus in my life.  And some of these other trees that I have shared withyou guys today are quite unique and different.  And, you know, why not grow what is uniqueand different and what’s not widely available.  I mean if you go to the local store you couldoften find citrus.  Everybody seems to grow citrus, right.  But people do not grow someof the, you know, unique and rare fruits and more specifically some of the varieties thatI’ve been able to share with you guys today. I want to thank Excalibur Nursery for allowing me to make this episode.  And if you live herein South Florida and you were from you know Miami, West Palm, wherever, you want to definitelycome to Excalibur Nursery and support them so that they could continue to be in business,and you know, bring in rare plants from all over the world that have been in quarantine. And they have you know tropical fruit trees, rare, that are not even up for sale yet, thatthey are propagating in their greenhouses.  And if you’re looking for something, youknow, give them a call.  And be sure to check their website.  I’ll post a link down below,Excalibur Fruit Trees Nursery.  And yeah I’ve had a really fun time. If you’ve enjoyed this style format, hey please give me a thumbs up to let me know. Also be sure to click that Subscribe button right down below.  I have some more episodesstill coming up here while on my visit in South Florida.  And also be sure to check mypast episodes.  I have over eleven hundred episodes now, to share with you guys aboutall aspects of not only fruits, growing fruits, but also growing vegetables and how you cangrow your food for you and your family at home.  So I’m glad Excalibur is here as agreat resource for all of South Florida.  So once again, my name is John Kohler with growingyourgreens. com.  We’ll see you next time and until then remember - keep on growing.