Gardening in PR Q & A

Here is a blog about a couple who live in Rincon and really transformed their property with all kinds of plants.  Hope it is OK to post it here.

http://www.lifetransplanet.com/

Great site - I'll check it out!

I'm looking to develop some type of landscape design that will work with the current structures.

What side of the island will you be on? I can give you better nursery recommendations that way.

As far as fruit trees, anything goes except lemons. The easiest to grow are papayas and passion fruit (vine) Govardhan Gardens on the west coast has a large variety of fruit trees and plants for sale, he will ship some plants & seeds to you directly if needed. There are a couple of other people in that area that are serious horticulturists, let me know if you will be over there and I'll look up the info. There are plenty of places on the east coast as well.

The best place I have found for clay pots is home depot. Seems a lot of nurseries buy from them and then add on their overhead. Right around mid-late spring is the best time to buy containers there or at Costco. Last time Costco had a great deal on some huge beautiful planters for only $20 a piece. They were fiberglass (faux ceramic finish) and have held up well so far. Hopefully whatever property you are on has good soil and isn't comprised mostly of clay. Otherwise, I would suggest making your own compost right off the bat. There are a few compost sellers here but they aren't true composts. I have found a lot of debris, clay and sand in the composts I have bought and they were definitely not cheap.

Karenqc wrote:

As far as fruit trees, anything goes except lemons.

What is the issue with Lemons????
I would think lemons, lime, oranges, etc would grow fine. I seem to remember lemons being grown from my childhood, but that was a LOOOG time ago.

There are many almond trees around me.  Can anyone direct me to information on what is necessary to process raw almonds?

Rey,

Here is an article from 2014. My mil has a lime tree in the back of her house that looks pretty bad but we still juice the limes that are salvageable. I've only seen two lemon trees since I've been here and they were on death's door. I do however wonder where all those bags of oranges come from. I really hate oranges so I never ventured to ask but lemons I miss having in abundance.

One place we stayed had a fruit tree with fruit that tasted like a cross between a lemon and orange.  They were delicious!

Processing as in an easier method for harvesting/getting the hull & shell off? Unless you have some heavy equipment, I'm afraid it's going to be a long arduous process.

Thank you for answering. I found the information I needed in a pamphlet on harvesting nuts from the University of California at Davis.  I would post the link, but I didn't save it. You can easily find the site through a web search.

This is the website at UC Davis
http://fruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu/datastore/

Karenqc wrote:

Rey,

Here is an article from 2014. My mil has a lime tree in the back of her house that looks pretty bad but we still juice the limes that are salvageable. I've only seen two lemon trees since I've been here and they were on death's door. I do however wonder where all those bags of oranges come from. I really hate oranges so I never ventured to ask but lemons I miss having in abundance.

Thanks, so the issue is an infectation that is killing the trees. I will look into it more when I move, i want orages, lemos, and limes even if i have to spoon feed them.

good info  - thanks all who contributed.  I lived  in southern texas Houston area for several years, there we grew lemon, lime, grapefruit trees in the backyard.  I want to try growing some trees and plants in Hatillo, but we are on the beach so it is mostly sandy.   I expect containers will be the best bet for some stuff.  Coconuts are growing already and are about 25' tall. 

I have seen people grow tomatoes (non-determinate type) that get huge, last multi years an produce fruit year round on a trellised support. 

What about garden pests?  Do we need to watch for any type of bugs or garden pests in PR?   Will the iguana's eat my lettus?

The usual hornworms, nothing too terrible after that, at least not here in the North. Iguanas love parcha, morning glories, pumpkin, etc. I haven't grown lettuce but I would bet money they will munch on those as well. I see them eating the new tender growth on anything that doesn't have a strong odor. So far they haven't touched my tomatoes, peppers or any of the herbs.

We have seen them eating mangos in our backyard. I was not aware of the citrus trees infection. No wonder my orange trees are dying. Such a shame, l will be looking into the information in the article. My plans were to plan some lemon trees but it may have to wait now. I remember growing up my mom had a big lemon tree in the backyard, the washer machine water was directed to empty around it. We had lemons almost year round.

My biggest pest problem so far is tiny caterpillars eating my okra and tomatoes.  I try to get out there during the week and just remove the worms and any eggs I can see. I haven't had any problems with the iguanas eating my lettuce.  It is actually doing great (I purchased a heat tolerant variety from Burpee).   I also have local peppers growing in containers on the deck and they are doing better than any peppers I had growing in Texas.   I have seen what I think are mealy bugs on those, but I just wipe them with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol.

I wonder if Lady Bugs will take care of the infectation on the Okra and Tomatoes. Lady Bugs used to be all over the island but spraying for mosquitos and other bugs may have depleted them. You could consider harvesting Lady Bugs to increase the population and get rid of the pests. I am not sure if the particular pest you have will be subceptible to the Lady Bugs, I would sugest checking online. Mean time removing the pests by hand may keep damage down.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 … 110920.htm
Just an idea
Rey

Another possible natural option is pray mantis. http://gardeninsects.com/prayingMantis.asp
They basically eat most insects.

I've thought about lady bugs.  We always had them around in our garden in Texas.  I have never seen one here, though (maybe they are more visible in the Spring?).  Definitely something to keep an eye out for.  I know some people have ordered them through the mail, but that just seems too extreme for me.  Thanks Rey:)