makap said:I have the same issue Critter, small house and 3 cats. But instead of wanting to also share the window sil, they want to use the larger pots of a bathroom. That is when I put foil around the plant so they cant get to the dirt and the sound is not to their liking..lol.

Well THAT is a good idea. They hate aluminum foil! I've used it on furniture but never thought of putting it in a pot.
I happen to have a decent collection of rocks I picked up in my backpacking and outdoorsy days.
Large, medium, small, and tiny. I use mostly mediums in the tops of the pots. Too heavy for them to paw away, but staying clear of stems.

Already have a coupla avocado pits sprouted - one's about 24" tall. Started summer 2013, I think.
'Bout time to bring those in.

Are you saying I can grow mangos from pits?

Cause I LOVE mangos!

Oh, and I am waiting until spring to start the kaffir - hoping mother nature will get it off to a good start for me.

ALTHOUGH..... I do have enough seeds to do some each way.....

crittergarden said:Already have a coupla avocado pits sprouted - one's about 24" tall. Started summer 2013, I think.
'Bout time to bring those in.

Are you saying I can grow mangos from pits?

Cause I LOVE mangos!

My Avocado started Jan 2014 is over 4 feet.

Mangos are fairly easy. Key is to pry open the case and you see the true "seed" which looks similar in shape to a huge lima bean. If you plant it with the case it takes forever. You can soak them in water for a spell til they sprout or just plant em. I grew 2 last year and they reached over a foot when I placed them in my "pretend" greenhouse. Great for a couple of weeks and then something came thru and clear cut them.

Sorry - missed your zone so not sure if you will have any fruit.

I am now growing pineapple from both the top and a seed. Prior efforts with tops led to rot - this one seems to have took. The seed sprouting is an added bonus - it is microscopic.

You are ahead of me, experience wise and likely setup wise - unless you have nothing special for a setup!

I'm excited about the mango.
Like the avocados, I just want to see......

Our zones mostly match.

DO you take your avo and mango outside for summer?

Just got caught up on the last month of this thread - you guys/gals are having way too much fun with your Tropicals.

Btw, @crittergarden you probably won't be able to grow a mango tree that will give you fruit in Pittsburg. You just don't get enough sun for it to do its thing and most likely if it did bloom in 10 years or so, you also don't have the right pollinator. It makes a nice foliage plant, though. My daughter's father-in-law grew one from a mango I gave him that I grew here. I think he still has it and it is pretty big, but he lives in Utah, so again, no hope. The pits will germinate if you set them in soil on their edges, so I've heard. I have several baby mango trees under my big tree that have just grown from pits left on the ground by the raccoons. It's possible they scored the pit with their teeth, but . . Mine blooms in January and again in March, and I get fruit through June and July here. In the Caribbean and BVI's where I've also seen them growing they bloom and fruit year 'round. Lotsa sun, lotsa warmth.

@eclayne I saw your question way back in August about the Rainbow Costus. So glad you have it growing, is that the start I sent you or did you get another? Mine are only sporadically making the variegated leaves, but I guess I forgot to tell you that it is a water hog! In really warm weather you simply can't water it too much. I had mine in a 16in. pot with an organic potting mix and it was a monster in one year, a very rainy year! Recommend you keep it going through the winter and next summer it will take off for you.

It's the plant you sent me Elaine. Planted with my Japanese Iris it's getting lots of water and doing great. Nights are cooling down so it's time to pot up and bring indoors.

crittergarden said:You are ahead of me, experience wise and likely setup wise - unless you have nothing special for a setup!

I'm excited about the mango.
Like the avocados, I just want to see......

Our zones mostly match.

DO you take your avo and mango outside for summer?

Well, I pretty much started all my after dinner stuff (ADS :-)) indoors - either near a window or under lights in my basement. Have no Mango now (critter trashed 2 of em), though DW just bought another for me to play with.

WRT outdoors - I leave much of my ADS stuff there or in my pretend greenhouse or on my screen porch. On the South side of my house I have a large screened in room ~ 20 x 12 where I have a lot of my tender stuff, tropicals and Mediteranean stuff (Myrh, Frankincense, Bursera). Near the screen, things can get all day sun. I want to enclose this in the Winter, but DW says no.

Following is edible stuff I have or tried.

I have failed with or lost to critters:

Starfruit no germ
Kiwi damping off
Mango - critters

I have:

Pineapple - a Top and a teensy seedling grown from seed
Avocado
Clementine
Lemon
Meyer lemon
Ginger from grocery store
Caper
Turmeric from store
Dragon fruit cactus (from Home Depot - ripped top off stupid grafted thing)
Fig

I heartily recommend the book The After-Dinner Gardening Book by Richard W. Langer

Of course I will likely never see any fruit from anything - I just enjoy growing strange things - particularly from seed.

Yes.. Growing out from found seed is fun
Mangos are easy once you get inside the super hard outer pod. I find cutting into it with a knife along the edge and popping it apart worked the best for me
My most amazing one was sprouting out a seed I found in my tamarind soup. Nice to get it to sprout after it was soup.. And I'm not too fond of tamarind

DavidLMO said:
likely never see any fruit from anything - I just enjoy growing strange things - particularly from seed.

me too.
I am hoping for food, but I'll be fine if all I get is a pretty plant.

crittergarden said:

me too.
I am hoping for food, but I'll be fine if all I get is a pretty plant.

that got me wondering what my tamarind might have looked like..as it took place before PC's and Google...seems it is a big big tree... but makes a lovely bonsai..

@GordonHawk Right Gordon - So many of my things are still so small, I may just do bonsai with some of them. Just wish that I had gotten interested in Bonsai 30 years ago rather than 2 years ago.

How big is your tamarind? Did you grow it from seed?

Lovely bonsai!

Wahooo ... My White Butterfly Ginger is showing a flower bud forming. I AM elated.

Just in the nick of time, David. Your's will be going dormant pretty soon.

Tamarind grows up to 60 ft..mine was a few feet when it was left with the loft.. back in the 70's..before PC's gave out information.. I was always trying to grow things that were informative in ways you'd not expect...where you might not expect...and to make other points of discussion...an artist I guess then.. working some with plants..and new materials

Gotcha - And I love Tamarind fwiw. Many things make for great bonsai - many don't.

Gordon, what is the name of that nice looking plant with the white veins? Is it an EE?

Wow Gorden you have some amazing plants. I am so jealous of what you accomplish on your roof top.

Teresa.. yes... alocasia frydek..
http://www.finegardening.com/e...
Yes it is lovely... it looks like soft velvet... but in reality it has a hard slick leaf