![Ben's Exotic Florida](/img/default-banner.jpg)
- 173
- 120 788
Ben's Exotic Florida
United States
Приєднався 19 сер 2023
Hey everyone, welcome to exotic Florida! I'm Ben and live in Boca Raton, Florida. I love eating exotic food and especially all the different fruits our world has to offer. When I moved to Florida in 2017, my passion for eating exotic fruit turned into a passion for growing exotic fruit. I now have a small backyard tropical fruit garden, which I'll be sharing, as well as other exotic foods that I can get my hands on here and maybe some other cool stuff going on here in South Florida. Please subscribe to keep up with my exotic Florida!
5 Fruit Trees You Shouldn't Grow in Florida!
After six years of trying to grow lots of different kinds of fruit trees here in South Florida, these are the five trees that I don't recommend growing. They all have different reasons and some may not apply to you, so let me know if you've had success here growing any of these. Please like and subscribe for more!
1:14 Citrus
4:01 Lychee
6:36 Jabuticaba
8:38 Barbados Cherry
9:39 Jamaican Cherry
1:14 Citrus
4:01 Lychee
6:36 Jabuticaba
8:38 Barbados Cherry
9:39 Jamaican Cherry
Переглядів: 4 637
Відео
Replacing Jamaican Cherry Tree with Soursop Tree
Переглядів 118День тому
A jamaican cherry tree could be a great choice if you have the room for it but it just grows so freaking fast and big so I decided it was time to get rid of it. After some thinking and looking around, I decided on a second soursop tree.
Top 10 Worst Florida Hurricanes!
Переглядів 4914 днів тому
Doing something a little different here. Along with growing and eating exotic fruit, one of my biggest other passions is tracking and studying hurricanes. Here is a list of the 10 worst hurricanes to hit Florida. I know there are many others that impacted the state but these are what I think are the top 10. Let me know below if you think any others should have made the list! 1:38 1926 Miami Hur...
Mango Review: Sweet Tart!
Переглядів 18921 день тому
Sweet tart is supposed to be one of the best varieties out there, constantly topping people's lists of favorite mangoes. Check out to see what I thought of it. Please subscribe for more videos!
Flamingo Road Nursery - Davie, Florida - Full Tour
Переглядів 39721 день тому
If you're a plant lover or need anything that has to do with gardening or landscaping, you must visit this place. It's a 5-acre nursery with everything you'll ever need. It's also just a beautiful place to walk around.
Mango Review: Mallika!
Переглядів 71428 днів тому
I've heard great things about Mallika. It seems to be a very popular backyard mango tree variety here in South Florida, so I was excited to try it. See what I think of it!
Top 7 Fastest Producing Fruit Trees (tropical)
Переглядів 6 тис.Місяць тому
Top 7 Fastest Producing Fruit Trees (tropical)
Lemon Drop Melon is Delicious! (fruit review)
Переглядів 85Місяць тому
Lemon Drop Melon is Delicious! (fruit review)
Mango Review: Zill Indochinese (aka Zinc)!
Переглядів 148Місяць тому
Mango Review: Zill Indochinese (aka Zinc)!
$.99 Market - Pompano Beach, FL - Disappointing!
Переглядів 68Місяць тому
$.99 Market - Pompano Beach, FL - Disappointing!
Mango Season Over - Time to Prune (Alphonso)
Переглядів 692Місяць тому
Mango Season Over - Time to Prune (Alphonso)
Canistel (Egg Fruit) Review - Delicious!
Переглядів 280Місяць тому
Canistel (Egg Fruit) Review - Delicious!
Trying To Fix My Lawn With Bahia Grass Seed
Переглядів 130Місяць тому
Trying To Fix My Lawn With Bahia Grass Seed
Florida Backyard Garden - June 2024 - Full Tour!
Переглядів 9422 місяці тому
Florida Backyard Garden - June 2024 - Full Tour!
Mango Review: Lemon Meringue (aka PPK)!
Переглядів 3882 місяці тому
Mango Review: Lemon Meringue (aka PPK)!
Mango Review: Alphonso! (homegrown in Florida)
Переглядів 2522 місяці тому
Mango Review: Alphonso! (homegrown in Florida)
Picking Alphonso Mangoes In My Backyard!
Переглядів 6732 місяці тому
Picking Alphonso Mangoes In My Backyard!
Pickering Mango Taste Test - First 3 Fruits Ever!
Переглядів 3442 місяці тому
Pickering Mango Taste Test - First 3 Fruits Ever!
Star Fruit (Carambola) Tree Planting and Update
Переглядів 1202 місяці тому
Star Fruit (Carambola) Tree Planting and Update
Mangoes Are Ready To Pick! - Backyard Garden Update
Переглядів 2,5 тис.3 місяці тому
Mangoes Are Ready To Pick! - Backyard Garden Update
Durian Tasting! Is it as smelly as they say??
Переглядів 1973 місяці тому
Durian Tasting! Is it as smelly as they say??
everything reminds me of her
I have a Panama cherry tree (it was sold as strawberry tree) that grew amazingly quick and produces little fruits that taste like cotton candy but it takes up lots of room and not enough fruit at a time to do anything with. I’m going to take it down.
Yep, same story as mine
I feel you with that darn Sri Lanka weevil. They’ve made their way to my yard in north hillsborough county. We go weevil hunting with buckets of soapy neem oil to collect them. Soil drenches with neem are supposed to eradicate larvae in the soil and I’ll try that this year.
Totally agree about barbados cherry (acerola) tree. Far away from cherry tree.
I have a Key Lime tree I got from Home Depot 2 years ago. I planted it in my backyard here in Miami, FL, and so far it’s doing ok. It’s got Leaf miner, mites, slugs…you name it. But no citrus greening. It’s holding a couple dozen fruit and I have tasted a couple so far. I’m hoping for the best and keeping my fingers crossed! I will add it’s about 6 feet tall and I do control the bugs it has with a spray mixture of soap water, baking soda, and vinegar.
How has California avoided that insect??
@jaye2320 great question. From what I understand California takes great lengths to keep it away. They have very strict laws regarding bringing trees in the state from out of state.
Amazing!! So informative
I had great success with my various lychee trees for about 16 years, until Hurricane Ian destroyed them. Is it true that many of these invasive Asian pests, spores, bacteria, and diseases are spread through suburban neighborhoods by all the lawn and shrub maintenance businesses you see everywhere every day? You know the ones, doing the jobs Americans won't do?
I had same experience I feel like you did this report for me. Except the last tree I’ve ever had it. That sherry tree is scam
I have sugar belle in central Florida and it still gets the disease
Is it impacting the fruit? I read that while it will get infected, it's tolerant to it.
Jaboticaba thrive in FL in dappled light. Under a big 'ole oak they will do best!
Thanks, I'm gonna move it
Research food forest .
Oranges do not grow well in Florida.
I recommend putting the jaboticaba in a shaded spot in the ground. They do not do well with a ton of sun.
Will do, I'm gonna move it. Thanks
Ben. Jaboticaba are easy to grow if you know how. They come from Brazil ( rain forest). So that actually means full sun burns the leaves as does a lot of wind you need a shady partly sunny place. In your video it looks like you planted it in full sun. You can keep in potted but put it in a large pot not the little one you have it in. And last it takes minimum 7 years to fruit that's why the larger ones are so expensive.
Good to know. I think I'm gonna move it to a spot up against my house.
The further north you are the less HLB is an issue too I believe. So you could grow hardy satsumas like Owari in SC and northern Florida with less issues theoretically.
Where can anyone buy Owari in NE Fl?
@@ibiubu99 not sure. There are many online vendors though who will ship to you.
@Danny_Does_Drawings if you live in Florida apparently no out of state vendors can send any type of citrus into Florida
I got a soursop tree a few years ago and it seems to be doing okay. It made it through the past 2 winters without any issues. I bought a sugar apple, and it lost most of its leaves from the cold but is fine now that it's hot. I am in north central Florida, in 9a. I hope I can keep them alive enough to get fruit someday.
I also don't want to keep my citrus. It's a waste of space. I have problems with figs too. I had an everbearing mulberry die, but the fruit is full of worms anyway, it's gross. The apples and a few peaches are kind of a waste of time too. Where I am, it seems that guavas, starfruits, avocados, olives, plums and loquats are doing great. Between the nematodes and ants, I am going to have to start spraying around the base of my trees once every few months though, so many things would be fine if it wasn't for the insect pests and the diseases they carry. Thanks for saving me some time and money, I definitely won't be buying a lychee, they have been stocking them at walmart a lot lately.
@@howdyEB good info! I had a fig tree die in the ground because of the nematodes but now I keep them in pots
Guavas always full of worms
@theboaempire8555 never tried growing guava simply because I've never had a good one from a store. In my opinion they taste like mealy soap. But yeah I've heard they have worm issues
My Jamaican cherry has been struggling since I bought it. It was pretty big from Lowe's. I bought to help provide shade in my food forest. Barbados cherries are great for Vitamin C and the immune system. My jabotacaba started growing better next to my house with some protection. I give it acidic fertilizer twice a year. Citrus sucks here that's for sure. I still have a meyer's lemon, pink lemon and grapefruit tree. I have lychee and Longon seedlings that I'll be adding to the forest. If you have the space, it's worth it. This was a great video. Definitely research your trees before you get them.
@champagnegardening5182 good info! I'm debating on putting my jabuticaba back in a pot or I do have a small spot up against my house, might try putting it there.
I am in So Cal and my experience has been very similar to yours. I cut down my Barbados cherry tree because I didn't like the taste and I cut down Jamaican Cherry because it grew way too fast. Thinking of cutting down mulberry for the same reason.
@@Supercutdb yep. I also had a small mulberry a few years ago and got rid of it because I couldn't beat a crazy scale infestation
Barbedos cherries are amazing. So sad you did not like them.
I think more people use them for juicing.
@@guildirium to each their own! I thought the flavor was fine but they are just annoying to eat
That sucks that they didn’t work out for you. I must have black gold at my place lol. I grow all of them without any issues. Hopefully you give them another try in the future🍊
@@themangovista you've got successful citrus and lychee? No greening disease or erinose mites?
@@BensExoticFlorida Yes, I’ve been growing citrus for about 7 years now. I do get the common yellow leaves on my Meyer lemon but it doesn’t affect the production. My neighbor has a couple hundred growing, but I believe he does spray for pest. I don’t apply anything to my trees. I have two lychee trees one that is about two years in the ground doing great but it didn’t hold the fruit this year,still a young tree. My neighbor has a few lychee trees over 20 feet and they were loaded this year. He doesn’t have any issue that I’m aware of. I’m no expert, but I think what helps me out is that I live in a more rural area. My soil hasn’t been infected by any chemicals. I hear when some people have issues. It may be because previous land owners might have put something in the soil to manage weeds. Here are the varieties I grow maybe you can try one of these- Meyer lemon, Tango , Dancing tangerine, Key lime and tangelo. Good luck 👊
@@BensExoticFloridaevery time I plant a new citrus it died and doesn’t do well But there’s a orange tree plants on my property older then me and it has always done extremely well Under two oak tree canopy and produces every year Also had a key lime next to it Also was older then me but died recently
@@yunielperez5569 it is suspected that citrus will do better if it's planted by an oak tree. Wild citrus has been found in Florida completely unaffected by greening and it's always in the companionship(under the canopy) of oaks. I think it's still being studied.
Go to Philippines and you will find so many varieties of mangos.
@badassMars one day hopefully...
Quite interesting, especially the more historical hurricanes. Thanks for making this!
Glad you enjoyed it!
My favorite mango of all time
in 35 years florida tampa burbs this story repeats endlessly. Only thing that grows is augustine and to do that you ignore the watering rules and pay the professionals for the chems. If you don't ignore watering restructions, then you also ignore the lawn chem guy's monthy notes about 'water" ...yeah florida is really that stupid. then you resod it 5 years later when watering restrictions get you. it's $$$ and more $$. best advice financially is if in subdivison hoa consider it part of the cost though water restrictions just aren't going to support augustine in the future. better yet stay out of the hoa's toss down some bahia sod ,weed and feed , overseed annually and just mow whatever salad you end up with, invest the money you save and get on with life. Because florida yards are really that stupid in a nutshell . . It's weeds, too much rain (fungus) then dry as bone no rain forever in sand, notice how many sod companies semi annual resodding is just a thing here. Seed from my experience just is a waste due to how long to gemerinate, the water cost and that you are creating ideal weed conditions (open grouund with lots of water) which by the time anything will germinate you have seed competing with weed overload , which even in normal yard weeds are 1000 times more weed problems than anywhere else. You have full sun looks there you could try bermuda plugs if not probably bahia sod best bet and just patch up spots annually I have a mix. I have a mix the bermuda and bahia both have rough time at end of dry season, the bermuda bounces back during the rains but it's not a show lawn, just a typical salad. Keep an eye on marketplace due to the annual sodding which occurs here lol, usually you can find some contractor getting rid of left overs at the end of a job.
Can you get these in stores?
Yeah, I got these at an Asain grocery store in Tampa. I've seen them sometimes have them at Costco. Hard to find though.
Sell those in stores?
Nope, need to find them at farmer's markets in Florida only during mango season
Maha has a unique complex flavor profile, to some people ( or maybe dependent on ripening stage) it can come off having a carrot taste, and this would not be wrong, I was doing research on mango phytochemical composition, and Maha Chanook was shown to have higher than average Inulin sugars, this would explain the artichoke/carrot associations by some people. it is a nice fruit and I prefer it over the honey floral Nam Doc Mai, which is really not complex at all and can get boring after a while. Nam Doc Mai is probably better for making deserts, and mango sticky rice, or eating green.
Great video!!
Love the music also
Great video!!! Did you get alot of cherries from other tree?
@jaye2320 yeah it produced a ton of fruit but they are very small (size of blueberries) so you need a lot to fill you up, plus they ripen very quickly so you need to be fast or they'll fall off before you can pick them.
This is the same reason I didn’t plant a Jamaican Cherry in my backyard. Like you said it grows too fast and gets out of control quickly. Also, I don’t like the idea that the fruit is a snack that doesn’t even fill you up. You will have to harvest a good amount to get you to fill you up. In regard to SourSop for me in Orlando, FL it’s a mission. I have to protect it every winter so it doesn’t die. It seems to not like temperatures below 50 degrees. This is really the only fruit in my backyard that I have to baby even year. Also, it seems to grow very vertically. I have to constantly tip it to stop it from going up so much. For me it seems to be a high maintenance fruit tree. Thank you for sharing this amazing video
@@Carlos1075 yeah soursop could be tough up there in Orlando but they grow great down here in South Florida.
Nice, I'll try one
I have this but the fruit come off red, would you be able to make a video pruning it for rapid growth or how to go about pruning it… it’s more than removing leaves? Appreciate the advice!
@@lando_2 check out my newest video. It was actually too much to keep up with so I just cut it down.
Angie is a very good mango. They get bigger than the one you reviewed. It’s my understanding that it’s a good alternative to the Carrie Mango.
It doesn't seem to be mallika by shape but it can be a variant or something. It is not surely ripe and ready, ready Mallika is quite sweet like Dashahri.
Looks great!!! You going to buy again??
Looks good!!
Love this video!! What stops them from going right before the spikes?
Great video!!
Looks great Brah!!
Weird seed
I know one thing for sure , that is not a mallika mango
Another great video keep it up man!
Thanks for your review and sharing❤❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
This looks scrumptious, Ben! Says 96gr. carbs. Is that for entire cake or a portion?
Looks amazing! Please share the recipe!
The recipe is shown in the video!
@@BensExoticFloridait went too quickly!
If it is bitter that's probably because of the preservation or so. But that fruit is very nice