Good volume with tropical and exotic crops from Florida are being predicted with shipments getting started later this month.
Exotic Growers Inc. of Homestead, FL notes loadings were delayed this season. Normally longan picking would begin in early June but this year, it won’t start until the end of July. While the season on exotic tropicals will finish in September, shipping beyond that will be guavas, avocados, mangoes, sugarcane, coconuts and other conventional tropical items.
This follows the difficult winter the state saw with two back to back freezes earlier this year that were about 10 days apart. A freeze results in the trees having more flowers with items such as longans, lychees, sapodillo, star fruit but also more conventional tropicals such as avocados and mangoes. However, the company lost its passion fruit crop, which it has since replanted.