A few weeks ago, pal Kevin and I drove down to Pine Island to visit Steve Cucura's Fruitscapes. Steve and his business partner have built up this combination wholesale and retail nursery, which features a roadside stand selling fruit grown there.
Pine Island, the largest island in Florida, lies a short distance off the coast near Ft. Myers. Readers who have heard of the Pine Island Nursery need to know that it's not on Pine Island. Indeed, it's about twenty-five miles southwest of Miami and most definitely on the mainland. But it is surrounded by a lot of pines!
Getting to Fruitscapes was an easy ride down I-75 followed by a half hour of light weekday traffic on Route 78. Unlike some wholesale operations, access to the production areas of Fruitscapes is not restricted. Our plan was to walk around on our own, and maybe catch Steve for a few questions.
We arrived in mid-morning, and were delighted to learn that in about half an hour there would be a guided tour of the nursery. It wasn't long before a cross-country bus rolled up and disgorged a sizable crowd of occupants. We never did find out exactly who they were, though I recognized a couple of Extension agents I had seen before, and I gathered that the purpose was educational.
After a bit of milling about, the group broke into three squads of manageable size for the tour. Kevin and I joined the one gathering around Steve. He told us that all the trees now at Fruitscapes were planted within the past 15 years. Many were blown over by Hurricane Charley in 2004, but the nursery workers righted them and most survived.
One of our first stops was a breadfruit tree, the first I had ever seen. Temperatures on Pine Island never get very close to freezing, but due to the dryness, the very tropical tree has just barely managed to hang onto life. Steve doubts that it will ever bear fruit.
Not too far beyond that, we saw Steve's Ficus religiosa tree. The name derives from the belief that the Buddha meditated and found enlightenment beneath one. Already immense at age 15, it's the most vigorous-growing tree Steve has ever seen.
After the collector's items, we entered the the production area for the fruit stand. Passing big loquat trees, canistels, and black sapotes, we came upon rows and rows of mango trees. They are close-planted on mounds several feet above the surrounding level. There are many varieties. Steve pointed out the big Nam Doc Mai's that give him three crops a year.
Steve also grows fifteen varieties of avocados, on a large raised area. Later, at the far end of the multi-acre nursery, we saw the sapodillas that supply the fruit stand. Steve thinks the best varieties are Alano, Makok, and Silas Wood, as they are the most everbearing. Because they put so much energy into production, it's easier to control their size than with the one-crop-a-year varieties.
Most of the nursery is devoted to plant production. We saw many kinds of trees and many propagation methods. Most striking, I thought, were the rows of mature longan and lychee trees covered with air-layerings. There were literally hundreds of air-layered lychees in various stages of production. I shuddered to think about the cost that a mechanical failure of the misting system might bring. A lot can go wrong in the wholesale fruit tree business.
Steve explained some of the oddities of Pine Island horticulture. The lack of freezing temperatures is a huge asset, of course, but there are many challenges. Water is a major problem. Heavy rains can cause flooding during July, but the island is nearly a desert the rest of the year. The groundwater has salt content that fluctuates through the year, so Steve uses it very sparingly. His 5-gallon trees get by on just one quart of drip irrigation per day.
The tour ended with some fruit tasting at the stand and socializing. We bought some sapodillas at the stand, and some of Steve's special citrus fertilizer, then headed back north.
Even if you're not lucky enough to join a tour, a visit to Fruitscapes is an easy and worthwhile side trip from I-75 on your way to parts south.
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