Cantaloupe, also know as muskmelon, refers to a variety of Cucumis melo, which is in the family Cucurbitaceae and includes nearly all melons and squashes. Cantaloupes can be anywhere from a pound to as much as 10 pounds in weight. Because cantaloupes are semi-tropical plants, and tend to require warm temperatures throughout a relatively long growing period, cantaloupes grown in temperate climates are frequently started in greenhouses or indoors before being transplanted outside.

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General: Ebony family (Ebenaceae). Persimmon native trees growing 5-12 (-21) meters tall; mature bark dark-gray, thick and blocky.  Leaves are deciduous, simple, alternate, ovate to elliptic or oblong with smooth edges, 3.5-8 cm long, with an acuminate apex and rounded base, the lower surface usually lighter-colored, especially on young leaves.

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Description

General: Rose Family (Rosaceae). Black Cherry trees are 38 m tall; bark of larger trunks fissured and scaly, but thin. Leaves: alternate, simple, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 5-15 cm long, 2.5-5 cm wide, with finely toothed margins, glabrous or commonly with reddish hairs along the midrib beneath, near the base. Inflorescence is an oblong-cylindric raceme that is 10-15 cm long at the end of leafy twigs of the season, with numerous flowers; calyx tube of short lobes, petals 5, white. Fruits: berry-like, about 8-10 mm in diameter, obovoid, black when ripe; seed a single, black, ovoid stone 6-8 mm long. The common name is from the black color of the ripe fruits.

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Description

General: Rose Family (Rosaceae).  Wild plum (Prunus americana) is a shrub or small tree 3-8 m (3-24 ft) tall, and are usually forming thickets.  The small branches are sometimes spiny.  The leaves are alternate, egg-shaped to oval, 6-10 cm (2-4 in) long.  The upper leaf surface is shiny green and the lower surface is slightly hairy; leaf margins are sharply toothed.  The white roseaceous flowers are in-groups of 2-5 at the ends of branchlets.  Flowers usually appear before the leaves in April and May.  There are five separate, oval petals 8-12 mm (5/16-1/2 in) long.  The reddish-purple plums are fleshy, oval, 2.0-2.7 cm (0.75-1.25 in) long; each fruit contains one seed.  Wild plum flowers are insect pollinated.

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Site Selection

Figs can be grown on a wide range of soils, including heavy clays, barns,and light sands, but ideally the soil should be well drained at least in the top 1.0 meter (m). The plant is moderately tolerant of high salinity(Golombek and Ludder 1990). while for most fruit trees irrigation water should not exceed 2 mS cm (Maas 1993). In addition, figs tolerate soils with pH ranging from 5.5 to 8.0. Caprifig orchards have the same site requirements as edible fig orchards. Caprifig orchards should be isolated from commercial fig orchards to avoid over caprification leading to excessive fruit splitting. In California, caprifig orchards used for pollination of Smyrna type 'Calimyrna' and other cultivars are located in warmer sites to ensure that early caprifigs are available to pollinate the earliest 'Calirnyrna' fruit (Ferguson et al. 1990).

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