Past Meeting

October 16 Meeting: Promising Eugenia & Syzygium for Southern California

Long time San Diego area CRFG member and educator Tom Del Hotal joined us on Zoom from his new residence on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Tom is well known in the CRFG community for the many enlightening presentations he has given on a wide variety of topics, including how-to talks on air-layering, grafting, propagation, pruning and critter control as well as surveys of many fruiting plants such as berries, citrus, figs, passion fruit and pitaya. In keeping with the theme chosen by the OC chapter for the 2026 Festival of Fruit, Eugenia and Her Sisters, Tom focused on the Eugenia & Syzygium genera.

An active member of CRFG since 1980, Tom has been a horticulturist and nurseryman since 1977 and worked in retail nurseries from 1981-2022. He is a Certified Arborist and was a horticulture instructor at a local college in San Diego for over 20 years. Tom owned his part-time business, Fantasia Gardens, (a fruit tree specialty nursery and fruit tree pruning and consulting business that specialized in home and small scale commercial orchard design and fruit tree management services) from 1983-2020. Tom is currently a Clallam County Master Gardener in Washington State.

This presentation was recorded and will soon be available on our YouTube channel.
Tom Del Hotal (right) with fellow Clallam County
Washington Master Gardeners 
https://www.sequimgazette.com/life/learn-how-to-water-your-garden-and-landscape/