Few days ago I spoke in an Italian forum about the differences for a plant between survive and ripe a fruit....
What do I mean?
In Tropical or Subtropical regions this is not a problem....temperatures are high throughout the year. But in other parts, for instance the warmest part of Europe, the average Temp can be lower than 13° for 4-5 months.
Until few months ago I considered only the temperature that a plant could take without die....and i believed that it was the only "problem" for a subtropical plant in a mediterranean climate.
So a subtropical plant, to ripe the fruits in a frost-free zone, MUST:
- Ripen the fruits before November (so Flowering must occur not too late and fruits must ripe in 4-5 months)
- Fruits must not rot or fall if temperature drops under 10°C
- LUCUMA : I read about a plant that fruits in Spain...since the fruit takes one year for ripen, I guess it can withstand low winter temperatures
What about other subtropical fruits??
- BLACK ZAPOTE??
- JACKFRUITS?
- JUBUTICABA?
- CARAMBOLA?
Which are your experiences??
Thanks
Lucuma is very easy and shows no stress over winter.
Green sapote also does well and does fine over winter.
Black sapote does well for me. The fruits ripen in mid spring.
Carambola does not grow well outside for me. It defoliates and takes a long time to recover. Sometimes, it still manages to produce a late crop. In more protected conditions it does rather well and produces two crops: summer and around Christmas.
Jaboticaba fruits needs just a few weeks from bloom to maturity. It even does well in Northern Portugal.
There's still little experience with Jackfruit here. So far it looks promising. I have two in a mosquito netting covered structure that fruited for the first time this summer. The fruits did not develop properly. The seeds were malformed, but the rag was sweet and edible.
Mamey grows very slowly. It is much more cold sensitive than green sapote.
Achachairu does well outside here, but grows slowly (in poor soil and heavy shade).
Sapodilla seedlings do well outside. Winter usually scorches some of the tender top leaves of the plant.
It recovers over the warmer months and gets bigger over time.
Canistel does well outside in good spots and can mature fruit. Mine tends to defoliate, which allows sun to scorch the fruits.
Ilama (grafted onto cherimoya) does well outside. It spends winter leafless but wakes up and blooms when cherimoya is also
coming out of dormancy.
Biribá (A. mucosa) does well but my plants set fruits too late and they mature over winter and are very bland.
edit: corrected some typos