The Tropical Fruit Forum
Tropical Fruit => Tropical Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: joehewitt on August 10, 2016, 03:12:45 AM
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Today I got a chance to taste Pitomba (Eugenia luschnathiana, not that other Pitomba that resembles a Longan) from my own tree and I was very impressed. I expected it to be sour and resinous, but it was only slightly acidic and mostly just sweet. Extremely aromatic in a way that reminded me of no other fruit (but I haven't tasted many Eugenias yet). I didn't find it to taste like apricots like some on this forum have said, but it definitely looked like an apricot when cut open and had a similar texture.
I made a short YouTube video about my tasting experience complete with lots of "fruit porn" close ups that show the fruit in all its glory. If only there was more than one on my tree!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYkg31ee7XA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYkg31ee7XA)
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Very cool vid, thanks for making it and sharing. How old is your Pitomba tree? I have a couple of seedlings, but they are, like Grumixama, out of my league, climate wise. I have kept them alive for four years, but they haveen't grown much at all. Very nice to see you can fruit them in your area...
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Nice job Joe. I can't wait for my Pitomba to "grow up".
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Awesome Joe, thanks!
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Today I got a chance to taste Pitomba (Eugenia luschnathiana, not that other Pitomba that resembles a Longan) from my own tree and I was very impressed. I expected it to be sour and resinous, but it was only slightly acidic and mostly just sweet. Extremely aromatic in a way that reminded me of no other fruit (but I haven't tasted many Eugenias yet). I didn't find it to taste like apricots like some on this forum have said, but it definitely looked like an apricot when cut open and had a similar texture.
I made a short YouTube video about my tasting experience complete with lots of "fruit porn" close ups that show the fruit in all its glory. If only there was more than one on my tree!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYkg31ee7XA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYkg31ee7XA)
Yes Joe, is hard to eat just one of them, and she donīt tastes like an apricot.
I like much more of pitombas than apricots 8)
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Nice little video Joe, thanks for sharing your pitomba experience!Do you keep soil in low ph for growth of your pitomba? 8)
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Very cool video, Joe. Is this Pitomba from seed or did you purchase as plant? Age? Have you had to protect it in your climate?
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I didn't talk much in the video about the Pitomba tree itself and its climate requirements. This is still really an experimental tree for me here in zone 9b. I've only had the tree in the ground for 2 months. I amended my native soil with lots of peat moss to lower pH, and I have watered the tree quite often to aid the developing fruit.
It came from a private collector in Los Angeles who named it "Bolivia Roja" but I don't know how he propagated it. The tree is 12 years old.
As the video showed, it has already flowered here and the flowers did set fruit, but the tree itself hasn't grown much. So, I think my summer weather is ok for Pitomba, but winter has yet to be tested. I have heard Pitomba has similar hardiness to Pitanga, tolerating down to 25F or slightly lower, but I'm not really sure about that.
In the video you can see my Grumichama tree right behind me. I'm not really sure if that tree will survive here either. There is another thread about my tropical experiments and I will eventually post a video there talking more about how they're all doing.
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Great video!
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Is this Joe Hewitt the famous programmer? If so... thanks for firefox :)
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FrankDrebinOfFruits, yes that was me in a former life.
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Thought that was you, Joe. 8) Hope you are enjoying your new life
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Very thanks for the report and for the video! I have just only 1 pitomba tree, small, 1 feet tall, and now I know I should take care of it very well!!! I tasted pitanga, eugenia repanda and uvaia, and liked them all
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Thanks for the video and Firefox. The fruit looks like small apricot and taste nothing like it. The grumichama should handle the cold. I have grumichama in the ground for 4 years. In the winter, I covers it with a frost cloths and the leaves stay green with little damage.
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(https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7484/28939678255_fbc7f5d5ae_c.jpg)
Your "Bolivia Roja" is much darker and red than mine. The other fruit from different trees I have seen here in Florida have looked similar to mine. You may have a rarer variety. This is a picture of a ripe fruit from my tree. From my research the Pitomba and Grumichama were good choices for Eugenias in your area. They both are moderately cold hardy and like soil moisture. I am guessing you have heavier soil. Mine are happy in wet parts of my yard. "Zill Dark" Eugenia uniflora is top notch as well if you don't have that yet.
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That was a very professional video. I wish we had more quality videos like that. thanks for sharing!
Simon
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Hi Joe,
How did you Pitomba pass the winter?
We have similar climate, so I am always curious as to what survive at your place.
Regarding taste, did you try other resinous Eugenia for comparison? Something like Uniflora.
Cause some people doesn't detect the peppery after taste at all.
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The winter after this video was made the Pitomba tree died back to the ground. It has since grown back from the roots but is now the same size as a seedling I grew from the fruit I ate in the video. I dug it out and it is now in a 15g pot where it will probably take 10 years to reach the size it was before. It is not a good plant for zone 9b it seems.
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Good to know, I will keep it in a pot then.
Did you try Pitangatuba in the ground by any chance? I just put mine in the ground but I am fearing for it.
However sometime the same plant can vary a lot between seedling.
I am finding it is easier to make reasonably young ( around 2 years) plant happy in my climate then older plants.
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Zill Dark, pitomba,corg, grumachama and Barbados are my choices in order of best tasting in my opinion
Zill Dark has been the sweetest by far this season but waiting on Pitomba at this moment.
Your zone should handle most of the family. You might want to try Flying Fiox fruits and Adam can ship a variety to you with seeds included.
Watched a couple videos of yours prior to your thread. With a little more active cold protection and plant size you can grow some of your losses.
Protection while small may not be as needed when larger
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Zill Dark, pitomba,corg, grumachama and Barbados are my choices in order of best tasting in my opinion
Zill Dark has been the sweetest by far this season but waiting on Pitomba at this moment.
Your zone should handle most of the family. You might want to try Flying Fiox fruits and Adam can ship a variety to you with seeds included.
Watched a couple videos of yours prior to your thread. With a little more active cold protection and plant size you can grow some of your losses.
Protection while small may not be as needed when larger
+1, please protect them!
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If you liked Pitomba you should come for the Pitomba Feast celebrated ever year for more than a year in the city of Jaboatao de Guararapes
near the Port city of Recife in Northeast Brazil.
Watch this celebrations :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltW8H13wM-U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltW8H13wM-U)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4-pxvkH3PE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4-pxvkH3PE)
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The Pitombas I saw in the videos about "Pitomba Feast" are a completely different fruit. That's Talisia esculenta - in this thread we're talking about Eugenia luschnathiana.
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The winter after this video was made the Pitomba tree died back to the ground. It has since grown back from the roots but is now the same size as a seedling I grew from the fruit I ate in the video. I dug it out and it is now in a 15g pot where it will probably take 10 years to reach the size it was before. It is not a good plant for zone 9b it seems.
What temps did you reach to cause the dieback?
Thanks
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Around 28F
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Had mine for about 4 years , when i got it as a 3gal/2ft and it's now almost 7ft tall. It sits in sandy soil, gets after noon house shade (but now it's outgrowing that shade), and also drip water everyday like all my trees. Very slow growing but it started to pick up the pace lately.
Lowest temps here it went thru were in the low 40's F.
Not a so professional video here:-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zPcMsA0c4k (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zPcMsA0c4k)
(https://s33.postimg.cc/yst8b3euj/IMG_0386.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/yst8b3euj/)
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Got a load of Pitombas this year. I'm really impressed with this fruit and also the plant itself. I have 3 plants that I got last year as 7 gallons and they're are 7-8' tall and have a nice upright shape. I'm using them as ornamentals in my landscape the same way you would use a holly tree or other accent tree near a window. I thought the fruit was great. To me it has a firm apricot texture and strong complex flavor is. It combines apricot, loquat and a bit of a spicy /resinous flavor that is similar to the flavor near the skin of some mangos.
(https://i.postimg.cc/nCG0NcQ6/39-D296-BB-53-FC-4141-9-DDC-586170-B58-B0-C.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/nCG0NcQ6)
(https://i.postimg.cc/9DXJ25dz/C94512-C0-693-F-45-AD-BBDB-DC7-D31-F67341.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/9DXJ25dz)
(https://i.postimg.cc/PLPyLWFj/E5014032-CF84-499-A-B865-3-FF687225-E27.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/PLPyLWFj)
(https://i.postimg.cc/FYPGsWpp/E91-B1-F7-F-70-DC-4145-A99-D-9-F7-C025-B7-CEE.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/FYPGsWpp)
(https://i.postimg.cc/Vrh3rsF7/446887-DB-32-E0-410-A-9365-1417-ED8-D3152.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Vrh3rsF7)