Ice Cream Bean

[HawaiiFruitGrower]

I was wondering how long an ice cream bean tree would take to fruit from seed? I know of a person selling trees that are about 3 years old and are very big and lush. Thanks

[jmc96]

I'm in a warm temperate area here and it takes around 4 years.
I'd assume you could just about cut that time in half in the tropics.

[gunnar429]

what is the growth habit of these Ingas?  I know the one at F&S park is huge, but wondering if they can be kept smaller with judicious pruning.

[ben mango]

Seems like a better tree just to cut back and have mulch. The fruits are pretty much tasteless

[CGameProgrammer]

Yeah, they're fairly sweet and have an interesting dry marshmallowy texture but they have basically no flavor aside from the sweetness. At least not the ones I sampled grown here in SoCal. Flower petals of feijoa had more flavor and a somewhat similar texture (but juicier).

[mangomike]

In Hawaii I have had them fruit in one year from seed. They can be tremendously fast growers ( probably why they are so highly rated as a biomass tree).

I will have to respectfully disagree about their lack of value as a fruit - I found them to be very refreshing and not dry at all ( although this is very possibly due to the abundant rainfall where I was growing them; I have never grown them in drier more subtropical conditions). I used to take breaks from my outdoor work and go sit under the shade of the nearest Inga, and slurp down a couple of pods... they were far juicier and sweeter than any of the sugar canes.

[HawaiiFruitGrower]

MangoMike : wow I would have never thought it could fruit in a year!!!! Thanks for the news, definitely thinking about purchasing a tree now!

[jcaldeira]

I planted a few Ice Cream Bean from seed in May of last year (beginning of the tropical dry season here).  Two have their first flowers now.  So, yes, one year from seed!

My trees are approximately 3-4 meters tall now (10-14 foot). 

The '3 year old trees' in the original post should be fruiting by now in Hawaii.

[starling1]

Ice-cream bean is a novel but ultimately low quality fruit. There's a lot more cons than pros.

I'm sure you'll enjoy digging out the 10,000 suckers you'll get every year from a fully grown tree JC. Literally every seed will germinate also. The wood is worthless and brittle, and is the first thing to break in the wind. Puffy flowers will clog guttering in close proximity. The fruit tastes like wet cotton wool soaked in sugar.

Pretty much the only positives are abundance, they are nitrogen-fixing, and are a very attractive tree.

[fruitlovers]

Ice-cream bean is a novel but ultimately low quality fruit. There's a lot more cons than pros.

I'm sure you'll enjoy digging out the 10,000 suckers you'll get every year from a fully grown tree JC. Literally every seed will germinate also. The wood is worthless and brittle, and is the first thing to break in the wind. Puffy flowers will clog guttering in close proximity. The fruit tastes like wet cotton wool soaked in sugar.

Pretty much the only positives are abundance, they are nitrogen-fixing, and are a very attractive tree.

Have to pretty much disagree with everything you say. Although what you say is a very common misconception. Ingas are one of the most versatile and useful trees of all. They are nitrogen fixing so can grow in very poor soils. Here they can grow right in lava rock. Due to their very rapid growth they produce huge amounts of organic materials, which here in pure lava rock is a very big boon. They can also be used for alley cropping and coppicing, that is they can be continuosly be pruned, shredded, and fed to other trees. It's true that each seed that drops will germinate, but this is only a problem if you're not eating the pods. Which to my taste are quite delicious. They are sold in many markets in South America, so i think a lot of people appreciate them. Also any mowing will deal with any remaining volunteer sprouts under the trees. Inga does NOT spread via root system, so it's not invasive.  But there are around 300 species of ingas, so with such huge diversity it's very foolish to generalize about all of them being, tasting, or even growing in the same way. I have a big Inga feuillei next to my house and it's well appreciated also for year round attractive flowers, and also for attracting bees, which are especially fond of them. The wood is too soft for construction but really great for wood chips.

[HawaiiFruitGrower]

Oscar: at my lowes here, a nursery from the east side of maui distributes ice cream bean trees. These trees were in 10 gallon pots and were about 4-5 feet tall and very lush. How old do you think these trees are?

[fruitlovers]

Oscar: at my lowes here, a nursery from the east side of maui distributes ice cream bean trees. These trees were in 10 gallon pots and were about 4-5 feet tall and very lush. How old do you think these trees are?

Can't tell for sure without seeing them, or knowing what species they are. But from your description probably  around 18-24 months old.

[jcaldeira]

I planted a few Ice Cream Bean from seed in May of last year (beginning of the tropical dry season here).  Two have their first flowers now.  So, yes, one year from seed!

My trees are approximately 3-4 meters tall now (10-14 foot). 

The '3 year old trees' in the original post should be fruiting by now in Hawaii.

Although my Ice Cream Bean have been blooming for several months, it hasn't set any fruit.  Maybe they're just practicing for next year.  I've had several species of fruit trees fail to set fruit in their first year of flowering. 

Or maybe it's the drought.

[barath]

Outside of their natural range have people found that they actually do nodulate and fix nitrogen?  I have a few seedlings that look chlorotic (in containers) and so subsequent seeds I've planted I've tried inoculating with pea inoculant.  (Not sure yet whether it helped.)

[arvind]

btw how long can ice cream tree live? I have read literature saying it live only about 20 years on the other hand i read of some trees in this forum living for 30 years. Could the life span differs in different inga species?

[fruitlovers]

Ingas are long lived trees. I can't give you exact number. Yes different species would be different, probably. I have an Inga feullei that is 27 years old and going very strong.