The Tropical Fruit Forum

The thick glossy leaves do indeed look like strawberry guava and definitely are not jaboticaba.

What size is the fruit? I can't tell if it's the size of a strawberry or the size of a cherimoya.

No one has any thoughts? I'm thinking I'll only use the fertilizer on the two Wax Jambu plants I bought and see if they produce a second round of flowers after the first. If not, or if they start seeming unhealthy, I'll discontinue fertilizer use. But if they do then the fertilizer must in fact be working.

I was at Ong's Nursery this weekend buying some plants, and got to talking with him since he was present (a rarity). He recommends applying a water-soluble 10-52-10 fertilizer twice a month to aid and extend flowering/fruiting. He said normally for example Wax Jambu just produces one crop in July but with the fertilizer it continues flowering/fruiting until November, producing up to 5 crops total.

But everything else I've read about high-phosphate fertilizers is extremely negative. Even water-soluble fertilizers in general seem to have a fair amount of bad things written about them. Of course Ong specializes in tropical fruits from southeast asia so maybe those have a higher need for high-phosphate fertilizer than other plants? Does anyone have personal experience with high-phosphorous fertilizer?

I'd love to extend the fruiting period but probably not if it significantly compromises vegetative growth.

I don't think any of these plants can literally be flooded with saltwater and survive. The only plant I can think of that could survive that is mangrove.

If the tree flowered at all then that's one for the record books because fig trees do not flower. All figs sold by nurseries are parthenocarpic which means they automatically create seedless fruit without pollination. Fruits appear on new wood in the fall and sometimes also on one-year-old wood in the spring. They fruit even from a very young age.

Desalinization is really expensive which is why southern California gets its water from far away instead of the ocean. It's basically a last resort.

A Surinam cherry tree I recently planted had great-looking fruit when I bought it but they've all become very dull-looking and somewhat shriveled, instead of smooth and shiny like they should be. They have been ripening/growing however. Also some leaves seem to have developed some black spots, probably related to the heat. I'm guessing the fruit issue means the tree doesn't have enough water but want to make sure before I add more, so I don't drown it if water is not the issue. Has anyone seen this sort of thing? These fruits were on the ground because the tree has been aborting some fruits but not many. But nearly all of the fruit on the tree look just like this.

Cacti are not the only drought-resistant fruit plants. Here is a great PDF on drought-tolerant plants, grouped by plants that require almost no irrigation, plants that require occasional irrigation, etc. Natal plum, pomegranate, loquat, and feijoa are good plants that are listed as being highly drought-tolerant.

You mean outside, right?

Interesting. Sounds like I can keep it in a 15-gallon pot indefinitely. Can you post photos of your 5-gallon tree?

Thanks for the reply. I hear they're more difficult to care for here in CA; for example the nursery I bought it from (Ong's) said the top branches usually die back every winter, even this one which was much warmer than usual, and this was evident as the main trunk was a foot or two taller than the topmost branch. Also hot and dry winds (which are blowing right now) are said to remove fruit and even leaves if strong enough. I assume this means they wick away moisture and cause the plant to dry out so I misted the leaves this morning to help protect against the wind. I assume misting on a regular basis is good so I plan to add a mister to the drip irrigation system and have it do it at least once a day. Unless anyone knows of a reason to keep the leaves dry...?

Here are pictures. The tree was moving around in the wind so I couldn't take a very clear picture of it. I can try again later.

Are there any tips/tricks for growing carambola in a container? For example, what container size is best long-term and at what point should the tree be moved up? I have a ~5' tall tree I just bought which is in a 15-gallon container. I assume it would eventually need a larger one...?