Is anyone growing Dune Soapberry ?

[HoangNguyen]

Dune Soapberry (Deinbollia oblongifolia) is in the same family of Longan and Lychee. It seems it doesn't require a lot of attention like its relatives. I didn't see a lot info of this tree in the Internet. I wonder if anyone has experience or has grown it before.

[barath]

I started some seeds of it recently, but it'll be years before I get any fruit...

[shaneatwell]

Ordered a plant from TT a year ago but the wrap job they did on it finished it.

[LivingParadise]

I thought I bought these seeds, but as it turns out I somehow made a mistake and bought a different plant called Soapberry - sapindus sapinaria. It's only good for soap as I understand, not for eating. Sometimes it takes me so long to fill an online cart that I time out, and then I have to put everything back in the cart again - probably when I went to reenter Dune Soapberry into my cart, I was in a hurry and accidentally clicked on sapindus sapinaria instead. So I planted it anyway, but I already have Ritha/Soap Nut so did not need another plant that makes soap. On the other hand, I WOULD enjoy growing a less finicky version of lychee/longan! So I will have to try again another time.

I would love to see pictures of people's progress, or hear accounts of the fruit if anyone's tried it. I know it's not likely to be quite as tasty, but that's ok with me, I like the variety.

Let this be a lesson to be extra careful when buying plants with colloquial names - especially if it has the word SOAP in it! There are a lot of different plants that go by the same or a similar name. Oh well, at least I'll get to learn 2 different ways to make soap from a plant...

[HoangNguyen]

I started some seeds of it recently, but it'll be years before I get any fruit...

Barath,  what month did you buy and sow your Dune Soapberry seeds?  How easy did the seed germinate compared to others seeds?

Shaneatwell and LivingParadise, you should be ok to grow Longan and Lychee.  why bother to grow Dune Soapberry?  Thank you for your posts.

[barath]

I started some seeds of it recently, but it'll be years before I get any fruit...

Barath,  what month did you buy and sow your Dune Soapberry seeds?  How easy did the seed germinate compared to others seeds?

Shaneatwell and LivingParadise, you should be ok to grow Longan and Lychee.  why bother to grow Dune Soapberry?  Thank you for your posts.

The first batch I got didn't germinate, if I remember right.  I think I waited a few months.  The second batch I think had only one germinate, and it took a while.  (All indoors, under mist.)

[LivingParadise]

Shaneatwell and LivingParadise, you should be ok to grow Longan and Lychee.  why bother to grow Dune Soapberry? 

I don't really understand what one has to do with the other. Plants are valuable for more than just their sugar content. Many "lesser" tasting fruits are higher in nutritional value, and may come with astounding medicinal uses. Growing a new species of plant is always a joy, as an experience, and visually in the yard. Diversity is to be highly valued, and in my opinion, actively cultivated. Often people have found too that similar species can be used for rootstock and grafting, which can be great in areas where a more sensitive plant might grow successfully through challenges like drought, cold, or flood due to a hardier rootstock being used. Additionally, if a yard gets challenged due to pests or a bad storm or whatever, whether or not one can grow both lychee and dune soapberry in the same yard, it may be that the lychee dies and the soapberry lives on for many more years to come. Strong and hardy plants are to be prized, because they are what prevent famine around the world in the bad seasons. The reasons to grow as many different plants as possible are endless.

So I don't understand the question. I would put it to you another way: Why NOT grow Dune Soapberry?

One species of plant is not a substitute for another species of plant in an ecosystem. Each plant serves a separate purpose, and has separate strengths and weaknesses. Sugar content of their fruit is only one small aspect of a plant's identity and usefulness, and to me, it is rarely the most important.

[EvilFruit]

Just bought 100 seeds for $6 from SH.

Thanks for sharing, never knew about this plant before.

[shaneatwell]

Mine was for a grafting experiment, but I do like the idea of having something in the yard that I can get soap from

[Enkis]

Any update here?
I just came to know about this fruit tree and it seems particularly interesting to me for its hardiness.
Was anyone able to get and taste the fruit for seedlings?

[barath]

My one plant of dune soapberry that I started 8 years ago is still alive, and still grows fine, but every year it dies back a good amount for no obvious reason, so it's still only a few feet tall. Hasn't flowered yet.

[Mielie]

These are indigenous to my area.
They are super easy to grow and attract a wide range of pollinators when in flower.Ill be honest I've never tried eating the fruit,but bats,birds monkeys and duiker love them.