Author Topic: Jarilla chocola  (Read 6053 times)

Caesar

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Jarilla chocola
« on: September 18, 2018, 08:29:40 PM »
A papaya relative with a fruit that vaguely resembles a dragonfruit, I was interested in this one ‘cause it supposedly grows a root crop as well (though I don’t know if harvesting it kills the plant). So far, I’ve repeatedly been given hope only to have it dashed, and I’m rather frustrated. For one thing, the seeds are expensive (4 seeds a pack for $5.50 at Tradewinds). I initially bought 2 packs (8 seeds) only to have 4 pop up, of which 1 died off quickly (I suspect bitten by a roach). The remaining three were growing fine, but I was concerned that I might lack males or females (they’re dioecious), so I splurged on 2 more packs, only to have 2 of the original plants die off spontaneously. Maybe they lacked water? I thought they were fairly hydrated, the frustration is potent! Now I have 4 more seedlings coming up (hoping for more), and I’m working to get the big survivor up-potted to give it a fighting chance (it sure looks stronger). If I end up lacking either gender when flowering comes, I’ve half a mind to give up altogether. I’m used to having exotic seeds fail to sprout, but to watch them grow healthy and keel over for nothing is another layer of frustration altogether.

Here’s the survivor, its two dead siblings, and the new crop of seedlings:


nullzero

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2018, 09:49:05 PM »
I lost some previously, they can get shocked easily. Also I noticed they like good aeration and drainage. Just keep the soil slightly moist, it has a storage tap root that gains in size after a few months.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Jesssfl27

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2018, 03:16:44 AM »
Did you get them from TWF? I’ve tried growing them before also and I  just started some new seeds. On my first run I got two seedlings. They were doing alright until I transplanted them and went into shock. I lost one and the other got some fungus. Even after fighting off the fungus with the help of copper fungicide it didn’t really improve. This time I’m starting them in slightly bigger pots so that I’ll only have to transplant once. I planted 12 seeds since the seeds from twf have around 50% germination rate. Please post updates on your progress! Good luck!

nullzero

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2018, 07:59:34 PM »
Yeah TWF I got the seeds from. I will post updated pics of them in near future.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Caesar

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2018, 04:03:07 PM »
I actually found the swollen root of one of the dead ones. I think it’ll rot, but just in case it has any regenerative power left, I re-planted it. I forgot to take a picture of it though.

I planted the survivor and saw it’s swollen root as well (again, failed to take a pic). I put it into a tub where it’s sharing space with 4 germinated Hodgsonia vines (and two seeds), but the vines are kinda buried, so you can’t really see them in the pic.

I have 5 seedlings growing nicely, and this time, I won’t make the mistake of waiting too long (the last three had gone past the seedling stage weeks ago). As soon as they get a nice number of leaves, they’re going into the tub as well. I actually found them to be kinda strong, initially. Both these 5 and the last three handled transplantation fairly well at an extremely early age. Pricked them out of the soil, teased them apart, even broke a root or two, and they’re doing just fine. That was my frustration... why would a seemingly strong plant die spontaneously? As of now, I just think they don’t like drought early on, nor being pot-bound.

Pics of the planted survivor and the seedlings:



Musa

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2018, 05:01:06 PM »
 I’m attempting it in South Florida. It’s growing in a raised bed in 40% shade house.


-Adam

nullzero

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2018, 07:56:17 AM »
Great job musa they look healthy. I just lost another one yesterday. I have 3 left out of original 8 sprouted. Hoping I have these survive.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Caesar

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2018, 02:59:11 PM »
Don't throw out that soil! Check for tubers. I recently dug up the one tuber I got from one of the two dead ones, and it hadn't rotted (it's been a month). Furthermore, it actually had a couple of tiny sprouts! I stuck it in the tub with the other plants, and then I remembered to take a pic, so I dug it out again and replanted quickly. The tub's soil is heavier, so it's not as clean as when I first put it in; the sprouts aren't clearly visible in the pic.

Mine don't seem to be that sensitive. They've handled rough transplantation like champs, and they're growing well in full sun. In fact, they've grown much faster now that I stuck them into the deep soil of the tub, which lends credence to my theory that they just don't like being pot-bound. The only ones I lost overstayed their welcome in their original pots.

I've noticed some branching going on too. If there's a chance that they can be vegetatively propagated (like Babaco), that would solve the issue of getting too many males. The excess males can be harvested for their tubers, and their trunks turned into candy, like papaya trunks. A select few males and the females might then be multiplied vegetatively.


Their growth  over a period of about a month:




The tuber:




And one of the Hodgsonia vines sharing the tub (they have not been growing very well at all, for some reason, though they've gotten a little better since planting the Jarilla):


Caesar

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2018, 07:02:19 PM »
They're starting to flower now. I think the one in the pic is a male.





The Hodgsonia vine is finally putting on some growth, I was beginning to worry.


00christian00

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #9 on: November 03, 2018, 09:10:02 PM »

The Hodgsonia vine is finally putting on some growth, I was beginning to worry.


When did you get your hodgsonia seeds? Mine in the summer still have to germinate, I think I have screwed up something.

Caesar

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2018, 12:39:25 AM »

The Hodgsonia vine is finally putting on some growth, I was beginning to worry.


When did you get your hodgsonia seeds? Mine in the summer still have to germinate, I think I have screwed up something.

Mine arrived on August 6. I think they took a couple of weeks to sprout, but then they spent a very long time in a weird state, with long-ish ground-hugging woody-seeming stems and strange growing tips that almost looked fasciated (and often dried up). This is the first time I've seen one sporting a proper vine (spotted it last week), and it's the only one that's done so thus far. Out of 6 seeds, 4 had sprouted. Not sure how many remain alive, I stopped digging around in that tub once the Jarilla grew bushy.

00christian00

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2018, 02:03:00 AM »

The Hodgsonia vine is finally putting on some growth, I was beginning to worry.


When did you get your hodgsonia seeds? Mine in the summer still have to germinate, I think I have screwed up something.

Mine arrived on August 6. I think they took a couple of weeks to sprout, but then they spent a very long time in a weird state, with long-ish ground-hugging woody-seeming stems and strange growing tips that almost looked fasciated (and often dried up). This is the first time I've seen one sporting a proper vine (spotted it last week), and it's the only one that's done so thus far. Out of 6 seeds, 4 had sprouted. Not sure how many remain alive, I stopped digging around in that tub once the Jarilla grew bushy.
Damn, mine must have gone bad. Pity, they costed a lot and was looking forward to them :(

Caesar

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #12 on: December 20, 2018, 11:45:15 AM »
The plants are now dying off. I'm not sure if this is typical winter behavior (like with the yam vines and potato mint) or if they're literally dying (never to re-sprout from the tuber). Despite some initial flowering, I didn't get any fruit, and some of the plants showed signs of disease at one point. They seem a bit finicky, to be honest, and after this experience with them, I'm in no hurry to try again. I'm still interested in them, but I won't be giving them another shot until I have a better plot to grow them in. With any luck, perhaps these very same tubers will re-sprout in a few months time.



Caesar

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #13 on: December 20, 2018, 11:51:39 PM »
After this morning's post, I dug up the tubers for 4 of the plants (I think I left a 5th one behind, but the top growth was already gone). I'm concerned about the possibility that I might have harmed my Hodgsonia by disturbing the root zone, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. According to this forum post, it's normal for the plants to die back to the roots on a yearly basis, and also J. chocola prefers shade.

The root clusters were vaguely reminiscent of cassava, though much smaller. I washed a few and tasted one raw... The texture was like water chestnut, and it had a pleasant nuttiness and somewhat strong earthiness, both of which were masked by a sharp bitter aftertaste. The pleasant notes were outweighed by the unpleasant aftertaste.

I cooked the other washed roots in salty water for 30 minutes. The flavor was somewhat potato-like, distinct from the raw taste, but though less intense, the sharp aftertaste remained. I wish to emphasize that it was an aftertaste; it's not the first flavor to develop on the tongue, and it's felt at the back of the mouth just prior to swallowing; it's subtle in a way, but nevertheless feels sharp once you've taken notice of it. I wouldn't find them objectionable to eat infrequently in small quantities, but they're definitely not a favorite. The bulk of the flavor seemed promising, but that sharp aftertaste detracted from the experience.

I still have roots left over from all four plants. I'm not sure how they'll fare given that I've broken some of the clusters, and given how finicky the plants have been (the sixth tuber I had planted never re-sprouted, and I didn't find it on digging), but I might be willing to re-plant them to find out if they can be multiplied from broken tubers, and to see if I can get some fruit (I know I have a male and I suspect I have a female - the big one had solitary flower buds like on female papayas).

Photo gallery:


jlegdorf

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #14 on: June 09, 2019, 04:51:55 PM »
I was lucky to get 4 of 4 to sprout. They are planted in a large pot and are growing well... one is already flowering. I live on zone 9B, so I hope to get fruit this year. Any suggestions ad tienes on fertilizer, etc. from your experience?  Does anyone know if these are Male or female flowers?




shiro

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #15 on: June 09, 2019, 05:33:42 PM »
Question may be stupid, but has anyone tried to graft papaya on it?

Because it's from the same family and I think
1) this may be the opportunity to make papaya bloom faster and thus to have fruit fairly quickly in the first year.
2) the ability to keep the roots cool like potatoes in colder climates.

What do you think ?

Caesar

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #16 on: June 09, 2019, 07:23:28 PM »
I was lucky to get 4 of 4 to sprout. They are planted in a large pot and are growing well... one is already flowering. I live on zone 9B, so I hope to get fruit this year. Any suggestions ad tienes on fertilizer, etc. from your experience?  Does anyone know if these are Male or female flowers?





I got nothing to say on fertilizer, I'm a bit of a neglectful grower at the moment (though not nearly as bad as I used to be). I didn't see the inner flower structure in your pic, but comparing them to the flowers I saw on mine, and on Papaya, I'd say they look female. Single flowers tend to be female in Papaya, clustered flowers male. But the final word is on the flower structure, styles versus anthers, so sneak a peek and tell me what you see.


Question may be stupid, but has anyone tried to graft papaya on it?

Because it's from the same family and I think
1) this may be the opportunity to make papaya bloom faster and thus to have fruit fairly quickly in the first year.
2) the ability to keep the roots cool like potatoes in colder climates.

What do you think ?

It's been a bit of a finicky plant for me, and it's somewhat rare and slightly expensive, so I wouldn't use it as a rootstock. But if you got some fruiting plants providing extra seeds, go for it.

As for keeping the roots cool, I assume you mean the roots would survive even if the cold killed off the upper growth? In that case, the rootstock (Chocola) would survive while the scion (Papaya) gets killed off. In that case, you'd have to re-graft every season. Even if you kept it warm in a greenhouse, the upper growth of chocola (which would receive the rootstock) dies off yearly, so you'd still have to re-graft.

If it was me, I'd rather graft Chocola onto Papaya, in the hopes of getting a more vigorous plant to provide the chocola fruit.

nullzero

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #17 on: June 10, 2019, 05:18:37 PM »
I had all mine die back to just tubers. Luckily I set aside the tubers placed inside a plastic bag with slightly damp coco coir stored at room temperature. The tubers did nothing for months. I was beginning to worry they would never resprout. Long and behold 3 out of 4 have sprouted leaf shoots.

Waiting on the 4th. It seems you could possibly regrow to bigger tubers every year then store indoors as tubers replant outside during late spring.

No idea how long would need to fruit and flower but I figure it may be able to fruit like this in mild winter locations. Might be possible to even grow in NE like this.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

jlegdorf

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #18 on: June 10, 2019, 08:50:44 PM »
Ceasar, I will post more photos soon, but a second seedling is now putting out small clusters of flowers, most likely male. Strangely, the flowers from the first seedling look to have small green fruits appearing... but there were no male flowers at the time. I did not think this was possible with Jarilla Chocola.

Caesar

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #19 on: June 11, 2019, 08:36:04 PM »
I had all mine die back to just tubers. Luckily I set aside the tubers placed inside a plastic bag with slightly damp coco coir stored at room temperature. The tubers did nothing for months. I was beginning to worry they would never resprout. Long and behold 3 out of 4 have sprouted leaf shoots.

Waiting on the 4th. It seems you could possibly regrow to bigger tubers every year then store indoors as tubers replant outside during late spring.

No idea how long would need to fruit and flower but I figure it may be able to fruit like this in mild winter locations. Might be possible to even grow in NE like this.

Maybe it needs a couple of seasons, but it definitely sets fruit on the current season's growth, as the plant dies back to the root even in mild climates. The roots are hand-like clusters of long (and slightly thick) finger-like tubers... I'm hoping that breaking them apart might be a good way to propagate it vegetatively (especially since I broke mine on digging them up). If so, it'll be easier to multiply known male and female plants.


Ceasar, I will post more photos soon, but a second seedling is now putting out small clusters of flowers, most likely male. Strangely, the flowers from the first seedling look to have small green fruits appearing... but there were no male flowers at the time. I did not think this was possible with Jarilla Chocola.

They might just be the flower's ovaries, like in papaya and cucurbits, but if you're especially fortunate, you might have a hermaphrodite or apomictic specimen. You'll find out soon, whether the "fruits" take or drop.

jlegdorf

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #20 on: July 07, 2019, 06:26:47 PM »
Jarilla chocola update... after battling powdery mildew and having first few fruits drop, several fruit look to be maturing.
One plant put out male flowers for a short time, but these fruit began before that time.








Luisport

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #21 on: July 08, 2019, 02:23:24 PM »
WOW! Congratulations, it looks great!  ;)

Caesar

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Re: Jarilla chocola
« Reply #22 on: October 29, 2019, 03:12:05 PM »
Jarilla chocola update... after battling powdery mildew and having first few fruits drop, several fruit look to be maturing.
One plant put out male flowers for a short time, but these fruit began before that time.



That looks great! Have you any further updates on the matter?

As for mine, I have a couple of separate clones growing, but I may have lost one or two of the originals while the roots were stored. No idea which is male or female. Currently about 5 plants. I take back everything I said about them being finicky, once they're fully established, they're pretty hard to kill (even by drought). You can even mistreat the roots a bit when harvesting, and they'll still resprout once in the ground. Worth growing for this hardiness alone, provided you can get them past their sensitive early days and into tuber formation. They'll periodically die back to the roots only to resprout later in the year. I'm keeping an eye on the Trade Winds Fruit page, hoping to get my hands on more. I'll definitely be taking it more seriously this time around.