Adam,
I have a jabuticaba question, though not a pruning one, for you. I've never actually tasted one, but have been hooked on the idea of growing them for awhile. I bought one seedling from a guy locally (Inland Empire of southern California) which is about 8" tall and will probably be a decade before it fruits. Then I read about a large-fruited variety being grown by a gentleman named Jack Swords on the central coast of California. I wrote to him and he very generously let me visit his place, where he gave me a seedling he'd grown from his tree. The fruit apparently grows to the size of a small plum, and is dark skinned.
First of all, do you have any idea whether this is most likely just a variant of M. cauliflora, or perhaps another species? Second, the seedling is about 18" tall, perhaps, in a 5 gallon container, and I had been planning to plant it in one of my garden's raised beds under shade cloth until it grows a bit more, but after reading about jabuticabas on the forums here, I'm wondering if I shouldn't just pot it up into a larger container and put it by the side of my house, where it will just get a couple of hours of direct sun. Mr. Swords' tree is in full sun for a good part of the day, I think, but I'm much further inland in almost desert-like conditions during the summer. Finally, I'd love to be able to propagate the plant I received, but I'm wondering if there's any good way to do so, besides waiting years for it to fruit so that I can start some seedlings. Am I right in recalling that jabuticabas don't air-layer well? Thanks for any advice you can offer.
James