The Tropical Fruit Forum
Tropical Fruit => Tropical Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: WilliamTheYoungGrower on July 28, 2020, 11:41:36 PM
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So a couple months back i purchased 5 achacha plants (garcinia humilis) and planted them in 2 differrent spots my property. I planted 3 of them very close to a pond we have and close enough to allow crosspollination between them. The other 2 are planted in the same row in a drier part of my property. All of them are 3-4 ft in height and taking almost full sun. As of now all of them look very good and have no signs of damage in our almost daily 30 degrees celsius waether. Any tips or experience with this plant would be greatly appreciated.
,William
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Achacha is not Garcinia humilis.
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This tree gets very wide! Hope you gave them lots of distance between each one?
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Achacha is not Garcinia humilis.
Ummmm..... ???
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This tree gets very wide! Hope you gave them lots of distance between each one?
Hey oscar,
I had heard they grow more horizontal than vertical. I left about 5-6 ft between them and the closest plant. Does anyone know if has specific requirements, for example iron, calcium, lots of water, ect
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I have seen one fruiting tree and it was 10'-12' high and at least 15' wide.
I have 3 trees planted and I notice right now they are very happy in our
rainy humid season. In the dry cool Winter they don't grow much and the new leaves
seem yellowish and burnt. Now the new growth is dark green. I give mine
Holly tone which is for acid loving plants? I was considering giving it some
8-4-8 with micros that I use from Diamond R.
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Mine are at least 30’ wide. They don’t need cross pollination.
Peter
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Mine are at least 30’ wide. They don’t need cross pollination.
Peter
Hey peter!
Ive heard from a couple sources they dont neceserily need crosspollination to fruit. However if cross pollination does occur the fruit harvest is significantly bigger. Can someone confirm this?
,William
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William, I planted 20 trees a few months ago and spaced 25 feet.
This links to an informative handbook on growing by CIAT, over 100 pages very detailed, in .pdf document form:
https://frutales.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/o20-el-cultivo-de-achacairu.pdf
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Yes, on page 26 of the very detailed book it says that achachariu is self fertile which is our experience.
Peter
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This tree gets very wide! Hope you gave them lots of distance between each one?
Hey oscar,
I had heard they grow more horizontal than vertical. I left about 5-6 ft between them and the closest plant. Does anyone know if has specific requirements, for example iron, calcium, lots of water, ect
That's way too close together. As Peter posted they can get 30+ feet wide. I fertilized mine with an all purpose fertilizer and it worked fine. They respond well to fertilizing giving larger and tastier fruits than without fertlilizer.
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Oscar...when do you normally fertilize your achachairu? Thanks
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@achetadomestica and pineislander: You guys mind sharing where you got them? I’m a fellow Floridian and a pretty hardcore plant guy...not afraid to drive across the state (or the country, for that matter) in pursuit of a plant.
@johnnyredland: Small world! I’m right up the road from you. I’m the horticulturist at Galloway Farm Nursery in South Miami. Used to work at Redland Nursery, if you’re familiar with it.
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Try Pine Island Nursery. I have 2 in 7gal for sale, $75 each.
@achetadomestica and pineislander: You guys mind sharing where you got them? I’m a fellow Floridian and a pretty hardcore plant guy...not afraid to drive across the state (or the country, for that matter) in pursuit of a plant.
@johnnyredland: Small world! I’m right up the road from you. I’m the horticulturist at Galloway Farm Nursery in South Miami. Used to work at Redland Nursery, if you’re familiar with it.
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Try Pine Island Nursery. I have 2 in 7gal for sale, $75 each.
@achetadomestica and pineislander: You guys mind sharing where you got them? I’m a fellow Floridian and a pretty hardcore plant guy...not afraid to drive across the state (or the country, for that matter) in pursuit of a plant.
@johnnyredland: Small world! I’m right up the road from you. I’m the horticulturist at Galloway Farm Nursery in South Miami. Used to work at Redland Nursery, if you’re familiar with it.
Hmm. I’m actually supposed to be heading down to see Erik next week anyway. Had a look at your profile; looks like you’ve got some really interesting stuff going.
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Yes, the last Pine Island nursery wholesale plant listing I got in April showed they had 4,000 6 inch achachairu. That seems impressive, not sure what they have now you should call for availability in case they were growing under contract.
I grew my own from seed, they are slow. A 6" pot might only be a very young seedling in Florida you might expect another year in the pot before planting out next rainy season. I used the suggested planting method in the manual. Drive 4 stakes around the young tree and wrap with shade cloth. It has worked for me and i think if i had put them in the field without protection they may have fried.
(https://i.postimg.cc/47Vg44PY/DSC01925.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/47Vg44PY)
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Yes, the last Pine Island nursery wholesale plant listing I got in April showed they had 4,000 6 inch achachairu. That seems impressive, not sure what they have now you should call for availability in case they were growing under contract.
I grew my own from seed, they are slow. A 6" pot might only be a very young seedling in Florida you might expect another year in the pot before planting out next rainy season. I used the suggested planting method in the manual. Drive 4 stakes around the young tree and wrap with shade cloth. It has worked for me and i think if i had put them in the field without protection they may have fried.
(https://i.postimg.cc/47Vg44PY/DSC01925.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/47Vg44PY)
Hey pineislander,
How big where they when you placed them underneath the shade cloth? Mine seem to do great in full sun
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If so, they were already acclimated to the amount of sun they are receiving. If you take a garcinia growing in shade and move it to a spot with no protection from the sun, it will fully defoliate and probably die. Size of the tree does not matter. I tried to slowly move an 8ft mexican garcinia over a 3 month period and it lost 80% of its leaves. Newer leaves are the ones that remain. It is in the same spot where it gets full sun until 2 - 3pm for 4 months and has not pushed any new growth. Old leaves do not gain tolerance for full sun. The system pineislander is using allows new growth to grow into full sun while keeping the old growth protected.
Mine seem to do great in full sun
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All this talk of 30' wide achacha trees....wow
It's going to take mine 600 years to get to that size at the rate it's been growing. 5 new leaves in one year, a gain of 1 inch height.....
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All this talk of 30' wide achacha trees....wow
It's going to take mine 600 years to get to that size at the rate it's been growing. 5 new leaves in one year, a gain of 1 inch height.....
How old are your trees bo biscuit?
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Oscar...when do you normally fertilize your achachairu? Thanks
The honest answer is: "whenever i get around to it". ;)
But i think you're asking what the ideal time to fertilize is? I think the best time would be right after it fruits. If you can follow up with another shot of fertilizer a couple of months before the time it normally fruits for you. So if it normally fruits in August you would fertilize once in June, and then again when it's done fruiting in late August or early September.
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Oscar, will it fruit twice for you or fruit out of season?
Ours is finishing up right now but it also can fruit around March/April.
Peter
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All this talk of 30' wide achacha trees....wow
It's going to take mine 600 years to get to that size at the rate it's been growing. 5 new leaves in one year, a gain of 1 inch height.....
How old are your trees bo biscuit?
William,
I'm not sure how old the tree is. I ordered it online a year ago, and it was just under a foot tall. It looks perfectly healthy, but it grows at a geologic time scale.
Jared
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Hey pineislander,
How big where they when you placed them underneath the shade cloth? Mine seem to do great in full sun
I grew them from seed in a shade house, in 16" Steuwe brand pots and they were about a year old at 14 inches tall, the photo was when they were just planted. I put in a soursop seedling between each achachairu tree figuring I'll get perhaps 10 years production on those before the trees get too tight, we shall see. Between each of those I put in papaya and various veg and legumes. The whole thing has grown up very well this summer even though we've been behind on rain.
The bulk of the legumes in this picture are jack beans and pigeon peas, here is what it looks like now. Between the rows I also put in some mulberries and some main frame legume trees.
(https://i.postimg.cc/BPXSsb4W/DSC02018.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/BPXSsb4W)
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Oscar, will it fruit twice for you or fruit out of season?
Ours is finishing up right now but it also can fruit around March/April.
Peter
Yeah Peter, it seems to fruit at least twice a year, one heavy crop and then a light one. Sometimes there can even be a third light crop.
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Oscar, will it fruit twice for you or fruit out of season?
Ours is finishing up right now but it also can fruit around March/April.
Peter
Yeah Peter, it seems to fruit at least twice a year, one heavy crop and then a light one. Sometimes there can even be a third light crop.
At what age can they start bearing fruit oscar?
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Thanks Oscar. Still waiting for my pig to bloom for the first time. Mocks me with every try. It's 13+ years, 10' tall, and 7'+ wide. Height often pruned to keep off the glass. I've long ago come to the conclusion that while my greenhouse is providing "good" conditions for these trees, it unfortunately falls far short of what they would excel with....putting me years behind. It is frustrating though when I see plants in Florida fruiting at 5 or so years.
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I have planted and am growing at least 200 Achacha in every type of condition. About 150 from seed either direct planted or started in pots and planted w/in 6 mos., at various times over the last 4 years and about 50 that were already started using out dated degenerative industrial farming practices planted 4 years ago. The already grown plants were from 2’ to 6’ from pots at planting. All but one of the already started trees has been on an artesian water drip system on a well of 550’ from the aquifer, that I turn on for 2-4 weeks/total/year during drought. None of the seeds planted directly are on any water system nor have they been hand watered. The biggest of all the trees planted 4 years ago at 7’ at planting from pot should be fruiting by now but hasn’t, but maybe this year. The fastest growing tree we have is the only tree that has never been watered and is not connected to drip and is planted in full sun next to a very large fallen oak limb it was 2’ at planting and is over 6’ now it is surrounded by a huge patch of thick tall Cesar Weed A known nitrogen scavenger. Most seed I planted I assume are doing well none are given extra water and none of these are on drip. Our 2nd fastest grower is also in full sun but is on drip. Like everything else here they are planted in a biodiverse grasss/legume/weed mix in an uncut orchard floor system also planted along with seed grown organically sourced citrus of various varieties, cacao, and other Garcinia Varieties and Bananas along with other stuff too many to list here. The non stop record rain here over the last couple months has put most of our over 400 Garcinias into a continuous growth spurt.
(https://i.postimg.cc/w14Bwx9L/0-A6-A83-C1-B3-AA-4-CE2-AC3-A-9-D7-A8-D15-CCB0.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/w14Bwx9L)
(https://i.postimg.cc/q6rBNzGV/5-FD1421-D-0-FAC-4-B86-9-A7-A-BD37-CEB49-D7-F.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/q6rBNzGV)
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Thanks Oscar. Still waiting for my pig to bloom for the first time. Mocks me with every try. It's 13+ years, 10' tall, and 7'+ wide. Height often pruned to keep off the glass. I've long ago come to the conclusion that while my greenhouse is providing "good" conditions for these trees, it unfortunately falls far short of what they would excel with....putting me years behind. It is frustrating though when I see plants in Florida fruiting at 5 or so years.
I'm zone pushing in the North Carolina. How warm are you keeping your tropical specimens in the winter?
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Avg 65.
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Oscar, will it fruit twice for you or fruit out of season?
Ours is finishing up right now but it also can fruit around March/April.
Peter
Yeah Peter, it seems to fruit at least twice a year, one heavy crop and then a light one. Sometimes there can even be a third light crop.
At what age can they start bearing fruit oscar?
My one tree started fruiting at 8 years. But if i planted lots i bet there would be some fruiting at 5-6 years old.