Seeds of a store bought Tamarillo were germinated in February 2014. In spring, eight plantlets were planted in ground in the garden. In autumn, after the first frost damaged the leaves, the plants were pulled out of the soil and the defoliated stems with a few roots only, were placed close together in a single pot with peat. During the winter in a frost free greenhouse, one of the plants developed some stem rot and the lesion was cut out. This top cutting was easy to root in spring and resulted a ninth plant. End of March, the stems were planted in individual pots and fertilized. Again in May, the plants were planted in ground in the garden. First flowering plants could be observed in August 2015. After the frost destroyed leaves and flowers in autumn, the stems were overwintered again. In March, this year, stems were potted and fertilized and new leaves and flowers appeared in April. Soon after, the plants were planted in the garden. Due to the cold weather in spring, it took until June for fruits to develop. Since August, all new shoots and flowers were removed to focus the plants on fruit ripening. Two of the nine plants stayed fruitless. Now, seven Tamarillo plants (including the two clonal plants) bear together fifty-six well developed fruits.
What shall I do? Ice and snow are only a few days ahead and the fruits would need four more weeks of nice and warm weather to ripen. I am not prepared, to singly pot the plants and grow them in the greenhouse. That would give me greenhouse grown Tamarillos. That´s not what I want. I would prefer Tamarillos grown in my own garden. The final goal is to be independent of a greenhouse. It should be possible to overwinter the stems even behind a windowsill in a cool room, or similar. Potting and fertilizing in spring, doesn´t need a greenhouse either.
Tamarillos are subtropical plants of higher altitudes and like to grow in mild and warm weather. The leaves are fairly frost tender, but stems not so much. A second important feature is the shallow root system. Stems can be pulled out of the soil, without much roots, and handled like cuttings during the winter. Without leaves, the plants are not prone to pests. In spring, soon new leaves and a root system develop. With summers a while longer and frost a little later, Tamarillos can be successfully grown in a temperate garden. To breed for a more precocious variety, would be a further goal.
Tamarillos in my garden. Some exposed leaves are already frost burned.
Ripening would need a little more nice and warm weather.