Author Topic: Tamarind in CA?  (Read 6273 times)

spaugh

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Tamarind in CA?
« on: May 11, 2018, 07:18:20 PM »
Anyone have tamarind growing in CA?  Getting any fruit off it?  I have a seedling started.  Not sure if it's worth putting in the ground?
Brad Spaugh

barath

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2018, 07:34:58 PM »
I've been wondering the same.  I've heard of folks with tamarind trees in ground in San Diego and they survive fine, but I haven't heard any reports about fruiting / fruit quality.

Goyo626

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2018, 07:41:56 PM »
Here is what the california rare fruit growers have to say about it https://crfg.org/wiki/fruit/tamarind/ .

marklee

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2018, 10:30:07 PM »
My friend in Point Loma has one in the ground and it flowered this last summer but didn't fruit. Mine has done fine outside in Chula Vista but no flowers yet.

EvilFruit

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2018, 11:08:43 AM »
Tamarind is almost in every farm around here. Just be careful they have a very invasive root system.
Moh'd

barath

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2018, 11:11:55 AM »
My friend in Point Loma has one in the ground and it flowered this last summer but didn't fruit. Mine has done fine outside in Chula Vista but no flowers yet.

That's great Mark.  How drought tolerant has tamarind been for you?

Bush2Beach

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2018, 11:33:21 AM »
I ate a pound or two of SD Tamarind sold at a local Farmers Market about 2 months back. Best Ive had before. I failed germinating all the seed.
Barath gave me one a few years ago that I enjoyed munching the new growth ( tastes like Tamarind), but I gave it away to someone in SD that most likely killed it.

waxy

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2018, 12:35:58 PM »
I have one here in that resides in a greenhouse during temps below 40.
Even at that stage it's not a suitable condition for the tamarind.

I too eat the fresh leaves, it tastes really tart like tamarind.
Asian folks use it for cooking like myself.

- Tamarind Leaves
- Kaffir Lime leaves
- Ginger
- Galangal
- Garlic
+ a few other ingredients makes a great Thai soup

marklee

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #8 on: May 14, 2018, 02:49:21 PM »
My friend in Point Loma has one in the ground and it flowered this last summer but didn't fruit. Mine has done fine outside in Chula Vista but no flowers yet.

That's great Mark.  How drought tolerant has tamarind been for you?

Hi Barath,

I usually keep my tamarind watered pretty good. My friend in Pt. Loma doesn't water as much and hers has done fine.

barath

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #9 on: May 14, 2018, 03:29:37 PM »
My friend in Point Loma has one in the ground and it flowered this last summer but didn't fruit. Mine has done fine outside in Chula Vista but no flowers yet.

That's great Mark.  How drought tolerant has tamarind been for you?

Hi Barath,

I usually keep my tamarind watered pretty good. My friend in Pt. Loma doesn't water as much and hers has done fine.

Ah, great.  If it's handling minimal water in San Diego, then that's promising.

I remember seeing a tamarind in a a parking lot in Kailua Kona, in a very hot and dry part of town, and figure it probably gets no water and San Diego level rainfall.  But then again they are much more humid so there's less evaporative loss.

Bush2Beach

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #10 on: May 14, 2018, 03:48:04 PM »

I must be Asian then, or maybe I just cook with those ingredients regularly.
Feeling that way about Nopal and Tuna too , but hey , I don't want to box myself in as just a Mexican/Asian human. ( Genetically I'm probably neither)

I have one here in that resides in a greenhouse during temps below 40.
Even at that stage it's not a suitable condition for the tamarind.

I too eat the fresh leaves, it tastes really tart like tamarind.
Asian folks use it for cooking like myself.

- Tamarind Leaves
- Kaffir Lime leaves
- Ginger
- Galangal
- Garlic
+ a few other ingredients makes a great Thai soup

Bhkkatemoya

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #11 on: May 14, 2018, 09:13:20 PM »
Hey spaugh,

I have one here in national city.  It was a seedling I planted a few years ago.  Flowered last year in 15 gallon pot but no fruit.  I finally put it in the ground last December. It’s still spreading its roots so probably no flower or fruit this year.  My neighbors both have a big trees (my guess would be at least 5-10 years).  I’ve seen flowers on them before too but never went back to see if it turned into fruits.

BajaJohn

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #12 on: May 15, 2018, 10:45:05 AM »
Interesting that tamarind is a challenge to cultivate in San Diego. I'm about 800 miles South in the middle of Baja and they grow like weeds here - from seed, not from invasive roots. It may be a little warmer here with no frost and the heat gets pretty intense in summer. Summers are in the 90s for about 3 months and winters occasionally get into the low 40s.
My trees are quite mature. One is on the edge of my veggie garden which is irrigated daily. The other is in a ~10' diameter bed in the middle of a paved patio and never gets water. The latter is very much the healthier tree. Average rainfall is about 7" with a range of 0 - 24". The trees survived a recent 11-year drought.
I've also noticed that germination of tamarind seed in my veggie patch has declined as I've improved the soil with compost. Maybe they prefer a poorer soil. They are nitrogen-fixers.
If you want to try my seed I'll be flying into LA late July and can try to bring some with me.

BluMalibu

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #13 on: May 16, 2018, 02:18:08 PM »
I am also wondering the same, temperature where I live can easily reach 100f in the summer and few days in winter as low as 45F.

Bhkkatemoya

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #14 on: October 03, 2018, 07:41:14 PM »
Saw this on my neighbor’s tree yesterday.








spaugh

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #15 on: October 03, 2018, 07:55:00 PM »
Cool, thabks for the update.  Reminds me I need to plant my tree.  Its ready to go in the ground.
Brad Spaugh

SoCal2warm

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #16 on: October 04, 2018, 01:16:15 AM »
I'm pretty sure tamarind would grow okay in Southern California. It's fairly drought tolerant.
It might even grow bigger and faster than you want it to grow.
« Last Edit: October 04, 2018, 01:19:27 AM by SoCal2warm »

Ulfr

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #17 on: October 04, 2018, 01:37:21 AM »
I would have thought it would do fine. In the past hey were used as street trees here, many are still around. No water and they fruit well.

Kaelix87

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #18 on: October 04, 2018, 11:17:35 AM »
both my varieties are striving in san diego, the ones at my parents house has been pushing fruit

spaugh

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Re: Tamarind in CA?
« Reply #19 on: October 04, 2018, 10:48:36 PM »
both my varieties are striving in san diego, the ones at my parents house has been pushing fruit

Nice, Im gonna pop my plant in the ground tomorrow.  Ive got about 15 trees to plant this weekend and I am done planting my orchard out.  Feels great to be done with planting phase
Brad Spaugh