The Tropical Fruit Forum

Seeds are available. I imported some different Stenocereus species from European sellers. Some are on eBay from US sellers, more expensive than from Europe. A small lots permit takes maybe an hour to figure out, is all online, free, and gets approved instantly. I have a lot of pruinosus seeds I collected from the fruit I bought. I can send you some Kevin.

https://www.succseed.com/en/seeds-cacti/stenocereus/
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qsuv_ikbFQ1yjJWdTYCtcRrVcSvalUWd/view

I think S. pruinosus is the most common commercially, not sure why S. queretaroensis seems to get touted more. S. stellatus is grown alongside pruinosus, Queretaroensis is more to the north. This guy has multiple videos showing pruinosus and stellatus being cultivated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ9UlZYJq3c (remember youtube can translate for you)

I did some research, but never really found anything about any one species having superior fruit, or better cold tolerance. There are differences with regards to growing season, one grows during the dry season and one during the wet, something like that. My theory is there are about three groups of columnar Stenocereus species, with different areas of Mexico having local species of these: stellatus-like, pruinosus-like, and queretaroensis-like. In the Puebla area, seemingly the main commercial growing area--and the area where they've been most domesticated--pruinosus and stellatus are native. To the west it's Chrysocarpus, Quevedonis, and Fricii. Not scientific, but to me Chrysocarpus looks a lot like Queretaroensis, montanus, and martineziii (grayish green, black areoles, mostly spineless with age), quevedonis looks like stellatus and treleasei (bumpy ribs, pink flowers), and fricii looks like pruinosus, griseus, laevigatus, huastecorum, and maybe chacalapensis, aragonii, fimbriatus, and eichlamii. Thurberi doesn't really fit with any. From pictures alone it can be very hard to tell them apart. I bought some "S. pruinosus" seeds collected in Queretaro state, which makes it very likely they're technically S. queretaroensis, since S. huastecorum--the local version of S. pruinosus now that it's been split into four species--doesn't grow on that side of the mountains. And queretaroensis is one of the more distinct... But look at pictures of stenocereus from that area on iNaturalist and there's discussions about whether they're actually huastecorum based on looks, but the conclusion from the experts is they have to be queretaroensis based on the side of the mountains they're on...

It also seems like mostly people grow orchards of the local species, not spreading pruinosus or stellatus clones around the country. If pruinosus/queretaroensis/whatever were significantly better, I'd think they'd be growing those all over Mexico. There are reported to be some better ones growing in villages where the people have been selecting for the fruit to various degrees for centuries, and the big orchards (mainly in Puebla state?) have some selected clones they're growing. I think these are mainly pruinosus and stellatus.

I've started seeds of around a dozen types. Very slow growing so far, but I bought a S. huastecorum (?) around two feet tall, and it's put on maybe six inches since I bought it this spring. And it hasn't even been a that warm this summer. S. pruinosus is reported to be a fast-growing rootstock. http://www.kadasgardens.com/Cgraftingstocks.html

The guy at the nursery recommended Pachycereus hollianus for fruit, so I got one of those too. He seemed lukewarm on Peruvian Apple Cactus for fruit. Trichocereus 'Flying Saucer' is said to have very good fruit, and would probably would be better for my climate.

Also worth mentioning, in my research I found some reports of Stellatus growing really well in New Orleans.

I had some that might not have been optimal. They had a beet/raw beef flavor I found unpleasant. When they're in season you can find them at hispanic markets by searching on facebook marketplace. Much better than most of the store-bought dragonfruit I've had though.

These are more sensitive to sun--and maybe drought--than the normal ones. I have mine in-ground in full sun. They're a bit burnt, and not growing much. Maybe 5 years old.

I think the maple roots would just grow up into your raised beds. I got some 7.5 gal fabric grow bags several years ago, and they're holding up well so far. If you put them up against one another, staggering the rows, they're almost like a 12" raised bed. Very little wasted space. That way you could still move plants around too. 

I have it, but ty.

Thanks for sharing. What are your thoughts on ilama in general? Better than a cherimoya?

jason had some not long ago. every kadsura seed vendor ive tried so far in the US has been bunk, even with cold stratification.

Not heteroclita, but I have some coccinea from Tradewinds that sprouted. I think I planted about 20, got around 4 plants. I didn't do anything to them, just added them to some pots with other stuff growing. I don't remember how long it took, but they are outside year-round, so they may have stratified over the winter before coming up. The tradewinds ones are under $1/seed.

I got both kinds. They didn't come labeled. One had moldy fruit. The bigger, lighter colored one tastes like raspberry, but sweeter, like if a strawberry tasted more like raspberry. It's not as good as that makes it sound though. The exterior is edible, which is nice, and the seed isn't too bad to eat around.  The texture of the skin is weird against my tongue, takes away a bit. Rough, bumpy, and fairly firm. Once you get to the last bit of flesh, it takes some work to separate from the seed, and I feel like I need to floss after. The smaller, darker one tastes like an under-ripe strawberry, where the strawberry is mostly white inside but still tastes a little sweet. The bigger one also has that underripe strawberry flavor, kind of like the strawberry leaves attached to the fruit. A "green" flavor. It is pretty strong, giving the fruit a bit of a "wild" taste. There's about 20 of the big, 30 of the small. Big just under 8 oz, small just over. They both smell strongly of that "green" strawberry leaf flavor. I'd say the taste of it is stronger or more obtrusive in the large, but it may just be that the large one has other nice flavors that this takes away from, whereas the small is just semi-sweet unripe strawberry.

The lychees have a ton of flesh, but the taste is honestly pretty bad. They're really soft, so maybe deteriorating. They smell like sunscreen, and the flavor... I don't know. It's actually a bit like that chemically flavor durian can have. The aftertaste reminds me of eating something astringent, but without the dry-mouth.

Going back to yangmei, the small one tastes like unripe strawberry with the leaves mixed in. The bigger one is much better. I got one really ripe small one that is much better than the others, about as good as the bigger ones. The seeds are probably half the size.

In stock now in the Bay Area for $24/8oz. Second variety (Dongkui) added earlier today for $30. Also got some "The Concubine Smiles" lychees for $4.50/lb.

https://www.sayweee.com/en/product/Chinese-Fei-Zi-Xiao-Lychees-/96083?category=fruits12

You had me thinking I won! Oh well, at least I got to feel like a winner for a few days

I wasn't trying to nitpick. Some people leave their seeds in plastic bags w/ vermiculite until a root emerges, then plant in soil. That's how you could see. I thought you were one of those. Recently I've bought many Eugenia seeds that arrived germinated (a few of them sprouted too). E. beaurep. for example came mostly germinated with tiny root nubs, planted immediately, and no sprouts yet 7 months later. I accidentally dug one up around a month ago, fat healthy seed with nice big, healthy, branching roots. Still nothing above ground though. They're in 12 inch deep pots

Nah, this one's different. He also called it Araza banana-limon. "...It may be similar to the araza-johvy, but we cannot confirm that it's Psidium australe or another Psidium exactly. We think it could be Central American, but we cannot affirm it either; the new shoots of leaves are brownish, which can mean that it resists frosts between -3 to -6C."

It says $18-34. If $18 is for 5, I'm guessing $34 is for 10, not 25, so maybe the issue is related to no price for the 25 pack? If it's $34/25 I'll buy a few.