Author Topic: Cocona and Lulo Harvest 2013  (Read 2819 times)

TriangleJohn

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Cocona and Lulo Harvest 2013
« on: November 29, 2013, 12:53:56 PM »
My crop came in a little late this year, possibly due to a cool Spring and mild summer. Plants were grown from cuttings taken during last years harvest. They grow like any eggplant except that Lulo does not like hot weather. Seed grown plants take more than one year to get to blooming size for me (zone 7). It sounds harmful but I have no problems just digging them up in the fall and planting them in pots that I shelter in my greenhouse. I trim off some of the leaves and any branches without fruit and they never show a sign of distress.

Taxonomists can argue over who belongs to which species and whether Lulo belongs somewhere other than Solanum quitoense. They look alike, and my photo may not show the difference but in my plants, the Lulo has more purple on the leaves and then leaves tend to get bigger. Cocona handles hot weather just fine and can be planted out in full sunshine. Lulo has to be in more shade and sulks when the days get over 85 degrees.

I usually wait until the tiny hairs on the fruit brush off easily to consider them ripe, but I believe they are tasty even before then. Coconas are very sour but take on tropical fruit tones when cooked with sugar and a touch of lemon juice. Lulos taste more like tangerine to me and usually gets mixed with orange juice as a breakfast drink. I used to also grow standard Narajilla but once I got ahold of true Lulo seed I didn't see the point. If I run out of room in the greenhouse then I simply cut the branches off with fruit and lay them on a table out of the way (branches and leaves are covered with spines), the fruit eventually ripen and don't taste much different than those allowed to ripen on the plant.

Cocona on the left, Lulo on the right


Cocona fruit


Lulo fruit


Ethan

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Re: Cocona and Lulo Harvest 2013
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2013, 01:01:33 PM »
Wow Triangle John, those things are huge, congrats on the harvest!  How big do the plants get, do you have to fight off any bugs?  I used to grow naranjilla years ago but I believe it was a bug magnet?

Keep up the good work.

KarenRei

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Re: Cocona and Lulo Harvest 2013
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2013, 02:39:20 PM »
My crop came in a little late this year, possibly due to a cool Spring and mild summer. Plants were grown from cuttings taken during last years harvest. They grow like any eggplant except that Lulo does not like hot weather. Seed grown plants take more than one year to get to blooming size for me (zone 7). It sounds harmful but I have no problems just digging them up in the fall and planting them in pots that I shelter in my greenhouse. I trim off some of the leaves and any branches without fruit and they never show a sign of distress.

Taxonomists can argue over who belongs to which species and whether Lulo belongs somewhere other than Solanum quitoense. They look alike, and my photo may not show the difference but in my plants, the Lulo has more purple on the leaves and then leaves tend to get bigger. Cocona handles hot weather just fine and can be planted out in full sunshine. Lulo has to be in more shade and sulks when the days get over 85 degrees.

I usually wait until the tiny hairs on the fruit brush off easily to consider them ripe, but I believe they are tasty even before then. Coconas are very sour but take on tropical fruit tones when cooked with sugar and a touch of lemon juice. Lulos taste more like tangerine to me and usually gets mixed with orange juice as a breakfast drink. I used to also grow standard Narajilla but once I got ahold of true Lulo seed I didn't see the point. If I run out of room in the greenhouse then I simply cut the branches off with fruit and lay them on a table out of the way (branches and leaves are covered with spines), the fruit eventually ripen and don't taste much different than those allowed to ripen on the plant.

Cocona on the left, Lulo on the right


Cocona fruit


Lulo fruit


Congrats! I lost my only cocona to a combination of spider mites and phytotoxicity after it flowered, so it's great to see someone who succeeded  :)
Já, ég er að rækta suðrænar plöntur á Íslandi. Nei, ég er ekki klikkuð. Jæja, kannski...

fruitlovers

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Re: Cocona and Lulo Harvest 2013
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2013, 04:01:27 PM »
I just started a bunch of naranjilla from cuttings which are doing fine. Not sure what difference you are making out between lulo and naranjilla? These are common names and usually used interchangeably.
Oscar

TriangleJohn

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Re: Cocona and Lulo Harvest 2013
« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2013, 06:33:54 PM »
Hi Oscar - back when I grew some normal Naranjilla the fruit were more like the Cocona fruit in size. My Naranjilla fruit never had much flavor. This was maybe 14 years ago and around here they were marketed as an ornamental plant 'Bed of Nails' so I'm not sure if they were the same as the Naranjilla that they make juice from in South America. Around that same time period they came out with a spine-free version. I forget its name but it was a funny play on Bed of Nails.

Some friends from college moved back to Colombia after getting their degrees. I have gone to visit them and they continue to have business in the states. On my last visit (2009) there was this guy selling Lulo fruits on the street and I would stop and buy some whenever I had the chance. These friends knew about my crazy plant collection and they presented me with seeds from that guy's farm on their next visit here. I didn't ask them to smuggle them. I didn't ask if they understood the laws about seeds and plants, but I didn't throw them away either. What I need to do is go back to Medellin and make a fuss over all the other local fruits so that maybe they'll import some more seeds for me on their next visit. I don't know how they did it, my bags get searched multiple times from the moment I step into the airport to just before I get on the plane.

By the way - I now have tons of baby Grumichamas and Rain Forest Plums. I think every seed sprouted!! Thanks

fruitlovers

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Re: Cocona and Lulo Harvest 2013
« Reply #5 on: November 29, 2013, 09:16:02 PM »
I think naranjilla has a lot of variation from incredibly spiny to spine free, and everything in between. But there are also look alike species and maybe even subspecies. I don't anyone has sorted it all out yet.
Oscar

nullzero

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Re: Cocona and Lulo Harvest 2013
« Reply #6 on: November 29, 2013, 11:49:44 PM »
John,

Nice pictures, the lulo looks very tasty. Have you tried crossing the two together?
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

TriangleJohn

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Re: Cocona and Lulo Harvest 2013
« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2013, 08:39:46 AM »
I've read that people deliberately cross the two to get what they think is a superior juice. My plants are kept in different parts of the garden (Lulo in the shade), but it is only one acre big so they may have crossed. They are so easy to grow from cuttings that it has been years since I've sown seeds. I am planning on sowing the Cocona seeds just to see if I can get any variations. They do very well for me in the garden and most years the fruit is ripening just about time for first frost so I don't have to give up greenhouse space for them (being spiny they are hard to work around). I generally cover the entire plants with plastic sheeting the first few frosts to give the fruit time to ripen and then chop the plants down, harvest the fruit and take cuttings which get potted and overwintered indoors.

About bugs - when I have grown them near eggplants they get overwhelmed with flea beetles and some sort of small caterpillar. All of that makes the leaves ratty but the plant survives and eventually looks good and healthy by fall when fruiting happens. I'm not organic, I do spray but I'm too lazy (busy) to stick to a strict regime. The pests don't seem to be bad every year so I don't do much to control them. I keep the greenhouse pretty cool which slows down insect pests.

Anyone living closer to the equator should get fruiting all year long like down in the tropics. As far north as I am, they tend to only bloom after Summer equinox when the days get closer to 12 hours long. I'll share seeds if anyone wants some - it will be after the holidays when I have more room in the kitchen (I'm still eating all the normal fall fruits and veggies from the garden).