Inga species

[Timbogrow]

Is anyone growing and fruiting any of the ice cream bean trees here in zone 10a, Naples Fl? I went kind of crazy and ordered lots of tropical fruit tree seeds and plants that say will grow in my zone.  I currently have some small 6 month old inga spectabilis and ordered the other varieties as well.

[pineislander]

I have many Inga trees, over 100 of various sizes just north of you on Pine Island, some are nearing 4 years old and flowering but haven't seen fruit set yet. It is a short/fat fruited variety which has proven itself & my seeds came from a tree growing here. I'm mainly using them as nitrogen fixers but am letting  some go as they wish to get fruiting.
I currently have 100 in the nursery for planting out this summer.
It looks just like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEbomwVzKKs

[Timbogrow]

Thank you so much for the video link! Was real promising to see 1 with fruit. Wow, you got a few holes to dig I'd say. I can barely wait to try one. A nitrogen fixer with fruit has got to be a good thing for the garden. Just got confirmation of the other varieties of inga seeds shipped out today, now hurry up and wait for fruit.

[pineislander]

I tried direct seeding many of them and did fairly well about 70% success. This year seed was available in heavy drought so I have 100 in pots. I usually put in 2-3 seeds per position/pot and cut out the weakest. They can be polyembryonic and give multiple sprouts from a seed. I'm planting between main fruit trees or between rows of fruit trees. The fruit isn't that great especially when you try to eat 10 pounds of it to clean the seeds!

[canito 17]

Inga sp are very common in Puerto Rico. Depending on the variety the pulp clings or not to the seeds.

[3rdgrey]

Im in 9b, had one for 2yrs. We had a freeze this year and it didnt fair well. Was recovering and then about two weeks ago, all of it leaves dried up, turned brown and the plant appeared dead. I dont know why. I removed it. Might get another sometime. They are nice looking trees. This was an ice cream bean.

[fruitlovers]

Im in 9b, had one for 2yrs. We had a freeze this year and it didnt fair well. Was recovering and then about two weeks ago, all of it leaves dried up, turned brown and the plant appeared dead. I dont know why. I removed it. Might get another sometime. They are nice looking trees. This was an ice cream bean.

Not all inga species are the same in cold tolerance. Try to get ones from southern Brazil or Argentina. They are more tolerant of cold weather than species from tropical regions.

[3rdgrey]

Thanks for the info. I wasnt aware of geographic variances. How would i know from which region the plant's ancestory originated? Do they have different leaf structure, overall shape? I had one when i lived in northern boundaries of fl zone 10a. The occasional low temps did not bother it. However i dont recall having temps in the 20's for any period.

[Timbogrow]

Weird fruit explorer did some videos on the fruits and mentions the clingy pulp on 1 variety. The wood chipper is more excited to chip anything other than pepper hedge or acacia. I went ahead and ordered the seed for the other varieties I could get ahold of.
https://youtu.be/mL-Qsr_mPrA
Hes got a plethora of cool videos.

[Timbogrow]

Also from my little experience with these plants they are quite strong. I had my 1st few dug up a numerous times by rodents and finally took them out of the ground and rejuvenate them in a pot, luckily I kept the strongest 1 in a pot and is now about 5' tall and sending braches out all over. There is 1 in ground doing real well but is not even half the size of the potted plant. The Caterpillars and Sri Lankan weevil love to eat the leaf edges and then makes them curl.  Super strong plants and hard to kill in my opinion. I have not lost 1 yet and they did very well through the drought for me, not sure what's worse than dry hot sand in the sun on a root system.

[fruitlovers]

Thanks for the info. I wasnt aware of geographic variances. How would i know from which region the plant's ancestory originated? Do they have different leaf structure, overall shape? I had one when i lived in northern boundaries of fl zone 10a. The occasional low temps did not bother it. However i dont recall having temps in the 20's for any period.

There are between 250 and 300 species of ingas, depending on what author you consult, and they grow in very diverse climates throughout south america. If you look at a book like The Genus Inga, by T.D. Pennington it will tell you where each species originates. It also has drawings of leaves and flowers of many of the species. Yes many have unique leaf structure.

[agroventuresperu]

Thanks for the info. I wasnt aware of geographic variances. How would i know from which region the plant's ancestory originated? Do they have different leaf structure, overall shape? I had one when i lived in northern boundaries of fl zone 10a. The occasional low temps did not bother it. However i dont recall having temps in the 20's for any period.

There are between 250 and 300 species of ingas, depending on what author you consult, and they grow in very diverse climates throughout south america. If you look at a book like The Genus Inga, by T.D. Pennington it will tell you where each species originates. It also has drawings of leaves and flowers of many of the species. Yes many have unique leaf structure.

I'm amazed that there's a book called The Genus Inga.

Here in the high jungle of Peru they're very common. People commonly use them as a support species for shade-grown coffee. Some of the ones we planted in our food forest are doing exceptionally well. They're almost 2 years old from seed, and some are approaching three meters in height already. They are loaded with blooms right now for the first time, so it is possible to get fruit in less than 3 years from seed.

[fruitlovers]

Thanks for the info. I wasnt aware of geographic variances. How would i know from which region the plant's ancestory originated? Do they have different leaf structure, overall shape? I had one when i lived in northern boundaries of fl zone 10a. The occasional low temps did not bother it. However i dont recall having temps in the 20's for any period.

There are between 250 and 300 species of ingas, depending on what author you consult, and they grow in very diverse climates throughout south america. If you look at a book like The Genus Inga, by T.D. Pennington it will tell you where each species originates. It also has drawings of leaves and flowers of many of the species. Yes many have unique leaf structure.

I'm amazed that there's a book called The Genus Inga.

Here in the high jungle of Peru they're very common. People commonly use them as a support species for shade-grown coffee. Some of the ones we planted in our food forest are doing exceptionally well. They're almost 2 years old from seed, and some are approaching three meters in height already. They are loaded with blooms right now for the first time, so it is possible to get fruit in less than 3 years from seed.

The book The Genus Inga, is the definitive taxonomical study of ingas. So it's a scientific text, but tons of good layman information also. The author, T.D. Pennington also wrote an accompanying book called The Genus Inga, Utlilization. That one is a bit more readable for the layman, and has color photos. I planted Inga edulis seeds that fruited heavily after only 2 years. Some of the other species are slower, and started fruiting after 3 years. You might like to know that there is an organization called the Inga Foundation that encourages planting of ingas to revitalize eroded soils. They have several videos on youtube.

[Timbogrow]

Thank you everyone for the recomendation!  I will have to check that out soon. I think the seeds might be coming from you fruitlovers. Seeds were very fresh and have a bunch of plants, thank you. So I assume being in zone 10a would make them take a couple more years to mature since we get the cooler winter weather, like pine islander.  Which I've been thinking of building a hoop house for the winter I could house some of the potted plants to keep them growing more rapidly. I attached a couple pictures of the new and growing food forest here to show you what it's like here.

[3rdgrey]

Im going to buy another. Probably larger then the one I had. I won't have acces to said publication, so it will be sold as a generic "Ice cream bean tree". Correct me if im wrong but are they not fond of water? I dont want to overwater the plant but  it will be placed in a low area subject to standing water at times.

[Timbogrow]

Might get root rot if under water. Maybe you can see how high the area fills and plant it on a mound in the high spot so it's not under the water at least. I wouldn't know enough about it though.

[Timbogrow]

Doesn't hurt to make a cage with plastic poultry fence and zip ties stapled to a stake in the ground to protect from rodents. If I plant something without them they get chewed up all around the trunk so I do it on every tree I plant.

[3rdgrey]

Yeah I could mound plant it. As far as things eating on it goes, never had a problem in the past. Rabits do eat on alot of my regular plants- love hibiscus! Have spray to them all with critter away sprays. Dear eat on citrus from time to time. Nothing touches the mango plants however.

[fruitlovers]

Im going to buy another. Probably larger then the one I had. I won't have acces to said publication, so it will be sold as a generic "Ice cream bean tree". Correct me if im wrong but are they not fond of water? I dont want to overwater the plant but  it will be placed in a low area subject to standing water at times.

They are growing at my place in what is a tropical rainforest. Average yearly rainfall is 150 inches. So they don't mind a lot of water at all. Not sure if they can take standing water, or for how long? The soil does not puddle here because it is mostly lava rock.

[fruitlovers]

Yeah I could mound plant it. As far as things eating on it goes, never had a problem in the past. Rabits do eat on alot of my regular plants- love hibiscus! Have spray to them all with critter away sprays. Dear eat on citrus from time to time. Nothing touches the mango plants however.

The only thing that bothers ingas here are rose beetles, but they usually outgrow the damage.

[Nyuu]

Is anyone growing and fruiting any of the ice cream bean trees here in zone 10a, Naples Fl? I went kind of crazy and ordered lots of tropical fruit tree seeds and plants that say will grow in my zone.  I currently have some small 6 month old inga spectabilis and ordered the other varieties as well.

Here a tree in 9b I sold to a customer

[Nyuu]

The only thing I noticed different from down south compared to one's growing up north is I can get fruits of the ones grown down south earlier

[Timbogrow]

That's a really nice looking tree Nyuu! If you don't mind me asking, what is the soil like there? I have almost pure sand here. I tested it and it's real close to a 7ph. My  well water is at 8 ph in the drip line. I'm  just not using it now with the rains starting. Did you ammendment the soil/sand with anything?

[3rdgrey]

Yes a nice tree indeed. Like i said the one I had for almost two years that died hardly ever grew in height. Dont know why. But I've experienced that with several others: a royal ponciana which is the same height as it was when i planted it in 2019;  same with a jacaranda. Strange.  What do you fertilize an Ice cream bean tree  with given it's nitrogen properties? Most of my citrus dont grow very much. Must be the overall poor soil. Everybody gets fertilized etc.

[pineislander]

The only thing that bothers ingas here are rose beetles, but they usually outgrow the damage.

Certain times here in SWFL the Sri lankan weevils are eating leaves but the trees keep growing.

[Timbogrow]

I hate those weevils! It's those awful ear leaf acacia trees, infested beyond belief! A part me me wants to think the weevil made the plant branch out, like a natural pruning.

[Mike T]

DTW nitrogen fixers usually love N applications. Is it just me or do others not appreciate Ingas very much? I have tried quite a few species and find it hard to get worked up about them.

[fruitlovers]

DTW nitrogen fixers usually love N applications. Is it just me or do others not appreciate Ingas very much? I have tried quite a few species and find it hard to get worked up about them.

You mean worked up about the quality of the pods, or the trees in general? Here there are some people that bash them as invasive, which i don't think is true, and one person recently claimed they are magnets to rose beetles, which i also don't think is true. I view them as incredible all around useful trees, the pods are just frosting on the cake.

[Mike T]

iI was meaning the quality of the fruit. The best I have had is I.edulis and the big pod (to 2m) form as it has abundant accessible flesh and attractive yellow still viable seeds mixed with the black. I have heard people make a fuss about how good the fruit are and they have been less appealing to me.

[Timbogrow]

Yes a nice tree indeed. Like i said the one I had for almost two years that died hardly ever grew in height. Dont know why. But I've experienced that with several others: a royal ponciana which is the same height as it was when i planted it in 2019;  same with a jacaranda. Strange.  What do you fertilize an Ice cream bean tree  with given it's nitrogen properties? Most of my citrus dont grow very much. Must be the overall poor soil. Everybody gets fertilized etc.

What's the soil like there when you dig a deep hole with post hole diggers?

[fruitlovers]

iI was meaning the quality of the fruit. The best I have had is I.edulis and the big pod (to 2m) form as it has abundant accessible flesh and attractive yellow still viable seeds mixed with the black. I have heard people make a fuss about how good the fruit are and they have been less appealing to me.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/qtS5HMjN/aaaaiegian.jpg[/imgwhe]

I. feuillei and I. spectabilis are better than I. edulis, in my opinion. I class this fruit as a kiddie fruit. I like that terminology better than "minor fruit". Although "minor" also suggests young people fruit?  But some adults really do go crazy over it. I remember the author of the book Fruit Hunters, Adam Gollner, when tasting I. feuillei for first time at my place telling me it was one of the best fruits he ever had!

[Mike T]

I am sure I have tried I. feuillei before over here so it might just be me

[Timbogrow]

I wish I could find a pod to try it but may just have to wait for these to fruit. It would be interesting to what the liquor tastes like also, just need a mechanical way to extract the juice. I was reading that the inga species are used to grow back parts of the Amazon rainforest where the cattle industry has cleared the land.

[3rdgrey]

The soil here is odd. It varies were you dig. Alot of it seems to be heavy in density. Maybe build up from the initial contruction of the house. But i realy don't  have any sandy areas even far out.

[Nyuu]

That's a really nice looking tree Nyuu! If you don't mind me asking, what is the soil like there? I have almost pure sand here. I tested it and it's real close to a 7ph. My  well water is at 8 ph in the drip line. I'm  just not using it now with the rains starting. Did you ammendment the soil/sand with anything?

lake placid and Sebring is mostly all sand as well the way he takes care of it I don't know though .

[Timbogrow]

They seem to like regular feeding of compost. After learning about Terra preta and ancient Amazonian tribes making the soil in places of the rainforest I figured It would be worth a try. Now all the wood I burn in the fire pit I turn into cinder and turn to bio char. I just pile it all up and mix the pile with horse manure and liquid fish fertilizer dumped on it.Seems everything I plant in ground loves to have some mixed in to the native soil. I didn't use it in the beginning so next time I do an inga in the ground I'll have to try adding some. Usually I add about 3 gallons bio char to the native soil.

[agroventuresperu]

Im going to buy another. Probably larger then the one I had. I won't have acces to said publication, so it will be sold as a generic "Ice cream bean tree". Correct me if im wrong but are they not fond of water? I dont want to overwater the plant but  it will be placed in a low area subject to standing water at times.

In my experience, here with the species we're growing, I don't think it's a problem. We have some growing very well in a part of our property next to a creek that floods occasionally. If they're constantly flooded it could be a problem, but some of ours might have their roots under water 5 different times throughout the year.

[agroventuresperu]

iI was meaning the quality of the fruit. The best I have had is I.edulis and the big pod (to 2m) form as it has abundant accessible flesh and attractive yellow still viable seeds mixed with the black. I have heard people make a fuss about how good the fruit are and they have been less appealing to me.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/qtS5HMjN/aaaaiegian.jpg[/imgwhe]

I. feuillei and I. spectabilis are better than I. edulis, in my opinion. I class this fruit as a kiddie fruit. I like that terminology better than "minor fruit". Although "minor" also suggests young people fruit?  But some adults really do go crazy over it. I remember the author of the book Fruit Hunters, Adam Gollner, when tasting I. feuillei for first time at my place telling me it was one of the best fruits he ever had!

I'm not sure, which species we have. I think we have I. spectabilis, which is known as Pacay. Those haven't started flowering yet. The other local species we have, has already been abundantly fruiting at two years old. A few specimens actually started fruiting before they were two years old from seed. The pods shown in my recent youtube video, are the local species, that I'm not sure what the scientific name is. They are choice! The pulp is thick and separates easily from the seeds and really does taste like vanilla ice cream. We actually froze them once and made a sorbet, but I like them more when they're fresh.

[pineislander]

Here in SW Florida mine seem to grow more vigorously in winter. The best ones were pruned to a single stem it forces some height gain.

[Timbogrow]

The spectabalis a year after germination. Photo is about 2 months old but I see what your saying about the pruning giving it some height pineislander. It's branches will be on the ground when it beefs up. Maybe I'll prune some of them to encourage the vertical branches to grow up.

[Tortuga]

Im growing I. feuillei variety. From my extensive research and given flavor profiles of similar species, feuillei seems like the real deal in taste and texture compared to edulis and other varieties that either contain only taste or texture but not both as the superior feuillei speciee