Barbados Cherry Tree

[Madridje]

I have a Barbados Cherry Tree bought as a 3 gallon and have had it for 1 year now.

It flowered this year and I thought it would produce fruit, but it didn’t. It’s flowering again this month,, but not expecting it to fruit.

Does this tree require a pollinator? Any tips or advice?

[kapps]

It doesn’t need a pollinator but they do seem to flower for a year before actually setting fruit.

[roblack]

Sounds like your tree is still a bit young. Hopefully soon!

Ours is 12 feet or more, in ground for 7 years probably now. Doesn't set much fruit still. Any ideas of what might help?

[sc4001992]

Jeremy, you should have bought a larger tree, these do seem to take a while. The tree should be larger, maybe 6ft tall before it starts to fruit. But I just saw one person's rooted cutting this week (should have taken a photo) which was only 14" tall and it had 2 nice ripe red fruits. I didn't know you could root these cuttings, but you can. He told me he tried to root 6-10 cuttings and only 1 took.

When I heard about this super food (one of the highest vitamin C fruits, 50-100x more than orange) I went searching for some trees. I did find small and large trees at the local nursery. I noticed only these taller/older trees had a few ripe fruits so I got three 7 ft trees at Mimosa nursery in Anaheim.

My trees had 2-3 ripe fruits, here's some photos below, after I ate them, it had a few more ripe fruits again this year, so it is a fruiting tree (no pollinators needed). My friend who has a larger old tree (10-15yrs old) has ripe fruits now. Seems these trees have small handful of fruits multiple times a year like a lemon or lime tree.

I will try to root some cuttings I got from my friend's larger tree after seeing this other guy's (Ron) successful cutting (1/2" diameter).


 

[sc4001992]

[Rob From Sydney]

I have read that although Bardados Cherry are self fertile, they benefit from a pollination partner.
Also, apparently Barbados cherry are one of those species that like to flower for a year or few before actually fruiting...

[Flgarden]

I have a 1 gal rooted cutting that i neglected. No fertilizer. It was in a 1 inch of standing water and fruiting none stop being just a 2 ft tall. As soon as i moved it into a less water spot, it stopped fruiting. It needs lots of water to set fruits.

[Coconut Cream]

I had a hedge of these for 2+ years in the ground. They were growing quite well but in all that time, I only ever had one flower and zero fruit. The spot had morning sun until about 2pm and then shade the rest of the day. I concluded that I was not providing enough sun for them to fruit because the trees were otherwise growing really well.

Over all that time, a neighbor grew a tree from one of my cuttings which fruited in a full sun spot, and I got to taste the fruit. They were fully ripe and tasted like a tomato to me. Just like the other Barbados "cherries" that I had tried at a couple of nurseries in the area. That was the final straw and I took the trees out.

They are attractive ornamentals (even without flowers) that grow well but until I taste a delicious one that remotely resembles a cherry, I've moved on.

[Finca La Isla]

They’re not going to be as good as a good cherry but ours are sweet and everybody eats them. I sell layers of acerola in my nursery easily when the people get to try the fruit.
They really need to be in good sun.  In partial sun they will grow fine but not fruit very well if at all.
Peter

[Madridje]

Thank you all for your feedback and support.

The suggestion about sunlight it spot on. Once I put my plant in full sunlight, it spontaneously flowered. First shed all of its leaves then put out a new flush of leaves, followed by flowering.

@Kaz
Yours has a nicer set of blooms than mine did. Is yours of a specific variety? Bought mine at Champa at the time.

Below you’ll see the picture of my Barbados tree in a 15 gallon.

[kapps]

Mine was fruiting in a 3 gal pot from the nursery when I bought it but took another year in the ground before it flowered in my yard. The comment about water seems right. It sits almost dormant in the spring dry season and then explodes with growth and flowers as soon as it starts raining.

I bought another small one on Etsy and it took a few years for it to get to size and it fruited for the first time this year.

[sc4001992]

Your tree looks good, I think it just needs a little more time. When I bought my 3 trees, it only say Barbados Cherry tree on the tag. But my friend has the large bushy tree (much older than mine) and his flowers and fruits look and tastes about the same.

[Stinkfist]

I have a 15 year old bonsai tree, it has fruited several times since I got it a year ago. It flowers almost constantly for me but bears very few fruits. The fruit is miniature too lol.

It’s a cool tree

[sc4001992]

That looks nice your bonsai tree.