Planting out Cambucá in full sun? Advice please . . .

[Epicatt2]

Gentle Tropical Fruit Lovers,

How large / old / tall does Plinia edulis, i..e. cambucá, need to be before it is safe
to plant it out into a full-sun situation here in zone 9b?

Mine had slowed down in a 3 gal pot so I moved it up into a 5 gal pot and doing
that seems to have jump-started it into a big flush of new leaves.

It's about two feet tall now and I keep a saucer under its pot as a water reservoir
to allow it to drink freely.  It tends to use up the water in its saucer in one day.

Any advice or suggestions welcomed.

Paul M.
==

[Epicatt2]

Oh, I forgot to add that my cambucá is about 4 years old.

Paul M.
==

[skhan]

I had a freshly up potted 7g in full sun. Seemed to be pretty happy before I sold it.

[Epicatt2]

So, is cambucá one of those plants that when it's small grows very slowly
and then at some point suddenly takes off and grows lots faster?

Is it self-fertile or do you need more than one plant to get a good fruit set?

Paul M.
==

[skhan]

So, is cambucá one of those plants that when it's small grows very slowly
and then at some point suddenly takes off and grows lots faster?

Is it self-fertile or do you need more than one plant to get a good fruit set?

Paul M.
==

For me they've been pretty vigorous compared to other plinias, I can go from seed to a full 1g size in about a year.
As for the self compatibility I haven't really known plinias to have an issue with it but I mostly know mangos and annonas so I maybe be mistaken.

[Epicatt2]

For me they've been pretty vigorous compared to other plinias, I can go from seed to a full 1g size in about a year.
As for the self compatibility I haven't really known plinias to have an issue with it but I mostly know mangos and annonas so I maybe be mistaken.

Thanks for that info about speed of growth, Skhan.

It's helpful to know.

Paul M.
==

[Mike T]

I have 6 of them between 6 and 12 years old and the tallest is around 5m. At 6 years old they are between 1m and 2m high and can be planted out when around 40cm. Full sun is best but they need a shelter until they sun harden. They are self compatible.

[Julian R]

I planted mine out recently in Jan after it's taproot started poking out of it's pot, I think it was either a 3 or 5 gallon?  It seems to be a pretty tough tree for our area so far.

Just measured it, it's about 20 inches tall now.

[Epicatt2]

Thanks for the comments, Julian and Mike.

My only other concern once planted out is that my yard is essentially Florida sand and
drains very well.  Even after three or four days of heavy rains I've never seen more
than 4 inches of water in my yard. And once the rain ends all that standing water
is gone, soaking right into the ground within ten minutes.

So will this water situation be a problem for a camubcá or will it require some regular
irrigation in the absence of regular rainstorms?  I have read that cambucá require a
lot of water.

Paul M.
==

[Julian R]

I don't have irrigation on my trees out back so I've been relying on the rain and mulch/ground cover to keep things moist for me.  All has been good without hand watering at all so far, but I did give it some h2o yesterday since it has been mega hot with no rain in sight.