grown Honey Mezquite, Prosopis Glandulosa?

[Giannhs]

Has anybody grown Honey Mezquite, (Prosopis Glandulosa)? I wish to know, first of all, if one tree alone can bear fruit. How old should the tree be to start bearing fruit? Does it need plenty of water (on well drained soil) when it is very young (one year old seedling)? Or is it dangerous to water it?
Thank you

[Pokeweed]

In most of the Southwestern U.S., It is an invasive. I have thousands in my property. The cattle eat the seed pods and seeds in fertilizer comes out the other end. The pods do have a carmel/sweet taste, but it is famine food in my opinion.
If you really want to start one scarified seed, root or soft wood cuttings will probably all work. If you get rain, once it goes in the ground you will not need to water it again. D

[Giannhs]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I asked because i have two Honey Mezquite plants grown from seeds bought from the USA. You may call it famine food, however i have found Mezquite powder in a health food shop here in Greece, packed in a little bag next to other "superfoods" (e.g. baobab powder, siberian ginseng powder, ling zhi / reishi mushroom powder and so on), so it is treated as a superfood here! I bought and ate that powder, it is reminiscent of carob, but quite better than carob, easily dissolved in water and i take directly powder into mouth, easily digested and wholesome. I suspect you people in America do not fully realize what treasures your nature has for you.
Anyway, one of the two Mezquite that i have, it has passed two winters and now is growing new leaves with the new springtime. The second one, quite smaller, is not (yet?) growing new leaves, and the main stem looks dry except for the lower part which is still green. So i wonder if it needs water, and i have watered it well, now waiting to see if it revives. I asked whether one tree is self fertile, in that case the second one can dry out and some other little tree can take its place. And because the bigger one has not shown any flowers (now growing leaves after second winter), i asked how old it should be to grow flowers. If i have no answers to these, i shall simply wait to see.

[Pokeweed]

I don't know if they are self fertile. We get about 30" of rain a year, but our soil percolates very quickly, so roots do not stay wet.  Setting pods has not been an issue. Here they get a worm in the pods when they fall to the ground. If there are holes in the pods don't eat from them.
We have a lot of native or naturalized plants to forage from. Most of the others are easier to get food from. It's a lot of work to get a useable amount of food from mesquite beans. It's not like an inga with big pods and lots of edible material.
 I have a bulldozer primarily to help control mesquite. I hope it doesn't become invasive in your area. Regards, D

[Giannhs]

I m interested about Inga beans too, if a tree is self fertile and does not grow to big, so it can be contained in a backyard.

[Pokeweed]

You might be able to grow ingas. I'm trying fuelli. It's said to be more cold hardy than edulis.
Ingas can become a big tree pretty quickly I have heard, but you can prune to size. D

[Giannhs]

Thank you for all this information. I understand that when you have https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inga_feuilleei http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Inga+feuilleei then Honey Mezquite appears to be famine food to you. Of all i have read about the Fabaceae, they all seem to be self fertile, but some of them, like Geoffrea decorticans, produce much better when cross pollinated.
Also it is said that Inga is resistant to fire, and even Mezquite is much more resistant to fire than coastal pine which is used by stupid people in Greece to  plant everywhere. That coastal pine catches fire as easily as gasoline, and in the year 2018 there was that famous fire near Athens where 102 people lost their lives in the fire, not to mention those who lost their properties. And you know what? If they try to reforest the burnt area, they shall plant coastal pine again, which takes 30 years to grow big and then 30 seconds to be burnt down. Frankly i wish the Honey Mezquite, which you hate, could become invasive in Greece, and it would be 1000 times better than planting the coastal pine.
Pardon me talking too much, as to Inga feuileei the sources i found do not mention hardiness, but from your experience you probably know better. Also here http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Inga+feuilleei the Inga f. is given edibility rate 3 out of 5, same as http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Prosopis+glandulosa ! (for the latter speaks with so much enthusiasm).
Is the Inga f. seed edible too? I would like to have some Inga trees, but it is hard, nurseries in America do not send plants to Europe, and Ebay business is largely locked down, now you told me i went to http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/inga-feuillei-ice-cream-bean-seeds but even that is not now available. Maybe i have more luck with it in the future. Meanwhile, what is your experience, are the Inga f. seeds edible too?

[Pokeweed]

I don't think the seeds are edible. I only have some small feuelli seedlings. No producing trees. I'm in 9a, so you would have an easier time with them than I will. I want to try Geoffria decorations as well, but have not bought any yet. I think they would be cold hardy for either of us.
You are exactly right about pines and fire. We have an area of Texas that has an isolated pine ecosystem N.W. of me that caught fine a decade or so ago. Terrible fire. Very damaging. They are prettier than mesquite though. 

[Giannhs]

Since you have rich experience of arid land plants, do you know about Cyrtocarpa edulis? Is it necessary or helpful to scarify the seeds before sowing?

[nullzero]

Cyrtocarpa edulis germinated for me with just a 24hr soaking in diluted kelp water. I placed in ziplock bag in slightly moist spaghrum moss next to computer low 80s F. After about a week germinate 1 out of 4 I believe. I don't think seeds have a good viable %.

[Pokeweed]

That is really interesting. I had never heard of cyrtocarpas before. It looks like something I'd like to grow, but I couldn't find any cold hardiness info. Are you growing any cacti that produce fruit? Optunias are very useful for edible pads and fruit. It also helps lower blood sugar. D

[Giannhs]

That is really interesting. I had never heard of cyrtocarpas before. It looks like something I'd like to grow, but I couldn't find any cold hardiness info. Are you growing any cacti that produce fruit? Optunias are very useful for edible pads and fruit. It also helps lower blood sugar. D

What i know is here https://www.rarepalmseeds.com/cyrtocarpa-edulis and somebody in this forum told me how he germinated them, putting for 24 hours in water with seaweed concentrate and then in a bag with moist moss. As to cacti, i have one opuntia bought from Spaine (Tunera picona), did not yet grow to fruit, but near my neighborhood (northern Greece here) a type of opuntia grows wild on the rocks, hence my profile icon, i collect bags of the fruit by using gloves of course, and then juice them, with a centrifugal juicer (don't use masticating juicer for such hard seeds). Only the 100% ripe of this type are really sweet and delicious, slightly less ripe are between sweet and lightly sour, but the juice is very pleasant and if left for a week it becomes top quality wine. I don't remember the name of that opuntia, it is different to the one grown (mostly wild) in southern Greece, which is rather orange or pinkish color fruit, bigger, and always sweet. Both kinds are only for juicing, it would be tedious to remove the skin and then the seeds are too hard to chew. I want to germinate Stenocereus queretaroensis, but i know i m not lucky with seeds, i grow then outside anyway, no room indoors for them.
Now if anyone knows of Cyrtocarpa, if it is better to scarify the seeds for germinating, please let me know, thank you.

[Giannhs]

Cyrtocarpa edulis germinated for me with just a 24hr soaking in diluted kelp water. I placed in ziplock bag in slightly moist spaghrum moss next to computer low 80s F. After about a week germinate 1 out of 4 I believe. I don't think seeds have a good viable %.

May i ask, why is it necessary to put them near the computer or the fridge? Well, for two cups of moss or something i do have some space on top of the computer central processor box. And still i suspect they may need kind of scarification.
By the way, if no Cyrtocarpa germinates for me and in case you might send me Cyrtocarpa seedlings, please let me know.

[nullzero]

I try to recall, I believe I also shaved some of the hard seed coat with sandpaper. The computer or ontop of fridge is for low constant heat source.

Stenocereus queretaroensis is definately worth growing for fruit.

[Giannhs]

I try to recall, I believe I also shaved some of the hard seed coat with sandpaper. The computer or ontop of fridge is for low constant heat source.
Stenocereus queretaroensis is definately worth growing for fruit.

Now i know better than before. Your seedling in that big pot is so beautiful! And well cared for. I think they are volcanic stones that cover the soil.