What tropcal fruit tree to plant in mostly shade?

[Cookie Monster]

Sheehan, how come they are grafting the garcinia intermedia? They only take about 3 years to begin production. Do they have a cultivar that's actually sweet?

[murahilin]

murahilin, how come they are grafting the garcinia intermedia? They only take about 3 years to begin production. Do they have a cultivar that's actually sweet?

Oops. I know Patrick's is grafted and thinking back on it, Excaliburs may not be grafted. I remember it being grafted but the last time I saw the trees was about 3 years ago. I am probably wrong.

The cultivar Patrick has was bought from PR so it may be a superior selection.

[HMHausman]

Yeah, I was unaware that anyone was grafting g. intermedia.  I would be interested to know if anyone has any seedling selections that represent any imporvement over the fruits that are readily available.  All the ones I have seen have been virtually identical with some variance on size only.  Flesh to seed ratio has been poor in all that I have encountered. The flavor is decent, but too tart for my taste.

Harry

[Cookie Monster]

yep - same problem with mine.

Yeah, I was unaware that anyone was grafting g. intermedia.  I would be interested to know if anyone has any seedling selections that represent any imporvement over the fruits that are readily available.  All the ones I have seen have been virtually identical with some variance on size only.  Flesh to seed ratio has been poor in all that I have encountered. The flavor is decent, but too tart for my taste.

Harry

[Guanabanus]

Actually, I have seen Jaboticaba do just fine close to the north side of a building, doing multiple heavy crops every year--- as long as nothing is over them to interfere with too much indirect light from the sky.

You may have had a soil problem, or not enough variation in soil moisture to stimulate bloom.

I have a Myrtle-Apricot, a.k.a. "Pitomba-da-Bahia," Eugenia luschnanthiana, very close to the north side of my house which fruited OK when it was short, but now fruits much more now that it is taller than the house, up in full sun.

[natsgarden123]

I had some pineapple suckers that fell off ..I was going to throw them out but I put them in the shady bed ( north side , partially covered by an overhang)-and now, one month later, they have all sprouted pineapples..go figure

[happyisland]

Time to resurrect this thread a bit. I've still got a couple spaces I could use a small shade-fruiting plant/tree for... I've got a garcinia intermedia I just planted that is doing well, so I was thinking about a garcinia humilis. Anyone know where to get a decent-sized one?

Also, I was considering a naranjilla, but Morton warns "The naranjilla cannot tolerate temperatures over 85º F (29.4º C). It is not adapted to full sun but favors semi-shade." Can anyone back that up? It is almost ALWAYS over 85 here in Aruba!

[fruitlovers]

Time to resurrect this thread a bit. I've still got a couple spaces I could use a small shade-fruiting plant/tree for... I've got a garcinia intermedia I just planted that is doing well, so I was thinking about a garcinia humilis. Anyone know where to get a decent-sized one?

Also, I was considering a naranjilla, but Morton warns "The naranjilla cannot tolerate temperatures over 85º F (29.4º C). It is not adapted to full sun but favors semi-shade." Can anyone back that up? It is almost ALWAYS over 85 here in Aruba!

Yes the achachairu will fruit fine in partial shade. I think naranjilla is worth a try. We grow it here. It's true that it's a sub tropical, from highands of S. America, but can be grown in the tropics (lowlands) in partial shade. I've gotten very good crops of it. Anyway it's very easy to start from seed and experiment with. Plant it in a few different spots and see what works best. It like a LOT of water in tropical places. The leaves are very large so wilt easily.

[CoPlantNut]

Naranjilla seems more tolerant of high temperatures here in Colorado; I had 2 outside last summer in 20% humidity and our somewhat frequent 50-70-MPH wind gusts with 3 months of temperatures over 85, in full sun until about 3pm, and they still flowered and set fruit.  Amazingly, the leaves weren't shredded by our wind either.

They seem to sulk (and drop leaves and fruit) whenever conditions change dramatically, but they seem more adaptable than they have been given credit for.   Here you can see my plants after being exposed to Colorado sun, humidity and wind for a week (on the left) and 3 weeks (on the right), growing new leaves to replace those that developed in 80% humidity in my basement:



There's even a flower spike forming on the mostly-leafless one on the right.  They are only in my garage because we had snow yesterday, but just in the past week they've been subjected to temps ranging from 35 to 85 degrees, and 65 MPH winds.

   Kevin

[happyisland]

Yes the achachairu will fruit fine in partial shade. I think naranjilla is worth a try. We grow it here. It's true that it's a sub tropical, from highands of S. America, but can be grown in the tropics (lowlands) in partial shade. I've gotten very good crops of it. Anyway it's very easy to start from seed and experiment with. Plant it in a few different spots and see what works best. It like a LOT of water in tropical places. The leaves are very large so wilt easily.

Nice - I actually need an ornamental for a certain landscaping area, but the fruiting is a must too. I'll definitely try naranjilla, and report back my findings. Any idea where I can get seeds? Is there a good online resource you know of for that kind of thing?

[happyisland]

Naranjilla seems more tolerant of high temperatures here in Colorado; I had 2 outside last summer in 20% humidity and our somewhat frequent 50-70-MPH wind gusts with 3 months of temperatures over 85, in full sun until about 3pm, and they still flowered and set fruit.  Amazingly, the leaves weren't shredded by our wind either.

They seem to sulk (and drop leaves and fruit) whenever conditions change dramatically, but they seem more adaptable than they have been given credit for.   Here you can see my plants after being exposed to Colorado sun, humidity and wind for a week (on the left) and 3 weeks (on the right), growing new leaves to replace those that developed in 80% humidity in my basement:



There's even a flower spike forming on the mostly-leafless one on the right.  They are only in my garage because we had snow yesterday, but just in the past week they've been subjected to temps ranging from 35 to 85 degrees, and 65 MPH winds.

   Kevin

Great information, thanks! And sheesh, if a naranjilla can survive the hellish conditions where you are (I thought it was windy here in Aruba!) then they can surely handle a little Aruban warmth...

[CoPlantNut]

Great information, thanks! And sheesh, if a naranjilla can survive the hellish conditions where you are (I thought it was windy here in Aruba!) then they can surely handle a little Aruban warmth...

It's always possible that Colorado simply lacks whichever nematodes or fungi that attack naranjilla when it is stressed, but I've been surprised at how resilient my plants have been given what I have read elsewhere.  They certainly didn't look too badly stressed even when temps were above 95^oF for weeks at a time, and still pushed out more blooms.

   Kevin

[nullzero]

Yes the achachairu will fruit fine in partial shade. I think naranjilla is worth a try. We grow it here. It's true that it's a sub tropical, from highands of S. America, but can be grown in the tropics (lowlands) in partial shade. I've gotten very good crops of it. Anyway it's very easy to start from seed and experiment with. Plant it in a few different spots and see what works best. It like a LOT of water in tropical places. The leaves are very large so wilt easily.

Nice - I actually need an ornamental for a certain landscaping area, but the fruiting is a must too. I'll definitely try naranjilla, and report back my findings. Any idea where I can get seeds? Is there a good online resource you know of for that kind of thing?

There is multiple sources of seeds for naranjilla. Ebay and Oscar has it at fruitlovers as well.

[happyisland]

There is multiple sources of seeds for naranjilla. Ebay and Oscar has it at fruitlovers as well.

Just ordered seeds for naranjillo, Randia formosa, and mysore raspberry from fruitlovers. Psyched! Hopefully these will max out my fruit-growing potential in the shadier corners of my yard...

[happyisland]

Would a somewhat shady corner be good for sugar apple or grumichama? Just trying to come up with some more options.

[Guanabanus]

Will survive but not fruit.

[happyisland]

What about garcinia prainiana or garcinia madruno?