Pitangatuba hand-pollination

[Honest Abe]

Hi amigos and amigas…

My buddy and member Acoff88 gave me a small seedling pitangatuba in 2017. It began flowering in 2020. It hasn’t stopped flowering. It has not fruited once.

He told me to try hand pollination…

Has anyone experienced this issue in south Florida? Thanks

-Abe

[Jaboticaba45]

It has been discussed before that pitangatuba will produce better with another plant, or you can wait a while until fruits by itself. It's probably all genetics.

[brian]

Yes I ended up planting two into one pot.  With a few around mine produce fruit even at a very small size

[K-Rimes]

I got a fruit here and there with one plant, and a whole lot more with two. I hand pollinate simply by poking the flowers each day and then poking others. The first day it seems they don't shed pollen but 2nd day they are powdery with it. Tubas are kind of temperamental for setting, it seems. They want water, but not too much, they want warmth, but not overly hot.

I've had a good 20 flowers so far in 22 and zero sets, even with hand pollination and 2 plants.

[fourseasonsflorida]

I have one in Central Florida that I got as a seedling back in 2017 as well.  I just moved it from a 7g to a 15g.  I planted it in the ground a couple years ago, but it did poorly there (likely because of the large oaks around it crowding the roots) so I dug it back out and it took about a year to recover but is now doing well potted.  It has flowered before but only set one or two fruit from what I remember.  Now it is flowering more than ever.  I only have the one plant and based on what I've heard and experienced, it seems it would do better with cross-pollination. 

I will have to try the hand pollination.  If some fruit set this time, I will update this post with a pic.  I am fortunate in general that my neighbor two doors down has bees.

[Midwestfruitjungle]

I get flowers on my pitangatuba all summer long, and have a few "crops" of 2 to 3 fruit per harvest. I used to hand pollinate, but it didn't seem to do much, and it seems like it steadily increased the amount of fruit as it gets older. I have heard that pitangatuba does a lot better with cross pollination, and some plants don't fruit without it. Luckily mine does, but it puts out at least a hundred or more flowers so it is not a high percentage at all.

I would give hand pollinating a shot. It seems like they are best pollinated in the mid morning a few hours after they open. I have noticed lot of pollen at that stage.

[Honest Abe]

Thank you all for responses

Seems that no body experiences easy fruit set with them.

[brian]

Just get two, they flower at under a foot tall.  Way easier than hand pollinating!

[Nick C]

I have a plant that has flowered consistently for two years and has only made 1 single fruit even with hand pollination. Threw another plant in the pot with it last year.