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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Lujan Jaboticaba - 7b in Ground Test
« on: April 22, 2024, 02:39:13 PM »
RIP Luján Jaboticaba. That's what will be written after one winter of your experiment. As a fellow zone 7b grower, I can say that it is the acme of foolishness to grow a jaboticaba, even what is considered to be a hardy one, outdoors in our climate. Our last two winters would have killed it. At my location, in December 2022, the temperature stayed below freezing for 90 consecutive hours, dropping down to a low of 4 °F. This past winter, in January 2024, the temperature stayed below freezing for about 130 consecutive hours, popping above freezing for one afternoon, then spending the next 3 days below freezing. The low during that cold snap was 0 °F, at my location; at other nearby locations it dropped below zero. Both these deep freezes were accompanied by snow, ice, and mind-numbingly cold winds.
No jaboticaba can withstand such conditions, as much as I would wish it to be otherwise. In fact, these past two winters are why I have cancelled my plans to try zone pushing Psidium longipetiolatum, one of the hardier Psidiums. If I had planted them outside either of the last two years, they would have frozen dead in the winter, even with a relatively good microclimate at the southeastern corner of my house.
Now, if you are hell for leather on growing a Luján Jaboticaba outdoors, regardless of advice to the contrary, here is what I would advise you to do. It must be planted in the most opportune microclimate you can possibly create. That involves completely protecting it from both north and west winds, our prevailing winter winds. Six- to eight-foot tall masonry walls would do the trick, with the jaboticaba planted close to those walls, allowing it to absorb as much heat as possible being reflected off the masonry. The walls should be painted white or similar light color to reflect as much heat as possible. The plant should also be placed on a south facing slope, neither at the bottom of the slope, nor at the top. This prevents it from being exposed to as much wind as it would be at the top and as much pooled cold air as it would be at the bottom. A hardy, evergreen companion plant should be planted adjacent to it, something that will cover it with a protecting canopy in the winter without shading it out in the summer. Or, if that is not an option, create a system that will allow you to mimic that canopy by easily covering it during deep freezes with frost cloth, greenhouse plastic, or whatever will protect it from the worst of the cold. If you do all of those things, you might be able to successfully grow a Luján Jaboticaba outdoors.
Or not.
No jaboticaba can withstand such conditions, as much as I would wish it to be otherwise. In fact, these past two winters are why I have cancelled my plans to try zone pushing Psidium longipetiolatum, one of the hardier Psidiums. If I had planted them outside either of the last two years, they would have frozen dead in the winter, even with a relatively good microclimate at the southeastern corner of my house.
Now, if you are hell for leather on growing a Luján Jaboticaba outdoors, regardless of advice to the contrary, here is what I would advise you to do. It must be planted in the most opportune microclimate you can possibly create. That involves completely protecting it from both north and west winds, our prevailing winter winds. Six- to eight-foot tall masonry walls would do the trick, with the jaboticaba planted close to those walls, allowing it to absorb as much heat as possible being reflected off the masonry. The walls should be painted white or similar light color to reflect as much heat as possible. The plant should also be placed on a south facing slope, neither at the bottom of the slope, nor at the top. This prevents it from being exposed to as much wind as it would be at the top and as much pooled cold air as it would be at the bottom. A hardy, evergreen companion plant should be planted adjacent to it, something that will cover it with a protecting canopy in the winter without shading it out in the summer. Or, if that is not an option, create a system that will allow you to mimic that canopy by easily covering it during deep freezes with frost cloth, greenhouse plastic, or whatever will protect it from the worst of the cold. If you do all of those things, you might be able to successfully grow a Luján Jaboticaba outdoors.
Or not.