The Tropical Fruit Forum

...Bananas Raras states that it can fruit in as little as three years. I wonder if other forum members can corroborate all of that from personal experience. Also, has anyone successfully fruited it as a container plant?

My c. schlechtendaliana just set some flowers.  It is in a 1gal container, trunk diameter 3/8" or less.  I grew it from seeds I got from Lance in Apr 2023, so it is less than two years old right now.   Flowers don't guarantee fruit, but "three years to fruit" seems spot on to me.

Bellamy Trees USA now have these seeds for $20 each FYI.

I didn't realize these were special!  I had just ordered some seeds and it looks like I picked one of these.  Looks healthy, I'm waiting on my sterile starting soil to arrive to plant it.  Can confirm it was $20 not $100.  They are calling it 'eugenia caMpininha', not sure which is correct but I figure I'll mention that name here in case people are searching for it.

Total Dissolved Solids: 840

TDS of 840 is *very high*.  If you have your trees in containers you might have issues.  If they are in ground it probably won't hurt.

That’s impressive I’m setting up my first greenhouse and I was not sure if 1,500w heaters where enough but it only gets around 8f here does it cost a lot of money to heat?

It all depends on your greenhouse size, airtightness, and insulation.  Even two 1500w heaters wasn't enough for my old greenhouse, which only had a single glazed face.  I had to supplement with a small propane heater when temps were below 10F

Wow that is painfully cold.  Hope your greenhouse heater is up to the task!

I am only seeing 0F predicted here in PA, which I have dealt with many times before.  A power outage is always my only worry.  I have backup heat but it is annoying to set up in the cold.

Mine is planted directly into the ground in my greenhouse, clay soil.   It gets a ton of water and is humid all winter, drier in summer.
These have a reputation for being weedy and I agree.  Constant new growth, weak limbs that snap easily, frequent dieback.  New limbs often start low like watersprouts so I remove entire old limbs when pruning to keep its size in check.  Lots of flowers but very low fruit set for me, I assume because of lack of pollinators and me being too lazy to hand-pollinate.

It fell over from its own weight last year, half-uprooting itself, but it didn't even faze it.  I just pulled it back up and tied it to the greenhouse wall.




How big is yours? 

Check lara farms in miami, they have a mail order website

No I saw zero fruit or flowers on tree or ground, unfortunately

I am at Leu Gardens now, the kwai muk is really impressive!   A giant lychee, too.  It is nice to see some of the common eugenias at their full size - pitomba, COTRG, surinam, etc.

And of course their stone fruit trees all look near death, while these grow easily outdoors in PA.

In the whole place it is the old oak trees that are the most stunning, actually

Leu Gardens in Orlando also has a fruiting kwai muk. Although the sign says it fruits in summer and fall, it was dropping lots of fruit a couple weeks ago in late December.

 

Nice, I am heading to Orlando tomorrow I will check it out

Thanks for posting this.  I used to live in Ann Arbor and was thinking of taking my family to visit again sometime.  Detroit is right nearby, I didn't know about this conservatory at all

I can't imagine waiting so long, what a tease.  I hope I somehow have better luck with mine. 

My in-ground kwai muk in my greenhouse is now flowering for the first time.  It is four years old, trunk diameter nearly 3 inches, height maintained at about 10ft

That doesn't mean it will set fruit, but it's something.