i was in miami's tropical fruit park today and had the pleasure of seeing and eating the Jaboticaba for the first time (it was delicious) -
the fruit look like large black concord grapes- and taste a little similar- the fruit grows directly on the trunk of the trees- really weird and cool!
i liked the fruit so much that i was planning on trying to buy one but someone posted online that they take 10-15 yrs to fruit-
anyone have a Jaboticaba or know how long they take to fruit
Jaboticaba
Most sites say 8-15 yrs...the more favorable conditions given, the sooner to fruit. They are very slow growing but a really cool tree. The flowering and fruiting on the trunks is absolutely beautiful. Stress had recently purchased one. I'm sure he can add some remarks as to how his is doing. A very lucky person might find a grafted specimen...but they seem to be more fairy tale than fact. PineIsland and Montoso Gardens nurseries will have the plants.
thanks ohio- i thinki basicaly understand what "grafted" means- why is a grafted specimen better then a non grafted specimen
Ahhhh...Grasshopper...honorable grafted tree do bear fruit much sooner than do grown from seed! There are usually other benefits as well that folks look for in a root stock. But our concern is earlier fruiting!
I do have one and IMHO they are a worthy plant, even without fruit. The bark is flaky and attractive. The foliage is fine in texture and the tree is almost "bonsai-esque."
Here is a link to mine last year. It is about twice the width and 1.5x the height now: http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/116342/
Very easy to grow. Mine is in CHC. I do not believe that it is grafted.
Even grafted jaboticaba takes a comparatively long time to fruit - a tree that bore in six years from grafting would be considered precocious. They're just very slow growers. Luckily, they are beautiful trees (flowering jaboticaba are lovely) and their slow growth habit makes them excellent candidates for container growth. They also have exceptional cold tolerance for a Brazilian native - they can handle at least brief temperature drops to ten or so degrees below freezing. The bonsai suggestion is a great one, by the way! I wonder if anyone has done it?
Bonsai? If you do a search on the web for "jaboticaba +bonsai", you will find pages and pages referring to jaboticaba as bonsai. Really beautiful. Here's a link with a photo of one that is 20 years old. Probably less than 12" tall. http://www.bonsainl.nl/BPG/BS_A0192.HTM
Wow, you aren't kidding Jay - that's a stunning little tree! I had no idea jaboticaba was so popular with the bonsai community. Maybe I should try one myself...
Yeah...they are pretty cool. Another plant that I found they bonsai that I believe is even more breathtaking is the tamarind. Do a search on "tamarind +bonsai" and you will see some pics that just stun you. Even though my tree is over 5 feet, I may contact someone and see if it is possible for it to be done. Some of what I read say that tamarind make very good bonsai specimens due to the way they force new growth from a top cut.
I gave a seedling to a coworker about 3 years ago. He doesn't have the lights and such that I grew mine with so his stayed pretty short and compact...but a very beautiful shape. I was urging him to contact someone to see if he could bonsai his plant. Go check out these pics, if they don't move you, nothing will. Just to get you started...here is one that looks like a huge forest of tamarind trees...
http://www.bonsaitreeforum.com/bonsai-trees/bonsai-picture-gallery/index.php?n=11
http://www.bonsai4me.com/Gallery/gallerymanilashow3.htm
Fruiting tamarind: http://www.bonsaiweb.com/show/showphoto.php?photo=2306
Here is a gallery of bonsai with lots and lots of tamarind pics. Click on the first and it takes you into a kind of slide show. http://www.flowerpictures.net/bonsai/index.htm#53