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Happy Earth starts with ...
Hi everyone,
Im really interested to hear from other people in the sydney/wollonong/newcastle region regarding what tropical fruit you have managed to grow successfully?
My partner and I have just planted out over 100 different fruit, trees, shrubs and vines on our suburban block ... not all tropical fruit though!
Ive already had fruit off:
-peanut butter tree,
-miracle fruit
-panama berry
-black sapote
Other tropical fruit trees i've planted outside but still waiting for them to fruit include.
-abiu
-ambarella
-canistel
-carambola
-cherry of the rio grande
-jaboticaba
-jakfruit
-lychee
-longan
-pitomba
-rollinia
-sapodilla
-yellow jaboticaba
What have you manage to grow and fruit?
Have a great day!
Rich
www.happyearth.com.au
Hi everyone,
Im really interested to hear from other people in the sydney/wollonong/newcastle region regarding what tropical fruit you have managed to grow successfully?
My partner and I have just planted out over 100 different fruit, trees, shrubs and vines on our suburban block ... not all tropical fruit though!
Ive already had fruit off:
-peanut butter tree,
-miracle fruit
-panama berry
-black sapote
Other tropical fruit trees i've planted outside but still waiting for them to fruit include.
-abiu
-ambarella
-canistel
-carambola
-cherry of the rio grande
-jaboticaba
-jakfruit
-lychee
-longan
-pitomba
-rollinia
-sapodilla
-yellow jaboticaba
What have you manage to grow and fruit?
Have a great day!
Rich
www.happyearth.com.au
| Pictures - Click to enlarge | ||
 Picture: 1 | ||
Happy Earth
Wollongong
22nd April 2008
Anonymous
22nd April 2008
Tony says...
I have planted sucessfully following tropical & semi-tropical fruit trees over the years: Avocado, feijoas, wax jambu (star apple), guavas (white flesh, including red cherry guavas), macadamia nuts, pomegranates, custard apple & mangoes. They produce fruits every year except for mangoes, fruit flies are also of major problems in our area despite constant spraying programs. What's the name of the fruit in the picture?
Your list of fruit trees are very impressive.
I have planted sucessfully following tropical & semi-tropical fruit trees over the years: Avocado, feijoas, wax jambu (star apple), guavas (white flesh, including red cherry guavas), macadamia nuts, pomegranates, custard apple & mangoes. They produce fruits every year except for mangoes, fruit flies are also of major problems in our area despite constant spraying programs. What's the name of the fruit in the picture?
Your list of fruit trees are very impressive.
Tony
Illawong (Sutherland Shire)
23rd April 2008
Happy Earth says...
Hi Tony,
Wax Jambu is one fruit tree i haven't though of growing. Ive heard it tastes a bit like a big lillypilly?
The fruit in the photo is a black apple (Pouteria australis?) which is native to rainforests north of about Wollongong I think. The fruit is a local selection and absolutely delicious - the best of our bush tucker fruits I reckon! Its actually a close relative to the abiu and yellow sapote.
Check out Daleys for more info: http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/plant/Planchonella-Australis-Black-Apple.htm
Have a great day!
Rich
www.happyearth.com.au
Hi Tony,
Wax Jambu is one fruit tree i haven't though of growing. Ive heard it tastes a bit like a big lillypilly?
The fruit in the photo is a black apple (Pouteria australis?) which is native to rainforests north of about Wollongong I think. The fruit is a local selection and absolutely delicious - the best of our bush tucker fruits I reckon! Its actually a close relative to the abiu and yellow sapote.
Check out Daleys for more info: http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/plant/Planchonella-Australis-Black-Apple.htm
Have a great day!
Rich
www.happyearth.com.au
Happy Earth
Wollongong
25th April 2008
Tony says...
Hi Rich,
Wax Jambu grown in Sydney does not taste as nice or sweet as of South East Asian varieties. It's however tastier & bigger than lillie pillies. They grow in bundles of about 5-10 fruit each with spectacular pink-red colour when ripened.
Where can you buy Black Apple plants from? I enclose some photos of fruit grown in our backyard for everyone to enjoy!
Have a great ANZAC day.
Regards,
Tony
Hi Rich,
Wax Jambu grown in Sydney does not taste as nice or sweet as of South East Asian varieties. It's however tastier & bigger than lillie pillies. They grow in bundles of about 5-10 fruit each with spectacular pink-red colour when ripened.
Where can you buy Black Apple plants from? I enclose some photos of fruit grown in our backyard for everyone to enjoy!
Have a great ANZAC day.
Regards,
Tony
| Pictures - Click to enlarge | ||
 Picture: 1 |  Picture: 2 |  Picture: 3 |
 Picture: 4 |  Picture: 5 | |
Tony
25th April 2008
Juz says...
Wow, Ive planted a penut butter tree, thought I was being a bit hopeful to get fruit, but you give me hope! Im down near jervis bay. We get got frosts here. Also have a black sapote. And Im going to get a lychee, logan, and whatever else I can find. Have had some discouraging advise on some other sites that these kind of trees wont flourish, let alone fruit this far south, but you just never know if you dont have a go huh?
Do you protect your trees in any way?
Do anything special for them?
Juz
Wow, Ive planted a penut butter tree, thought I was being a bit hopeful to get fruit, but you give me hope! Im down near jervis bay. We get got frosts here. Also have a black sapote. And Im going to get a lychee, logan, and whatever else I can find. Have had some discouraging advise on some other sites that these kind of trees wont flourish, let alone fruit this far south, but you just never know if you dont have a go huh?
Do you protect your trees in any way?
Do anything special for them?
Juz
Juz
South coast nsw
25th April 2008
Tony
Illawong, Sydney
25th April 2008
Happy Earth says...
Tony - those wax jambus look like mini red gourds ... very cute! Black apples shouldn't be that hard to source as they are commonly grown for local bush regeneration organisations. You can get them at all native nurseries down here in Wollongong. Your custard apple looks very healthy! What variety have you planted? do you hand pollinate the fruit?
Juz - I dont do anything special for my fruit trees, except for really focusing on improving the soil with minerals, worm castings, compost teas, and biodynamics. The more tropical the tree i plant, the more shelter i try and give it ... but hey, there still out in the open coping the wind at times. It is however frost-free where i live in Wollongong and pretty much a sub-tropical climate. I do know of people successfully growing black sapotes down in Bega. Good luck and let us know how they go :)
have a great day!
Rich
www.happyearth.com.au
Tony - those wax jambus look like mini red gourds ... very cute! Black apples shouldn't be that hard to source as they are commonly grown for local bush regeneration organisations. You can get them at all native nurseries down here in Wollongong. Your custard apple looks very healthy! What variety have you planted? do you hand pollinate the fruit?
Juz - I dont do anything special for my fruit trees, except for really focusing on improving the soil with minerals, worm castings, compost teas, and biodynamics. The more tropical the tree i plant, the more shelter i try and give it ... but hey, there still out in the open coping the wind at times. It is however frost-free where i live in Wollongong and pretty much a sub-tropical climate. I do know of people successfully growing black sapotes down in Bega. Good luck and let us know how they go :)
have a great day!
Rich
www.happyearth.com.au
Happy Earth
Wollongong
27th April 2008
Robyn
Sydney
27th April 2008
Tony says...
Hi Rich,
Our custard apple tree is likely an African Pride variety. It has a prolonged fruiting process with flowers at end of summer and fruit not ripened until Sep-Oct. We consistantly getting about 25-40 fruit (~700g each) per season without a need for hand pollination nor any spraying required.
We also have planted sucessfully a macadamia (almost 10 years old, still no nuts yet, although produced flowers two years ago, may be because it's started from seedling), Narrabeen plum, Nashi pear, lemmonade, Myer lemon, sugar bananas, Fuyu persimmon (non astringent variety).
It's a pity that we suffer from fruit flies in our area which attack stone fruit & other soft skin fruit trees.
Tony
Hi Rich,
Our custard apple tree is likely an African Pride variety. It has a prolonged fruiting process with flowers at end of summer and fruit not ripened until Sep-Oct. We consistantly getting about 25-40 fruit (~700g each) per season without a need for hand pollination nor any spraying required.
We also have planted sucessfully a macadamia (almost 10 years old, still no nuts yet, although produced flowers two years ago, may be because it's started from seedling), Narrabeen plum, Nashi pear, lemmonade, Myer lemon, sugar bananas, Fuyu persimmon (non astringent variety).
It's a pity that we suffer from fruit flies in our area which attack stone fruit & other soft skin fruit trees.
Tony
Tony
Sydney
27th April 2008
The Garden says...
At our local community permaculture garden in Wollongong we grow a whole range of tropical fruit trees like babacos, jaboticabas, grumichamas, Brazillian Cherries, paw paws, bananas, jakfruit, and even a green sapote which is growing slowly but steadily every year - as with most of the other trees they are young and still havent fruit yet though they are all growing well.
At our local community permaculture garden in Wollongong we grow a whole range of tropical fruit trees like babacos, jaboticabas, grumichamas, Brazillian Cherries, paw paws, bananas, jakfruit, and even a green sapote which is growing slowly but steadily every year - as with most of the other trees they are young and still havent fruit yet though they are all growing well.
The Garden
Wollongong
1st May 2008
Anonymous
Sydney
18th May 2008
Kate
Wollongong
18th June 2008
HappyEarth says...
Hi Kate,
Babacos should grow a bit like a compact paw paw - ie very fast. Give them good drainage, nurtition, water, sun and they will power along.
I have one pepino which is finnaly coming good now the stevia i had next to it is dying off :)
All of our fruit trees have only been planted in the last 10 months so are all very young. Your more than welcome to come around one weekend though. Send us an email from our website in a couple of weeks and we will work something out:
http://www.happyearth.com.au/contact-us/
Have a great day!
Rich
www.happyearth.com.au
p.s. Our atherton raspberries planted in november have a nice juicy raspberry hanging off it and ready to be picked ... yum! There should fruit continuously from now onwards throughout the whole year and next given adequate water
Hi Kate,
Babacos should grow a bit like a compact paw paw - ie very fast. Give them good drainage, nurtition, water, sun and they will power along.
I have one pepino which is finnaly coming good now the stevia i had next to it is dying off :)
All of our fruit trees have only been planted in the last 10 months so are all very young. Your more than welcome to come around one weekend though. Send us an email from our website in a couple of weeks and we will work something out:
http://www.happyearth.com.au/contact-us/
Have a great day!
Rich
www.happyearth.com.au
p.s. Our atherton raspberries planted in november have a nice juicy raspberry hanging off it and ready to be picked ... yum! There should fruit continuously from now onwards throughout the whole year and next given adequate water
| Pictures - Click to enlarge | ||
 Picture: 1 | ||
HappyEarth
Wollongong
19th June 2008
Greg says...
Hi Tony, I planted two young macadamia about 4 years ago. From one tree I got two nuts at two years old, about six the next year and this year I have about an icecream container full and it just keeps flowering. The other one hasn't done much at all. They were not grafted trees, I thought they were seedlings but I think its unlikely to fruit in that short time. I have taken some cuttings to see if they will strike. I have no idea what variety they are.
Regards Greg
Hi Tony, I planted two young macadamia about 4 years ago. From one tree I got two nuts at two years old, about six the next year and this year I have about an icecream container full and it just keeps flowering. The other one hasn't done much at all. They were not grafted trees, I thought they were seedlings but I think its unlikely to fruit in that short time. I have taken some cuttings to see if they will strike. I have no idea what variety they are.
Regards Greg
Greg
Tomerong
26th July 2008
Anonymous
29th July 2008