Amethyst's Edible Backyard

Joined: 26/01/11 Updated: 28/10/23 Frost:
Location: KEPERRA

About My Edible Backyard

Because they serve more than one purpose in the garden!

Comments

Turmeric - Orange (Cutting) ^8/10

Comments: - Turmeric is so darn easy to grow! Best in a pot as the plants in my garden were never happy and dwindled to nothing. Give it regular water and enjoy the lush foliage and waxy cream flowers. Harvest in autumn and you'll be amazed at how much it has bulked up. From two pieces we ended up with over 1 kilogram of root in a single season.

Fruiting Months April and May

Planted: 2012

Height 1.5 metres

Growing: In a Pot

Qty: 1

Fruit Harvest: 1.5 kilograms per Year

First Fruited: 1 Years from purchase in pot

Sun/Shade: Medium Sun

Water Given in: Spring

Pollination: No

Fertiliser or Organics Used: Multi-purpose and horse manure

When I Fertilise: When Fruiting

Pest Control:

No sprayes required for our plant.

Organic Status:Certified

Mango - R2E2 (Grafted) ^7/10

Comments: -

Update September 2014: masses of flowers this year after a one-third prune in autumn. The scent is awful - think stale, soapy water or a bit like Photinia flowers. Still, small fruit are already forming and I hold high hopes for a fabulous crop this year. Might need to think it out if things get too frenetic.

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The fruit was of good quality. Perhaps not as superior as a Bowen type mango but better than the majority of mangoes in Brisbane. Survived the November 2009 storms in The Gap / Keperra. 2010-2011 season has been disappointing only because it was wet during flowering and no fruit was set. The tree has made up for it with fresh vegetative growth and is getting a little larger than I expected!

Update Nov 2013. Set and produced a good crop of fruit in 2012-13 but did not set well this year owing very dry weather following pollination.

Fruiting Months March and April

Planted: 2008

Height 4 metres

Growing: In the Ground

Qty: 1

Fruit Harvest: 2 kilograms per Year

First Fruited: 2 Years from purchase in pot

Sun/Shade: Full Sun

Water Given in: Summer

Pruned By: 50% in After Fruiting, Autumn, Winter

Pollination: Self Pollination

Fertiliser or Organics Used: Sheep. horse

When I Fertilise: Yearly

Pest Control:

None required. Seems fairly pest-free.

Organic Status:Organic

Question:

Can I expect it to get much taller!?

Drumstick Tree ( Moringa ) (Seedling) ^6/10

Comments: -

Update September 2014: Has been pruned a few more times since last entry but never seems to recover well and is reduced to thin stems now. Again, hoping it might flower sometime but not holding my breath.

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Fast growing, interesting foliage. I have been using the leaves in salads but am looking forward to the day it finally flowers. No doubt it will need another prune before that.

Planted: 2009

Height 5 metres

Growing: In the Ground

Qty: 1

Sun/Shade: Full Sun

Water Given in: Summer

Pruned By: 75% in Spring

Pollination: No

When I Fertilise: Yearly

Pest Control:

Never has pests.

Question:

When will it flower and fruit?

Davidsons Plum - QLD (Seedling) ^6/10

Comments: -

Update September 2014: Still no fruit. In fact, it didn't even flower this year. I still like it for its size and shape but not holding out much hope that it will produce anything useable.

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Interesting foliage. I knew I was challenging nature when I planted this in mediocre soil with a full northerly aspect and moderate rainfall. However, to its credit, it has survived and slowly, slowly grown a litlle bigger. This season has been its best but it's proabably only put on 20cm if that! I will be waiting some time yet before it starts to flower.

Planted: 2008

Height 1 metres

Growing: In the Ground

Sun/Shade: Full Sun

Water Given in: Summer

Pollination: No

Question:

In tough conditions, how long before this plant will flower/fruit?

Comments

Same with mine it was very slow ans small until I feed it up with worm tea then it began to show signs of a slow growth. Mine has grown about 60cm in 18 mths since

Same with mine it was very slow ans small until I feed it up with worm tea then it began to show signs of a slow growth. Mine has grown about 60cm in 18 mths since

Achiote - Bixa (Seedling) ^7/10

Comments: -

Update September 2104: Bixa is an excellent tree to prune to a manageable size if you don't want it too big. I cut mine back to about half in winter and it re-shoots subsequent months to flower magnificently in autumn.

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Nice pink flowers, glossy green leaves and easy to manage as a small tree. I collected seed from under a specimen in a park and four years later I have a flourishing specimen. Moderately fast grower

Fruiting Months October and November

Planted: 2007

Height 2 metres

Growing: In the Ground

Qty: 2

Sun/Shade: Full Sun

Water Given in: Summer

Pruned By: 20% in Summer

Pollination: No

Pest Control:

Does not seem to suffer from pests.

Question:

How do I prepare the seeds as a natural colouring?

Passionfruit - Sweet Lilikoi (Seedling) ^3/10

Comments: -

Feb 2014; well, I can't say I'd recommend growing this passionfruit. The fruit are large and a nice outside colour but the pulp is a greyish mass and, while terribly sweet, seemed to have a sickly taste. Maybe just my palate but I shan't be growing this vine again.

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Interesting flowers with a distinctive spicy smell. Initially I had one plant but ended up buying another two for cross-poliination. As it is I have hand pollinated 80% of the crop!

In 2011 I lost one vine after I had trowelled lightly near it's base to remove some weeds. I don't know if I was unlucky or they have a habit of dying like that.

Can't wait for the fruit to ripen - some are a generous size - bigger than standard passionfruit. As for the flavour; stay tuned!

Fruiting Months December

Planted: 2011

Height 8 metres

Growing: In the Ground

Qty: 2

First Fruited: 2 Years from purchase in pot

Sun/Shade: Full Sun

Water Given in: Spring

Pollination: Hand Pollination

Fertiliser or Organics Used: Horse maure, Seasol, Dolomite

When I Fertilise: Spring

Pest Control:

Occassional sucking bugs easily removed by hand

Organic Status:Certified

Question:

Have you ever experienced sudden dieback with this passionfruit?

Star Gooseberry ^4/10

Comments: -

Rather disappointed with this purchase. While it's a handsome looking small tree it has been a failure fruiting. Plants are either male or female or both. If you get one that's not 'both', you won't get any fruit.

Planted: 2011

Height 2 metres

Growing: In the Ground

Qty: 1

Sun/Shade: Medium Sun

Water Given in: Summer

Pruned By: 30% in Spring

Pollination: Cross Pollination

Cross Pollinator Variety: Male plant

When I Fertilise: Yearly

Pest Control:

Remarkably pest-free.

Organic Status:Certified

Japanese Raisin (Seedling) ^5/10

Comments: -

Spreading habit, interesting toothed leaves, starting to provide reasonable shade. The trunk also plays host to some lovely leafy lichens. Unfortunately I don't think Brisbane climate suits it very well. Did survive The Gap / Keperra storm in November 2009 so, credit there.

Update November 2013. I removed this plant in 2012. It grew to a nice size but it never had flowers and was riddled with red spider mite which made the leaves look awful.

Planted: 2008

Height 3 metres

Growing: In the Ground

Qty: 1

Sun/Shade: Full Sun

Water Given in: Summer

Pollination: No

Fertiliser or Organics Used: Sheep, horse

When I Fertilise: Yearly

Pest Control:

Red spider mite is the bane of this plant and it is controlled using Malathon (yes, not eco-friendly I know but, darn effective).

Comments

What a nice looking tree!

Maybe its your humidity that spider mites enjoy - mines about 5yo and has nice leaves and hardly water in summer - no flowers or fruit yet either - may take 4 more years.

Natal Plum (Seedling) ^5/10

Comments: -

Glossy green leaves, good plant for a tough position. Starry, gardenia-smelling flowers. Would make an excellent hedge.

Update November 2013. In all it's time has only produced one or two fruits despite the fact there are several plants nearby.

Planted: 2007

Height 0.8 metres

Growing: In the Ground

Qty: 4

Sun/Shade: Medium Sun

Water Given in: Summer

Pruned By: 5% in

Pollination: No

When I Fertilise: Yearly

Pest Control:

No pest management required. Never seen it damaged by insect pests.

Question:

Why don't I ever get any fruit?

Comments

You might try feeding it sulphate of potash it promotes flower and fruit. Only if you soil is not already alkaline.