Garden, Plant, Cook!

Tuesday, September 06, 2016

Barbados Cherry Tree Update

Dear Folks,

First - the "early bird pricing" - 20% off suggested SRP expires on September 14th for my 2017 Month-By-Month Wall Calendar.  Gift idea for your family or friends in USDA 9b and above?

2017 Month-by-Month Wall Calendar

Acerola Barbados Cherry (Malpighia emarginata) is a shrubby tree is native to Southern Mexico and Central and South America.  It is becoming more common in Southwest gardens as a substitute for common cherry trees like Bing which require high chill hours and will not fruit (or sometimes even grow) in the desert.

We put our Barbados in the ground on February 16, 2016.  6 months later it grown robustly as you can see from the picture.

We started seeing flowers in May and then mid August spotted two cherries, bright green.  I'm sure they were growing well before - just did not see them.  Then all of sudden they are bright red and then easy to pull off the stem.

The taste is as often described in references - tart sweet or sweet tart.  There are 3 seeds in each cherry and according to the references, they can be grown from seed, but may be hybridized, as I understand there are multiple varieties and crosses available.

I will probably see if the seeds germinate :-)

I am looking forward to more growth, more cherries and many years of a fun fruit option in the garden.

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-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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4 comments:

Timingisperfect said...

Catherine, they also grow well from cuttings! I propagated two this year from very small cuttings and they have really taken off. Nowhere near fruit producing yet, maybe next if I am lucky.

Catherine, The Herb Lady said...

Hi Timingsperfect,

Yes, most of the reproduction of the Barbados is through cuttings. I just hate to waste seeds! :-) Thank you for your comment. I'm always happy to hear from gardeners.

Unknown said...

Is the seeds of the acerola cherry edible

Catherine, The Herb Lady said...

Hello. No the seeds are considered inedible.