While reading through posts over at the
Tropical Fruits Forum on GardenWeb, I came across a few posts about a fruit known as the cherimoya. I had never heard of this fruit but was rather intrigued when I found out one of my favorite authors, Mark Twain, had referred to it as "the most delicious fruit known to men". As I walked through the isles of my local Whole Foods, hoping to find a passion fruit that I might eat (and then plant some seeds from), I was amazed when I discovered that they had 3 cherimoya fruits in their fruit section! I scooped up one after debating the $5 price tag (yikes!) and biked home, fruit in hand. For those who have not seen them, this is what the fruit I picked up looks like (right). What an odd looking fruit! I later found that I should have let this one age a few more days (till they turn a little bit brown). Once home, I sliced into the fruit to find 43 large black seeds embedded in a creamy, custard-like flesh (picture below). I must say, tasting this fruit was quite the experience. If you happen to find one in your area, I highly recommend giving it a try. It was quite possibly one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. I saved the seeds and split them into 4 ziplock bags filled with moistened peat moss (10 seeds per bag) and put 3 in peat pellets. Two of the bags went into the upper level of my high humidity vivarium, 1
went outside, and 1 went on top of the cable converter box (this device gives off a bit of heat that warms the seeds, encouraging them to sprout). After what seemed an eternity (about 5 weeks) I noticed that one of the bags was starting to show signs of life. Two seeds had sprouted in the bag placed on the converter box. A few days later, one of the seeds in the peat pellets sprouted. I quickly planted the sprouts into some pots and hoped for the best. So far, they seem to be doing quite well. I have found that they don't like the higher humidity/temperatures of the vivarium and so, they will live out with the other plants on the plant table. Getting fruit may take some time (though these seem to grow quite quickly) and because of the way the flowers mature, pollination may be complicated. The flowers are not self-fertile and start out
as female and later, become male. Consequently, I'd need to have both male and female flowers at the same time in order to properly pollinate by hand. I should have years before I have to attack this problem though! :) Having a ready and fresh supply of this wonderful fruit will make the waiting and hard work well worth it. Here (right) is a shot of the most vigorous seedling. Every day, it seems to be a little bit taller and the leaves seem to be a bit bigger which is very exciting to watch. More of the seeds are showing signs of life and so I know a few people who may be getting cherimoya seedlings as gifts in the coming months! This was an easy (and tasty!) project that I would recommend to anyone.
While reading through posts over at the Tropical Fruits Forum on GardenWeb, I came across a few posts about a fruit known as the cherimoya. I had never heard of this fruit but was rather intrigued when I found out one of my favorite authors, Mark Twain, had referred to it as "the most delicious fruit known to men". As I walked through the isles of my local Whole Foods, hoping to find a passion fruit that I might eat (and then plant some seeds from), I was amazed when I discovered that they had 3 cherimoya fruits in their fruit section! I scooped up one after debating the $5 price tag (yikes!) and biked home, fruit in hand. For those who have not seen them, this is what the fruit I picked up looks like (right). What an odd looking fruit! I later found that I should have let this one age a few more days (till they turn a little bit brown). Once home, I sliced into the fruit to find 43 large black seeds embedded in a creamy, custard-like flesh (picture below). I must say, tasting this fruit was quite the experience. If you happen to find one in your area, I highly recommend giving it a try. It was quite possibly one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. I saved the seeds and split them into 4 ziplock bags filled with moistened peat moss (10 seeds per bag) and put 3 in peat pellets. Two of the bags went into the upper level of my high humidity vivarium, 1 
went outside, and 1 went on top of the cable converter box (this device gives off a bit of heat that warms the seeds, encouraging them to sprout). After what seemed an eternity (about 5 weeks) I noticed that one of the bags was starting to show signs of life. Two seeds had sprouted in the bag placed on the converter box. A few days later, one of the seeds in the peat pellets sprouted. I quickly planted the sprouts into some pots and hoped for the best. So far, they seem to be doing quite well. I have found that they don't like the higher humidity/temperatures of the vivarium and so, they will live out with the other plants on the plant table. Getting fruit may take some time (though these seem to grow quite quickly) and because of the way the flowers mature, pollination may be complicated. The flowers are not self-fertile and start out
as female and later, become male. Consequently, I'd need to have both male and female flowers at the same time in order to properly pollinate by hand. I should have years before I have to attack this problem though! :) Having a ready and fresh supply of this wonderful fruit will make the waiting and hard work well worth it. Here (right) is a shot of the most vigorous seedling. Every day, it seems to be a little bit taller and the leaves seem to be a bit bigger which is very exciting to watch. More of the seeds are showing signs of life and so I know a few people who may be getting cherimoya seedlings as gifts in the coming months! This was an easy (and tasty!) project that I would recommend to anyone.
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