Jaboticaba Update

Happy Jaboticaba plant 2of3

Happy Jaboticaba plant 1of3

Looking over my blog, I noticed that it has been almost exactly six months since I potted up my jaboticaba plants. While their growth isn't nearly as explosive as my cherimoyas (updated to follow), they certainly have put out quite a bit of foliage! There was a bit of browning on the tips of the older leaves but I attribute this to the low humidity my apartment experienced (despite having a fish tank and humidifier in the room). These plants seem to love water and the more I water them, the happier they seem to be. Based on this and their slow growth, I think they would make an outstanding specimen for an upcoming project, "Paludarium Redux".

Jaboticaba and Loquats are here!

I recently purchased 3 jaboticaba and 2 loquat seedlings on eBay from Merseeco Seeds down in Florida. I recieved them on Friday and potted them up in 1 gallon nursery pots, except for 1 loquat which went into my recycled materials self-watering container (post coming soon!). The seedlings look great and seem to be settling into their new home.  The jaboticaba is a fruit-bearing tree native to South America. The fruit is known to contain anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer agents (Link). It will take many years (7-15 from what I've read) before the jaboticaba begin to fruit. When they do, the dark purple grape like fruits will grow right on the trunk of the tree. They apparently love water and having their leaves misted so I have them mixed in amongst the coffee trees that get misted regularly.  As you can see, these plants are tiny little seedlings but larger, more mature ones look to be available from Hirt's Gardens online (Jaboticaba Fruit Tree Plant - Bonsai or Houseplant). Hopefully, mine will look like the one in the picture (in the link) in a year or two! If I get motivated, I may even turn one of the three into a bonsai specimen. For now, I just hope to keep them alive and growing.

The loquats I hadn't given as much thought toward but they apparently also grow well in containers and, thanks to combined shipping, were very inexpensive. These fruit trees, indigenous to Southern China, will also likely take a long time before they flower and fruit. One key to this hobby is a great deal of patience! The small, sweet, yellow fruits are known to have a slight sedative effect. On the right is a picture of the 2 loquats (foreground and background) resting on one of my container inventions, the aero-crate planter (post to come soon!).  A coffee tree is currently planted in the aero-crate. On the right is a small cherimoya seedling.  Soon, I'll make a post on how I obtained and sprouted these cherimoya seedlings.