Keep them in shade. The magnifolia tree and fruit is quite different from the madrono. The achachairu grows at a decent clip once going.

I keep my garcinias is a spot that gets just a little bit of sun in the morning. I fertilize them with fish emulsion every other week during the growing season, and I water them every other day, now in the Summer. They tend to grow slow in the first year. Afterward, they grow at a good pace. I grow achachairu (laterifolia), bacupari(gardneriana), bacupari miudo (brasiliensis), and a Mexican Garcinia that I just got from my friend Tomas.

I have a Lemon Drop in the ground on the west side of the house in South Florida (Z10) and it grows a bit faster than you indicated, and has fruit on it though it's only ~4' tall, and was a bit over 3' tall when I put it in the ground a few months ago.

It doesn't seem to mind the afternoon sun but it likes water, though it will tell you so by drooping its leaves. Mine gets watered every second or third day

Regards,

Gary

Hi,

I grow a few Garcinias. I just wanted to mention a little about the different growth rates among the Garcinias that I have noticed. The achachairu is really growing fast whereas Garcinia intermedia is the opposite. My G. intermedia is about 5 years old and still only about 3 ft tall.

Tomas

Thomas, what kind of growth are you seeing in your mexican garcinias?

Hi,

Mine are still only about 1 year old, about 1ft tall.

Tomas

Here is a link that might be useful:

I live in Malibu and would like to buy some Achachairu, or whatever it is spelled. I have a couple of seedlings growing in a greenhouse. Any lead to where I can buy these? Arnold.

Hi All,

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, for now I am just putting the slow growth of my plants down to their newness and the slightly below average temperatures we have had this year.

Arnold, If you are looking for the fruits, I have no idea as I am always searching the ethnic and farmer's markets for exotic fruits and have never seen them. I got my plants from Bryan at Montoso gardens and highly recommend him as a source for some of the more unusual plants.

Cheers,
Richard

Richard, thanks for the lead. I bought some trees, if you can call them that from Montoso, they shipped plants so small that two years later they are still almost seedlings. If you really want some nice sized Garcinia, aka Rheedia, try Steve at www.hawaiiantropicalplants.com. He is also very knowledgeable and a joy to deal with. I'm growing my Garcinia in a greenhouse and will try to get them to size before putting them in the ground. Arnold.

Hi all , I'm a new member and I'm trying to help my dad find Garcinia fruit trees , somebody told him it helps in cleaning out the arteries . My pops has congestive heart failure and I'm trying to give him some kind of hope , they sell this in Tijuana but I'm not about to go to there even though we have distant family there , is there anywhere in Orange County I can pick up a plant ? Thank you

Rico try looking for some of the tropical fruit nursery in your area or in the southern CA area. Many of them should also have web site of what they have and just to make sure call them and ask if they have it and if they don't have it sometimes they can get for you from other places too. Good luck.

Just remember though, they take a long time to get to fruiting. Garcinia mangostana can take from 8 to about 20 years before flowering. Getting him a tree would be good psychology but you'd still need a supply of fruit.

Rico - I wonder if Mimosa Nursery up in E. Los Angeles carries them??? You might call 323-722-4543

MDog