I have not tried to grow them indoors, but I have grown 2 of them outside, in Florida. The first was in the ground, and died after the hurricanes hit us. The newer one is in a container on my patio. They seem rather easily stressed, and drop leaves when unhappy.

They are water hogs, and grow excruciatingly slowly. Neither of mine fruited. I do get to eat the fruit often, since Excalibur Fruit Tree Nursery in Lake Worth has mature trees. They get very large! Some of the containers they use are big enough to be swimming pools!

Since they grow so slowly, I'd recommend buying the largest one you can get. The bark is pretty, peeling and the tiny leaves are attractive.

Good luck getting one to flower/fruit. They aren't the easiest tropicals. I've found Breadfruit and Cacao to be more rewarding and less picky(G).

Lisa

I just got mine to produce for the first time this fall.
I bought it from www.ediblelandscaping.com as a 5 year
old tree. was about 6 ft tall when I got it. I have had
it for the third year now.

http://www.geocities.com/macawbirdbreeder/jaboticaba.html?1184014895250?20079

thats great macaw- but you kept your outside right?
im hoping against hope that someone has gotten theirs to fruit in a greenhouse.
but still a tremendous achievement macaw- i had read they take about 15 years to fruit

how many fuirts did you get- do you have any closeup of the fruits ?

Mine from a local nursery has been growing fine for around four years now, is around 4 feet tall, sets three to five fruit two to three times a year. The fruit is good, muscadine size and taste, stringy, but by the time you spit out the skin, the seeds, not much is left. A good ever bearing strawberry plant would be more productive, and take a lot less space.

ALTA- that is one of the stranger suggestions I have read. I could go to the supermarket and buy a pound of apples for a dollar- would be far more productive- thats hardly the point- dont mean to have a go out you- just pointing out that strawberries are rather different to Jaboticabas- personally- i think js are truly delicious- and for the record- i already have strawberries (and dont particularly care for them).

I have seen potted specimens fruiting in greenhouses, but never under a growlight. Space shouldn't be an issue since they start to produce at a modest height. As others have noted, however, the major obstacle to getting them to fruit is the painfully slow growth of the tree; I imagine this will be even more problematic for a tree raised under growlights. If you're willing to put in the better part of a decade before you see results, though, I say go for it. Why not? Personally, I would opt for a faster growing and more reliable tropical, like a sugar apple or, if you have the space, a jackfruit.

Altadenamara - I tend to agree with you about the quality of the jabo fruit. I've always felt that it's better suited to making wines and preserves than eating out of hand.

eldy- maybe you have tried one of the inferior varieties- the jabs i ate in florida's spice park were unreal- couldnt get enough of them- kept on sidling up to the trees and dicreetly swiping aditional handfuls.

Perhaps the jaboticaba we have here on the west coast might be seedlings, and have a different taste from yours there in Florida, also given different climate and soil conditions.
I went on a quest for the perfect strawberry, with the brix, flavor, and aroma of the white/yellow alpines, ever blooming, but the size and color of the red ones. The Mara de Bois from White Flower Farm actually come the closest consistently to that ideal. The great MdB fragrance isnÂt there. I doubt if itÂs even the real MdB, but all the fruit have a superior brix and solid strawberry flavor to any everbearing red I have ever grown.. My little pot of these five feet from the jaboticaba has produced more good fruit in the last month than the jaboticaba in the last two years. It was natural for me to compare them.

The ones I tasted at Whitmans were very good. I think my main attraction to the plant is how it looks in full bloom. It's spectacular. Then it is also cool to see with the fruit seeming to pop right out of the bark itself. I've seen pics of Macaw's plant, pretty impressive. Unless you can obtain one like he did, then you're in for a wait. If you have the space for it, then who cares if it takes years?

I've got several plants growing next to my pool screen that did awsome, loaded with fruit. Then 4 weeks ago the newer growth at the top started yellowing and getting curled up around the edges, much smaller leaves. I tried manganese and magnesium sulfate watered in, but hasn't helped much. Help?

my braziian friend (jaboticabas are brazilian) has one of these here in zone 9a -- it still hasn't produced. there's some saying about waiting 9 years for the first fruit that every brazilian knows... she tells me that the main attraction (aside from delish fruits) is that the trees produce more fruit than any other fruit tree in brazil -- apparently one tree will fruit multiple times a year, and produce bushels each time... now, i don't think she's going to get that performance here in FLA, but i've already put in an order for the fruits! (she's a local sustainable grower)

lycheeluva, most of the jabos I've eaten have come from Fruit and Spice Park (I only live about 5 miles away). I've also sampled fruit from various nurseries and private collections down here in South Florida - they're pretty good, but I don't think my life would be much worse off if I never had another jaboticaba. They do, however, make an excellent preserve and a very tasty wine. What do I know, though? I actually enjoy the taste of durian. In any case, if you have the space there's no harm in growing them, and if you like the fruit (as you clearly do) then there's an excellent incentive to try. By the way, Jay is absolutely right - jaboticabas are worth growing for their ornamental value alone. They are beautiful trees, particularly when in bloom.

keep-n-green, I would wait it out a little more to see if the trees recover. Jaboticabas grow slowly, so they probably respond to treatments more slowly than other trees as well (mangosteens, for example, will sometimes take months before they start responding to treatments).

an ill-mannered ache, I have seen fruiting specimens in zone 9 doing quite well - jaboticabas aren't as tropical as say, sugar apples, and seem to actually appreciate a bit of cool air from time to time.

ELDYS- YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW ENVIOUS I AM THAT YOU LIVE ONLY 5 MILES AWAY FROM THE FRUIT AND SPICE PARK-
can you imagine the grief I got from my better half when we went to miami for 1 week and I insisted on going to the fruit and spice park (twice!- well it was raining ob both the days)

lycheeluva, I have a container Jaboticaba that is about 4 years old. Culture is not difficult. I haven't found the tree to be picky about the growing media or fert. Pretty bark, even on a young tree. Likes plenty of water. I moved mine outside for a good part of the summer.

No fruit yet. I am a patient man. ;-)

stress- any chance you could post pics of your jaba and your sweeheart lychee

My jaboticaba has just started blooming (5 years 8 months from seeding). It is the sabara cultivar. The sabara produces one of the better tasting fruits. As I'm living in Canada, I grow it inside the house under grow lights 8 months of the year. What I'd like to know from those with more experience is this: Do the first flowers produce fruit or are they aborted?
I've found that salt buildup was the cause for a sudden stop in growth in jaboticaba in containers. I therefore leech the soil until my meter indicates a reading in the safe zone.

Reffachs-
nice work on getting a jab to flower in Canada- gives me hope of getting one to flower in NY. Am buying one in spring.

any chance of posting pics.

also I have never heard of salt build-up- how does that happen- is that something I need to watch out for in my container plants?

LL-

Salt buildup can be a problem in any container. It depends on your media and your fertilizer.

A good practice is to flush the container with water equal to 3 or 4 times to volume of the container at least a couple of times a year. I've heard some people say to do it 4 times a year. Obviously, a large particle, freely draining medium is important if you are to employ this practice.

SB

Just wanted to first mention that I also live close to Excalibur Fruit Tree Nursery in Lake Worth - and got some trees from them too. I grow yellow jaboticaba (from seeds). They really grow slow! Someone said to me that the birds don't eat the yellow jaboticaba as much as the blue.

Tomas

My Jabbo is about 5 years old, 5' tall and potted. Soon it will go in the ground as it should have grown into the new 15 gal pot from last summer. It sheds leaves into the pool and wife is gettin testy - well beyond the rolling eyes-to-heaven stage. Not to mention the 30 or so potted banana pups around the pool.
Hey LL,
I like the try one fruit, try another thing. If you like the Jabbos you will LOVE the Quenepa, also called Spanish Lime or Genip. My experience with Genips led me to buy the Jabbo. The Jabbo is easy culture too. Search Jaboticaba and open the Univ of Fla/IFAS website to document HS 39 for info.

Dan

I would like to post a couple of pics of my
jaboticaba. Leander Texas.

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Well, the plant that I have been calling Jaboticaba has about 6 blooms. But they are out on the ends of the branches, on old wood. The bark looks right, the leaves look right. I haven't yet found a good pic of jaboticaba blooms up close.

So do Jaboticabas do this occasionally or do I have another plant?

in the pic above, interspersed with the fruits are new
blooms for a continuous supply of fruit. the blooms are
pure white and very small.

SB, if yours is blooming already...great job! Here's a few pics I found of the flowers. Once I found one, couldn't stop looking!!

http://ksbookshelf.com/DW/Flower/image/jaboticabaW.jpg

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.educared.org.ar/tamtam/lmages/1503_imagen.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.educared.org.ar/tamtam/archivos/2006/03/15/flores_de_jaboticaba_al_estilo_de_manet.htm&h=379&w=500&sz=233&hl=en&start=219&um=1&tbnid=DCmfAg_HJK-5QM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djaboticaba%2B%26start%3D200%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Bonsai anyone??? http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.yonemura.co.jp/pho/npk1/y3487.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.yonemura.co.jp/zukan/zukan-k/naiyou/jaboticaba0.htm&h=400&w=300&sz=28&hl=en&start=241&um=1&tbnid=-0Vv0tsoiPXGSM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=93&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djaboticaba%2B%26start%3D240%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/~ya-su-da/yjabotik.jpg

HA!

That's basically what they look like! Just a limited number (like 8) out on the ends of a couple branches!

Thanks J!

SB...you do realize there are several of us waiting for some pics?? Hop to it my man...or LL and I will sneak in your greenhouse and glue your blooms shut!

awesome pics macaw.

jay- we have to stop by macaw while we are in florida and strip her tree clean. she should not get to have her cake and eat it as well.

not florida....deep in the heart of texas. (leander)
i thought i better post a pic before i have eaten all
of them. unbelievalby good fresh off the tree.

Could you send some seeds?

Hi Macaw,
I'm over in Pflugerville and have a Jaboticaba I purchased from HD last summer. I kept in my temporary greenhouse over winter. Do you keep yours in a greenhouse or overwinter indoors? I'm curious if anyone has had success inground and if they survive the winters around the Austin area.

i keep mine on a pallet so when it gets to 32, I can take
the bobcat and move it in the barn where I keep a 1000 watt agrosun grow light on to keep temp above freezing. tree likes the light also. I think I moved it 4 times last year.

My Jabo is now blooming for the second this year(its 61/2 years old). I have it in the house again since the end of Sept.
Seems like jabos produce many more flowers than fruit. Mine has only 3 berries this time. But it flowers and puts out new growth nicely under artificial light(I have 4-27 Watt CFL bulbs on top and 1-35 Watt CFL bulb at the bottom of the plant). The strange thing is, that when I had it outside during the summer, it didn't grow at all. Maybe it requires more constant day and night temperatures. Daytime temperatures in summer here are in the 25-33 Celsius(76-90 Fahrenheit) range whereas nighttime lows dip into the mid teens Celsius(upper fifties Fahrenheit).The difference maybe too much to keep the soil warm enough to grow the plant. The plant is now 3/12 feet tall and I expect it to flower and produce fruit every year. It's planted in a 10 gal. pot. I'd would appreciate if other members would share info about growing their jabos.

If anybody has any Jaboticabas seeds that they would like to send me please send me a message and I will post you the money it cost to send over plus some cauliflower, okra, green bean,or pea seeds as well
p.s sorry for the lack of seeds i have to offer as its my first year of growing and Jaboticaba seeds are impossibe to find!!
Thanks, Jamie!

Jamie: It may take a long time for your seeding tree to grow, why dont you get one from nursery? I bought one tree around 5' tall and already has fruits on it for $95 from a local nursery. They have some 18'' - 22'' for only $27.

hi i live in jakarta, just tried the jaboticaba wine from a friend's place here that has 800 trees. i am in love with this tree and have four now in the yard. when anyone of you in this part of the world, and wish to visit the farm, i will guide you,promise.

Hi Ami:

Thanks for the offer. Not sure when I'll get to Indonesia, but the thought is appreciated. I have a question for you. Are you familiar with Lalee Jewo. I'd be most interested to learn its cultural requirements. Specifically, whether it is a low land or high land tree and what cold tolerance it may have as compared to Gandaria (maprang) or mango. Thanks. Oh, and sorry for the thread hijack, Gerry. But this one was old enough to have gone out of copyright.

Harry

Hello ,
Read that someone might have yellow Jaboticaba seed and wonder If you would consider parting with a few seeds
Ursula
culejools@yahoo.ca