In Trinidad they have many names for one variety of fruit. I lived there, and I know the diverse fruits there. Can that be natal plum "Carissa macrocarpa"?
Or it's is very possible "spondias Radlkoferi".
here's a picture of S. Radlkoferi:
{{gwi:1337328}}

Bass

Oh what part of Trinidad did you live? The thing about the common plum is that its the plum you usually find being sold on the side of the road in bags in 'chow'. The pics you showed me look more like pommecythere. The common plum is smaller and its seeds are similar to the governor plum. Thanks for the help though.

My wife is from San Fernando. Pommecythere is similiar but more yellowish.
All I can say is search for photos. If I run across it I'll post it.
Bass

Pommecythere is only yellow once its ripe though. Those look like unripe pommecythere. In my opinion the unripe ones taste better. Especially in chow.. since your wife is Trini youve had chow right?

Yes i've had pommecythere chow. It's good green dipped in salt as well less fibers.
I've had a pommecythere growing in a container in my greenhouse. Unfortunatly the heat in greenhouse didn't go on the one night and the tree didn't make it.

Bass

Oh man that sucks.. luckily im in south florida and i dont have to worry too much about cold. Did you have the dwarf pommecythere?

Yes it was the Dwarf pommecythere "spondias dulcis". It was 4 ft. tall with lots of tasty fruits in a container. I will get me another one in spring hopefully.
I understand that it grows rapidly from seed and will produce within a year. I'm not sure if I grew the dwarf variety from seed that it will also be a dwarf tree.
Any Idea?

I never tried growing the dwarf one from seed. Its worth a try i guess. From what i heard it has to be grafted. I was given a dwarf one once but it didnt look grafted so im guessing it might be able to be grown from seed. I know some people around here with a few of the dwarf trees so i might try different methods like grafting, cuttings, or from seed and see which way works out the best.

Hi all, the june plum miniature is not grafted, in fact from seed it will blossom before it is even a year old.

Kanku, Thanks for the info. Any idea where I can obtain seeds of the dwarf june plum?
I'm gonna try to get some from Trinidad.Sometimes it's hard to smuggle seeds in.

Bass

Bass, I am in Jamaica, maybe if your coming my way.
Ronald

Bass, I got some of the seeds from the dwarf tree last week. If you want i could possibly ship you a few seeds. Also if you want i can try and get you a cutting from a tree. Im not sure how well that would ship though.

I Love to get the seeds and a cutting if possible. please Email me. It would be greatly appreciated.
Maybe we can trade with other stuff.

Bass

I believe the common plum is spondias mombin. Is that the one you are talking about?

Good morning:

Was searching the web and I came across this board. Have been looking for any kind of tropical fruit that I can plant in a container, bring it inside in the winter and take it out site when itÂs warm. Originally from South American, I now live in Pennsylvania. I was interested in some plum plant material. I read somewhere that people also grow the Barbados cherry (Malpighia glabra) and the starfruit. I am also looking for plant material preferably cuttings of those. ItÂs easy to mail these priority mail wrapped in moist, not wet newspaper or damp not wet spanish moss (the kind they sell at the craft store) wrapped in plastic wrap. Not sure f anyone is familiar with the Xanthosoma with the edible leaves. I read somewhere online that it is sold at some Hispanic/asian markets. I am also dying to get my hands on some of those. I will compensate for the plants so let me know if you ahve or can find me some. Thanks in advance.
Marilyn

Can you please let me know. I am so desperate to get some plants for my garden other than tomato, broccolli, bell peppers..

Thanks in advance

Marilyn

trini1,
Its similar to spondias mombin. Spondias mombin is hog plum i think. If you know anywhere where i can buy or get a common plum tree please let me know. Thanks

Marilyn,
I actually have the xanthosoma with the edible leaves growing in a container. In Trinidad its called dasheen bush. Here i think you can find it known as taro. Its really easy to grow.

Thanks
Murahilin,
Where did you buy the Xanthosoma. Looked around here, not much luck, since there is not that big a market here for ethnic food.
Also, do you still have seeds/and or cuttings of the plum plant. You think you can spare me some.
Not sure about this attached email from this site, but my email is magmans@comcast.net.
I appreciate any help and of course will reimburse you for your cost.
Thanks
Marilyn

Murahilin, it is called hog plum as well but I think that is the one you are talking about. The fruit of mine goes from green to yellow to red. Not as sweet as the governor's plum but not sour like the large hog plum of Trinidad. I can mail you a cutting.

Oh the one im looking for doesn't go red. It ripens to yellow. Its a smaller plum. I'm guessing you're from Trinidad by your user name. If you are, this is the plum that you find people selling in bags of chow on the side of the road. I think it might also be the same kind of plum they used for the preserved plums. Know which one im talking bout now?

OK, I know that one. Mine is very similar and taste the same to that but it turns red and gets really sweet. Not sure what the name of the specie for that one is.

Wow, this is an interesting thread with a lot of interest in fruit found in the Caribbean. I'm in Barbados.

I guess each country may call fruit by different names. The pic of the fruit posted by bonsaist is called Golden Apple over here. Great eaten green or ripe with salt. Makes an excellent juice when green (grate it, add water and sugar and your done!)

Trini1: We have a hog plum over here but it does not turn red at all. It has a seed about 1/2" wide by about 1" long and usually does not have much flesh. It turns from green to a nice yellowy mustard colour. Then there is another one. much smaller than a hog plum that goes from green to yellow. can't remember name.

There is another plum that grows here that turns from green to a purplish red, which is what I think is called Mombin. We call it Jamaican plum.

Found a link showing it

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/purple_mombin.html

Joy

Murahilin,

Are you close to Ft. Lauderdale?

Funny, I hadn't heard of this fruit before, but saw one over the week-end and then saw your post. Saw a leafless tree about 10ft tall loaded with fruit and the woman said it was a "june plum".

This particular tree is probably going to be left behind, so you could probably offer a price to dig or get cuttings. The nursery is Trinity Churchside Nursery and they are losing that location and moving a block away. They are only open Sat. and Sun. They are between Broward and Davie Blvd. on Andrews Ave., literally behind the Trinity Lutheran Church.

"Spondias Dulcis" is known under different names, in Trinidad it's called " Pommecythere", in Jamaica, Antigua and Barbados known under "Golden Apple". In Florida however it's known under "June Plum".
I've had it green and dipped in salt, it's great and have no fibers,but it tastes much different than ripe ones.

Bass

Minibim, Thanks for letting me know about the tree, but what im looking for exactly is a relative of the june plum. Its from the same genus but its smaller and doesnt have a prickly seed like the june plum. In trinidad we call it common plum. There might be other names for it but i still am unable to find one here. Maybe because it doesnt taste that great or because it doesnt have much to eat on it. The reason im looking for it is because it tastes great with salt and pepper or preserved. Thanks for the help though.

A quick ???
How do you propagate the spondias from seed? As far as I remember the seed is this kinda spiky looking creature. Are the actual seeds inside and do you have to open it up or do you just plant the whole thing?
Thanks

Well i recently started some from seed. All i did was put the seeds in a cup of soil and put the cup in a ziplock bag and the seeds started up. I didnt open them up or anything. Then i transfered them to a bigger container and theyre growing nicely. Are you growing the dwarf pommecythere or the big one?

I got some of the Governor's plum yesterday from Trinidad. I prefer pommcythere over them, because they the fruit doesn't have much pulp.

Bass

I have no idea which one it is. My mom gave them to my brother in-law when he was visiting and he sent them to me. He is not even sure if they were from a fully ripe fruit. But time will tell. I will sure give it a try.
I have grown a lot of stuff in my life time but never a spondias from seed.
Wish me luck

I planted three seeds from the dwarf june plum which I brought up from Jamaica. I saw these trees laden with fruit on my brother's farm and was so impressed by the size of the tree that I decided to plant my own. I planted them on April 4,2007 and first shoot was on June 19,2007. Only one plant is showing so far and I am tempted to dig in the soil for the other two to see what's happening. I am now wondering whether they should be placed in a particular way in the soil and I just got lucky with the one. The plant now has 6 leaves and every morning I'm there hovering and watching for any change. I worry that I will lose it as it's the only one. I know I will have to move it indoors in the fall.

Lucille, They don't have to be placed any particular way in the soil. I planted 1 seed in a pot once and 3 trees grew up from it. I separated them all into separate pots and they are all growing well. The viability of the seeds isn't that long so maybe those other 2 seeds are dead now. Well since those trees are pretty easy to grow I don't think you should have any problems with it. Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Murahilin,
Casey's Corner Nursery in Homestead has the plum you are looking for. (305-248-7284)
Also, they have it fruiting at the Fruit and Spice Park in the Redlands has trees that are fruiting now. They let you sample the fruit too.

trini1,
Thanks. I will definitely call them tomorrow.

Thanks for the information Murahilin. I'm like a mother hen watching over her one chick, hoping and praying the plant will survive. It now has 10 leaves!

Hi Murahilin,

The new leaves on my plum tree are deformed. What am I doing wrong? The tree has several leaves on what appears to be a sturdy plant. The older leaves are well formed.

Thank you.

Is it getting enough nutrients and water? That had happened on one of my plants too where the new leaves were a little deformed. I just fertilized it and watered it and the next set were fine. Im not sure if thats what fixed it but you can try and see if it works.

Thank you Murahilin. I fertilized and all is well! New leaves are fine!

I just got a couple of seeds. Do you have to open the prickly pod first or just plant it like it is?

Thanks, Donna

You can just plant the seed entirely. The prickly part is all part of the seed. I think the seeds might be polyembryonic because once someone gave me a single seed planted and I got three plants out of it. Since you got a couple of seeds you could possibly experiment and try cracking open one of the seeds and see if it will help it germinate quicker. Did you get the seeds from a ripe fruit? Otherwise it might not germinate. Also if you're not in a warm climate I would recommend keeping the warm while trying to germinate it.

Murahilin

Happy to report that I am seeing what appears to be blossoms on my june plum tree. I have had it outdoors all summer and it is growing nicely in the pot. Should I be fertilizing? What do you recommend. I will soon have to bring it indoors as I'm sure it will not withstand our harsh Canadian winter. It is about 15 inches high and a very sturdy plant.

I think you should be able to fertilize it a little bit. Not too much though because it might cause it to drop the flowers. During its growing season you might try fertilizing it a little bit every month being careful to not over fertilize though. Your plant might drop all its leaves this winter because even here in Florida my tree tends to drop its leaves in winter but even without leaves these trees will still usually keep all its fruit. Let me know how it goes.

Hello Marilyn,

You wrote that you are interesting in growing plum, and that you are from South America. So I just wanted to let you know about a plant called rainforest plum (Eugenia candolleana) that grows in the Brazilian rainforest. It's pretty rare but I read about it in a book and I am now growing it (just small seedlings yet). If you are adventurous you may want to try to grow them in a large pot.

Here is a good link about rainforest plum:
http://www.destinationtropicals.com/tropical_plants/plant_135.asp

Good luck!

Tomas
Delray Beach, Florida