Cashew Tree (Anacardium Occidentale)

[nitsua0895]

Has anyone tried to grow one of these? Cashews are one of my favorite types of nuts but from what I'm reading online the tree is about as cold hardy as a Breadfruit tree.

Would it only be possible to grow these in a place like Key West or Hawaii?

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 3/5/2016 at 5:09 PM, nitsua0895 said:

Has anyone tried to grow one of these? Cashews are one of my favorite types of nuts but from what I'm reading online the tree is about as cold hardy as a Breadfruit tree.

Would it only be possible to grow these in a place like Key West or Hawaii?

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From everything I have heard, 90+% sure they are very tender. Had thought about trying one awhile ago also and had seen smaller plants offered at various plant sales but was told that, even in bradenton, cashew would be subject to yearly damage.(anything below 40'ish could cause leaf drop, etc) Perhaps you could still try one in a large pot kept warm/hot all winter. Want to grow Cloves protected the same way.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Cashew grows and fruits just fine in South Florida.  It may be tender but not breadfruit tender.

 

What I would like is to grow Kepel Fruit.

[Josh-O]

I saw millions of them on my last trip to El Salvador.

they were everywhere. I was not a big fan of the fruit though. 

love the nut inside  

[Cindy Adair]

  On 3/5/2016 at 9:30 PM, Jerry@TreeZoo said:

Cashew grows and fruits just fine in South Florida.  It may be tender but not breadfruit tender.

 

What I would like is to grow Kepel Fruit.

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I have two small cashew trees in Puerto Rico that limp along likely less than happy with my over abundant rain and less than ideal sun. However they are now kept free of vines and maybe I will get a second fruit/nut sometime. 

The seeds I collected off the ground at a nursery in HI many years ago (and declared them) and started the seeds in VA in my greenhouse. This was long before I had ever been to PR! So these are well traveled plants.

I do have a Kepel tree from a local PR grower that is maybe 10 feet tall. No flowers yet but it is a lovely tree.

Clove seedlings hated my VA greenhouse, but I ended up with three making the trip here and doing fine. They like a sunny spot and my rain and my neighbor's larger one bears fruit now. Lovely trees!

Allspice grows well too and easier to find and fruit even in VA moved inside when it's cold.The leaves alone smell great!

Kepel and Clove trees are not common in PR though.

And I have never seen cashews for sale at the large farmer's market so also not common in western PR is my guess.

Have fun trying cashews!

[nitsua0895]

They wouldn't be hardy here at all but I might try and grow one in a pot and just keep it inside my greenhouse all winter. 

Are there any fast growing, tropical looking fruit trees that can withstand a zone 8b winter outside?

[Really full garden]

These are grown as a crop here on the Pacific coast of Guatemala.They grow in poor sandy soil where almost nothing else will survive.They thrive on heat and sun.The coldest it ever gets here on the coast is about 65F for a few hours during a few days in January. It gets into the 90s everyday.

[nitsua0895]

  On 3/6/2016 at 12:48 AM, scottgt said:

These are grown as a crop here on the Pacific coast of Guatemala.They grow in poor sandy soil where almost nothing else will survive.They thrive on heat and sun.The coldest it ever gets here on the coast is about 65F for a few hours during a few days in January. It gets into the 90s everyday.

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That weather sounds absolutely perfect. I can't wait until I live some place where winter is non-existent.

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 3/5/2016 at 11:36 PM, Cindy Adair said:

I have two small cashew trees in Puerto Rico that limp along likely less than happy with my over abundant rain and less than ideal sun. However they are now kept free of vines and maybe I will get a second fruit/nut sometime. 

The seeds I collected off the ground at a nursery in HI many years ago (and declared them) and started the seeds in VA in my greenhouse. This was long before I had ever been to PR! So these are well traveled plants.

I do have a Kepel tree from a local PR grower that is maybe 10 feet tall. No flowers yet but it is a lovely tree.

Clove seedlings hated my VA greenhouse, but I ended up with three making the trip here and doing fine. They like a sunny spot and my rain and my neighbor's larger one bears fruit now. Lovely trees!

Allspice grows well too and easier to find and fruit even in VA moved inside when it's cold.The leaves alone smell great!

Kepel and Clove trees are not common in PR though.

And I have never seen cashews for sale at the large farmer's market so also not common in western PR is my guess.

Have fun trying cashews!

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Completely agree with you about allspice. Have had a couple in pots since I bought them as seedlings in Vista Ca. Withstood the less than ideal climate of San Jose well and have moved cross country 3 times without issue.  Great subtropical, even without fruit.

[tropicbreeze]

I've got several cashews, there are yellow and red types. But they like hot year round and don't like damp shaded areas. They're very drought tolerant, but during the wet season cope with waterlogging. Some of mine are growing in my swamp where it is waterlogged in the wet season but totally dry in the dry season. They are however considered an environmental weed here as birds and flying foxes disperse the seed widely. Seed/nut extraction is a complicated tedious process and if not done right (for the consumer) can be disasterous.

[Tropicgardener]

  On 3/6/2016 at 7:08 AM, tropicbreeze said:

I've got several cashews, there are yellow and red types. But they like hot year round and don't like damp shaded areas. They're very drought tolerant, but during the wet season cope with waterlogging. Some of mine are growing in my swamp where it is waterlogged in the wet season but totally dry in the dry season. They are however considered an environmental weed here as birds and flying foxes disperse the seed widely. Seed/nut extraction is a complicated tedious process and if not done right (for the consumer) can be disasterous.

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Great info, thanks..........If they can cope with boggy in the wet and drought in the dry, I will have to put one in.

 

[Eric in Orlando]

I planted a small one out here last summer. It is about 3-4ft tall. It survived this winter (down to 35F) with only very minor leaf burn.

[chinandega81]

They get rather large in South Florida. What I have noticed is they tend to topple over in hurricanes...and keep growing horizontally or at an incline. They love out poor, sandy soils and hot temperatures. Several of my neighbors have them and have offered me the baby ones...but they get too big and i'm out of space in my yard now.

[Chester B]

  On 3/5/2016 at 11:36 PM, nitsua0895 said:

They wouldn't be hardy here at all but I might try and grow one in a pot and just keep it inside my greenhouse all winter. 

Are there any fast growing, tropical looking fruit trees that can withstand a zone 8b winter outside?

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Maybe not fast growing but all I can think of is Pineapple guava (Fejoia/Acca sellowiana), Fig, Paw Paw and Loquat.

[aussiearoids]

There is a very old cashew tree in sub-tropical Childers in SE Qld . 

I tried to grow a seedling from it here in wet tropical Tully with no success . Lived for about 6 years and then rotted.

Prefers dry tropics .