Natal Plum Question

[amh]

Is Natal plum(Carissa macrocarpa) suitable for container growing in zone 8?

[Silas_Sancona]

15 minutes ago, amh said:

Is Natal plum(Carissa macrocarpa) suitable for container growing in zone 8?

I'd say yes... Fairly easy as well.. Would plant in a soil that drains well in a pot, otherwise these are pretty tough plants ( except for serious cold ).  Easy to start from cuttings / seed.  Grown in full sun here ( ..But look better w/ some shade, and a little extra water than some i've seen get ).   A couple, harder to find Carissa sp. from S. Africa worth trying to track down also. Not sure on their cold hardiness though.

[amh]

4 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

I'd say yes... Fairly easy as well.. Would plant in a soil that drains well in a pot, otherwise these are pretty tough plants ( except for serious cold ).  Easy to start from cuttings / seed.  Grown in full sun here ( ..But look better w/ some shade, and a little extra water than some i've seen get ).   A couple, harder to find Carissa sp. from S. Africa worth trying to track down also. Not sure on their cold hardiness though.

I think they are 9B, or possibly 9A. I'm always on the lookout for easy to propagate edibles that can survive my environment or in containers.

[Silas_Sancona]

14 minutes ago, amh said:

I think they are 9B, or possibly 9A. I'm always on the lookout for easy to propagate edibles that can survive my environment or in containers.

@Marius might have a good idea on hardiness of the other Carissa sp..  macrocarpa is 9b for sure, though i've heard of it surviving 9a damage..  Easy enough to keep happy in a sunny room through winter, if need be.. in a container. Fruit is pretty good, though it does bleed latex when cut open..

Edited March 22, 2022 by Silas_Sancona
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[Marius]

On 3/23/2022 at 1:51 AM, Silas_Sancona said:

@Marius might have a good idea on hardiness of the other Carissa sp..  macrocarpa is 9b for sure, though i've heard of it surviving 9a damage..  Easy enough to keep happy in a sunny room through winter, if need be.. in a container. Fruit is pretty good, though it does bleed latex when cut open..

Hi Everyone. I grow C macrocarpa as well as C bispinosa. Bispinosa is hardier than macrocarpa. My garden is somewhere between 9a & b depending on where in my garden. 
http://pza.sanbi.org/carissa-bispinosa

I have a third species ( I forget the name now) that is more tender to cold. This is going to be its first winter here in my garden. It comes from the area at the Kruger Park. 

[Marius]

I found the tag for the Carissa I bought in the Kruger Park. 

[amh]

Does anyone know the shelf life for seed in this genus?

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, amh said:

Does anyone know the shelf life for seed in this genus?

Tough call.. In the past, i have sown seed as soon as i could clean it from the fruit. Came up fairly quickly ..within a couple weeeks.  Have some seed i cleaned from a couple fruit almost a month ago then left in a container in a drawer.. Going to sow them just to test how quickly ( or slowly ) seed looses viability. Will be starting cuttings off some nearby " Boxwood Beauty " ( a shorter form of the sp. )  plants this weekend as well.

Edited April 22, 2022 by Silas_Sancona
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[Tracy]

3 hours ago, Marius said:

I found the tag for the Carissa I bought in the Kruger Park. 

Have you tasted fruit from all three species you are growing Marius?  I believe that what we see frequently grown here in my area used as hedges are mostly the C macrocarpa, but I could be wrong.  To me, the ones I am familiar with the fruit has a little bitter aftertaste.  I'm curious if the C edulis is in fact more flavorful as one might infer from the "edulis" name.

[Marius]

21 hours ago, Tracy said:

Have you tasted fruit from all three species you are growing Marius?  I believe that what we see frequently grown here in my area used as hedges are mostly the C macrocarpa, but I could be wrong.  To me, the ones I am familiar with the fruit has a little bitter aftertaste.  I'm curious if the C edulis is in fact more flavorful as one might infer from the "edulis" name.

Hi Tracy. No, I have never tasted any of them. Edulis hasn’t flowered or fruited yet. 

[Tracy]

On 4/23/2022 at 12:44 PM, Marius said:

Hi Tracy. No, I have never tasted any of them. Edulis hasn’t flowered or fruited yet. 

When they do fruit, you will have to get back with us for the results of your taste test.  Maybe recruit family and friends and do a blind tasting so now on is biased by any of the names.

[Marius]

6 hours ago, Tracy said:

When they do fruit, you will have to get back with us for the results of your taste test.  Maybe recruit family and friends and do a blind tasting so now on is biased by any of the names.

Will do 

[Silas_Sancona]

On 3/22/2022 at 4:06 PM, amh said:

Is Natal plum(Carissa macrocarpa) suitable for container growing in zone 8?

If you're into variegated things ( Don't really do much for me )  there are Variegated forms of Carissa  around as well..

[amh]

46 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

If you're into variegated things ( Don't really do much for me )  there are Variegated forms of Carissa  around as well..

I'm primarily looking for edible fruit plants, but if I lived in a warm area, this would work for landscaping.

[Silas_Sancona]

7 minutes ago, amh said:

I'm primarily looking for edible fruit plants, but if I lived in a warm area, this would work for landscaping.

They fruit, not sure how much compared to the standard green varieties though.. 

[Tracy]

19 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

there are Variegated forms of Carissa  around as well..

Nathan, any idea which species the variegated forms derive from? 

On a separate note, I made it a point to pick a couple from nearby hedges and try them.  I assume they were C macrocarpa, but don't know for sure.  They did taste better than I recall.  I can't recall ever seeing anyone here in Southern California actually going out and harvesting them to eat.  My mother in law had a few growing as a hedge at her home in Point Loma for decades and until I occasionally picked them to eat thirty years ago, she didn't even know the fruit was edible. 

[Silas_Sancona]

20 minutes ago, Tracy said:

Nathan, any idea which species the variegated forms derive from? 

On a separate note, I made it a point to pick a couple from nearby hedges and try them.  I assume they were C macrocarpa, but don't know for sure.  They did taste better than I recall.  I can't recall ever seeing anyone here in Southern California actually going out and harvesting them to eat.  My mother in law had a few growing as a hedge at her home in Point Loma for decades and until I occasionally picked them to eat thirty years ago, she didn't even know the fruit was edible. 

Pretty sure they're all varieties of C. macrocarpa..  Think the one i posted is C. m. X " Humphreyi " and, if interested,  should be available out there, esp. through larger nurseries like Evergreen, up the road from you on Oceanside.  Kartuz has sold that one, ..and a couple other variegated var. also.

Makes sense that they'd be kind of obscure ( ..as far as edible things go ) to a good % of people who see these more of a hedge that produces nice flowers sometimes than something that could be cultivated as a backyard crop.   ..and that someone might have to sample fruit off individual specimens to separate those w/ decent, or better quality fruit  from those that produce the most excellent.   Similar idea w/ Mesquite.. Pods on some will have a higher sugar content and/or milder, earthy after taste notes compared to pods off other trees.

[Silas_Sancona]

Ok, lol guess i put the " starting to germinate picture somewhere else.. Anyway,

@amh:

Progression on the C. macrocarpa seed i'd collected, cleaned,  ..then forgot about for about a month  ..before sowing. 



If you're interested, i can send you some seed next time i come across fruits again. Either way, lemme' know.

[amh]

On 5/23/2022 at 10:50 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

Ok, lol guess i put the " starting to germinate picture somewhere else.. Anyway,

@amh:

Progression on the C. macrocarpa seed i'd collected, cleaned,  ..then forgot about for about a month  ..before sowing. 



If you're interested, i can send you some seed next time i come across fruits again. Either way, lemme' know.

That's good news. 

Right now I'm trying to figure out where I am going to be storing all of my cold sensitive plants for winter, so I'm becoming reluctant to start any this year, but I'll let you know. Are they ever bearing or strictly seasonal?

[Silas_Sancona]

1 minute ago, amh said:

That's good news. 

Right now I'm trying to figure out where I am going to be storing all of my cold sensitive plants for winter, so I'm becoming reluctant to start any this year, but I'll let you know. Are they ever bearing or strictly seasonal?

Here, they're generally ever bearing ..Can find fruit on them pretty much all year in California as well, even in cooler areas like around the Bay Area, or near the coast. That said, you'll see more fruit forming during the warmer months.  Many times, you'll see plants that have fruit in all stages of development on them..  One bush can be fruitful,  but,  probably get a better crop if you have a pair of plants.   Aside from the fruit, flowers are extremely fragrant ..Kind of like the scent of Plumeria and Jasmine combined.