Growing starfruit in north Florida is close to impossible… but I love starfruit so much I don’t let that stop me.
I FORCE THEM TO GROW!
How? I put a tree in a big pot then put it in my greenhouse, GANGSTA!
(drop the beat)
I gots starfruit in my greenhouse and key limes by da wall
You think the frosts are killa – well I kill ’em all!
I’m da microclimate gangsta with my forced zone-shiftin’
Once you go tropical you can’t go back, kitten!
(insert record scratching here)
YEAH! YEAH!
Growing starfruit in north Florida isn’t easy, but if you have a greenhouse, big pots you can haul in and out, or a south wall you can espalier them to, you can pull off this delicious and productive tree outside its natural climatic range.
Anyhow, for a good quick look at starfruit, check out Grower Jim’s article here.
When my fruit mature in a month or so, I’m probably going to save the seeds and start mass planting them out to see if I can breed a little cold-hardiness into them. We’re close to their zone… but not close enough, unless there are some cold-tolerant genes hiding in there we can coax out. I’d love to know who has the furthest north unprotected starfruit. You may not lie awake at night thinking of things like that… but I do.
If you want to learn how to grow plants where they aren’t supposed to grow, check out my book Push The Zone.
4 responses to “Growing Starfruit in North Florida”
I have an awesome starfruit in my front yard. It seems to put out a huge crop of fruit a couple of times a year. It's funny that they really blend in until they get big. I do nothing to this tree to keep it going.
I enjoy your posts.
Very cool. Like many tropical trees, they bear more than once – and I've heard they'll really produce heavily once established. My poor tree is a little crippled since it's stuck in a pot, but I do have a second one I planted down in South Florida that's just starting to get going. Glad to know yours is rocking along without extra care. Where are you located?
Thanks for stopping by and sharing – first-hand experiences are the best.
This post reminds me of a dwarf variety I heard about, but I can't seem to find a whole lot of info on it. At the very least, if there aren't cold hardy genes lurking within, a dwarf variety would sure be nice :)
I planted one outside right up against the house in the hopes it would live. I put a bunch of buckets filled with water around it, and it still died…at least the top half has. The bottom might have some life to it though; we'll see.
Yeah – I've been trying to get some dwarf papaya for the same reason. Which side of the house did you plant yours on? It should have similar requirements to key limes and I've kept those alive here. It also might need more roof overhang – cold air runs down off the edge of a roof on frosty nights.
One of these days I'll get a really big greenhouse and grow stuff right in the ground. Maybe when I have money, if that ever happens.