Tropical Blueberry Harvest - Orchid Board

Tindomul · #1 03-16-2018, 10:24 PM

Hi all,

I had a tropical blueberry harvest, a small one, but this is unique I think, so I am sharing the experience. The berries come from Sphyrospermum buxifolium which is a beautiful vine with little hairy blueberries. The berries are lightly sweet with a quality that refreshes you, not minty though.

I include a shot of the tank and you can see lots of the vines criss-crossing the tank, and a picture of the harvest, only 20 something berries. There are however twice as many berries currently maturing.

César

Leafmite · #2 03-16-2018, 11:57 PM

Congratulations! Even better than growing a rare plant is getting to enjoy fruit from the rare plant. Did you need to hand pollinate it or does it set fruit without any intervention?

MrHappyRotter · #3 03-17-2018, 09:40 AM

Really neat. I love the idea of indoor gardening that also happens to produce food, and I think it's become quite a trend. Granted, it mostly involves more traditional crops, I'm sure very few people are growing something as exotic as this.

Does this plant produce a seasonal harvest or does it produce year round?

jcec1 · #4 03-17-2018, 11:10 AM

Do they taste like regular blueberries?

DeaC · #5 03-17-2018, 11:34 AM

Pearls from a primordial forest and most interesting!

No-Pro-mwa · #6 03-17-2018, 12:30 PM

Way cool. I'm boring I only have a Aero Garden.

Tindomul · #7 03-17-2018, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Congratulations! Even better than growing a rare plant is getting to enjoy fruit from the rare plant. Did you need to hand pollinate it or does it set fruit without any intervention?

It did it all by itself. The flowers are tiny, bell shaped.

---------- Post added at 02:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:42 PM ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrHappyRotter

Really neat. I love the idea of indoor gardening that also happens to produce food, and I think it's become quite a trend. Granted, it mostly involves more traditional crops, I'm sure very few people are growing something as exotic as this.

Does this plant produce a seasonal harvest or does it produce year round?

Gi,

It's not seasonal as far as I can tell.

---------- Post added at 02:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:43 PM ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcec1

Do they taste like regular blueberries?

Hi,

No, traditional blueberries are much stronger. These are almost tasteless until you are almost done with them. They have a very light sweetness that is rather refreshing in the mouth.

Paul · #8 03-17-2018, 02:51 PM

Are you going to try sowing some seed?

Tindomul · #9 03-17-2018, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

Are you going to try sowing some seed?

Thats how the whole thing started. I got the fruit from a friend and almost every seed inside made it. I have several other plants not in a terrarium that I started from seed. My daughter and I ate all the berries in the picture.

estación seca · #10 03-17-2018, 05:50 PM

There are southern blueberry varieties, bred from southern species in the US, that will grow and fruit in Arizona heat and sun, if properly cared for. (IF)

Some friends grew some. They went through a lot of plants figuring out what they needed. When they finally got some fruit, after some years, they said they calculated they had paid about $75 per blueberry.