New leaves on Jaboticaba


I bought this sad crisped seedling last fall and it spent the winter in my living room. Finally putting out new leaves, slooooooowly. Time to start acclimating to the great outdoors!

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I have had jabuticaba in Brazil, and I have seen the berries growing on the sides of trees which is crazy. Do you like it? How long does it take from seed to fruit and can it grow outside in San Diego?. The fruiting jabuticaba trees I saw were huge.

I’ve only had this little guy since the fall. If it grows at its current rate maybe 10 years to fruit? Just my best guess. They can grow outside here in San Diego.

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It grows as a shrub here in San Diego perhaps to 2-3 meters tall after 20 years. It prefers part shade and protection from Santa Ana winds. Time from seed sprout to first fruit is 7-10 years.

Here’s two photos I took today: Jaboticaba - #3 by Richard

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The crispy seedling’s pot had a sad run in with my dog and I needed to repot sooner than I’d wanted. Here it is post winter living room rehab.


After reading some recent threads I’m trying to figure out what type it might be. @joehewitt @Richard @aap, any guesses? Waiting for fruit to help ID seems sooooo far away!

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New growth on Jaboticaba (Plinia cauliflora) is usually pink, not light green. Perhaps though the coloration is due to being indoors … or maybe it’s already past the pink stage?

You’re right, and come to think of it I don’t think the new growth has ever been red. Something about when I bought it made me think it might be a grimal and this link suggests their new leaves aren’t reddish but I don’t think they are large enough to qualify as “large leaf”. I guess I’ll have to be patient, :pensive:
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=25183.0

This definitely looks like Grimal to me.

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Plinia spiritosantensis ?

Grimal used to be known as Plinia spirito-santensis. Many old forum threads can be googled which refer to it as such. In recent times that has changed. Grimal is now an unclassified species (Plinia sp). The name Plinia spirito-santensis has been give to another plant that looks very different. This is according to Harri Lorenzi, author of the tome “Frutas no Brasil”, and Adam Shafran of Flying Fox Fruits.

Here is a great video that interviews the current owner of “Grimal Grove”, who purchased the property after Adolf Grimal’s death and restored it. He goes into the history a bit and I think he talks about the Grimal Jaboticaba and shows the mother tree. Shortly after this video was made Hurricane Irma devastated the grove. Last I heard, they were working hard to restore it once again. Fortunately, the Jaboticaba tree still stands.

Part 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQlxZEI0WXA&

Part 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNE419REDHk&t=1s

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Thanks! The leaves on Lids’ plant sure look like my Cambucas.

You’ll notice there is a pronounced crease down the vein of Grimal leaves but not on Cambuca.

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Whew!

Nice detail! I had definitely not picked up on that. Until proven otherwise, can we nominate you Joe the Jaboticaba Authority? :slight_smile:

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Adam Shafran of Flying Fox Fruits is the Jaboticaba Authority. I just hang around him on the Internet and glean knowledge.

I’ve watched several of his you tube videos, and he’s great. Still, I appreciate you weighing in on my tiny seedling.