Babaco (Vasconcellea × heilbornii; syn. Carica pentagona)

In 15 gallon pots mine had 2" diameter trunks at the base within a year.

If I had to use 15 gallon pots I would sadly have only 1 plant. But so far I am happy with what I am getting. From start to fruit in 1 year is great, and it has not outgrown the back room.

In my experience, one plant produces enough fruit for a family of four. :slightly_smiling_face:

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How would you describe the flavour and eating experience of these?

The fruit self juices which is fine because it needs sugar. Mild but nice flavor like starfruit with a hint of passion fruit.

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Babaco does not have the flavor of papaya – neither green nor ripe. It’s not even in the same Genus. The texture is similar but the flavor is bland. It can used to add volume to fruit salad.

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What plant has those small clusters of fruit in the photo?

@Patanax
Spondias dulcis aka June Plum, Golden Apple, Ambarella, Pommecythere. Why is no one growing this fruit?

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Interesting, Thank you guys i always enjoy seeing and learning about all the unique fruits!

Grow it. I have not yet had fruit from my tree but I have tasted them while on vacation in the islands. Wonderful fruit.

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What kind of potting soil do you use for your Babaco and do you feed it any fertilizer?

Edit: nevermind about the fertilizer, I read your notes about fish heads and by the time I read the rest of the thread I forgot. Thanks brain!

Would still like to know about potting soil if it’s just standard or what.

I’ve grown the plain Babaco. Dont keep it too wet in a pot if in standard peaty potting soils. FAST drainage…add perlite.
Here in the SF bay area,I grew one outdoors. The problem here is-- the fruit dont ripen well into December. I lost so many fruit to just typical winter storms and winds. The wife didnt care for the few that survived…I removed it.
The plant itself is easy to grow in ground.

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Okay I wonder if it would be happier in like a 511 mix (5 parts small bark pieces, 1 part compost or other moisture retaining substance, 1 part perlite) like I use for my citrus, think I’ll try that.

I brought it out of my pop up greenhouse where it was kind of neglected (greenhouse gets abandoned when the weather warms) and now it’s looking kind of sad, maybe because I water it more.

I’m in zone 8a (sorry should have mentioned), so I’ll need to keep it in a pot.

My soil is mostly sand and peat I suppose I have been adding organics over time. Babaco is very tolerant of below freezing temps.

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But it will defoliate. They make great ornament plants.

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If you want something exotic Margaret to grow in pots and tastes better than Babaco,then try Cherimoya. They like mild summer temperatures- hate hot and dry. I would think you could get them to fruit in a 10 gallon pot. The blooms smell like vanilla too. Easy to hand pollinate. Booth is the go to variety. El Bumpo is another.

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I didn’t take very good care of my babaco in 2021, resulting in some die back and only two fruit set. I kept the 3 season room completely unheated. So again these guys are suprisingly hardy.

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I was wondering I found some seeds in my babaco (netherlands) thought the fruits should be sterile… Anyone found these before?
bab4

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I believe they will float in water; i.e. they are hulls.

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Life fines away,

But another possibility is your Babaco died and the rootstock is growing now. Vasconcellea quercifolia or Oak Leaf Mountain Papaya are often used as the root stock for Babaco from what I understand.
Its fruit looks like this, bit more stubby with out the ridges.

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