This website is typically a great source of information via just a search so was surprised when a search of vulpina ice cream bean revealed nothing. I am getting somewhat close about (4 years to attempting to transfer to FL so I get how my CO tag can be confusing for this question). AI claims it has a Christmas taste whatever that means but also claims it does not taste as good but does not seem to want to cite the forums that claim that. The reason I am drawn to this plant is FL lawns tend to be quite small and I am hoping to put a mayor lemon tree, dwarf lime tree, ice cream mango tree and wurtz avocado tree in when I move there which I calculated would be 35 square feet taken up. A ice cream tree with even vulpina would take about another 6 feet pruned (though I have read unpruned ice cream vulpina beans can be 10-20 feet). I think I read the median yard in the front and back of where I plan to go is roughly 50 square feet. So is the ice cream bean of the vulpina truly that inferior that it is worth attempting to grow a tree that will put out 8+ feet of growth a year and possibly grow 60+ feet if left alone? I want to know if the vulpina ice cream fruit is just as good as well as possible recipes
Hi. I have a big tree… You can hask anything. I have pics of it on my thread.
Depends on how south (and east) in Florida you move to. Around here ice cream beans are going to get probably no more than 3 seasons before dying back, so they tend to stay shorter. Even with that, my boss had one in his orchard that was probably 15 feet tall (not vulpina though) and was only in ground for 1.5 seasons. If you move all the way to south, they can get to 50 feet easy (once again unsure about vulpina specifically).
They supposedly fruit better when they have dieback or heavy pruning, so keeping it smaller is probably beneficial. But they tend to get large fast if they are happy. Great chop and drop though.
Sorry for the late reply. How big does the vulpina get? How is the taste of the vulpina? What source did you get it from? Can it be kept smaller to harvest fruit? Will it survive the treasure coast area?
I would be attempting in the treasure coast area more than likely. So very far east and maybe central
Hello again. My tree is big and i get many pods every year. The flavor is sweet, herbal, lemony and juicy. Im in Portugal so i can’y help you infortunately… This variety is rare and hardy like -3C she don’t have any problem.
Would you describe it as like ice cream of something of it’s own sort? Maybe like a lemon ice cream? Do you know if it is the same quality as other ice cream bean trees? How big does the tree get?
This is a dwarf tree and diferent from other ingas. The pod is yellow and shorts. Flower is pink. Its a very beautiful tree. I just have good things to say about her.
any idea wqhat species of Inga this is? I planted seeds from an unknown fruit with great flesh ratio. it was a bit more plump than my normal “paternas” but thats all i got. Im guessing it was edulis but would like some confirmation
Is this something even worth trying in a pot? I’ve long looked at these and thought they looked interesting, but my chances of getting to try one here in Michigan is pretty slim.
from what ive read they can be grown in a 15-30 gal and fruit in it. so im gonan give it a shot. one of my wifes favorite fruits and i try and grow everything she likes lol. how i ended up with some weird stuff
That would be far too large a pot for me to manage. I carry all of my tropicals, and most of my figs, down 2 flights of stairs into an unheated canning room in my basement and I try to avoid anything larger than 10 gal. Too bad.
Thank you for the quick response.
I have tried growing in pots and in my experience things don’t last that long or produce that well in pots in general unless it is small flowers or something like peppers/tomatoes/herbs. I read even the vulpina type gets like 20+ feet in ground. If you are interested to try them and willing to pay the price there are places you can order from online. Miami fruit will send you a ice cream bean. It will just cost ya a wopping 77 dollars before tax and shipping. There is lots of fruit I would love to try but have not been able to try. When I went to Maui I tried and tried to find a white pineapple and even tried to grow white pineapple at home and it failed badly because I live in CO. Go to Kowaii or Central to south fl and you will be able to grow a million white pineapple. Something else I want to try to grow. Online it will just cost ya 43 dollars for a white pineapple.