As part of my project to acquire better genetic markers of lesser studied fruits, I’m also collecting fruiting Plinias - a genus of plants from central and south America. My collection so far includes one or more of the following. The ‘Paulista’ and Cambuca are planted in the front yard and the remainder are potted in our sunroom. At some point I’d also like to plant one of the Sapucaias in the ground.
Cooling their heels after a bath and foliar spray with N-pHuric acidifier, 20-10-20 fertilizer, and Exirel systemic pesticide. I will keep them outside until the pesticide re-entry interval has passed.
I’ve also been trying to adapt this Plinia collection to outdoor sunlight and 24/7 weather. The majority of them are ok but a few are unhappy so far with more than 4 full days of sun. So I bring them all back in for several days then try again. I’m going to start tagging the ones that seem less adaptable.
Last week I brought them all indoors, and after a couple days to let any further symptoms develop I tagged the plants that had sun exposure issues. All of them have started recovery. Today I put the untagged plants outdoors and left the others inside. Here’s how it’s working out:
Specimens tolerating 4 days of 24/7 outdoors:
6 P. coronata “Restinga”
3 P. jaboticaba “Pingo de Mel”
3 P. phitrantha “Sapucaia”
1 P. phitrantha “Branca Vinho”
3 P. rivularis “Guaburiti”
3 P. sp.nov. “Caipirinha”
3 P. “Azeda”
3 P. “Coroada”
1 P. “Sabara”
Specimens with poor sun tolerance:
2 P. aureana “Branca”
2 P. inflata “Giant Mulchi”
1 P. jaboticaba “Pingo de Mel” *
1 P. phitrantha “Branca” *
1 P. rivularis “Guaburiti” *
4 P. spiritosantensis “Veludo”
1 P. “Sabara” *
1 M. “Yellow Jaboticaba”
* likely due to insufficient care
After this summer’s trial in full sun I’m now going to test their liking to our winter lows - typically 3-5 nights that hover in the upper 30’s F a few hours before dawn and the remainder in the 40’s for about 10 hours per night. This starts in December and ends sometime in March. The daytime temperatures will be in the 60’s except for a few 2-4 day blasts of daytime highs of 80 to 90 F every 3 to 5 weeks. I brought 4 specimens indoors as a safety net.
