Plants From Supermarket Fruit... What do you have to add?

seedscanada · Post by **seedscanada** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:06 pm

I thought it would be fun to showcase plants we have grown from seeds collected from supermarket fruit. Which have you grown?
We have grown Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica),
Mango, Lychee, Grapefruit, orange, Avocado.
Pictures to follow!
Adam

seedscanada · Post by **seedscanada** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:19 pm

Oh, Punica granatum (Pomegranate), 5 year old outdoor planted bush

Loquat first winter outdoors, landscape fabric to protect from the wind

Sad and dry year old Mango tree

And year old, nearly 3 foot tall avocado

Have a great day!
Adam

seedscanada · Post by **seedscanada** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:22 pm

In the mango pic, there is a sad 1 year old Lychee behind the sad little mango plant.
Cheers!
Adam

damir · Post by **damir** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 5:16 am

i have found here in croatia seeds of pistachio tree,in grocery store, unsalted and unroasted. seeds are without those shells. about 10 days ago i soaked it in water with some fungicide,and plant it in sterile soil. now i have 12 pistachio seedlings

. also earlier this year i got few raw pistachios from our coast (just few trees at the coast, of real pistachio, pistacia vera) and only one seedling is alive. this new seeds are from iran which i bought in the shop. in the internet it say that are cold hardy to 0 F, -18C. in some other literature it says that p.vera is cold hardy to -33 C,in iran,turkmenistan... if the soil is dry in winter.
it would be great to have my own pistachio trees. if it is grown from seed, it gives fruits in 10th year.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:24 am

Here is the thread that I made a while ago....

Also, I found "l;ily bulbs" for sale at superstore. Turns out they are called Lilum Brownii. Im gonna pick some up tomorrow (3 bulbs for 3 bucks!)

viewtopic.php?t=3079&highlight=

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:24 am

seedscanada wrote:Oh, Punica granatum (Pomegranate), 5 year old outdoor planted bush

How hardy is it? Do you have to cover it in the winter? 5 years outside, that is so cool.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:46 am

Pommegranate is said to be able to grow much like a fig in zone 4 and 5. I cant find the source yet, but ive read the old settlers in new england grew it for fruit espalier against a south wall. Im going to try some here this year. THey grow really easy from seed, and like hot dryish areas. You soak the seeds, while still in the gel filled capsule (the name always escapes me) for a day or 2. Squeeze them out, wash them, disinfect them, and let them dry for a day. Soak em for a day, so about double the thickness (not a lot), and wait about a week or 2. I got 90% germination from a grocery store fruit. The thing is, you arent really sure what you are going to get. Most people get the "wonderful" brand, which is a hybrid. IF you are lucky enough to find a for sure species fruit, it should grow true from seed. Then again, there is like 1000 seeds in a normal sized fruit, so the variety in the seedlings should be crazy...

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 10:05 am

Thanks for the info.

seedscanada · Post by **seedscanada** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:16 pm

pomegranates survive here in zone 7a They defoliate. They experience a 1/3 dieback. ours has grown from 15 inches to six feet tall and widesince we planted it outdoors fournyears ago .. we build a hoophouse ovrtop of it and our outdoor grapefrit tree evry fall to early spring. this reason isvwhy i belive ours flowers quite a bit, but no fruit yet

Adam

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 9:00 pm

Adam, that pomegranate is lovely!
I've got a dried shrivelled up one on my counter right now...should give it a go, always wanted to try starting seeds.
Nice pics!

Jesse, thanks for finding that old topic, I knew it was there somewhere

Barb

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:09 am

How do you find Loquat in the stores? I've never seen it but would love to try them.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 6:28 am

Barb - Pomm. is really, really easy to start from seed. Just be careful, cause the germination rate is pretty high. I started like 50 seeds and had way too many seedlings! They grow fast too.

I forgot about that grocery store thread. Im glad adam reminded me

seedscanada · Post by **seedscanada** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:55 am

I have only seen Loquat in Fortinos... around halloween. That was at Dundurn in Hamilton, ON. Likely also available at Asian food supermarkets in large metropolises. I would just ask. My first batch of seeds came from India. Be sure if you order Loquat seeds, that they have not dried out.. that means they are done for.
Adam

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:43 am

Adam, can pomegranates be trained to a standard? like a tree?
or are they always bushy, with tons of buds breaking all along the trunk(s)?

I'm a sucker for "standards" (pardon the pun).

Thanks for the idea...have some pomegranate seeds soaking now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate

Barb

JackLord · Post by **JackLord** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 10:43 am

I bought an Angel Red pomegranate at a local nursery and planted it last March. It flowered and gave me two fruits. And you know what? They tasted good. I don't if they defoliate so much as they are decidious. Mine had great Fall colors. You can train them like a shrub or a tree.

As for the main question: Different types of Citrus, Avocados, Mangos, Pineapples (no fruit), and Cherimoyas, the easiest germination I have ever seen.

I also plant a lot of Taro roots in the yard for small Elephant Ears.

seedscanada · Post by **seedscanada** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 11:11 am

Jack, good idea with the taro root. We did that at our last house.

Barb, the base trunk of our pomegranate is 2.5 to 3 inches diameter. I want it to be a bush so I have limited growth to three main branches. I had another I was training as a tree, but I killed it. I believe it is possible. The flower buds grow, it seems, as far away from the trunk as possible (on the newest growth, or final growth from last year). New leaf buds (potential branches) DO pop up everywhere. I am constantly rubbing them off. I find now that I have a larger trunk, buds arrive down there less often than when the plant was more juvenile. In other words, I believe the pomegranate tree will become easier to train as it gets older.
Adam

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 11:17 am

Looks tree like to me

I bet it just takes some work. Again, maybe try one espalier style?

I had no luck trying a taro root from the store. IT was twice the size of a football

Im going to try a few of the smaller ones. They are only 49 cents a pop at superstore. I should have grabbed a dragon fruit when I was there last...

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 11:55 am

Adam,
OK then I'll try it with the Pomegranate, because I was able to eventually--after 10+ years of rubbing out buds until the trunk became really wooden--train a Honeysuckle (yes a honeysuckle that's usually a vine)

into a standard (with ONE trunk Jesse).

I believe the pomegranate tree will become easier to train as it gets older.

Yes, the same as it was with the honeysuckle, even though I occasionally still have to pinch out buds breaking further down.

Jack what kind of protection did you give it?
or did you bring it indoors in winter?

Found a pic of my standard honeysuckle:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/southslope/5758546683/" title="DSC04716 by edible_plum, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2090/5758 ... 123a_z.jpg" width="480" height="640" alt="DSC04716"></a>

Barb

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 12:01 pm

lucky1 wrote:Adam,
OK then I'll try it with the Pomegranate, because I was able to eventually--after 10+ years of rubbing out buds until the trunk became really wooden--train a Honeysuckle (yes a honeysuckle that's usually a vine) into a standard (with ONE trunk Jesse).

Found a pic of my standard honeysuckle:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/southslope/5758546683/" title="DSC04716 by edible_plum, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2090/5758 ... 123a_z.jpg" width="480" height="640" alt="DSC04716"></a>

Barb

The one on the left, has one trunk

Thats a nice honeysuckle! Im trying to train a wisteria, should be the same amount of work..

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:49 pm

This post reminds me of Canadianplant's older post

Barb, pomegranates can indeed be trained as trees, and in warmer climates, that's likely how they would grow naturally. I am going to be working on bringing some of the hardier varieties over the border next fall.

JackLord · Post by **JackLord** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:42 pm

Jack what kind of protection did you give it?

Nothing. Angel Red is a hardy variety. I stuck it in the ground in mid-March, weeks before the last frost. By June, I had two fruits. And it has not even been a year yet.

Not meaning to brag

, but its one of the few exotics that is seemingly effortless in these parts.

I grabbed it at a local nursery with a stellar rep. They also have a hardy olive tree.

JackLord · Post by **JackLord** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:48 pm

Cameron_z6a_N.S. wrote:This post reminds me of Canadianplant's older post

Barb, pomegranates can indeed be trained as trees, and in warmer climates, that's likely how they would grow naturally. I am going to be working on bringing some of the hardier varieties over the border next fall.

True. My Ortho book says they train them as trees in orchards to get bigger crops while others train them as shrubs so they are more manageable.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:02 pm

Great info, thanks.

Brag away...good to know how much/little work it took.

Anything is better than training that honeysuckle vine into a standard tree...

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 6:09 am

DOnt worry barb, im doing the same to wisteria

ALso, you can apparently propagate common figs, by collecting seeds from dried fruit! Again, a surprise what your going to get... but still! Make sure they are "Smyrna" figs, or dried figs grown in an area where the proper wasp is (florida, cali, turkey, greece, egypt etc)

http://www.ehow.com/how_5682852_cultiva ... seeds.html

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:45 am

Sheesh, now figs

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:55 am

Yup.. I picked some up. One kind from walmart "sun brand" dried figs from turkey, and " blue ribbon" calimyrna figs. Viable seed is said to be "large"(for a ficus), and instantly sink to the bottom of a glass of water. That happened in my situation. Im going to sow them today. Ill keep you all updated!

PalmsNorth.com

Plants From Supermarket Fruit... What do you have to add?

Plants From Supermarket Fruit... What do you have to add?

Who is online