I bought some Durian seeds (stones?) a few years ago, but they never sprouted. That was probably my fault because I delayed much too long in putting them in the soil. This year I'm going to try again but with much more care. More specifically, I'm going to set up a lighting and heating arrangement that should give the best chance of success. Does anyone have any experience/tips on growing Durian? Incidentally, I live in San Diego.
Durian
The seeds of Durian, Durio zibethinus, need to be planted as soon as you get them. They must not dry out after they have been removed from the fruit, and need to be planted soon after.
The plants are salt sensitive and should be protected from sea-wind and heavily chlorinated water.
As they are rainforest trees, they should be watered regularly, but not left in any standing water.
Interesting choice of a growing project.. you should be able to get seeds from fresh fruit there in San Diego.. as it's in the market here through out a good part of the year ... I've always been put off by the apearance... and I guess the lack of knowledge of how one enjoys it... Is it the fruit you are looking to achieve from the growing of it..
Recently on one of the cooking shows it was one of the mystery indredients that the chefs were to use in the dishes.. and I got to hear more about it then... and looking about for some more information after reading your desire to grow it.. it still seems strange.. and somewhat unaproachable as food... " smelling like hell.. and tasteing like heaven.. " it still is difficult.. interesting though... growing as a really big tree... 50 meters tall.. that's like 150 ft.. and living for centuries.. WOW
and interesting... " Aside from being eaten fresh, the durian fruit is made into durian flavored candies, cakes, biscuits, shakes, ice cream and (believe it or not) durian flavored condoms - due to it's reputation as an aphrodisiac."
it's as strange as the Dragon Fruit... but in reading some about the plant and culture.. t was very interesting to me...[ like an orchid cactus they grow to maybe 6' on a form as a standard... and it makes 6-8 crops of fruit a year.. with a lovely flower] so I got a few different dragon fruit to grow out... whte flesh and one with an electrc pink flesh... then I tasted it.. from the store as it came into season...in the stores here.... and thought to myself now why would anyone eat this.. although pretty.. it has absolutely no flavor.. and infact would remove any flavor/taste you might have had in your mouth before eating it.. but ... it too is good for you they say...
so do you eat any Durain now???
Sorry, I didn't see your post until today. I'm thinking of planting Durian for the challenge as well as for the aesthetics, if you can use that word about Durian. Anyway, it is a formidable looking fruit, like something castle defenders might have dropped upon besiegers in the Middle-Ages. It weighs up to, say, 20 pounds, and is covered with dangerous looking, and just plain dangerous spikes. They're not just decoration, because people who were unlucky enough to have been standing in the wrong place at the wrong time have been killed by them. The taste? well, there's entirely too much nonsense written about that and their smell: "The King of Fruits," "tasting like heaven,",etc. The truth is, in my opinion, is that it smells like garbage (ordinary, run-of-the-mill garbage) but tastes okay, even good, but certainly not heavenly, certainly not something to write a Sonnet about. Remember, though, that there are many varieties of this fruit, maybe as many as one hundred. In Indonesia, people say that the best ones come from Thailand. Maybe you just happened to get one of the bad ones.
When lived in Sebastopol, I saw a letter to the editor of the local paper about Durian. In it, the author restated the oftentimes claimed but greatly exaggerated characteristics of the fruit. I couldn't take reading the same old nonsense again, so I turned around to my computer and wrote a reply to the paper right then and there (The first time I've ever done that). My article was entitled, "Stinky and Slimy". That describes the fruit in an attention grabbing way, but now I wish I had added a word for its formidable appearance: Stinky, Slimy, and _________(I still don't have an appropriate sibilant). Anyway, I did my best to debunk the typical over-the-top nonsense that is so frequently spewed forth on the subject. I liked my piece but, unfortunately, it was edited down to the point where I could hardly recognize it, and if I had not written it, I wouldn't have understood what the author was trying to say.
Do I eat Durian now? No, but that's just because it would be too expensive. As I said, I find it to be an okay fruit, but it is different enough for me to make it interesting and desirable. Sure, I'd eat it again, but I'm not pining away for it. In summation, it's not the "heavenly" taste that makes the fruit so famous. If it weren't "Stinky, Slimy, and Scary" (How's that for the third word), we wouldn't even be talking about it. Oh, I forgot to mention that I lived in Jakarta for about ten years, so I am familiar with Durian.
One more thought about your bad experience with Durian, Gordon: just as "One Swallow doesn't make a Summer," one bad Durian, or fruit of any kind, doesn't mean that they are all bad. I try to always have fresh fruit on hand. Generally speaking, I find that the best tasting apples are Fujis, Braeburns and, if you can get the "unimproved" kind, Red Delicious. However, I am oftentimes disappointed. I still buy these types, but I cross my fingers when I do. I don't keep statistics on the subject, but sometimes they're great, sometimes mediocre, and sometimes just plain lousy. Durian is no different. Oh, I forgot to mention that I have bought Durian candy. It was okay. I might even buy it again.
From the Durians grown and harvested here, they have an oniony-caramel flavor that growers seem to find addictive.
I have a few trees that grew from freshly sown seed. Stored seed has died.
My trees have yet to produce fruit (3 years) while neighbors have gotten trees to produce in six years.