Tree Tomato, Tamarillo

I have just been given an envelope-full of Tree Tomato seed. It will be my first experience growing this plant in Johannesburg, South Afr...Read Moreica. I understand that it does perform here.

I should qualify my comments by saying that I grow this plant in the greenhouse in zone 5b/6a.

There are many plants sup...Read Moreerior to this one for greenhouse growing. My plant rapidly grew from a small 6" cutting to over 3' x 3' in under a season. It flowered early but the fruit set was poor. I agree with the comment that it is an aphid magnet...whiteflies, too. Finally, it has the peculiar, distracting scent of an old, musty sleeping bag. It will not earn a permanent place in my GH.

Got two of these spring a year ago. They were about 7 feet tall by the following December and started flowering. Unfortunately, the dra...Read Moreinage wasn't good enough in the container I was growing one of them in, and it died of fungus related disease. The other one was planted in the ground, and continued flowering until I removed it in March. I didn't notice any particular scent to the flowers.

Spectacular leaves, they are just too big for any of the spaces I garden in.

For such large plants, they have very shallow root systems and are a bit prone to tilting and tipping. Probably best in a somewhat sheltered location. They are also aphid magnets. Did not set fruit for me.

I am in San Diego and my tree (small bush still) of 3 months has big beautiful leaves, but every few days the leaves get all limp and dro...Read Moreopy. The soil is damp all the way through the pot. How much light, sun and wind do these plants tolerate?

This plant is quite short lived, but easy to propogate by layering or cutting, so have a replacement ready for when the tree starts to de...Read Moreteriorate. (6-8 years is my experience).The yield will fall sharply and branches will start to die-back.
I don't like the fruit raw or poached. But it makes a wonderful chutney, I don't remove the seeds, just skin the fruit in the same manner as for tomato.

I got my tree as a 6" rooted cutting, and it has grown to about 13 feet in about 8 months. Its flowers are wonderfully fragrant. It has...Read More yet to set fruit, though. Perhaps that is because it is the plant's first year here, or maybe because it has gone above 100 degrees most days since flowering began.

I really love the plant, though its huge leaves are somewhat overpowering in my small yard. It does mix well with my other subtropicals, tho'.

This tropical native of Peru can be grown in sub-tropical areas of the U.S., but prefers higher elevations, and won't bear as much fruit ...Read Moreas it would in its native habitat.

Like its cousins of the Lycopersicon genus, the egg-size fruit is edible, typically made into jams or conserve; the skin and seeds should be removed before cooking. Easily grown from seed or cuttings.