Unusual fruits-I am growing.

[michael johnson]

This year I am growing about a dozen little fig plants sown in october from fig seeds we brought back from Portugal last summer, at the moment they are about six inches high and looking healthy in pots, the seeds were from some of the best and sweetest figs I have ever tasted, hopefully at about the three year stage I might be pulling my own figs

The second unusual fruit I am growng- is little Gogi Berry plants, from that rarish Tibetan Gogi berry that all health shops are raving about at the moment and selling dried Gogi berries in pkts at high prices- they are supposed to be the new wonder food and contain about 500% more vitamin C, than any other known fruit.

I thought to myself why pay those high prices If I can grow them myself, I soaked about half a dozen dried berries in a wine glass full of water overnight, then extracted the seeds and rinsed them under the tap in a tea strainer,let them dry for a couple of days and then sowed them in a plastic baggie on damp paper, and they started to germinate in about five or six days, so I took them out and transpanted them into pots of seedling compost- and lo and behold- lots of little Gogi berry plants about two inches high- I might be eating home grown Gogi berries yet.

[Spatzbear]

What kind of figs are they? Brown, white, green? They sound absolutely delicious. I haven't tried propagating from seeds, as cuttings are dead easy, too. Might try that one day, too.

Never heard of Gogi berries. Must read up on them.

Just had my first pepino fruit from one of my plants. It was really nice.

[michael johnson]

The figs are sort of Brownish colour, taking the seed is dead easy, all you need is a fresh fig you realy liked (Not the dried sort) and scrape some of the pulp into a tea strainer (fine mesh) rinse round under a tap of cold water with the finger rubbing them against the seive until clean, and then knock them out onto a bit of polythene sheeting to dry for a couple of days, then sow in fine compost,-takes about 6 to 10 days to germinate.

I have done the same with strawberry seeds in the past also.

Goji Berries (I spelt it wrong the first time) are supposed to be the new wonder food of the century, from tibet where the locals eat them and supposidly live longer and healthier..
They are also calling them the new fruit Viagra over here, as they are supposed to do wonders for your libido too, although having said that I havnt noticed any difference in that respect and I have eat quite a lot of them already, :wink: .

The main reason people are buying them is because they contain 500 times more vitamin C than any other know fruit or substance, the dried form is a sort of orangy red look a bit like dried sultanas, and contain fine seeds, they are slightly sweet in flavour, and very expensive to buy.
In the Uk they are about £3.99 for 125 grams.

[akgardengirl]

I just ordered a dwarf fig bush (?) called "Negronne". It is suppose to do well in containers, which is good since it will have to come inside when the temperature dips. It is hardy to zone 7. They, Territorial Seeds, will ship it in May after the frosts. I see that they also have Pineapple Guava which can be container grown. Anyone tried these?
Another name for the Goji Berry is Wolfberry. I don't think I can drag these indoors for the winter tho. I paid $20+ a lb. for the dried Goji berries and they are good. I nibble on them very slowly!!
I have been growing a "Meyer Lemon" dwarf tree for a couple of years. It now has a regular sized lemon that is ripening. Upon inspection lately, I discovered the dreaded scale so it was doused down with neem oil and dishsoap. I am keeping a better eye on it and picking off any new bugs that appear. The scale jumped from a bay laurel shrub I had indoors which has since been banished to the garage.
Sue B.

[Spatzbear]

Thank you for describing the seed saving process for figs and the Goji berry, Michael. Definitely something I'll start playing with soon.
I had never heard of Goji berries, but that doesn't mean anything. I does seem to be touted as THE wonder food. Glad you tried to get it to germinate and succeeded.

[mresseguie]

Originally Posted by akgardengirl

I just ordered a dwarf fig bush (?) called "Negronne". It is suppose to do well in containers, which is good since it will have to come inside when the temperature dips. It is hardy to zone 7. They, Territorial Seeds, will ship it in May after the frosts. I see that they also have Pineapple Guava which can be container grown. Anyone tried these?
Another name for the Goji Berry is Wolfberry. I don't think I can drag these indoors for the winter tho. I paid $20+ a lb. for the dried Goji berries and they are good. I nibble on them very slowly!!
I have been growing a "Meyer Lemon" dwarf tree for a couple of years. It now has a regular sized lemon that is ripening. Upon inspection lately, I discovered the dreaded scale so it was doused down with neem oil and dishsoap. I am keeping a better eye on it and picking off any new bugs that appear. The scale jumped from a bay laurel shrub I had indoors which has since been banished to the garage.
Sue B.

Sue,

I stumbled upon Pineapple Guava in the S. F. Bay area. We (my family) were visiting some friends in Pleasanton, CA. I noticed these odd looking fruits growing from their hedge. (Yes, hedge!) Being the adventurous (foolish?) fellow I am, I picked one, tore it open, and tried a tiny piece. After waiting a couple minutes to see if I had died, I went in to announce my find. Our host, who had justr recently moved into that house, told me the previous owners had mentioned that they were edible, but that she hadn't tried them.

Well, I havested 30 or 40 of them, and we all feasted on them. Delicious! Their meat is somewhat kiwi-like, sweet, with seeds that remind me of kiwi seeds. Hmmm. Now everyone will think they're like kiwis-yet they are not. Oh, well. We cut them in half, and used teaspoons to scoop the meat out. I guess we got two bites per fruit.

Let me offer a gentle warning against eating too many in one sitting as they will affect ....uh.....er......in about 8 to 12 hours.....uh....er.....one's stool will be considerably softened. (Sorry, folks.)

Anyway, I planted two in my yard last year. They are approx. 2 feet apart, and will grow (with good pruning) into a mini hedge. I am considering removing 3 shrubs beside them to be replaced with 4 more Pineapple Guavas. We'll see.

Here's a list of the fruits growing in my yard:

1 Asian pear 3-way combo
1 sweet fuyu persimmon
1 desert king fig
5 blueberries (blue crop, blue ray, chandler, duke, and one whose name escapes me)
3 lingon berries
a dozen or so raspberries-Amity, I believe
1 columnar apple
1 ultra-dwarf peach
1 ultra-dwarf van cherry

On a recently purchased rental property, I planted two Asian pears, one sweet fuyu, and two blueberries.
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I only got the fruit bug 2 years ago, so I'm still working on the list. I'm trying to figure out where I can put a plum and 2 Paw Paw tress. Well, I know where, but my wife doesn't want me to rip out the three flowering cherries. <sigh>

You mentioned Territorial Seed Co., which I love. There is another place you might be interested in. This place specializes in fruiting trees.

http://www.onegreenworld.com

http://www.onegreenworld.com//index.php?cPath=1

I really like this place. It's only about 75 mins away.

[akgardengirl]

Thank you for the info on the pineapple guava. They state they can be grown in containers and brought inside. I wonder how large one would get here in Anchorage in a container? I like to try growing exotic fruits for both the blossoms and the fruits. Where in Oregon are you located?
Sue B.

[mresseguie]

Hi, Sue.

I suspect you could keep potted plants down to 5 feet or so, and still get fruit. Remember though: you'll need two for pollination.

I'm in Corvallis, home of the OSU Beavers. I'm not all that wild about the team, but I am wild about all the horticulture knowledge that abounds here! I believe I wouldn't have found the Master Gardener program had I settled somewhere else.

Michael
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[Spatzbear]

Michael, how are your Goji berries doing? Are they thriving? How tall are they?

I have just extracted heaps of seeds from some berries I bought at the organic shop. I shall let them dry a little and then proceed as you described above. I can't wait to see what happens!

[orflo]

I grew Goji berries over ten years ago, they gave me a good load of berries the first year, but they didn't survive the winter,I have real heavy soil , combined with the Western European winter made them give up, it could'nt have been the temperature, so make sure you give them a somewhat dry spot. I have also 6 varieties of figs, my hope is you have the Brown Turkey, firts ripening and good frost resistance,
Frank

[Spatzbear]

Hi Frank, thanks for the feedback. I'll have to make sure they have good drainage then. Also good to hear that you got heaps of berries the first year.

What varieties of figs are you growing? Brown Turkey is very common here. I don't actually grow it, and I don't know why? Maybe I should get this variety, too.

[orflo]

Brown Turkey is the only one standing our possible winter frost, down to -15 degrees Celsius, but I have some varieties that have a small root development, so they can be kept in a pot, and put in a frostfree place in winter: white ishia, everbearing, blanche d'argenteuil, petite negri and pingo de mel. They give me a crop each summer.
Fig trees can stan d frosts, but the very tiny fruit formed before the winter doesn't stand much frost, so this crop freezes mostly , but I get a late 'brown turkey' crop if the summer hasn't been to bad.
I don' know what part of Australia you are living in, if you live in the drier parts, drainage wouldn't be necessary, I think, but there are some wet parts , and combined with the sometimes heavy and red clay ground, I suspect the roots would rot away, as mine did,
Frank

[Spatzbear]

Frank, I am in South Australia. My place has very heavy clay soil and I therefore amend my soil accordingly. I always make sure nothing gets waterlogged.

Thanks for all the additional info on figs. I hadn't heard of your varieties before. How interesting!
Thank goodness I don't get such heavy frosts and don't really have to worry about fig trees not surviving the winter. The only consideration is that they'll bear early or in mid-season while we still get plenty of sun and before the first frost hits.

How big are your fig trees in the pots?

[orflo]

As with most plants ,the rule is: the bigger the pots, the bigger the plants, they're growing in 12 litres pots, which must be about 2,5 gallons, but I could be wrong about that. They're about 80 cms.-1,20 metres wide and 40-60 cms high (they apparently have a tendency to grow more wide then high in pots), depending on the variety. There are lots more varieties over here, I could send some links, but they are either in Flemish (my first language) or in French, I didn't find lots in English.
Frank

[Volvo]

Figs !!, my Black genoa is doing that good (in growth)that finally convinced the missus we should plant a Brown Turky within her flower bed front of the House8) ...
Just need it to take off as well as the genoa now and come this time next year we might be getting a good taste..
So far managed to eat six fruit of the genoa and the birds same number so not bad since the time it was planted..