fruits of the DR and PR

[gregs317]

Hi, I know that numerous types of fruits & vegetables grow on the islands of Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. I'm curious to know however, if Cherry trees grow (or if they could be grown) on these islands. The cherries I'm most interested in growing are the dark, sweet cherries (Bing). So please tell me, would I be able to grow a cherry tree on one of these islands? Specifically, I'd be growing the fruits on PR, but I think that growing conditions would be similar on the 2 islands.
Thanks, Greg

 

[Hillbilly]

Not that I know of. You might check the climate required for cherries. They grow strawberries here..but not apples, peaches or plums...

There is a tropical cherry called an acerola. Great fruit, raw, or made into a jelly...

HB

 

[jrhartley]

Barbados Cherry

 

[mountainannie]

apples?

I thought I heard that they did grow some apples up in Constanza? small ones and not many but I think that there are some.... I was up there doing a story on the argiculture..

you should contact

the interamerican institute for agricultural cooperation'

they know everything about agriculture here

Oficina del IICA en Rep?blica Dominicana
Av. George Washington #601, 3era Planta Banco Agr?cola, Santo Domingo, Rep?blica Dominicana.
Tel?fono: 1 (809) 533-7522 Fax: 1 (809) 532-5312 E-Mail: iicard@iicard.org

 

[mountainannie]

If you don't speak spanish just say
"discuplme, hay alquien qui hable ingles?"

there are plenty of people there who do... including the director.

I am sure that they will be happy to answer your questions for you,

 

[Tropicdude]

The DR, falls into Zone 10-11, some berries require a minimum amount of cold days before they will produce fruit. ( Blueberries, Rasberries etc.) although there are some varieties that need very little.

Cherry, and/or Cherry type fruits that can or do grow well are:

Barbados Cherry ( these are easily found all over the Island ).

Cherry of the river grand ( aka Cereza Brazile?o )

Grumichama, although it taste more like a grape, does grow well here.

Jaboticaba also can grow here, also taste a bit like a grape.

and finally :

The Capulin Cherry I attempted to grow from seed, it sprouted and was doing ok, but, turned brown, Since I had no cultivation information on how to start from seed, who knows what caused it to die, maybe it was the heat, or too much water, or maybe It needed to be transplanted into the ground. I feel that the Capulin could grow here in the DR.

 

[Elie JAMES]

yum yum good

 

[ZEUS]

My cousin has a beautiful cherry tree in Las Colinas,
Santiago.

 

[jrhartley]

a friend in need is a pest get rid of him

Tommy Cooper

 

[POPNYChic]

they grow apples up in jarabacoa in the colder mountain regions.

 

[Tropicdude]

Just a couple days after posting a reply, I came across Mysore raspberry plants, ( at Superplants ), so I purchased 1 bagged plant which was already flowering, and there is already a red raspberry on it. the plant is yellowing a bit, not sure if its because of the heat, transplant shock , or lack of fertilizer, anyway if the plant survives and produces well, I will definitely get more, and/or cut off some canes to get more plants started.

 

[jrhartley]

I hear they dont taste that good - apache blackberries are supposed to be good to grow if you can find any

 

[Tropicdude]

I ordered some Capulin cherry seeds, my last attempt was not successful, but by doing more research on them , i discovered that they may require cold stratification, which i will attempt with the fridge, Jujubes supposedly need cold stratification also, but i did get 1 out of 5 seeds to sprout, that plant is now almost 12", looks like a bonsai tree, now dormant (i hope).. Ill keep updating on these and other odd ball plants .

 

[jrhartley]

have you tried cape gooseberries, they seem to grow well here, nothing like cherries though lol

 

[Tropicdude]

have you tried cape gooseberries, they seem to grow well here, nothing like cherries though lol

Are those the ones that the locals call "Grosellas" ? if so I did come across some, the ones I tasted were pretty sour.

a "cherry" that does grow well here and isn't that bad are the Governor's plum
"Cereza del Gobernador" Flacourtia indica I know they aren't really cherries but they taste ok.

and of course the Pitanga is grown here, ( Surinam Cherry ) Eugenia uniflora.

 

[jrhartley]

this is a cape gooseberry- they come ready wrapped

the plants grow on the ground -just thought you might be interested in an exotic old fruit lol

 

[Tropicdude]

Ok, JR, no i haven't tried these gooseberries, ( Physalis peruviana ), have you tried these, how do they taste? after looking up on these, I came across this;

The unripe fruit is said to be poisonous to some people.

Not that this will stop me lol, I was at "El Botanico" and I found a loaded Akee fruit tree,
they are also toxic if eaten unripe, its easy to know when they are ripe though, the pod pops open when they are ready.

I ate a couple, the part you eat is the spongy whitish flesh above the seed. ( dont eat seed folks ) the taste is not like any fruit, it tastes like raw almonds to me, with a spongy texture. you can try them now if you visit the Botanico.

quote from a web site:

Ackee, akee or achee - Blinghia sapida - is a food staple in many Western Africa, Jamaican and Carribean diets. There are two main varieties, hard and soft ackees, that are available for consumption. Both canned and fresh forms of this fruit are consumed. However, unripe fruit contains natural toxins called hypoglycin that can cause serious health effects. The only part of this fruit that is edible, is the properly harvested and prepared ripe golden flesh around the shiny black seeds. The fruit is poisonous unless ripe and after being opened naturally on the tree.

Other odd fruit that should grow well here, that are also related to the Cape Gooseberry, Cocona. There was an episode of Survivorman I saw a few weeks ago, where he tried to kill himself again in the Ecuadorian jungles, his big treat was finding a wild Cocona. they look like tomatoes to me, which they are related.

 

[jrhartley]

scary look fruits those lol

 

[Norma Rosa]

http://www.foodmuseum.com/images/akeeinhand.jpg[/IMG]

Other odd fruit that should grow well here, that are also related to the Cape Gooseberry, Cocona. There was an episode of Survivorman I saw a few weeks ago, where he tried to kill himself again in the Ecuadorian jungles, his big treat was finding a wild Cocona. they look like tomatoes to me, which they are related.

We have few of these trees in our backyard in Salcedo. People call it "sesos" (brains) and it is consumed as a vegetable, not a fruit. It is usually boiled, then chopped and briefly saut?ed with onions, garlic, and herbs. People eat it often, for it takes the place of meat when there is not meat available. I never liked it.

 

[Tropicdude]

We have few of these trees in our backyard in Salcedo. People call it "sesos" (brains) and it is consumed as a vegetable, not a fruit. It is usually boiled, then chopped and briefly saut?ed with onions, garlic, and herbs. People eat it often, for it takes the place of meat when there is not meat available. I never liked it.

Brain Food eh? haha, thats funny, I never ate brains before, but I would imagine the consistency is the same. with those 3 seeds that look like eyes peeking out, they should call them alien brains. aranoid:

years back, a good buddy of mine had one of these trees in his back yard, and some neighbor Jamaican kids would jump the fence to get these fruit off his tree, my friend didnt even know what they were, and didnt care if those kids took them.

anyway, my buddy had a big playful dog, that suddenly died, I now wonder if it was caused by eating a raw Akee, he liked to chew on everything. ( the dog, not my buddy ).

The taste of Akee is ok, but with kids or pets around I don't think I would want one in my back yard.

getting back to the folks in Salcedo, have they heard of Moringa over there?
( Miracle tree ) very nutritious, check out this site download the PowerPoint presentation, very informative.

Moringa Tree — Trees for Life International

this video is not of very good video quality, but at least its not a MLM infomercial.

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I dont remember the local name of this tree off the top of my head, it grows easily, and I have seen some trees in Bani. I had some I started by seed, it grew very fast, and I gave it away.