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Florida Gardening

Has anyone grown Barbados Cherry?

8 years ago

We are looking at adding our first fruit trees. And I have been very intrigued by the idea of a tropical cherry. I have seen very good thing about Barbados Cherry (aka acerola) on YouTube and various garden blogs.

Has anyone grown them before? Especially around Central Florida (Orlando)? What has been your experience?

Featured Answer

carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b

8 years ago

I have one here near gulf coast St. Pete - had it a few years now & it's starting to bear more fruit than @ first - delicious, but highly perishable - haven't had a large enough crop (tho it has bloomed fruited several times this year) to cook with yet. IMPE, fruits are best eaten ripe straight away - they lose flavor quickly if left to sit or refrigerated.

Ongoing pest (really the only pest, other than aphids) is Little Leaf Notcher weevils - which make the leaves unsightly, but don't seem to hinder fruiting or growth; it's over 6' high now & I've trimmed up the lower branches to make a small tree. I scout & smoosh the bugs almost daily.

Comments (11)

fawnridge (Ricky)
8 years ago
I don't know if they'll grow that far north, but I'm sure someone has tried. I have on in the ground - 15+ years now. Fruit most of the year. Pick 'em, eat 'em, spit out the pits. Something like 100 times the vitamin C of an orange.
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garden_gal_fl (z10)
8 years ago
I had one before hurricane Charlie that grew really well. I needs a little compost for the best flavor and grows fairly easily. You can eat the fruit raw or make cherry juice that freezes nicely (if there is any left).
Jason Byrne
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks. I stopped by our local nursery in Longwood they have them in three gallon pots. He says they will grow well in the Orlando area and he suspects it could be six feet tall within a year! I think I'm going to pick one up this weekend.
irma_stpete_10a
8 years ago
"After three years, trees produce significant numbers of bright red drupes" per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malpighia_emarginata

Is that 3 yrs from seed planting, do you think?
xentar_gw
8 years ago
I purchased my first barbados cherry a few months back from lowes, something like a 30 gallon size for $17 and change. I guess they were preparing for cold weather and clearing them out for cheap. They were actually producing cherries at the time, but the employees said the birds swooped in and ate about every one of them. I Think the trees were about 7 or 8' tall.
eric242
8 years ago
They grow and fruit well in Orlando. Below about 29-30 degrees will damage it but it grows back fast.
ritaweeda
8 years ago
I remember those in a place I lived in Tampa when I was a kid. The locals called them "Chinese Cherries". I didn't like them.
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Ritaweeda - you might be remembering surinam cherries. They are commonly grown as hedges & do have a pungent taste that can be unpleasant. Barbados cherries are delicious & usually well-liked by children.

Surinam cherries (Eugenia uniflora)

Barbados cherries (Malpighia emarginata)
irma_stpete_10a
8 years ago
ritaweeda, could they have been these -- "fruit sweet but slightly tart"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_tomentosa

(and then, there's the Surinam cherry, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenia_uniflora )
ritaweeda
8 years ago
Now that I'm seeing both pictures together, you're right, they were the Surinam cherries. Thanks for clearing me up on it. When I'd seen pictures of Barbados cherries in the past I thought that was the same as when I was a kid, now I see the difference. Still, I remember I didn't like them at all. Now I'm wondering how the Barbados Cherry tastes but I live in an area that probably can get too cold to grow them anyways.

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