Prepare the planting area. Add well-rotted compost if necessary and mix with surrounding garden soil. Carefully remove tamarillo plants from containers by turning them upside down and holding the plant across the base of its stem with a spread hand. Tap the bottom of the container until the plant and its root ball come loose. Handle plants by the root ball to prevent damage to stems and shallow roots. Place tamarillo plant in a hole that is just larger than the container it came in.
Back fill around root ball making sure there are no air pockets. Water well and mulch with a finger-thick layer of peat, pine needles, shredded bark or untreated sawdust. If planting in a container ensure it is large enough.
Half barrels look good with tamarillos and they are the right size too. Use a rich compost with plenty of organic material. Add slow release granules or sheep pellets before planting. Keep plants weed free and maintain constant moisture levels — this is especially important in the weeks during which the fruit swell and ripen. Feed: As long as you maintain a nutrient rich layer of mulch around their base this should give them all they need but to give plants a boost you can feed them with a sprinkling of blood and bone meal around outer edge of foliage in spring and summer.
Container grown plants may need more regular feeding with a constant layer of mulch maintained at all times and a sprinkling of blood and bone meal every spring and summer.
Flowering: Flowers are produced in high numbers in summer and autumn they are pollinated by bees and wind. Fruit ripen in autumn and winter. They are ripe when they develop a rich colour. Keep picking to stimulate continued production. Pick fruit individually — cutting stems with secateurs. Storage: Once picked, tamarillos will become sweeter after a week or so — if they are allowed to sit around for that long. Hi Lynn, Tamarillo are subtropical fruit trees and are perfect for growing in your region, they need warm summer and mild winter growing temperatures as they are frost tender but once established tamarillo will tolerate light frost.
Usually evergreen, they will drop their leaves in winter in cooler climates. Plant in a well drained soil, tamarillo do not like heavy waterlogged soil. Dig in as much nutrient rich organic matter as you can, such as compost and sheep pellets, this is especially important for sandy soils. Plant trees in a sheltered position in October and November, stake the tree and protect from wind as branches are very brittle and break easily.
Tamarillo have a very shallow root system and don't like competing with weeds or other plants for nutrients and moisture. Weeds also harbour pests and diseases. Attack snails and slugs in general with ducks and blackbirds, chooks, and even wekas if you are in the right area. Tamarillo taste best cooked — if you add sugar or honey, they are perfect — but they are also a delicious raw addition on top of a pavlova.
In Ecuador they are made into a hot chilli sauce called aji; in Northern India they are pickled. My favourite preparation is a hot traditional fruit crumble, half tamarillos, half plums or apples, eaten with custard and ice cream.
Ben Gaia grows trees in the extreme climate of the West Coast of the South Island and runs a mail order nursery for organic fruit and forestry trees, www. Tips for getting 20kg of tamarillos per tree. More stories you might like:. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Print Email.
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