Source for Tamarillo (Tomato Tree) in Vancouver area?

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by jascha, Mar 15, 2008.

  1. jascha

    jascha Active Member

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  2. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Tomate de Arbol (Solanum betaceum) is a specialty plant in Canada. However, if you go to your local Save-On Foods (Overwaitea) they carry the fruits, under the name Tomatillos. These are typically imported from New Zealand, although the plant's native range is South American (and S. America is closer!)

    You can try drying and planting the seeds, as you would for a regular tomato plant, although they won't sprout unless you happen upon a tomate with black seeds inside it (these, for some reason, are fertile while the yellow seeds are not). This will also give you a chance to taste the fruit, if you haven't already, and see if it's something you want to grow. A mature (3 year), happy tomate tree can produce well in excess of 100 pounds of tomates a year, at least down here.

    Other than that, I wish you good luck. You'd have to grow it indoors, because it won't tolerate getting too cold, and because it's really wind-sensitive.
     
  3. jascha

    jascha Active Member

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    Thanks. I've only seen Tomatillos (Physalis philadelphica) at Save-On before, which are not the same thing as a Tamarillo (Solanum betaceum). I'll take a closer look the next time I'm at Save-On.
     
  4. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Ah, well down here what's growing are called Tomate de Arbol, (S. betacea) which are occasionally also called Tomatillos here. I may be wrong, but Tomate de Arbol is what are in Save-On in Edmonton.

    Hooray for common names.... *grrr*
     
  5. Eric La Fountaine

    Eric La Fountaine Contributor Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    These are easily grown from seed or cuttings, but prefer more heat than the Vancouver environment offers to fruit well. They make a nice sun room or potted patio plant. I ordered seed from the US. There are red and yellow fruited types. Look also for the plant under its synonym Cyphomandra betacea, as it has been recently reclassified and will be still commonly offered under the old name.
     
  6. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    If you haven't tried the flavour comparison on the red- and yellow-fleshed varieties, I'd reccomend planting both. Personally, I prefer the red variety because it's a bit sweeter and responds better to being stewed with sugar and spices.
     
  7. jascha

    jascha Active Member

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    Thanks for the tip, Lorax. Save-on had about a dozen Tamarillos in stock (labelled correctly too!). I bought a couple of them. None of them had black seeds inside unfortunately. The red tamarillo I tasted had a flavour profile that immediatly reminded me of an underripe tomato. However, I could also taste cantaloupe and the tart skin of plum in it as well. Very interesting mixture of flavours.
     
  8. Eric La Fountaine

    Eric La Fountaine Contributor Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Unripe tomato? I wonder if it was ripe. I think they taste like a fruitier version of a tomato. I bought the red seeded kind, I think they look incredible on a plate when sliced in half. I have never tasted the yellow.
     
  9. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    I always thought of the red ones as being like sweeter, less acidic tomatoes. The yellow ones are less acidic still.

    I'm surprised you ate the skin; down here we always peel the tomates before we eat them.
     
  10. jascha

    jascha Active Member

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    Actually, I didn't eat the skin... I think that this batch must not have been ripe enough when they were picked from the tree...probably for shipping reasons. I'm going to try to grow my own in my greenhouse and see if they turn out a little sweeter.
     
  11. zombateen

    zombateen Member

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    Tomatillos and tamarillos aren't the same thing. The former look like giant Cape Gooseberries , "paper shell" and all. The latter don't.

    You don't need to buy a tree. Thye grow very easily from seed and the seeds aren't
    very expensive.

    I grew up with a giant tree tomato tree next to our house in Johannesburg, South Africa. Loved the fruit. Forgot about it until I saw them in Loblaw's about a year ago for $1.99 each! I bought seeds online for both the yellow and the red and planted them in individual pressed paper pots. They germinated quite quickly on my indoor, herb windowsill and grew rapidly under the growlights. They went outdoors this spring
    and are growing like Jack's beanstalk. All very easy and painless. By the way, Johannesburg is regarded as "temperate" - it's not subtropical - and winters do get
    down to below freezing so I believe that Tamarillos will probably do okay outdoors in Vancouver all year round. Maybe harden them for the first winter - a short period outdoors - and then bring them in. Next year they'll probably be okay outdoors.
    Now my question:
    They have done fabulously well - the tallest is now about a metre tall and they are outside enjoying the summer. Obviously I'll have to bring them in for the winter and I'm concerned that, if they keep growing at the rate they are now, they'll be too tall! How do I encourage them to stop growing upwards and to start growing outwards? They each have only one major stem. I've been told, simply cut off the top but I want to make sure before I do. I'll feel like a murderer, but needs must. Thank you!
     
  12. Eric La Fountaine

    Eric La Fountaine Contributor Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    My plants did not produce fruit until after they had started to branch (not the first year). I seem to remember Lorax commenting about them not producing fruit until they reached a certain height. You might want to wait to trim it until you find out for sure about that.

    The plant has not produced much fruit here in Vancouver. Our summers are so cool. I don't have a greenhouse. I had to bring the gigantic plant indoors to try to ripen the fruit. This did not work too well and the harvest was not great and they did not taste like they should. I did have better luck when I lived in Seattle, but I think that was a period of good warm summers. Should produce better in warm Ontario summers. Would be a great plant for a greenhouse.
     
  13. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    It's not so much height as it is age, Eric - they're well into their ninth or tenth month outdoors here (and about 6' tall, as a result) before they even bloom, and then you wait another two months or so for the fruit to set well and ripen. You can trim them at any point to break the apical dominance of the plant, and that might actually hasten fruiting along because Tomates definitely don't bloom before they branch.
     
  14. BrianDawson

    BrianDawson Member

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    Hi I live in northern BC and have successfully grown several Tamarillo Trees to 3 feet in height from seeds I purchased from a website in New Zealand. I bought them into the house as our temps get to -40°C and they continued to grow. Then the "aphids" struck. Not sure how an aphid or bug like it can survive our winters but they did.
    So I cut back my smallest one and let it grow with a Garlic clove (bad for aphids) and it and a branch are now 4 feet tall with good looking leaves. The aphids are still attaching the plant.
    I live in Dawson Creek and our local produce places say they cannot get the fruit. Not sure why.
     

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